‘I want to keep practing my defense.’ Lara’s words rang in Luhan’s mind.

  The next day, Luhan came to Lara who was discussing her technical skill with Kris.

  “..yeah, if you can analyze what kind of movements or changes made by the nanomachine just like yesterday, you might be able to control it even better.” said Kris.

  “I get it, once I know how to change it more often, I can easily do it again and analyze it more specifically. I wonder, maybe I can make something else more than just a shield or mermaid fins..” replied Lara.

  “Hey guys..” greeted Luhan to Kris and Lara.

  “Hey, what’s up?” greeted Kris back.

  “Hi, Lu.” said Lara and smiled.

  “How’s your krusnik nanomachine going? Is there any progress?”
 asked Luhan.

  “Yeah, we were discussing that maybe I can further train it and make some sort of weapon just like the other Krusniks do.” replied Lara.

  “You know, the feeling when it changed into shield yesterday. I could try to feel it the same way and make it change into something else.” said Lara again.

  “This is why I told you to keep practicing your power, Lara.. Because the more you train to change it, the more you can control it better. It is inside your body after all.” responded Kris.       

  “Yeah, you’re amazing. How do you know that? It feels like you can describe perfectly this Krusnik Nanomachine inside me.” amazed Lara.

  “That’s not really hard to guess, I mean after all this time, I’ve read a lot information and got a chance to see it myself.” explained Kris.

  After that, Kris and Lara kept talking and discussing about Krusnik subject and forgetting Luhan who was also there with them.

  It was weird to see Lara and Kris who compared to all of the boys had the least interaction kept talking and comfortably interacting like they were best partner. Somehow it made Luhan jealous. Maybe.

  But then, when Luhan was about to leave, Lara called him.

  “Lu! Where are you going?” asked Lara.

  “Well, I don’t want to interrupt you guys.” replied Luhan. As much as he wanted to join their conversation, he didn’t have a lot of experience as Kris. He heard a lot about Krusnik through his telepathy, but it was a lot more different from seeing it directly like Kris did.

  “I need your opinion. Well, we were discussing about how I should continue with my training. Later I will train my power separately to try and project things with myself and after that I will train with one of you to try it in real battle. What do you think?” asked Lara earnestly.

  “I think that’s great.” replied Luhan.

  “As long as you’re fine with it, that’s fine with me.” said Luhan again.

  “Great! I can’t wait to get started.” responded Lara excitedly.    

  She would've never thought that she'd watched and analyzed some action movies in order to help herself visualize her krusnik nanomachine ability. Eventhough the main focus of her power is on the defense but she tried her best to project her krusnik nanomachine into a weapon.

  Her training went well for a couple of weeks until finally D.O., Lay, and Suho came to Lara.

  “Lara, we don't know for sure how long it takes for a krusnik inside you to survive but let's stop guessing and let your Krusnik Nanomachine fed more often.” exclaimed Suho.

  She knew sooner or later that she needed their blood in order to maintain her power to be active, but she didn't want to consume their blood anymore. Eventhough she could control herself not to drink their blood too much but she didn't want to depend on that. She didn't want to be a burden to the boys.

  “No, I'm feeling fine guys. Don't worry about it.” responded Lara.

  Lay stepped forward and checked on Lara's body without her permission.

  “You know your reflexes is slowing down lately.” explained D.O. while Lay kept on checking her body.

   “We don't know for how long will our blood maintain your Krusnik Nanomachine to be active. But you've been trying so hard while training  and I guessed it consumes a lot of power.” exclaimed Suho again.

   “Her pulse is slightly weak, I don't know if this is caused by her Krusnik Nanomachine getting weaker that it needs our blood again.” Lay told them his examination result.

   “No, guys please listen to me.” opossed Lara suddenly.

   “You can't expect me to keep drinking your blood, can you? I don't want to always depend on that.” said Lara again.

   “But we don't know the effect on you since you had already activated your Krusnik Nanomachine.” replied D.O.

   “Exactly! I want to know how capable I live without keep drinking your blood. I mean, even if my reflexes slowing down or lets say I can't use my transformation power, I want to learn how to protect myself without my krusnik power.” explained Lara.

   The three of them exchanged glance.

   “Okay, I think we should discuss this with the others.” said Suho afterwards.

   “I know that I should keep drinking your blood in order to keep my Krusnik Nanomachine active. But, is it possible if I protect myself without using my krusnik power?” Lara said. She knew that the boys still confused with her statement earlier so she continue to explain.

   “I mean..I don’t know if it’s possible but, we don’t know if we don’t try right?

   “Let’s say the worst case happened and I can’t activate my power. I want to do some precautions how to protect myself. Can you teach me how to fight? Karate or something? or using some sort of weapon?” asked Lara.

