It had taken almost an hour for the healing to be finished so while Max was busy the group started working on making lunch.
Vitria grabbed a big rock from the ground and heated it up to change its shape, the rock rapidly turned into a rectangle-shaped pan that she placed on the ground.
Gareth took out a bag full of an assortment of mushrooms and wild plants from his backpack and started cutting them up.
Selena had brought her own cutlery so her part was butchering the fish Vitria had caught.
Even though the knife she had was made of steel cutting the fish was still hard and strenuous work.
"This is so gross... why can't you gut the fish? With your wind blades you'll be done in a second!" Selena said with disgust as she used some water to clean the blood off her hands.
"No can do, my wind blades are only good to do single cuts, constant precision is not their thing, we would end up with minced fish if I tried." Gareh shook his head and Selena groaned.
After Max finished healing the guy who was actually named Mark they tied him up with some vines, he could easily make the vines stop constricting his movements and escape yet that would alert his captors who would capture him again anyway, they also held his backpack with his rifle close to them and he would be easy pickings without it.
After finishing the rectangle-shaped pan Vitria started working on some bowls while Max made forks from barkless sticks.
When everyone finished their tasks they sat around the Pan that was now filled with an assortment of raw fileted fish, mushroom slices, diced tubers and wild spices. The group didn't know if the food they just made had a name but they didn't really care, it already smelled delicious even though it just started cooking.
Vitria was in charge of keeping the pan hot while the others only had to stir occasionally.
After a about half an hour the food was done and everyone started digging in and filling up their bowls, meanwhile Mark could only watch.
The food was annihilated in just 10 minutes and the group ended up very full, so full that they had leftovers even.
Mark eyed the leftovers as the quartet let the food settle down before the real action started.
"Please... I haven't eaten anything since breakfast, I'm literally starving over here!" Mark fussed as he looked at the group's direction.
"Don't care." Gareth replied as he laid down on the grass.
"You shoot at us and then expect free food?" Vitria scowled as the empty bowl she was holding was ground to dust by her hand.
"I was just following orders! Please... Sh- They have dirt on me, I had to do what they asked!" Mark tried to plead with them.
"Oh? So it's a she?" Vitria got up and walked over to Mark.
"No- I said they! Please, I'm begging you, let me go!" Mark looked up at Vitria while trying to act panicked.
"Hey Selena, do you know this guy? He's from the Long Range Department right?"
Max asked as he played around with his fork, making it change shape into different Elemental Beasts.
"Hmmmm.... Mark right? Uh... I think so, but I've only seen him in passing like once or twice, we never really talked." Selena said as she used some water to clean her cutlery and plate.
"So nothing to blackmail him with? Bummer." Gareth added as he used the hood of his hoodie to cover his eyes, in preparation to take a nap probably.
After the three finished talking Vitria looked down at Mark again "Well, is it worth it to fail this exam in exchange for that dirt of yours not getting out?"
"I-" Mark looked to the ground so to not face Vitria.
Vitria kneeled down and made Mark look up with her fork on his chin. "Is it?"
"Yes, If that gets out I'm ruined! Get all my lives, I don't care, I won't tell you a single thing about her!" Mark said with a bit of confidence, which died the second he realized that he had just fumbled the bag.
"So it really is a she... Why did she want you you to take out Selena specifically?" Vitria asked with a hint of amusement.
"I- I won't tell you anything!" Mark spat at Vitria, who slapped him hard after the abominable projectile hit her jacket.
"Ow..... That didn't come out the cool way I wanted it to..." Mark sighed with watery eyes as the red handprint on his face stinged in pain.
Max, Gareth and Selena looked at Vitria in surprise, yet their surprise doubled as a sudden robotic voice was heard from throughout their area of the forest.
"Student Vitria Luminix has gained a Life.
Student Mark Alaris has lost a Life."
"Uh... That's way more automated than I thought it would be..." Vitria said as she looked around for where the voice could have come from.
"So if he's constrained we only have to slap him to get a life? That's quite handy..." Gareth thought outloud as he got up from the ground.
After a few minutes of looking around and not finding anything Mark's interrogation continued.
"Please... just a single bite, my stomach is going to cannibalize itself!" Mark's stomach grumbled as he looked up to them with puppy eyes.
"You'll eat once you're out of the exam, which is going to be in about 2 hours... Think you can last that long without spilling the beans?" Vitria said as the pan floated up to her and in front of Mark, who gulped when the delicious smell hit him.
"I will! You won't break me!" Mark feigned a brave face and looked away from the food.
"Yeah right... Let's try other methods then..." Mark looked up in fear as Vitria flipped him belly up.
"You know what to do Gareth." Vitria gave him a devious smile as Gareth walked over and did the same.
Max and Selena moved over and looked at what was about to happen with curiosity.
Mark felt an air current go around his body and concentrate on his stomach area "What are you doing?! Torture is prohibited, you'll get expelled!"
"I mean, You could consider it torture, but it's pretty painless... mostly..." Vitria looked at Mark intently as he felt the feeling on his stomach turn... funny.
Five minutes later Max had to tie him down with roots he personally controlled so Mark couldn't get free.
"PLEASE MAKE IT STOP, I BEG YOU!" Mark spoke between laughs and pants as the air current around his stomach tickled him with no mercy.
Gareth stopped and the air current dissipated.
"Are you going to talk now?" Vitria asked while Mark tried to regain his composure and breath.
"Yes... Please don't to that again..." The roots that constrained him retreated back into the ground as he sat down cross legged and still gasping for breath.
Vitria gave him the Pan along with a fork so he could eat while explaining himself.
"Listen, I still won't tell you who she is... But I can tell you what she wants..." Mark said as he started devouring the food straight from the Pan.
"Then spit it out already!" Selena piped in with an annoyed tone.
Mark finished all the leftovers before uttering another word.
"Alright... I don't know why but she's very keen on finding you guys and taking the cloud girl out of the picture, from what I heard and been told she's also the one behind the strongest students of the two departments banding together..." Mark sighed, that's all he could disclose about his employer.
"Any clue on how she did that? I know some of em' and anything short of an apocalypse wouldn't cut it." Gareth asked.
"Apparently she convinced them that this was all a Battle Royale situation and the teachers wanted us to fight one another, which kinda makes sense..." Mark responded.
"Uh... But why hunt us down specifically? We don't even know her!" Vitria said with an indignant tone.
"Dunno, maybe one of you slighted her or something..." Mark's eyes looked up at the group from left to right yet they remained on Selena for a split second longer than the rest, which no one but herself caught on to.
"I can't remember doing anything like that..." Vitria responded.
"Same, I'm like... The chillest guy you'll meet y'know." Gareth added.
"Yeah..." Max hadn't spoken with any other student outside his group for a while.
Selena just nodded while looking at Mark intently.
"And if she's going to be so petty and get angry over something so minor we can't even remember then we would have ended up on her bad side anyway, so it's better sooner rather than later." Vitria replied with conviction.
"Are you sure about that?" Said an unfamiliar voice coming from the walkie-talkie on Mark's backpack.