Ava took them to the forest at the right end of the city. The arena looked like the center of it and everyone seemed to navigate from it. The people of Alve were always dressed in something that glittered - it could be their silver hair, or their gold jewelry or the very fancy, shiny pants the men wore.

Ava had stopped to buy something while Benji and Edgar gaped at the charms the store owners had. Some charms were for protections, some for strength, and some, according to the store owner, had healing powers. Benji was up for buying some but he undoubtedly lacked the money for it. And it wasn't like he had anything to exchange it for, the clothes he had entered the realm with had ultimately disappeared along with the gadgets and whatnot he always took with him.

Just thinking about having to buy himself a new RA45 got him depressed.

The crowd in front of him stopped suddenly and Benji looked up to see he was somewhere deep in the forest. There was a large clearing and Benji watched Ava drop her backpack down then turn to them.

"Okay. So I've worked out your schedule. It's four now so we'll start training by five. Since our match is by one tomorrow, we'll train until 11pm. Have a good eight hours sleep then train until 10am. That doesn't seem bad because we'll have lots of rest in between and you'll have to take turns fighting."

It didn't seem like a bad idea, and it did have a lot of rest in-between. Benji knew Edgar was going to be excited about this because he had always been a work out person. He always wanted to be strong, to protect people. Benji didn't know when it had really started but he had noticed he had changed a little after he started taking gym seriously. The boy would work his muscles until they screamed but it did pay off because all Edgar had to do was take his shirt off and the people that mocked him fell silent. He had grown up in a terrible neighborhood.

"So, first thing's first, we are going to work and get out body into the mood," Ava said as she reached for her backpack. "I've only got knives and daggers so if you are a sword type or whatever weapon you had in mind, sorry." She took out four black hilt daggers. She moved away from the bag, placing a dagger between her pinkie and ringer finger and another between her middle and index of each hand.

"Catch it if you can," She said and before Benji could understand what she was trying to say, he saw something shining slice the air by his ear.

He froze. Scared for the fact that he hadn't even seen that coming and how close that dagger had been to stabbing him at his ear. Benji exhaled, shocked that he had even held his breath. Placing a hand over his heavily beating chest, he glared at Ava who now scowled at them, before her eyes fell on Edgar.

She beamed brightly and said, "You caught it."

Benji gasped and quickly turned to his side so see Silas on the floor, looking at his sister, bewildered and Edgar on the other side of him, holding the dagger by the hilt. He stared at it and frowned.

"It wasn't really much." He huffed, dropping the dagger to the floor. "Was that all you had?"

Ava cocked her head at that, and gave him a smug smile. She tossed the dagger she was holding in the air, and then caught it when it had fallen just low enough for her grasp. "That's very cocky of you, Edgar. It was a test to separate the good eggs from the bad ones."

"That's mean," Silas whined.

"Shut up, girl." Ava glanced away from Edgar to fix her pretty hazels on Benji and Silas.

Benji gulped when her eyes darkened and she said, "Drop and give me twenty. When you're done with that, run round the clearing another twenty."

"Ava?!" Silas basically squeaked when she took a step in his direction and he instantly went on his hands and knees.

"You too, Benji. Or what you can't do it too?" She gibed and even though it was just supposed to motivate him, he actually did want to admit he couldn't do it. The highest he had done was ten for sit-ups and that was as far as he went. What kept his body in shape was the swimming exercise he did.

But Ava was his idol now. She was confident and beautiful; he couldn't wait to see her fight for real. That might give him orgasms. And he wanted to impress her and make her look at him not as a kid but as an equal. But if he wasted any more time, Edgar was going to take that position.

He started to copy Silas' posture when Edgar spoke up, "Give him sit ups instead, he's terrible at pushups."

"Really? And poor Silas can hit hundred." She smiled, amused by this then added, "Okay Benji, twenty sit-ups for you. Be quick."

