Chapter 98: Chapter 93: A Moment of Peace
For the first time since entering the ancient ruins, there was peace.
Not complete peace.
The kind of peace soldiers experienced after surviving a battle.
Temporary.
Fragile.
The sort that could shatter at any moment.
Yet nobody complained.
After fighting hundreds of Tier 9 Void Burrowers, everyone welcomed the chance to breathe.
The dwarves established a temporary camp inside one of the ruined districts.
Ancient stone buildings surrounded them on all sides.
Some structures had partially collapsed.
Others remained strangely intact despite the passing millennia.
Enchanted lanterns illuminated the area while scouts patrolled the perimeter.
The atmosphere was cautious.
But calmer than before.
---
John rested near a massive ruined tower.
His enormous body occupied almost an entire plaza by itself.
Even while lying down, he towered over everyone around him.
A few dwarven warriors were still sneaking glances his way.
Not out of fear anymore.
Out of curiosity.
The dragon that had become an ally of both Greenwood and Kar’Dum was still something they weren’t used to seeing.
---
The black dragon stretched his wings slightly.
His muscles relaxed.
The battle had been intense.
But satisfying.
Very satisfying.
The Void Burrowers had provided decent experience.
More importantly—
They had confirmed something.
Something powerful was waiting deeper inside the ruins.
Something intelligent.
---
**[Current Evolution Progress: 73%]**
John glanced at the notification.
Only three percent.
Three percent after that entire battle.
Tier 10 was proving much harder to reach than previous evolutions.
---
"Thinking again?"
John didn’t even need to look.
"Lythriel."
The elf dropped beside his foreleg.
"Correct."
---
She leaned back against one of his scales.
Something she probably wouldn’t have dared do months ago.
Now?
It had become normal.
---
"Seventy-three?"
John blinked.
"You know?"
She pointed at his face.
"You always get that expression."
"What expression?"
"The one where you’re mentally arguing with your system."
John laughed.
"I don’t argue."
"You absolutely argue."
"The system starts it."
Lythriel snorted.
"Sure."
---
A few moments later, Sylvara arrived carrying several wooden cups.
The forest mage handed one to Lythriel.
Another to Aerion.
The last one she carefully placed near John’s head.
---
John looked at the tiny cup.
Then at her.
Then back at the cup.
---
"..."
---
Sylvara immediately burst out laughing.
Lythriel followed.
Even Aerion looked amused.
---
"What?"
John asked.
Sylvara wiped tears from her eyes.
"The cup."
"What about it?"
"It looks ridiculous next to you."
John stared.
Then looked down again.
The cup was barely larger than one of his claws.
---
"...Fair."
---
That only made them laugh harder.
---
For a while they simply sat together.
Talking.
Relaxing.
Enjoying a rare quiet moment.
---
Eventually Sylvara suddenly tilted her head.
"You’ve gotten bigger."
---
John looked at her.
"Bigger?"
Lythriel immediately nodded.
"Oh, definitely."
Aerion crossed his arms.
"They are correct."
---
John blinked.
"How?"
---
Lythriel stood and walked several steps away.
Then pointed.
"When we first met, your head was about here."
She lowered her hand.
"Now it’s way higher."
---
Sylvara nodded.
"Your wings too."
"Your tail," Aerion added.
"The diameter has increased significantly."
---
John frowned.
Now that they mentioned it...
His body did feel larger.
---
**[Current Growth Rate Increased]**
**[Approaching Evolution Threshold]**
---
That explained it.
---
Sylvara looked thoughtful.
"I wonder how large you’ll become after Tier 10."
---
Nobody answered immediately.
Because everyone was wondering the same thing.
---
Lythriel eventually broke the silence.
"Probably mountain-sized."
---
John snorted.
"I am not becoming mountain-sized."
---
"You don’t know that."
---
"I do."
---
"You became a giant dragon."
---
"..."
---
"See?"
---
Unfortunately, she had a point.
---
The conversation continued naturally after that.
Small topics.
Random observations.
Stories from Greenwood.
Stories from Kar’Dum.
Memories from previous adventures.
