Chapter 19
Elise of the Silentwood
Date: Unknown (38th day of the Journey)
The fire crackled softly. The flames cast dancing shadows across the clearing. They continued enjoying their meal in comfortable silence.
Eating her favorite food seemed to loosen Elise's tongue. She pointed her half-eaten skewer at Hyoren.
"Okay, Hyoren…" she spoke around a mouthful of meat.
"I know you still have a lot of questions to ask. Ask away."
She took another bite.
Hyoren drank from his waterskin. Pondering where to begin.
There were so many things he didn't understand. So many gaps in his knowledge. But one word kept appearing in their conversations. A word that seemed fundamental.
"Okay, Elise. I keep hearing you mention Aethell before. What is that?"
He gestured vaguely at the air around them.
"You mentioned the Ward Stones also use Aethell to work. Is it the energy I feel around me? In the air?"
He placed a hand over his heart, where he felt his magic core.
"Also the one I felt in my chest?"
Elise swallowed her bite of meat and nodded slowly.
"That's correct, Hyoren. Aethell exists in the air around us. It's the fundamental power of this world."
She held up her hand, as if grasping something invisible.
"And every living creature in Kresneger—from the smallest insect to the mightiest beast—possesses an Aethell Core."
Hyoren absorbed the information. The fundamental power of the world. Present in all living things.
Elise continued.
"But there is a fundamental difference between beings we call monsters and humanity… It's their core."
She leaned forward slightly.
"When a person dies, and their chest is opened, there won't be any magic stone. There will only be found a small organ above the heart… We call that the Magic Core."
She reached into her pouch and picked up one of the magic stones they'd gathered.
"But monsters..." she turned the stone between her fingers.
"Other than the fact that they can't talk—even if they're humanoid like goblins—they also possess these magic stones."
She held the stone up to the light.
"Scholars of old have reached a consensus. The core of a monster crystallizes during death and forms these orbs we call magic stones."
She continued eating the meat. Letting Hyoren digest the information.
“Not all monster core will crystallize though. Only level three or more monster will drop a magic stone.”
The puzzle finally clicked. Hyoren thought back to his own question where he found his first magic stone on the goblin, but not from other weaker monster.
“Ohh... No wonder, horned rabbit, mossback squirrel, and others level one or two monster didn’t left any magic stone.”
With mouth full of meat, Elise nodded.
Hyoren picked up a magic stone from his own pouch. He turned it over in his fingers. His skewer was almost forgotten.
"You mentioned them being loot. Is this magic stone valuable, Elise?"
She leaned forward. Her eyes brightened with enthusiasm as she explained.
"Of course. Magic stones are this world's most important energy source."
Elise gestured with her skewer toward the four stones in the corners of their camp. To the Ward Stones.
"Why? Because of magic tools, Hyoren. Like those Ward Stones. These magic tools are made using magic stones as their core. And magic stones are needed to sustain them."
Hyoren finally remembered the skewer in his hand. He took another bite of meat.
"So how are magic tools built, Elise?"
Elise felt her throat choke on the meat. She coughed. Her eyes watered.
Hyoren quickly offered the waterskin to her. She took it and gulped down the water.
"Thanks, Hyoren…" she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"And to answer your question..."
She took another bite from her skewer. The last bite. Her eyes looked sad for a moment. Then she threw the skewer into the fire.
"I don't really know the details. Only Runic Inscriptionists do."
She stared at the flames.
"They will write Runic Arrays into the magic stone. Creating complex, interconnected arrays of runes… connecting the power source, the magic tool's core, and the tool itself."
She held up her hands,—as if tracing invisible lines.
"The user will activate the magic tool using the Aethell from their body. After activation, the tool will drain energy from the magic stone, which can be replaced periodically."
This world wasn't just a primitive fantasy. It was a civilization built not on science, but on magic. Kresneger was a civilization built on magic.
A whole economy. A whole infrastructure. All built around the magic stones, instead of fossil fuel of Earth.