She turned away from him then went and got her backpack to place on his feet. Benji almost screamed at the weight but he bit his bottom lip when she smiled at him. I must impress her.

He got to counting, lifting his upper body and wheezing out at the familiar pain in his waist when he got to ten. It had been a really long time since he had done it.

"Twenty." He panted, almost out of breath and he turned to see Silas jogging on the spot.

The light skinned boy looked down at him and said, "Hurry, we have to go round this place another twenty."

Silas didn't even look ruffled or out of breath as he hopped on one leg then changed to the other. He looked like he was used to this, something he hadn't expected. Ava did say he had done pushups to a hundred before... Twenty must be nothing.

Everything about that just seemed to make Benji frown but he sucked his annoyance back in and gave Silas a pleading smile. "Hey, could you take that backpack off me?"

"Sure." Silas nodded then picked it up. He stared at it strangely then surprised Benji when he carried it on his shoulder. That bag probably weighed a ton or two.

Silas continued his jogging as Benji stood up and said, "So, um, how are we going to do the running?"

"Here's our checkpoint. We'll start here then make it back at one lap. It'll go on until twenty."

"Okay."

"Then let's go."

Benji had almost expected him to run but instead, he jogged beside him, not even breaking a sweat like Benji was. Yup, this wasn't the Silas he had seen a couple days ago.

Meanwhile, as Benji and Silas warmed up, Edgar was to fight Ava to knock her off her. Benji thought that would be easy but Edgar had already failed his first two attempts. He had first tried to punch her but it didn't even pass her cool karate move that caught his fist and twisted it until Edgar had his back to her and she kicked him away, putting some space between them. The second attempt was to kick her leg off the ground but she just jumped away from it with a round off, putting a much bigger space between them.

"What?" Benji gasped even when he was out of breath. "How the hell did she do that?" he asked.

"One-year gymnast. She quit it for karate." He shrugged.

"You failed to mention that earlier."

"Yeah, there's a lot you don't know about either of us."

They reached the finish line and Benji fell on the grass to catch his breath, having strained his entire network of muscles. Silas, on the other hand, just jogged on the spot and Benji was a little relieved to see he, at least, broke a sweat.

"Your sister is pretty amazing," Benji admitted, watching her block Edgar's attacks like they were nothing. She caught his fist in a right arm swing for her face again but unlike her usual move to turn him around and kick him, she pulled him closer and punched him under his jaw but not hard enough to cause him pain because when she let him go, he ignored it and went after her again.

"I know. She has always wanted to be tough so she could protect me. They were a lot of bad people who lived around us."

"Yeah." Benji hummed. "There's been something I wanted to ask. Ava, she's your adopted sibling right?"

Silas instantly stopped jogging and Benji sat up, crisscrossing his legs in front of him. "I'm saying that because she's white."

"And I'm black." Silas smiled at him.

Silas wasn't the dark skinned beauty like Reina but he had the lighter shade that people almost mistook for white. What made Benji notice was Silas's hair texture. It was the same as Edgar's and Edgar's mum had been black but he had a white father.

Racism was almost nonexistent in their realm since the world was practically mixed now, however there were places which still treated a few races like hell. The world might be peaceful but there would always be bigots.

"Who was adopted into the family? You or her?"

Silas didn't answer immediately and Benji almost wanted to retract his question but was suddenly answered, "Both. We're foster siblings."

"Oh." He hadn't seen that coming.

"Into a white family. At first I had hated it, but they were hardly ever around so it was okay. I got bullied because the kids in school could do it. Our town was small and you know, the smaller the town, the more the laws are broken. I was an easy target because back then I used to be small, lonely and weird. It didn't make sense and I didn't care. I just took the beatings and went. Soon after, my sister stepped in because she couldn't deal with it. She fought so many people and almost broke her arm. In the end, it was her the cops took to the cell.

