Yaru had the air stuck in his throat. Fuck, he messed up. He messed up badly. No one was supposed to know. No one can understand because that meant Yaru was digging his grave deeper with each person that figured it out.

'I promised to tell Yuan...'

Right, that's right, he promised.

Yaru isn't someone that goes back on his promises. He was going to tell Yuan anyways. He shook his head, but the panic didn't die down.

It didn't matter that Yuan was supposed to know. What if someone else was listening. There was that guy that told him that he was followed. He didn't think about him after Yuan appeared, but what if he was still here?

Yaru closed his eyes and tried to think. He refused to elaborate, not now. Yet, wasn't the damage already done?

No, he had to stay positive.

They were safe. Nothing was going to happen.

Nothing.

Yuan's voice interrupted his thoughts, "what? Why aren't they going to send us home?"

Yaru tried smiling. It came out rather sad, but that was the best he could do right now.

He needed to tell Yuan the truth, but not here. Not like this. It was too dangerous, and Yaru wasn't even sure that he wanted to tell Yuan.

He promised, yes, but if a stupid promise was going to do him in, Yaru was going to kick it in the shanizel*.

"Just," he stopped his voice from shaking, "drop it. I was just-" he took a deep breath "I don't even know what I thought when I said something this freaking stupid." Yaru sat down and let out a sigh, "Think about it, it's not like they're going to tell me all their plans, right?"

Yuan nodded slowly, "I suppose not, but somehow I feel like you aren't honest with me. Please forgive me if I'm wrong."

Maybe it was because Yaru couldn't stop shaking, "I'm as honest as I can. You heard the training instructor, right? He told us we would be going home if we lose. who are you going to believe, him or my temporary insanity?"

Yuan didn't look convinced. The more Yaru tried to change his mind, the more he believed what Yaru have said before.

"Just," Yaru shook his head, "please, forget I ever said anything, ok?" Yaru stood up and left Yuan standing there. He ran away again.

Ignoring everything that happened today, it was clear that Yaru couldn't count on the training-instructor or any instructor for that matter.

Could he even trust anyone in the temple?

He has a month. Just one month to either grow strong enough not to die because of this stupid tournament, or to run away from this freaking death trap of a temple.

To make an educated choice, Yaru needed to know more. He needed to know about the temple's surroundings, the magical beasts and other beings that are native to this area, how close was he to civilization?

Magic.

If he wanted to be able to run away, Yaru needs to have a way to defend himself. If he can't cultivate enough until the deadline, at least he could try to practice magic. It was supposed to be quicker, more powerful at the beginner steps, even if it was rather weak compared to cultivators in the end.

Yaru decided to learn about magic. Do you need to do something special to use it? What can it do? How are you supposed to fight with it?

All of those questions didn't have answers in the temple's library.

It was like someone intentionally removed those books. This way, no one could learn about runes and the barrier surrounding the temple.

If Yaru had to guess, he'd put his money on the temple master. That man needed them to stay inside of the temple until this 'demon' - that Yaru still wasn't sure existed - was defeated.

There was a seal mentioned...

That thing's supposed to keep the demon inside the temple. Yaru wondered what else was held inside the barrier.

He hated to admit it, but if he wanted to find out the answers to those questions and escape before the deadline, he would have to break into the temple master's private library.