12 Charyl

A long while later, Eric regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes.

'Huh? I'm still alive. That black panther… it didn't kill me?'

This was the first thought that appeared in his mind. But suddenly, he remembered hearing a somewhat familiar voice just before he fell unconscious.

'Maybe that person saved me? However… who was it?'

'Oh, no! Liam and Jake.' Suddenly remembering his friends, he hurried to get to his feet, only to fail and cry out in pain.

Argh!

Because he withstood a tier-2 beast's suppressive aura until he couldn't any longer, even though his body wasn't crushed into a pulp, he was drained of every bit of energy. Even after 'sleeping' for all this time, he hadn't recovered much, leaving his body much too sore to move around.

Since he couldn't stand up, he tried to move his head to see where he was and if his friends were with him. Though just moving his neck was also a tough task to accomplish in his current state and caused a lot of pain, he endured and glanced around.

Unfortunately, it was already night and because the thick trees blocked most of the moonlight from coming down; the visibility was almost zero. He could only make out that he was still in the same place where they encountered the beast, but couldn't see either Liam or Jake.

'They were right beside me when they fell unconscious, right?' He thought and then concentrated on hearing any sound near him.

Su~! Su~!

Thanks to the area being deadly silent, he soon heard two sets of faint breathing echoing just a few feet on either of his sides.

'They are Liam and Jake, right? Thank… god. They… are… alright.'

Because he was both physically and mentally drained, his eyelids grew heavy and his consciousness starting blurring out once again.

In a few seconds, he fell asleep. His rhythmic breathing echoing in the quiet environment.

A few meters away from him, under a tree, a small, black furry ball was resting. It was a cub, but it was difficult to tell which species it belonged to. At one glance, it seemed as if it was a wolf's cub, then at another glance, a panther, then a tiger, etc.

Occasionally, it would open its two puppy eyes and look in Eric's direction, shake its little head before sleeping again.

---

Time passed, and the sun rose from the east, bringing light and warmth with it.

A few miles away from the area where Eric's trio was 'sleeping, was a clear stream of water flowing down a small hill.

A few meters away, three people were sitting on the rocks in a circle, roasting meat on the fire.

They were Leon, the green clothed girl and the man with a sword strapped on his back.

Although they looked a little haggard, they didn't have any noticeable injury, except for Leon, who had a sickly pale face and a scar in the shape of a claw on his chest.

"Damn it! It's healing too slowly." Leon cursed as he looked down at the scar. Although he had taken the healing pills, the healing rate was unusually slow, which frustrated him.

The man with the sword on his back glanced at him and sneered, "What do you expect? It has a peak tier-2 beast's energy remnants, after all."

Leon raised his brows in displeasure. "What's with the tone, Aiden? Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

Aiden glanced indifferently at him and shook his head. "An idiot like you isn't worthy of fighting me."

"You…?" Leon was incensed by his attitude and disrespect.

"Stop it, both of you." The green clothed girl interjected, an annoyed look on her pretty face.

Leon glanced at her and snorted softly, no longer saying anything. Aiden simply shrugged and went back to cooking the meat.

The green clothed girl silently watched as the flames cooked the meat. A moment later, she glanced at Leon and Aiden and said, "I'm going to see if those three guys are still alive. If they are injured but not dead, I'll take them back with me to heal them."

"Oh…?!" Aiden let out a slightly surprised sound. While still focused on cooking the meat, he said, "Although I don't think they could survive that beast, it's morally correct to confirm it."

Leon, however, didn't like the plan and hollered, "Have you gone crazy?! We will be just wasting our time since it's impossible for them to survive the beast. And why do you even care about those insects? Don't forget, we have a mission to complete within two days."

Aiden also nodded. "What he says is also correct."

The green clothed girl frowned. Completely ignoring Leon, she glanced at Aiden. "So, you don't want to go with me?"

Aiden raised his head, looked into the girl's beautiful eyes and said, "Miss Charyl, you are our team leader for this mission, so even if I don't agree with your decision, I'll still follow you. Not to mention, I also feel guilty about abandoning them when it was our duty to protect them."

"Thank you." Charyl nodded.

"What's there to feel guilty about? It's their fault they were weak and died. Duty? Don't be ridiculous!" Leon snorted mockingly.

Aiden looked at Leon silently for a moment before sighing and shaking his head. He then went back to his work.

Charyl, however, became angry and asked, "You were also weak and couldn't even endure a strike from the beast. Should we have left you to die too? After all, it's your fault you are so pathetically weak."

Leon's face alternated between the shades of red and black before he hissed, "Charyl, although you are our team leader, don't you dare cross the line here. And how could you compare me with those insects? I'm your team member. If we don't take care of each other, who will?"

Bang!

Charyl suddenly punched a half a meter tall rock beside her, cracking it into pieces, and growled. "They were also our teammates. Damn it!"

Leon flinched upon seeing her become so angry.

He feared her a little because she was stronger than him even though they were in the same realm, however; being the proud and arrogant person he was, he couldn't endure someone yelling at him even if she was a girl who he wanted to make his.

However, before he could say anything,

ROAR!!

A beastly roar erupted from the woods a few tens of meters away.

The trio immediately stood up and took out their weapons as they waited for the beast to come out.

However, when it did, their expressions turned deathly pale.

---X---X---

A/N: Charyl's reference pic -->