- Ava -

When she'd seen Yuma in Senior Hall's office, it took everything she had to hide her panic. What was he doing here? They never would have sent such a public figure out as a spy. He'd be recognized immediately. For that matter, how had he gotten in? He should have been killed on sight.

She'd pushed the boys out as quickly as she could and wasted no time writing up a report about this. Whatever was going on, it was unusual, and it had a high chance of blowing her cover. She couldn't take the chance that her superiors didn't know about this. She had to make sure they knew. If nothing else, she was covering her bases. It didn't seem like he recognized her, but nobody who knew anything about the Demonic Desert Cult could fail to recognize him. How could they? He had been a poster child for kratocracy, an exemplar of the cult's culture. Not to mention who his parents were. She shivered at the thought.

The next morning, she spent some time debating the best of course of action, but ultimately she decided it was best to carry on as-usual, and pretend not to have noticed. When she arrived at the cafeteria, Yuma was there with Sam, Kyle, and the other girls. She took a deep breath before going to sit down. It was difficult to stay calm in front of Yuma. He had been a tyrant when she'd known him, and while she had been stronger than most children her age, she hadn't even come close to his strength. She respected him and feared him, like most children in the Demonic Desert Cult had.

She was almost finished her breakfast when Riley came over to join them. She thought that was strange. He usually sat with his own friends, who were weak like he was. Aside from his impotence, she didn't like the boy. He was one of the annoying ones who had started staring at her chest. She knew hers was growing earlier than most of the other girls, but that didn't give them any right to look. It made her feel nauseous when they did, and she was tempted to cut all of their throats. In fact, she would have done it without hesitation, if she didn't think it would draw too much attention from adults.

She almost spit out her water when Yuma addressed him by name. Then she remembered. Riley had been one of his minions. How could she not have recognized him? Well, she knew how. She could easily kill him. He wasn't that strong, he just clung onto Yuma, and followed him around like a pet. She had never paid much attention to the weak.

So Riley was a spy, too? She wasn't supposed to know who other spies were. It could blow their cover. What a fool he was for trying to talk to Yuma, too. He should have left the cafeteria and avoided him at all costs. She would have done the same, if it wouldn't have aroused suspicion. What a fool!

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Soon the boys got up and left. When she saw Sam and Kyle follow behind Yuma, she wasted no time. Koa lapped up her leftovers, and followed behind her as she stalked the boys out of the dorm. She followed them carefully, and knew they would never notice her, especially in the shadows of the predawn light. When they split ways, she decided to stay behind Sam, since he had been the closest to her.

When they stopped at the alley, she positioned herself behind an unopened snack cart. It was still early, and most of the vendors wouldn't be opening yet. She couldn't hear the conversation between Yuma and Riley. She cursed herself. That defeated the purpose of following them, but she couldn't get closer without being seen.

It didn't matter though. Soon Sam moved into the alley, and she moved to get a better view. She watched the fight end, and wondered how it had started. Yuma and Riley must have been testing their strength against each other. It was important for determining who was at the top of the pecking order.

The way they fought was strange. It was like Yuma knew what the other boys were going to do before they did it, and could see what they were seeing. Had he joined their twin cultivation? Was that even possible?

"Hey, Riley," Yuma said.

"quit messing with me." Kyle said.

"I didn't hit you that hard." Sam said.

Yeah. That was definitely twin cultivation. She shivered. It was weird when they talked like that.

There was a large dent in the boy's forehead, and his head was hanging loosely. He was obviously dead. Couldn't they tell? She didn't want to blow her cover, but she also couldn't resist this opportunity to use her Yin Demon Technique.

"He's dead, guys." All three boys jumped at the same time. That made her jump, too. So weird!

Had they not noticed her, though? They were foolish not to pay attention to their surroundings. She could've killed at least one of them before they'd noticed her.

"Look, he's not breathing, his neck is obviously broken, and that skull fracture is pretty deep. You know he's not even at the peak of Chi Condensation yet? You shouldn't be surprised that you killed him." She reached out to the boy, and wiggled his head around a bit. She used the demonstration as a pretext and siphoned off the boy's chi.

It had been too long since she'd last had an opportunity to steal the yin chi from a freshly dead cultivator, and this one had a much higher cultivation than the last ones, even if he was weaker than her this time. His chi was a welcome addition to her chi pool. She couldn't wait to cultivate it later. It would help her increase her spiritual growth substantially.

She had no regrets now. She would have been a fool not to take this opportunity, and she was no fool.