Roooar!

The sound echoed from the distance, like a gong announcing the arrival of the king.

Axel looked around, exhaustion evident in his face, the forest had completely disappeared at this point, almost as suddenly as it appeared, leaving the jagged obsidian rocks, occasionally blue glow here and there.

Dead trees here and there in the distance, but no sign of the forest or even life.

He looked towards the cave, fortunately I wasn't too far from here, else…he staggered.

He looked towards the bolf's body, the temptation to check for a crystal rising, but he ignored it, He wasn't in the best condition to dissect.

Not to mention, I wouldn't want to be found by that thing, he started limping towards the cave, his leg still bleeding, his thoughts wandering to the dragon, whatever that was.

Deep in the cave, Axel sprawled on the floor and hurriedly popped a chocolate bar into his mouth, trying to relieve the hunger, he quickly popped another, then another, burning through his supply in seconds, yet his hunger wasn't satisfied, not to mention the thirst.

That's right, his eyes widened, the rabbit.

"Where is it," He mumbled, looking around, but nothing, "Oh right." He stopped upon remembering he had thrown it when the bolf showed up.

He sighed and reached for the Gishiki, no choice then, he approached the egg.

Looking down on the big black egg, he gulped hard, hopefully, it hasn't started forming a body. Worst case scenario I'll settle for meat, and resort to that water, he glanced towards the glowing pool.

He took a deep breath and carefully brought the Gishiki down, holding it at an angle, aiming to cut a small hole on top of the egg, where most eggs usually had air space, while taking care not to shatter it completely.

Fortunately, the shell was quite hard, even for the sharp Gishiki, but not too hard.

The katana slowly sliced through whatever resistance in its way, then Axel felt no more resistance, the sword had passed through, smiling as he turned it around, still careful, carving a circle.

He exhaled and dropped the katana to the side, then he carefully lifted the cut out part of the shell, a pleasant scent of honey filling the cave.

Axel gulped hard and smirked as he saw the transparent albumen, no body formed.

"My luck shines again," he muttered.

Now then he looked at the cut out part of the shell, using the katana, he carved its edge out, making it small enough to pass through the hole without issue, a makeshift plate or bowl, whatever you want to call it.

Dipping it in, he brought out the liquid, the scent radiating strongly from it, filling the cave overwhelming its damp smell.

Without waiting a second and due to his stomach grumbling at that second.

Axel gulped the liquid down, the liquid revitalizing his parched tongue, like rainwater on desert sand.

His throat the next beneficiary, the viscous feeling an added bonus, the taste was at that perfect spot, it was not too sweet, had a bit of sour taste, balancing perfectly.

"Or maybe I'm just that hungry," He muttered but he shrugged and fetched another.

Axel sat down rubbing his stomach, a satisfied smile on his face, the egg, even though uncooked had provided enough nourishment for him.

At least at the moment, he shouldn't have to worry about thirst or food for the next twenty four hours or so and as an added bonus it also provided relief to his pain, he felt like it was already healing.

But what happens after that twenty four hours or when the egg finishes or worse when it rots, he frowned at the thought.

The dragon was out there, and he wasn't sure how long it'll remain there.

Last time it left after fighting the snake, so I can guess it came for a hunt or something, considering there was no body, just a fang, so does that mean it'll leave after finding something, or does it have a time limit.

He sighed, "Let me worry about that, for now I have bigger problems," he looked down on the gash on his leg, the bleeding had stopped but it had to be cleaned and covered, we don't want to lose a leg now, that'll be truly awful.

He took a deep breath, then his eyes widened, something was off, he held his neck, it felt like all of a sudden the liquid in his throat was being drained, not just his throat, his entire body, an intense thirst rising, rapid dehydration.

Shit, I messed up, eggs weren't supposed to be used as liquids, they required water themselves for digestion, sure they could provide temporary relief but over time, you'll feel a lot more thirstier, he had ignored that thinking it'll be okay, he could deal with it for a while, but this, this was too much, too fast.

I should have known, it isn't an ordinary egg after all, Axel thought, trying to find relief.

Then his gaze stopped at the glowing pool, the blue glow reflecting in his panicked eyes.

No choice, he gritted his teeth and dashed towards it.

He quickly knelt in front of the pool and started lapping the water with total abandon, relieving that thirst the only thing in his mind.

But this was too slow, he put his head into the pool, drinking directly like an animal, the liquid travelling down his throat, providing instant relief, the thirst slowly being stifled.

After drinking for what felt like a minute, Axel sat back, panting, the thirst totally suppressed, that sensation of losing liquid gone.

"Now what," he muttered, expecting an aftereffect after all, an ordinary egg almost killed him, not to mention glowing water.

Maybe not so ordinary…

But after waiting for a few minutes, nothing happened, except for his head getting drowsy, his eyelids getting heavier with each passing second.

"Great moment for sleep to set in," He said, his voice groggy.

Axel rubbed his eyes and yawned, could it be exhaustion or something else, the glowing water, he did not know, all he wanted was to sleep.

He stood up and headed towards his makeshift bed, but before he reached it, he fell on the ground, the rock floor feeling more comfortable, more than even his luxurious twin bed back in Vostyn.

His vision getting blurry, eye lids felt like weights pressed on them, his eyes slowly closing, but just then he noticed a silhouette approaching him.

Axel tried to fight back the sleep,trying to defend himself against whatever was approaching .

Although it looked human, nothing here could be trusted, but his body didn't move, it took all he had to keep his eye slightly open, observing the blurry figure approaching him, it stopped in front of him, and crouched down.

"Who…ar…you?" Axel muttered, voice drowsy, giving in to sleep, after all why not.

"I…m…u," a faint whisper entered his ear.

"Imu huh," was the last thing he thought as his mind drifted to sleep.

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