He took another bite from his skewer.
Elise watched him. Her eyes lingered on his remaining meat.
"You want another, Elise?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No, no... I'm fine."
She picked up a Dew-heart they'd harvested earlier that day. She bit into the fruit. Trying to distract herself from the skewer in his hand.
Hyoren smiled. He ate the last bite from his skewer. The flavor lingered on his tongue.
"I see. The magic stones are important. That's why adventurers harvest them from monsters, then sell them to earn money. Is that it?"
Elise nodded. Her mouth was full of Dew-heart.
"Yesh, yu ar correcd. Woops."
She gulped it down before continuing.
"Kresneger civilization uses a lot of magic tools in daily life. For convenience—like this Ward Stone. To tools in homes that create water, that cook food, and many more tools to make our lives easier."
Hyoren faced the sky. It was everything he'd read about in fantasy novels. Everything he'd played in games.
Magic tools powered by monster cores. Adventurers who hunted monsters for profit. A civilization built on the exploitation of magical resources.
It was like he'd suddenly been thrown into a novel or game about being transported to another world. He wondered if there were status screens floating around that he just couldn't see. Or if he was simply the only one playing by the rules of a game he knew intimately.
***
The flicker of campfire illuminated Hyoren and Elise as they sat.
The flames cast warm light across the clearing. They had finished eating. Their bellies were full.
Elise threw another branch onto the fire. The wood cracked and sparked as the flames consumed it.
"Okay..."
She stretched her legs out toward the fire, wiggling her toes to warm them.
"Should I continue my lesson, or are you already tired, Hyoren?"
She looked at him across the flames.
"If you're tired, we can continue tomorrow. We need to walk a lot."
His face was earnest and he bowed slightly.
"Please continue, Elise. I want to know more about this world. I don't want to be clueless when we arrive at the city."
The thought of walking into a civilization—a place with people, rules, and structures—without proper knowledge was more frightening to him than facing a horde of goblins. At least with goblins, he knew what to do. Fight or flee. Simple.
But a city? Society? Laws and customs he didn't understand? That was a different kind of danger.
“Okay. Next, I will tell you about myself and adventurer guild.”
Hyoren watched as Elise reached for her leather bag. She rummaged through it for a moment, pushing aside supplies until her fingers found what she was looking for.
“Please do Elise.”
She pulled out a thin, metallic square plate. Platinum in color. About the size of a small tablet.
She held it out to him.
Hyoren took it from her hands.
The metal was cool to the touch. Heavier than it looked. It was perfectly flat, with rounded edges that felt comfortable in the palm. The surface was polished to a mirror sheen, reflecting the firelight and his own curious expression.
"This is an Adventurer's Guild Card. It's also a type of magic tool."
Hyoren examined it closely. The front was blank. He turned it over. The back was also blank.
The only marking was a small symbol in one corner—two swords and a shield, overlapped. The emblem of the Adventurer's Guild, supposedly.
"It's... blank."
He ran his thumb across the smooth surface. It was beautiful in its simplicity, but utterly useless as a form of identification in its current state.
"Because I still haven't unlocked it. Every guild card is locked and attuned to the owner's Aethell Core. Unless the owner of the card activates it for others to see, only the owner can see the information."
Elise reached for the card
"Even the Adventurer's Guild themselves can only see basic information. They can't see more personal information unless the owner states or shows it themselves."
Hyoren watched as Elise touched the card.
He felt it—an energy flowing from her to the guild card in his hand. A pulse of Aethell.
He looked down at the card.
"Woah, it's shining!"
Elise's lips curved in amusement at his reaction.
Silvery lines of light etched themselves across the card. When the light faded, the card was no longer blank. It now displayed clear, readable information:
Full Name : Elise of the Silentwood.
Nickname : Elise
Race : Elf
Age : 42
Date of Birth : 13th Crownfire
Origin : Silentwood Forest, Silverwood Enclaves
Role : Scout/Ranged Attacker
Class : Ranger
Guild Branch : Frontier City Akela
Guild Rank : Bronze
Party : None
Title : None
Hyoren stared at the card.
