— The days passed, and Kaelen's beastly nature became increasingly apparent. Upon returning from camp after finishing his hunt, his transformation into an almost entirely animal form was evident: a digitigrade build, forearms wider than a normal person's head, and hair the same color as his eyes—the only thing that hadn't changed—covering his entire body.
He dropped the boars that were on his shoulders, standing frozen at the sight before him —
"Wow, I almost wouldn't have recognized you if it weren't for your eyes"
— He sounded tired, speaking with an almost sage slowness, but there he was; he'd had to spend two and a half weeks on the ground, but Krax had finally gotten back on his feet, recognizing his companion even in a form he'd never seen before.
You could see how the muscles in Kaelen's face relaxed, how his eyebrows drooped diagonally, how his gaze couldn't tear itself away from that man sitting on the grass —
"It's the first time I've seen you make that face; it's surprising, especially given how you look right now"
"I'll speak for myself—I understand why Obi's always fighting with you"
— There were no hugs, just an exchange of smiles—genuine ones that were enough to express their feelings —
"How do you feel?"
"There's still some pain, but nothing to worry about. More importantly, where are we?"
"At my camp"
— Elena emerged from the bushes, carrying a basket of colorful plants. She wasn't surprised by Kaelen's appearance; she didn't seem to care about anything other than Krax waking up —
"I saved your life, dressing your wounds and curing your fever"
— Upon hearing that, Krax tried to prostrate himself to thank her for helping them recover —
"Thank you for saving us; I'll return the favor as soon as possible"
"I hope so; they cost me quite a bit"
"Are you a druid?"
"No, a mage"
— Krax couldn't hide his look of surprise upon hearing the mage's reply, seeking Kaelen's gaze to confirm the information —
"What is a mage doing outside of Fantasis?"
"That's none of your business, and you should be even more grateful; it's already hard enough for me to keep your other friend alive"
— Kaelen looked at Obi's frail appearance, touching his forehead in turn and noticing how cold he was.
Kaelen took his hand; he was already in enough danger; a bad infection could spell his end —
"Do you know why he's in this state? You were fighting together"
"While fighting the alpha wolf,midway through the battle he managed to assimilate Malice, reaching the tenth rank and becoming transcendent. But since it was his first time, he made a rookie mistake: using his own Malice without being sure of his reserves"
"Even so, he shouldn't be in this state over something like that unless he was recklessly refining stones"
"He caused his dagger to explode, overloading the Malice"
— Elena clutched her nose, sighing heavily at Krax's last sentence —
"That explains why the dagger was shattered"
— Kaelen replied, before the mage entered her tent, searching high and low for something, until she found a book she opened to page 77 to show it to the beast, who watched as Elena showed him a page full of insects —
"I need you to look for these insects; they're the only ones that don't harm the organism"
"Are you planning to feed him live insects?"
— Krax emphasized, looking at Elena with almost distrust; Obi was too weak to undergo tests and risk a mistake —
"If the problem is the amount of Malice, that explains why he hasn't improved since he arrived. The only way, then, will be to feed him living creatures little by little, and the best would be beetle larvae; they have plenty of vitality, protein, and are generally easy to digest"
— Kaelen stepped closer to get a better look at the insects Elena was pointing out in the book, then headed into the forest, but not before saying goodbye to Krax.
Now they were alone; Krax kept giving her a heavy look while she prepared the food —
"Just say what you want; you're making me uncomfortable"
"Why did you save us?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. Your friend will pay me back; we made a deal for him to do a task for me"
"Alright, then I'll get to the point. Who are you? How is a magical engineer out on the outskirts of Fantasis?"
"The same way you're here—I was dismissed from my post"
— In an instant, Krax's eyes widened as if he'd seen a ghost, but his surprise quickly gave way to an expression reflecting the false peace of a dormant crater, where the heat is already beginning to crack the surface. In the eyes of the mercenary in the red trench coat, there was no longer any gratitude or calm, but rather a cold determination —
"Tell me your name"
— Elena didn't answer that question, which sounded like an order, directly; she stepped closer first to give him his share of the food —
"Elena Vascovich to you, young man with red locks, or should I call you son of the ancient House of Lovedropht"
"You were looking for me"
"It's true, I lied when I told you it wasn't your concern. My stay here wasn't a coincidence; it was quite a hassle to make an appointment with a fortune-teller"
— As Elena spoke, Krax was slowly reaching for his weapon, but his hand was deflected, striking one of the sorceress's orbs —
"An artifact?"
"We haven't even finished the discussion and you're already on the defensive."
"What makes you think I want to argue with you? Why shouldn't I just rip your arms off to get information out of you?"
"Because, first of all, even if you wanted to, your physical condition isn't fit enough for combat, and above all, I know we have similar goals"
— Elena said this with a smile that simply couldn't be ignored by Krax's curiosity and anger, as their discussion dragged on until the sun, which had been at its highest point, had sunk low enough to be almost hidden by the mountains.
When Kaelen returned with two handfuls of beetle larvae in the bucket, he was surprised to see that the warm smile he'd seen before she left had turned into a cold expression staring at the ground—