** Oath**
**Day: 5**
**Time: 04:30 – 06:15**
The communal lounge still smelled faintly of sweat, sex, and the sweet undertone of Courtney's perfume. The fairy lights had dimmed to a sleepy amber glow. Ezekiel lay on his back on the wide, worn couch with Courtney draped half across his chest, one leg hooked over his thigh, her breathing slow and even.
He stared at the ceiling beams.
The golden notification window hovered persistently in the corner of his vision, pulsing softly like it was impatient.
[Rendszer Bolt: Vásárlás megerősítve]
*Tárgy: [Elixir of Life – Phase 1 Recipe]*
*Ár: 100 000 Arany*
*Leírás: Egy ősi főzet, amely képes visszafordítani a sejtpusztulást, regenerálni a sérült szerveket és gyógyítani olyan betegségeket, amelyeket a modern medicina már gyógyíthatatlannak nyilvánított.*
*Szükséges összetevők (0/3):*
- Moon-Glow Moss (Holdfény-moha)
- Wawanakwa Lotus
- Pure Essence
Gold balance after purchase: **226 510**
Ezekiel slowly exhaled through his nose.
He could feel Courtney's heartbeat against his ribs—calm now, steady. Earlier it had been racing, fluttering like a trapped bird when she came undone beneath him. Now it was something else entirely: trusting. Almost reverent.
He lifted his free hand and gently brushed a strand of dark hair away from her temple.
The motion woke her.
Courtney made a small, sleepy sound and nuzzled closer before opening her eyes. They were softer than usual—no sharp edges, no calculating glint. Just quiet, unguarded blue.
"Still awake?" she murmured, voice husky from earlier crying out.
"Thinking."
"About what?"
He didn't answer immediately. Instead he reached up and tapped the empty air twice, dismissing the floating purchase confirmation so only the recipe remained visible.
Courtney followed his gaze even though she couldn't see the interface.
"You bought something," she stated. Not a question.
"Yeah."
"Expensive?"
"Very."
She propped herself up on one elbow, robe slipping off one shoulder. She didn't bother fixing it.
"Tell me."
Ezekiel hesitated.
Not because he didn't trust her—he did, more than he expected to so soon. But because the truth was heavier than he wanted to place on her right after they'd just shared something so fragile and new.
Still… she deserved to know why.
He took a slow breath.
"My mom is dying."
Courtney went very still.
He kept going, voice low, almost flat.
"Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Diagnosed sixteen months from now—in my original timeline. They gave her six months. She didn't even make four. I watched her waste away in a hospital bed that smelled like bleach and despair. She kept apologizing to me, like it was her fault she was leaving me alone with the farm and the debt and… everything."
Courtney's hand found his. She squeezed once—hard.
"I came back to change that," he continued. "The money is part of it. A lot of it. But the real reason… there's this recipe. Old family thing, supposedly passed down from my great-grandmother's grandmother. They called it the Elixir of Life. I thought it was just a story when I was a kid. Then I got the System… and it turned out the recipe is real. But the ingredients only grow in very specific places. Places like this island."
He tapped the recipe window again.
"First one is Moon-Glow Moss. Grows deep in caves where almost no light reaches. Only here. Only now."
Silence stretched between them.
Courtney's eyes moved over his face—searching, cataloguing, understanding.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet but very firm.
"You didn't come here just to win a reality show."
"No."
"You came here to save her."
"Yeah."
Courtney closed her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, something had shifted irreversibly behind them.
"Then we're getting that moss. Tonight. Before anyone else wakes up."
Zeke let out a small, surprised breath that was almost a laugh.
"You don't even want to sleep?"
"I'll sleep when your mother is breathing without machines." She sat up completely, robe falling open. She didn't seem to care. "Show me where."
He studied her for a long moment.
Then he nodded once.
"Alright."
---
They dressed in silence.
Courtney pulled on dark leggings and one of Zeke's spare hoodies—far too big, sleeves swallowing her hands. She rolled them up anyway. Zeke wore black cargo pants and a long-sleeve compression shirt. Both of them moved barefoot until they reached the door.
Outside, the night air was cool and smelled of pine and lake water.
Ezekiel activated [Supernatural Senses] to full strength.
The world sharpened instantly.
He could hear individual waves lapping fifty meters away. He could smell the mineral tang of wet rock, the faint bioluminescent sweetness that could only come from the moss. And he could feel—deep in his bones—the direction it was calling from.
"This way."
He took Courtney's hand.
She didn't protest being led.
They moved along the rocky eastern shore, past the challenge zone, past the old totem pole, until the tree line gave way to sheer cliffs that dropped into the water. A narrow goat-path wound upward, barely visible.
Zeke went first, testing each step. When the path became too steep, he turned and offered both hands.
