A consciousness awakened.
The silence was not cold or terrifying.
It was warm.
A comforting warmth, accompanied by the sound of burning embers and rhythmic breathing.
His own breathing.
Kair did not know where he was, much less remember exactly what had happened.
The past few weeks had been hell.
Ever since the invasion of his home…
Ah…
Uncle.
I remember now.
Much faster than Kair expected, his thoughts began to take shape.
I can’t move.
The poison must still be affecting me…
So I didn’t die.
No…
I can hear something…
“Will the boy without a lineage be alright?
It must already be a miracle that he wasn’t eaten by the common creatures…
Imagine if he had encountered an Elite?” A woman’s voice reached the echoes of Kair’s consciousness.
Elite?…
Ah…
That must be what the young lion fought…
“Hahaha!
You sheep lineage people really are something!
Hahahah!
If an Elite-class creature exists in this place, we’re all dead!
It took my father and all my uncles to kill one.” That voice…
Rovan?
He was alive?
Of course he was.
Ironfangs always produce good warriors.
With a twitch, Kair realized he could move his fingers, and a strong tingling sensation began to spread up his arms.
His breathing became irregular again, and he began forcing his body to move.
His eyes slowly opened, and the blurred ceiling of a cave came into view.
“Slowly…
The poison hasn’t been completely removed from your body yet.” The slightly gentle tone and familiar voice made Kair turn his head, and there it was.
Those two green eyes.
Fear covered every inch of Kair’s body.
That sickening, ferocious gaze.
Kair did not know who he was.
He could be one of the creatures.
Several of them had green eyes.
He could even be the one who killed the rose before it could digest him.
But soon, his blurred vision began to take shape, and the flickering lights of the fire revealed him.
A sickly green mane.
A tall, slender body, still muscular, but not quite fitting the full build of a lion.
And those feline eyes…
Yet they seemed different.
Were they…
kind?
Cassian smiled, his fangs showing.
“Just a little longer and the poison will be completely removed from your body.” Kair’s gaze dropped to his ribs.
There were Cassian’s five fingers.
Pressed between the gaps of his ribs, glowing with a terrifying moss-green light.
Sickly veins stretched from Kair’s body toward Cassian’s fingers.
“You’re…
absorbing it?” Kair forced his lips to form a pitiful sentence.
“Astute, aren’t you?
My lineage allows me to deal with simple poisons like this with ease.
Everyone gains an ability after passing the Lineage Ceremony…
Well, almost everyone.” Cassian gave a slight cough, somewhat awkwardly.
After that comment, an awkward atmosphere began to spread between the two young men, but Kair’s attention soon returned to the conversations farther away in the camp.
“I don’t know if there are any Elite Creatures here, but if there are…
Fuck!
They must be getting cooked alive by that fire!
My eyes burn just from being near it.
Who the fuck was the lunatic who decided to set the entire test on fire?!” From the tone and the faint, feline-like growls, Kair guessed this was some member of the lion lineage.
“Simply Princess Elyra and the famous Rael Duskfang.
Is that enough for you, kitty?” Kair did not recognize the voice, but those words were clearly enough to keep the member of the lion lineage from even complaining about being called kitty.
So the flames that helped me were made by them…
Maybe I should thank them when I can.
Kair’s thoughts were interrupted when a slight, sharp pain appeared in his ribs, and his body immediately felt lighter.
“Done.
I’ve removed all the poison from your body, Kair.
Now you just have to stand up and try not to get poisoned again.” Cassian’s voice seemed to be trying to tease Kair, but he soon realized that he was only trying to get rid of the strange atmosphere in the air.
“Thank you, Cassian…” “Wait, you know my name!
Great!
Come on, let’s go see the rest of the people.” Cassian stood up energetically.
Kair soon followed him.
Finally, he understood what the camp was.
An ancient geological accident must have cut through part of the mountain, creating a sharp-edged cave that opened toward a world of roots.
However, some of them formed a natural shield, intertwining and covering much of the cave.
“Look who it is.
The beautiful sleeping princess without a lineage.
Would you look at that, Cassian actually managed to keep him from dying of the poison!” Rovan’s familiar voice rang out loudly, causing all the young people around the fire to stop their conversations and look at Kair.
Dozens…
No.
More than a hundred young people were inside the enormous cave.
All gathered around smaller fires or the large fire in the center.
Calm down…
This seems like a lot, but the screen showed that more than 21,000 entered.
If this is one of the camps and there are only hundreds here…
How many are still alive?
And how many will make it back alive?
This late realization that settled over Kair was reflected in everyone’s eyes.
It was obvious to everyone there.
The rumors about the fire outside.
Rovan’s teasing and, perhaps, even Cassian’s kindness were merely reflections of the dark world they were trapped in.
Many of their peers had died.
Many right in front of them, and Kair had been forced to deliberately sacrifice them to survive.
Kair had some resistance to it.
He had survived the invasion weeks ago, but what about them?
Every young person there now carried the same dark, empty look Kair had.
Only masked, each in their own way.
Perhaps noticing the same dark atmosphere beginning to form again, Cassian placed a hand on Kair’s shoulder and addressed everyone in the camp.
“Don’t pay attention to what those petty princes out there are doing.
Let them play with their fire.
All we need to do is survive until dawn, and it shouldn’t take much longer.
We have defenses and a place to stay.
Remember the words of His Majesty Garran Duskfang.
Survive!” Small nods and approving growls followed.
Kair could almost see a hint of pride in Cassian’s eyes as the camp’s mood began to improve because of his words.
Hm…
It must finally be the lion lineage taking effect on him.
Kair thought as he was directed by a member of the wolf lineage to sit near a fire.