"What do slimes even eat?" Revvyn asked the empty forest.
He stood leaning against a massive pine, his breath whistling through his teeth. He tried to remember the hurried instructions Marilyn had given him just before he left her hut. Most beasts have specific diets. Meat, certain plants. But mana is the universal currency. Cores, mana fruits, raw essence. Slimes are bottom feeders—they'll absorb anything with energy.
Revvyn looked down at the carcass of the Bone-Spur Bear. It was already starting to change.
In the wild, when a beast died and wasn't entirely harvested, the ambient mana in its flesh began to break down. The massive, gray body of the bear was flaking away at the edges, dissolving into faint motes of white light that drifted up into the dark canopy.
As the flesh dissolved, the light pooled in the center of the bear's chest, growing denser and brighter until the ribs crumbled away entirely. Left behind in the bloody mud was a single, dim yellow orb, about the size of a large marble.
Revvyn knelt, wincing as his bruised ribs protested, and picked it up. It was warm to the touch, humming with a low, steady vibration.
The system window blinked into existence.
[Item: Bone-Spur Bear Core (D-Rank)]
Mana Density: High
Uses: Beast evolution, alchemy, weapon enchantment.
Estimated Value: 80–120 silver.
Revvyn stared at the text. Eighty to a hundred and twenty silver. His heart did a slow, heavy thump. That wasn't just money. That was Tang-Han's loan paid off instantly. That was medicine for his father. That was enough to feed Lily and his mother for months. It was a fortune sitting in the palm of his dirty hand.
But he looked down at Syll.
The slime was a pale, sickly gray. It was shivering, its surface barely holding its shape. It had thrown itself into the bear's claws and burned every drop of its life force to keep him breathing. It was starving to death.
Revvyn swallowed hard. He looked at the core, then at his beast.
He held the glowing yellow orb out.
"Here," he said, his voice rough. "Take it. Restore your energy."
Syll didn't move.
Revvyn pushed his hand closer. "Come on, Syll. Eat it."
The slime gave a faint, weak twitch. Its surface rippled, extending a tiny, liquid tendril toward the warmth of the core. But then it stopped. The tendril pulled back. Syll shrank away from his hand, settling back into the mud.
It was refusing.
Revvyn stared at it, confused. Then, he felt a faint, echoing sensation through their bond. It wasn't a thought, but an emotion. Hesitation. Need. Protection.
It knows, Revvyn realized. The breath hitched in his throat. Through the bond, Syll had felt Revvyn's sudden spike of relief and greed when he saw the price of the core. The slime knew how desperately its master needed that orb. It would rather starve than eat Revvyn's lifeline.
A tight, painful knot formed in Revvyn's chest.
"You idiot," he muttered, his vision blurring just a little. "You're starving because of me. Eat the damn thing."
Syll chirped, the sound was so weak it was barely a whisper. Its little black-dot eyes looked up at him, then at the core, then firmly back at the mud.
Revvyn let out a long, shaky exhale. He closed his fist around the core.
"Fine," he said. "No cores. I get it. We'll find mana fruits then."
He carefully tucked the core deep into his pack, wrapping it in the spare cloth Lily had given him. He had to keep it safe. But Syll needed to live first. He pulled up the system and stored the slime. Syll dissolved into a faint blue light, returning to the resting space within the Tamer's mark on his hand. It wouldn't heal there without food, but it would stop dying so fast.
Revvyn drew his cutlass and started walking.
The woods were terrifying now. The rain had stopped, but the canopy was so thick that the moonlight couldn't reach the forest floor.
His body was failing. The badger bite on his calf burned with a hot, angry ache, and his boots felt like they were filled with lead. He dragged his feet, his eyes scanning the dark underbrush for anything that glowed.
He walked for what felt like two hours. Nothing. Just wet wood and darkness.
He was about to give up and sit by a tree for the night when he saw a faint, pulsing light to his left.
Revvyn pushed through a thicket of ferns. There, nestled against the roots of an ancient oak, was a small cluster of bushes. Hanging from the branches were dozens of tiny berries, no bigger than grapes. They were glowing with a soft, internal blue light.
[Item Identified: Lunar Berries (F-Rank Mana Fruit)]
Uses: Minor mana restoration.
Revvyn dropped to his knees. He didn't care about the mud. He began plucking the berries, gathering a massive handful of the cool, glowing fruit.
