"Can you say that one more time?" Maxine asked in pure disbelief as she held her communication disc. She had gone into a large building to contact her teacher in private in case he told her no, but that was no longer a worry. It was his 'requirements' for his help that she found unbelievable.

"I said that I would help you get rid of your problem, but there is a condition," Horatio Quay said with a sinister smile, "My condition is for you to fight that void beast swarm on your own for as long as you can and you're not allowed to push your transformation any further than you 'full-hybrid' form. Beyond that, anything goes." I can't believe he's turning this into a fucking training exercise.

"Did you not hear me when I said that my energy pathways are in rough shape?" Maxine asked incredulously.

"I heard you, but you have to be able to fight at any given time, even when you're injured," Horatio Quay reminded Maxine, "You know better than most that your enemies will take advantage of any weakness presented to them."

"I know that, but I sometimes question your sanity," Maxine said directly, "I mean what kind of evil, sadistic bastard decides to turn a swarm of over one million void beasts into a fucking training exercise?"

"Me," Horatio Quay said bluntly.

"You're an asshole," Maxine cursed at him.

"But I'm the asshole that you have to appease in order to get the help that your homeworld needs to survive," Horatio Quay said as he smiled again, "And if you're worried about your personal survival, I'll be close enough that I can come to your rescue in nearly an instant. Although, I won't help you for anything less than a fatal wound. Which in your case would be an injury to your heart or brain. Anything less than that is nothing more than pain and pain, as we both know, is an excellent motivator to improve." I don't know what I was expecting. I have a fucking sadist for a teacher. I guess his title 'Blade Demon' isn't just for show. Still, this is a lot more favorable than me going full hydra.

"So, if I shove my foot up your ass, will that motivate you to stop being such an ass?" Maxine asked in an innocent tone.

"If you weren't my student, I think I would rather enjoy that kind of attention," Horatio Quay said shamelessly.

For several seconds, Maxine was stunned into silence with his response. "Just walk through the arch. It should be forming in my sister's shadow now," Maxine finally said in exasperation as she created an arch out using Orianna's shadow. It's a good thing that she's still at the Stardust Academy. It makes it much easier to swiftly transport teacher over here. I can't even imagine what kind of nightmare it would be to hold off the void beasts until he arrived on his own.

As soon as he walked through the arch, he added, "I was thinking about letting Maxwell join in on the exercise, but I decided against it. He just doesn't have the same kind of killer instinct that you do. As he is now, he wouldn't last more than a minute against that swarm."

"He just hasn't experienced enough real combat yet," Maxine pointed out.

"Perhaps," Horatio Quay agreed reluctantly, "Regardless, we should head out while the swarm is still gathering. It'll be far more challenging to keep their attention after they start to move and you are not quite ready for that level of difficulty just yet."

"Can I grab something to eat before we leave?" Maxine asked.

"If you're hungry, eat some nutritional pills," Horatio Quay said firmly, "The sooner we leave, the better."

"I don't have that many left," Maxine pointed out and Horatio Quay tossed her a bottle filled with nutritional pills.

"Do not run out of those again," Horatio Quay said grumpily, "You must always be prepared for a long battle."

"I had nearly a full bottle when this whole mess started and it's not exactly easy to get more ingredients to make more while we're under siege," Maxine retorted.

"You only made enough for one bottle?" Horatio Quay asked with a raised eyebrow, "If I was you, I would've had at least a dozen full bottles of those things. Now, if you're done complaining, we have a void beast swarm to eliminate."

"Fine," Maxine said as she started to make her way out of the building with Horatio Quay in tow, "Just so you know, I can only hold my breath for eight hours while in combat."

"So?" Horatio Quay asked, "Can't you just create one of those portals in your nasal cavity to someplace with an atmosphere? Or better yet, just grab a breathing apparatus like the mercenaries usually do?"

