It was a brutal battle that ended in a hard-earned win.

Kai and Matilda were exhausted and wounded; they couldn’t continue finding more mana ores even if they wanted to. More importantly, they are also unprepared to face another group of Awakened Monsters.

Forcing themselves to continue would only endanger their lives.

So, the duo decided to take a short break.

A crazy idea came to mind, but Kai decided to try it out anyway.

He butchered the fish-monster’s carcass into pieces, and cut sizeable slabs of meat from it with a pocket knife that Matilda brought. Awakened Monsters are simply animals that were forced to mutate through myriad methods.

At the base level, the fish-monster is a fish, so its meat should be tasty.

And Kai was right.

"Hmm, it’s not bad," Matilda nodded her head—and stared at the tender white meat, finding the taste to be quite surprising considering it was the meat of an Awakened Monster. "If only it had a little bit of seasoning."

"Nutritious, too. It retained a sliver of mana," Kai nodded.

Even though it might look like Kai was in a good mood because of the white meat, in reality, he was in a good mood because making the small bonfire to cook went smoothly. Though this particular area is damp, a few hundred yards away, it was hot.

He found a tree with a reddish tinge to its bark.

It was highly flammable.

Just a single spark from two stones striking together set it ablaze.

Compared to back in Ixos, making fire in Fire Swamp is far easier.

"Must be nice to be a Grade-2 Awakened Supernal," Matilda commented.

She saw that the wounds that had covered Kai’s entire body earlier were already healed. No trace of them, like he hadn’t been hurt earlier. In comparison—her wounds are still open and some were still bleeding.

"Must be nice to be a High Angel."

"You’re only making yourself feel worse if you keep talking about it."

Kai smiled sheepishly, "Want me to get something for you? I think I saw Zier Herbs earlier."

Other than the Oxspire, Professor Hera’s note also wrote about the Zier Herbs.

A mana plant that has a minor healing property.

Not as strong as having a Supernal with a healing skill or imprint, but better than nothing.

Back in Ixos, he has Abigail, so he doesn’t need the Zier Herbs.

Before Matilda could even answer, not wanting to burden Kai with that task, he already tossed the fish bone into the fire and rose to his feet. He’d spotted Zier Herbs earlier and now went to retrieve them.

Minutes later, he returned with a few dozen stems.

Zier Herbs are easy to spot because of their yellow-edged leaves.

Just that the size was small, so one could easily miss it in passing.

"Thank you...?" Matilda thanked hesitantly, not knowing how to feel right now.

"Your back is pretty torn up from the acid," Kai said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb as he took another piece of fish. "Your shield protected your front, but your back... Not so much."

Matilda crushed and squeezed the herbs and started applying the product to her wounds.

But she couldn’t reach her back properly.

"Do you mind?"

"Nope."

Kai took a handful of the Zier Herbs and rubbed them between his hands. Its essence wetted his palm, and then he began applying it to Matilda’s exposed back. The acid from the fish-monster made holes in her clothes, so it’s easy to access the burn scars.

’I don’t get it,’ Matilda glanced over her shoulder to look at Kai, attentively applying the oil to her back. ’At one point, I can feel his hate towards me. He even cursed me—and threatened to kill me. But suddenly, he did this as if he never hated me to begin with.’

Just a few days ago, on Grassland Grey, he was extremely hostile.

And now, he was like this.

She knew that it must’ve been the anger talking back then, but the change was too much.

Kai surprisingly has a caring side to him.

Now it’s starting to look believable that he took care of his crippled sister.

"I’m not feeling you, don’t worry," Kai suddenly said. "I even only used my fingertips."

"You better not," Matilda averted her gaze.

She was embarrassed that he had noticed her staring at him for too long.

Once he was done, Kai washed her hands, sat across from her again, and returned to eating.

It was awkwardly silent.

Or at least, it was for Matilda.

"Are you going to tell me what that was?" She suddenly asked, breaking the silence. Her deep golden eyes glowed under the canopy of the swamp, and they seemed to be looking through Kai as if she could see his secrets. "Or should I act like I didn’t see it?"

"You saw it?"

"Yes, a shadowy figure."

"It’s my summon, nothing to be wary about."

Just earlier, while Kai was plucking the Zier Herbs, he decided to call Perion out and send him to scout for dense clusters of mana ore, whether underwater or buried beneath the mud. Since the swamp’s thick canopy provided good covering, at least in this specific area, the mana cost to sustain Perion wasn’t extensive.

At least, as long as Perion didn’t get into a fight, it wouldn’t be a problem.

