Prey. Part 2

After the girls passed the two boys they went back to change and then helped the people settle down. They had given their belongings to Seduralto to keep in her storage ring so to lighten their load and she was giving them what they would need for the next 4 days they would stay there. This took time and when she was done with everything it was already sunset. After they ate, they went to their tent with it being late as they had been chatting with the girls as they talked about what kind of men they expected to get when they reached Zerxebel. It was late in the night when they went to their respective tents to rest.

"Today was fun."

"Yes, it was. I cannot believe Sofine only wants a rich man and says she would never settle for just a decent one."

"Hahaha, everyone has their tests."

"Then what if no rich man approaches her?"

"Guess she will end up a virgin like me all her life."

Salina kept quiet after hearing that for the second time in one day.

"Talking about tests. Alati would have not gone to be with Lariote if she did not like him. I think you should think it over again."

Seduralto said to her like how a big sister would. Salina still kept quiet.

"For someone who got a surprise attack, he did get to take one of her killers' forearms. He was one of our most capable and most promising members. To lose him to Sheyken even though he was not going to grow further is a big blow to the guild. Don't you think you should at least forgive him? He did the most he could for someone targeted for assassination, and his spells work in a different way than the norm."

"I know."

Salina responded.

"Do not hate him then. He is one of the good ones, and there are hard to find in this mage's world."

"I know."

Salina said in a barely audible voice. Seduralto smiled and decided to change the subject. They talked about the scene of grown men afraid to touch their buttocks and one fainting from just a little spanking. They then talked about the boys, comparing them to Seduralto's father and trying to guess what kind of Beast warrior Sheyken will become.

"I will be back."

Salina suddenly said.

"Going to relive yourself?"

"No, I need to talk to Someone."

"Ok, do not stay there too long or people will start to speculate."

Seduralto said with a smile as she teased her since she knew where she was going. Salina just left. As she was outside, the tents seemed deadly quiet, but her mind was racing because of what she was thinking.

"Lariote."

Lariote who had not slept since that morning unlike the others was in his tent. Seduralto had given him a light punishment since he was still recovering. He was afraid to sleep since he would always sleep facing up and with his buttocks still throbbing, he was afraid he would turn during his sleep and the pain he had felt would come back. He thought of how he would serve Sheyken best during the night with him concluding that he would have to see what kind of Beast warrior he turns out to be first and react to how he would serve him after that. As he was about to close his eyes, he heard a voice that instantly gave him goosebumps.

'What is Salina doing here? Does she want to finish what Seduralto had started?'

He thought as he got up with his mouth dry from fear. He opened his tent and there she was. The sum of all fears, standing there looking mad in her ninja outfit.

"I forgive you."

He could not believe what he was hearing and said something he instantly regretted.

"What?"

Seeing her look at him deep into his eyes, he regretted not acting like he was asleep earlier. Salina turned around and folded her arms.

"I forgive you, ok. Now, do not make me repeat it."

Her acting like that made him remember that she was still seventeen years old. He had come to forget that little fact since she had shot through the ranks and her being feared.

"Thank you."

He said with so much relief in his voice such that it made Salina realize her forgiveness meant a lot to him.

"Salina, I need you to come with me. Lariote, be on guard. We will call you if we need you."

Seduralto showed up out of nowhere and ruined the moment. Her tone was that of the leader they knew and they instantly knew something was wrong. They obeyed her orders like trained soldiers.

"Quite a number of beasts are coming our way. I can feel the vibrations in the send. They are too far away for me to know what kind they are or how many yet. It is best to meet them as far away from the oasis as possible just in case there is a third-tier beast amongst them. You should wait here and guard the perimeter. I will let you know if I need your help or if something is amidst."

Seduralto said as they sprinted through the desert. Salina smiled when she heard the last part of what she said. She nodded and pulled back, letting Seduralto continue on her own. After 5 minutes of her sprinting through the desert and with her going at more than 20 km/h she stopped. At that point she could tell what kind of beasts were coming her way.

'Awe, aren't you both way out of your habitat. Are you guys migrating or something else?'

Seduralto thought as she looked at the distance where a sand cloud had been formed by the beasts traveling at high speeds through the desert sand.

"If you are migrating, then the two of you would not be traveling together. So, there must be something wrong. Are you running away from something?"

Selduralto then tried to focus as she kneeled with one knee on the ground and put her hand in the sand.

