Several hours later, I woke up to a dull, aching pressure on both shoulders, the source of which was the two people sleeping soundly against me.

Rubbing my eyes, I slowly turned to my right where Celeste was leaning heavily on me.

After the emotional moment with her, I had simply been too exhausted to stay awake and had fallen asleep, while she must have followed soon after. Right now, she looked like a peaceful, exhausted child, her face free of the fear and tension that usually marred her features.

Letting out a soft sigh, I turned my attention away from her.

Despite sleeping for only a few hours, I felt completely refreshed. Even the ache on my arm from the injury I sustained from the siren seemed to be gone.

I gently rotated my shoulder and shifted my weight, careful not to wake either of them. However, just as I moved, Aika's eyes snapped open. She immediately sat upright and swept her gaze around the cave. When her eyes landed on Celeste and me, a distinct questioning look crossed her face. Though barely a second later, she looked away, reached into the inventory, and took out a bottle of alcohol and a loaf of bread. Then she uncorked the bottle and took a long, deep swig before tearing off a large piece of the bread.

'Alcohol and dry bread? What kind of combination is that?' I thought as I watched her chew slowly, then take another swig.

'Is it nice…?'

Looking at her, I couldn't help but lick my lips as I began to feel hungry. I could even hear my stomach rumbling.

When Aika noticed my hungry gaze, she turned to me and raised the bread close to my mouth. "You want some?"

I nodded eagerly with my eyes fixed on the crust.

She raised it even closer to me. But just when I was about to take a bite, she withdrew her hand and I bit the air.

"Take out your own, punk! I don't share," she muttered, clicking her tongue as she continued eating.

'Aisssh. Damn you…' I smacked my tongue and groaned inwardly as I looked away to my side where the inventory appeared. I then took out a piece of dried jerky and a pouch of water.

Back at the academy, Aika and I had packed up a lot of food into the inventory as we had noticed that food items do not spoil while stored inside. Thanks to that foresight, we had enough provisions to last us at least several weeks.

Raising the jerky, I was about to take a bite when suddenly, a surprised voice cut through the silence. "Woah… you guys can even conjure up food out of thin air?"

I lifted my gaze from the jerky to Dion, who added hungrily, "Damn… with an ability like that, you guys are like self-sufficient Demigods."

I blinked a few times.

'Wait till he finds out that I can literally raise the dead. What would he call me then? A god?'

I ignored him and looked back to my jerky and was about to bite it when I noticed that his hungry gaze had gotten even more intense.

Sighing, I looked back at him and said, "I can give you a meal, but that means you'd have to owe me a favor."

Dion swallowed hard, then glanced over at Ino, who was engrossed in something on the Whisper-globe. After only a beat, he licked his lips and nodded eagerly. "Yes... For a meal, I don't mind owing you a favor."

The corner of my lips curled up and I pointed my jerky at him. Instantly, my inventory opened atop him, and two pieces of jerky fell onto his lap from above.

Dion snatched the jerky mid-fall, his eyes wide with awe and genuine surprise. He held the food up like an offering with a huge, goofy grin splitting his face. "Oh, praise the Lord Cedric! You truly are a savior, you magnificent bastard!"

He tossed one to Ino, who caught it without looking up and immediately returned to the whisperglobe. Dion, meanwhile, tore into his own piece, chewing loudly and vigorously.

A few seconds after I had started eating my own meal, Celeste slowly woke up. She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before turning to face me. The second she looked over, her stomach let out a loud, desperate rumble. She instantly looked away, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Seeing her discomfort, I reached into the inventory, took out a piece of jerky, and silently offered it to her. She smiled softly and gently took it, then began eating it slowly.

The moment she took a bite, a notification popped up.

[You have acquired 50 Karma points.]

[Available Karma Points: N 2,360 / P 600]

Just then, Dion's voice laced with jealousy reached us. "Eh? Doesn't she get to owe you a favor, too?"

Turning my gaze to him, I smiled and scoffed, "Now why should she? Have you forgotten she's my little sister?"

Dion stopped chewing and pointed the jerky at himself. "But I'm family too, you know. We've been through hell and out together in the last twenty four hours. Doesn't that make me your brother in blood spilled?"

I rolled my eyes, but before I could give a response to the sentimental nonsense, Ino interrupted:

"Uhm guys…?"

All of us snapped our attention to her. She had a worried expression on her face. Once she had our attention, she pointed to the holographic screen projected by the whisper-globe and began, "So, uh… I have both good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?"

It was silent for a moment, then Dion spoke, "Let's start with the bad news so that we could wash it down with the good news."

Ino looked to where I sat. I nodded, Celeste nodded too, while Aika, still focused on her bottle, simply continued drinking and gave no sign that she minded.

Ino gave a slight nod, then looked back to the screen and continued. "The bad news is that this lunar eclipse's red bridge is in a Grade Two territory that borders the Grade Three territory called the Home of the Sculpted Ones."

Dion swallowed, his eyes widening. "No way." He shifted closer to have a proper view of the screen. "It's always said to appear either in a Grade One territory or a Grade Two territory that's not too far away from its borders. So what's it doing so close to the Lords' territory?"

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