Lana was getting tired of not going off base and decided the friends would have a day in town. Blaine was unable to go with her but Chekof made sure to be at her side. Lana covered a movie, dinner, ice cream and more for the friends from what she called "party funds" from their exploits on the outing. She was still shocked by how well that went.
This was also a belated birthday present for Almin who turned 17 just a few days prior. Lana allowed him to pick out something and the others did as well.
They went to see a second movie before stopping by the store and returning to the dorms. They bought several bags of groceries.
She was on edge walking through the park on the way back. It seemed every time she was in this park, except allowing Sven his time out, she was attacked by that monster. She heard a whispering between the trees. They appeared to be arguing. Some said there was an attack happening. Others said it was a trap. She decided to ask the tree who was involved in the attack.
They were within sight of the gates to the base when she was informed there was a girl being attacked. It was a trap but the attack on the girl was true. The boys chose the place to get her as well. Lana quickly handed her bags over to Kattie.
"Kattie, I need you and Alto to take our things back to our rooms. There is a girl in trouble."
She gestured for the other three to follow her and she followed the instructions given her by the trees. It had to be Pucket. When she got to the scene, she didn't see him, neither did the others.
There were four boys on lookout, another two holding a girl down while another was beating her and ripping her clothing off. Lana signaled for Dobin and Chekof to take out the guards and Almin to take out the one beating the girl.
She held out her hand and counted down. She threw out a root system to hold the two that were holding the girl. That skill had gotten much stronger throughout the school year. She looked to see how the boys were faring.
Dobin created an earth wall that was good and thick that curved behind the sentries so their only way to go was toward him. He threw out an earth dagger at both boys. One dodged and threw out a mini tornado. The other had a wood ability. He picked up some sticks and they became spears that were both jabbed at Dobin at the same time.
Chekof had partially transformed and was engaged in melee combat with one sentry while the other was spitting barbs akin to those from the hedgipine. They seemed to hurt and Chekof was slowing down just a bit.
Then Lana noticed something. These boys were all second-year students. They all had soul weapons, specific weapons that worked with their ability to make them stronger that everyone learned in their second year and spent the year mastering its use.
She turned around and looked at the scene closer to her. Almin was equally in trouble. The girl was hurt but able to get herself out of there with a nod of thanks. Those she ensnared couldn't move so they were not a threat at the moment. She had no choice. She walked up to the tree near her brother and placed a hand on it "wake up!" she did the same with several other trees near her brother, Chekof, and Almin. She was showing her ability but she felt she had no choice.
Just a few moments after telling each tree to wake up, they did. This is a skill that allowed a tree to become sentient. Not only was this a powerful skill but dangerous to use as well. She didn't think it was possible to put the tree back to sleep which meant she just made six sentient trees in the forest. A forest that was tired of all the abuse the military students committed at their roots. This could only end badly.
The trees separated all the parties involved by grabbing all of them. They dropped Lana, Almin, Chekof and Dobin as far away as possible toward the gate. The biggest tree told her to leave. She did as she was told.
The next day, the school was searching for the students. Their bodies were never found and their watches' last location was in one of the park's forested areas. Noone saw anything or came forward with any information. That was reported to the student body, that is.
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In Major Cruciatus' office, "So what you're saying is she has a strong ability and doesn't know how to use it or tells people that she doesn't know?"
"Based on what I observed last night, she knew exactly what she was doing. She touched the trees, said "wake up" they then came to life and shredded the boys alive and buried all the bits beneath their roots then returned to being still as if nothing happened."
"So, she's strong and unique."
"Yes sir. But remember our deal. I get her before she is taken."
Major Cruciatus grinned his most evil grin, "of course."
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After Alto put their purchases in his room, he raced back to Kattie's room to wait for Lana.
They were both relieved when the four friends entered the room.
"What happened?" Katie practically assaulted her friends with the question.
"Simple. Pucket got another nugget of my ability… But we saved the girl."
"So now what? Wait until he attacks again? We can't keep doing this, Lana."
Lana smiled, "you don't get it. This just reduced his options of where he can pull off a successful attack against me. This means the location will be easier to predict. He's trying to figure out the best way to succeed. In doing so, he's narrowing down his options. Let him play this game. He's making it easier to counter him."
Lana was growing confident. She had her friends. While he did as well, all he could do with his ability was move away quickly. She just needed to be able to catch him. With the help of Chekof and Blaine, given enough time to train, she could do this.
Chekof smiled, "are you all set for your stall tomorrow? If so, we can go to your tree and train until curfew sounds."
Lana smirked. "Let's do it."
He had removed the barbs and eaten a few of the recently-purchased steaks so his strength had returned.
They only got to spar for half an hour but Chekof focused on her speed since her strength was good. The opponent could teleport. She needed to be able to respond before he could get away.
About a week before the next outing, Lana took Blaine on a date. She ordered food before hand and dressed up nice. She placed the food in her room.
She whispered, "happy birthday." Before having him sit and enjoy his meal. She got him a nice new belt. It cost a fortune to her mind but she didn't want something to draw attention. After they ate, they lay on her bed, talked and just enjoyed each other's company until just before curfew.
February was fast approaching, The first Monday was another portal outing. This one was exploratory in nature, the classes would be working as a class so they would not be able to team up this time. He needed to make sure she was at her best in case Pucket chose that as his venue of attack.
Soon, they were once again in the portal room. They were grouped in classes and smaller still, their groups. They were informed this was an exploration mission where they would stay with their class but each group would work together to find undiscovered flora and fauna using specific scanners which were passed out during the explanation. These scanners would not work until the teacher turned them on. The scanners only worked within 200 meters of the teacher's scanner.
Plants would give the group 1 point while undiscovered beasts would yield 5 points. The more points the group received, the higher their grade. Lana looked around and realized Blaine's group was still only four people. She smiled. No trashy girls attached to him this time! Her class would be the first to go through the portal this time. Nis announced they needed to line up and get ready to go.
This time they were going to a level-3 planet that had not been fully explored, which was why the students were asked to help with exploration. By staying together as a class it increased their chances of survival if an unknown danger arose.
The students all held hands so they would land in the same place at the other end. A sergeant sprinkled a pinch of a silverish powder over the edge of the circle. As the tiny particles touched the circle, it lit up. The teacher said the words Amazonia 1. There were three locations on this planet that one could teleport to. Number one was the military. Number two was a small settlement of the Bestiary family. The third belonged to the Inferno family.
Immediately, the light got brighter and the bodies of the students in the circle broke down into particles and reformed somewhere else.
Once on the other side, there was a soldier standing there telling them to move aside. Nis had already started forming a line of his students so they would all stay together. Lana didn't even have time to reflect on the sick feeling she endured or the way the feeling was receding as she walked toward her teacher. Moments later, Blaine's class arrived.
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