CHAPTER 61

"What do you mean?" a thunderous voice boomed. "How could you lose her?"

"I'm very sorry, master," another voice said, apologetically.

"Keep your apologies to yourself," the first voice said. "Make up for your mistake by finding the girl and her friends, and eliminating them."

"Yes, master," the second voice responded.

"What are you waiting for?" the first voice demanded. "Go now!

"And you, Angela," the first voice continued, "I believe you need more training."

GULP!

"Yes master "

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[JENNA'S PERSPECTIVE]

SNIFF! SNIFF!

I woke up to the smell of something cooking.

"Argh, my head hurts," I groaned.

I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I was in a cave. Draxus was in one corner, swinging his sword around madly. Janet was in another corner, completely focused, cooking something on a small stove. And there was an old, long-bearded man sitting cross-legged in the air, eyes closed and breathing calmly and serenely. He looked like the typical wise old man who would help you get stronger, but there was one problem.

The old man's feet weren't touching the ground. He was hovering in the air, surrounded by a ring of fire, and flames were coming out of his backside.

Was he farting?

The man seemed to notice that I was awake, and slowly opened his eyes.

"You finally woke up, little lass," he said.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I see you're alright now," he said. "Get up - you have two weeks of training to catch up on."

"Two weeks?" I gasped. "What? How did we get here?"

"Teleportation," he replied.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

"Not qualified to know," he said.

"Where are...?" I began, but before I could finish my question, the man cut me off.

"Enough questions. Time for training!" he said, standing up and extending his hand to help me to my feet. I hesitated, but then took his hand and allowed him to pull me to my feet.

I looked around the cave, but there was nothing to see but the dirt walls and the small stove where Janet was cooking. I still had so many questions. Where were we? How had we gotten here? and why didn't the man send us back?

My stomach suddenly grumbled, and I blushed with embarrassment.

"I think I need to eat something before that," I said.

The old man suddenly grinned. "There are some rules around here. Your performance during training will determine whether or not you'll be allowed to eat."

"What do you mean? I haven't eaten anything for two weeks," I shouted.

"Rules are rules, lass. Now, let's get to training." The man replied lazily.

"Like I would do that," I said, walking toward Janet.

"I wouldn't recommend that if I were you, observe" the man said, pointing at thw pot.

Hmmm

I squinted my eyes to see what the old geezer was talking about. After a while, I noticed a purple gas slowly drifting out of the pot.

"Poison!" I exclaimed.

"Bingo" the old man said.

"Why's there poison in the food?" I asked.

"Training," the man said, smiling wickedly.

"What kind of training is that? She's an assassin, not a mage," I shouted.

"Yes, her class is assassin. But, she's a dragon, a poison dragon to be exact. She should be able to manipulate poison," the man said, returning to his lazy tone of voice.

"That's not how it works," I exclaimed.

"Oh, is that what everyone thinks this days. This generation of dragons are so pathetic," the man said. "Only a few dragons are worthy of being called dragons."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. I couldn't quite grasp what this old geezer was implying.

"Shadow clone is a shadow mage spell. Have you ever wondered why that lil assassin was able to use it?" he asked.

Hearing that, I quickly raised my guard.

"Calm down, lass. if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so long ago"

"How do you know about that?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm not qualified," the man said lazily.

I struggled to keep my lips from twitching as I considered sending a few bolts at him.

"You still haven't explained why you poisoned the food. Couldn't you have made her create poison and then manipulate it?" I asked.

"I thought of that, but it wouldn't be as fun," the man smirked. "And besides, it would take too long."

"What do you mean?" I asked, my curiosity peaked.

The man's smirk grew wider as he began to explain. "Every evening, for two hours, different kinds of beasts attack this place. The job of your male friend is to defend this cave. The meat from the beasts is then poisoned by me, and your sister's job is to remove the poison."

" What happens if she fails?" I asked, I had a feeling I wouldn't like his answer.

"Some people would gain poison resistance by force," the man said. "And if she succeeds, you'll get a two-day break before I change the poison and its concentration."

I shivered, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

"Wha--" I tried to say.

"Enough questions," the man interrupted. " prepare for your training"

I reluctantly accepted my fate and that signaled the beginning of hell on earth.