---
Somewhere along the way, the atmosphere became lighter.
Warmer.
More personal.
---
Perhaps because danger had a strange way of bringing people closer together.
---
Eventually the conversation shifted toward embarrassing stories.
Which immediately became dangerous.
---
Very dangerous.
---
"Lythriel once fell into a river."
Sylvara smiled.
---
Lythriel immediately pointed at her.
"Traitor."
---
"It was funny."
---
"It was freezing."
---
"You screamed."
---
"I did not."
---
"You absolutely screamed."
---
"I was surprised."
---
"You screamed."
---
Aerion quietly nodded.
"She screamed."
---
Lythriel looked betrayed.
---
"You too?"
---
Aerion remained completely serious.
"Historical accuracy matters."
---
John laughed.
A deep draconic rumble echoed through the camp.
---
Lythriel groaned.
"I hate all of you."
---
"No, you don’t."
Sylvara smiled.
---
"...No."
---
She sighed dramatically.
"I don’t."
---
The group fell silent again.
Comfortably silent.
---
For a few minutes, nobody spoke.
The lanterns flickered.
Dwarves talked quietly in the distance.
Ancient ruins stretched endlessly beyond the camp.
---
It should have felt eerie.
Instead...
It felt peaceful.
---
Then John ruined it.
---
Completely.
---
His eyes shifted toward Sylvara.
---
"What about you?"
---
Sylvara blinked.
"What about me?"
---
"Any embarrassing stories?"
---
Lythriel immediately sat upright.
"Oh, this is good."
---
Sylvara narrowed her eyes.
"No."
---
"That’s suspicious."
John said.
---
"Very suspicious."
Lythriel agreed.
---
"There are no stories."
---
Aerion slowly raised a hand.
---
Sylvara froze.
---
"No."
---
"There was the squirrel incident."
---
Lythriel’s eyes widened.
---
"The what?"
---
Sylvara buried her face in her hands.
---
"Oh no."
---
John was interested now.
Very interested.
---
"The squirrel incident?"
---
Aerion nodded calmly.
---
"When we were younger, a squirrel stole her lunch."
---
"..."
---
Lythriel stared.
---
"That’s it?"
---
Aerion continued.
---
"She chased it for three hours."
---
John blinked.
---
Three hours?
---
Sylvara groaned.
---
"It wasn’t about the lunch."
---
"Then why?"
---
"Because it looked smug."
---
The entire group froze.
---
Then exploded into laughter.
---
Even several nearby dwarves looked over in confusion.
---
Sylvara looked absolutely mortified.
---
"It was a very smug squirrel."
---
That somehow made it worse.
---
Lythriel was practically crying from laughter now.
---
John’s shoulders shook.
---
Aerion looked perfectly calm.
Though there might have been the faintest hint of amusement in his eyes.
---
Eventually everyone managed to recover.
Barely.
---
The atmosphere continued growing warmer.
Closer.
---
Without realizing it, they had become far more than traveling companions.
Far more than allies.
---
They trusted each other.
Relied on each other.
Cared about each other.
---
And perhaps most importantly—
They genuinely enjoyed being together.
---
A while later, most of the camp began settling down for the night.
---
Only the four of them remained awake.
---
The conversation drifted again.
This time toward the future.
---
"What happens after all this?"
Sylvara asked quietly.
---
"What do you mean?"
John replied.
---
"The ruins."
She gestured around them.
"The quest."
"The ancient civilization."
"The thing controlling the Void Burrowers."
---
Nobody answered immediately.
---
Because they honestly didn’t know.
---
Eventually Lythriel spoke.
---
"We win."
---
Sylvara rolled her eyes.
---
"That’s not a plan."
---
"It’s a good start."
---
John chuckled.
---
"She’s not wrong."
---
"See?"
Lythriel pointed proudly.
---
"Validation."
---
Sylvara sighed.
---
"I walked into that one."
---
The group laughed softly.
---
Then Lythriel looked toward John again.
A strange expression crossed her face.
---
"What?"
John asked.
---
She hesitated.
Rare for her.
---
Then finally spoke.
