Aftermath

Liam observed the small bunny that appeared to be guarding the massive corpse of the cursed wolf. The rabbit's size hadn't changed much since the last time he saw it; however, the aura it radiated seemed to have transformed.

 It was much more concentrated than changed, to be fair. Previously, it seemed like a normal rabbit, but there was no mistaking it now—it exuded the presence of a spirit beast. More importantly, it possessed healing powers, an uncommon trait among spirit beasts.

The fire took some time to extinguish, even with most people working on it. The difficulty arose from the challenge of transporting large quantities of water from the wells. Ultimately, a village girl played a crucial role by utilizing water from the wells through casting.

She wasn't proficient in combat, having awakened her class only a couple of weeks prior. Yet Her control over water was remarkable. Kiara also contributed with her flame-controlling abilities, although her condition was far from optimal for heavy lifting.

Last but not least, the man dubbed the "wolf slayer" by the villagers assisted by carrying water from the well, even though he lacked the magical power typically required for such tasks. His contribution ranked only second to the girl with water power.

"Now that the fire is extinguished, I feel like taking a dip in the river," he mumbled upon his return. His cloak remained pure black and undamaged, with no layer of dust covering his clothes or splashes of blood. Liam had witnessed him engaging with everything with wild abandon.

Contrary to his equipment, his face appeared rougher, with grey beards and long hair, almost bordering on sickly. Liam couldn't fathom how a man who could vanquish a cursed beast that terrorized most iron rankers could look so unwell.

The little bunny leapt from the top of the corpse into the arms of the white-haired man. It squeaked urgently, as if conveying something to him. Kiara, who had been next to the bunny a moment ago, found herself at a loss for words.

"Got it, got it," the man sighed as he approached the corpse. "You're hungry. As a matter of fact, I am as well."

Under the watchful gazes of others, he drew his sword and plunged it into the beast's head. After a few deft manoeuvres, he extracted a core the size of a big peanut from the beast and handed it to the little bunny.

"Cupcake, no!" Kiara began to protest, but the bunny had already gulped down the beast core, much to its owner's distress.

"Cupcake?" The white-haired man raised an eyebrow, facing the girl. The bunny squeaked cheerfully within his arms as its body started to glow dimly, warming up.

"What's happening?" Kiara drew closer in alarm, ready to take the bunny away from the man. Surprisingly, the man drew back, still carrying the bunny.

"What is wrong with you?" Kiara shouted. "Why did you feed her with a cursed rank creature's beast core? Do you know what it can do to little Cupcake?"

The man frowned, directing his purple eyes to the little bunny. He didn't retort to being accused and even seemed a little guilty as he checked on the creature in his arms. "I think it's in a digestion process. While I have never seen him... her glowing, I often find her warming up and sleeping after eating beast cores. Besides, she's more intelligent than you give her credit for. She wouldn't have eaten it if she couldn't handle it."

As the man said this, the bunny fell asleep easily in his arms as he nuzzled its white fur.

Kiara still looked offended, though her outburst seemed to calm down. She finally couldn't stop herself from taking the little bunny from the man, giving him a glare as he didn't give in initially.

"Is the bunny yours, miss...?" the white-haired man asked, sounding somewhat awkward. Only then did Liam notice something odd about his speech pattern. He still couldn't put a finger on it, but it wasn't natural.

"Yes," Kiara answered, louder than she expected, as if worried the man would take away her pet.

"And Cupcake is her name?"

"Do you have a problem with it?" Kiara challenged. Liam didn't understand why she was taking this tone with the man who had literally saved their lives as well as her precious little bunny. Women, he would never understand them.

"No, not at all," he said. "It is a better name than anything I could give her."

"Why would you give her a name?" Kiara said, an edge to her voice, "Cupcake is mine."

Liam felt like slapping the girl in the face. Couldn't she be even a little diplomatic? In the end, it was he who had to take the lead in the conversation, as the man seemed to lose the stomach for a chat.

"Greetings, Sir," Liam said, bowing deeply. "I'm Liam Wanley, and this is Kiara Ward of House Ward. I deeply thank you for saving our lives as well as the villagers that we failed to protect."

"No need to be courteous to me," the man said, nodding. "Call me Warden. You two didn't seem to be of the village, though."

"Well, yes," Liam answered. "We are students from the Third Arcane Academy, currently on a mission of scouting for the beast tide that has been growing in this area."

"Arcane academy, hmm." Warden seemed like he wanted to say more but controlled himself. "Looks like they made a great miscalculation, only sending the two of you."

"That they did," Liam agreed, "though our task was merely scouting in the beginning."

Warden nodded, disinclined to say anything else.

"Sir Warden," Liam asked again, "what do you intend to do with the corpse? As you played the crucial role in defeating the pack, you have the claim over the loot."

"Well, I haven't given it much thought, as I don't have any needs other than food," Warden said. "I guess I'll leave the rest to the village to deal with."

"But the loot, it's worth more than a single village."

Warden perked an eyebrow at his comment, clearly not buying it. "That is certainly not true. If it were, you guys wouldn't put your lives on the line for a single village."

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