"And then we moved. Kinda went downhill from then. The place was really rotten, almost like the neighborhood I had grown up from. We got in more fights and my sister took karate. She was scary. Very very scary when she fought."

"So, it wasn't anything to do with race?"

"No." He shook his head. "I just prefer not so say it because the place I had been from weren't too nice to people who used to be a minority."

"I see."

Benji looked back at the fighting ground to see Edgar on his back in the floor.

He sat up and glared at Ava. "You aren't giving me any opening."

"That's because your swings are too wide and I can basically read your next move. But apart from that, your punches are solid." She praised then turned to where Benji and Silas were. "Take a breather, Edgar. Now Benji and Silas come over."

At some point in Benji's life, he had enjoyed hearing Ava say his name, but now, it only meant he was about to do something he would​n't like. Standing, he followed after Silas who had dropped the backpack before jogging up to his sister.

"What now?" Silas asked.

"You saw Edgar and I, just a few minutes ago, right? I want you, Benji, to knock Silas off his feet."

Benji furrowed his brows, his forehead wrinkling. "Why do I get to knock him over? I want it the other way around."

Ava only gave him a bored look. "Okay then. Silas, knock him over. After that, it will be your turn, Benji​. Is that okay with you?"

Now Benji was starting to dislike her. He frowned as she moved away and then indicated that they should get started. His frown was redirected at Silas, who stared at him as if waiting for something until it clicked that he was the one supposed to attack.

He rolled his eyes then said, "I'm really pissed off right now."

"Then I'll make it quick."

Benji didn't know what came over him as he watched Silas walk up to him, lift his arm over his shoulder after he turned and yanked his legs off the ground, throwing him into the dirt. Benji cried out, his head hitting the ground hard and he glared murderously at Silas.

"You didn't tell me you could fight either."

"I wanted to surprise you." He knelt down, still holding on to the oblivious boy's arm then slowly twisted it until Benji felt a sudden pain at his shoulder. "You were too open and I could easily snap your arm."

"What kind of fights did you say you had back in our world?"

"Brutal ones." His eyes darkened and then he let him go.

Benji immediately sat up and turned to face him, not trusting him with his back. This loss had been his fault since he had been confused who was attacking. Standing up, he watched Silas take his stance. He had his legs slightly apart but his hands hadn't left his sides.

Staring at him, Benji could sense he had his guards up and that actually made him hesitate. Where could he strike Silas that he couldn't be able to block? He hadn't seen Silas fight and had almost thought the kid was a huge wimp but after that attack, he had to start his judging all over again.

Glancing at Ava, he wondered if Silas had learnt from her. Then their defence might be similar. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Taking in a deep breath, Benji lunged for him, throwing in a right swing for his face and Silas quickly blocked it, not even moving slightly. Before Benji could retract his fist, Silas caught him and threw him over his shoulder again. This time, the blood flowed down his nose. Silas released him and he quickly got up, cleaning his nose then glaring at the boy in front of him.

Silas was fast and his defense was tough, it was like he didn't feel anything from that punch at all.

Hm.

Benji attacked again, starting with his original advance and, when Silas blocked it, he quickly struck with his left fist. However, Silas was fast enough to dodge and he caught Benji's arm, making him hiss and retaliate with a hard punch to the stomach. That seemed to do the trick because Silas leaned forward gasping, letting go of Benji's arm and he smiled at the victory before him. He paused to quietly savor the moment but never really got to finish before he found himself falling again.

He hadn't even noticed when Silas had recovered and had gotten low enough to kick him off his feet. He choked as he stared up at the slowly darkening sky. At that minute, he couldn't wait to be back on the ship with Wyatt. At least they could talk about things and he wouldn't expect the man to suddenly get a knife and stab him.

"Whoa, you aren't up. Are you okay?" Silas stood beside him, leaning over him. He actually looked worried and Benji just smiled.

"Wait a minute."

