You’re strange

The air was charged with palpable tension, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

Despite being just a handful of students trained to use magic, artifacts, or swords, these were meant to be used against monsters, not to kill humans, or worse, their own classmates.

Isuke remained incredulous, and Leo was on alert in case this escalated further.

Silence.

Alexia, surrounded by her group, felt the gaze of each of them centered on her.

What should she do?

Alexia knew that whatever decision she made, Leo would follow her. Isuke, despite his pessimistic attitude, would too.

Even so, there was a big variable in her group.

Camila.

Although they had spent several days together with her, the chances of Camila betraying them, or directly doing nothing in this situation, were considerable given the risk.

And while Camila had supported them when saying who arrived first in the forest, naming Leo... the possibility was still there.

That without even taking into account the disadvantages of their classes.

'Fighting among ourselves is too stupid an idea. Not only because we'll make too much noise, but because we'll be more vulnerable and tired in case of an attack. What is this idiot thinking? Wait.'

For a moment, an idea came to Alexia's mind.

"Alright. We surrender," Alexia declared while raising her hands.

Almost everyone let out a sigh of relief, except for Camila who kept staring into the void.

"You can keep the rights to these lands. We won't say anything about this as long as you help us explore the rest of the forest, what do you think?" Alexia asked in a kinder tone, without showing fear.

Darius seemed disappointed to see how quickly Alexia surrendered, so he looked away, losing interest.

Thorne, on the other hand, was shocked because... he had become rich!

Selena, despite being surprised, outwardly looked calm, so she didn't hesitate to take advantage of Alexia's proposal.

"It's an excellent idea. What do you say we sign a new contract? As it happens, I have just the paper and pen. Follow me."

Nodding her head, Alexia went with Selena to sign the new contract, leaving her group alone with Aiden's.

It was unlikely they would start a fight, especially considering what she was giving them.

Once Alexia and Selena walked away, only silence remained.

The silence and discomfort between both groups was palpable, especially after the discussion that had occurred just seconds ago.

Darius showed no remorse for his suggestion, but he let himself be led away by Thorne, who was quite excited and wanted to talk privately with his friend.

Leo and Isuke, thoughtful, also decided to move away from the campfire to have a small chat between them.

In silence, everyone slowly started to distance themselves to eat elsewhere, staying with the members of their group, except for two girls.

Camila was immersed in her imagination where she tried to compare her level with that of the others. The reason for this was Darius's 'duel' comment.

'The best without a doubt is Aiden... he's fast and precise. Thorne's strength is tremendous and Darius's defense is almost impenetrable... Leo, for his part, is agile like Alexia, but...'

Imagining various scenarios in her head where she had simulated fights with each of them, while finishing her food, Camila got excited realizing she had some chance of beating each of them.

Posture, guard, counterattack, dodge, movement...

Despite never having won a championship, what she had witnessed from them gave her enough confidence that she could beat them in a fair duel.

Finished with her food, Camila returned to reality and noticed that no one was around her.

They had left her alone!

Scared, Camila looked around and noticed that on the ground, Marta was sitting, still finishing her soup.

"Hey."

"What? What happened?" Camila asked, confused.

"It's not personal," Marta replied in a low voice.

Camila looked around, as she didn't understand what Marta was referring to.

Marta, seeing how confused Camila was, clarified:

"What Darius said was... stupid. I don't think he has the courage to kill a classmate. At most I think he would have tried to humiliate you, but..." as Marta spoke more about her companion, an expression of disgust and guilt became increasingly evident on her face.

"Tell your group that I thank them for staying out of it. We almost ended up killing each other, didn't we?" Marta commented lastly while letting out a small laugh.

They weren't going to have a normal duel!?

Camila had no interest in the money she could get from the forest or its resources, as the only thing that interested her... was the ego-sword.

If she got the ego-sword, she would undoubtedly be the happiest person in the world!

And then...

Then she would see what she was going to do.

Returning to reality, Camila noticed how Marta was trembling due to her hands.

Thinking for several seconds what to say, in the end Camila decided to sit next to Marta.

"Honestly, I don't think that would have happened."

"Why? I've heard of people killing others for much less valuable things..." Marta quickly replied.

"Aren't we classmates?" Camila asked innocently, provoking a big laugh from Marta.

"Classmates...? You still call us that after...? You're... you're strange," Marta replied while regaining her composure.

And while Marta and Camila started to converse, not far away, Selena was closing a new deal with Alexia.

"No hard feelings?" Selena asked with a fake smile.

"Of course, no hard feelings," Alexia replied with another fake smile while hiding her excitement.