Rhian stood still as he watched her process everything he had shared.
While she stayed silent, he turned his eyes around the area, trying to take in their surroundings more clearly.
His mouth opened slightly as realization set in.
He had thought they made it out of the ravine, especially after seeing light, but now he saw that wasn’t the case.
They had simply exited into another cavern, one much larger and more open, with patches of green plants growing around the edges.
A wide gap in the ceiling above allowed sunlight to pour through, creating the illusion of true escape.
Rhian sighed under his breath and scanned the area for another exit, maybe a tunnel or a path hidden behind the foliage. He saw nothing in imdiate sight.
His thoughts were interrupted when Nia finally spoke.
"So wait," she said slowly, like she was making sure she heard everything right. "After we fell, you saved from a sea monster, saw your watch glow yellow for an E-rank monster, fought it, absorbed all the cores you had... and ranked up to E-rank."
Rhian nodded, a little nervously, wondering if he had missed sothing in his explanation.
Before he could clarify, Nia moved closer and grabbed his shoulders, spinning him around to face her directly.
"Are you okay, Rhian?" she asked, her voice serious.
He blinked. "I think so... why?"
Nia stared at him for a long mont, then spoke again, lowering her voice.
"Don’t reveal to anyone that’s what you did," she said.
Rhian frowned. "I thought absorbing cores was normal?"
The way she looked at him made it clear that wasn’t the point.
"Normally, yeah," she said, rubbing the bridge of her nose like she was trying to be patient. "But after absorbing a few cores, you’re supposed to rest and let your body slowly process the energy. You don’t just burn through all of them in one sitting. Most people would have exploded. Or at least suffered serious internal damage."
Rhian took a slow breath, his mind turning.
It wasn’t just his physique that was different. His ability to absorb energy had to be tied to that Ragnarok bloodline too.
He nodded, understanding what she ant—and quietly thanked himself for not ntioning the real thod he used.
Swallowing the cores outright probably would have made her faint on the spot.
Before he could say anything else, Nia continued.
"Don’t worry," she said, stepping back and letting go of his shoulders. "I won’t tell anyone. But you need to be careful. Absorb a few cores at a ti, make it look normal. And be careful about bragging about your rank. People can get... jealous."
Rhian nodded again, this ti more seriously.
He was starting to realize that not everything about survival would co down to just fighting monsters.
Sotis, it would be about hiding what made you dangerous from the wrong people.
But deep down, Rhian didn’t exactly like the idea of hiding. Sure, he understood the danger.
He wasn’t an idiot. But the thought of confining himself, pretending to be sothing smaller than he was, didn’t sit well with him.
It wasn’t just uncomfortable—it felt wrong.
As he stood there, a quiet thought settled in his mind.
Instead of acting weak while being strong, why not act strong and talented?
Not invincible or perfect, just soone with potential. Soone expected to rise, but still within reason.
It would draw less suspicion that way, and maybe even open doors rather than closing them.
He shook his head lightly, forcing himself to focus.
First things first. They had to get out of here. Find their group. Regroup, figure out how bad the situation really was.
He noticed Nia’s hands were still resting lightly on his arms, a fact she seed unaware of.
He coughed awkwardly. "Uhm... Nia?"
She blinked, realizing imdiately, and yanked her hands away like she had touched sothing burning. She turned sharply, clearing her throat.
"Uhm... yeah. About that," she muttered, staring at the ground. "Don’t tell anyone what we talked about, okay?"
Rhian smiled at her reaction, but said nothing. He looked around the open cavern, taking in the walls, the plants, the slope of the rocks.
Finally, he asked the question they were both thinking.
"So," he said, glancing back at her. "How exactly are we getting out of here?"
Nia kept looking around the space, her expression shifting as an idea clearly sparked in her mind. Her face brightened.
"You can fly us out of here!" she said, pointing upward.
Rhian turned and stared at her like she had grown another head.
For a second, he genuinely wondered if she was still feeling the aftereffects of whatever had happened to her.
He reached out, intending to check her forehead like Dr. Castilla used to do back in the Outskirts whenever he got sick.
Nia slapped his hand away sharply.
"Are you okay?" he asked, squinting at her.
"I’m fine," she snapped. "Focus. You have wings. You can fly us out of here. It’s not that far. Even if you don’t know how to use them properly, you can get close enough to climb."
Rhian opened his mouth to argue, then paused. Wings?
He didn’t rember telling her anything about having wings—because he didn’t have any. Not as far as he knew.
Before he could say anything, he felt an itch at his back, deep and sharp like sothing shifting under the skin. His muscles tensed instinctively.
Suddenly....
A sound tore the air behind him—a heavy, powerful crack of sothing unfurling. The weight slamd onto his back imdiately after, almost causing him to stumble forward.
Rhian froze.
He didn’t need to turn around to know. He could feel them now, stretching and twitching behind him.
Still, he turned his head slowly.
Dark feathers—no, closer to thick, furred strands layered over black scales—fanned out across the stone. They were massive, easily wider than he was tall when fully spread.
He looked at Nia. She hadn’t moved. She was frozen, wide-eyed, staring at the wings with awe written all over her face.
Rhian flexed his shoulders experintally. The wings responded, twitching slightly, shedding a few dark feathers onto the ground.
How the hell did she know about these before he did?
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