"I said back away now! I'm not happy with the thing I've become, and I don't care how you want to make me feel about it. We are all demons, how could you believe we deserve life?" Arwin asked.
"Why would I think I don't deserve life? You've gotten this twisted image of who we are and who you are now." Zeke replied, making Arwin scoff.
"I understand about the supernaturals that mindlessly kill. We even kill those people back in Nudra. We have these instincts but we train ourselves to not fall victim to them."
Arwin didn't reply immediately, and the remaining cultivators just took this time to relax. Duncan drank some water, while Zeke and Abel removed slabs of the seal's meat that they had taken with them.
"Urgh, how are we going to cook these?" Abel wondered.
Upon hearing this, Arwin removed a pouch resting on his right leg to remove several wooden stakes from it.
The stakes rolled to the centre of the cultivators, then Arwin swiftly rubbed at one of the stakes with his newly grown claw.
It erupted into flames and so did the other stakes, giving them light as the sun was setting, along with warmth. They used his other daggers to stab them through the meat and cook it.
"Thanks for the help, Arwin." Duncan said, before taking a bite of the fatty shoulder of the seal beast.
Arwin didn't reply, but just nodded in reaction. Silence fell upon the four of them for a few seconds, until the hunter broke it.
"Why are you helping me? Why not just let me die, you get nothing out of helping me."
Zeke was still in his thoughts for a few seconds, thinking of a reply to his question.
"Well, we used to talk a lot about helping each other back in Nudra. Even in the cases of different species, if there was a problem that concerned humans, we would work together. Also, you're Duncan's brother, he thought you were gone for so long. Why would I want him to go through that life again?"
Arwin just laughed and smiled slightly, before returning to his neutral face. As much as he wanted to hide it, they could see that he was grateful for what they were doing with them.
The students spent the night on this rock, safe from the beasts that lurked on the ground beneath. They made sure to put out their fire once the sun fully set, so that their flames wouldn't catch the attention of any beasts below.
Most of the resources in terms of food and water were given to Duncan. Arwin didn't seem to be bothered after eating so much human flesh and didn't feel that hungry at all. He didn't take up anybody's offer on giving him food or water, but this wasn't out of stubbornness.
He just didn't feel the need to have those things.
The sun was setting once again, and the groups of students were returning to Ansita. As this happened, the three cultivators had to say their goodbyes to Arwin for the time being.
"Where do you want to meet up again? If you need human flesh, you need to know where to find us."
"Just near the Town Hall. I'll meet you all in 3 days time." He explained, before Zeke nodded at him.
"Alright then, see you there." He said.
Arwin then nodded at the group, walking away from them as they then joined back up with the fellow cultivators of their own academy and the Iron Fist Academy.
Their crystals were all taken in by the academy's masters, and their results were going to be revealed the following morning in their respective classes.
Abel, Duncan and Zeke all headed to their own dorm rooms to sleep. The moon soon lifted into the sky, illuminating the streets of Ansita. Golden lamps were used to illuminate the streets, which were quite sandy and dusty. The slight breeze brought along a thin cloud of sand across the ground, while making the extreme heat just slightly less intolerable.
Abel was asleep in his room, which was quite small since it was for a single person. It had a bed, table, and small bathroom located near the window of his room.
It provided him with all the stuff that he needed, but it was in quite a compact design, so that many students could have their own rooms also.
His room was only kept somewhat visible through the moon outside his window, that was slowly approaching its apex.
Just beside his window, on the exterior, was a man clinging onto the sandstone wall on all fours. His eyes glowed a lime green, and he smiled to reveal large fangs.
CRASH!
The man launched right through the window, landing just beside Abel who was just asleep in his room.
The man smiled at him maniacally, with his claws extended and he snarled at him with hostility.
"Who are you?" Abel asked, jumping up to his feet in a flash.
There was silence between the two, and Abel was totally on edge. He couldn't tell when this man ahead of him was going to make a move, but judging from his general demeanour, he knew that he would.
He pounced at the hybrid, but Abel was just fast enough to slip past his reptilian claws. He went crashing into the bed that he had just been sleeping on, causing it to slide back into the wall ahead of him.
The rattling from this impact caused a few students to awake, confused about the sudden thump they had heard and felt.
The weredragon remained relentless and turned around to swing its claws at Abel repeatedly. His speed was great enough to make sure that he wasn't touched, and he then made his battle stance.
He used the techniques that he had learned from his academy masters, landing a textbook punch to this supernatural's jaw.
The impact was hefty, and he could tell that he had dealt damage. His adversary had been forced back slightly but didn't stop his incessant assault.
He just ran right back mindlessly, intent on harming Abel.
Abel watched the man charging at him and didn't have many options. He wouldn't be able to fight this man for long, since he could tell that he was much stronger than he was.
He was sure that his vampire side was granting him the speed that he was certainly grateful for in this moment.
The weredragon snarled and lifted his right clawed hand, intending to slash down and carve Abel's body open.
Before he could do so, Abel lifted his hand and began drawing from the invigorating qi housed in his dantian. The energy flowed through the complex circuitry within his body, coursing through his nodes.
The qi concentrated into his right palm, making it glow a pale red.
A red ball of qi shot toward the weredragon and crashed into his chest, exploding on impact.
BOOM!
The explosion caused the room to rattle intensely. His small chandelier light shook, making high-pitched twinkling noises.
The weredragon had hit into the wall behind him, cracking it apart. He grunted in pain, looking at the grave wound on his chest.
It was bleeding profusely and was now splattered across the floor around him.
Tap! Tap!
Both fighters hesitantly looked at the door, hearing the approaching footsteps.
The weredragon took his leave and leaped through the already cracked window. Abel could feel that his demonic face was visible, and he wouldn't be able to hide it very easily.
Click!
The handle of the door twitched, and Abel sprung into action. He leapt out of the broken window, and Master Oscar opened to see quite the gory scene.
The curtains beside the window billowed under the incoming breeze, but nobody was there to be seen. He looked quite concerned upon seeing the droplets of blood on the ground, the broken wall, and the fragments of glass around the shattered window.
"What in the world happened here?" He whispered with alarm.
Abel was just beside his window, and was surprised with how easily he was able to stay positioned on it. There wasn't much to hold on to, but he didn't feel like he was going to fall off any time soon.
Giving a few glances to the walls around him, he couldn't see the man that had randomly assailed him.
However, he could hear his master in the room, and could hear his footsteps approaching the window.
With a single leap, he was now several metres above the window, and with another leap was at the highest point of this area of the dormitory.
Master Oscar put his head out the window, only to see nothing at all.
"Now, where has this Abel gone?" He asked, before retreating from the window.
Abel just sighed of relief upon hearing the academy master leave from his room.
"That was a really close call."