'this really is starting to get annoying'

before Mars could even take in the situation around him the robotic voice spoke up

[SUBJECT SECURED, PREPARING PHYSIOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT...]

as soon as the voice was done speaking robotic hands shot out from all over the cell, 2 of them covered his face with a piece of fabric while Mars just managed to spot a water hose being put in position before his face was covered and felt his mind go blank

'you're kidding right?'

[PREPARATIONS COMPLETE, STARTING PHYSIOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT...]

unfortunately Mars's hunch was right as the water hose began spraying water on the fabric that was covering his face causing Mars to feel like he was drowning as the covered his nose and mouth

'i can't... anymore...'

about 3 minutes after the 'physiological adjustment' had started Mars felt his lunges being filled with water as his mind became blurred as he was about to pa.s.s out

[SUBJECT LIMIT REACHED, STARTING 2ND PHASE...]

Mars felt the fabric that covered his face being removed and immediately began to cough up water when his blurred mind register a beep coming from his color

*BEEP*

as soon as Mars heard the beep he felt a large electricity current pa.s.s though his body that made his lunges contract and forced out a large amount of water

[2ND PHASE COMPLETE, RESTARTING 1ST PHASE...]

before Mars had a chance to catch his breath the fabric covered his mouth and nose again

'what is this... why is...'

but he had no change to think as the water began purring again forcing him to concentrate on trying to stay alive as the process repeated hundreds of times more

...

..

.

when Mars woke up again he was overjoyed to find himself in the forest and even though he was more tired now then when he had fallen asleep yesterday and he also had a pulsing headache, he was still happy that his dream had ended and he was released form the endless torture

'i need to find a way to make those dreams stop... preferably before i lose my mind'

Mars crawled out of his bedroll and stretched while he enjoyed the morning sunlight that managed to penetrate through the dense forest

"Mars... look at... me I... got stronger"

Mars turned around when he heard Victoria's voice and saw Victoria was sitting on the ground looking more proud than usual but he quickly noticed her horns seemed to have changed a little, they had turned a shade or 2 darker, Mars could also feel though his contract that her mana seemed to have increased somewhat and quickly walked up to her and patted her on the head while he praised her

"that's amazing you really did get stronger, how about you eat all the darkness cores we obtain in the future?"

Victoria closed her eyes and began purring while her horns flashed again

"hehe... I'm amazing... right?"

"yeah that's right~"

while Mars was parsing Victoria the elvers began to wake up, and after stretching Alvin walked over to Victoria and Mars

"good morning... or not, Mars you look terrible"

"do I?"

"yeah, you have dark circles around your eyes"

"oh... well it shouldn't be a big deal"

"if you say so... well then let's quickly eat we have a lots of ground to cover today"

after eating the group set off into the forest and after a long uneventful day they made camp again, where time pa.s.sed until night were Mars sat and stared at his bedroll with a blank look on his face

'I really don't want to sleep... but maybe i won't dream tonight?'

even if he had the same dream for the past 3 nights Mars still held hope that he could sleep this night, but the next morning his face told a different story as the dark circles under his eyes had gotten even deeper he even looked a little pale, as a night of being tortured in his dreams had worn down his spirit to the point were he even started to wonder

'do i even need to sleep in the first place?'

the other members of the group also showed concern for him when they were eating breakfast, not to mention Chloe even the normally dense Victoria seemed to stick a little closer to him, but after he a.s.sured the group he was fine they all continued on the way through the seemingly endless forest for another day and again at night Mars was the last one awake as he once again sat and stared down his bedroll with a blank look on his face

'staying awake for one night should be fine... besides Alvin says we're only half a day away from the outpost... maybe they have a temple there?'

Mars still had not told them about how he had been summoned by one of the 13 sub-administrators ,or archangels as the mortals called them nor did he have any intention to do so as he felt he might be punished by Info if he began to mouth off about how he was antiquated with a archangel

'Info might even smite me out of existence if i mess up...'

Mars having decided not to sleep for tonight stood up and walked out of the temporary camp and found a relatively tall tree to climb where he sat down on a branch and watched the stars until the sun began to peek over the eastern horizon

'I should get back to the camp before they leave me behind...'

after letting out a yawn and doing some morning stretches did Mars climb down from the tree and went back to the camp were he sat down on his bedroll and waited for the others to wake up, the fist one up was of course Victoria that walked over and claimed his lap before she seemed to fall asleep again while she purred lightly while her horns flashed

"Mars... are you... okay?"

Mars began healing himself with the soft feeling of her ears for a little while as he collected his thoughts before he spoke

"well, not really...? but it's not like i will die form some nightmares"

"I know... Mars is... strong but... are you.... really fine?"