A simple, elegant solution to identification.
He glanced at her. Surprise was written all over his face.
She appeared to be in her early twenties. Not someone in her forties. Either it’s the usual fantasy elven trait which have slow aging. Or human in this world have different constituion.
And the naming convention. A place of origin used as a family name. It tied her identity to the land rather than a lineage of ancestors. It felt—more connected to the environment.
But as he scrutinized the information further, something else caught his attention.
He stared at the characters on the card.
The alphabet. He hadn't noticed it before. But now that he looked closely. The characters were sharp and angular. Made up of geometric lines and curves that bore no resemblance to any alphabet he had ever studied. Japanese. English. Any language he knew.
They were completely alien. And yet, when he looked at them, his mind didn't see symbols. He saw meaning.
"Elise, I have a question..."
But as he said the words, he froze. He focused on his own speech. The sounds that had come from his mouth.
If he concentrated—it seemed he wasn't speaking in any language he was familiar with.
"What's wrong, Hyoren? Why do you seem... confused?"
His eyes were still full of confusion. He chose his words carefully.
"I'm from Earth. A different world entirely. We shouldn't share an alphabet, let alone a language. But I somehow can understand these words. And speak this new language."
Language was learned. Acquired over years of study and practice. You didn't just wake up one day in a new place and suddenly be able to read and talk like a native.
A knowing smile touched Elise’s lips. She turned to face him fully.
"And yet, you have been speaking the Common Tongue of Kresneger since you saved me from the goblins. And this card is written in Kresneger words and alphabet."
She was right. He had been speaking to her fluently for days. He'd thought he was speaking Japanese. He always wondered how she—a person from another world—knew Japanese.
But that wasn't what had happened.
Universal Translator or Language Comprehension Skill—classic fantasy tropes. It was the only explanation that made sense for him.
"So it seems I can suddenly speak, understand, and read this language, huh. The Common Tongue of Kresneger."
The words came naturally. Elise nodded thoughtfully.
"Maybe it's the work of Aethell. When you were transported here, the Aethell also attuned your brain to understand our language."
It made as much sense as anything else. The Aethell was the fundamental power of this world. If it could crystallize into magic stones, if it could power magic tools, even pull souls from another world.
Then maybe it could rewire a person's brain.
"Yes… Maybe you're right, Elise."
He could only imagine the nightmare of trying to communicate in a new world without this ability. Trying to bargain. To ask for directions. To explain who he was and where he came from.
He would have been helpless.
***
Elise watched as Hyoren processed the fact that he could speak and understand the Common Tongue of Kresneger.
She glanced at the card still held in his hands.
"Let's continue our lesson, okay? Flip the card, Hyoren."
Hyoren turned the card over. The back side was also blank.
"This… is the information that most adventurers will not show unless it is to their party members or their most trusted friends."
The firelight caught her eyes as she leaned forward slightly.
"It holds their secrets. Their true power. It will show everything about the adventurer."
Her voice was quiet. Serious.
Hyoren understood immediately.
In a world of levels and skills, knowledge was power. Knowing your enemy's capabilities was half the battle.
“I understand Elise. Adventurer power is their weapon. They can’t carelessly reveal their weapon. Others might exploit them.”
Elise's expression softened slightly. And she exhaled deeply, releasing the tension on her shoulder.
"Glad you understand, Hyoren. Not many adventurers think like you. And I've already seen a lot of proud ones—who flaunt their skills—meet their doom because they flaunted their power."
Hyoren looked at the blank card. Then at Elise. A question formed in his mind—concern. He spoke carefully.
"But are you sure, Elise? We just met yesterday..."
They were strangers. They had known each other for less than two days. He had saved her life, yes. She had shared knowledge with him, yes. But trust was something else entirely.
Showing him her secrets—her true capabilities—was an act of profound trust.
