Cedric's POV

——

'…I survived.'

That was the first thought that formed in my mind as I finally regained consciousness.

I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to at least feel some pains in my body, but for some reason, I felt perfectly fine. In fact, it felt as if I had just woken up from one of the deepest, most restorative naps of my life.

'Since when did health elixirs work so quickly?'

I blinked a few times, and the next thing I noticed was that the soft, gray light of dawn had been replaced by the deep, star-strewn darkness of night.

My mind buffered for a moment.

'Wait… how long has it been since I blacked out?'

If I was feeling perfectly fine, then… at least a day or two ought to have passed.

I pushed myself off the floor while also rubbing my eyes. That was when I heard Dion's voice:

"Oh? …He's awake!"

I brought down my hand to see most of the party members by the fire, stuffing their mouths with large chunks of roasted meat.

They had all paused and were now looking at me with expressions of profound relief on their faces.

"Come join us," Dion called, gesturing with the skewered chunk of meat he was about to bite.

I slowly stood up, and as I began walking towards them, my eyes darted around searching for my bond, Aika. When I couldn't find her, I quickly rolled my sleeve back and that was when I saw her tattoo on my arm.

'She must have finally decided to rest,' I thought as I dropped beside Dion.

Ino took a skewer of meat from the fire and reached out to me.

I took it and nodded politely, then I took a large bite, and when the rich, smoky flavor hit my tongue, I slumped my shoulders in utter, exhausted relief.

'God, I was hungry.'

I then looked up from the meat and threw the question randomly, "By the way, how long has it been?"

But then Ino's reply made me a bit confused:

"About… eight hours, I think?"

"Huh?" I blurted, looking up from my meat to her. "Just eight hours?"

She nodded with a look of mild curiosity and confusion on her face.

Then Celeste frowned slightly and asked. "What… are you not feeling okay?"

"I am feeling perfectly fine." I tilted my head looking lost in thought, then thought aloud. "But that's the thing. Do health elixirs give complete recovery that fast?"

I rubbed my neck. "I'm sure I should still be feeling some itch in my throat if I drank…"

"Ooh…" Dion interjected, leaning back slightly and chewing his meat slowly. He then pointed with a greasy finger toward a corner of the rock shelter where Evelyn was still sleeping, her head resting on Julius's lap. Julius was gently stroking her hair, and I was sure I could see fine, distinct patches of white woven into her inky black hair.

I looked back to Dion and was about to ask when he quickly spoke, anticipating the question. "She healed you. Apparently, her bonded ability also grants her really cool healing powers. But I think that power has some drawbacks, because she's been sleeping like that ever since then."

He paused briefly, then added. "Julius says she will be fine and just needs to rest. So… hopefully, she wakes up soon."

I shifted my gaze from Dion back to Evelyn. As I stared at her pale, still form, I felt a heavy wave of gratitude… and a bit of guilt.

It looked like the mood was about to grow somber, when Ino quickly changed the subject.

"While you were sleeping, we decided that when continuing our journey, we should use the route that passes through the territory of the mountain rabbits."

I snapped my gaze to her, but she continued before I could speak. "I've been thinking: once we get to the Puppeteer's Grove, finding meat to eat would be really difficult, and those rabbits are the easiest, safest prey around. Since you can store things and they remain in excellent condition, it would be incredibly efficient if we could kill a massive haul of those rabbits and take them with us. What do you th—"

"It's a good idea," I accepted before she could even finish her sentence.

Of course we were going to need the massive stores of meat especially when we got to the puppeteers grove.

However, I needed something far more than that.

…I needed to level up and move to the next grade.

I desperately needed the power boost, and, most importantly, I needed to secure another exclusive skill.

Ino blinked a few times after I accepted so readily, then smiled and looked to the others, while also raising her meat skewer. "Great. It's settled then."

***

We settled back into the warmth of the fire, continuing to eat and chat away with Dion teasing how I looked while I was infected by the Husk Fly.

Thinking back to the experience, I had to admit it had been one of the most harrowing ordeals of my entire life. I prayed deeply that such an experience would never be repeated.

While I recalled the events in my head, I couldn't help but ponder:

'Come to think of it. I've been unnecessarily, catastrophically unlucky, haven't I?'

I sighed and took the last bite of my meat skewer.

…As I tilted my head back to take a long drink from my water pouch, something caught my attention. Through the corner of my eye, I could see Celeste meticulously wrapping some meat in banana leaves.

'Hm? …Is she saving that to eat later?'

I brought down the pouch and continued to covertly observe her. When she was done wrapping a few pieces of meat, she set them aside and continued eating hers.

The others didn't seem to notice as they were too busy talking.

Then a thought suddenly struck me.

'Could it be for her Bond?'

Speaking of her Bond, this thought suddenly made me realize that I had never once seen its human form. Her bond never joined us for any meals, never spoke to any of us, and always remained a ferret almost all of the time.

Why was that?

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