Headquarters

"About earlier, why the small gap? You know it's very dangerous." Clare thought about it. But Luke looked normal.

"Dangerous places are the safest places. Don't you realize there's no other hiding place? You're hiding in an alley, that's not a good solution." Luke explained.

His words were true. Clare didn't have time to pay attention to her surroundings and focus on the monsters chasing her, in fact she almost killed Luke. Remembering that, she felt even more guilty. "Sorry... I almost killed you."

"The knife won't hurt me even if you don't stop your movement, there's no need to keep apologizing."

Clare was a little shaken. How could Luke dodge a knife that was clearly in front of his eyes while his body was locked? Clare couldn't imagine what it would be like if she didn't stop her movement at that time. Did Luke really dodge? She didn't want to think about it anymore, it would only add to her guilt.

The car continued to go fast, it didn't feel like they had arrived at their team's main headquarters. This is Clare's second time coming here, before that she was always wandering around outside with her friends.

The first time she came, it was the day after the summer party was over and that was when they went on a mission. The building with steel walls looks sturdy and bulletproof, it is indeed suitable for use as Neuvrost's secret base. This is where the mission recipients' main workplace is, there are divided into two groups. The first group is a group of Neuvrost Academy graduates who have received missions for a long time, their missions are harder than capturing monsters and have to go out of town many times. The second is Luke's group who are still in school. Only Luke and Louis will graduate this year.

This base is the meeting base between comrades. Even though there are only a few members, this base is big enough to seem lonely. There were only a few workers pacing back and forth doing their jobs. Clare and Luke enter through the fingerprint access door that only Mission members get. A place that seems modern, different from the classic school. The headquarters workers greeted them respectfully before continuing their work. They went to the 10th floor using the elevator. The 10th floor is the floor where their group's private quarters are.

The impression of silence enveloped them after arriving on the 10th floor. The two of them entered a room in which there was a room that was no less comfortable like a lounge room. Of course it was Clare who designed the room based on their decision, not wanting anything too formal.

Just as Luke opened the door, he was greeted by his colleagues who got up from the sofa and stood in front of the door with various expressions.  They both go inside. When they saw Clare, their friends spontaneously rushed to Clare to see how she was.

"You are okay? Not hurt?" Zoya panicked then saw the blisters on Clare's hand. "Look, you're hurt. Why not treat it right away?"

"It's okay, I'm tired. It's just a minor cut." Clare assured.

"I heard you fought Vrochis yourself. You know how panicked we were to hear the news." Blaire continued.

"You forgot your gun. You should have brought him so you could kill Vrochis." Jules also joined in.

"Hey, let little brother change clothes first. Look at her wet clothes like that, you guys have the heart?" Louis protested. His ears were already hot from hearing their mountain chatter.

Clare went straight to the locker room. Here they do provide their own clothes from home if you need to change at any time. Their place was quite big and bigger than the dormitory, it was also the second dorm they would use after graduating from school.

"Luke, how did you meet Clare? Don't tell me it's just a coincidence, a coincidence doesn't keep coming to the same person. The first time was when Clare got lost in the woods then got stuck in a forbidden room, I believe. Not this time." Jules was suspicious. Clare said she went to the supermarket alone on the phone before, somehow suddenly Luke appeared like her shadow keeper.

Feeling that there is nothing to hide anymore, Luke is finally honest. "I already gave Vrochis a tracking device. The device connected to me, at that time I saw Clare was in danger, her position was very close to Vrochis, so I immediately left." Luke explained. When he was on his way already ordering his comrades to head to headquarters immediately, he had indeed planned to tell him. About him lying to Clare earlier, it was because Clare didn't feel that it was a burden.

"Why didn't you tell me from the start that you found his position!" Louis commented. Honestly he didn't like it when Luke was one step ahead of him in dealing with problems.

"That's why I gathered you guys. Otherwise, I would have taken Clare home a long time ago."

