Upon seeing that bloody feat, Mark couldn't help but take a step back while rubbing his neck—happy that he hadn't been the victim of that bite.

  It didn't take long after the fight ended for Alexander to appear.

  Unlike his companions, he didn't seem to have any emotion about the victory—as if it were an obvious result.

  He just stored the {Hobgoblin Rider}'s body and went on his way.

  "Show me your sword-holding hand," commanded Alexander, who stopped in front of Mark.

  Even confused by the request, Mark instinctively raised his hand.

  Before he had time to think—or regret having obeyed—Alexander grabbed his fingers, preventing him from withdrawing or closing his hand.

  He then began to cut his hand with the dagger.

  Mark immediately tried to pull his hand away while screaming, but Alexander kept holding his hand firmly.

  Desperate, and with no other choice, Mark summoned his {Iron Will}, but it was already too late. The damage had already been done.

  Mark glared at Alexander, full of anger, when he saw the cuts on his hand.

  The latter didn't seem to care and explained: "Poorly treated burns can cause several problems. So deactivate your {Talent} and let me finish this properly."

  Mark looked at Alexander for a few seconds, but found no trace of malice or mockery—almost as if he were indifferent to the situation.

  Diana and Stella—who were ready to try to intervene if they started fighting—were surprised when they saw Mark's {Iron Will} recede.

  Alexander didn't speak much, just like Mark. He just let go of Mark and used |Invigorate| on his hand.

  As soon as the spell enveloped his hand, Mark felt a pleasant, refreshing sensation spreading through it.

  The more time passed, the better the condition of his hand became.

  "That’ll do," said Alexander before turning to Diana. "Now it's your turn… Your magic is better than mine for closing wounds."

  Diana promptly agreed to take over Mark's treatment.

  With her healing magic, she managed to complete his treatment easily and quickly.

  "Good," praised Alexander, finally showing satisfaction. "Now you should group together as closely as possible."

  His team didn't understand the reason for the request, but complied.

  Since the others were still very afraid of Ocean, Diana stayed beside the she-wolf.

  "The area is still large, but I should manage if I go all out," pondered Alexander before warning his team: "You'd better hold your breath."

  Such a warning left the rest of the group even more uncertain, yet Alexander wasn't very interested in explaining what he was doing.

  He just drew his spear and used it like a magical staff to cast a series of combat techniques and spells.

  "|Water Field|."

  "|Mana Blessing|."

  "|Invigorate|."

  When his spell enveloped everyone, Alexander used |Magical Control| to make the water layer envelop and clean them. This cost him a lot of (MP).

  "That should be enough," said Alexander as he sighed and prepared to deactivate his magic chain. "Now we can return to the cave."

  Before completely deactivating his magical sequence, Alexander drained as much water as he could from everyone.

  "Why did you do that?" asked Stella—who wasn't very happy about getting wet.

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  "You were stinking of blood," replied Alexander. "That could attract creatures to the place where we'll spend the night."

  This answer surprised Stella, and she blushed instantly.

  Was he really saying he just gave her a bath?

  "What a versatile and useful spell," commented Mark.

  "True," replied Alexander. "But I think it's better to talk later, because now you have to protect yourself."

  Mark didn't see or feel anything coming towards them.

  However, when Alexander pulled Diana and Stella to stand behind him and raised a wall of ice, he didn't hesitate and drew his shield.

  To Mark's surprise, the "danger" was closer than he expected and was none other than Ocean.

  The "attack" Alexander referred to was none other than what would happen when Ocean started to dry herself—violently shaking her body.

  With Alexander's warning, no one got the smell of wolf on them. But poor Mark still had part of his armor and shield hit.

  After some time shaking herself, Ocean seemed satisfied and went to Alexander's side.

  As everyone seemed ready, Stella asked: "Can we go?"

  "Not yet. I still have to get something back there," replied Alexander, who turned and entered the dense vegetation.

  The team members became curious when they saw Alexander going to get something, yet they couldn't reach a consensus on what it was.

