Araina proceeded to pass out in joyful bliss, collapsing into Zorat’s arms.

Zorat watched the young lady for a while with a grin on his face.

Allowing all that had happened to play out was simply a reward for her contribution to his course, and of course, because he, too, found it quite fun to mess with the very uptight and morally straight Ariana.

As he sat there, looking at the peaceful smile on her face.... Zorat doubted she even had the thought of her best friend, Ava, in mind anymore, and he was mighty curious to see where this dynamic would lead.

Hehehe....how interesting.

Retrieving some fabric from his space storage and some fresh garments...

Zorat cleaned himself up and proceeded to clothe Ariana in some fresh fabric, and then laid her into a small futon on the ground he had retrieved from his repertoire as well.

Every time Zorat succeeded in securing a divine authority fragment, he was always in a benevolent mood, and the process of acquiring these fragments was also never boring.

Not as eventful as the excitement he was used to during his rise in the hell dimension....but just about enough to keep his murderous urges at bay.

"You can stop pretending now. I know you were watching..."

"Ysera."

At Zorat’s words, the cave grew quiet for a moment before a slow hissing sound began to emanate from the corner, where Ysera was now beginning to rise hesitantly.

"Ssssss....Ysera safe?" she hissed, still maintaining a safe distance from Zorat, but even her movements appeared strained from all the injuries she’s sustained.

"Yes. Don’t concern yourself with her anymore.... Drink this."

Zorat said, motioning to the sleeping Ariana before tossing an open vial at Ysera, who opened her mouth and took it in without question.

As the liquid emptied into her throat....

That’s when Ysera realized what the strong human had given her, with her eyes beginning to water from emotion, for at first she had been unsure about her continued survival....

But it seems the strong human still valued her.

She realized she must have done a good job after all, as the healing process began instantly taking effect and healing all the way from her inside to slow healing on her outside.

Taking the serpent’s large size into account, Zorat had given her a more potent elixir to get the job done.

Since he intends to put the serpent to various other convenient uses.... He can’t have her dying just yet.

And looking at her injuries.... She was in a worse condition than Ariana was when Zorat arrived, so she needs something really strong.

As for the expedient healing of her external injuries.... Ysera would have to apply the ointment herself or simply let it heal naturally in due course.

"Ssssss.....thank strong human. Ysera happy."

Ysera hissed happily as she felt the relief to her internal injuries soothing over quickly.

"Here....hold on to this..." Zorat grinned as he threw a purple ring over to her, and Ysera caught it in her teeth.

"Always keep that close...When I have another task for you... You shall hear my voice from that.....I might also offer you some guidance in the future."

Looking at the purple ring in her mouth, Ysera wasn’t too surprised by the strong human’s words that his voice would come through it.

She’s quite familiar with powerful artifacts of humans, and an object that lets one communicate long distance was to be expected, even if she hasn’t seen one before.

As Ysera nodded her large head in understanding, it was the latter part of the strong human’s statement that got her excited.

For someone so strong to offer guidance to another that’s so weak compared to them, especially when it comes to humans and demons of the world of Arleria... it basically means one thing from her understanding.... She was being taken as a student.

The serpent could barely contain her excitement and was itching to run out and boast to the other territory lords how she’s gotten someone so strong as her teacher.

But her teacher can also be quite unpredictable at times; her still-healing injuries are a good testament to that....

So, waiting until after he was done with his business before she celebrated was definitely the smartest move.

Zorat gave explicit instructions to the serpent on how to proceed going forward.... and then he went to join Ariana on the mattress as the serpent vacated the cave until they were out in a few hours.

Zorat couldn’t use his actual abilities to get them back to camp quickly, and making the journey back on foot would be quite strenuous for the just recovering, and totally out of it, Ariana...

So a little rest was in order.

A few hours later, getting close to the crack of dawn but still dark out.... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Zorat woke the sleeping beauty, who became further embarrassed that he had been the one to change her into one of his fresh new pairs of pants and a shirt.

He informed her that the serpent wasn’t fully dead, as his power wasn’t strong enough to kill it just yet, and that it had sprang up while she was asleep and escaped.

They began their journey through the still dark forest with Ariana latching closely onto Zorat.....

But Ariana wasn’t really afraid, knowing how strong Caleb actually was, and if it came to.... she also wouldn’t have had too much of a hard time with most of the low-level beasts they came across, since she’s also incredibly strong.

Most beasts never even got a chance to get close before they were sent flying.

This caused the other smart ones to stay completely out of their way as they continued on, and in just over an hour, the place they had set up camp last night was in sight.

Zorat had strongly impressed upon Ariana the need to keep his actual ability a secret from the orders since he preferred it that way....

And Ariana was more than happy to do so, but he also had to promise her not to let her best friend find out what had happened between them.... Something none of them had mentioned throughout the journey.

So she made Zorat promise not to tell....At least until she gets a chance to talk to Ava.

After telling the knights on night duty that they both somehow simultaneously happened to have gone out for a stroll this early, all without any of the knights on patrol noticing.....

Both Zorat and Ariana made for their tents, leaving the confused knights behind.

But the knights weren’t the only ones confused....

Someone else was also lurking in the shadows..... in a tumultuous emotional state.