Ayaka opened the door. What met her was Kai's solemn expression, while the others had weird expressions.

This kind of reception quickly made her tense as she gulped down. She thought, 'Have Kai and the others found out?'

Little did she know Kai and the others just knew about it. Kai sighed and waved his hand, asking her to take a seat.

Ayaka walked toward an empty seat like a robot. Her body was so tense after finding that gesture. Like Kai, who had an animal instinct, Ayaka's instinct also sharpened and noticed that Kai already found out about her.

Kai's eyes never left her as she slowly sat down in front of him. He put down his hand on the table while his other hand supported his head before saying, "So, this is the reason why you left us for a month… Do you want to say something, miss Aries?"

*Gasp!*

Ayaka's heart skipped a beat, looking at Kai with a guilty conscience.

"Meeting my teacher and asking her to do something that she promised me not to do again." Kai narrowed his eyes.

Ayaka's presence became smaller. Biting her lips, Ayaka looked Kai on the eyes as she said, "I apologize if it made you uncomfortable. Professor Ria only did it because I begged her, so if you want to hate someone, you can hate me."

Kai's expression didn't change as he continued staring at her.

"I… I know I am a selfish person. Part of it is because of you, and another part is for my family. Even if you hate me and expel me from the group now, I wouldn't complain. I can only say I don't regret it." Ayaka explained honestly.

Kai could hear her heartbeat, so the moment she lied, he would surely pick it up. In that case, she could only gamble it all.

Evan and Sanae looked away because this was their matter. On the other hand, Tasha shrugged her shoulder while Michelle also watched her expression.

"You don't regret it?" Kai narrowed his eyes.

Ayaka looked into his eyes with a determined expression.

After a minute, Kai finally closed his eyes and sighed. "If that's how you feel, I couldn't stop you. I am happy that you think of me before making such a decision, but have you been informed about the price that you will bear by my teacher?"

"Price?" Ayaka tilted her head in confusion.

Kai facepalmed as he sighed. "It seems I really need to go to her place after the new year. Of course, you are going there with me."

"For what?" Ayaka asked.

"I will explain it later since there is no point in knowing it right now. It's not an immediate price, and even I have paid that price. So, don't worry too much." Kai sighed yet again while crossing his arms and leaned back.

"Uhm…" Ayaka nodded obediently, still feeling a bit guilty. She thought for a moment and said, "Actually, I have received a little training from her…"

Ayaka couldn't help but gulp down before starting to tell her story. It was a scary experience that would traumatize her for the rest of her life. "... I have found my own fighting style. I believe I can help you with this."

She wanted to show her power first before explaining it, so she abruptly stood up and grabbed the table in front of her.

Surprisingly, Ayaka managed to lift the table up a little bit without having any difficulty. She didn't raise the table high and quickly released it before sitting down. Kai and Michelle frowned as they took a glimpse of Ayaka's speed.

"This is my power. A certain accident forced Professor Ria to inject two types of blood into my body, Wildebeest and Leafcutter Ant."

This statement shocked Kai and Evan at the same time. They were also Zodiacs, and they knew such a case shouldn't be possible. Only Kai could slightly understand as he muttered to himself, "Did Teacher make a breakthrough?"

Kai shook his head before asking Ayaka to continue.

"I have gotten Wildebeest's speed and Leafcutter Ant. However, I couldn't run nimbly because of the speed. The same as my strength… Kai, could you raise your palm and pointed it at me?" Ayaka asked.

Although he didn't know what she wanted to do, Kai raised his right palm.

Ayaka suddenly threw a punch on his palm before astonishment filled Kai's heart.

"This…" Kai finally realized what was going on. "I see. That is your weakness…"

"Yeah." Ayaka nodded. The others watched both of them with confusion, hoping for an explanation.

Noticing their expression, Kai began explaining. "Just like a coin with two sides, becoming a Zodiac also has advantages and disadvantages. My Lion Blood can grant me a little increase in my eyesight, a great boost in strength and speed… but the more I use this power, the instinct will take over. At that time, I might attack my allies. If I fight in full strength, I could only hold it for an hour."

