"Who told you it was a good idea to leave early in the morning without any escorts?!" Edwin tapped Acacia's head with his hand fan as she ate her food on the couch.
"Even Kel isn't that reckless and that says a lot." Jahir shook his head and inspected Poppy's body with his gaze while his spider legs wrapped a webbed bandage around the young boy's forehead.
"The first time you complimented me." Kel smirked.
"And the last." Jahir stared at him with an unamused gaze.
"There's a reason we go out in groups you know." Zephyra shook her head as she poured more meat in Acacia's bowl and poured some more for Poppy and the young boy.
'I don't know if I am being pampered or scolded.' Acacia thought to herself, the aroma of the meat made her stomach rumble, and she devoured it with gusto.
"Why were you outside anyways?" Elric asked, his body leaned against the wall.
"I saw—" Acacia was about to speak when she cut herself off. 'If I tell them about the person I saw, surely they might believe but he came from this area. What if he is spying on us? Who was he talking to? Is it even something important?'
"I told her to leave." Bella suddenly spoke out and a small frown tugged her lips.
'I was not expecting her to say that.' Acacia raised her head to look at Bella with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Why?" Zephyra asked in confusion.
"I just...I don't know. It just felt like she would be a burden to us and we can't afford to be weak."
"Oh goodness, just say you were jealous of not getting attention." Edwin opened his hand-fan and fanned himself.
"I was not! I was just thinking about our well-being." Bella glared at him and crossed her arms under her chest.
"Whatever you say." Edwin replied in a mocking, sing-song voice.
"Bella, you know I don't think about anyone as a burden. If I did I wouldn't have you or anyone by my side." Zephyra sighed and rubbed Bella's shoulders in a soothing manner. "And you didn't have to, you know how dangerous it is out there, I didn't form this kin group to push people away but to help them."
"I understand." Bella slowly uncrossed her arms and hung her head low.
"Good, now let's discuss about these little rascals." Zephyra pulled her hands away from Bella and turned her attention to Poppy and the young boy. Poppy had finished her food while the young boy was still hesitant. "The food is good, you know?"
"I don't want to stay here, if you think I will stay then you better forget it." The young boy said with a look of defiance in his black eyes.
"What a brat." Edwin muttered in an annoyed tone.
"Look, little buddy. I'm not going to force you to stay if you don't want to stay, if you want to leave then go ahead but you need your energy." Zephyra ignored his comment and patted his head to which he flinched at the contact for a moment.
"And you, little lady. How did you manage against those guys?" Zephyra turned her attention to Acacia who stiffened and awkwardly set the empty bowl aside.
"I just fought I guess, Kel handled the rest." Acacia shrugged and closed her eyes.
"What rest? I only burnt one guy." Kel asked, absently scratched the scar on his cheek.
"Really? There were three." Acacia opened her eyes and thought about it. 'Maybe he escaped?'
"Who cares? They belong to the eleventh beast kin group anyways. Those guys specialize in poison, they aren't strong enough to come after us." Kel shrugged and sat down on one of the bean bags.
"How many are there?". Acacia felt her curiosity rise.
"Thirteen in total, we are ninth on the list." Edwin answered.
"That's not bad." Acacia crossed her legs and leaned her head back against the couch.
"But it's also not good, any beast kin group below six are in constant danger of getting assassinated and attacked to climb up the ranks. Once you get to the top six, no one dares to bother you in the Ruins." Elric added.
"Ruins? Is that what you call Encer now?" Acacia asked.
"Huh, you didn't know?" The young boy asked.
"She lost her memories." Jahir offered a simplified answer.
"Anyways, where does Flow Society stay now?" Acacia asked.
"A very far place in the east, away from the ruins. They have rebuilt a new city for themselves, tighter security, filled with magic users and the normal civilians." Elric further answered.
'So many things have changed in just three years? Fighting and killing is so normalized now, beast men and magic users are at odds and even amongst beast men, they have rankings and groups after each other.' Acacia rubbed her temple as she assessed the information. Her gaze flickered around the room for a moment and she noticed Elric's hand subtly on Bella's waist, his face close to her ear for a moment brief moment before he pulled away like nothing happened and a faint blush painted her cheeks. Acacia was a bit speechless but she pretended like she didn't see a thing.
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"I'm done here and I'm leaving." The young boy got up on his feet and handed his empty bowl to Zephyra who just smiled.
"You shouldn't wander too far, Maximus will take you to a friend of mine in the traders market. I'm sure he needs extra hands." Zephyra gestured to Maximus.
"I told you I don't need—" His words were cut off with Maximus lifting him up from the ground with ease. Poppy gasped and quickly got down from the couch, she stopped abruptly in her tracks and turned to face Acacia.
"Bye bye." The girl waved her hand and Acacia was confused for a moment and slowly waved her hand back.
"Do you want to follow him?" Zephyra asked and Poppy nodded. Maximus gently lifted her up in his arms as well, he ignored the protests of the boy in his right arm and left the building.
"Good riddance, I can't deal with kids." Edwin sighed in relief and sat down on the couch.
"I thought they were pretty cute." Zephyra shrugged.
"They are not, their faces deceive you with cuteness but their goal is to suck every bit of your energy." Edwin snapped his hand-fan shut to emphasize his point.
"You were also a kid once." Bella commented.
