Chapter 59: A Peaceful Night
Silas felt many things, but above all, he was exhausted.
Running from the valley back to the outpost had taken less than half an hour. By the time he arrived, his teammates had already finished dealing with another monster wave and should have been resting inside the protective shield.
Instead, he found them gathered ahead of the outpost.
The distant battle between thousands of Enhancers and a single dragon was still raging somewhere beyond the valley. For some reason, the terrain seemed to amplify the sounds, carrying the dragon’s terrifying roars and the thunderous explosions of battle all the way to the outpost.
"Are you okay?"
Darius was the first to rush toward him, with Alfred following close behind. The latter studied him for a moment before stepping forward and activating his ability, his expression filled with vigilance.
Apparently, he expected Silas to be chased by some dangerous monster, or perhaps an even more dangerous enemy.
"I’m alright. Just a little tired."
Silas was not lying. After everything the Shadowheart had done, his body felt no better than it did after completely exhausting his Mana. That was somewhat puzzling, considering the Shadowheart had consumed countless crystals and should have replenished its reserves. Even the absurd burst of speed it had displayed seemed to leave no strain behind.
"What happened?"
Cher had frozen the moment she spotted him in the distance.
A single glance was enough to tell that he had not simply gone for a walk. His appearance made it obvious that he had been through a desperate struggle. Combined with the terrifying noises coming from the same direction he had returned from, the connection was impossible to ignore.
And that filled her with complicated emotions. After all, Silas had gone alone because of their incompetence, because of her shortcomings.
"I ran into a monster wave," Silas said without hesitation. Yet nobody believed him, almost.
"Phew! I thought you got caught up in whatever is happening out there."
Lara let out a genuine sigh of relief.
"About that..."
Silas glanced at his friends. He knew perfectly well that most of them were suspicious.
"Those noises are coming from a valley not far from here. The place felt dangerous. Even the monsters seemed unwilling to enter it, which is why I ended up facing a wave by myself, as I got the valley at my back and the monsters up front."
The group exchanged silent looks. Parts of his explanation sounded truthful, yet everyone could sense that he was hiding something.
"It’s a good thing you made it back in one piece."
Darius patted his shoulder.
"We just finished another wave, so we’ve got some time before the next one arrives. You can rest through the next few waves if you want."
He looked around for approval, and nobody objected, as expected, except one.
"I’ll accompany you to the Rune Heart."
Cher’s voice was calm and cold.
"The crystals have been heavily depleted during the last few waves. We should replenish the exhausted ones."
Silas found the suggestion somewhat strange, but merely shrugged. The others accompanied them back to the shield before splitting off. Every step he took felt heavier than the last. His legs moved purely from habit, while his thoughts drifted in and out of focus. Soon, only Silas and Cher remained inside the Rune Heart.
The moment they entered, she turned toward him.
"What happened?"
For some reason, Silas felt as though she already knew part of the answer, but couldn’t tell which part. Even so, he repeated the same excuse.
"I don’t believe any of it."
Cher crossed her arms.
"I can tell you’ve been through a desperate fight, and it’s hardly a coincidence that those sounds started after you headed in that direction."
Her expression made one thing perfectly clear: she was not interested in half-hearted excuses. Unfortunately for her, Silas had no intention of explaining the madness he had just experienced.
"...Fine."
After several moments of silence, Cher finally looked away.
"At least tell me you weren’t hurt."
The softness in her voice caught him completely off guard. Silas stared at her for a moment, and she stubbornly avoided meeting his gaze.
"I’m alright, just exhausted."
He lowered his eyes toward the crystal-covered floor.
"The crystals really are running low. I’ll replenish them and get some sleep afterwards."
Without waiting for a response, he opened the heavy academy-issued backpack and poured a large pile of crystals onto the ground, more than enough to restore the Rune Heart.
"If anything happens, wake me up."
Cher simply nodded. Without another word, she turned and left. Nor did she show him her face; otherwise, he might have noticed the faint blush colouring her cheeks.
"She can be surprisingly persistent sometimes."
Silas sat down on the crystals. After spending so much time meditating on them, he had begun treating them as a surprisingly comfortable bed.
Thinking about the Shadowheart inevitably brought back everything that had happened in the valley.
’I hope that dragon will get killed or run away from here.’
Silas knew he wasn’t the one toying with the dragon; Shadowheart did. But in the end, it was his face, his body, that the dragon would remember. He hoped for the current battle to go on forever, or move to a faraway place from here.
The last thing he wanted was for a vengeful dragon to come looking for the human who toyed with it.
’I really hope it will get the flower, forgets about everything, and leaves afterwards.’
Silas seriously prayed that it would happen. Yet he was still curious about what a dragon was doing inside a safe haven of humans. Luckily, the Shadowheart had not tried to push things even further.
’It’s a shame I didn’t bring the bathtub.’
If he had brought it along, he could have entered the Time Mind World and carefully reviewed everything. For a reason, Silas imagined that the Shadowheart was currently asleep, peacefully asleep.
The image of the creature floating through the darkness of his special world with its eyes closed and an utterly satisfied expression, somehow irritated him. So Silas closed his own eyes and immediately drifted into deep sleep.
He expected to be awakened after a few hours. Instead, he slept for twelve uninterrupted hours. By the time he opened his eyes, night had completely fallen.
The faint glow of runes etched into the rune stones was the only thing illuminating the darkness.
The first thing he felt was confusion. It wasn’t because it was night, because the world was too quiet. The distant battle noises that had formed a background noise before he fell asleep were gone.
Silas stood still for several minutes, listening carefully, yet he heard nothing. Frowning, he walked outside, then he froze.
His teammates were gathered around a bonfire, eating, chatting, and laughing as though they were on a camping trip rather than a dangerous mission.
"Oh, you’re finally awake."
Darius noticed him first. He immediately stood up, followed by everyone else, everyone except Cher. She simply remained seated and watched him.
"How do you feel?" Darius asked.
"Much better."
Silas glanced around. And countless questions filled his mind, but only one managed to escape.
"How long was I asleep?"
"Twelve hours."
Lara chuckled.
"You slept like a baby. I think you even snored."
"I don’t snore."
Silas rolled his eyes. And everyone laughed at his reaction, even Cher, as he really did snore, a bit loudly on top of that.
"But how did I sleep for that long? What about the monsters?"
The answer was obvious from everyone’s relaxed expressions; something had definitely changed. Otherwise, nobody would have allowed him to rest for half a day uninterrupted.
"The monsters changed," Alfred said calmly. "The waves are appearing only once every few hours now, and the bears have completely disappeared."
"Their numbers dropped too," Lara added with a sigh. "I only managed to add a few dozen new babies to my collection."
She sounded genuinely disappointed.
"At this point, Lara’s creatures can deal with half a wave by themselves," Cher said calmly. "We’ve had plenty of time to rest, recover, and collect cores. We also saved your share."
A backpack appeared beside her, out of thin air, with a casual wave of her hand. Silas had long since grown numb to her magical move. Yet that did not stop him from appreciating the gift.
Soon, everyone settled back around the fire. As they talked, exchanged stories, and shared jokes, laughter filled the night.
Silas quietly observed the smiles on their faces and the ease that had replaced the tension hanging over the outpost since they arrived.
Then a single thought surfaced in his mind.
’Was all of this because of what the Shadowheart did?’
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