He stretched his arm out and caught Silas's leg, pulling it before the boy had the chance to talk. Silas hit the ground smack on his butt and yelped in pain.

"Yup, I'm good." He smiled as he sat up then grinned widely at Silas cute glare.

"Really?" Ava and Edgar came up to them to help them up. Ava knitted her brows at Benji and he sighed, already prepared for a scolding. "That was a lame as trick you pulled there but it was good enough to get Silas off his feet. Not bad."

Benji blinked, surprised he had been praised at least somewhat. Yeah, he was starting to like her again.

"Thank you."

"As for you Silas, how many times have I told you not to let your guard down?" She pulled on his ear and Silas winced, begging desperately for her to stop.

"You're so lame, Benny." Edgar rolled his eyes at him and he sulked, dropping his head on his friend's shoulder.

"I know I am. I just want a good night sleep."

"Lazy punk." He chuckled.

"I love how you know me."

"Yeah, well, I've gotta." He raked a hand through his friend's hair but stopped when Ava stopped punishing Silas.

She let go of him then moved to stand in front of him, leaning low as she watched the trees with narrowed eyes. "Guys, stay close. I can sense something."

"How? I can hear nothing." Silas questioned in a hushed voice, moving closer to his sister.

"Animal instinct."

"I don't sense anything negative off it. Whatever is out there isn't here to kill." Edgar admitted. Benji had learnt to trust him on his instinct, mostly because it was always spot on.

Ava crouched low, almost to a crawl and a cold chill went down Benji's spine when he heard the animalist growl that escaped her. It was deep and throaty, almost what you would expect a tiger to sound like. Benji looked down at her and gasped when he saw something move around her spine, protruding like a second one. He wanted to yell but he was basically speechless. And soon, before he could even collect himself, it was gone and someone barked out a laugh.

Looking back up, Benji choked on air when Wyatt stepped out of the shadow with nothing on, showing off his gracious glory down there. His body was good, almost tasty with the clean abs and amazing muscles. His brown hair fell short just at the nape of his neck, a few strands brushing over his face. Wyatt pushed them back and grinned, his muscles flexing as his hand rose to his face.

Benji would have stood there, mesmerized by his every movement if Ava hadn't snapped, "Put on some clothes."

She glared at him, not even bothered by the reveal unlike Edgar who blushed lightly as he covered Silas's eyes. The curly lock of haired boy pulled on his hand, asking what was going on, but Edgar just pressed himself closer to Silas and he fell quiet.

So, that's what's going on.

He made a mental note to tease Edgar about it later then turned back to Wyatt who was now dressed in black ripped jeans and a loose black shirt. How he had gotten the clothing was beyond Benji's imagination and he left it like that. After seeing dancing water women, dancing fire men and people appearing out of nowhere, clothes appearing on Wyatt was hardly shocking.

"What's going on? We're supposed to be leaving. And I can't find Reina."

"She said you should go on without us. She'll call Xavier when we're done."

"Done with what?" He rose a brow at her.

"Training. Now leave, you're interrupting our schedule." Ava waved her hand at then turned to them. "Take a thirty and be back here by six-thirty."

"Okay." Edgar nodded, finally letting go of Silas and Benji held back a smirk at his awfully red face. Edgar turned to Silas and said, "Hey, can we talk for a moment?"

"Um," Silas didn't dare glance at his sister who glared at Edgar. He nodded and allowed Edgar to take his hand and pull him away.

Ava huffed then went to pick up her backpack, she got a bottle of water out of it then tossed another at Benji. Luckily, he caught it and she smirked before sitting on the ground. "You guys can go. I'll be here, sharpening my dagger."

"She's scary." Wyatt admitted. "And yet so cute."

Benji didn't know what to say, so he frowned at the man.

Wyatt ruffed his hair, smiling cheekily then said, "Wanna go for a walk? I've got thirty minutes to spare."

He shrugged. "As long as we don't meet up with Silas and Edgar, great."