Aside from Jaume Che and Zayne's deaths, there were much more important things going on around them.
Kalen looked at the site of the Elemental's explosion and saw the nearby area pulverized, with marks on the ground. And right next to the blast zone, a creature, emaciated and much more horrible than it had once been.
The monster had taken the blast directly, causing unimaginable injuries and bringing it to the brink of death.
But somehow, the monster was still alive, twitching its tentacles moribundly.
'...What great vitality'
Kalen approached the monster, but being wary of a sudden attack, he stood several meters away and watched it closely.
Kalen heard several footsteps approaching and turned his head. Oliver, Elisabeth, Talika, and oddly enough Jeanne were approaching him.
All except Jeanne looked at him from head to toe while she silently watched the dying monster.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked worriedly.
Kalen returned his look with a slight smile.
"Do I look okay to you?"
Oliver just sighed as he shook his head.
Talika also looked at him with concern, while Elisabeth gave him a simple glance before looking at the monster, as did Jeanne.
"It's impressive that he's still alive after that explosion"
Kalen looked at Elisabeth and then at Jeanne before answering.
"Well... at least he's not a problem anymore"
"That's because he still has a heart" Jeanne said suddenly, catching everyone's attention.
It was the first time Kalen had heard her speak, as he had been so focused on Zayne before that he hadn't really paid attention to her.
"Heart?"
Jeanne nodded, resting her greatsword on the ground.
"Yes. It's a monster in its second stage of evolution, so it has two hearts. One was destroyed by the explosion, the other was deeper in its body, which helped it stay alive"
Jeanne kicked an approaching tentacle and continued to explain.
"If we leave it alone, it will slowly recover, but it will never regenerate its second heart... which means it will be much weaker"
Kalen watched the dying monster with a solemn look.
"...Or we can kill it once and for all"
Jeanne turned to him.
"Or we can kill it"
Kalen began to approach the monster with the intention of killing it as he watched it try to stop him with its tentacles, but without much success.
When he got in front of it, Kalen didn't know what to do.
"Ehhh... Where exactly is its heart?"
Jeanne looked at him nonchalantly and lifted her shoulders.
"No idea"
Kalen looked at the monster again and just assumed that if it had survived the blast, its second heart must be either in its back, where the blast missed it, or in its center.
Preferring to turn it over to get closer to what must have been its back, he began to poke the monster's slimy body for something hard.
His muscles ached as if he had been running a marathon for days, but Kalen forced himself to end the monster's life once and for all.
The monster let out soft grunts of pain from the constant stabs into its body, but it was unable to stop Kalen, as every tentacle it tried to send at him was easily stopped by the others.
At one point, Kalen touched something hard and smiled slightly.
'Jackpot'
Kalen took what strength he had left and stabbed the monster in the heart.
A final grunt of pain escaped the monster as its life began to fade.
He sighed quietly as he watched the monster that had so annoyed him die.
A faint light began to glow in the hole Kalen had made in the monster's body, and he took a few cautious steps away.
"What is that?"
Jeanne approached him, also looking cautiously at the light.
"It doesn't seem to be anything dangerous...maybe we should take it out"
Kalen couldn't help but look at Jeanne without really understanding her. He could tell that the young woman was a bit... carefree.
Still, Kalen didn't sense anything strange about whatever was emitting that strange light. He looked at Jeanne and she looked back at him.
"No, don't expect me to stick my arm in there"
Kalen clicked his tongue, he didn't want to stick his arm into the gelatinous corpse of the monster either. But seeing that no one was willing to do so, he bent down and swallowed some saliva.
'This will be the first and last time I stick my arm into... slimy things'
Kalen looked away and stuck his right arm into the monster's corpse.
"Ughhh..."
He groaned in disgust as he felt the monster's gelatinous flesh completely envelop his arm. The corpse was still warm, which made Kalen feel even more disgusted.
The monster's heart wasn't that deep, maybe the length of his forearm. But whatever was inside the corpse was stuck, so Kalen had to struggle to get it out.