"I could," Maxine reluctantly agreed. In fact, she had a face mask that could provide breathable air for twenty four hours in her dimensional ring.

"Then put one on so we can head out," Horatio Quay ordered Maxine just as they exited the building.

Without preamble, Maxine retrieved the special face mask from her dimensional ring and put it on. "Happy now?" Maxine asked in irritation.

"Very," Horatio Quay said.

"Before we head out, do you mind if I tell Emily what's going on?" Maxine asked.

"Fine, but don't take too long," Horatio Quay said impatiently, "I'll be waiting just outside of this world's magnetosphere." With that, he surged upward with tremendous speed without so much as disturbing a single speck of dirt, but to anyone else, he would've simply vanished from their sight. I've really got to learn how to move that fast without disturbing my surroundings. It's almost as if he moves without air resistance.

Maxine swiftly made her way to the healers tents and found Emily. "We need to talk," Maxine said as she grabbed Emily and dragged her into a isolated corner. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening in.

"What's this about?" Emily asked in a worried tone.

"I convinced my teacher to give us a hand," Maxine said, "But it comes with conditions."

"What kind of conditions?" Emily asked.

"He wants me to kill as many of the void beasts as I can as a form of training before he makes a move himself and trust me when I say that he can absolutely annihilate that swarm by himself," Maxine said, "But I don't know if I'll be able to keep myself from using that last transformation if I get cornered. If that happens..." Both me and Emily know this is nothing more than an insurance policy. I can't let anyone know that I can consciously transform into a hydra. Uncle Zeph already mentioned that it would be a bad idea for anyone to know that I can even do it and I figured out why myself. So if I have to transform, it's best if everyone thinks that I can only do it when I'm extremely afraid or angry to minimize the threat that I make if I do transform out there. I don't need the Alliance thinking they've got a literal weapon of mass destruction walking around. They're already fearful enough of me by just being Guan's daughter, even when they know that I prefer to use peaceful methods to solve my problems.

"I'll send that video that you sent me to the media," Emily interrupted Maxine.

"I just hope that I'll be able to revert back before I end up making my way back to Earth," Maxine said fearfully as she gently placed her hand protectively over Emily's belly, "And to the both of you."

"I'm positive that you'll be able to," Emily said encouragingly, "You've done it before."

"Yeah, I guess I did," Maxine said as she kissed Emily, "Now, I've kept my sadist of a teacher waiting long enough."

"Be careful," Emily said softly.

"I always am," Maxine said as she backed away from Emily, "Oh, I have a warp stone set in that spot that I had cleared out in the camp. Just be sure to remember not to touch me directly if I'm bleeding."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I won't," Emily said as she watched Maxine lift off the ground and rocket towards the sky. Within moments, the sky darkened and revealed the stars and moon above. However, it took a moment for Maxine to spot Horatio Quay and began flying towards him.

[I thought you would take longer than that,] Horatio Quay commented as she approached, [I suppose you'll enjoy a celebration with your 'girlfriend' afterwards then. Still, I'm surprised that you didn't tell your mother or grandmother what you were going to do.]

[Mom would've tried to stop me,] Maxine answered coldly, [And grandma would've tried to follow after us to make sure that I didn't get into a situation that I couldn't escape from.]

[It's good to be loved,] Horatio Quay said, [Remember that love and how much it would hurt them if you were to fall. It will keep you alive when fear and anger won't.]

[I'll keep that in mind,] Maxine said as she finally arrived at his side, [So, how are we getting to the void beasts? Because with my speed, it'll take a day and a half to reach them.]

[I'll take care of that,] Horatio Quay replied as she grabbed her wrist and blade energy danced around them as he surged forward. So, that's how he does it! He's literately cutting through the void! It's brilliant. This way he can bend the laws of physics to increase his maximum speed.