"I'm sure…." She spoke firmly.
"You save me from the goblin warband disregarding your safety. You didn’t have reason to do that. Not at all. No one in this world would blame you if you run and ignoring me. As the warband is dangerous, and it’s my own fault I got caught at first place.”
Her eyes were locked on his.
“And you kept accommodating to me, even though I was completely guarded around you. I didn't even say thanks when you saved me. Lied to you.”
Hyoren tried to argue, but seeing Elise’s eyes, his words caught on his throat.
“I still don't know a lot about you, Hyoren. But at least I know… You are not the type who would babble about another person's secrets. And we will work together for the foreseeable future..."
A small smile touched her lips.
"At least until we reach Akela. You should know some of my capabilities. I trust you."
She was choosing to believe in him. Hyoren felt the weight of that trust. He looked her back in the eye. His voice was firm.
"Elise… I swear I won't reveal any of this information to others. I promise."
He held her gaze. Let her see the sincerity in his eyes.
He knew the value of trust. He knew how easily it could be broken. And he would not be the one to break it.
***
Elise looked at Hyoren directly in the eyes, her gaze steady and sincere, the emerald eyes reflecting the dancing orange flames of the campfire.
"Okay, now watch this."
She placed her hand on the card again, and Hyoren could feel her Aethell flow into the card again. The back of the card lit up, revealing a much more detailed set of information.
Level: 15
Experience to next level up: 10,877/11,338
Status:
Strenght : 14
Vitality : 13
Dexterity : 25
Agility : 24
Magic : 10
Skills:
Bow Mastery Lvl 4
Magic Manipulation Lvl 2
Magic Arrow lvl 1
Forest Walking Lvl 4
Silent Step Lvl 3
Tracking Lvl 3
Sword Mastery Lvl 2
Dissection Lvl 3
Unique Skill : -
Blessing : Blessing of the Verdant Mother
Hyoren stared at the number. His breath caught in his throat.
He had been proud of his own progress. Proud of the days spent hunting. Proud of the goblins killed. Proud of the experience accumulated. He had calculated that reaching Level 7 required 768 essence. A number that had seemed dauntingly large before.
But Elise required nearly 11,500 experience points just to move up a single level. It was a difference in scale that made his own achievements feel like a drop of water in a bucket.
But the number seemed weird to him after he looked at it carefully.
He thought the experience requirement followed an exponential curve. Level 1 to 2 needed 24. Level 2 to 3 needed 48. It always doubled. That was the pattern he had observed. That was what made sense.
He did the mental calculation. His brow furrowed.
If 6 to 7 was 768. Then 8 to 9 would be 1,536. 10 to 11 should already need 12,288. And 15 to 16 should be—393,216.
A staggering number.
Which made the grind look impossible. 393,000 experience meant needing to kill 393,000 horned rabbits. Or 131,000 goblins. With the pace of around 20 to 30 goblins per day, it would take more than 15 years of effort.
He rubbed his forehead. The math didn't add up. There had to be something he was missing. Some variable he hadn't accounted for. Is there is more to the system? The experience curve is not stay exponential? And flattened somewhere?
He pushed the thought aside. He would ask her later about this. There were more important questions right now.
"So Elise, can you tell me about all this? Level, Experience, Status?"
The firelight flickered in her eyes as she began her explanation.
"As I said before, every creature in this world possesses Aethell. And when one creature kills another, it absorbs a portion of that released Aethell."
She leaned forward slightly.
"The scholars of this world have quantified this absorbed Aethell. We call it Experience Points."
The sensation he had felt after every kill. It wasn't just his imagination. It was a fundamental law of magic in this world.
"Absorbing another creature's life force as experience points. And I guess, when we gather enough, we level up?"
He processed the concept.
"That's right, Hyoren. You're correct."
Elise stretched her hands toward the fire. Warming her fingers.
"After you have accumulated enough of these points, your body and soul become saturated with this collected experience. It will attune your body to new heights of power. This is the process we call leveling up."
