'I wonder if he's getting stronger in there.' Reed thought as he stared at the tower Thorin had forbidden him from getting close to because of how upset he was from feeling like no one did their best to actually defeat Lucian and his team. Well, no one except for Thorin.

Reed was impressed with how much stronger Lucian had become since the last time they met. Back then he barely paid attention to Lucian, but this time around he can't help comparing himself with Lucian. Ever since his brother died, he hasn't been taking training as seriously as he ought to, and with Thorin's continuous advice to relax and not stress himself about anything, Reed has become like the others in his team, a lazy bum who continuously relies on Thorin without bothering to have strength of his own.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't be here." Thorin voices out. He tilted his head up to where Reed sat at the top of a tree branch. Thorin sighed and sat at the bottom of the tree; he was concerned by what could be bothering Reed, and in as much as he wished it wasn't Lucian, he had a feeling that Reed's worries had to do with the devil he hated. "Have you forgotten that I ordered you not to be here?" He asked, trying his best to get Reed to return back to their hideouts. Thorin didn't want to be away for too long; he was afraid of a beast attacking his teammates in his absence.

"As you can see, I'm far away from the dungeon; there's nothing wrong with staring at it." Reed answered in a dry tone. He hesitated and then asked, almost as though he was hoping for a lie he could hang on to, until he got tired of deceiving himself. "Have I gotten stronger?"

'No.' Reed sharply thought to himself, answering his own question before Thorin.

Thorin carefully thought over Reed's question. "Everybody is strong in their own way; we all have our weaknesses and strengths. You are no different, Reed; you are strong in your own way." Thorin smiled.

'No different?' The words repeated in Reed's head, and he gave out a dry laugh. Thorin's answer was far from what he wanted. He wanted a lie, but not the kind that was brutally mixed with the truth. He was no different from others who had cowered away helplessly while facing Lucian teammates. "I guess you are right," Reed said, completely twisting the meaning of Thorin's words. Understanding only one undeniable truth, strength was one of the most important things necessary for anyone to survive in Hlasked.

"Stop thinking about Lucian; trust me when I say that nothing good comes out of thinking about him so much." Thorin said in distaste.

Reed jumps down from the tree. "I trust you, captain, but it would be nice if you took your own advice." With those words he left Thorin and returned to their small campsite alone.

"What is going on here?" A female in the Reed team yelled and complained together with several other voices.

Reed had decided that instead of continuously feeling sorry for his weak state, he was better off doing something about it. Not just for himself but for his teammates as well; that way if they face a strong opponent next time, they could all survive.

"I heard Reed is organizing a training section for us." A male voice rang out.

"What the hell? If he wants to exercise so early in the morning, he should go ahead on his own and leave me out of it."

"Silence!" Reed ordered, sick of the noise. They are grown-up, but they acted like children. "We will start by running a few laps." He stretched out his arms and jumped up in excitement.

A hand shoots up from among his teammates, and then an irritated voice asks, "What if we don't want to?"

Quickly another voice added, "I'm tired of this loser who thinks he's Captain. Now that I remember, he used to have a brother."

"Yes, I think so. I remember seeing him and his twin brother at the start of the game. I can't remember his name; all I remember is their similar face that had creeped me out."

"Where could his brother be?" A curious voice joined in. They were loud enough for Reed to hear, purposely irritating him.

"Who knows, maybe his brother has turned into a runaway or could probably be dead somewhere." The voice laughed.

Reed activated his wind magic, wrapped it around his arm and feet, and quickened his movement as he threw a hit at the male who had laughed about his brother's death, breaking the nose of his target. He quickly spun on his feet with the help of his magic and raised his leg in a high kick at the other voice involved; without caring whether it was a male or female, he landed a brutal hit.

This was the first time for Reed to use his magic in a unique way; he always saw his magic as useless, unable to cause any harm to his opponent, but now Reed felt like he was being guided by the ghost of his brother, although it was just pure rage that brought along his deep instincts to kill anyone who dares spoil his brother's name. Reed's rage won't disappear, not until he kills his targets.

"Since you are so interested in the dead, I will help you join them." Reed took out his sword.

His target pales and begins to beg him for forgiveness.

"Reed, stop!" Thorin held Reed's hand; he didn't know what was going on, but from the apology of the men on the ground who promised to never mention Reed's brother, he could tell that Reed had the right to be annoyed. "Calm down, Reed. We didn't ask them to join the team so that we could kill them."

Reed let out a breath and kept his sword, but his brows were still set in a frown. "I didn't ask them to join the team." He corrected.

"Right." Thorin rubbed his temple and then noticed that everyone was gathered together; it was unusual. "Is something going on here?"

"Master Reed called us out for training." A female voice spoke out in fear and then added, "He's abusing his authority as your right-hand man, forcing us into what we don't want to do."

"There will be no need for training." Thorin smiled at the crowd, "I'm strong enough to protect our team."

"Yay! That's our captain!" Different voices rang out in cheers.

"You are killing them." Reed blurts out. He was starting to see the cage Thorin's new ideas had caged him in for so long. "If you truly want them to survive, teach them how to protect themselves." He glared at Thorin and then began to run the laps he had planned alone.

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