She saw him look back at her with a small smirk as they flew past the asteroid belt. We're already this far out?! It's only been a few seconds. At this speed, we'll be there in a matter of minutes. However, it took far less time than she thought and she began to feel a sense of dread when she saw the gathering void beasts. Jesus, that's a lot of them. I'm both regretful and grateful that I brought my teacher into this mess. There is no way our defenses could've held up against THAT many void beasts. Hell, if I didn't know any better, I could swear there are more than one million of them there.

[Whoever counted these things needs to get their eyes checked after being heavily beaten,] Horatio Quay commented, [There is more than a million of those things with more on the way.]

[I'll be sure to let my uncle know of his scout's incompetence,] Maxine said coldly, [But that doesn't change our objective, right?]

[No, it doesn't,] Horatio Quay said, [There are also twice as many gold stage void beasts than I anticipated. This increases the risk for you considerably. If I wasn't here, your chances of even escaping would be dismal and I know how fast you can flee when you need to.]

[So?] Maxine asked.

[It just means that I'll be a lot closer than I would normally be to bail you out, but just remember, I will only move when you're either completely drained or about to suffer a fatal wound. Not before,] Horatio Quay reminded Maxine, [So, if you have a means to save yourself, I suggest you keep it handy. Just in case.]

[I already am,] Maxine said calmly and looked at the void swarm with growing concern. She barely noticed when they stopped approaching, but she couldn't quite force herself to charge forward by herself. The reason was quite simple. The animal part of her brain was screaming at her to run the other way as fast as she could.

[We don't have all day,] Horatio Quay stated and before Maxine could even respond, she felt him kick her left buttcheek, before she was thrown forward by the impact.

[ASSHOLE!] Maxine roared furiously at him as she rapidly approached the void beast swarm. After that, however, she didn't pay attention to him, even when his laughter resounded in her head. Instead, she focused her thoughts and entirely on the void beast swarm.

There was no point in holding back in this situation, so she immediately transformed straight into her full-hybrid form. With a thought, she retrieved her twilight iron blades and gripped the extended handle with two hands each. Next, she controlled the many serpentine appendages on her back to curl up and face forward as they opened their mouths to reveal serrated teeth. She concentrated and created a crescent moon blitz on each of those many teeth and fired off all of them in a cone pattern once she was in range of the void beast swarm.

The void beasts directly infront of her were practically liquified as he attacks tore right through them and continued to travel through the swarm for nearly a mile before loosing momentum. That was a lot more effective than I thought it would be and also a lot more draining as well. I might as well get a snack in before I engaged them. I need to keep my strength up for as long as possible.

She let her instincts take over for a moment as the blood and gore of the void beasts was literately drawn into the open mouths of her snake cape. She could feel her energies rapidly replenish from the consumed flesh and blood. Unfortunately, the other void beasts were quick to respond and were not give her much time to feed as they surrounded her.

Instead of letting them come to her, she charged at them as she shallowed four nutritional pills and began to cleave the void beasts apart. She dodged when she needed to and lashed out with a roaring crescent moon blitz when she couldn't. She didn't dare block any of the violent attacks from the void beasts. They simply outweighed her by too much and in a zero-g environment, she would be thrown around each time she tried to block. That would easily get her thrown into the spiky carapace of a void beast.

After only five minutes of her fighting up close, she had taken several dozen shallow cuts across her body and lost four inches off of the end of her tail. The serpents the made up her snake-cape had been biting chunks out of any void beasts that gotten within range. She quickly incorporated these unconscious strikes into her fighting style. The extra nutrients from this action was helping to both restore her stamina and heal her wounds. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly enough to keep up with the wounds she was taking or the stamina that she was using. If I keep up this intensity, I'll be exhausted in less than an hour, but if I let up, they'll surround me. I need some breathing room to recover a bit.