"You should have taken Clare home. Why was it postponed? I see he's not fine, must be scary. I'm afraid Clare is traumatized. During this time Clare never showed a weak side, she never looked scared, but actually she kept it all in silence. My poor Clare." Blair felt sorry. All this time she had noticed Clare's movements that showed discomfort. But Clare always covered it with an attitude that was completely different from her heart. Of course Zoya should know, that's why Zoya immediately made a private base without senior intervention.

Right after Blaire said that, the door opened revealing Clare with changed clothes. Clare immediately sat down in an empty spot, next to Luke it happened to be empty. Just as Clare sat down and drank the coffee she had just made, she noticed all eyes were on her. Clare took a sip of the coffee in her mouth then put the glass on the table. She glanced at her friends and seniors alternately in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Clare grew even more confused.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Louis asked him suspiciously. Usually, if you fight with monsters, you will leave a fairly severe wound, especially if Clare's skills are still below average. At least minor injuries are traumatized.

Clare showed me her plastered arm. The reason he came so long, he treated his wound with white bandages and plaster after changing clothes then made coffee to calm the mind. Seeing that Clare's injuries weren't serious, her friends were finally relieved. They thought Clare had an injury elsewhere, but Clare seemed fine. Xavier could see that, there wasn't anything abnormal.

"Clare, how did you blind Vrochis? Even just holding it in is complicated let alone relying on a small knife that is nothing." Zoya was astonished.

Clare looked dazed. It was difficult for her, but it seemed her friend had forgotten something that her ability could be used as an attack. In the eyes of her friends, Clare was the youngest child, still small and naive, not knowing what was fierce let alone fighting monsters.

"I thought... That's normal. Jules, didn't you ever fight him? That's how it feels. Actually a small knife was not enough, I used another method and tried to escape. It's not important, am I not here already?" Clare's cheerful expression returned, but her friend remained tense. Clare sighed, it was really hard to talk to her paranoid friends. "It's okay, I'm fine. Isn't it good that I blinded his eyes? I'm a little scared, but I can handle it."

"Blinding his eyes, not something right. He will find another Host to place his soul after his body is deformed." Luke's spontaneous words made Clare gape. Clare couldn't hide her surprise, apparently she'd been judging all this time.

"Why didn't you say so from the start? You know, I didn't blind him...." Clare showed her surprise.

"But if you don't blind him, will you be able to escape?" Eryk interrupted making Clare speechless.

"At least Clare had tried. One of his hands was severed and both his eyes were blind, it was all part of self-defense. If not, then Clare will be killed. That's enough to prove that Clare's abilities are above average." Jules defended. Luke's words were sharp, but he didn't mean it like that, he was just warning.

Suddenly Zoya clapped her hand once. "Shouldn't that be good? Vrochis is weakened as long as his body parts are damaged, we can kill him easily."

"If it could be killed easily, then the monster had long since disappeared. Vrochis was only locked up for so many years proving that his strength was beyond what he had put out so far. The possibility of the power he used against Clare, isn't half as much." Louis assumed. Logically, that was the case, he also knew that Vrochis wouldn't just kill Clare. Killing is liberating.

"You mean, he let Clare hurt him?" Jules gaped unable to imagine how strong Vrochis was.

Louis nodded. Then Luke continued. "After the body parts are gone, we have to be even more vigilant. The target isn't just Clare, it's all of us. His intelligence has surpassed that of other monsters, you could say he's like a human. But for now, he has planted something in Clare that makes it easy for her to communicate. Clare should be able to hear him speak within two kilometers." Luke glanced at Clare who stiffened.

Who would have thought Luke could guess it right. At first Clare wanted to use it to get rid of Vrochis alone, but Luke had foiled it before reacting. Her trump card was no longer a trump card, it had been exposed in general annoyed her. Now she can only rely on her ability to control all kinds of forms, her ability is very useful in terms of fighting.

"Since Clare can communicate with Vrochis, we use it as a weapon. Maybe we can negotiate with him to avoid bloodshed." Xavier thought.

"Can't, should Vrochis have a reason to embed his communication on Clare. This matter, isn't as simple as you think." Luke replied.

Eryk, Xavier, Jules, Blaire, and Zoya massage their foreheads feeling depressed. Luke and Louis' words left them completely deadlocked, while Clare had been silent since then as if she didn't know anything. Louis did have knowledge of Vrochis, but no more extensive than Luke while the others were just basic including Clare.