He tapped the mark on his hand. "Come out, Syll."
The slime materialized in a weak flash of light. It was still gray, still barely holding together.
Revvyn shoved the handful of berries right up against the slime. "Eat. Now."
Syll didn't hesitate this time. It rolled forward, its surface opening like a small, toothless mouth. It absorbed the berries whole. Instantly, the blue glow of the fruit spread through the slime's body. The sickly gray color began to recede, replaced by a deep, vibrant indigo. Syll swelled slightly, its texture becoming firm and bouncy again.
It let out a loud, happy chirp.
[Item Consumed]
Lunar Berries ×15
Syll Mana: 5/100 → 80/100
Bond Level: 28% → 40%
System Note: Syll is stable.
Revvyn slumped back against the oak tree, letting out a laugh that sounded more like a cough. He reached into his pack, storing the remaining handful of berries he'd picked. Backup.
Syll slid over to him and rubbed against his muddy boot like an affectionate cat.
"Yeah, yeah," Revvyn muttered, patting the cold, jelly-like head. "Good job surviving."
His eyes drooped. He was so incredibly tired. He considered just going to sleep right there, letting the cold take him.
But then, he smelled it.
Smoke.
It wasn't a forest fire. It was a controlled, dry wood smoke. And beneath it was a smell so rich, so heavily spiced and fatty, that Revvyn's mouth instantly filled with saliva.
Roasted meat. Pork.
Revvyn forced himself up. He gripped his cutlass. Someone was out here. They could be bandits, or rival tamers, or worse. But he hadn't eaten a real meal since yesterday morning. The smell was pulling him forward like a physical rope.
He moved quietly through the trees, following the scent. A hundred yards later, the brush thinned out, revealing a small, natural clearing.
In the center was a crackling campfire. Suspended over it on a makeshift spit was a large chunk of meat, dripping fat into the flames. Beside the fire was a tight, well-made bedroll and a small canvas tent.
But no one was there.
Revvyn crouched behind a fern, watching. A trap?
A moment later, a girl stepped out from behind the tent. She was carrying an armful of chopped wood. She looked to be exactly his age. Her hair was a fierce, bright red, pulled back into a messy ponytail. She wore sturdy brown canvas shorts, heavy leather boots, and a form-fitting tunic. A short sword in a black scabbard hung at her hip, and a composite recurve bow was slung over her shoulder.
She moved with an easy, fluid confidence, dropping the wood next to the fire and turning the spit.
Revvyn stayed frozen in the shadows. He needed to figure out how to approach this. A girl alone in the woods.
As he was thinking, a large, fat forest bee buzzed directly into his face.
Revvyn flinched. He swung his hand up to swat it away. As he shifted his weight, his boot came down on a dry, hollow branch buried in the mud.
SNAP.
It sounded like a gunshot in the quiet clearing.
The girl didn't scream. She didn't jump. In one terrifyingly smooth motion, she dropped the spit, spun around, drew the bow off her shoulder, nocked an arrow, and fired.
The arrow thudded into the trunk of the pine tree exactly one inch from Revvyn's right ear. The fletching vibrated violently against his cheek.
Revvyn froze, his breath caught in his throat.
"Who's there?," the girl said. Her voice was perfectly calm. She already had a second arrow drawn to her cheek, aimed dead at his chest. "Step into the light."
Revvyn stepped out of the ferns slowly, raising his empty hands.
"I don't want to hurt you," he said quickly.
She let her icy blue eyes flick over him. She took in his mud-caked boots, the blood-soaked bandage on his calf, the torn blue shirt, and the bruised mess of his face. Then she looked down at Syll, who had slid out to sit by his foot.
"I'm an Awakened Tamer," Revvyn continued, desperate to keep her from releasing the bowstring. "Just like you. I was hunting, a bear and I—"
"Stop talking," she said sharply.
Revvyn clamped his mouth shut. What is her problem?
She kept the arrow drawn. "You were hunting. A bear."
"Yes."
"Where's your kill?" she asked, her eyes narrowing. "Where's the meat?"
Revvyn blinked. "I... I took a few things but the meat was too heavy. And I don't know how to smoke it or preserve it out here, so I left it."
The girl stared at him for three long seconds. The tension was thick enough to cut. Then, slowly, she lowered the bow. She didn't put the arrow away, but she pointed it at the dirt.
"Amateur," she muttered, clearly disgusted. "Leaving good meat to rot."
