After continuing the hunt for a few more hours, the night finally came.
Alea and Theo returned to their basecamp, where they left some tools, mostly for cooking.
Since Alea was satisfied, she cooked a full course meal for both of them. Although it wasn't as good as his master's, it was better than average. His cooking couldn't be compared to her to be honest.
They sat in front of a small campfire, eating their meal peacefully with some crickets noises in the background.
Suddenly, Theo opened his mouth, asking the question he had this whole time. "Why did you not use your left hand earlier? I mean, even an amateur like me could see that your swing was faster, sharper, and more refined compared to your right hand's. Are you trying to take pity on me?"
Alea looked down with a sad expression.
Theo sighed and shook his head helplessly. "That's not important. I just want to know whether you are going to continue using your left hand or right hand."
Alea smiled and raised her head. "I am sorry that I can't share this story with you. However, I can assure you that I will continue using my left hand. Though, I'm not sure whether to use it or not when fighting against the others."
"Why? That's dumb."
"Sorry." Alea looked down, recalling her past again. Somehow, her left hand started shaking and forced her right hand to stop it. "I think you need to know this one. After losing the ability to wield the sword with my left hand, I began practicing my right hand.
"But even with my right hand, which I think only amounts to 30 percent of my power, I'm still considered the number one in the school. I'm just afraid that if I use my left hand again… People will fear me just like how I fear my own left hand."
"Trauma, huh." Theo narrowed his eyes and contemplated.
"Sorry."
"I'm sorry to say this, but I will just say what I've seen about you. I am assuming that you're nice to everyone because of your trauma."
"Part of it. Well, I do indeed like them, but the thought of me losing them scares me. I'm pathetic, right? It's fine to make fun of me."
"Yes. The reason for your trauma is pathetic, dumb, childish, insignificant, idiotic… I can insult it with every word I know." Theo suddenly paused and Alea looked down, knowing that she needed to face this at some point. However, Theo continued with something outside her expectation. "Yes… It is everything… but not humorous."
Hearing that answer, she couldn't help but smile.
"Though, I still need to say it. Annoying." Theo narrowed his eyes. "What will you do in front of death? Will you keep it away like this?"
"That… I can't answer. But as long as we are hunting monsters together, I think I will be using my left hand."
Theo thought there was a need to force her to overcome that trauma, but the only way to do it was by risking his life. At the moment, he didn't feel like gambling with his life for her, so he chose to discard that option.
'That means it's in the second stage of training…' Theo narrowed his eyes and contemplated. "I want to confirm it again. You don't want to use your left hand in the second stage of training?"
"I think yes. Even with that, I'm pretty strong, you know."
"Whatever. I don't care whether you're strong or not. I only know that you'll be significantly weaker than the current you."
"Ugh." She looked away, embarrassed.
"Whatever." Theo shrugged. "Since I can observe your movement in your top form, I won't have the trouble to control you during the next training session. Hehe…"
"Ehm…" She leaned to the back, looking at Theo with a weird expression. "I think you should keep that to yourself."
"Huh? It's intentional. Just so you know that you're going to follow my instructions from this point on. Objections are not allowed," said Theo with a serious expression. He truly believed that would be the case.
"Ugh. That serious face of yours gives me a chill. To think you keep maintaining your position in my blind spot."
"You can't read me that way while I can know what you see." Theo stuck his tongue out. "Anyway, I think we should get going."
"True." Before rising from the ground, she grabbed her bag and reached the cards in it. "I think you can have these cards. There are many materials and skill cards. I believe if you sell them all, you can get around thirty to forty thousand Zils, considering there are a few Elite Rank Materials. If you add the ones you got, it will reach forty to fifty thousand Zils."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep. It's not like I need it. If I hunt in the area around my level, I can even get one hundred thousand in a day alone. So, it's not a big deal." She paused for a moment while looking left and right, continuing with a hesitant tone. "If you want to repay me, how about going easy on me? You're truly ruthless in this mind game."
"That's impossible." Theo shrugged and took the cards. "But thank you for giving me these cards."
"You're welcome."
Theo looked through all the cards. They managed to get eight skill cards, in which one of them was an Elite Rank Card on today's hunt alone. This could be used for upgrading his skill since he didn't need skills other than the Elite Rank Skill.
Skill: Haste (E)
Effect: Increase the user speed by 30% for five minutes. Due to the effect it brings to the body, this skill can't be used for another two hours.
"Hmm. There is a side effect?" Theo narrowed his eyes.
"Well, yes. If I'm not wrong, Haste increases your metabolism to increase your speed, so if you do it again, it surely has a side effect. So I suggest you not use it carelessly."
"But that means I can still use it, right?"
"Yes. People often use it to escape since having disabled legs is better than losing your life. But I'm not too sure about its side effects. In fact, starting from E Rank, you will see side effects or something like that, making you unable to use the skills continuously."
"Even the skill from the God of Fortitude?" Theo narrowed his eyes.
"Yes." She nodded.
Theo narrowed his eyes and wondered why his clone didn't have any side effects. He thought, 'Is it due to the fact that it starts from F Rank Skill? Maybe I will see it when I receive the next skill? But how about Magic Bullet? I should ask my Master about it. I only need two more levels before reaching Elite Rank, so next Sunday will be the day I become an Elite Rank Fighter.'