Based on Luke's knowledge, every time Vrochis' body is injured, he cannot regenerate and will look for another body host. His diet was indeed animals from long ago, but now that he's evolved into a human hunter, his strength since evolving has increased and is difficult to deal with. Clare can deal with it, it just relies on luck. If Clare didn't have the control ability, or didn't think about injuring Vrochis directly to the genitals, Clare would definitely not be found again.

From the beginning until now, something that was feared almost happened. Actually Luke and Professor Armstrong knew that Vrochis wanted Clare. That's why Luke was sent to accept this mission, which is actually not killing Vrochis that is protecting Clare. It's just that no one knows because the Professor forbade Luke to tell.

Ever since Louis brought Clare to the forbidden room, Vrochis had been attracted by Clare's scent that had opened the door. Luckily at that time Luke noticed it immediately and prevented Vrochis from attacking silently. Somehow Clare can really attract Vrochis to be more brutal and hypnotize Clare to free him. When Clare saw Vrochis for the first time in the forbidden room with Luke, Clare was able to communicate.

Clare's protection mission had made Luke confused. Why Clare? Clare is just an ordinary girl, not having noble blood or important person in the world. Surprisingly the Professor notices him and only tells Luke that Clare has something that no one else has. Don't know what made the Professor pay attention to it, even Vrochis was also interested in making it a container. The first impression on Luke's mind after accepting this mission, what's so special about Clare? Just a small and naive genius, even his experience in the Aternum world is not much, always spending time in other worlds like Korea and Russia. It couldn't be so special in the eyes of the professor.

"It's getting more and more complicated. So decide later, I want to rest." Jules yawned a little. He had panicked earlier and immediately rushed to the headquarters even though he was feeling good lying down.

Jules got up from the sofa and pulled Blaire and Zoya. Zoya looks reluctant to come along, but Jules forces her and threatens her. Actually Jules didn't want to rest, but instead wandered outside giving Clare time. While Clare was just silent with her eyes closed and her hands supporting her head on the sofa handle.

"Clare." Louis rebuked.

"Hm...." Clare replied without moving or opening her eyes.

"What are you thinking?" Who wouldn't be surprised to see Clare so calm? Even Louis could be surprised, even though Clare had just been released from danger and she still looked calm. While that's good, it's still surprising.

"Clare doesn't always have to be as pale as before. You really really want to see Clare suffer." Eryk looked at Louis with a sneer.

"Hey, I was just asking. Clare is the smallest of us all, even she acts like a child."

"Ya ya ya." Eryk gave up on arguing with Louis and chose to leave and so did Xavier. There was nothing else to do, so Xavier went out.

Louis glanced at Luke who was busy fiddling with his cellphone. "Can you give me the Vrochis tracker?"

"Why should I give you?"

Louis chuckled. Before he could comment any further, his cell phone suddenly rang. Something that is difficult to avoid is a call from mother, of course Louis has to pick it up if he doesn't want to die when he gets home. Luke went with his cell phone ending the argument that was almost done. Now there was only Luke playing on his phone and Clare brooding in silence and eyes closed as if sleeping.

Don't think that Clare is sleeping. As Louis said it was very strange for Clare to remain calm. Clare never calmed down. Even though she seems stable and swimming as if there is no problem, Clare is very good at hiding her true feelings. As long as her eyes were closed, her memory replayed the events earlier that almost took her life. Clare shattered the glass in one glance and threw them simultaneously at Vrochis, the control was still unstable and he was also hit by the slash of the glass in her hand, it hurts a lot but his efforts don't hurt Vrochis. Even het neck was still red that wrapped around her neck from the strangulation marks that almost took her life.

The memory made Clare tremble and she was terrified. Then she felt someone tap her shoulder, Clare opened her eyes and turned towards the pat. Luke brought her out of the memory world.

"Don't think too much about it." Luke knew Clare was under a lot of stress over what had happened. It was so terrifying indeed, that even he himself didn't dare to imagine what it would be like if he didn't show up on time.