After leaving the battlefield behind, we travelled south for a short time, before I abruptly turned around and pointed at the west.
"I don't want to leave the forest yet. There are still some things that I want to check, so why don't we go for the spirit attainment area for now? We will leave at night, to make sure that no one will be able to follow us. Are you okay with that?"
With my system already at the verge of breaking through the bottleneck, I want to do it in a safe place, where no innocent passersby would get harmed. I have no idea how this process will look like, so if possible, I would like to avoid doing it in the middle of the sect!
"Are you sure about that?"
With Leila following us a few steps behind, Eve just pointed in her direction with a slight movement of her eyes. It's no wonder she isn't so sure about my decision. Not knowing what might happen, put us at risk of revealing my peculiar talents to an outsider!
"Yeah, it's better to do it in the open, I don't want to put the Sect at risk."
In the end, it's just a matter of probability and exposure. Even if Leila will get some clues about me, I can always ask Eve to keep her away as to prevent news from leaking out. Even in the case that this countermeasure won't work, we can still either leave her in the forest, outright kill her or just bind her to us as thoroughly as possible, to make sure that she will never ever consider spreading the information!
"Let's get going then. I wonder what kind of monsters are living there…"
Initially, nothing happened. Leila didn't seem to mind this change in direction. I could even bet that she thought that we were either trying to cover our tracks and confuse potential pursuers or at least don't give up from which sect we are hailing from by simply walking there in a straight line. Only after we travelled most of the distance that separated us from the hardest usually training area in the forest, did she start getting anxious.
"M-master? Are we going in the right direction? If you are lost, I can help you find your way back…"
Forcing herself to step out and initiate the talk, she curled herself in an attempt to make herself look smaller as soon as I directed my eyes at her. While I understood that with all the excitement from before gone already, it normal for her to start having doubts and even fear us, but I could see a hint of unnatural panic deep in her eyes, that she tried so much to hide.
"We are not going to our sect yet. I still want to visit the spirit attainment area to train there for a bit."
While I can understand a small bit of her worries, after all, we are going to the place where neither our or even her strength stands out amongst the monsters but isn't that the sole purpose of the training grounds? To challenge yourself so that you can reach beyond your previous limits?
"M-master… I know that I might not be of much use… but didn't you say that you will spare my life? Is this some kind of elaborate revenge? If you want me to serve you more, I'm down to anything you would like, so why… would you be so kind as to not sacrifice me?"
The moment that I confirmed her guess, her legs instantly gave up as she fell to the ground with a loud thump. Tearing up in just a fraction of the second, she started uttering some kind of strange nonsense. But she actually believed in her words to the point of actually pissing herself!
"What do you mean by sacrifice, are you high or something? Stand up and stop making a scene. We still have to even reach the place!"
I truly have no idea what kind of stupid ideas are going through her head. Sacrificing her? If killing her was my intention at any point, why would I bother letting her follow us? Why would I even give her a choice to go back?
"No!"
Seeing as I turned around to continue our way towards the place where I could safely breakthrough, she screamed and curled herself into a ball, not giving any fuck about covering an even bigger area of her body with the soft earth mixed with her piss. Trembling just like a small animal that experienced an unjust abuse from some kind of degenerate, she hid her face between her legs and refused to move even an inch.
"Eh, not a shred of dignity. What the hell is wrong with you? There goes my positive opinion of you…"
I can't help but feel helpless. Even if I intend to make her something between a toy, servant and energy tank, I still do see her as a fellow human. Deep in my mind, I already thought of a way to reward her if she were to serve us diligently. Since we are going to leave the sect soon, if she proves to be a faithful and obedient toy, letting her grow in my shadow and then leaving her as a powerful asset to the sect was my initial intention, but if she is such a coward, I don't think there is any point in doing so!
"How could I act differently! I would like to see you act all courageously while being led to execution!"
With her emotions taking a better of her, she actually raised her head and dared to shout at me and Eve! But wait, what does she mean about execution?
"What the hell are you speaking about? Did I force you to come with us? I have no need for such a coward!"
As much as I would love to be able to get even more attribute points from her, I can't allow any hindrance while I will be focusing on my breakthrough. Even if my significant other would be able to take care of her, since I have no idea what is going to happen, I need Eve to be able to respond at any time in a case of need.
"Wait, does this mean that You don't know about the death cavalry?"
With her eyes opening wide, she just stared at me not uttering even a single word more.
Before I managed to inquire a bit more about this new topic that surfaced, I heard the neighing of a horse coming from somewhere close behind me. Making the obvious connection, I pulled out my windslord and readied myself for a fight.
But never in a world could I expect for this kind of monster to came running from between the trees!