Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 39: Feeling Secure

Chapter 39: Feeling Secure

The forest earth was soft and slippery with fallen leaves, making it tough to run, especially with all the vines and roots tangled together.

If it wasn’t for Mandy’s power of Aerokinesis to manipulating airflow, she would’ve been caught right away. But she knew she couldn’t keep this up for more than ten minutes; her lack of experience and stamina, plus being unfamiliar with the terrain, was slowing her down.

Suddenly, one of the "enemies" used their power to raise a wall of earth in front of her.

Mandy panicked and tried to change direction, but another person blocked her path.

"Hand over the documents," one of them demanded.

The two "enemies" weren’t holding back just because she was a girl. Their eyes shone with a fierce determination, fully committed to their roles.

Mandy took a deep breath, slowly backing away, "I don’t have the documents on me."

"Then we’ll take you hostage to threaten your teammates!" one of them threatened.

"And maybe give you a beating too!" the other one added.

Even though she knew it was all a simulation, Mandy felt a wave of fear wash over her.

Just as she was about to scream, the "enemy" with the earth powers suddenly tensed up.

Tree trunks shot out from behind the earth wall, flying towards them.

The branches, thick as an arm and sharpened at the tips, made them jump back.

"Whoa, that’s a bit much, isn’t it?" one of them exclaimed.

The two quickly retreated, but a green light band reached out, grabbing Mandy and pulling her away.

"Don’t let her get away!" the "enemy" with the earth powers shouted, stomping the ground and sending earth spikes after them like giant hands.

The other "enemy" teleported towards the green light, trying to catch up.

They were seasoned pros, after all.

Lyra stood on a thick tree trunk, using her powers to kick the teleporting "enemy" as he appeared.

The force sent him flying, but he quickly recovered and teleported behind her, only to be met with another punch.

This time he blocked it, immediately counterattacking.

The two quickly got into a fierce battle.

Meanwhile, Mandy felt her stomach churn as she was whisked through the air, barely holding it together.

She remembered she was still in training, so she gritted her teeth and extended her arms to release wind blades, just managing to cut down the earth spikes chasing her.

Then, however, the "enemy" on the ground used the spikes to rise up, reaching out to grab her.

Mandy screamed for help, startling even the instructor playing the "enemy;" he almost lost his balance.

Lyra frowned, pulling Mandy closer, despite of the branches that might scratch her.

The two "enemies" landed on a branch, surrounding her, and started their scripted lines, "Hand over the items..."

A sudden bright green light flashed, forcing them to shield their eyes. When they looked again, Lyra was already swinging away on a light band, disappearing into the forest.

"Phew... Webber, remember when you said we shouldn’t go too hard because she’s just a healer? Look at this!" The "enemy" who could teleport lifted his shirt, showing a large, red mark on his waist that was clearly going to bruise. "How did such skinny legs hit so hard?"

Webber took off his mask and sighed, "I didn’t see that coming either."

He thought to himself, "What happened to ’I’m just a healer? And what happened to ’I’m weak’"?

And then they remembered who had actually taken down Jorath, and it all made sense.

Lyra and Mandy sped through the forest for about five minutes before finally landing, rolling a few times on the ground.

As they got up, Mandy burst into tears, "This training is just too scary!" Her face was twisted in pain, with tears mixing with the scratches from the tree branches.

Just then, a fit of harsh coughing interrupted her. "Cough, cough..."

Lyra was covering her mouth, trying to catch her breath.

"Lyra, are you okay?" Mandy quickly forgot her own distress and rushed over to pat Lyra’s back.

Lyra waved her hand, took a few deep breaths, and soon recovered. In a hoarse voice, she said, "I’m fine."

High-intensity physical exertion demanded rapid oxygen intake, putting extra strain on her body, but she wasn’t beyond her limits.

She took a water bottle from her backpack, drank a couple of sips, and then said, "Let’s sort out our supplies."

She quickly opened both their backpacks and frowned again.

The supplies were too limited. They had only enough compressed biscuits for one day, so they not only had to avoid being caught but also needed to find more food themselves.

Their only weapon was a single knife, and they had just some alcohol and a small amount of hemostatic medicine, meaning they couldn’t afford to get injured. And there were level-six beasts on this island.

As Lyra spread out the map and began calmly calculating their next steps, Mandy sat quietly beside her. Suddenly, she felt a surprising sense of security from her roommate, who was even smaller than she was.

In the peaceful forest, Lyra focused on the map displayed on the screen, plotting out their path for a solid half hour.

"This is the route we’ll take," she declared, tracing a red line across the screen with her finger.

Mandy, feeling a mix of confusion and worry, tried to make sense of the plan. "It looks like a pretty long detour," she said.

Lyra explained, "With breaks and meals included, it’ll take us about fifty hours."

Mandy, her blonde hair catching the light, looked surprised.

Even with heavy loads, their longest runs had only lasted half a day. But seeing the seriousness in Lyra’s eyes, she didn’t argue and hesitantly added, "We’ve already been traveling for three hours. If something goes wrong, we might not make it to the destination on time."

She was also worried that any unexpected trouble, like enemies or wild beasts, might leave them even without chance to escape, potentially ending their trip prematurely.

Lyra reassured her, "This route is actually the safest. It avoids areas with beast dens and enemy bases as much as possible."