The next space she encountered was a lot smaller than the previous two and the air smelt rancid. It was slightly nauseating for Vanora whose sense of smell was enhanced. She frowned slightly and observed that the area seemed empty. There was nothing hiding in the dark above nor in the corners. She took a tentative step out of the tunnel and noticed that the ground was a little softer than the ground she has been walking on. Am I dealing with something underground?

She took slow and calculated steps towards the other side. Her entire body was tense and ready to jump in case a pit was suddenly created or something came up from below her. One. Two. Three. Four. On her fifth step, several fresh scratches appeared on her exposed legs before she could react. She stopped moving. Whatever caused the scratches moved too sudden and fast that she could not identify what it was. However, she could assume that it was a small creature based on the size of her wounds.

She stood still for awhile and realised that there were no attacks on her again. Could it be triggered by my movement?

When she started moving again, she got attacked on her third step. As she was more prepared this time, she saw the little assailants shoot out from the ground beneath her before entering the soil again. She moved again this time in an attempt to catch at least one. She adapted fast to their speed but it was still down to her reflexes since she did not know when they would reveal themselves. She managed to catch one on her second try and opened her hand to see that it was a maggot looking creature that was about the size of her little finger and has a round mouth with two sets of razor sharp teeth. 

Just as she intended to squish the little wriggling creature, its mouth came into contact with her palm and immediately burrowed into her. Her eyes opened wide in fear, shock, and disgust. Although she set her entire body aflame in the next instant, the speed it was capable of allowed it to travel through her entire arm and had reached her shoulder blade before bursting out of her body in flames. Goosebumps covered her skin. She had felt it shoot through her arm like it was eating her from the inside. Her gut instinct told her that if she had not reacted fast enough, it would have consumed her entire heart. So it really follows vibrations. 

She looked at the still burning carcass on the floor. At this moment, she realised that she had only been lucky none had shot up and into her leg thus far. These creatures were deceivingly harmless. 

I could slowly lure them out by using myself as a bait and kill them with my hellfire like this. She recalled the sensation of being eaten from the inside and it gave her goosebumps again. 

Or I could go hunting for stones again. But... 

She closed her eyes and focused on her hearing. Apart from Vlad's and her breathing and hearts beating, everything else was a dead silence. I don't know how many there are. Doing this is hardly any training and is more like pest control. 

Deciding that it would be an inefficient use of her time, she jumped as far as she could towards the other end. She knew that her landing would be heavier due to jumping and was prepared to tolerate more attacks at once than the precious times. Suddenly, she felt herself get scooped up and carried bridal style before she even got close to the ground. Her head snapped up to look sharply at the culprit to find that his face was full of displeasure.

He flew them to the other end which Vanora would have reached in around two or three leaps. Upon setting foot on solid ground again, Vanora immediately pushed herself off of him with the intention to tell him off for interfering. Yet before she could open her mouth, he said his piece first. "What were you thinking?! Do you know how many of that worms you'd have triggered to come jumping out at you?!"

"Of course I do. You didn't need to interfere." She replied him coldly. Does he think so little even of my intelligence?

"I didn't need to? Even if you won't die, you'd be riddled with holes." He said through gritted teeth.

"I know. I was prepared for it. I'd just have to take a break afterwards before moving on to the next one." She frowned.

"If you intended to breeze past this room, you could let me know and you wouldn't even need to take a break! Weren't you all about efficiency? You'd rather get injured and spend time recovering than getting my help in crossing the area?" 

"Yes." Her clear, cold, hard, and resolute answer shocked him cold. He no longer felt angry but rejected. His face full of sadness told Vanora everything that he was feeling. 

"So don't interfere with my training again." Vanora warned him the last time before walking off. 

This time, BaoBao felt like the second male lead was a little wronged by Vanora. Vlad had not assisted or helped her in a way that made it easier for her which BaoBao knew was her bottom line. He simply took away the unnecessary pain she did not have to face since he was there. So he could not help but clarify her true source of unhappiness. Vanora... What's wrong? Somehow I don't feel like you're truly upset with his actions but something else.

... I really can't hide much from you any longer huh. She replied with a wry smile after a short pause. She then continued with a sigh. I'm already depending on him for everything else. From living to transport to training. I can't rely on him when it's something I can face by myself.

Vlad followed behind her in a depressed mood with a very different thought. Am I that unlikable to the point that she wouldn't even think to use me to care for herself?

