Chapter 71: Opening Up

Once inside the cave, he sat down on the stone floor before examining his wound.

A huge part of his flesh had melted away on his left side.

"That looks terrible!" Lilith gasped from beside him.

"You don’t say?" He chuckled as he took out a healing potion and drank it in one gulp.

He took another one before pouring it over the wound.

"HISS!" He gasped at the stinging pain.

But contrary to what he had expected, nothing happened. The healing potion didn’t work at all.

Aura suddenly jumped out of the beast pouch before examining his wound. "That’s a poisonous acid."

"You know what this is?" He asked while coping with the pain.

She nodded. "As the name suggests, it’s acid. You should have probably realized that by now."

He nodded. "Not really a hard thing to guess, is it?"

"The real problem isn’t the acid, it’s the poison in it. The healing potions won’t work against such a poison." She shook her head. "If it weren’t for your strange passive healing, you would have already been dead by now."

Lilith gasped from the side. "Is there anything we can do?"

Aura thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No. There is indeed a cure for it, but we won’t find it in this dungeon. The poison will last for a day or two. We can only hope that he can endure it and stay alive."

"What are the chances?"

Aura shook her head. "I don’t know. As I said, he has some strange abilities that are keeping him alive. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have any chance of surviving at all." She turned into a streak of light before entering the beast pouch again.

"This..." Lilith looked at Chris worriedly.

He chuckled. "Why are you looking at me like that? Have you finally fallen for me?"

"Who has fallen for you!? Humph, you’re just a narcissistic man!" She immediately retorted.

"Hahahahahah—ugh!" He started laughing before the pain stopped him.

"How can you act like that in this situation!?" She yelled at him. "Aren’t you worried at all?"

He chuckled again. "Worried about what? That I might die? There’s nothing new about that."

She looked at him for a full minute before shaking her head. "Sometimes I can’t understand you at all."

"That’s normal." He smiled. "Just let me rest for a bit." With that, he closed his eyes.

"I won’t let you rest on a cold floor!" She stood up before waving her hand, making a bed appear out of her storage ring. "Lie here."

"No way. I’m not used to lying on a bed." He shook his head.

"I didn’t ask for your opinion!" She approached him before lifting him up and throwing him onto the bed.

He was so weakened that he couldn’t even resist. "Hey! Just let me rest on the floor!"

She shook her head. "No. Stay silent."

"Sigh..." He closed his eyes in surrender.

She summoned a chair and sat next to the bed, looking at him.

Minutes passed slowly in silence.

Soon, she noticed that he was sweating more and more.

"Are you still awake?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah."

"Do you feel anything different?"

"It’s the same. I just feel a bit cold." He shook his head.

She suddenly stood up and approached him before starting to take his clothes off.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He opened his eyes, startled.

"What do you think I’m doing!? You are sweating too much. I need to wipe you dry! Now stay silent!"

He only shook his head before letting her do what she wanted. He couldn’t put up any resistance anyway.

Once his top was off, she pulled out some napkins and started wiping away his sweat.

She shivered while looking at the countless scars on his body. They didn’t look disgusting, but just thinking about the injuries that had left such scars was disturbing.

"Why do you have so many scars?" She looked at his face.

"It’s just how it is. I survived alone in the Wilds for years, so I had to keep a few souvenirs." He chuckled.

"Alone? In the Wilds? For years?" She was stunned. "Why?"

"It’s complicated." He sighed.

"You don’t have to reply if you don’t want to." She didn’t want to push him.

"It’s fine." He shook his head. "It’s just that I had some enemies who wanted me dead. And I was weak. Too weak. The only way to stay alive was to escape into the Wilds."

"Couldn’t you have escaped into another country? Why the Wilds of all places?"

"Sigh... If you really want to know..."

He started recounting his story: how he was a Mythic Beast Tamer who couldn’t tame any beasts, how others started turning against him, and how he was being chased by assassins before finally deciding to go to the Wilds. Partially to escape his pursuers, and partially in the hope that he could find a beast he could tame.

He didn’t tell her everything, but he recounted his story while keeping it as short as possible.

"Years later, I found Azreon and managed to tame him. And here we are now." He finished recounting.

"That... that’s quite a tragic story." She looked at him with pity.

"I don’t need your pity." He looked at her seriously. "I told you my story because you asked, not to receive compassion. I am quite happy with my life now, and I have gained quite a lot from my struggles."

Lilith thought about his words and nodded, deciding not to comment any further.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Almost the same. Still cold." He shook his head with his eyes closed.

Lilith thought for a moment before a determined expression appeared on her face. "Don’t open your eyes." She slowly stood up.

"Hmm? Why?"

"Just keep your eyes closed!"

"...Okay..."

In the next moment, he heard the sound of rustling clothes. "Hmm... What are you doing?"

"Don’t ask questions!"

"Sigh..."