The memories surfaced. The sensation of leveling up. The warmth flooding through his body. The way his muscles felt stronger. His senses sharper. His mind clearer.
"What about the status, Elise? Strength, vitality, dexterity... what do they mean?"
He gestured at the numbers on the card.
"This is our capabilities quantified with numbers."
Elise held up her hand. As if presenting an invisible scale.
"The scholars of old already did a lot of experiments to get these numbers. All humans at Level 1 would have their status at 1. And every status point means around a five percent increase from basic capabilities. The amount of status we get each level up is different. It depends on many factor."
Elise took her card, showing her status which leaning towards some status to him.
“For example, me. I always train to be ranger. I often run. I practice with my bow a lot. Training which quantified in Agility and Dexterity. But someone want to be mages? They need to increase their knowledge.”
Hyoren nodded. The explanation made sense. Keep running, and you got more Agility during level up. Neglecting strength training, and you won’t get strength increase.
She tapped her temple.
"That's why training your body and mind is as important as leveling up."
Hyoren digested Elise's explanation.
He remembered the sensation when he absorbed experience points. And the sensation when he leveled up—the rush of power, the expansion of his capabilities.
"Yes, Elise. Killing a horned rabbit or squirrel gives me one experience point. Goblins give me three experience points. And the goblin warrior gave me eight. And every level up feels like increasing my capabilities by around five percent."
Her brow furrowed. She looked at him. The casual way he rattled off the exact experience values of different monsters was baffling. Precise. Calculated. As if he had been keeping a ledger.
"Wait a minute, Hyoren. How did you actually manage to figure all this out by yourself?"
Elise stopped, her brow furrowing. She looked at him, the casual way he rattled off the exact experience values of different monsters was kinda baffling.
She tapped her own guild card.
"We can only track our experience, level, status, and skills through the guild card."
She stared at him.
"The scholars of old, in their wisdom, found a way to quantify this phenomenon. They created these guild cards, which act as a magical ledger—tracking the flow of Aethell and making it easier for us to monitor our progress."
To her, and to every adventurer in Kresneger, this card was indispensable. It was the interface between their growth and their understanding.
"Hyoren, without a guild card, how do you even know how to track experience?"
Her voice held genuine confusion. Hyoren looked at her.
"It wasn't that hard to figure out..."
He paused, gathering his thoughts.
"I just paid attention. I noticed that when I killed a horned rabbit, I felt a small amount of energy I absorbed. I dubbed it essence back then."
He looked up at her. His expression was earnest. He wasn't being arrogant.
"When I killed a goblin, the energy was bigger. I tried to feel it with my body. And I felt the goblin's essence is three rabbit's worth."
He described the sensation as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Like noticing that fire was hot or water was wet.
Elise stared at him. He had deduced the mechanics of the universe through sheer observation and grit.
People in this world of Kresneger relied on the card to tell them they were getting stronger. They needed the interface.
***
Elise sat in silence. Her mind processed what Hyoren had just revealed.
"So you track your experience and level ups manually, by using your feeling. I understand that much. It might be hard. But doable. If you're really meticulous."
She leaned forward. The fire light shone into her face.
"But you know about skills because of the voice, right? You heard the Voice of Aethell, right?"
He had been reaching for a branch to throw into the fire. His hand stopped mid-motion.
"Huh? Voice of Aethell? What is that, Elise?"
He looked at her with genuine confusion
"Ah… It's understandable you don't know the name. But you heard the voice, right?"
She gestured vaguely at her head.
"Every skill gained. Every level up. You should hear a voice in your head, telling you that you leveled up or gained a skill... We call it the Voice of Aethell."
The branch slipped from his fingers. It landed in the fire with a soft thud, sending a small cloud of sparks upward.
His brow furrowed. He replayed every moment of his level ups in his mind. The rush of energy spreading through his body—the feeling of power—but there had been no voice.
No announcement.
