When Himma sensed the disappearance of his summoning, he immediately realized that Nate had defeated it. His face hardened like stone, and thick veins bulged visibly on his forehead as he fumed.
"This is not good, not good at all… I knew I should have sent more. Damn it!"
However, the man swallowed some of his anger and concluded:
"It's clear now that I can't afford to waste more time. I need to get my hands on him before he awakens. If only he wasn't with that guy… But who is he, damn it? I need to investigate him."
Himma then left the dark room he had been in, closing the door behind him.
After this brief interlude in an unknown place, we return to the forest, where Nate had just defeated the dog. Exhausted after the intense battle, the young boy collapsed to the ground, the adrenaline that had masked the effects of the dog's bite now fading. To make matters worse, the sky had clouded over, signaling an impending storm. There was no time to rest. With his body stiff and numb, Nate summoned the last of his strength to stand and head toward a small cave he knew of for shelter. But on the way, the weather worsened, and rain began to fall, turning the ground into slippery mud. Nate muttered to himself:
"Of course, it couldn't end just like that; the rain had to add its two cents."
Despite the downpour, Nate managed to reach the cave. Once inside, he gathered some dry twigs and started a fire to warm himself and shield against the freezing cold that had now settled in. He removed his soaked clothes and lay down near the fire he had started by friction. As he lay on the ground, drenched to the bone and literally freezing, he thought as he watched the rain fall:
"At least here, if I get attacked again, I'll have some means to defend myself."
With those words and the sound of rain breaking the night's silence, sleep, which had been trying to overtake him, finally claimed him.
*Open... his... eyes…*; *Close... his... eyes…*; *Open... his... eyes…*
Nate slowly awoke from his sleep. By the time he woke up, the rain had stopped, and the fire had turned to ashes. The night had been beneficial, as the pain from the bite hadn't disappeared entirely but had lessened considerably. He also realized he had regained full mobility. With no reason to linger, he decided it was time to head back and set off immediately.
He quickly arrived at their shelter and began shouting:
"Kaiju sensei, Kaiju sensei!!!"
Kaiju emerged from the cabin, grumbling.
"What? Why are you yelling like that, and so early in the morning too… And why didn't you come back yesterday? Did you skip evening training on purpose?!"
"No, Kaiju sensei, I swear it wasn't that."
"Oh yeah? Then what was it?"
"I was attacked by a zombie dog."
"You better come up with a better excuse, or you'll be in for a rough time."
"No, I'm serious, I swear! Look, here's the bite it gave me."
When Kaiju saw the wound, he began to believe him but still remained somewhat skeptical. He simply said:
"Come inside and explain it to me in more detail."
Once inside, Kaiju tossed a bottle to Nate and said:
"Put this on the wound; it should make the pain go away."
Nate did as instructed, and soon a foolishly happy smile spread across his face, clearly expressing his relief. But his joy was short-lived as his new mentor brought him back to reality.
"Alright, now I'm listening."
The young boy gathered himself and recounted everything that had happened.