Chapter: Adaptation
By the time they finally reached the cave, exhaustion had begun weighing heavily on the group's shoulders. The journey back had been silent, broken only by their footsteps over the forest floor and the steady rhythm of their breathing. The day had been long, grueling, and despite everything they had achieved, tension still clung to them.
Ophelia, true to herself, did not bother hiding her irritation. Kenzo's mistakes during the fight against the Treacherous Traitors were clearly still stuck in her throat. Her burning gaze had landed on him several times during the return trip, hard and cold, without needing a single word to make her thoughts clear.
But Naty had no intention of letting that mood settle in.
The moment they were safely inside the cave, she naturally slipped back into the role of mediator, just as she had the night before.
— « Alright… we're not going to let a few small mistakes ruin the evening, » she said calmly. « We do it like yesterday. We absorb our fragments, Kenzo eats his hearts, and then… we eat for real. »
Kenzo simply nodded. He had nothing to argue with. He knew Ophelia was right, at least in principle, even if he disliked the way she expressed it. He was not yet at a level where he could afford even the smallest mistake.
During the day's hunt, Naty had discreetly set aside certain pieces of flesh taken from the Void Creatures. She had cut them with methodical precision, without any visible disgust, as though it were a perfectly normal thing to do.
— « I've heard that some Awakened eat Void Creatures, » she explained as she pulled the pieces from her artifact bag. « In Fragments or in hostile lands. So… it can't be that bad. »
Lucian immediately grimaced.
Kenzo did not react. Neither did Ophelia.
For Kenzo, the reason was simple: beyond the outer walls, everything had tasted like misery and garbage. A Void Creature could not possibly be worse than what he had already eaten his whole life. As for Ophelia… she had to be from that world too. He had never really spoken to her about it, but he could feel it. How could he even bring it up, anyway? It was almost as if she despised him on principle.
He pushed the thought aside. This was neither the time nor the place.
They began by absorbing the prana fragments. Naty distributed them methodically, and each of them focused in a silence that felt almost religious. The familiar lights passed through their bodies, settling into their chests before vanishing. Kenzo briefly watched Lucian and noticed that his posture seemed a little steadier than before, even though his gaze still betrayed a lack of confidence.
Then came his turn.
Kenzo took the hearts from the bag one by one and consumed them without looking away. The Corrupted Prana spread through him like a heavy, oppressive heat, but one that had already begun to feel familiar. He could feel his body adapting, slowly but surely.
Once he was done, Naty brought out the pieces of meat. A foul stench immediately filled the cave.
— « Kenzo, make me a fire, please. »
He obeyed without asking questions. Seeing the state of the pieces—dark, fibrous masses, barely recognizable—he sincerely wondered how she intended to turn that into something edible.
Yet Naty approached the task with impressive seriousness. She cleaned the meat with water they had gathered earlier, removed the tougher parts, used herbs she had kept in her bag, then slowly grilled the pieces over the flames. She constantly adjusted the cooking, turning the meat, scraping away the dark foam that seeped from it.
Little by little, the smell changed.
When Kenzo finally tasted it, he was surprised. There was almost no flavor at all.
And that was excellent news.
The nauseating odor was gone, and the texture, while strange, was bearable.
— « Mmh… I don't think I could've done better with what we have, » Naty concluded with a faint smile.
They ate in silence. Once the meal was over, Lucian recalled Madame into his Orb. The creature had already partly recovered, but it was better to let her regenerate completely through the night. She took her place again at the cave entrance, blocking access like a living wall.
The night passed without incident.
When they woke, everything unfolded much like the day before. Naty was the first to rise. Ophelia and Kenzo followed almost immediately. Lucian, still half-asleep, was woken by Kenzo without much ceremony.
Madame was sent back into the Orb to finish regenerating.
— « Come here, you two, » Naty called.
Kenzo and Lucian positioned themselves in front of her. The thirty minutes of basic movements began. Posture, footwork, guard, breathing. Nothing spectacular, but all of it essential. Kenzo repeated each motion seriously, trying to correct the flaws Ophelia had pointed out the day before. Lucian still lacked confidence, but his movements were smoother than before.
After an hour, Ophelia stepped forward.
— « Now, let's take a closer look at your weaknesses, » she said with a smile that was almost too enthusiastic.
Kenzo frowned.
— « Shouldn't we put our weapons away? »
— « No, » she answered immediately. « This will teach you to understand whether your strike is lethal or not. »
She summoned her two daggers. Thin, long blades, perfectly balanced. Ophelia took her stance. Straight. Still. No unnecessary movement.
Kenzo took his. The one Naty had taught him. Sword pointed toward the ground, both hands firm on the hilt. He did not activate [Serpent]. He wanted to see how far he could go without it.
The fight began.
Kenzo attacked first, too quickly. Ophelia dodged with no effort and struck his forearm with the flat of her dagger.
— « Too impatient. »
He tried a second assault. Same result. A feint, then a strike to his ribs. He stepped back, grimacing.
Every opening he thought he saw, Ophelia punished. She anticipated everything. Her daggers drew precise, controlled arcs. Kenzo's problem was obvious: his balance. The moment he advanced too far, she exploited the shift.
He fell. Got back up. Tried again.
Again.
And again.
Thirty minutes passed that way. He did not touch her once.
But toward the end, something changed.
Kenzo slowed down. He watched. He waited.
When Ophelia attacked, he did not answer immediately. He pivoted, let the blade pass, and forced a close exchange. For the briefest fraction of a second, he put her in a difficult position. Not enough to win. But enough to make her step back.
The fight stopped there.
Kenzo was drenched in sweat, exhausted, but proud.
— « At least you won't stay useless for long, » Ophelia said.
It was a compliment.
Even if he hated her tone.
Naty, who had observed the entire exchange while training Lucian, stepped closer.
— « You adapt very quickly, » she said calmly. « You struggle terribly at first, but every movement that puts you in trouble makes you adjust. You change. You learn. You have an innate ability to adapt. »
She paused.
— « Later on, anyone who fights you won't be able to catch you twice with the same move. »