Chapter XIV: Who are the Elites?

"I thought you were already asleep, darling?" It is her daily routine, checking me every single hour when I am at home.


“I was about to sleep, Mamita. I will just change my clothes first.” She nodded before approaching me and sitting on the bed as well.


She looked around the room as if she was looking for something. “I thought you were talking to someone here. I think I heard someone speaking.”


I calmed myself and made sure I will not stutter if I speak. “I’m alone here, Mamita. Who will come here, anyway?” I smiled with no hint of nervousness of something.


Mamita shrugs her shoulder. "Yeah, no one would dare visit you here."


I felt guilty for not telling her the truth. I just want to protect Ryoko and Tetsu. It is a decision that we agreed upon.


“The reason why I went here is to apologize, darling. I got carried away a while ago.” I am grateful that she is composed now. Anger is no longer visible in her beautiful face.


“I swore at the grave of your parents that I would take care and protect you.” The looks of disappointment evident in her face.


I gently caressed her hand. “That's alright, Mamita. I know you're only thinking about my welfare, and I’m sure my parents would understand.”


I never met my parents. I was born in this world with Mamita and Mr. Bear by my side. She told me that my parents died together with my grandpapa during the war that happened two decades ago. I didn't even see a photo of them because they got buried along the war before. I still remember feeling very sad when Mamita told me that, maybe if I was already born through those times I might have done something to save them.


“Always remember that I love you very much, darling.” I closed my eyes when she kissed my forehead. “All right, take a rest first.” She properly put the comforter to cover the half of my body before leaving.


***


"Are you okay now, Amaris?" Mathilda's worried face greeted me the next day.


“Yes. I'm sorry if I bothered you yesterday.” I walked towards her direction and gave a peck on her cheek. “By the way, good morning.”


"Oh…” Her face lit up. “Good morning to my very beautiful friend!" She clapped once before clinging on my arm and makes me sit beside her.


“I know you were shocked yesterday, but I want to remind you that it is just one of the cue that you are already facing the real world. It might be the first, but definitely not the last."


We both sighed in unison. I understand, I just thought I have readied myself.



“I will help you adjust and the first thing you need to know is about the Elites.” She sighed once again when she mentions that.


“I didn’t think that you will meet them this early. If I only knew, I should have warned you beforehand.” She annoyingly scratches her head.



She looks cute.


“That’s okay, Mathilda. We still have plenty of time for that.” We can’t turn back what happened, though.


“So yeah, let’s proceed… Elites consists of seven members from different empires. Let's start with the Hopkins twins. You already know them don't you?” I quickly nodded in response.



“They are both vampires. I don’t know them well, all I know is they are cruel, but when they defended you yesterday... I don't know what to think anymore.” She let out an exasperated sigh.



“We still have unsettled business, but I won't stop you if you want to be friends with them.”



I heard other stories about the twins, but I have decided that I would give them a chance to prove themselves.


“You heard about the Hunter’s Game during the orientation, right?” I nodded once again.


“It is a game for all the students of Laurent University. Each student will enter a forest called the Forbidden Forest. It is called forbidden because no one must enter the forest without consent from the Elites.”



“Forbidden Forest houses thousands of different wild creatures. They are those creatures who were being tainted with black magic and have to be imprisoned in the forest so they will no longer be a threat to us.”



What do they look like though? I suddenly got curious.


“In this game, your points vary to the number of creatures you will get killed. But that depends on the rank of your opponent. A to D rank creatures are equal to one point. If your opponent is an S-rank, five points will be added immediately. And if you're lucky enough to get an SS+ rank, ten points is the corresponding equivalent. But they rarely show up, and for me, I won’t even dream facing an SS+ rank. I might die!” She exaggeratedly laughs.



“And whoever has the most casualties will be awarded the Best Hunter.” Mathilda snaps her fingers in air, she got excited all of a sudden.


“Why do we need to kill those creatures, Mathilda?” I don't think I can do that. I can’t even hurt an insect.


She tapped my shoulder. “Remember, Amaris… The creatures inside that forest are the worst. They are already stained with black magic and if you don't precede them, they will kill you.”



She looked at me carefully before giving me a convincing smile.


“You can’t be good all the time, Amaris. The day will come when you will also have to defend yourself. This world is not only inhabited by the good, there are also creatures who have forgotten how to be good and have completely embraced evilness. And when that time comes, it doesn’t mean that you are already evil, because you are not, Amaris. You just defended yourself because you also have to live for your family,” she warily explained for me to understand what does she mean by that.