In the next moment, however, he felt something extremely hot press against his front.

He opened his eyes in shock, but his vision was blocked by her hand before he could see anything. "I told you to keep your eyes closed!"

"What in the world are you doing? Are you naked!?" He couldn’t believe what was happening.

Lilith grabbed a blanket and covered them both before lying back down on his chest. "So what if I am?" She was sure that her face was as red as an apple by now, and she was glad he couldn’t see it.

"Why are you doing this?" He was extremely confused as he felt something incredibly soft press against his chest.

"To keep you warm, obviously. Don’t you dare assume anything from this!" She yelled back.

"Assume what? That you are into me?" He teased.

"Yes, don’t you dare assume that!"

"Then, tell me this. If you didn’t like me, would you have done this?" He pressed.

She stayed silent.

"And there is your answer." He chuckled.

"Just shut up!"

"Okay, okay." He shook his head and stopped talking.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" She suddenly asked after a moment of silence.

"No. I’m not sure if I’m capable of love anyway."

"Why do you say that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Didn’t I tell you what happened already?"

"You did. But just because one girl betrayed you before doesn’t mean that it must happen again."

"It’s not about that." He shook his head. "It wasn’t just her who betrayed my trust. It was everyone."

"So now you’ve decided to never trust anyone again, is that what it is? Why did you trust me with the artifact, then?"

"It’s more complicated than that." He chuckled. "I have indeed met some people recently whom I can trust."

"Then what is it?" She pressed.

"I don’t really know. Maybe it’s that I wouldn’t be as hurt if I were betrayed by those people. Maybe I’m just afraid to open my heart to someone completely again. That kind of betrayal can hurt a lot more."

"You are... surprisingly honest about this. Most people wouldn’t admit their fears and weaknesses." She smiled.

"Most people are idiots." He chuckled. "What’s so bad about being afraid?"

"So you think it’s okay for me to be afraid?" She asked in a whisper.

"It’s okay." He nodded. "Are you afraid of something?"

She was silent for a moment. "Yes. I’m afraid of the spirit in my head. I’m afraid that people will find out that I have a demon inside me, or that I might be a demon myself. I’m afraid that she will take over one day. I’m afraid just thinking about it."

"Quite a lot of fears." He chuckled as he gently patted her hair. "It will be okay."

She didn’t reject his caress as she looked up at him. "How do you know? Can you see the future?"

"I don’t have a clue about the future." He chuckled again. "I just know that you are strong. As long as you stay strong and push forward, everything will be fine."

"Are you speaking from your own experience?"

"Yes. I was afraid of many things throughout my life." He nodded. "I was afraid of getting hurt by people. I was afraid of the wild beasts that might tear me apart every night while I slept. I was afraid that my class might actually be useless, just as the others said."

"And what did you do?"

"I just pushed forward, one step at a time. It’s okay to have fears, but losing yourself in them is not. We must stay strong and fight against them, or else they will win."

Lilith was silent for a moment, contemplating his words.

"You know, you have something that I didn’t have. Maybe you can make use of it." He suddenly said.

"What?" She raised her head again.

"You have a family and friends. I’m not sure about that guy Damien, but Kelvin is a decent guy, that much I can say with certainty. If you treat him with honesty, he will help you." He smiled. "You also have your party members. From what you explained, they all have great faith in you and will definitely stay by your side."

"But... I’m afraid they will also turn their backs on me if they find out I might be a demon." She shook her head. "You are the only one I can tell all this to."

He chuckled.

"What is so funny?" She looked at him angrily.

"You don’t need to tell them all of that, silly. Just show more trust in them and treat them more kindly. When the time comes, we will see what to do about your problem." He ruffled her hair again.

She thought about his words and smiled. "I think you’re right. I will try." Then she displayed a teasing smile. "You know, you give quite good advice about trusting people and opening up to them for a guy who doesn’t follow that advice himself. Quite hypocritical, don’t you think?"

"Hahahahah. Yes. It’s way easier to give advice to others than actually follow it yourself. I’m indeed a hypocrite." He nodded.

She smiled and placed her head back on his chest. But she suddenly felt something hard press against her stomach.

Raising her eyebrows, she lowered her hands to touch it.

Her hands enveloped something hard, and it twitched as soon as she touched it.

"!!!" She instantly understood what it was and retracted her hands as fast as she could.

"Hey, hey! Be careful, princess. Don’t touch there."

Her whole face reddened instantly. "Are you seriously having such reactions at a time like this?"

"At a time like this? You mean with a naked beauty lying against my chest? If this is not a moment for me to have such a reaction, I don’t know what is." He laughed. "It’s quite a healthy reaction, or so I have heard."

"You are still laughing! Aren’t you embarrassed at all!?" She practically yelled out.

"Should I be embarrassed to be healthy?" He opened his eyes and looked straight at her.

"Y-you are twisting the logic here!"