Since he was resting and eating anyway, might as well send out Perion to make things easier.

"You’ve already seen it before, you know."

"When?"

"Lion. It was my summon, Peri—"

Before he could finish citing Perion’s name, he stopped when he saw Matilda frowning.

She held her forehead like she was suffering a migraine. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"What’s wrong?" He asked in worry.

"I don’t know... I suddenly feel dizzy," Matilda waved her hand, gesturing that she was fine. "I think it’s gone now. You were saying?"

Kai didn’t answer instantly.

He realized that he had almost made a mistake.

I don’t think telling others the name of a Nightborm is a good idea.

Noxian specifically told him that, as the Child of the Final Night, he could learn the names of Nightborns and comprehend their endings. And that phrasing meant others who aren’t tied to the Goddess could not.

Not to mention, the Nightborns might not want living beings to know their names.

That dizziness that Matilda felt was his fault for almost mentioning Perion to her.

"I was saying that my summon was the one who crushed Lion’s legs."

"I saw that happen, but I couldn’t see your summon."

"Huh... It might be using the Nigh-phantom imprint—the one I used to avoid prying eyes. I don’t really remember."

Matilda nodded as that would make sense.

At that time, it was already nighttime, and Ixos was completely dark with the tall trees.

"I know about your ability to absorb corpses or carcasses. Your power to induce sleep through a touch. And now, about your summons." She leaned forward, resting her chin softly on her interlaced fingers. "Tell me, does anyone else know your abilities as well as I do?"

"Dorian knew some," Kai shrugged nonchalantly. "But you knew the most, I guess."

"And why is that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you seem to lower your guard in front of me?" Matilda rephrased her question to make it clear where her mind was. He hated him, so he should be wary of her the most. "I doubt you already forgave me for what I did."

"Who told you my guard is lowered when around you? I’m always on guard when you’re near me," Kai answered without hesitation. "If you’re asking why—it’s because with you, I won’t need to feel guilty."

"Guilty? Guilty about what?"

"To kill you."

Matilda scoffed in disbelief, not expecting that answer at all.

She has many predictions in her mind, but this isn’t one of them.

"If you blab about my abilities to anyone or use the information to get me, I’ll just kill you," Kai lowered the meat he was eating and met her eyes without blinking. There was darkness in them. "I don’t expect anything good from you, Matilda. If you betray me again, I won’t be surprised. I’ll just kill you the next time I see you, and I won’t feel a shred of guilt."

He paused, gaze shifting to the fire.

Like he was seeing something more in them other than ember and heat.

"Dorian and Bree, though... I’d rather not give them anything to use against me. I don’t want to kill them. If they betrayed me, I would probably be heartbroken," He shook his head—not wanting to think about that. "But you? If you betray me again after I gave you a second chance, then you’re just a bad person. And I don’t mind killing a bad person."

Matilda didn’t say a word.

She couldn’t.

The realization hit her harder than she expected. Kai had been open about his abilities, not because he trusted her, but because in his eyes, he’d been speaking to a dead woman. Matilda felt silly—she’d actually believed he’d seen something familiar in her.

Something worth opening up to.

But that’s not the case at all.

Her prediction was very far from reality.

Matilda wanted to accept it as it was, but for some reason, she felt the need to speak up.

"And you trusted—Bree?" Matilda raised a brow, a look that was taunting Kai. "Second-most beautiful girl in class, and you didn’t find it the least bit suspicious when she tried to get close to you?" She leaned in. "In my eyes, she spotted someone isolated and saw an opportunity. Play the white knight, earn your trust, and use it."

"The only difference between you and Bree is that Bree hasn’t given me a reason not to trust her. She’s been helping me, while you..." Kai pointed his greasy index finger at Matilda. "You already gave me the reason."

Kai stood up and stomped on the fire, killing it.

"Come on," He said and turned. "Let’s continue and finish this before dawn."

Since it seemed she was already fine, considering she had the strength to argue, Kai assumed it was time for them to move again. They only stopped to take a short break. There’s still a lot of mana ores to mind before they could amass three thousand of them.

And with tomorrow being the deadline, there’s no more time to waste.

They need to move fast, especially knowing the Awakened Monsters could attack and hinder their progress at any time.

Matilda bit her lower lip, but eventually stood up and followed.

For the next couple of hours, the duo actively avoided the water entirely and searched for mana ores under the mud. Perion had found several boulders under the mud that also contained a lot of mana ores like the ones underwater.

Mining became easier with Perion’s ability to find mana ores quickly.

Not to mention, he could also help crush the boulder, significantly increasing their efficiency.