Chapter 346

The group calmly and quietly ate with no one saying much.

For the first time in a while, Ray’s group was eating to their fill because the wolf’s carcass was massive enough to provide substantial portions for everyone while still leaving plenty of leftovers for the journey ahead.

"Burp.... Man, I’m full," Kai commented with a chuckle as he patted his belly contentedly.

"And I’m thirsty too," Van muttered, wiping his mouth.

"Ray... how many bottles do we have left?" Chloe asked, turning her gaze toward him.

Ray quietly chewed his last piece of meat then replied, "Just one."

Trish’s brows shot up instantly. "Huh? How is it just one?"

Ray shrugged, refusing to explain the details of his late-night washing session, and simply finished eating before lifting his head to address the entire cave.

"By the way.... I stumbled upon something on my way back from where I went to pee, and it should solve our water problem permanently."

Everybody lifted an eyebrow in curiosity.

Ray activated his inventory, and in the next moment, bright sparks flew around his palms.

Within a few seconds, a pristine blue bottle filled with crystal-clear water materialized out of thin air.

"Woah! How did that appear just now?!" Nebula exclaimed, her eyes widening in apparent surprise.

"Ray has a unique skill that allows him to store things in a dimensional space," Chloe blurted out, trying to explain it simply.

Ray didn’t react to her loose lips and just lifted the bottle for everyone to see. "Here."

"Huh? Another bottle of water? How does that help us long-term? It looks way too small," Caster uttered mid-chew, looking unimpressed by the size of the container.

"It looks small, but from what I can tell, it never runs out of water no matter how much you drink from it," Ray replied smoothly.

Eyebrows rose in immediate suspicion and disbelief around the bonfire.

Seeing that they weren’t buying his explanation, Ray uncapped the bottle and tilted it completely over, spilling the refreshing contents onto the dirt floor of the cavern.

He let it pour continuously for a bit, then flipped it right-side up.

Like absolute magic, the bottle instantly refilled itself back to the brim right before their eyes.

Everyone’s eyes stretched wide in utter shock at the impossible display.

Taking a deep drink from it himself to show it was safe, Ray passed the refilled bottle to the person nearest to him.

The group examined and admired the mystical container before drinking one by one, and a collective wave of satisfying sighs echoed through the cave.

Water was supposed to be completely tasteless, but the liquid from this particular bottle tasted incredibly crisp, almost sweet, and perfectly chilled.

The bottle went around the circle, eventually reaching Nebula, who took a calm sip before passing it back to Ray.

He capped it tightly and sent it right back into his inventory slot.

"But where exactly did you find something like that?" Nebula asked, her eyes narrowing slightly with a raised brow.

"On my way back here, I stumbled across a small, hidden pond. This bottle was just jutting out of the center of it. I reached out, grabbed it, and tested the water. Seeing as I wasn’t harmed and the bottle magically refilled itself on the spot, I figured it was best to bring it back for the group."

"Oh," Nebula uttered softly, going completely quiet almost immediately as she processed his words.

Those who weren’t finished with their meals quickly got back to their food, eager to finish up.

Ray was completely done with his portion, and he could be seen licking his fingers with a satisfied look on his face while his mind raced behind his calm eyes.

’System. How many hours left?’

[Four hours till sunset.]

’Okay. Plenty of time.’

Within a few minutes, the others had finished cleaning up their spots, and soon enough, they all gathered close around the extinguished bonfire to discuss their next moves.

"So... what do we do now? What’s the next step of action for us?" Chloe asked, looking around at the gathered faces for answers.

"I wanted to suggest that we make an immediate attempt to get into the Spire; but honestly, I feel like we aren’t even strong enough for whatever dangerous challenges lay ahead in there... yet," Caster replied, a dejected and weary look overtaking his face.

Kai threw him a sharp, highly suspicious glare from across the circle.

"So what now? We just sit tight and stay here indefinitely? We don’t know how much time has already passed back in the real world while we’ve been trapped. If we don’t find a way to get back in time, we both know exactly what would happen to our positions."

Caster lifted a brow, tilting his head slightly as if playing dumb.

"What do you mean by that?"

Kai smirked, his eyes flashing with a knowing look.

"Oh. You’re still hiding it? Oh cool, cool. Keep playing your games."

’Huh?’ Ray lifted a brow, his sharp senses picking up on the strange, underlying friction and the cryptic interactions between the two boys.

"Hiding? What is he hiding?" Chloe asked with a knitted brow, her gaze bouncing between the two boys.

Kai smiled some more then angled his head in Caster’s direction, his voice dripping with absolute confidence.

"The name is Kai Larson. In case you didn’t know."

And the moment Caster heard that name... the last name, his eyes stretched incredibly wide, so much so that for a moment, it seemed like they were going to pop right out of their sockets.

The boy’s body shook immediately, a sudden tremor running down his spine, and his face went completely pale as if all the blood had been drained from it.

"Ohoy~! What’s going on with you?" Van snapped his fingers loudly, successfully breaking Caster out of his frozen state of pure shock.

The legacy looked back at Kai, who was still smirking calmly, completely unbothered by the reaction he had just provoked.

Then Caster looked back at the rest of the group gathered before him and let out a heavy, defeated sigh.

"We need to get back as soon as possible," Caster admitted, his voice tight.

"Otherwise my... both mine and his family will rain havoc on the world if care isn’t taken."

Ray raised a brow confusedly, trying to piece the grand scale of the threat together in his head.

"I know you both are Legacies, but why exactly would your families rain havoc like that? Are they really that powerful?"

Nebula was more than intrigued as she stared at the duo intensely, her red eyes gleaming with newfound curiosity, while everybody else also seemed to shuffle in closely... subtly tightening the circle around the bonfire.

Caster was now in deep thought as he scanned the whole room, weighing the consequences of his next words.

The air inside the wide cavern was thick with tension and unspoken secrets, as if the very environment was bating its breath, waiting for the teen to finally say whatever he had been keeping under wraps for so long.

Sucking in a deep breath, Caster rose up to his feet and then bowed his head slightly toward the others with his hands tucked behind his back in a formal gesture.

"Man.... I never knew you all had a Larson as a friend this whole time. Anyway, it wouldn’t be right for me to know about all of your identities while you remain completely in the dark about mine," Caster said as he slowly stood upright, looking directly at Felix, then shifting his gaze squarely over to Ray.

"So here it goes..."

’Man... What’s with all the unnecessary show-off? Just say what you have to say already. Time is of the essence.’ Ray frowned deeply, his impatience getting the better of him.

’I’m even sure it’s not something that im—’

"The name is Caster... Caster Kyre. My family is a family of elite beast tamers."

"Okay? How is that so ba—"

"And my family is part of the big four legacy families."

"...."

There was a heavy, profound silence for a while as the weight of the revelation settled over the cavern, and then slowly, eyes were seen widening in absolute shock, utter surprise, and complete disbelief at the boy’s staggering words.