Maxine unleashed a flurry of crescent moon blitz attacks infront of her while rapidly charging towards open space. It was a terribly inefficient use of her energies, but the void beasts were packed too closely together for her to weave around them. Once she was free, she kept moving to stay that way and swallowed down another five nutritional pills to speed up her recovery. However, when she sent out a pulse of her spiritual sense to confirm the positions of the void beasts, she failed to sense Horatio Quay. What?! Where the fuck did he go?! He should be within my spiritual sense range.

Maxine growled in frustration and anger as she summoned one hundred of her Shadow Wolves and her dragon to fight the void beast swarm. She knew they would only buy her a minute or two before being torn to shreds, but that would be enough time for her to regain almost all of her spend energy. Unfortunately, her shadow wolves were faring worse than she anticipated and were not going to last more than one minute. I should've expected this. They're being torn apart by the spiky carapace of the void beasts. At least, my dragon is doing okay. It's fire breath attack is doing a lot of damage.

She had her constructs return to her shadow before they got damaged beyond repair and charged back into the swarm. Sadly, the void beasts had caught onto her tactics and began to simply rush her rather than allow themselves some room to maneuver. She was forced to create a barrier made of blades to avoid becoming poked full of holes. In a moment of inspiration, she increased the density of the blades in her barrier before forcing it outward to create a blade nova. She had no idea how many of the void beasts were killed with that move, but she used the opportunity get out of that bad situation. Shit, it's too dangerous to remain stationary. Time to kill them while remaining as mobile as possible.

She kept narrowly dodging the void beasts and landing killing blows where she could. It was dangerous, but it was safer than staying still. However, just when she was confident that she could continue fighting like this, Horatio Quay roared into her head, [Use your warp stone. NOW!] She didn't even question how he knew about her warp stone as she retrieved it from her dimensional ring, but stopped as she felt something change in the space around her. A spatial lock!? Who the fuck would use that against void beasts?! And more importantly, WHY!? Unless, it's going to be used on a person. Shit!

[Get out of THERE!] Horatio Quay yelled at her and she pushed her speed to the limit as she fled from the center of void beast swarm. Oddly enough, they didn't impede her. Instead, they were trying to get away just as quickly as she was. This is very fucking bad! Void beasts only flee from stellar catastrophes!

She used her spiritual sense to look at what exactly it was and only saw a rapidly expanding sphere of complete darkness. Whenever it touched a void beast, they simply disintegrated as they were pulled into it. That sight terrified her so much that she barely noticed it when cut herself several times on the spiky carapace of a void beasts in her haste to flee. Unfortunately, she knew that she wouldn't be able to get away in time as she felt an intense gravitational field attempt to pull her back towards that sphere.

But she still refused to give up. She wanted to see her and Emily's baby being born and to watch them grow. These thoughts spurred her to tap into reserves of strength she didn't know that she had. Still, it wasn't enough and she knew it because she could already feel the end of her tail being slowly annihilated. Shit, I never thought I would be forced to use this technique, but if there was ever a time to use it, it's now.

Maxine grit her teeth in pain and desperation as she began using the battle god technique. Strength surged through her with an oddly familiar feel to it and she got a huge boost to her speed and power that allowed her to break away from the rapidly expanding sphere of death. She only maintained the technique for a few seconds to get a safe distance away before she stopped using it, but the damage had already been done. Her energy pathways felt as if they were on fire and her movements became sluggish. Fuck, this hurts! At least, with my regeneration, this pain should diminish to more tolerable levels in a few hours. Anyways, where is teacher?! I have a bone to pick with him!

She looked around with her spiritual sense and found him attempting to kill someone. However, whenever Horatio Quay was close enough, his adversary kept teleporting away. Fuck, a spatial attributed cultivator. That explains the sphere of death that I nearly died to.

[Get going,] Horatio Quay said abruptly to her, [I'll explain later.]

[Yes, sir,] Maxine replied and flew towards Earth as swiftly as she could. Who the fuck was that guy and why did they want to kill me? However, before she could think on that topic more, she noticed something and felt her face heat up in shame. Where did my clothes go?