I have no idea what am I going to do at the day of Hunter’s Game. Mamita already warned me that there are evil creatures in the world, but I don't know if I can hurt them. Everyone just wants to live.


Ugh! I don’t know anymore!


“When you are named as the Best Hunter, you get all the privileges—you can go to school whenever you want. You also have access to all the facilities here at the university. When you are also named Best Hunter, no one can run into you because that means fighting with Elites as well. The lucky student will also be included in the group's missions.”



I sighed, it’s okay to not be named as the best. That's fine with me.


“I think I already explained what Hunter’s Game is? Do you have any more questions, Amaris?” I just shook my head, it was all clear to me.


“Hmm… Okay, let's proceed to the remaining Elites." She paused.



"The next one is Ashton, a vampire and the Prince of Siracien Kingdom. He is the one with the earring on his nose. Then, there’s Stephan Morris, a vampire prince as well. Drake Martins is the fifth one. If those two previous vampires were just princes, Drake is already the King of their kingdom. He's that handsome man who defended you,” she said with a grin on her lips as she moved her eyebrows in a playful manner.


"What's with the smirk, Mathilda?" I laughed.


“I want an honest answer,” she said, seriously. “Do you find Drake handsome?”


“Hmm. Yes, he is handsome.” I didn’t even blink twice when I answered that, and I was surprised when she suddenly screamed before poking my waist.


She giggled. “I'm just thrilled because you found Drake handsome. He isn’t a pretty face, he is a gentleman as well.”


I nodded in agreement.


“Can you feel any butterflies in your stomach when you are seeing him?” Her eyes were dilated, seems so excited with my response.



“Butterflies in my stomach? What does it mean?”



Her excitement was followed by a heavy sigh. “You know… it means you are thrilled... or you feel nervous excitement when someone you like is around. Then you will feel the butterflies inside your stomach. You can't really understand how you feel the emotion because it's mixed,” she said enthusiastically.


She looked elated as she explained. Maybe that is really a good feeling.


"So you find him handsome?" He resumed.


“Yes, he is. In fact, they are all handsome. All the creatures I see are beautiful and handsome. No one was born ugly.”


"You are just so pure, Amaris." She patted my head. “Let's move on, the next Elites is Amalia Nermain. Maybe you already know her? I still can’t believe she was able to hurt you, because I knew her as the sweet and well-poised lady. But anyways, she's a wolf and daughter of an Alpha from Crimson Pack. She is considered queen here in Laurent because of her closeness to the King of Elites. She is the only woman he approaches. Let's just try not to get on her way to avoid misunderstandings again. ”



My respect for her is still here. I just wish, we will get along well in the future. My intention is to have friends, not to gain enemies.


“The last one is King Marcus Caden Laurent. He is known as the most dangerous hybrid in the whole Wromouth City. He is the Alpha of White Claw Pack and at the same time the King at Laurent Empire.” While she is speaking, the face of the man suddenly appeared in my mind and also the exact scenario when I kissed him.


“No one’s getting on his way. No one survives his brutality, so the university is always at peace specially if he is here. And I can’t freaking believe that you kissed King, Amaris!” She face-palmed. After all what happened yesterday, she just reacted now.



“I will get a heart attack from what you are doing. Don't you ever do that again. I told you, you don’t have to kiss someone when you are going to apologize!” She messed up with her hair, suddenly got stressed.


I pouted. Is that the case? “I thought Mr. Alarcon is the only one I won't kiss? That's what you told me. I'm sorry, Mathilda. And in fact, I-I just kissed him on the cheek, just like you.”


That was the reason why Amalia is so mad at me.


“Let’s forget about that. Let's just avoid them. But it's good to know that he didn’t hurt you when you kissed him?”


Suddenly my chest throbbed as I remembered again how he carefully embraces my waist as my lips pressed against his. Since yesterday, he never left my mind. I even saw him on my dream, the fact that for all these years, I haven’t had a dream.


“No. He even gently holds my waist when I kissed him,” I answered politely because there is no need to lie, and I saw how her pretty little eyes widened.


"H-he gently h-hold you?" She looks in deep shock. “Yes, he is indeed handsome, but the word gentle is not in his vocabulary!”



But he helped me? He seems caring, opposite of her statements. Is he really that bad?


“And just a friendly advice, Amaris. You can like any creature here in Laurent, except the King. He is already destined for Amalia,” she said and with that, I felt a squeezing pain in my heart.


Something inside me wasn’t in favor in her last statement.