  Just when they finally deduced it must be some herb, Alexander returned with something completely different, the blue fox.

  "Now we can go," smiled Alexander, extremely satisfied.

  "I'll explain better later," he said, gesturing to the inert fox he was carrying.

  On the way back, Diana noticed some lines with colors similar to Ocean's on the fox's body. However, since Alexander said he would explain later, she decided to wait.

  The group's return didn't take long, as the cave was relatively close to where they were fighting.

  When they arrived and confirmed everything was in order, a feeling of relief took over them.

  As soon as the group calmed down with the "security" of the cave, Alexander was bombarded with questions.

  The first in line was Stella: "Where did you go? I know you said you were going to patrol, but why didn't you return?"

  Alexander didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his group’s cluelessness. "I stayed on patrol until the end of the fight to prevent any creature from ambushing our group during the fight."

  The mention of the term ambush caused shivers in the group. None of them wanted to end up like the {Hobgoblin Rider}.

  "That seems quite reasonable…" said Mark. "But why did you cut my hand?" he questioned—who still seemed to hold a grudge about that act.

  "I already told you. Your burns needed proper treatment," replied Alexander. "If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at the one who cast the fire spell."

  Stella—who still seemed to have other doubts—suddenly became very interested in her shoes, yet Mark insisted: "You didn't cast the fire spell that burned my hand, but you certainly made the situation worse."

  Not wanting to waste more time assuming they would understand the obvious, Alexander decided to give more complete answers so they would understand more easily: "All types of bodily injuries leave the region where they are located more vulnerable to all kinds of damage—which is why it is recommended to clean/wash the affected area before starting treatment. Even so, you fought with a muddy weapon pressing the burn on your hand."

  "To make the situation worse, you were still under the effect of a regeneration spell."

  "Meaning part of the injury probably closed containing dirt. That's why I opened your hand with cuts."

  "It's like I said before," concluded Alexander. "I was just trying to do the treatment in a more appropriate way."

  "…" Mark.

  Mark was completely speechless to refute Alexander.

  In the heat of battle he hadn't paid much attention to these facts, and getting an infection would be much worse than the cuts on his hand.

  "Any more questions?" asked Alexander.

  "Yes. What happened to the hobgoblin's familiar?" questioned Mark—who still didn't understand how Ocean appeared to ambush the hobgoblin.

  "That {Iron Fangs} that served as a mount? Ocean killed it long before killing the {Hobgoblin Rider}," replied Alexander as if it couldn't be more obvious.

  This information left the group dismayed.

  They knew Ocean was strong, but knowing that she was able to kill that {Iron Fangs} so quickly in hand-to-hand combat put her in a totally new light.

  "Wait a moment. If she could handle him so fast, why didn't she help us earlier?" asked Stella, confused.

  "Because I told her not to help," replied Alexander shrugging.

  However, despite his apparent indifference, he added: "The academy's integration event would lose all meaning if you didn't have to make an effort."

  "I even think I spoiled you too much by disarming the hobgoblin," confessed Alexander. "Last time, when I made you think you were going to die, the result was much better... Mark even managed to awaken his talent under the pressure."

  "…" Mark.

  "…" Stella.

  Upon hearing that Alexander had been playing with them this whole time, Mark and Stella became irritated, but they couldn't contest the improvement they gained from the method, especially Mark.

  He probably only managed to awaken his {Talent} at that moment because of the pressure.

  Little did they know that Alexander was just making excuses.

  At the peak of his anger, he was ready to let them die.

  It wasn’t as though Alexander truly hated the pair. Deep down, he understood that a noble upbringing bred both flaws and virtues.

  Seeing oneself as superior and treating others as lesser it was not only encouraged—after so many years of such conditioning, it became almost natural.

  The real issue was that, at times, he became rather difficult to control his own anger, fueled by hormones, and even more so his monstrous side — despite the great self-control provided by his high Intelligence attribute.

  Perhaps that's why he thought it best to lie about that part. After all, everyone loves a good lie…

  What people don’t love is discovering that someone has lied to them.