Mars didn't answer he simply sat and patted Victoria ears until eventually the elvers woke up

"good morning"

"oh, morning Mars how did you sleep?... looks like you didn't"

"yeah, but i should be fine"

Rex looked at Mars's tired face for a few seconds before he gave a sigh

"well if you say so, but first thing when we reach Green river is getting you going to a doctor"

"...sure"

Mars had gradually felt himself go crazy over the last few days, as any person would if they were tortured everyday and kept from sleeping properly, the only reason he could still somewhat keep himself together was the support he revived from Victoria and the elvers, if he had been alone he would have gone off into the deep end a long time ago

'I really am lucky...'

Alvin had also woken up and after stretching and giving a concerned look at Mars he spoke

"okay if nothing goes wrong we should reach the outpost today, form there it's only a 4 day walk though the safe forest until we reach Green river, so let do our best and stay vigilant today"

"""yes captain"""

"good then let's eat"

while Mars was roasting some meat for breakfast Chloe walked over and sat down next to him

"...good morning Mars"

"yeah, good morning Chloe"

for a time the both of them said nothing while Mars roasted meat for him and Victoria until Chloe spoke up with a almost inaudible voice

"so my mom once told me... that you sleep better... if you sleep together with someone..."

Mars doubted his ears for the first time this life but after a quick glance at Chloe were he saw she was bright red all the way to her long ears, he knew he hadn't heard wrong

"so if you want... when we reach the outpost... we could you know... sleep together, but only if you want to"

Mars's brain went into overdrive for a few seconds before he gave a sigh and simply said

"sure, I would very much like that"

now that Chloe had proposed to move their relations.h.i.+p forwards he, as a man could no keep stalling

'well I'm sure it will be fine in the end...'

after their short exchange both of them simply sat in silence and enjoyed each others company until the group eventually moved on towards the outpost witch they reached when it was about midday

"okay stop, we're here"

in front of Mars was a seemingly empty clearing

'no there's something there'

as Mars narrowed his eyes he could just see that the air was little blurred almost like a mirage, and decided to ask Rex about it

"hey Rex is that a barrier?"

"yeah it keeps nasty things and people that don't have a barrier key out"

"what's a barrier key?"

"this is"

Rex reached into his pouch and pulled out a small silver metal cube that was covered with a complex pattern of inscribed lines in different colors, Mars could faintly feel some sort of energy from the middle of the cube

"that's neat"

"yeah it's the product of a Green rivers genius, it's also bound by blood to one person so even if a outsider gets there hands on one they can't use it"

"that's smart... but wait then what about me and Victoria?"

"don't worry there's a plenty of unbound barrier keys in the outpost, you just have to wait here with Victoria for a bit then we will come with two unbound keys for you in a few minutes"

"okay then"

Mars sat down against a tree in the outside of the clearing and watched the elvers disappear when they walked into the barrier

'well might as well get a little rest while i wait'

Mars called over Victoria that laid down on his lap and closed his eyes while he waited

inside the barrier was about 8 wooden huts, that looked much like the one the elvers had built in the clearing outside of Mars's cave at the sight of the familiar building Isabel let out a sigh

"it really is good to be back... i can't wait until we get back to the village"

"yeah i want to take a long warm bath when we get back..."

"along with Mars right?"

"yeah... wait no!"

"focus you too we're not home yet"

""yes captain""

when the group of 4 walked closer to the building a group of another 8 elvers that was clad in similar leather armor walked out of the building, among them was a elver with blond short hair that looked like he was in his mid 30's that look very relieved when he saw Chloe and ran op to her

"oh, Chloe it's good to see your okay"

"it's good to see you too eldest brother Cooper"

he was the eldest son of the current village chief, and also the elders top pick for the next village chief and while Chloe was happy to see him Alvin gave a slight frown as he looked around at the other 7 elvers and asked

"why is the 2nd outer forest patrol team here?"

the outer forest patrol teams was different form the barrier forest patrol teams, while the barrier patrol teams specialized in stealth and taking down magic beast if they had to, the outer forest patrol teams were different as they was i frequent contact with outsiders they specialized in one thing and only one thing, killing outsiders

"well Alvin we really don't want to be here either, but elders pulled back almost all of the outer patrols when your team was captured"

"...I see, so what are you here for?"

"first we're here to deliver orders to you guys, the 6th barrier forest patrol team is to head back to Green river as soon as possible and report to the elders"

Alvin's frown deepened as he got a bad feeling, after all there was no reason for on of the best outer forest patrol teams to simply act as messengers

"...what else are you here for"

Cooper gave a wide smile

"the elders have given us the order to kill or banish the outsider that captured you"