"I SEE YOU AND YOU SEE ME"

She called out a spell with a simple name. It allowed her to see through vast distances like she was right there, making her able to estimate the beast's tier, but with the setback of anyone who could use mana detection noticing her spell and able to pinpoint her location. When she cast it, the beasts went wild as they locked on and turned to where she was.

"I see. Two third-tier beasts and ones that would never travel together. Well now, I think this is it. I better let Salina know that her prey is..."

She could not finish her sentence. A beam of something dark brown hit where she was standing but she had managed to get out of the way. Another one come to where she had dogged to and she evaded that one too. What followed was a barrage of the very same attack with her not able to focus on sending a message to Salina.

'My, my, aren't you too feisty. Something must have happened for you to be this angry.'

She thought as she looked at the sand pits the beam had caused after the barrage had stopped. The beam seemed to have corroded the sand away making 10 feet deep pits in the sand.

"You are that strong? Looks like I have to avoid that at all cost."

She said out loud with praise. She was now surrounded by scorpion-like beats with their heads being like that of ants as she looked at their antennas. They looked coordinated as they spaced themselves evenly so not to allow her to escape. They were followed by one as big as a car, looking menacing and being grey unlike the smaller ones that were dark brown. It had three stingers and they looked dangerous.

Next to it was a beast that resembled a turtle in every shape and form with the only difference being that it was walking on two legs and could keep up with the other beasts.

"Why are you two working together?"

She asked as she could not figure out why two beasts that would kill each other the moment they saw one another would cooperate. She had to stop talking out loud though as a stream of beams but slower and less powerful than the ones she had been dodging came in her direction. As she was being attacked by the smaller scorpion-like beasts, a wall of sand erected not far from her blocking the beams.

She ran like a ninja through the desert sand as each step took sand from the ground she stepped on and traveled throughout the clothes she was wearing, making a makeshift armor as the grains of sand clang to her clothes. Her speed increased, and with it her power as a brownish light raced through the dark desert dodging dark brown beams and sometimes pincers when she got close to some of the beasts. The light was caused by the mana she was pouring into the gains of sand.

"I think it is time to get rid of the small fry."

She said as spikes of sharp rocks rose up underneath the smaller scorpions trying to pierce their underbelly. She was surprised to see a protective barrier underneath each and every scorpion making her attack ineffective with only a few being killed.

"Awe, so you want to play like that big feller."

She said looking at the turtle-like beast. She had no time to think of a strategy though as the larger scorpion-like beast dashed up to her in the blink of an eye and attacked her using its pincers while also trying to stab her with its tails. The attacks were fast and powerful making it known why it was a third-tier beast. Seduralto did not want to block any of the attacks as they were fearsome and she continued to only dodge.

She increased the amount of mana on each grain of sand on her in an instant and at that moment she smiled.

"I have to stop using this spell. It makes me look dirty."

She said nonchalantly. She was wearing the same kind of clothes the boys had picked up when they went to the market the first time. A pair of brown tight pants, a brown t-shirt and a jacket made out of some kind of lizard skin with the only difference being that it looked sexy on her.

Increasing the amount of mana on each grain increased her total speed and power. She dodged every attack thrown at her and managed to go in for a punch. Unfortunately, when the punch landed, a defensive barrier had been raised where she hit just like it had been when she tried to attack the small scorpion-like beasts. The impact sent the large scorpion-like beast back and she was able to take a breather.

"Looks like I need to put some effort into this fight."

She said as she prepared a spell.

"Come forth Serth, Ignorance of the desert."

She said out loud as she raised her hand. A whirlpool formed a distance away from her and many smaller scorpions-like beasts fell into it. A giant golem looking like a knight raised from the middle holding a sword and a shield. It was as big as the Wemongu.

"You are free to do your thing."

She said as she pointed to the turtle-like beast. The golem nodded like it understood her and went on the attack with swords made up of stone already falling from the sky down on the turtle-like beast. Barriers formed on top of it as the swords came crashing down on them protecting it. It was hit by the sword of the golem on its side as it concentrated on blocking the falling swords, but a barrier prevented it from being harmed. It let out a jet stream of water from its mouth that pushed the golem back as it protected itself from the water attack with it's shield. The shield cracked as the water come at such a speed and pressure that it could not handle. The area quickly became wet.

