Adriel and Kael walked together; the faint light created by the fire illuminated their faces.
"I almost died in the dungeon, but the wish Xyphor made saved me."
"You're very lucky; wouldn't it be a good idea to buy a lottery ticket?"
"Unfortunately, the system doesn't have a betting function."
The conversation between the friends flowed smoothly.
Kael's face darkened a little. "I'd tell you what happened here, but... well, you know."
The hunter simply nodded and watched the red and yellow fire. "From a friend's perspective, you did a great job, but from a general camp safety perspective..."
'Kael seems to be better now; we just need to get Amara, Azucena, Sahima, and Elena, then we'll find the exit... Selene.'
They quickly found the group of four. Amara was kneeling beside Selene, her knees soaked in blood, and her face full of transparent tears.
Selene's body was motionless, and Kael saw it.
"Did you know... this?"
"She was stabbed in the clavicle; there's a giant vein that carries a lot of blood; we didn't have time to treat her."
"..."
He fell silent; circles appeared in his eyes. Now three of them circulated in his irises. "Selene..."
"She's going mad!" Elena saw him and understood what was happening.
Adriel summoned his scythe, but didn't move a centimeter. 'Am I capable of...?'
'I don't know how to support him; any word I say could be insensitive and make it worse…'
The seer was surprised and touched Sahima's side repeatedly, then whispered something in the cat girl's ear.
She blushed and her ears moved quickly; she glanced sideways at Kael and began to walk toward him.
The hunter's brow furrowed, but he didn't act; he knew she probably had a better response to the situation than his.
Sahima soon came to be in front of the protector, crying and vibrating intensely. Her hands approached the young man's face and lifted it.
'Will she use a speech taught by Amara?' The hunter felt a certain pride upon thinking this.
No words left the cat girl's mouth; instead, she extended her tongue and put it in Kael's mouth, kissing him deeply.
Kael didn't fully react at first, but then he let himself go and accepted a kiss. Little by little his eyes returned to normal.
The feeling of pride in Adriel vanished in an instant and a grimace of displeasure appeared on his lips.
'Physical contact is an ephemeral relief that alleviates problems temporarily, but doesn't solve them; I suppose it's okay to buy time… but it's not the real solution. At least that's what I saw in a manga about philosophy, psychology, and ethics, maybe I'm wrong.'
He sighed and saw Amara and Elena. "Wh—" the words got stuck in his throat; he felt a huge knot in it, but forced himself to speak. "What do you want to do with Selene? I don't think it's possible to take her body with us; it would smell rotten and scavenger enemies could hunt us."
Amara raised her head to meet Adriel's gaze. "I want to leave her here, let her burn and her ashes fly."
He nodded and then looked around.
The flames kept growing and expanding, consuming everything in their path.
She stood up little by little and walked toward Adriel, then hugged him, placing her cheek on the hunter's chest. "At first I thought you died, but apparently Elena can know if you're still alive or not through the contract." She raised her head, resting her chin on Adriel's body. "I'll keep her close to me to know how you are."
He smiled a little at the image of his friend and returned the hug. "I'm here now and I won't go far without warning first, I swear."
"Are you done?"
Elena's voice made Adriel raise his head. She was in front of him; the erogenous zones of her body were barely covered by something almost liquid.
"Come here, I want a hug too."
"We're not in a moment of—"
Adriel was cut off when Elena hugged him, crushing Amara between them and incidentally bringing the hunter's head to her chest. "Come on, little one~, be nicer to me."
The succubus felt unbearable pain and separated from both.
"I just almost died a few hours ago; your hug isn't what I need."
'Ohhh, you're wasting a beauty.'
The panther saw Adriel; its tone was full of mockery and happiness.
'She's hot, why do you reject her? Do you only like petites that look like girls? Are you a lolicon?'
'Those are very serious allegations; I just don't want to be close to a succubus.'
'Strange... Your thoughts from a while ago said the opposite, "she has giant breasts, a Russian handjob would be heaven" and things like that. You're good at restraining yourself.'
Adriel gave his wounded companion a look of hatred for hearing his own intrusive thoughts used as a weapon against himself.
"Okay, Amara, we have to think about what to do to get out of here."
She separated a little; her face was completely red. 'This... Isn't she acting strange?'
'She seems excited; it's a little erotic.'
Adriel turned to see his companion nearby watching Amara.
"I want to stay like this a little longer. Besides, I already have an idea of how to get out; reach into my right back pocket."
She pressed her face against Adriel. That young man froze for a few seconds, closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them and reached the girl's pocket. Amara's body reacted with vibrations at the hunter's touch.
In his hands were three small rectangular papers with large characters on them.
"They're talismans; apparently, goblin writing consists of extremely simple magical characters; the spells they contain are too weak, but the water one will be useful to extinguish a little fire and make an exit."
He smiled slightly upon hearing this, though he felt a little strange.
One of the sheets had the shape of three oscillating lines, recalling the fall of a waterfall, but crudely made. "I suppose the river or waterfall one is the water one."
Amara nodded, rubbing her head against Adriel.
"How many do you have?"
"Only that one; I ran out of materials."
"I'm going to buy paper in the system so you can create more."
Amara shook her head while staying glued to him.
He tried to push her away by pushing a little on the girl's small shoulders, but she resisted.
With his gaze, Adriel sought help from Azucena; the woman was looking at her hand with plants with an expression of pain. Upon raising her gaze, she met the hunter's.
The young man was practically asking for help with his eyes. She narrowed her eyes a little with a pained smile.
She approached and touched the girl's back. "Amara, other people also want to greet Adriel, let me at least hug him a little."
She turned to see Azucena, but never let go of the hunter. Her brow was slightly furrowed at the woman's words, but she obeyed and separated.
Azucena approached with a calm expression; her maturity was evident, though each day she looked younger. Her face approached Adriel's, placing her mouth next to the hunter's ear. "I didn't need to get so close, Amara is acting strange, isn't she?"
"She lost her two best friends in a single day; I don't know what to say to her, but I also can't stay still without helping her."
She hugged the young man, making him lower so his head rested on the woman's neck.
'It's so warm...'
Adriel's heartbeats grew, their rhythm increased and he felt his muscles relax. Being careful so Azucena wouldn't notice, he smelled the woman's hair and neck.
That smell so strange but at the same time warm left Adriel without thoughts for a few seconds.
'She's so beautiful.'
One of the young man's hands touched the woman's curly brown hair, playing with it a little.
"We're going to get out of here at once, okay?"
He nodded against the flesh on Azucena's neck, making her tremble a little and laugh.
Adriel separated, took a step back and saw Amara. "Do you have something to draw the talismans?"
"They're made with magic; I can do it with my fingers."
He turned to see Kael and Sahima, but stopped upon seeing them. The cat girl was completely red and her ears were pressed to her sides and her tail remained straight up.
They were still kissing; they had been like that for at least ten minutes.
'Didn't in cat language having the tail up mean happiness?'
He coughed loudly on purpose. "Let's go to the area to use the system and buy inside the camp to buy something!"
The lovebirds separated upon hearing the hunter's shout, looking embarrassed.
Everyone walked with Adriel in front until they reached the system area.
Upon summoning it, the white screen that seemed to tear reality appeared in front of the hunter. 'Now that I think about it, I have enough to create a guild, though it might be better to do it later.'
Adriel went directly to the shop option and bought a large piece of paper for five coins.
Curiosity struck him and he entered the auction house, then used the filters for weapons and sorted from cheapest to most expensive.
'That...'