Chapter 85 - Escape strategies

After they had arrived back at their floor they met up with Asmodeus as well as their mentors who had seemingly been waiting to eat with them. After some food they were immediately asked about what had happened below. This time Chaff was the one to go first. "So kids. What did you do today?" Telling them about what they had trained, in which order and how long Chaff began mumbling and thinking for a while which he used to drown large amounts of water. Perhaps he should have held back on the salty food like Seeder had told him to. "And how were the others?" Was what he asked next, which was nearly impossible to understand since he had been munching on another snack while talking which resulted in Seeder slapping him lightly on the back in a warning manner as well as verbally reminding him not to talk while eating.

After a slight pause Kaiser once again told him how the others had been doing. Career tributes being assholes as usual, flexing their muscles and skills everywhere while the rest was malnourished and/or had next to no skills in anything fighting related. Although he didn't really see most of them as a threat he still included that he shouldn't underestimate everyone even if they looked pathetic in his conclusion as he knew that would he miss that one hour of lecturing would follow how everyone could be a threat.

"What are they good at?" Was the next question. This time both pooled together everything they had seen, correcting and adding what the other had told. One of the strongest guys who was called Semper and was from District 1 if he recalled correctly was seemingly very proficient in the use of swords and knifes and preferred to throw himself into combat regardless of the consequences. A thin but muscular brunette was his female companion, proficient with the spear and always prepared to assist him when he rushed into battle and got surrounded but she seemed to confident and displayed everything she was capable of to anyone interested in order to intimidate them.

The others were either rather similar or the weak ones that had tried fighting for the first time or were trying to build up their survival skills. To get more info on the rest they watched the reapings that had taken place the previous days. Almost every reaping there had been standard procedure where the chosen ones would come to the front, no one volunteered as they didn't want to die and they moved on to the next one. The only difference had been in District 2 where a bulky boy nearing seventeen years named Prometheus had taken the place of a 13 year old and stood next to a girl which was nearly of the same age named Artemis. He had seen both in training although both hadn't done much more besides a light warm up and learning survival skills. They would be much harder opponents when compared to the pair from District 1 due to their attitude. Despite their cautiousness Kaiser had noticed a few things due to their posture during their exercises. Apparently Artemis like the goddess she shared names with was proficient with the bow as well as with knife combat. Prometheus seemed to be more into spears and weapons like maces, hammers or axes which suited his body type.

After a few discussions about this years career tributes and whether or not Districts 1 and 2 would work together as well as including other smaller groups that could potentially join like District 4, District 7, District 8 or District 9 which this year had a few strong and well fed tributes they went to bed in order to rest for the following day.

On the next day which began similar to the last Kaiser rested on the couch once more, this time with a prepared alarm clock that would inform them in time. A few minutes before the time they had set Aster decided that all of the sudden refreshing her make up was the most important thing in the world. Curious about what she was going to do he asked to accompany her as he was intrigued by what she wanted to do. Most surprisingly she agreed and took him by the hand towards a bathroom that had been installed nearby so that the tributes wouldn't have to walk all the way back to their own rooms to relieve themselves. As soon as they had come to a halt in front of the bathroom Kaiser peered inside carefully. The sheer amount of beauty products astounded him to no end.

While he was still standing on the doorstep, watching everything with genuine interest Aster brushed past him to finally arrive where she wanted. After carefully observing herself in the mirror for what felt like an eternity to Kaiser he simply didn't want to wait any longer especially when he considered that they had to leave soon. "Are you going to start? We have to leave in about 15 minutes. Why are you fussing so much about that anyways? Well exercise immediately afterwards so it won't matter too much anyways. You would have to reapply soon afterwards. And why wasn't that a problem yesterday?"

She merely smiled mischievously before slowly walking towards him in what some might consider to be a seductive matter. Leaning closer to him until they almost touched she whispered into his ear, "Then how about you try and catch me. I think I don't feel like going today. Perhaps I'm sick?", before running away, jumping over various pieces of furniture that had been placed in the various rooms.

"You just want to be carried you lazy snail! Wait until I catch you and drag you to the elevator by your ankle!"

"Snail? Oh please. I'm a sly cat that will always evade your grasp. You'll never catch me. And you promised to carry me!"

Huffing with some amus.e.m.e.nt as well as a trace of displeasure he replied "Then better hide in your own room o I'll get you absolutely." At this point she had already disappeared around a few corners and had left his field of vision. Thinking that she would most likely be tempted to look for him in order to tease him further he activated his Stealth Skill which was rather high level by now and followed a different path for now. About three minutes later he found her hidden inside a large wardrobe where she had hidden behind a few long coats through the use his Observation Skill. Although she tried to escape immediately he soon caught up to her after two rounds of running around in the living room when she tripped over a table leg. Grabbing her before she could fall down onto the floor he heaved he over his shoulder like a heavy sack of grain and began to carry her over to the elevator. Although she struggled a bit it was rather playful as she tried to slip out of his grip which turned out to be a futile endeavor. Mockingly he decided to talk on his slow walk towards the elevator.

"What was that about how I would never be able to truly grasp you, sly cat?"

"I must have misspoken. You are a wonderful man and you have proven yourself to be quite capable. Now would you please let me down? I can walk by myself."

"I won't fall for that princess. You can walk once we are inside the elevator. Now please hold still and stop wiggling like a slippery sardine that wishes to return into the water."

"I'm not a dumb fish! How dare you!"

"Regardless, with you I can say that I had a very good catch."

Snorting at his attempt of a joke she quickly continued with her attempts to free herself. However once he pressed the button to the gymnasium and the doors had closed she gave up and relaxed, causing him to attempt to let her down since she had wanted it before only for her to refuse to let go, switching to a piggyback position instead where she began to play with his long black hair. Despite his best attempt to behave normally it was almost impossible when someone was always slightly blowing cold air on his neck.