Courtney placed her palms in his without hesitation.
He lifted her onto the next ledge like she weighed nothing.
She exhaled shakily when her feet touched stone again.
"You're stupidly strong," she muttered.
"You like it."
"I'm assessing the tactical advantage," she said primly, but the corner of her mouth twitched.
They continued climbing.
After fifteen minutes the path disappeared entirely. Only bare rock and a narrow fissure remained—barely wide enough for Zeke's shoulders.
He squeezed through first, then reached back for her.
Courtney hesitated for half a second—claustrophobia flickering across her face—then squared her shoulders and stepped forward.
Inside the fissure the air changed. Cooler. Damp. Alive with faint echoes.
And then they saw it.
A soft, ethereal blue-green glow coming from the far wall of the small cavern.
Moon-Glow Moss.
It grew in thick, velvety patches, looking almost liquid in the darkness. Tiny motes of light drifted up from the surface like fireflies made of moonlight.
Courtney let out a quiet, reverent breath.
"It's… beautiful."
Zeke felt something tight loosen in his chest.
"Yeah."
He approached carefully.
The System helpfully provided a small tooltip:
[Harvestable: Moon-Glow Moss]
*Yield: 3–5 doses per mature patch*
*Warning: Do not tear roots. Cut at base with clean edge.*
Zeke pulled a small stainless-steel folding knife from his pocket—the same one he used to fix fences back home.
He knelt.
Courtney crouched beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched.
"Like this?" she asked, watching intently.
"Yeah. Angle the blade. Slow. Don't bruise it."
Together they worked in silence, harvesting the glowing moss with almost surgical care. When they had a generous handful—enough for multiple attempts—Zeke opened the small vacuum-sealed container the System had provided with the recipe purchase.
He placed the moss inside.
The moment the lid clicked shut:
[Összetevő begyűjtve: 1/3 – Moon-Glow Moss]
[Rendszer Értesítés: Az elixír közelsége serkenti a gazda életerejét!]
*Vitality +5*
*Szint emelkedés!*
*Új szint: Level 21*
*Strength +2, Vitality +3, Endurance +2*
Courtney gasped softly when she saw Zeke's posture change—shoulders squaring, breathing deepening.
"Did you just… level up?"
"Something like that."
She stared at him with wide eyes.
"You're terrifying, you know that?"
He gave her a crooked smile.
"You're still here."
"I'm in too deep to run now."
She leaned forward and kissed him—slow, lingering, tasting faintly of salt and night air.
When she pulled back, her expression was deadly serious.
"We're going to finish this recipe. And then we're going to win this stupid game. And then we're going to make sure your mother never has to spend another night in a hospital bed. Do you understand me, Ezekiel?"
He looked at her—really looked.
And something inside him settled into place.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "I do."
---
They made it back to camp just as the eastern sky began to turn the color of peach and rose.
The first birds were calling. Somewhere a loon laughed across the lake.
Courtney stopped at the edge of the móló.
Zeke stopped too.
She turned to face him.
The sunrise painted her cheekbones gold.
She reached up, straightened his hoodie collar with careful fingers, then slid both hands to the back of his neck.
"I'm going to be very bossy today," she warned him.
"I know."
"I'm going to order people around, make perfect plays, scream at anyone who misses a throw. And you're going to be the quiet, terrifying force behind me. Got it?"
"Got it."
"And tonight, when we're alone again…" Her voice dropped. "I want you to remind me that I belong to you. Because I do. Completely."
Zeke's hands settled on her hips.
"Deal."
She rose on tiptoe and kissed him.
It was different from the hungry, frantic kisses of the night.
This one felt like a vow.
When she finally stepped back, her eyes were shining.
"Today we crush Dodgeball. Tomorrow we hunt the lotus. And soon… we heal her."
Zeke nodded once.
Courtney smiled—sharp, bright, unbreakable.
"Let's go wake up a camp, Sovereign."
She turned and strode toward the cabins like she already owned the island.
Ezekiel watched her go.
Then he looked down at the small, sealed container in his hand.
One down. Two to go.
And for the first time since he'd woken up in his teenage body, he didn't feel like he was running out of time.
He felt like time was finally running *with* him.
[Statistic Summary – 06:15]
- Ezekiel → Level 21
Vitality: 155 → 163
Strength: 145 → 147
Endurance: 138 → 140
- Courtney → Level 11
Intelligence: 185
Loyalty: MAX → UNSWELLABLE
- New Passive: [Shared Purpose] → +10% all stats when within 30 meters of each other
- Gold: 226,510
- Key Item: [Moon-Glow Moss – Phase 1/3]
The sun cleared the trees.
A new day began.
And somewhere deep inside the System interface, a faint second line appeared under the recipe title:
**Phase 1 complete. Phase 2 requirements incoming…**