Revvyn slowly lowered his hands. Syll chirped, looking at the roasting pork.
"Can I..." Revvyn gestured weakly toward the fire. "I just need food. I haven't eaten."
She looked at him, really assessing him this time. She saw the way his legs were shaking. She saw the desperation.
"One night," she said coldly. "You sit on the opposite side of the fire. You touch your weapon, and I put this arrow through your throat. Understood?"
"Understood," Revvyn said quickly.
He walked over and sat heavily on a log opposite her. She used her dagger to slice a large, thick piece of the pork, skewered it on a stick, and tossed it across the fire to him.
Revvyn caught it. The meat was piping hot. He blew on it once and took a massive bite.
The flavor exploded in his mouth. It wasn't just burnt game meat. It was rubbed with coarse salt, crushed wild garlic, and some kind of spicy, smoky herb he couldn't name. The fat melted on his tongue.
His eyes widened. He looked up at her, chewing frantically.
"This tastes so fucking good," he mumbled through a full mouth. "How did you do this out here?"
She watched him eat, her expression unreadable. She cut a smaller piece for herself. "I come from a family of Beast Chefs."
For a split second, a tiny, proud smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "You're welcome."
Revvyn noticed the smile. For someone who was ready to kill him ten seconds ago, it was a strange shift. But he was too hungry to care. He stripped the skewer clean in under a minute.
When he was done, the exhaustion finally caught up to him. The adrenaline was gone, leaving him hollow. He forced himself to stand up.
"Thank you for the food," he said, wiping grease from his chin. "I'll be leaving now."
He turned toward the dark trees.
Please call me back, he chanted in his head. Don't let me go crazy-wierd-almost nice girl, I'm going to pass out and get eaten.
He took two steps.
"This clearing," she said from behind him. Her voice was quiet, but it carried. "Most people call it the forest safe zone. A mana-ward was set here years ago. It redirects wild beasts at night and allows tamers and hunters to rest well till the morning."
Revvyn stopped. That explained why the forest had felt so empty for the last hour.
He turned around slowly. "So...?"
She sighed, clearly annoyed with her own conscience. She reached into her tent and tossed a thick woolen blanket across the fire. It landed at his feet.
"Fine. Stay. Put it on the ground over there."
"You really are packed for this," Revvyn noted, picking up the blanket.
"I learned," she repeated softly.
She crawled into her tent. Before she zipped the canvas shut, Revvyn called out.
"Hey. Good night. And... thank you. Really."
She didn't answer. The zipper closed with a sharp zip.
Revvyn laid the blanket out on the soft moss. It was warm. He lay down, resting his head on his pack, staring up at the sparks from the fire floating into the dark sky. Syll slid onto his chest, a comforting, heavy weight that pulsed with a slow, rhythmic blue light.
He thought about the red-haired girl. Weird girl, he thought, his eyelids growing heavy. She definitely knows how to cook but I bet she doesn't know how to please a man. She got good warrior skills but definitely not wife material.
He sighed, his muscles finally unclenching. He closed his eyes, and a different face appeared in his mind.
Lily. He missed her. He missed the sweet smell of her hair, the soft way she looked at him, the way she worried without yelling. Once I get back home, and the debt is paid, and Father is okay... I'm going to ask her to marry me. He frowned in the dark. Wait, no. I have to go to that damn Academy first. Well, whatever. I'll tell her anyway.
The warmth of the fire pulled him under.
Miles away, deep in the darkest part of the Outer Woods, a figure stood over the dissolved, bloody remains of the Bone-Spur Bear.
The figure was tall, wrapped in tattered gray furs. From the shadow of its hood, two eyes glowed a bright, unnatural crimson.
Beside the figure stood a massive beast. It was a lion, but its fur was the color of ash, and its muscles bulged unnaturally under its skin. Its eyes, too, glowed a piercing red in the dark.
The figure knelt, running a pale, clawed hand over the dirt where Revvyn had fought.
"You killed one of my children," the figure growled. The voice sounded like grinding stones. "And you think you can simply walk away ."
The figure stood, turning to the massive ash-lion.
"Catch his scent," the watcher commanded. "By morning... We hunt his head."
The lion let out a low, rumbling roar that shook the leaves off the trees.
Back at the campfire, Revvyn slept on, completely unaware, dreaming of a girl in a white dress standing in a sunny field.