Chapter 17: WIND

<Mikael PoV>

"You're lying. This is a secluded place. I'm the only one who always used this place."

See!? She's damn right.

"Haha, you got me there, huh. I'll go straight to the point. I want you to work for me. I'll make you stronger. I promise you that you'll never face danger."

Scam. Don't ever believe this man! That man is a scammer!! Look at me! That guy nearly kill me because of his plan!

"... I don't believe you"

Yup, you should.

"I know I look like a suspicious guy, but I promise you that I'm not bad. You're alone right? A soloist can't survive this place, no one's gonna protect your back.  I don't recommend that, you need a helper. You'll die early if you don't join a team. "

The girl started to pause. It seemed like Kyle was right, she didn't have teammates. Wow, I thought all of Awakeners already have a group. I mean a month has already passed. To survive in the Punishment Event, a team is a must. This is a miracle on its own way.

".... I don't trust you"

She hesitated for a second before answering. She needed to join a group to increase her chance of survival, but I guessed she didn't trust us.

"Is that so? That's okay. You can return to your training. Just don't mind us. I'm sorry for disturbing you. Bye-bye"

We left her and started to get away.

"I thought you want to recruit her? Why did you give up fast?" 

I asked Kyle.

"Kuku, just wait. 3. 2. 1"

"H-hey! Wait a minute!!"

She followed us. We stopped and faced her. Perhaps this girl was desperate too.

"See kuku"

Kyle gave me a smug. Okay, okay, you were right.

"Oh? Why did you stop us? I thought you don't want to join."

"... How many are you?"

The woman narrowed her eyes questioning us.

"Four"

"D- do you have female members in your group?"

"We have two. A woman and a child."

"... I want to see them before I can decide. Bring the other two and I'll think about it"

She said.

"Sorry, but we can't. You see one of them, the child one,  has eaten a Power Stone and it will take about an hour to fully consume it. But don't worry, we can take you to our room. What do you think? Don't be afraid, we don't have bad intentions. I'm not a pedo, but I don't know about my friend."

Huh!? Sorry, but my preference is a mature woman. Big boobs!! Big ass!! I don't like girls younger or same age as mine. Even if she's a  foreigner, I don't.

"Sorry, but I don't like petite."

I honestly said what I thought.

"W w w- what!? Who's petite!!!??"

The woman blushed and stuttered while glaring at me.

"Sorry, sorry. Hahaha, this man is a bad talker. But he's a good guy I assure you"

She inspected us and looked if she found anything suspicious.

"Okay... I... I'll go with you, but if you ever tried to do things..."

"Yes, yes, don't worry"

Kyle, why don't you just threaten her like what you did to us? The negotiation will end faster if you do that.

"By the way, can I get your name"

"Niña Hasvolge. I'm from Germany."

Kyle's eye beamed a little and he smiled.

"Nice to meet you Niña. I'm Kyle from Canada and this is Mikael from Philippines"

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We brought her into our room. The two girls started to chat. Miriam greeted her, she was happy that she had a woman to talk to. 

"Hello Niña, I'm Miriam and this is Lane. She just finished consuming the Power Stone that's why she sleeping"

"Power Stone?"

Niña glanced at the sleeping Lane who was resting on Miriam's lap.

"If you join us I'll tell you what Power Stone is"

Kyle joined their conversation. I detected some agitation when Kyle heard Niña name. I really want to know what's inside that head of yours.

"This..."

"You already see that we're good. Miriam and Lane were already a proof that we won't hurt people"

We are not a group of people who do that kind of thing. I don't rape. We have morality, so what you're thinking is impossible. We are not the type of people who will obstruct others to get what we want.

Niña we are normal, though it's my inside monologue. I will not help you with your decision.

"... Okay, I accept"

The woman nodded.

"Good you'll never regret this"

"... I'm starting to regret it"

Looked like we found another member… But there was something odd when Kyle heard Niña's name. Well, not that it matters, he may be an odd guy, but he still has humanity. I'm sure he won't do something that would reach the bottom line...

I gave Niña a slice of meat. She took it and chewed it. Except for Lane, all of us eat our food.

"Niña we need to know your Skill. Don't worry, we will tell ours too."

Niña put down her food and paused for a second. She told us about her Skill.

"I use the wind to make myself faster. It's called Wind step"

"Okay, mine is...."

We explained all our abilities to Niña. To make her trust us, we told her everything. Our Items, equipment, the Power Stone, and last but not the least, the Rejuvenating Room. Her eyes widened listening to our explanation, especially when she heard the Rejuvenating Room.

"I thought the Healing Pond is the only one who can heal our wounds. I never thought this place had that ability. No wonder you've stayed here in the second floor where many monsters will attack you first"

"That's why Niña, don't tell it to others"

Kyle laughed.

"I won't"

"Glad to hear it"

"But many people were actually talking about you. They are thinking why you were staying here and how you survive the whole month without any injuries or casualties"

Looked like they began to suspect us, though I'll just leave it, I have a guess about the average level of Awakeners right now, they couldn't beat me. And Kyle our laser beam destructor could kill a thousand within a second. So I'm confident to face them. 

"Pfft, not that it matters They just suspect us. As long as we don't do something that will garner their hate. They won't disturb us. We just need to lay low."

Kyle confidently said, his answer was close to mine.

"And if they found out?"

I tried to mock him and waited for how would he react.

"Then we'll fight for it. If we lose, we can just give this to them. I can be stronger without the help of Rejuvenating Room."

He's right. Again, our level is already high, we can fight them or just give it to them. The room might have given us benefits, but we can live without using it.

"This room is just a decoration now. We're already strong"

If things went south we could forfeit this room.

".... Okay, I'll stay. I'm in. From now on, I'm part of this team."

Our team recruited another member, welcome to our team Niña Hasvolge.

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The night came and we fought the monsters, as always.

"Ah!"

Niña slashed a wolf and threw a knife. It hit the eye of a goblin shaman. She was fast and she could move easily because of her small stature. She was a good add up for our team.

"Grah!!"

The monster died... As always.

We fought stronger monsters, but we become stronger too. Besides, the room slows them by 50%,  we could easily evade their attacks.

"I feel like I'm fighting punching bags."

Niña told her opinion.

"Don't belittle them. Fighting monsters are not a game. One wrong move and you will die."

Kyle talked while he put his sword on the head of a troll. 

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Our lives were turning to a new leaf. An ordinary youth like me has now the power to smash a house. If my past self saw me right now, I'm sure he would go crazy.

We did the same routine everyday. Actually, we started to get tired of it. I could say that the tension was gone if you compared it when we first entered this event.

Niña adapted well in our group. Now the three girls were getting friendlier with each other.

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Everything was under control until we confront the second Boss.