   “I think that’s a brilliant thinking, Lara! I’m really proud of you. Your safety is our priority, and with you being aware of that it makes me grateful.” responded Kris.

   “But, unfortunately there is a problem.” said Kris again, suddenly looked gloomy.

   “What is it?” asked Lara curious.

   “No one can teach you to fight besides Tao.” replied Suho.

   “Each one of us have specialized supernatural power and able to control a certain element, including Tao. But, his power is more of a defensive than offensive. That is why our trainer, Claude teach him how to fight so he will able to protect himself. Besides Tao, no one can teach you how to fight with empty hands. Tao can only also use his wushu stick or nunchuks as a weapon.” added Kris.

   “Ah, is that so? That’s not a problem. Tao, you can teach me right?” asked Lara.

   “Of course, Lara. I’m always ready anytime.” replied Tao.

   “So, what do you guys think?” asked Lara to the others.

   “Yeah, I guess it’s worth to try.” responded Suho and the other boys similarly.

   Lara didn’t waste any time, she headed to the training room with Tao and started to learn how to fight using his wushu stick. After a few hours, she knew the basic movement but she was weak and couldn’t withstand Tao’s attack with his wushu stick. Because she decided not to activate her Krusnik Nanomachine and wanted to test how far she could survive using only her own abilities to fight. They decided to take a break not long after.

   “Why don’t we continue this tomorrow? You already know the basics, I guess you’re doing just fine.” said Tao, concerned about Lara’s condition. Sweat was all over her body.

   “If I’m doing just fine then let’s just continue.” refused Lara.

   “Don’t push yourself too hard, Lara.” said Xiumin who had been supervising their training with Suho and Kris.

   “We agree to let Tao trains you but not to push your limit. After all, we’re more worried since you didn’t activate your Krusnik Nanomachine. You’re weaker when you didn’t activate your power so better not to push it.” added Suho.

   “Fine. We’ll continue this tomorrow, then.” replied Lara.

   She then took a bath after that. She must’ve admitted that she herself was overwhelmed by the training earlier. But, she didn’t want to give up and wanted to see how far she would handle it.

   She stepped out of  the bathroom when she saw Luhan in her room, by the window. She felt nervous right away.

   “Hi, Lu! Why don’t you tell me you’re coming?” asked Lara. He didn’t replied so Lara approached him. She could hear him sighing before hearing his replies.

   “What’s wrong?” asked Lara again. Luhan held both her cheeks with his hand and looked at her with concerned expression.

   “There is nothing that you can hide from me.” said Luhan.

   “You can worry them, but please don’t make me worry.” he added.

   “But, I just want to check how far I would survive without activating my power.” resisted Lara.

   “You had done it earlier, right? Now, please ease my worries.” asked Luhan again. Then he took her to sit on the sofa. He gestured his neck.

   “Drink my blood.” he added.

   The truth she was desperate of Kudlak Bacillus’ blood. She had been using a lot of energy to experiment with her Krusnik Nanomachine. Even though she hadn’t used a lot of energy, in some point she would still need to drink their blood. It was a fact she couldn’t avoid but couldn’t accept either. She didn’t want to worry the boys so she thought it was better for them to know that she would be alright even without kept consuming their blood. But Luhan knew everything. With his telepathy ability, she couldn’t hide it from Luhan.

   “I will keep it a secret from everyone if you drink my blood.” persuaded Luhan after seeing that Lara wouldn’t seem to comply with him.

   She didn’t have any choice. She finally agreed to do what Luhan asked her to do.

   “Make sure to fully drink it.” he said as Lara moved towards his neck.

   It wasn’t difficult anymore to find the will to stop drinking the boy’s blood no matter how powerful the Nanomachine’s influence on her.

   “If you don’t drink it properly, I will still tell them.” threatened Luhan when he felt that she hadn’t drink enough blood. Lara sighed before continue drinking Luhan’s blood.

   “Good girl.” praised Luhan while gently patting her head after she drank enough blood.

   “It’s unfair. I wished you couldn’t read minds.” Lara sighed again.

   “Sorry, but it’s for your own good.” replied Luhan. Lara looked at him and he smiled softly.

   “What?” asked Luhan cause Lara wouldn't stop looking at him. The next second, Lara kissed Luhan’s lips.

   “I must always return your kindness.” she said.

   “You must not forget that each time I drank you guys’ blood, you lost energy. And this is the fastest way to restore it. But..it’s also my sign of gratitude.”  added Lara.

   “I’m honored to receive it, princess.” replied Luhan as a flash of blue light glowing on his arm.

Note: Finally an update after a while! Hope you don't lose interest with the story~ :)