Thirteen looked at Derek, who seemed to have changed a lot after spending two years training with the Death Bat. His gaze was now sharper, and his gait was steady, as if he had overcome many tribulations to stand here today. "You did well, Camazotz," Thirteen said in approval before shifting back his attention to Derek. "You can stop acting cool. It doesn’t work on me." Derek, who looked like an imposing swordsman a minute ago, immediately sighed and shook his head helplessly. "I told you, Master Camazotz. Zion will notice it right away," Derek complained. The Death Bat snorted. "It’s because you are such a lousy actor that he could see through your bluff. However, that’s fine. Aside from him, no one else should be able to see through your pretentious bluff." Derek clicked his tongue before crossing his arms over his chest. "Don’t worry, Master. I have grown incredibly strong under Master Camazotz’s teachings." "I know." Thirteen nodded. "Although your acting sucks, I’m very sure your fighting abilities don’t. You did well, Derek. I’m proud of you." The swordsman’s eyes moistened a bit. For him, Zion’s praise meant a lot. He had really suffered great hardships in training with the Death Bat, but now, he could say with certainty that he was a changed man. Thirteen then glanced at the young lady standing beside Kamrusepa. Mildred’s body had become more lean and toned than usual. It also had a healthy tan, making the young lady look quite impressive. Even Derek couldn’t stop himself from sneaking side glances at his friend because she looked like that friendly neighborhood sister you could depend on during your time of need. Thirteen gave Mildred a long and hard glance, which made the young lady smile faintly. "I can already see the despair, and frustration that your enemies will feel when fighting against you, Mildred," Thirteen commented before shifting his gaze to Kamrusepa. "Thank you for helping her, Kamrusepa." "I also want to thank you, Thirteen," Kamrusepa said. "I had fun training Mildred." "Thank you too, Master." Mildred bowed respectfully to Kamrusepa. "I will never forget your teachings." "Good. Make sure to take care of her for me, okay?" Kamrusepa patted the young lady’s head. "Yes, Master," Mildred replied. "I’ll keep an eye out for her." "Take care of who?" Derek asked. "None of your business!" Mildred glared at the young man, who was only an inch away from being pinched to death by the Majin Princess, who still had a smile on her face. Thirteen was also curious about the identity of the person whom Kamrusepa and Mildred were talking about. But unlike Derek, he wasn’t curious enough to ask who that person was. The swordsman sighed before glancing back at his Master, who was still being hugged by Erica, making him feel a little envious. ’When I return to Pangea, I will seriously look for a girlfriend!’ Derek thought. ’I can’t be the only single guy around in our party! Derek knew that given Roland’s good looks, he wouldn’t find it hard to find a girlfriend. However, the swordsman also knew that Roland had liked Shana for a very long time. Unfortunately, Shana had already made her choice. She had chosen Zion to become her partner, which made Derek wonder how the leader of their party would react once he had heard about this news. ’I guess I’ll just have to wait and see,’ Derek mused. Mildred, on the other hand, was thinking of other things. "Can the two of you not act lovey-dovey in public?" Mildred asked. "You should respect us single people here." Thirteen, and Erica glanced at each other before sharing a kiss on the lips, just for the sake of spiting Mildred. "Ugh… absolutely disgusting." Mildred grimaced. Derek, who also didn’t want to see such scenes because he was feeling envious, coughed lightly. "Master, should we all go back now?" Derek asked. "I want to spar with you." Derek was confident that with his current strength, he would be able to beat Zion in a sparring match. This was also his way of getting back at him for making him feel envious and jealous at the same time! Stay connected with freewebnovel "Oh! I also want to spar with you, Zion!" Mildred smiled evilly. "I like to show you the fruits of my training." "How about the two of you spar with me first?" Erica, who didn’t want Zion to be bullied by her friends, asked in contempt. "We can spar after, Erica," Derek replied. "I just want to spar with my Master first." "Why don’t you fight someone your own size?" Erica, who wasn’t backing down, insisted. "But then again, Zion’s size is bigger than yours. It’s my mistake, so forget what I said earlier." The Sorceress made sure to look at that spot of Derek’s body with a look of disdain to prove her point. "Hahaha! Do you really think your silly taunt will affect me?" Derek, who had been baptized by great hardships, didn’t even bat an eye to Erica’s provocation. "Try harder next time, okay?" "Sure, but Zion has me, Sherry, and Shana." Erica chuckled. "How about you? Who do you have?" The Swordsman was unable to make a witty follow-up because he didn’t have a girlfriend. However, Camazotz rested his hand on the young man’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up. "It’s fine, Derek," Camazotz said. "You’re a real man now. All you need to do is show the girls your moves, and you’ll be as popular as me." "You’re right, Master!" Derek grabbed hold of the Death Bat’s claws and shook it. "You really understand me!" Paimon and Kamrusepa exchanged a look with each other as if asking the question "was this guy ever popular?". However, since they didn’t want to hurt the pride of the two men, they remained silent while chuckling internally. "Very well. Let’s go back," Thirteen said. "I also want to see both of your progress." Derek immediately did a fist pump because he believed that his time had come to show Zion how much he had improved. Also, he secretly wanted to give the teenage boy a beating for the hardships that he endured for the past two years of his life. Mildred was also very happy to hear that Zion was going to spar with her. She was already itching to make the young man feel frustrated about the fact that she could hit him without the latter having the ability to hit her back in return. Seeing how the two teenagers looked, Tiona, who was coiled around her Master’s neck, shook her head helplessly. Although their Master was still a Rookie, that didn’t change the fact that the teenage boy had also grown a lot during the past two years that he had wandered Solterra alongside Sherry. She could already see the disappointed looks on the two teenagers’ faces. However, since they wished to fight with her Master, she also felt that they needed a beating to make them understand reality. Erica, who also believed that she had become stronger than her fiance, was a bit worried because she knew that Derek and Mildred would not hold back during the sparring match. However, Thirteen gave her hand a light squeeze, which eased her worries a bit. It was the teenage boy’s way of telling her that everything was going to be alright. Truth be told, he also wanted to see just how strong Derek and Mildred had become. They didn’t know that he was already pondering about which role would suit them in the upcoming invasion in the Cygni Continent and that it’d depend on the performance they would show him during their sparring match. After thanking Camazotz, Paimon, and Kamrusepa one last time, Thirteen took the three teenagers back to Rocky’s Mobile Fortress, where Sherry was already waiting for their return.