"Ah, you are talking about her weakness?" As expected of Evan, he instantly realized what Ayaka was talking about as a Zodiac.

This time, Ayaka was the one who answered him. "Yes. The advantage of my two blood is speed and power. However, if I use Wildebeest's speed, one of the land fastest animals on Earth, I couldn't make an agile movement. In other words, it's more like a charge rather than fast close combat. Professor Ria asked me to perfect my control of the Fire Wing to help me maneuver, but I'm still in the middle of my practice.

"Meanwhile, I get the ability of Leafcutter Ant of lifting something twenty times of my body weight. At first, I thought it was going to be my jaw, but it would seem my arms were the ones to transform. This ability didn't increase my strength. Instead, it was more like the muscles in my arms reflectively stood the weight. The same as before, she asked me to get something heavy as my weapon so that I can get a powerful strike.

"I came back two days ago and used one whole day to design my new spear concept. My family would build it as fast as possible. I am sorry if I trouble all of you." Ayaka finished her explanation with an apology.

She didn't mind talking about her ability with these people since she trusted them.

"I see… My teacher taught you a bit about your fighting style." Kai nodded. "Anyway, I'm glad that nothing happened to you. We are going to have another mission in a week, so you can get accustomed to your body first and maybe have some practices with us."

Ayaka smiled at him even though she was sweating inside. Recalling how she almost turned into magical beasts made her unable to tell Kai about it.

Meanwhile, Michelle came to her, filled with curiosity. Training with Ria Ross would mean brutal training. In that case, there was one question that needed to be asked. "So, how many times have you died?"

Ayaka's body trembled. It was easy to see she was pretty shaken about it. She looked at Michelle while sweating. "Ehm… She killed me a hundred times for preparation and another a hundred times in practice."

"Oh. Only two hundred times, you are pretty lucky then." Michelle chuckled as she came to Kai while patting his head. Kai rolled his eyes while shrugging. Looking at Kai's expression, she didn't continue.

"What do you mean?" Ayaka asked.

"Haha… you will hear it pretty soon." Michelle grinned mysteriously, enjoying both Ayaka's and Kai's expression.

"Alright. We still have time, so you all can do anything you want." Kai shrugged before turning to Evan. "Could you search for a mission? If possible, make it three missions so we can choose which one suits our current situation."

"Leave it to me." Evan nodded.

…

Time flew by.

Ayaka had gotten a new weapon and asked the other opinions on how to coordinate with them, considering her close combat wasn't weak anymore. In other words, Ayaka could easily become a vanguard or a magician that bombarded the enemy with her magic.

Kai also took part in the process, and six days passed in an instant.

They gathered once again in the room as Evan presented them with three choices. Kai quickly chose a mission that suited their current situation.

Mission: Bison Extermination

Description: Fifty C rank bison have been spotted in Prince George, Canada. Their rank is high because of their strength, speed, and moving in a herd. Please proceed with caution.

Reward: $250,000 and 2500 Points

"I choose this mission because Ayaka is still getting accustomed to her power. We can use these fifty bison for an experience of her power and our new combination. Do any of you have an objection?"

All of them shook their heads while Michelle commented, "Still, Prince Rupert again… Sigh. I just hope we don't have any emergency mission again."

All of them chuckled as Kai shrugged. "Don't raise any flag. We won't have that much bad luck."

"You are right. I just hope that after this mission, we can have a long rest for your birthday, Christmas, and New Year." Michelle stretched her hands lazily.

"I agree with you. Luckily, I still get paid as a teacher, so I can get some wine to pass the winter… especially without a boyfriend." Sanae let out a long sigh.

Kai and the others didn't say anything… no, they were rather not to.

"Alright, Teacher. You are staying here since it's only a normal mission, so don't complain." Kai looked at her before turning to everyone else. "I will inform the pilot after this. We are departing right after lunch."

"Right. We have our own helicopter now, so we don't need to match our schedule with anyone." Michelle exclaimed happily.

Kai nodded before leaving the room to hand the pilot request.