Tera sighed to herself softly while she looked up at the moon. Alone at the back of the truck, her guard duty period proved to be a sad and lonesome affair. Technically she was supposed to be the sentry on duty, but they were at an official campground. The location provided ample security of its own. Her task was redundant to the extent that she spent most of her shift until now merely thinking of the past.

The events of the last few weeks weighed heavily on her mind. Her dreams snatched away at the last moment, the loss of her citizenship status, everything that happened occurred in such a short span of time that it was still difficult to accept. She was so wrapped up in her current remembrance that she did not notice the approach of her master.

"So, this is what you call guard duty?" asked John in a light tone of voice. He was attempting what passed for cheerful banter. He was not particularly good at it. However, practice made perfect. There were many skills he would need to master if he planned to be successful in his current career so that he would be able to afford his true passion, magical research.

"Master? Oh. Oh sorry, I..." began Tera as she stood up quickly and dusted off her shirt.

When she moved into the light he noted the tears drying on her face. He might be a somewhat heartless bastard, but he still understood the need to maintain a decent level of morale among his subordinates. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied evasively before turning away. Why did he care anyway?

He nodded at her, but then he surprised her by climbing up onto the back of the truck. Once atop the vehicle, he moved to the front and turned around before leaning against the cab. It was not long before he too, looked up at the moon.

A silent time passed between the two. Tera could not resist asking, "Is there something you need master?"

"No. I just wanted to see how you were doing," replied the man casually. It was actually true. He'd come to get her status report since he liked to do that sort of thing when they were resting at official campgrounds.

Tera blinked then attempted to fight off a blush. He had not just said he was interested in how she was doing. There was no way that he meant such a thing.

"Why do you continue to fight me?" asked John after a few minutes.

"I've never laid a hand on you master," said Tera before turning away from him. Nervously, she pulled her long shirt down to cover more of her body. Her cotton shorts were awfully short, not that her master actually bothered to notice such things.

He nodded to her. "Am I really that much worse than your old master? Speak honestly. I need to know the truth."

He wasn't so much interested in her feelings on the matter so much as her view of his leadership and command abilities. He needed to know if he was being effective.

The Blazine blinked rapidly a few times and nervously edged away from him. This was not his usual behavior at all and it confused her.

"I... well, no," she admitted after collecting herself.

Her old master was a cold calculating bastard. John, while also a cold calculating bastard, did occasionally show brief signs of giving a shit about his harem outside of what they could be sold for or their skill set. There was also the fact that he did not actually sell either her, or Mindi, even after the occasional stunts that they pulled.

"I did not think so. What he did was inexcusable," said John, before he returned his gaze to the moon.

"What he did?" she asked with wide eyes. What was her so-called master trying to say?

"He illegally rendered you into a slave. Don't misunderstand me. I do not particularly care about that in general. However, I would never do such a thing," he replied carefully.

He did not want to make her think he was trying to win her favor. Honestly, he did not concern himself much with her favor. He wanted her loyalty. Any emotional sentiments she held in reference to him were her business. Her loyalty and willingness to perform at his direction were certainly his business.

"You wouldn't?" she asked him. She looked at him strangely as he stood there, the moonlight shining down on him. The light glimmering in his eyes gave his face a strangely attractive quality. If they'd met for the first time, he would have struck her as a slightly romantic figure. Upon realizing the fact that such thoughts had invaded her mind, she looked away. There was nothing romantic about the man.

"I doubted that he was a proper tamer the moment that he challenged me. What sort of crass individual actively challenges someone in a cafeteria full of people? When I discovered the reality of your situation it made my opinion of him drop even further," replied John, before he hopped up onto the cab.

In a bizarrely friendly manner he patted the spot next to him to give her an idea that she should sit there. With confusion writ large upon her features, the Tera hopped up and sat next to him.

"Understand something. I consider Demi-Humans to be inhuman contract workers at best, for the most part. However, I am not one to abuse my tools and resources." John left his words hanging on the air, his tone matter-of-fact.

"I'm just a tool?" she replied in annoyance, but with a hint of sadness in her tone.

He nodded, and action that sent a soft trill of sadness throughout her body. She was nothing but a tool, a thing to be used at his leisure. Everything she worked against her entire life, but now she was back to square one.

"Kara works for me via contract. Honey seems happy to be property for some strange reason. You and Mindi, however, have done nothing but snark at me since I won you. Although, you seem to understand your situation better," said John.

"Master, I've done everything you asked of me," replied Tera in a brazen manner. "I've done nothing but what you've asked and you still treat me like this!"

John, though a somewhat arrogant and cold individual, did not take affront to her words or the fire in her eyes. "Yes, yes you have."

Tera grew silent as his admission registered within her mind. Briefly, she looked away while trying to collect her thoughts. She turned her head toward him again when her master spoke. "What do you want if you win the tournament?"

"What do I want?" she asked softly. "I want my freedom and citizenship back."

"If you win, you may have it," said John without hesitation.

Tera blinked at him in shock. "You, you're saying you'll let me go? You'd pay my court costs?"

"If that is what you want, and if you win," he replied seriously.

A sudden flurry of emotion erupted within the girl. He was really going to do that? Was he being honest? Was he lying?

Reality set in a moment later, however. She remembered what he'd said about the tournament. "My chances aren't good are they?" she asked sadly.

"No. They aren't," said John in his typically blunt manner.

"Why would you even allow me this chance?" she asked after a while.

John shrugged at her. "You've done what you've been told. I only want Demi-Humans in my harem who want to be there. If you can prove your determination to be free in this way, then why keep you here? You don't desire to work for me anyway."

Tera nodded slowly at that. It made a certain sort of sense. Besides, if she did win he would gain a lot of notoriety, a major prize purse, and would be able to enter the official battle circuit within the mandatory four placement requirements. He could have his pic of new harem members.

"If I don't win?" she asked softly.

"You're stuck with me until you die, prove your loyalty, or I sell you," said John without hesitation.

She nodded softly. Tera had thought that he would give her such an answer.

As a bit of a motivator he did decree, "If you at least place, then I'll buy you shoes if you want."

She blinked then started to shake a little. Soon a soft laugh tittered out of her. It was the first real laugh she'd experienced in some time. If she did well, she'd get shoes.

He noted her antics and shrugged. "What? I thought girls liked shoes? Was I misinformed?"

She tittered a little at that then asked cutely, "I'm a girl now? I thought I was just a tool?"

John turned to her and leaned in a little. Tera blushed softly. A strange thought overtook her. Was he trying to kiss her? The more the thought awoke within her, the faster her heart started to beat. She couldn't possibly be attracted to the jerk, but soon she felt her eyes closing slightly even as her lips gently parted.

The moment the man came within a hair's breadth of her lips he whispered, "Yes, but you're my tool."

Tera felt a shameful involuntary spasm of pleasure even as her body began to heat up a little. John just said something like that? The cold bastard who tormented her daily just by existing, actually said such a thing? Lips gently parted, blood rushing to her face, and her breath quickening, she leaned in slightly.

She blinked in surprise when the expected kiss did not come. Instead, he patted her on the head then turned and hopped off the truck. "Good talk. See you in the morning."

For a moment she continued to sit there, her body leaning forward and her lips in full sensual kiss motion. Slowly, the moment passed and she reigned in her impulses.

Tears threatened to fall even as she took a deep breath. She softly chewed on her lower lip before whispering a single word, "Asshole."

There was no heat in her tone, however. The heat was within the lonely Demi-Human sitting on the back of a truck. Somehow, the cold logical bastard had managed to spark a flame within the heart of the lonesome Blazine.