Shadow Slave

Chapter 1818: Moment of Respite Chapter 1818: Moment of Respite

Even though did not show it, she was still reeling from the short, but lethal battle with the Awakened Beast.

A creature like that was not something she had not faced before, but those encounters had always been preceded by careful planning and preparation. Challenging an abomination as powerful as that blind was a chilling experience.

Luckily, the beast had been slumbering deeply when Rain entered the ruins. She stalked them silently, found the enemy, and managed to devise a feasible plan without alerting the abomination.

Then, she cut her arm and stirred the Nightmare Creature awake with the scent of blood. Luring it out of its lair, Rain toppled a badly damaged stone wall on the beast, burying it under rubble. The enemy was immobilized - even if only for a few moments. So, she rushed in, dodged its deadly claws deftly, and sliced its throat open with the sharp blade of the Ascended dagger.

It all ended in a heartbeat. Rain wasn't even injured... of course, she could have very well lost her life, One mistake was all it took to die. If she had hesitated even a little or had been a split second too late to dodge the monstrous claws, the beast would have been gnawing on her bones by now.

But it was dead instead.

So... It all worked out, in the end.

‘I don't like it'

Rain had grown accustomed to hunting Nightmare Creatures, but the lack of control in this Improvised battle made her feel uneasy. She didn't like gambling with her life.

Letting out a sigh, she glanced at Tamar and then went about making a fire. The young Legacy had a tinderbox Memory, so Rain did not have to go through the tedious motions of forcing the damp wood to catch flame by hand. Soon, the ruin was illuminated by warm orange light, and the two of them were warming themselves in front of the fire.

The rain had turned into a dribble by then, so she couldn't collect rainwater anymore - at least not conveniently.

'It would be easier to wait for the canyon to fill with water once again.'

She would walk there later. Rain had to scout their surroundings, anyway.

For now, though...

She weighed the enchanted in her hand once again, then sighed and rose to her feet.

"Wait here."

Dragging the carcass of the dead beast outside with some effort, Rain dressed it down and salvaged a fair deal of meat. She had no salt to cure it, and there was not enough wood to smoke it. So, most of the meat was destined to spoil shortly.

If they were lucky, though, it could last them just long enough.

Inside, Rain skewered the meat on sticks and began to roast it. It would have been better to do it over coals, but open fire worked, as

actions silently. All in all, she was holding up

a while, the young

"Rani... who are you?"

Rain raised an eyebrow.

I'm a porter. Before that, I was a laborer in the main construction camp. They pay members of

scrutinized her for a few moments, then

porter. Archery, swordsmanship, wilderness survival. Most of all, your mentality is not

at her

Tamar... but have you spent a lot of time with mundane

The younger girl frowned.

"What do you mean?"

concentrated on the

of going to school, and only attend the Academy for a month or two

glanced at Tamar

Every child in the world is trained to be able to defend themselves. I trained especially diligently, both in school

a moment, and then added

First Nightmare. It was just that my Nightmare never came - I wasn't chosen by the Spell, and remained mundane. There is no inherent difference in skill or determination between mundane people and Awakened,

studied her for a

With your talent and skill, you stand a great chance of surviving the First Nightmare. So why didn't you apply to challenge one?

silent, then

my life a lot, you know. Because there is someone out there who

Her expression turned somber.

for a few moments, and

a Nightmare. My parents have suffered enough, so I don't want to risk putting them

understand

to her surprise, Tamar seemed to

younger girl lowered her head

while, she said

"...Mine too."

looked at her