Tatiana suddenly called out before Liam could even turn away.

"Stop."

Liam paused halfway through his step and looked back over his shoulder. "Hmm?"

She stood beside the enormous corpse of the Bone Burrower, staring at it thoughtfully before pointing at the armored shell that covered most of its back.

"Help me find the beast crystal."

Liam blinked.

Then he slapped his forehead.

"...Right."

He had gotten so caught up in completing the mission and finally feeling his strength rushing back through every part of his body that the crystal had completely slipped his mind. Considering it was literally the reason beasts were valuable in the first place, forgetting it was honestly embarrassing.

"I actually forgot."

Tatiana couldn’t help smiling.

"I noticed."

Liam walked closer until he was standing beside the carcass. His eyes narrowed slightly as his X-Ray Vision activated once more. The thick armored plates that covered the creature slowly became transparent in his vision, layers of flesh, bone and dense muscle revealing themselves one after another until finally...

"There."

He lifted a finger.

"Under the fourth armor plate from the neck. A little to the left. Something’s glowing."

Tatiana followed the direction of his finger immediately.

"There?"

"Yeah."

Without hesitation she leapt onto the dead beast’s broad back. The heavy armor beneath her boots barely shifted as she crouched down and dug her fingers beneath the edge of one of the thick plates.

"Come off..."

CRACK!

The armored plate tore loose with surprising ease under her werewolf strength.

She tossed the piece aside before staring at the exposed flesh underneath.

"...Gross."

Even she couldn’t hide the disgust in her voice.

Liam folded his arms while watching from below.

"You volunteered."

"I know."

Tatiana pinched her nose with one hand before reaching into the opening with the other. Warm flesh surrounded her forearm as she searched carefully, trying not to think too much about what exactly she was touching.

"...Still nothing."

"A little deeper."

"I know."

Her fingers continued feeling around until—

"There!"

She felt something hard.

It wasn’t bone.

It was perfectly smooth.

Tatiana grabbed hold of it and pulled with all her strength.

A second later her arm emerged from the creature carrying a crystal nearly the size of both her fists combined.

Unlike the first crystal they had found from the spider beast, this one immediately felt different.

It was heavier.

Much heavier.

Soft streams of crimson energy flowed lazily inside it like smoke trapped beneath polished glass, and the moment sunlight struck its surface the crystal reflected dozens of deep scarlet lights across the surrounding trees.

Even Liam’s eyes widened.

"So that’s a mid-tier Spawn crystal..."

Tatiana jumped back down beside him and held it up.

"It definitely contains more energy."

Liam stepped closer without hiding his curiosity. He had heard Tatiana talking about beast crystals ever since arriving in this world, but this was the first time he had actually examined one properly.

"It almost feels alive."

Tatiana nodded.

"I can feel something moving inside."

Neither of them understood exactly how beast crystals worked yet, but simply holding one made it obvious that these weren’t ordinary stones.

Whatever powered the creatures of this world...

...was somehow condensed inside them.

After another few seconds of inspection Tatiana carefully stored the crystal away inside the small leather pouch attached to her belt.

"Done."

Only then did she finally notice something else.

She slowly lifted both hands.

"...Ugh."

Dark stains covered almost every finger.

Her sleeves weren’t much better.

There were streaks of blood and dirt across her clothes from wrestling with the Bone Burrower, and the unpleasant smell reached her nose almost immediately.

She frowned.

"I smell horrible."

Liam laughed.

"I was trying not to say it."

She shot him a glare.

"You could’ve lied."

"I don’t think even lying would’ve helped."

Tatiana sniffed her sleeves again.

"...Nope."

Liam gestured toward the direction of town.

"Come on. We’ll get you cleaned up when we get back."

She shook her head immediately.

"No."

"No?"

"I can’t walk into town looking like this."

Liam looked her up and down.

"...You’ll survive."

"I won’t."

"You literally fought a giant underground monster."

"And now I smell like one."

Liam rubbed the back of his neck.

"Tatiana... we’re in the middle of nowhere."

She folded her arms stubbornly.

"I’m not entering town like this."

He sighed dramatically.

"So what’s your brilliant plan?"

Instead of answering immediately, Tatiana closed her eyes.

Her hearing sharpened.

The forest gradually grew quieter in her perception as she filtered out insects, birds, leaves and distant animal calls.

Then...

Her ears twitched.

A soft smile slowly appeared.

"I found it."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Found what?"

"Water."

She pointed deeper into the forest.

"A waterfall."

He stared blankly.

"...And?"

"I can wash there."

"We’re in the middle of a forest."

"So?"

"You’d rather walk into unknown territory looking for a waterfall than spend ten minutes getting back to town?"

She nodded confidently.

"Yes."

Liam simply looked at her.

"...You’re unbelievable."

"We still have about five hours before sunset."

He opened his mouth to object again.

Before he could say anything, however...

Tatiana looked straight into his eyes.

Please?

Those bright eyes somehow became even softer.

She didn’t even say another word.

She just looked at him.

Liam immediately looked away.

"...That’s cheating."

She smiled wider.

"Please?"

He groaned.

"Fine."

The word had barely left his mouth before Tatiana’s face lit up.

"Thank you!"

She stepped forward happily and wrapped both arms around him in a quick hug.

Liam chuckled instinctively—

Then his expression froze.

...

Wait.

Something felt...

Wet.

Cold.

Sticky.

His eyes slowly drifted toward the back of his own shoulder.

Tatiana had already stepped away with the most innocent smile imaginable.

Liam reached behind his neck.

His fingers touched something.

He slowly brought his hand back in front of his face.

Dark beast blood.

A lot of it.

Silence.

Tatiana looked away and began whistling innocently as though absolutely nothing had happened.

Liam stared at his blood-covered fingers.

Then slowly lifted his head.

"...Tatiana."

She continued looking everywhere except at him.

"...Hmm?"

"You just wiped your hands on me."

She blinked once.

"...Did I?"

Liam simply pointed at the evidence covering his neck.

Tatiana finally lost the battle against her own laughter.

A tiny giggle escaped first.

Then another.

Within seconds she was laughing so hard she had to hold her stomach.

Liam looked down at himself before shaking his head helplessly.

"What is wrong with you?."

Tatiana wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, still laughing.

"I couldn’t resist."

Liam sighed dramatically.

"...Now we’re both taking a bath."