"Teaming up with you isn't working." Luna said sincerely. She felt like it wasn't just about Lucian's bloodlust, but her problem was about being in a team with others. Luna was the sort of loner who enjoyed being alone. Things work out for her when others aren't there to ruin it, and since the game started and she decided to join a team because everyone was joining one, she has mixed herself with crazy and heartless people. It wasn't that Luna had much of a heart, but it was difficult for her to trust someone as heartless as Lucian. He was too cold.
"Not this again." Lucian muttered in annoyance. It was dangerous for him to move alone; it was dangerous for the both of them. No one could play the game alone unless they wanted to die early. "If this is still about Morwen, I still stand my ground that you are a hypocrite."
"Yes, I'm a hypocrite!" Luna yelled.
'Lower your voice, you moron, before you give away our location.' Lucian glared at Luna; he couldn't believe that the thought of her being beautiful had once slipped through his mind. Now he's sure that he must have lost his common sense for a few minutes after passing through the portal, because with Luna's rotten attitude and her ugly bangs, which he was starting to hate more than before, she was a far cry from the word 'beautiful.'
"I'm tired of being on a team with not just you, but anyone!" Luna continues.
"That means you want to die then?" Lucian blurts out.
Luna opened her mouth and shut it; she didn't know what to say.
"If you have a problem with me, we can just talk it out." Lucian tried to keep his voice calm, but his frustration mixed in with his words. "Together, we have come this far; it's too late for you to say that you want to end this." He paused and thought of his words, annoyed with himself at how his words felt like they were engaged and were about to break their engagement; he cringed at his words.
"Okay then." Luna said, making her final decision, "I'm taking a break from this team until you manage to find us a third teammate, one you don't plan on murdering this time," she mocked, "and if you can't, I guess I'm taking a permanent break then." She turned towards the opposite direction Lucian had suggested for them to take.
"What about our training?" Lucian asks in a bitter attempt to stop her; as much as he hates her arrogance, he needs her powers, and he doesn't want to be alone in Hlasked. Being the villain means that no one will want to team up with him, not when they believe that if they kill him, they will get his title. "Don't you need me to train you anymore?" He was still teaching Luna how to fight at any given chance they had.
Luna stopped in her tracks, her hand gripping her sword by her side as she turned back and gave a little smile that made Lucian more irritated. "I will train on my own for now. Don't follow me, Lucian. Oh, and I wish you good luck ahead."
'Why the hell would I follow you?' Lucian kicked a stone in rage and hurt his feet; his boots were too thin. He needed to check his system and change it. Clothing was the only thing his broken system was good for, although he could only access clothes that had been given to the last owners of the system before he stole their magic and became the new owner.
The sturdy tree branches shake and let go of some green leaves as Luna punches the tree, trying hard to remember her combat training with Lucian. It's been 3 days since she left his side, and on the second day she felt like turning back in search of Lucian, but her pride was stronger than her need to admit the truth. Lucian was right; being alone in Hlasked was equal to asking for death. Whenever Luna came across a strange beast she had never seen before in the dungeon, she would hide herself and wait for the beast to pass away. Luna was starting to realize that she had no confidence in battle without Lucian.
"You need to position yourself like this if you want to throw a stronger hit." Caius punches the tree, delivering a stronger blow.
Luna snapped out of her thoughts; alerted, she jumped backwards and distanced herself from Caius. She didn't see him or hear any movement until he punched the tree.
"I'm not here for a fight." Caius smiled; if he was going to recruit Luna into his team, he needed to be nice. "Did you fight with the villain or something?" After noticing Luna, he had checked around for Lucian, but Lucian wasn't with her; if he was, Caius would have dropped his nice guy act to kill Lucian. The last time Caius had seen them together, they were bickering; he hoped their arguments were serious so he could have Luna to himself.
"If you are looking for that jerk, I don't know where he is." Luna brought out her sword.
"Put down the weapon." Caius hides his irritation. "I said that I'm not here to fight. Besides, you look like you could use some help; I know a few tricks I can teach you."
'He doesn't look like a bad guy.' Luna thought, 'I'm glad that Lucian didn't kill him.' She sheathed her sword and followed Caius's instructions as he trained her, copying his movement and learning every vital point that was important for her to know as a beginner, even though she had experience in battle. Caius's training wasn't as understandable as Lucian's training; while he focused solely on using brute force, Lucian was more thoughtful, deadly, and deceitful. Lucian was ready to play shameless tricks as long as it brought him victory.
After spending a few hours in training with Caius, Luna sneakily ran away from him. One thing she had learned when she was with Lucian was not to trust others so easily; she had made the mistake with Nova and wasn't going to do it again.
"Do you know how difficult it is to find anyone in this forest?" Caius asked Luna, who was shocked; she was about to bite through her roasted meat.
'How did he find me?' Luna narrowed her eyes at Caius even though he couldn't see her expression.
"Look, I'm not suspicious, okay." Caius gave a friendly smile; he had been searching for Luna for over 5 days after her sudden disappearance. He wasn't going to let her go again this time, and he intended to keep her the hard way if the easy way didn't work out.
"Stalking me is suspicious." Luna bit through her meat and imagined it was Caius's head she was tearing apart with her teeth.
"Join my team." Caius sat down next to Luna. "You are a healer, aren't you? I saw your powers on that rainy day."