"I was the exception." He ran his fingers through his hair with pride which made Bella roll her eyes at the sight.
"Zephyra, do you have a training area?" Acacia asked.
"We do, it's at the back of the building. Spacious and also protected by a barrier so you don't have to worry about monsters." Zephyra answered and pointed to the far end of the room with a door that has an exit sign above. "You want to train?"
"Ah yeah, I just want to have a good grasp of my abilities. Can I go there?" Acacia turned her head to look at the door over the couch.
"Right now? Aren't you tired? If it's what Bella said—" Zephyra asked with a hint of worry.
"No, it was not what she said, but... she's right. I do need to pull my own weight if I'm going to stay." Acacia had a reassuring smile on her face.
"Fine but make sure you don't strain yourself and I'll help you train if you need assistance." Zephyra stared down at her and smiled back at her.
"Thanks." Acacia nodded and stood up from the couch. She walked towards the door and closed it behind her. She took a deep breath and looked around the backyard. It was indeed very spacious, leading to a less dense forest. There was a boxing bag connected to a tree nearby and some heavy dumbbells on the floor. She walked towards them and tried to carry it but it was extremely heavy, eventually she could only carry the smallest size and even that was a bit of a challenge.
"What psychopath carries these?" Acacia dropped the smaller dumbbell and let out puffs of breaths. She said looked around once more and could see where the barrier ended. Her thoughts drifted back to that hooded man and wondered why he came from here. 'I will address that later.'
Acacia sat down on a big rock and took a deep breath. She raised her hand and stared at her right palm, there seemed to be a thin light, crescent shaped scar on her palm. 'Immunity to poison but as food and it gives me energy, summoning the whip but it takes from my energy, I guess the time usage should be around four or six minutes? Uh, my teeth and nails are sharp, I can regenerate but it makes me hungry which is a bother. Is that all?'
She thought to herself as she counted all her abilities while looking at the ground. 'Ah yes! I almost forgot about my wings. I don't even know how to use them.'
She turned her head over her shoulder to stare down at her wings with curiosity, attached to her back but she barely remembers it sometimes. 'I have so many things to do, I need to exercise more, gain high pain tolerance and learn how to fly if I even want one chance against my brother. The fight with those guys made me realize that I have a long way to go.'
'Finally talking about your revenge! You should exercise more, practice flight until you master it, produce butterflies before moving to the next step.' Daemonis said with glee.
"How will I learn how to fly?" Acacia asked out loud.
'Flex your back muscles, contract and retract your muscles until your wings respond. Once they do, stop flexing your back and take control from there.' Daemonis instantly instructed.
'That was quick.' She stood and flexed her back muscles. For a full minute, she strained, willing her wings to respond. Finally, a twitch. A gasp escaped her lips as the sensation of movement rippled through her. Slowly, she relaxed her back, letting her wings unfold, spreading wide and then gently closing in a slow, graceful rhythm.
'Now gently lift your body up.' Daemonis further instructed.
She nodded and gently increased the pace of her wings, her body slowly being lifted from the ground. A thrill shot through her as her feet left the ground but it was quickly short lived, her wings went too fast and she hit her back against a tree. She groaned as she fell to the ground.
'Your control over your wings are lacking. They are not in tune with the commands in your head.' Daemonis said.
Acacia thought about what he said and stood up again, she flexed her back and her wings started to flutter gently. She slowly stopped moving her back and increased the pace of her wings, her body being lifted up in the air again.
'Keep your legs closed and try to move.' Daemonis instructed again.
She closed her legs together and tried to move towards a tree but her wings moved too fast again and she lost her balance and fell down to the ground.
'It is not working.' Acacia thought and let out a frustrated huff.
'Practice, my dear. A whole lot of practice.' Daemonis replied.
'How exciting.' Acacia muttered and got up on her feet. 'How will create butterflies?'
'You mold your blood, the same way you made your weapon but right now, you don't have the strength for it.' Daemonis replied.
She thought about his words and decided her body needs to be in shape first before anything else. She turned over on the ground and lowered herself, chest brushing the floor, her muscles screaming with the effort. Pushing back up, her arms trembled slightly, the strain visible in her clenched jaw. She repeated the movement, a rhythmic cycle of descent and ascent, each push-up a battle against gravity and fatigue. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her breath came in ragged gasps.
'How do people do this?!' Acacia felt like crying as she pushed her body back up and lowered herself again.
'By practicing, if you want a chance at revenge and to survive in this new world. You will need to forget the pain and push on.' Daemonis said.
She paused for a moment, savoring the brief moment of rest before starting again. The memory of Lucian, the beast man that killed her friends and the man she killed played in her head like a broken record. She killed a man and not once did she regret it, she didn't even feel disgusted and still ate a full meal afterwards. 'But I didn't do anything wrong, he would have killed me. I just retaliated....I defended myself. Even Kel burnt someone in front of my eyes, I'm not a monster. I'm just surviving.'
Acacia stopped and got back up on her feets, the muscles in her arms were aching but the pain was the least important to her.
She spent the next four months committed to exercise, incorporating pushups, runs, and punching bag sessions into her routine. Zephyra had been teaching her and helping her when it comes to fighting. Sometimes she trained with Kel or Bella, Jahir wasn't the combat type and Elric never seemed interested in training with her, not that she minded.