With some effort, Kalen pulled out a bloody crystal that emitted a golden glow.
His entire arm and the golden crystal were covered in the monster's blood, which was not a very pleasant sight.
Jeanne looked at the crystal curiously, as did Elisabeth and Talika, who were standing next to him.
"What is it... some kind of crystal?"
The crystal was just like the ones scattered all over the walls of the caves and tunnels, the only difference being that it was golden, and its glow was much stronger than the others.
'How I wish I had the power to clean it...'
Kalen thoughts were interrupted when he felt something strike his back.
Kalen lost the strength in his hand, forcing him to let go of the golden crystal. Elisabeth and Talika looked at him strangely when they saw that he had let go of the crystal without saying anything, but when they saw it, both of their eyes widened.
"NOOO!"
Talika yelled, immediately pushing Oliver away from Kalen.
Elisabeth froze, but quickly began to apply pressure to the wound on Kalen's back from the stab Oliver had given him.
"What the hell are you doing?!" yelled Elisabeth as she tried to stop the bleeding.
Oliver simply stayed away from them, holding the bloody knife in his right hand and a scroll in his left.
Kalen went pale as he felt he had no strength left in his legs to stand and fell to the ground. Talika tried to hold him but was unsuccessful, so she simply caught him to break his fall.
They both looked at Oliver, not understanding his sudden actions, while Jeanne remained silent, oblivious to everything.
Oliver looked at Kalen with dead eyes and simply lifted the parchment, which opened thanks to gravity.
Kalen gritted his teeth and braced himself to hear what Oliver was about to read.
"First Test... Kill Rodhlann Danneir"
Oliver turned his eyes to Kalen.
"Interesting test, Gavyn... Is that even your name?"
Kalen glared at Oliver as sleep began to take over his body.
The only person who really knew his name was Elisabeth, and apparently, she never really revealed it... according to their agreement.
But... what he never expected was that Rodhlann Danneir would always be by his side.
'Shit...'
Kalen didn't even have the strength to say anything. He just lay there, looking at Oliver... or rather Rodhlann.
Rodhlann tossed Kalen's scroll aside and pulled out one he kept in his shirt before opening it again in the same manner as the previous one.
"Yes... Gavyn, or should I say Kalen Nohak"
This time it was Kalen's turn to be surprised, but not only that, Elisabeth and Talika also opened their eyes in surprise.
'I see... so that's how its is'
Kalen had always suspected that someone had the test to kill Talika, and that was why he had to protect her. What he never expected was that the proof was not to kill her... but him.
Elisabeth bit her lips helplessly as Talika was paralyzed by the revelation.
Rodhlann smiled darkly and glared at Kalen with hatred.
"It's disappointing... you always helped us, saved us... and all for what?"
Kalen ignored Rodhlann dismissive words and concentrated on asking the one thing he really wanted to know.
"Since when?"
Rodhlann smirked.
"Since when did I know you were my target? Ha, you're very bad at pretending to be someone you're not"
Kalen tightened his bite as his consciousness began to fade.
Taking advantage of the fact that Kalen was still awake, Rodhlann took off the goggles he had been wearing since the beginning and threw them on the floor.
"But the one who will pass the test is not you... ¡It's me... AGHHH!"
A bone arrow stuck in his thigh which forced him to his knees as he screamed from the pain.
"¡Why the fuck are you messing with me! ¡This has nothing to do with you!"
Behind them all, Liam Lincoln held his bow high as his sister stood crossed arm in arm beside him.
Behind them, the others watched with accusing and worried looks at Rodhlann.
Especially Donovan, who was the most sentimental among them all.
"You lied to us all this time?"
Rodhlann looked back at him with annoyance.
"You're the only idiots who blindly trust each other!"
Donovan bit his lips and said nothing more as Rodhlann continued to shout.
Meanwhile, Kalen simply sighed in annoyance with his last thoughts before losing consciousness.
'Trust... it's bullshit'