A long sigh escaped from Calyra as she slowly lowered herself beside Ruvian, who was lying on the floor.
Since Ruvian was staring at the ceiling, that action of her leaning closer to his face made him see her face upside down, obscuring his view of the ceiling.
Confused and slightly surprised, Ruvian tiredly asked.
"What... are you doing?"
"About to feed you potion?"
’Potion?’
Ruvian didn’t get the chance to question her as she had already deftly lifted his head slightly and casually shoved a potion into his mouth.
Startled, Ruvian involuntarily tried to reject it at first, but he still ended up drinking it down. As he drank, he frowned slightly, remembering just how acrid every potion always tasted.
’This woman... Is she trying to choke me!?’
Still, Ruvian emptied the potion.
"Ugh... hey, you could’ve warned me first." Ruvian stuck out his tongue slightly and made a disgusted face before wiping his mouth.
Morvayne simply watched the scene with a smile.
Calyra didn’t reply, only staring at him.
Though, immediately, Ruvian felt the aftereffects of the potion as the residual pain and aches throughout his body quickly began to subside, almost disappearing completely.
’Huh? That’s a very strong healing potion...’
[Did you feel better now?]
’Yeah... to some extent.’
Ruvian turned towards Calyra as he rose into a one-knee position.
"Where did you get that potion?"
"This?"
Calyra lifted the empty vial in her hand.
"It’s the potion that Silvena gave me after my fight with Rosalin. I only used a quarter of it to heal my face. I just used the rest on you since you seemed to need it more."
"I see..."
It was the potion that Ruvian had planned with Silvena to give to Calyra and Rosalin after their fight, so that both of them could heal immediately and secure a better place within the Top 10 rankings.
Of course, that plan would only work with the help of Corwin to enhance the restorative potency of normal healing potions, since scholars were not allowed to bring powerful ones for this test.
"Anyway, thanks for the potion."
"Mhm..."
Both of them went quiet for a while before Calyra spoke again.
"You’ve grown stronger, Ruvian. Your Spellcore has improved considerably as well..." There were also other changes to Ruvian but she wasn’t sure what it was yet.
Calyra tilted her head, inspecting him from top to bottom.
"Hmm... that explains how you managed to fight all those scholars. Though I assume you’re using something to enhance your strength, right? Something with a harmful aftereffect."
Ruvian could only chuckle awkwardly.
’Haha... she’s very quick to catch.’
Curiously, she bombarded him with more questions.
"Was it a spell? An artifact? Or another potion?"
"Hey, hey... easy. Let me recover first."
"...Sorry."
Ruvian sighed.
"It was not from any of those. I can’t explain it to you properly yet... but think of it as something supernatural."
Calyra stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Supernatural?"
"Exactly. Supernatural."
Ruvian coughed before nodding slowly.
Then, he switched to crossing his legs.
"Anyway, what about your squad members? Is it alright for you to be here and leave them by themselves? I mean... this is the seventh day. Without you, their leader, are they going to be alright?"
Calyra paused, a hint of guilt showing on her expressionless face.
"I... left them."
Ruvian lifted his eyebrows.
"You mean? You left them behind?"
"Yeah... because they were slow, and your fight was about to happen. So I left them."
Ruvian stared at her for a few seconds, almost wanting to laugh so badly after hearing that.
"I see. Then you should quickly go back to them."
Suddenly, Calyra remained quiet. Then, she looked sideways, unwilling to meet Ruvian’s gaze. "Well, there is no use anymore. They all already got eliminated... somehow."
’What!?’
How was that even possible? How weak were they?
Calyra continued as if trying to explain herself.
"I think they got ambushed... I did sense another squad nearby. Well, not exactly nearby, but close enough. I thought they could handle it. I guess I made a mistake."
Her tone was really like that of a child who didn’t want to admit that she was wrong in the slightest.
’Haa... this woman. She should’ve dealt with that first.’
Ruvian wanted to sigh but held back.
"But it should be fine. Even alone, I can still finish this exam in the Top 10," Calyra confidently said, still looking away from him.
"Well, I know that too."
Ruvian rubbed the back of his head. He knew Calyra was strong, and there was not a single threat on this island that could easily eliminate her.
Even so, things were different now that she was alone. With the elimination phase already underway, there was no reason for either of them to take unnecessary risks.
It was better to be safe than sorry.
After thinking about it for a moment, Ruvian looked at her.
"How about we team up... the two of us?"
"Team up?"
"Yeah... we did discuss that we would meet tomorrow to deal with Julian, after all. So, since it’s already like this, let’s just stick together."
Calyra seemed to think about his suggestion for a moment before giving a small nod.
"I see. Sure."
’Furthermore, things are changing now.’
Looking at his [Bookmarks] map, it seemed like Julian was heading his way. Moreover, it looked like he had company with him.
Honestly, Ruvian had planned for his encounter with Julian to happen tomorrow. He had already executed that plan by stealing his {Executioner} card. But somehow...
’It seems like he has found one as a replacement.’
Taking out [Revitalise] and [Healing] potions, Ruvian drank some more. He still hadn’t fully recovered yet, but it was not the time for him to rest.
"Anyway, Calyra... let’s move somewhere else."
Ruvian rose from where he was sitting. He had already rested enough for now. Staying in the same place any longer would only make things troublesome.
Still puzzled by his sudden decision, Calyra looked at him.
"Moving somewhere else? Now? What’s with the sudden change?"
Ruvian briefly glanced in the direction they would be heading before calmly replying.
"We are changing some plans. More like we have to, apparently. The fight with Julian that we discussed... it won’t happen tomorrow. In fact, it might happen today."
Calyra remained silent.
The casual air around her gradually disappeared as she noticed the seriousness in Ruvian’s tone. Her expression darkened slightly, and she immediately understood the gravity behind his words.
After all, it was not just Julian that they were about to confront. There was also the very demon that currently resided within his vessel.
And that was the one thing Ruvian still knew far too little about.
He could prepare as much as he wanted against Julian himself, but the demon was another matter entirely. Until he knew exactly what kind of existence was hiding inside him, there was no telling how dangerous their confrontation could become.
Fortunately, he now had someone who could help him with that.
’Morvayne... when the time comes, help me determine the rank of that demon.’
[Of course, Child.]
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[Chapter 303: It Might Be Today]
Plot Points= 52,000 PP
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