The notification was damn tempting, but I wanted to get out of the cavern. Steamy, humid, and filled with dust everywhere, I was concerned for the child and her already labored breathing.

Thankfully, Alice didn't stop for long and resheathed her weapon before quickly moving over to the pile of corpses scattered around the cavern floor. She used her boot to kick away the rubble and then bent down. She repeated this a few more times while I moved to the exit.

When she joined me, she held out her hand, displaying a small, almost marble-like object—made of black, smooth stone, with lines of glowing orange that reminded me of a rune.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Most elementals have a heart stone. They become fragile after they die, but a few were intact," she explained.

She pocketed the marble into her belt pouch.

"Cool looking. What are they used for?"

"Several things. Alchemy mostly, but they are sometimes used as components for spells and rituals."

At least we got something out of all this.

I smiled and continued down the tunnel. My chest still hurt, but some of the pain lessened by the time we made it out. The dark, unlit tunnel gave way to a brightly lit sky, and I inhaled the fresh forest air deeply.

Oh, I'm so glad to be out.

Alice stopped to check the child on my shoulder. When I met her eyes, she shrugged. "Breathing is improving but still struggling. Mild fever."

The child's dirt-stained blonde hair ran down my back in rivulets. I brushed it aside and wiped off some of the gunk around her eyes. Despite my touching their face, she continued to stay unconscious.

It worried me, but I wasn't a doctor, and the best bet was to bring her to the church. Hopefully, one of the priestesses would know what to do.

Alice took the lead, and we set off. I kept searching the trees, half expecting Devon to pop out with a monster head impaled on his spear, but when we reached the gate with no sign of the tall, gruff man, I started to worry.

I voiced my concerns to Alice, and she fixed me with a deadpan stare.

Right, he should be able to handle anything.

The guard, a new one this time, caught sight of our arrival just as we neared the gate. His eyes widened at the sight of us, and he quickly backed off while looking behind us.

We ignored him and continued down the streets. Fewer villagers were out, so we had an easier time marching straight to the church. That didn't stop the people who did manage to look our way from moving back in shock.

It's just a little blood; we can't look that bad.

In truth, I already knew how bad we looked compared to earlier in the day. One of the puddles inside the cavern reflected our images perfectly. And honestly, my arm did not make for a pretty sight, especially with my sleeve rolled up to prevent it from getting stuck with dried blood and bits of crispy skin flakes.

And throughout our walk deeper into the city, more than a few parents covered their children's eyes.

Arriving at the church, a priestess was outside, and she quickly disappeared behind the archway. Before we made it into the building, Thelassa was there, as well as the girl from before. Two other priestesses held back the child's mother.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Seyenna! What's wrong with her?" the mother asked desperately.

She tried to push against the arms restraining her, but the priestesses held firm.

"Come, lay her down here," Thelassa instructed as she motioned toward one of the stone benches.

I gingerly placed the child down, lying her flat on the bench, while the younger priestess placed a folded cloth underneath her head.

Thelassa bent down to examine her, but not before looking at our arms. "Will you need assistance, Hunters?"

I glanced down at my arm and saw another flake of blackened skin drop to the floor. "No, but do you have bandages and some clean water?"

She nodded, and the young girl disappeared, presumably to fetch what I had asked for. Thelassa then went through a series of checks over the child's body. I looked away when they exposed her chest, and by the time I heard Thelassa sigh and watched her stand up, the young girl appeared with a bowl and some rags, along with a roll of bandages.

Alice accepted the supplies but kept an eye on the child. "Is she okay?"

"It looks like lung damage," Thelassa answered. She turned and addressed the young priestess again. "Dear, go fetch me the Tilly root and some sarcor extract."

I momentarily tuned out the near-meltdown barrage of questions the mother inflicted on the head priestess to address my injuries. Staring at the water, I couldn't help but sigh.

Werewolf regeneration aside, it's probably best not to risk it.

With my left hand, I pictured the rune in my head.

Creating the spark was easy, and I whispered the words, letting my voice remain clear but soft. The mana inside me wanted to rampage, but I forced it to bend to my will and power the rune just enough to help conjure flames in the center of my palm.

Instead of letting the mana fire off, I placed my hand in the water and began to feel the flames sputter out. My mana reacted and shot down into my palm with enough force that I nearly lost control. At the last second, I reined it back in and watched as the water began to bubble.

Much better.

It drained my mana immensely, but I was safely inside the city, so it didn't matter if I ran myself a little dry.

"You shortened the incantation," Alice commented, watching the bowl heat up. "You're using Astra's version."

"Oh. Yeah. I practiced a little before the whole, you know, incident. Uhm… It's a skill I acquired from Elias. Do you know if he… also used a lot of fire incantations?"

Her face was a stone mask, her eyes unreadable. "Not that I know of, but I never went on hunts with him."

Right, shutting up about dead brothers now.

When I pulled my hand out of the bowl, the young priestess stared, and when I blinked her way, she flinched.

"Hey, is there something you need?"

She shook her head and then paused, hesitating. "That was useful."

Smiling, I made sure not to reveal my canines. "It is. Thank you for bringing the supplies."

A single nod and she turned away to approach Thelassa.

I shook my head and filled the spare bowl with some water to hand to Alice. It was a bit tricky tying the bandages with one hand, but I managed to do it as well as she did. The water inside the bowl looked disgusting; mine especially dyed murky grey.

Still, I was glad to have the arm taken care of.

Thankfully, Alice helped tie the wrap of bandages around my torso without issues. My rib was already recovering, but shifting too much in one direction sent flares up my sides.

As we finished, the young priestess reappeared, ready to take the bowls. For a second, I hesitated, remembering Devon's rules. Ultimately, I trusted the church to do good by us; if they tried anything shady with diluted blood, I doubted Devon would let things stand.

"Thank you."

Again, the priestess nodded and ran off.

Thelassa approached. "Where is your pack leader?"

"Uh, I think he's still out there."

Thelassa looked worried but nodded. "Is there anything we can do for you while you wait?"

I turned to Alice, and she shook her head. "No, thanks. Is the kid okay, though?"

"She will recover with some rest," she replied, leaning out of the way to reveal a confused-looking child being squeezed to death in her mother's arms. "Beyond the damage to her lungs, she will be fine. May I ask where you found her?"

"Inside a cave on the side of a mountain," Alice answered without elaborating further.

We both waited, but that was all Alice had to say.

"Very well. I shall leave you two alone for now. Please, ask any member of the church if you need help with something."

With that, Thelassa disappeared, and I finally relaxed, settling into the bench.

"I'm going to open my notification now. Did you already do yours?"

Alice shook her head. "Not yet, go ahead."

Rainbow lights swirled, and I focused on the spinning circle. It expanded across my vision, and I waited for golden text to appear, but then the notification blinked out of existence. I opened my mouth to protest, but the notification returned, and the rainbow gave way to written lines.

[Alert] You have slain: Enthralled Kobolds EvCf x 12

…

…

…

Calculating Hunt Reward

The notification blipped out, and I waited as new text appeared.