"Die? You want me to die?" Yenna stared at him, confused and alarmed.
"Yes," he said calmly, sitting down on a nearby log. He was still tired from fixing his own cores, and he knew this was going to take a lot out of him.
"You’ll need to start over. If I remove the corrupted mana from your body, you’ll revert back to normal human. Your player status will be gone. But," he added, looking her straight in the eye, "you’ll be able to awaken again, properly this time. You’ll be able to level up."
"That’s fine," she said without hesitating. The determination in her eyes was unwavering. "If it means I can actually progress, it’s worth it."
He was drawn to that look in her eyes. It reminded him of his own desperation, his own will to survive. "Alright. Sit down. Face the wall."
"Okay." She sat eagerly, her back to him. Her expression changed when his hands touched her back. It tickled, but she liked it. A warmth spread from his hands, seeping into her skin.
"My mana is inside you now. Just relax," he said, his voice low and focused. "I’ll start extracting the corrupted mana."
His hands were firm but gentle as they traced the line of her spine. He could feel it now—the dark, sticky corruption clinging to her mana pathways. "This might hurt," he warned. "The corrupted mana has been a part of you for a long time. Removing it will be hard."
She nodded and closed her eyes, bracing herself. She felt a deep pressure at the base of her spine, a radiating throb that grew with each passing second.
It felt like his hands were connected directly to her core, his pure mana seeking out the darkness within her.
He started to pull, using his mana to draw the corruption out. Yenna gritted her teeth, her body trembling as the pain got worse. It felt like her insides were being turned inside out, the corrupted mana fighting to stay.
Vell’s face was focused as he poured more of his own mana into her. The corruption resisted, but he was just as stubborn. The pain became too much, and Yenna’s vision started to blur. She wanted to scream, but she bit down on her tongue, refusing to make a sound.
This was her chance, her one shot at breaking free from the limits that had held her back for so long. She wouldn’t let the pain win.
Just as she felt like she was about to pass out, the last of the corrupted mana was drawn out of her. She felt a sudden, complete release, and she collapsed forward, gasping for breath, her body drenched in sweat.
He pulled his hands away, his own arms shaking from the effort. He was tired, but he wasn’t done yet. "The hardest part is over, but there’s still work to do."
"How do you feel?" he asked quietly.
She took a moment to catch her breath. "Empty," she said, her voice shaking. "But also... free. I feel like I can breathe for the first time in years."
He nodded, a small smile on his face. "That’s a start. Now we need to rebuild you. With some help, you can rise again."
She looked at him, her eyes full of gratitude and fear. Fear of the unknown, of starting over from nothing. But there was also hope, a bright hope that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. "How do we start?" Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
He stood up, stretching his tired muscles. "First, we need to train. You need to learn how to control your mana properly."
He walked over to where Wren was still resting. He gently stroked her fur, and she let out a soft purr. "Wren will be a good sparring partner. She’s fast, strong, and fights hard. You’ll learn a lot from her."
Yenna looked at the small, sleeping weasel, then back at him. She was excited at the thought of fighting alongside Wren. She’d seen what the little beast was capable of, and she remembered the glowing runes and deadly claws. "I don’t know if I can..."
He stopped her. "You can, and you will. This is your chance to get stronger, Yenna. Don’t waste it."
She nodded, her expression full of new determination. "You’re right. I won’t waste this chance. I’ll train, and I’ll get stronger."
"Good," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "Now, let’s go. We need to find a safe place to camp. We’re still too close to the city, and I don’t want any more surprises."
They gathered their few belongings and walked deeper into the forest. The trees grew thicker, their leaves blocking out the last of the evening light. The air was cooler here, and the sounds of the city faded away, replaced by the rustle of leaves and the chirp of crickets.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked after a while. "You don’t owe me anything."
He looked at her, a small, tired smile on his face. "Maybe I see something of myself in you. Maybe I’m bored and this amuses me. Or maybe..." He trailed off, leaving the thought unfinished.
"Maybe I believe everyone deserves a second chance," he said softly, his voice full of sincerity that made her heart ache.
’Yeah right,’ he thought to himself. ’The real reason is I don’t want to be alone.’
"Thank you," she said, her voice full of emotion. "I owe you my life."
He just nodded, not wanting to get too sentimental. They continued in silence, lost in their own thoughts as the forest closed in around them.
Suddenly, he held up a hand, signaling for her to stop. He crouched down, examining the ground. "There’s a stream nearby," he said, pointing to the damp earth and a few broken branches.
"You know about stuff too?" she asked, impressed. It was a basic survival skill, but still.
"Yeah, saw it in a lot of movies," he said with a straight face, then moved on, leaving her standing there, dumbfounded.
She ran after him, following his lead as they made their way toward the sound of rushing water. Soon, they found themselves at the edge of a small, clear stream. He knelt down and cupped his hands, drinking deeply.
"This is a good spot," he said, looking around. "We can set up camp here for the night."
"Are you sure we should be sleeping here?"
"This forest is a very dangerous place, mainly because you never know what kind of monsters will show up. People always try to avoid it because the monsters here are unique."
He looked at her with a blank expression, then a slow, mischievous smile spread across his face.
"So what you’re saying is, this is the best place for us to train?"
"Hehe, no need to worry. We might just die. No big deal."
"Yeah... Yeah, no big deal at all."
They set to work, gathering wood for a fire and building a makeshift shelter out of branches and leaves. As they worked, she couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of camaraderie with him. Despite his rough exterior, he was proving to be a reliable companion.
Once the camp was set up, they sat by the fire, the flames casting flickering shadows on their faces. She stared into the fire, her thoughts drifting to her former teammates and the betrayal she had suffered.
"How did you deal with it?" she asked suddenly, her voice breaking the silence. "The betrayal, I mean."
"Did I tell you about that?" His eyes looked empty as he asked, a look that scared her a little.
"Y-yeah. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that."
He was quiet for a moment, his gaze fixed on the flames. "I didn’t, not at first," he admitted. "I let it eat at me, let it fuel my anger. But eventually, I realized that holding onto that anger was only hurting me." He looked at her, his eyes reflecting the firelight. "You can’t change the past, but you can control how it affects you. You can let it destroy you, or you can use it to make yourself stronger."
She absorbed his words, letting them sink in. "I want to be stronger," she said finally. "I want to show them that they can’t break me."
He nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. "Then that’s where we’ll start. Tomorrow, you’ll begin your training."
They ate their simple meal of roasted fruits and were getting ready to sleep when something caught his eye—a shadowy figure perched high in the trees, just watching them.
’Who the fuck is that?’