---
"You’ve changed more than you realize."
---
The words surprised him.
---
"How?"
---
Lythriel looked thoughtful.
---
"When we met..."
She paused.
"You were alone."
---
John remained silent.
---
"You cared about getting stronger."
She continued.
"Surviving."
"Evolving."
---
"Still do."
---
"I know."
She smiled.
"But that’s not all anymore."
---
John looked away.
Toward the ancient city.
---
Toward the camp.
---
Toward the people sleeping safely because he was here.
---
And for the first time...
He couldn’t deny it.
---
She was right.
---
Somewhere along the journey—
Things had changed.
---
The forest had become his home.
The elves had become his people.
The dwarves had become allies.
---
And these three...
---
His gaze shifted toward them.
---
Lythriel.
Sylvara.
Aerion.
---
His closest companions.
---
His friends.
---
His family.
---
The realization felt surprisingly natural.
---
Comfortable.
---
"You’re staring."
Lythriel suddenly said.
---
John blinked.
---
"..."
---
The elf immediately grinned.
---
"Oh?"
---
Sylvara’s face turned pink.
---
Aerion quietly looked away.
---
John realized his mistake.
Far too late.
---
Lythriel leaned forward.
---
"Something you want to say?"
---
The dragon immediately decided retaliation was the best strategy.
---
A terrible strategy.
But an entertaining one.
---
His gaze shifted toward Lythriel.
---
"You first."
---
"What?"
---
"You seem very interested in what I’m looking at."
---
Lythriel froze.
---
Sylvara immediately covered her mouth.
---
Aerion sighed.
---
He knew exactly where this was going.
---
"I was just asking."
Lythriel replied.
---
"Of course."
---
"I was."
---
"Naturally."
---
The elf’s ears turned slightly red.
---
John noticed.
---
And unfortunately—
So did Sylvara.
---
"Oh."
Sylvara smiled.
---
"No."
Lythriel immediately said.
---
"Oh yes."
Sylvara replied.
---
"No."
---
"Definitely yes."
---
John watched with amusement.
---
Lythriel pointed accusingly.
---
"You’re enjoying this."
---
"Maybe."
---
"You are."
---
"Maybe."
---
The elf groaned.
---
Then looked away.
---
Which only made things worse.
---
Because now everyone knew she was flustered.
---
Including herself.
---
The next victim arrived shortly afterward.
---
Sylvara.
---
Entirely by accident.
---
Or perhaps not entirely.
---
John glanced toward the forest mage.
---
"You know..."
---
Sylvara immediately became suspicious.
---
"That tone worries me."
---
"You’ve been spending a lot of time near me lately."
---
Silence.
---
Absolute silence.
---
Then—
---
Sylvara turned bright red.
---
Lythriel immediately lost control.
---
"Oh that’s amazing."
---
"John!"
Sylvara protested.
---
"What?"
---
"You know exactly what."
---
"I really don’t."
---
He absolutely did.
---
And she knew he did.
---
Which somehow made everything worse.
---
Aerion slowly stood.
---
"I am leaving."
---
The others looked at him.
---
"A tactical retreat."
He explained.
---
"Wise."
John nodded.
---
"Extremely."
Aerion agreed.
---
Lythriel nearly fell over laughing.
---
Sylvara covered her face.
---
And for the first time in days—
Maybe weeks—
The worries about ancient civilizations.
Tier 10.
The mysterious enemy.
The dangerous ruins.
---
All of it faded.
---
Just for a little while.
---
They were simply friends sitting together beneath ancient stars carved into a forgotten underground world.
Laughing.
Talking.
Living.
---
And none of them realized it.
But every conversation.
Every battle.
Every shared moment.
Was slowly bringing them closer together.
Closer than any of them had expected when this journey first began.
---
Far away, hidden deep within the ruins...
The mysterious eyes watched.
Waiting.
Planning.
Preparing.
---
But that danger could wait until tomorrow.
---
Tonight belonged to them.
And for the first time since entering the ancient city...
The future didn’t feel heavy.
It felt hopeful.
---
100 ps = 1 extra Chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter
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