Hours passed with Magna suspended between sleep and alert, remaining vigilant for any potential danger while his body digested the food.
Only when the sun reached its peak, casting vertical shafts of light through the cavern cracks, did he feel his stomach churn. His body was ready to purge the waste.
His digestion was surprisingly fast, happening much sooner than he expected.
There was no toilet in the cave. The mother goblin had never used the cave for that, and as a baby, Magna had never needed one before.
For the first time, he decided to step into the corridor to find a spot.
He used his sharp ears to listen carefully before stepping outside.
Hearing no strange sounds, he finally walked into the hallway.
The wide corridor stretched straight in both directions. It was very dark, with no light at all.
As far as his eyes could see, both sides were filled with burned goblin corpses.
He was amazed by the power of the mother goblin’s fire spell once again. He wouldn’t be surprised if every single goblin in the cave was already dead.
Still, a few might be alive. He didn’t want to risk meeting anyone, so he didn’t go far. He found a quiet corner nearby and emptied his stomach there.
When he finished, he cleaned himself with leaves from the cave room. He then covered the pile with some half-melted stones to hide the smell as much as possible, then went back inside.
Throughout the ordeal, he felt none of the usual relief. He simply realized bitterly how heavily he had depended on modern toilets until now.
Anyway, he was now ready for his second meal.
After cleaning his hands with water from the stone basin, he sat down next to one of the undamaged goblin corpses.
He picked up his metal piece and cut a large slice of meat from its leg.
Eating the exact same thing again made his stomach turn. Still, he crammed the meat down as fast as he could, only to repeat the same cycle: resting, digesting, purging, and starting all over again.
With each round, he ate a little more and digested it even faster. His body was adapting to his new eating habits at an unbelievable speed.
His earlier guess of three or four days was now going to be much shorter.
As the sun set, gave way to the pale blue light of the moon, and finally returned with its morning shine, he had already finished his fourth meal.
Most of the goblin corpses in the room had lost the meat on their thighs. Meanwhile, Magna could feel the energy building inside his body, nearly reaching its peak.
He needed just one more round. After that, he could trigger Gaia once more.
Meanwhile, while Magna was living the most miserable moments of his life inside the cave, a carriage was making its way through the forest outside.
Just by looking at the two muscular, pristine white horses and the carriage crafted from polished dark wood with gold details, anyone could guess it belonged to someone with wealth and power.
Apart from the old man driving the carriage, two people were sitting inside in silence.
One was a young-looking woman with long blonde hair falling over her blue robe, glowing like the sun in the daylight coming through the window.
She looked to be in her mid-twenties at most. However, her crystal-like blue eyes held a cold indifference, giving off the aura of a wise old woman who had already seen everything the world had to offer.
Only when she shifted her gaze from the forest to the little girl sitting across from her did her cold eyes gain a bit of emotion.
"We are almost there, Faye."
The little girl wore the same blue robe. Her long blonde hair and bright blue, indifferent eyes made her look just like a 20-year-younger version of the woman sitting opposite her.
She met the older woman’s gaze and spoke in a very calm, quiet tone. "Yes, Mother."
The woman gave a slight nod of approval, then picked up the wide, pointed hat resting beside her. "You’re 8 already, and this is only your first trial for the Witch Hat. Try not to disappoint me."
The little girl looked at her mother’s hat, her eyes sparkling slightly.
It was a symbol of identity for women like them, showing they were far above ordinary people.
It was also the key for Faye to finally step into the Witch society she had been forbidden to enter until now.
"I will not, Mother," she replied with confidence.
The Witch trials for earning a hat varied greatly depending on their upbringing, family, or who gave the mission. Still, the level of danger and difficulty was usually the same.
As for Faye, her mission was actually quite simple. All she had to do was kill a goblin and bring back its body to pass her trial.
A short while later, the carriage slowed down and finally came to a stop.
Before she stepped outside, her mother reminded her, "There are at least fifty goblins inside that cave. You need to sneak in without waking the rest of them, kill one, and get out as fast as you can with the body."
Faye nodded once more, completely confident in her current spell set.
She waited for the driver to open the door, then stepped down and walked toward the cave entrance.
Standing before the entrance partially hidden by long vines, she didn’t go inside right away. Instead, she began to chant, her voice floating in the air like fine music.
"O Vein of the Living World, River that has flowed since before the First Dawn, Silent Mother of Rain and Sea..."
If Magna had been there to hear it, he would have instantly recognized the opening lines of the Water Sapphire spell the mother goblin used so often.
Only the ending was different, which was the part that gave the spell its true identity.
"Chill your touch, form a frozen skin, and hide my presence within."
As the chant finished, her skin, clothing, and even her long hair were quickly covered in a thin layer of frost.
When the spell took full effect, she looked like a translucent ice statue, blending into her surroundings like a ghost invisible to the naked eye.
Only then did she gently push aside the vines covering the entrance and step inside.
Celeste Winterborne, mother of Faye Winterborne, looked at the entrance of the cave where her daughter had disappeared just a second ago.
Her indifferent, cold eyes narrowed slightly. "Titus."
Answering her call, the shadow stretching behind her trembled for a split second. The ground rapidly froze over, expanding outward until a massive figure broke through the ice and emerged.
It was a man clad in thick, deep blue frost armor that covered his entire body and head. The moment he appeared, he dropped down to one knee. "My Lady."
Without even turning her head, she spoke in a calm, flat tone. "Something isn’t right in that cave."
The ice-armored knight nodded without waiting for further instructions. "Understood, my Lady."
With those words, his heavy frame sank back down and vanished into the frozen ground.