The next creatures she encountered were a pack of three eyed wolves that were slightly bigger than her. Their eyes glowed bright red and their coats were a shiny coal black that were as tough as steel threads. They worked very well together. They did not end up hitting each other even if they surrounded her or attacked her at the same time from different directions. This made them more tricky to handle but still ended up as not much of an issue as well. Her physical prowess exceeded theirs by a little and once she got used to their movements, she could see their weak points and targeted those. When she did, the wolves fell one by one with a few hits or kicks from her.

The final one she encountered was a huge dark green ogre that was a few metres tall. She briefly wondered how it got in this cave and why it stayed in this small restrictive cave before focusing back on her fight. Although the ogre looked intimidating with its size and scary features, it moved slow due to its size and its durability in tanking hits made it a huge punching bag for Vanora. It was only a matter of stamina and endurance. Vanora could win as long as she could keep hitting the ogre before it recovered from her previous hits. This consumed a lot of her time before she successfully knocked it out with a kick to its head. She was finally panting heavier than she did in any of her fights. 

The collapsed body revealed the continuing tunnel behind him and she went to it. However, she noticed that the path was slightly going upwards again. As she expected, there was no next encounter. Upon exiting the cave, she took stock of her condition. Besides feeling a little tired from her encounter with the ogre, she did not feel worn out or stretched. Her gut instinct was only engaged once and it was with the worms which she spent the least time facing. 

It was unsatisfying and unsettling for Vanora. She did not dare to slack. Her being an insignificant character meant that she had no talent whatsoever that would make her grow exponentially in a short amount of time. She had to invest time and effort to make up for the lack of talent she has.

"Do you want to eat?" Vlad asked tentatively. He was still wary of Vanora who had snapped at him earlier. He did not want to be disliked to the point of being rejected as a source of help during her times of need.

"No. Let's start on my aura perception." 

Vlad obediently stayed still for her and kept quiet as he knew that she was already trying to perceive his emotions through his aura. Vanora strained her eyes and pushed herself till the limit she imposed on herself which was when Vlad covered her eyes the previous night. There was still no improvement from yesterday. Since she was not distracted by Vlad today, she realised that her eyes were actually throbbing in pain. She closed her eyes to rest for awhile and frowned while she tolerated the pain. 

In the midst of the pain, she felt Vlad's fingers slipping into her hand before it was held gently that way. Vanora inferred that he was likely bringing them back to the room in the inn and BaoBao confirmed it. Vlad then ushered her to sit down on a cushion. 

When the throbbing subsided, she opened her eyes and found him sitting in front of her waiting patiently. She wordlessly continued her aura perception practice. She repeated what she did earlier but there was still no difference, so she continued the practice for another half an hour. The length of time it took for the throbbing to stop increased with each attempt. Now it took around 10 minutes for the throbbing to stop and it would become inefficient to push herself further. She decided to call it a day despite having not much improvement.

After her eyes recovered again, she went to bathe. This time, she did not spend too long in the bath since there was not much to review from today's fights. When she came out, she found another new set of clothes. This time, it was much more decent with its long sleeves and long pants. It looked like a female version of Vlad's pajamas from the previous night, except that it was a normal v-neck that ended at her collarbone instead of a deep one. Vanora paid no mind to the changes her clothes were undergoing and wore it like it was just another piece of cloth.

When Vlad saw Vanora return to the room dressed in her new set of pajamas, he was speechless. Although he no longer felt that she was inviting, a new desire to see how her body looked underneath the loose pajamas that clung to her body rose within him. ... Ineffective. What could be the problem? 

He had bought a much more decent looking pajamas thinking that it would make it easier for himself in his restraint from touching her or doing anything to her. Normally, he would not have hesitated to do whatever he wanted but he could not afford to do the same now. Since this was new to him, he did not know how to manage the situation nor his feelings.

"Derek, please find me stronger opponents tomorrow. At least of the same level of danger as the worms today." Her request broke him out of his musing. 

"What?"

"Is there an issue?" Vanora slightly tilted her head and asked sincerely.

"No no, there isn't. I'll bring you to stronger ones tomorrow." 

"Thank you." Vanora drank the tea that was prepared for her on the table as usual, while Vlad went to bathe. 

Like yesterday, Vlad was done before she finished her tea and his hair was still dripping wet. However, she was done with her questioning yesterday and she was not one for idle talk, so they sat in silence together.