"Elise. I never heard any voice in my head. I only figured out that after gathering enough experience points. When I arrive at some threshold, I will level up."
He touched his temple.
"And whenever I got a skill, I somehow know by feeling. The knowledge etched directly into my brain."
His head shook.
"I need to understand it. Try it. It's all by feeling. There's no notification. No announcement. No voice."
Her mind ground to a halt.
The logic of Kresneger—the rules that governed existence—had just been shattered. The Voice of Aethell was a function of existence itself.
And yet Hyoren had never heard it. She stared at him. Her mouth opened slightly. No words came out.
"I did experiments…." his voice was calm. Matter-of-fact.
"I figured out the thresholds for the first few levels. One hundred and ninety-two points for Level 5. Then three hundred and eighty-four for Level 6."
He shrugged.
"It was just a matter of counting and testing."
After a moment of rummaging his bag, he pulled out a small parchment. Worn. Creased. Covered in his careful handwriting with charcoal.
“Here. The example. My logs of kill.”
Elise took the parchment. She stared at it. Her mouth fell open slightly.
Rows and rows of numbers. Creatures killed. Experience gained. Running totals. All meticulously recorded. All calculated by hand. All done through observation and deduction.
She finally released breathed. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"Hyoren. That's just... I don't know what to say..."
She looked up at him. Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
"You... To have figured all of that out on your own. Alone. In the wilderness. Without anyone to guide you… It's... it's unbelievable."
Hyoren shrugged, uncomfortable with the reverence in her tone. He stared at the fire, avoiding her gaze.
"But I was just… How to say it. I have my knowledge from Earth. On my world, there is... literature. Which has similar systems to this world."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"They're all fiction. But I only applied the knowledge here."
He was just a guy who had read a lot of fantasy novels. Played a lot of games. And applied that knowledge here. It wasn't brilliance. It was familiarity with the tropes.
Elise studied him. The anomaly of his mind was impressive. His ability to quantify all of those thing. But the silence of the Voice was disturbing for Elise.
It suggested a disconnection from the world itself. A gap between him and the fundamental laws of Kresneger.
"That was impressive. But regardless... The Voice of Aethell should be absolute. Even a child, if they manage to gather enough experience points, or train to get a skill, will hear it."
She frowned.
"Then how did you not hear it, Hyoren?"
Hyoren considered the question.
"Maybe it's just my constitution, Elise? Remember, I'm an otherworlder. My body, my mind, might be different from Kresneger natives."
Elise shook her head slowly.
"But... you also receive level ups. Receive skills. You can perceive and use Aethell. So I was assuming you're similar to us."
She looked at him with genuine confusion.
"Your situation is... really weird."
Hyoren shrugged his shoulders. He seemed content with not knowing why he didn't hear the voice. It wouldn't change anything for him. He had survived this long without it.
"Elise, no need to fuss over it too much."
Hyoren giving reassuring smile.
"I can feel it when I level up. Get new skills. Raise my skill levels. I don't really need the voice. I'll just focus myself when I feel something change in my body, and I'll know."
Elise stared at him for a long moment. Then she exhaled slowly.
"Okay... okay. You're right, Hyoren. We shouldn't fuss over something we can't change or even know the reason it happened."
She handed back his parchment. But in the back of her mind, a question lingered. What did it mean, to be connected to the Aethell but disconnected from the Voice.
***
She stretched her body, her spine crackling. Today was tiring day, her body needed the rest.
"Okay, Hyoren..." she yawned.
"The night is already late. We should sleep. Tomorrow at dawn, we need to resume our journey."
She stood up, dusting off her tunic. The conversation had been mentally exhausting—explaining the fundamentals of the world, answering his endless questions—but it had also been exciting. Stimulating.
She walked to her makeshift bed and sat down. Testing the softness. Not as comfortable as a real bed, but far better than sleeping on bare ground—or sleeping on a tree branch.
"Elise... The Ward Stones really work? I can really just sleep? No need for night watch?"