"Do not go looking so cool now Serth, busy blocking such a powerful attack with style. This is my show."

Seduralto said as the sand on her body fell down with her still dodging attacks left and right.

"Let me increase my effort a bit. These little guys are getting annoying."

The sand on the small scorpion-like beasts activated and made them stop moving.

"Since you have such a hard exoskeleton, let us try this."

She said as she dodged more attacks from the larger scorpion-like beast with the smaller one unable to assist it anymore as they were immobilized. She was slower but managing as she hoped it did not fire its beam with it as close as it was to her then.

The sand on the smaller scorpion-like beasts started moving around their bodies, moving faster with every second that passed. After ten seconds the friction the sand was causing on their exoskeleton made them glow dark green as they heated up. As she dodged attack after attack, the smell of scorpions being cooked alive started to fill the area as they started to cry out.

Noticing what was going on, the large scorpion beast focused its tails at her as beams of dark brown light shot out of them. She was waiting for that kind of attack from it as she managed to dodge them but it let out another beam from its mouth, surprising her.

"Awe shit."

Seduralto yelled out loud. A shield came between her and the beam, thrown by the golem and protecting her from the surprise attack. Seeing that it had thrown its shield away, the turtle-like beast took the opportunity to lunch another water stream attack. It hit the golem square in its chest as the water turned it into wet sand while going through its sand body and collapsed its structure.

"Thank you. Now I have two elements to work with."

Seduralto said out loud to the turtle-like beast.

"Serth, let us finish this one first."

She said as a golem came out from the sand next to her and went in the opposite direction to where Salina was. She was pointing at the larger scorpion-like beast as all the smaller ones were dead after being cooked alive.

A face came up from the wet send and it was the same face of the golem knight. A whirlpool started to form underneath the large scorpion-like beast as it fell in the middle of it, unable to come out of it. The turtle-like beast tried to put barriers around it but it was turning around at a fast pace and it could not place them properly as swords were seen being formed in the whirlpool and piecing the beast like it was made out of tofu.

"I told you I will give it a little bit of effort. Well, little Turres-era, this is just like a warm-up for me. I'm even fighting you guys in my casual clothes, making them dirty. At least make it worth while for me after doing so."

She said, feeling disappointed for some reason.

The golem that had gone in Salina's direction reached her in less than a minute as it ran at full speed, faster than that of Seduralto's.

"Is that...."

Salina said as she saw it running like a train at full speed. It stopped right next to her and it pointed to the oasis. Salina understood immediately. She instantly faced the oasis's direction and ran at full speed. She arrived in no time and she stopped as she saw Sheyken and Lariote out of their tents. Wondering what was going on, she approached them.

"You are the playboy I could not kill and who manage to take my forearm. How! All mother must want me to recompense for my failure as I have a chance to finish the job."

She heard a girl say as she drew near. After hearing those words, she tried to erase her presence trying to hear more of what was going on. As she heard what was being said, she could not help but show a vicious smile under her face mask.

'Looks like I get to kill the first-ever person to betray the guild and at the same time the person who killed Alati today. Thank you, master.'

She thought to herself as she come out of hiding. The only problem was that she did not know who the third person was as she looked at her smile and knew that it was not Esiyana's mother.

A distance from the oasis, seeing what was happening to its one-time partner, the turtle-like beast went into its shell and it started glowing green and pulsing in a rhythmic way.

"Awe, now that is just unfair. The fight had been boring for me and I thought we could start having some fun."

She said with annoyance.

"Serth, can you crake that egg for me."

The same knight golem she had summoned come out of the sand again and rose up with a sword as big as it was, lifting it up in the air as it solidified and turn metallic silver. It then slashed down so fast and with such power that the sound of the sword coming down was heard a second later.

"Shit!"

Seduralto said for the second time that night as she realized that what the turtle-like beast was doing was not an attack but it was self-distracting. She did not know why it had resolved to do that but it was bad news for her. Self-distraction was one of the highest distractive attacks there was out there, and with the beast being third-tier, it was dangerous for her being near it at that point.

As the sword hit the shell of the beast, it cracked and an explosion so massive it encompassed a 300-meter radius was seen from where Salina was.

'Master.'

She thought

'I hope they give you a challenge and get rid of the boredom I sometimes see in your eyes.'

After thinking those thoughts and seeing the man who had joined them, she focused on making sure he did not take her prey away from her.