Chapter 739: The Remaining Days (2)
By noon, Charlotte had eaten through what remained of the deer from the previous day with an appetite that Liam found almost unreasonable.
He had known Beast Magic users often had higher physical demands depending on the nature of their transformations, and Charlotte had spent a great deal of Myst fighting, moving, and surviving before finding him. Still, watching her eat made it clear that her appetite was not merely high.
It was outrageous.
She seemed completely unashamed of it too.
When Liam stared at the remaining scraps and then at her, Charlotte only licked her fingers and said that a beautiful body required fuel. Liam did not bother arguing with that. Instead, he summoned Smoke and sent the shadow wolf out to hunt larger game while he remained at the outcrop.
In his current condition, there was no point wasting strength wandering the forest when Smoke could move more quietly, more quickly, and with far less risk.
Smoke returned later with a massive boar clamped in his jaws.
The animal was almost absurdly large, heavy enough that a normal wolf would have struggled to drag it, but Smoke carried it with little difficulty. Charlotte’s eyes lit up at the sight of it, and for a moment, Liam wondered if she was more excited to see the boar than she had been when he woke up. He decided not to ask.
Preparing the boar took time.
Liam handled it as efficiently as his recovering body allowed. He drained the blood properly, cleaned the meat, cut it into workable sections, and smoked enough of it to last them through the remaining days.
Charlotte assisted when asked, though her version of assisting mostly involved carrying heavier portions, making remarks about how Liam looked strangely attractive while working seriously, and occasionally trying to steal pieces before they were ready. Liam stopped her each time. She complained each time. The process repeated until the meat was finally prepared well enough to eat and store.
By the time they were done, the cave smelled strongly of smoke and cooked meat, and Charlotte looked deeply pleased with herself despite having done only part of the work.
Water became the next concern.
Their makeshift wooden container lasted longer than expected, but with two people drinking from it and Charlotte’s appetite apparently dragging thirst along with it, the supply eventually ran out.
Liam waited until the forest outside felt calmer, then had Smoke carry him to the river so they could refill it. He did not want to move farther than necessary, but water was not something they could ignore. Charlotte offered to go instead, though Liam declined, partly because the river path was safer with Smoke and partly because he wanted to assess the surrounding area himself.
The trip was slow and careful.
Smoke moved through the forest in his full-sized form with Liam seated on his back, while Charlotte remained behind at the outcrop with instructions not to do anything unnecessary.
She had given him a look at that, as if offended by the implication, but Liam trusted his own caution more than her promises.
The river itself was quiet when they arrived, though Liam did not forget what had happened beneath those waters the river was leading to. Even now, as he filled the container, his eyes remained on downstream. The aquatic demon was gone, erased in the explosion beneath the grand river, but Nalim had already proven that empty territory rarely stayed empty for long.
They refilled the container quickly and returned without incident.
For the rest of the assessment, Smoke became their main guard and hunter.
The shadow wolf patrolled the outcrop’s surroundings from the shadows, often taking position near the top of the rocky formation where he could watch the forest below like a silent sentinel.
Whenever weak Feral-class demons or lower Horror-class threats wandered too close, Smoke dealt with them before they reached the crevice. Most never even realized what killed them. A flash of shadow, a crushing bite to the core, a brief struggle beneath the trees, and then silence returned. In those cases, Liam did not intervene. There was no need.
However, not every presence was worth engaging.
Twice, Smoke detected stronger demons moving through the area, one of them likely an Advanced Horror based on the pressure of its Myst. The moment Liam sensed those presences through Smoke’s link, he called the shadow wolf back and kept both himself and Charlotte hidden inside the cave.
The crevice entrance did its job well. Unless something already knew where to look, the opening seemed like nothing more than a narrow crack in the rocks. During those moments, Charlotte remained unusually quiet, and even she seemed to understand that avoiding unnecessary confrontation was the wiser choice.
They waited until the stronger presences moved on.
Then life inside the cave resumed.
Charlotte slept often, ate often, teased often, and complained that hiding was boring even though she had been the one to choose a relaxed end to the assessment.
Liam spent most of his time recovering, monitoring his Myst reserves, maintaining supplies, and occasionally stepping outside to check the area when the forest was calm. He did not let himself become complacent.
Even while resting, his awareness remained active. Even while eating, he listened to the forest. Even when Charlotte talked endlessly about how she planned to exaggerate their time together when they returned to the academy, Liam kept part of his attention on the crevice entrance.
By the final night, the chamber felt almost lived in.
The fire pit had been used and cleared several times. The cold corner held the water container, wrapped meat, and smaller materials they had gathered or kept. The scent of smoke had settled into the stone. Charlotte had claimed one side of the chamber as though it belonged to her, while Liam remained closer to the entrance and the colder wall, where he could react faster if something approached.
It was not comfortable in any proper sense.
But compared to the swamp, the river, the Berserker’s territory, and the destroyed eastern forest, it was enough.
And for once, enough was acceptable.
When the final morning arrived, Liam was already awake.
Charlotte was not.
She was curled near the fire pit with one arm tucked beneath her head, breathing steadily as the faint light from outside began touching the crevice entrance. Smoke rested near the opening in his smaller form, eyes half-open but alert as always. Liam sat against the wall, fully awake, his body still sore but far better than it had been when he first returned to consciousness.
He knew the assessment was nearly over.
The day had come.
There was no grand warning at first. No distant bell. No voice announcing the end from the skies of Nalim. Only a subtle shift in the Myst around them, faint but unmistakable. The air inside the chamber began to hum softly as a blue glow gathered beneath their feet.
Charlotte stirred immediately, her eyes opening with a slow blink before widening slightly as she noticed the glow. Then she smiled sleepily.
"Finally," she muttered. "I was starting to miss real beds."
Liam glanced at her but said nothing.
Smoke rose from the ground just as the teleportation Myst intensified, wrapping around all three of them. The hollow chamber, the fire pit, the stored supplies, the stone walls, and the narrow crevice entrance all blurred together as the academy’s extraction spell took hold.
Charlotte stretched slightly, completely unbothered as blue light climbed around her body. "I’m telling everyone I survived beautifully," she said.
"You barely did anything the last two days," Liam replied calmly.
"Exactly," Charlotte said with a satisfied smile. "Beautifully."
Before Liam could respond, the glow swallowed them entirely.
And with that, the final remnants of Nalim vanished from around them as they were teleported back to the academy.
