After thinking for a while, Aria pulled off the clothes, using water spells to wash them. Her using water spells didn't mean she used water as her main attribute, but because you can use all kinds of basic elements just by chanting and drawing circles. That's what she did. After doing that, she cleaned his body of all the bloodstains.
While she was cleaning him, he woke up. Then the next thing she knew was a hand holding her neck, asking, "What the hell are you doing?"
Though the grip wasn't strong enough to affect her due to their strength difference, she was still choking. So she replied, "Cough! Cough! I was cleaning your body from the bloodstains!"
And he replied, "Did I ask you to?"
Then she replied, "No."
He loosened his grip, then tried to stand up. He could hear his bones joining back in place. It hurt but was still manageable. He stood up, attempting to go outside the tent, but fell back. Then he could hear Aria saying, "You should rest. Even if your body has fast, high regeneration, you are still a mortal. You won't last long going on like this."
Then I turned to her, saying, "Why do you care? After all, me and the kids outside are all test subjects. You are the last person who should say that. Just because I didn't kill you doesn't mean I am not going to. I will make you suffer for all those times I screamed while you guys were taking out my organs. I will make sure you face ten times that pain."
After saying that, he passed out. Aria bit her lips, muttered, "At least stay alive to do those things you said. I didn't have a choice, nor do I know who was behind all this. I was a victim just like you."
Then she went to bring his body back to the bed. While cleaning him, she simply didn't care for the punishment or had already accepted her fate. When she was done, she just laid beside him, staring till she passed out too. It had been a stressful morning, first thing, running for her life. Well, who could blame them?
After what seemed to be four hours, he woke up. He could feel a body on him. The sweet woman's scent—he could recognize it anywhere; he had already marked all their scents. Aria. He was wondering what she was doing on top of him, with her breasts pressing on his head. He could feel the heat from them and was wondering if she did this on purpose. From the rhythm of her breathing, he could tell she was sleeping. So he just moved her out of the way and stood up.
By now, he was already healed up. He went outside after some struggle trying to find the zipper for the tent. The cold breeze touched his body, making it tremble a bit. The reason why he hurried out was he could feel his dick rising under Aria. Not like he didn't see her as a woman or simply didn't want to do the deed—it just felt like it wasn't the right time yet.
After receiving the fresh air, he followed the scent to where the magical beast had been killed. He could still smell the blood. He was glad there weren't any beasts coming here for the corpse, probably because of the mana pressure it was producing even after being killed.
I could hear footsteps behind me. I could already tell who it was as Julia got close to me, asking me, "How are you feeling?"
I didn't reply to her. I just asked, "Who carried me?"
And she replied with a sigh, "It was Aria."
I didn't reply to her. I could hear more footsteps. I could tell they were all awake. Then I heard the scar guy saying, "That was some crazy thing you did back there."
I looked at him with no change in my expression and didn't reply. Then he came to me. I could tell from his scent getting stronger. After a while, he stopped in front of me, saying, "My name is Damian Rufus."
I raised my eyebrow because I had already heard the name Rufus before. So I asked, "An earl?"
And he replied, "Yes, the Rufus family is an earl. And the attack crystal I used comes from my grandfather."
I nodded. I could tell. So I asked, "And why are you telling me this?"
And he laughed and said, "My grandfather is the erratic kind of person, and he was the one who trained me. And most of his training involves life and death situations. And well, he told me there are crazy people out there, that when I meet them, I will know. And well, out of all of the people I've met all my life, you're the craziest of them all."
Then he knelt down and said, "Allow me to serve you."
And I looked at him and said, "What? What made you think I will accept?"
And he replied, "Unlike that Julia over there, I don't have the final say in my family. But I can say you have the backing of an Ether Sage if I tell my grandpa that you helped me escape from there. He will be willing to assist you with anything. And for a fact, I know you don't see us as anything more than tools, meaning you are likely to sacrifice us if push comes to shove."
I looked at him, then said, "And I will have to put a slave seal on you."
He first looked at Julia and then Aria, then said, "I am fine with that."
Then I said, "You will have to prove yourself, then."
Then I turned around, but the huge guy knelt down next. "Allow me to serve you. Unlike the nobles, I have nothing to offer. I am but a commoner. All I know is I can give you my loyalty."
I looked at him before I replied, "From what I can tell, you despise nobles. I've seen the way you look at that girl when you found out she was a noble. So why?"
Then he smiled. "Well, if you can see that, then you can know my hatred for them runs deep. I want to take revenge for what they did to my family. There's a particular family I want to take revenge on."
And I looked at him before saying, "A duke?"
Then he looked at me with a surprised expression, then answered, "Yes."
Then I turned to Aria, "What is his healing capacity rate?" I asked.
And she replied, "Besides you with 95% rate, his is 50%."
I nodded. Then I turned to the twins, who were already kneeling without saying anything, and then asked, "And them?"
Aria turned to the twins before turning to me, saying, "They are strange. They were supposed to be the highest due to them being elves, who are known to have fast healing abilities like the druids, but they appear to be the weakest of them all."
Then I started thinking, "Weakest..." Then I asked them, "You guys aren't pure elves, are you?"
Then they replied, "Yes, my dad was a human and my mom is an elf."
I nodded and asked, "I heard that elves don't involve themselves in human matters, so how did you get involved in all this?"
It was Lirielle who replied this time: "Well, my mom is the sister of the current chieftess. She told us to venture out of the world to see our father. He only showed up four times. So we told them we were grown enough to let us go alone. And halfway through the journey, our vision went dark, and the next thing we knew, we found ourselves there."
And I turned to Aria and asked, "How long have they been there?"
And she said with a thoughtful expression, "Four months, same with the rest, with only you being two years. There were others there before them, but they're all dead."
I nodded. The others had grim expressions now, understanding how it was. After a while, I told them, "All of you want to serve me, right?"
I didn't hear anything, so I assumed they nodded. Maybe they did; probably they realized I couldn't see. So I continued, "Then you five will face hell. When I say hell, I mean real hell. And anyone that backs out will be killed by the others. This time, Aria won't be the one killing you; you will be the ones killing yourselves. And when I tell you to jump into the face of danger, no questions asked—you ask, then you die. If I tell you to die, then you die. I don't care what you say. My word is rule. You want to serve me? Then live with it. If I ever feel the need to dispose of you, then I will gladly do it. I am not a hero, nor am I a villain. I do all I want for my own benefit. If using you all as sacrificial pawns means I can leave this shit hole, then I will do it. I don't care about you guys, but I will lead us out of here with those left with me. That's all. Let's keep moving."