His face was earnest. Genuinely concerned. After thirty-eight days of sleeping with one ear open, the concept of a truly safe rest seemed foreign to him. Impossible, even.
"Shuuush…." she waved her hand.
"Just sleep. It will work. It always works."
She lay down on the bed. Her back faced Hyoren. She pulled her cloak over herself like a blanket.
"Goodnight, Hyoren."
Seeing her settle into the bed calmed him. The tension in his shoulders eased slightly.
"Goodnight, Elise."
Hyoren looked at her back—unmoving, already relaxed.
He remembered the night before. Her wariness. Her inability to sleep until exhaustion overtook her. The way she had finally passed out on the tree branch, snoring and drooling.
She still hadn't truly trusted him then.
But tonight was different. She had shown him her guild card. Her secrets. Her true capabilities. She had explained the fundamentals of this world. She had laughed with him over the squirrel incident.
She trusted him now.
He thought to himself.
I guess she won't sleep before I do, just like last night. She did say she already trusts me. But I need to not let her down. I should sleep first. So she can relax and sleep too.
It was a small gesture. A silent vow.
With that thought, he lay back against his own makeshift bed. And for the first time in thirty-eight days, he let himself truly relax.
The month of constant tension crashed down on him. The soldier's sleep. The body that never truly relaxed. The vigilance that never ceased. It had taken a far greater toll than he had realized.
His eyelids grew heavy. The sounds of the forest faded into the background. The crackle of the fire became a distant rhythm. The shimmering barrier above him was the last thing he saw before his eyes closed.
And then he was asleep. For the first time since he was transported to this world of Kresneger, he slept like a log.
Not caring about his surroundings. Not worrying about danger.
***
The rhythmic breathing of Hyoren filled the clearing. Soft. Steady. The sound of deep sleep.
Elise sat up. She had been pretending to sleep. Just as he had guessed she would do.
Her eyes found Hyoren's sleeping form across the fire pit. The flames had been casting long shadows across his body. His chest rose and fell slowly. His body was completely relaxed.
She kept her voice low. Barely a whisper.
"Just like that... and he sleeps."
She looked up at the sky.
The three moons hung above them. Crimson. Azure. Ebony. Their combined light painting the clearing in shades of red, blue, and black.
The Ward Stones barrier shimmered. Protecting them from the dangers of the forest.
"I was expecting he would do something to me. When I was defenseless. Inside the barrier."
Her hands gripped her knees. Her knuckles turned white from the pressure.
"I'm really a bad person."
The words came out thick. Heavy.
"I said I already trust him to his face. But here I am. Still accusing him for something he didn't do. Trying to paint him in a bad way."
She looked at the fire in front of her. But she didn't see the flames. She saw distant memories. Faces from the past.
"He even made sure our beds are spaced enough…" her voice cracked slightly.
"Separated by the fire. Giving me space."
The fire crackled. Sparks rose into the night air. Her eyes glazed over. Lost in memory.
"I know Hyoren is not like them."
Her hands trembled.
"Those men. Who only partied with me because they lusted over me. Knowing how vulnerable I am because of that..."
She couldn't say the word. That tragedy. The memory she tried to bury. The wound that never fully healed.
Her eyes began to water.
"Those beasts. Trying to exploit my vulnerabilities."
A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away angrily.
"I vowed. To never party anymore. Especially with men."
She looked at Hyoren again.
"But it seems those are going to change now."
Her voice softened.
"He saved me without reason. He trusts me even when I don't trust him. He gives me the space I needed."
She drew a shaky breath.
"I should reciprocate it. And start to trust him. Fully."
Elise looked at Hyoren's back one more time. A small smile touched her lips. Genuine. Soft.
Then she lay back down on her makeshift bed.
The exhaustion from the previous night—when she hadn't been able to sleep at all—caught up with her. Her body was heavy. Her mind was finally at ease.
The sleep claimed her fast. Within moments, her breathing had joined Hyoren's in a steady rhythm.