Treasure Map!

(Exoplanet T-980- Night Cycle)

There was a small cave located under a steep cliff that had dense bushes and shrubbery concealing its entrance from prying outsiders.

This was the base that Sophie had chosen after several hours of walking away from the clearing.

She was quite satisfied with this area as there was a freshwater spring only ten minutes away and the natural foliage provided a great source of cover.

Empty nutrient vials were scattered across the ground as Sophie had consumed about four days worth of food stock.

The crippling sense of hunger and weakness that had plagued her after the fight was only resolved after drinking nutrient vial after vial.

Sophie could not afford to consume so wastefully but her inner hunger was too overwhelming to fight against.

Only three more days worth of food was contained in the remaining vials, so she planned on spending the next few days hunting down some beasts for meat.

"But what were those strange feelings," Sophie whispered to herself.

She could not recall what had happened once she encountered the hunting squad as it was like her memories were locked behind a foggy daze.

All Sophie could recall were vague images and a deep sense of pleasure that enveloped her body when her spider appendages cut through the flesh of her opponents.

When her fangs extended to bite that delicious human…. STOP IT!

Sophie clutched her head in pain as she fought down the sick urges that were welling up inside of her.

Her eyes started to flicker between the typical golden glow and the reddish tinge.

Hungry…. need to feast….

Stab!

A jolt of pain shot through her arm as she jabbed her fingernails inside her flesh to snap herself out of those urges.

It appeared to work as the pain brought Sophie's mind some clarity and her eyes turned back to their golden colour.

Sophie glanced at the small puncture wounds on her arm and fell into contemplation.

What was happening to her?

Was this an ability from her mother's side?

It would be a few more months until her Aunt would be able to meet her again in the necklace's training space so she would not get any immediate answers to her questions.

This new ability was extremely powerful as it seemed to elevate her combat senses to a higher level, but the side effects were quite heavy.

And those emotions…. Sophie was terrified of how quickly they suppressed her sense of reason.

Unless it was an emergency situation, she really did not want to use her ability ever again.

Sophie took out all of the supplies from the backpack and unfolded it to transform into a sleeping bag.

The sleeping bag was made of memory-morphing foam, so it was suitable for creatures of all races.

Sophie double checked the entrance to the cave and shifted some of the smaller tree branches to block any openings before entering the bag.

It was very difficult to fall asleep as the buzzing noises of insects singing joyfully in the wilderness outside was quite irritating.

To distract herself, Sophie picked up the parchment that was also in the supply crate and tried to read its contents.

Sophie's golden eyes gleamed softly in the moonlight as the darkness seemed to have no effect on her vision.

"What on earth?" Sophie gasped in shock.

The contents of the parchment was a treasure map!

It was a well drawn map with details about the landscape that covered a twenty-kilometer radius from the initial starting point of the clearing.

There were rivers, streams, springs and even the location of some beast habitats!

But what really drew Sophie's attention was the shiny mark that was drawn right above the location of a sunken valley.

All thoughts of sleeping vanished instantly as Sophie jumped to her feet before hurriedly packing up her supplies and leaving the cave.

Who knows how many copies of the treasure map were amongst the remaining crates at the clearing.

She had to grasp this opportunity before anyone else!

(Testing Site 03 – Planet Zenteroae)

"You have been fully surrounded your royal highness," came a nasal voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What is the use of a mech controller with no mech!"

These students had been provided with specific names from the total amount of royal children present in their testing site and were given orders to eliminate everyone on the list.

It was even detailed with their publicly known cultivation levels and techniques.

Princess Cleo stood in the middle of a desert environment with twelve students surrounding her with murderous intent.

Each was well armed with knives, swords, blaster pistols and poison vials.

It appeared that one of her siblings had bribed some of the candidates aboard their transport vessel to deal with her and others personally.

How else could these random students know about her secrets?

She even had a pretty good idea about who it was….

"Now will you activate the barrier device willingly? Or do we need to personally activate it for you," yelled another mocking student.

Cleo stared blankly into the distance with a lost expression that caused the ambushers to mistakenly take it for shock.

Truthfully, she was wondering if her beautiful hybrid girl was doing okay.

They had been communicating daily onboard their respective transport ships, but it would be a whole month until she could speak to Sophie again.

This was a much pressing issue to her than the current problem of several armed enemies surrounding her with ill intentions.

Princess Cleo's lighthearted and mischievous appearance and over reliance on her personal mech was nothing more than a shield to hide her true abilities.

But against these low lives….

Why bother to pretend?

A strong pulse of mental force was emitted from her location and struck every student in a five-kilometer radius.

Mental Spike!

Horrific screams echoed throughout the cold desert as each student collapsed on the ground before starting to convulse.

Not only her attackers but also those unfortunate enough to be in the range of the attack.

Cleo walked forward gracefully until she arrived at the student who had openly mocked her and was now twitching on the ground.

She leaned down and whispered softly in her ear,

"I know mech controllers are rare, but do you honestly believe that we are useless without our weapons?"

The girl was in too much pain to understand the words that Cleo was muttering as it felt as though her head was about to exploded.

Cleo gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder with a derisive sneer and then sent a mental thought into her brain,

("Don't worry I will put down your master once I finish off his hounds.")

Later that day…. over fifty students were eliminated by a single participant.