Chapter 20: Never Apologise For Living

They reached the cave as the last light was fading. Suzy guided Rael inside and eased him down against the cool stone wall. The space that had once felt just large enough for two now pressed in around four bodies. There was barely room to sit without touching someone else. Nathia slumped near the back, knees drawn up, eyes fixed on nothing. The quiet sobs that had followed them through the trees had finally stopped, but the emptiness in her face remained.

Rael flexed his burned hands carefully and looked at Suzy.

"Can you heal these?"

She knelt in front of him and took one of his wrists, turning the blackened skin toward the fading light. Her expression tightened.

"No. They’re too deep. My healing won’t reach that far."

Rael started to pull his hand back, already thinking through other options, when Suzy reached into her storage ring and drew out a small glass vial filled with clear liquid that caught the last of the daylight.

"But I have something better."

She held the health potion out to him. Rael stared at it for a long moment. He knew exactly how rare those were, how tightly the royal family controlled their supply, how many credits even a single vial could cost someone without noble backing.

"You sure?" he asked. "That’s not something you just hand over."

Suzy closed both of her hands around his and pressed the vial into his palm. Her voice came out soft but steady.

"I’m sure. You being at your best is good for all of us."

Lila watched from where she sat beside Nathia. She saw the way Suzy’s eyes lingered on Rael’s face, the quiet affection that had never really gone away since the first day they met. Something sharp and complicated moved through Lila’s chest. She wanted, for a brief second, to stand up and say something of her own. Instead she turned back to Nathia, resting a hand on her friend’s shoulder and saying nothing.

Rael uncorked the vial and drank. Light washed over him in a soft, steady wave. The blackened skin on his hands cracked and fell away in thin flakes. New flesh formed beneath it, pink at first, then settling into the same pale tone as the rest of his arms. The deep scratches along his back closed. The older scars on his face from the fall down the slope faded until only smooth skin remained. Within fifteen minutes he felt whole again, as if the burns and the raking nails had never happened.

He turned his hands over, testing the fingers.

"These potions always surprise me," he said. "How does the royal family even make them?"

Suzy sat down beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched. She took one of his newly healed hands in both of hers and held it.

"I don’t know. I’ve never understood it either." She was quiet for a moment, then added, "I thought both of you died that day."

"We thought the same about you," Rael answered. He hesitated, then asked the question that had been sitting at the edge of his mind since they found her. "What about Alex?"

A single tear slipped down Suzy’s cheek. She didn’t wipe it away.

"He blocked the path between me and the Frost Wolf. Told me to run. I... I ran. I’m so ashamed. He died because of me. It’s should have been me who should have died."

Rael looked at her for a long time. When he spoke, his voice was low and careful, as if he were saying the words to himself as much as to her.

"It’s not your fault. No one should ever apologize for living."

Suzy’s grip on his hand tightened. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t let go either. Rael left the silence alone. After a while he glanced across the cave toward Lila. She met his eyes and gave a small nod. The decision passed between them without words.

"We should rest for now," Rael said.

The three girls arranged themselves along the back wall, Nathia still quiet between Lila and Suzy. Rael settled near the entrance where he could watch the narrow opening. Once the others’ breathing had slowed, he finally opened his status.

```

STATUS

Name: Rael

Race: Human

Class: Copy (F-Rank)

Copied Classes: Flamecaller (C-Rank), Archer (B-Rank)

Level: 9 → 12

Souls: 588 → 846

Bloodline: Abyssal Sovereign (+100% Multiplier) (Dormant)

Strength: 36 → 42

Agility: 42 → 48

Mana: 40 → 46

Vitality: 36 → 42

Additional Stats: 6

Skills: Fireball (Apprentice), Ignite (Expert), Eagle Eyes (Expert), Piercing Arrow (Expert)

```

Three levels. The jump had pushed him well past the threshold. Sooner or later the gate would appear for him whether he wanted it or not. The realm did not allow people to linger once they crossed that line. If he wanted the others to survive after he was forced out, he would have to help them climb as fast as possible.

He focused on his main class.

[Class]

[Copy (F-Rank) → Analyze (E-Rank)]

[Souls Required: 846/1000]

One hundred and fifty-four souls short. Everything else could wait. Skills he copied would disappear when the month ended unless he made them permanent somehow, and the only path he could see toward that was pushing Copy higher. From now on every kill had to count. Every soul had to go toward the upgrade.

Outside the cave the night settled in fully. Inside, four people breathed in the narrow dark—one still broken by grief, one quietly lying by the others, one watching over a childhood friend, and one staring at the numbers that would decide how much longer he could stay.

---