Barely able to move, Ace could only find the strength to nod.

Stellis lowered her head, gripping her sword tightly. There was a crinkling sound as her gauntlets were damaged by her own strength.

Ace watched her from his spot on the ground.

Despite the fact that he was out of energy, he wondered why he wasn't healing. In the scrapyard, he managed to come back from the brink of death by using his mystery stat. He was hoping his "Prime Adaptor" title would trigger and create another miracle.

Talos's voice echoed quietly in his head.

[The reason your title is not coming into effect is because of the nature of the poison. You are being slowly destroyed from the inside. Additionally, your regeneration rate of sever energy is not high enough to match the rate of degeneration. Because of these factors, your death will be so slow that it may not be considered a 'crisis' and more so a natural death. Sorry Ace...]

'Are you fucking kidding me?! What about being killed by poison isn't a cris-'

He stopped his internal scream as his eyes fell on Stellis' sword.

'Not a crisis you say...'

Seeing his gaze, she grimly looked down at her weapon.

"Do you... want me to... end your suffering?"

Mustering all his strength, Ace managed to speak a few raspy words.

"... sword... stomach"

Wearing a complicated expression, Stellis rose to her feet and put her helmet back on before looking back down at him.

Too weak to do anything else, Ace only nodded his head.

Soon after, she raised her sword above his gut with her hands shaking heavily. Turning her head to the side, she thrust the sword down with great force and ripped it out. Immediately after, she turned around and fell to her knees.

In too much pain to fall unconscious but too tired to move, Ace couldn't even writhe around as he felt his entire body be permeated by a searing heat. It was in his bones, his muscles, and even his eyes. Every part of his body felt as if liquid fire had been dumped it.

The poison must have spread further than he thought. Unlike when he was in the scrapyard, the healing process was much quicker... and somehow even more painful.

Now free of the ailing poison and stomach wound, Ace began to regain both his senses and his strength. A few feet away from him he could see Stellis hunched over her sword, repeatedly muttering a few words quietly to herself.

Straining his ears, he could just barely make out what she was she saying.

"He saved my life twice... and I killed him. He saved my life twice and I killed him."

Eager to prove her wrong, Ace reached out to touch her shoulder.

However, as soon as he made contact, something metallic hit him in the face, lifting him off the ground and sending him flying further down the branch.

Rubbing his cheek, he slowly crawled to his knees. While his ears were ringing from the impact he could have sworn he heard Stellis say "huh?". Soon after, there was a rapid pattering of footsteps as she ran around in front of him and offered a hand.

"Sorry... you scared me! How were you able to heal? You were out of energy and getting stabbed certainly wouldn't have helped."

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He scoffed as he took her hand.

"Trade secret. But I really have nothing left now."

She narrowed her eyes at him but shrugged her shoulders.

Together, the pair walked over to the corpse of the bat. Ace spoke first.

"We should throw this thing off the edge. Nothing good can come from spending the night with a beast corpse. It's blood will definitely attract other predators... I've found that out the hard way."

Nodding her head in agreement, Stellis reached down and grabbed the creatures massive arm. She pointed to it before saying a few words.

"Sounds like a plan... but first, I'm going to need this. My warden is telling me I can make a chisel from this and some tree bark."

Giving her a thumbs up, he waited for her to cut off the creatures arm. There was a pang of jealously in his heart since he didn't get anything for risking his life to defeat the deadly creature. It faded quickly, replaced by gratitude for his survival.

Before long, the corpse of the bat hit the forest floor, causing a furious battle to erupt between two unseen creatures.

Far above it, the two youths were looking at the freshly removed bat claw and a chunk of tree bark.

Using what little energy she had left, Stellis placed her hand on both of the materials, infusing her energy into them and causing a bright flash of light.

The two looked at the weapon on the ground in amazement.

A simple shortsword with a black blade and a deep brown-red handle had replaced the original materials.

Ace whistled loudly.

"Damn, that thing looks pretty deadly."

Stellis picked up the sword and took a swipe. "Apparently it has the same poisonous properties as the original. Should prove useful! It even came with a sheath!"

After stowing the blade, the pair got to work carving their beds into the same branch. After being attacked, all sense of shyness and lack of trust was removed from the air. It was about survival. Nothing else.

It didn't take long for the sleeping nooks to find their way onto the wood and for them to retire for the night. They slept soundly despite the clamorous battles being fought beneath them.

*** Next Morning ***

Ace woke up to rays of sunshine hitting his face. Rolling slowly, he turned to look towards his companion's sleeping nook. Instead, he only found a ration bar being held to his face.

Stellis was already up.

"Eat" she said.

Rising to his feet, Ace gratefully accepted the food. While he ate, she talked.

"We have three big problems..."

She held up a hand a raised a finger.

"The beginning of the second wave will start in 6 days. I don't think we want to see what that looks like while not inside the walls. We don't know if Sever Beasts are attracted to humans or the central bastion inside the city."

A second finger was then raised.

"We don't know which direction will lead us back home."

The final and third finger was raised.

"We will need to get water at some point. What I have in my pack will last for maybe 3 days."

Now finished eating, Ace spoke up.

"You can put down two of those fingers."

Stellis crossed her arms.

"Oh? And what makes you say that? Do you know how to get back or something?"

Looking down at a holographic display showing Volcan's proximity, Ace spoke triumphantly while pointing up into the tree canopy.

"Yes, because of him."

Almost as if on queue, a midnight colored bird broke through the tree canopy and landed next to Ace. Even bigger than he was before, Volcan now put the other ravens to shame. He looked as if he had the size to carry Ace on his back with room to spare.

Before Ace could explain himself, Stellis had already drawn both of her swords, poised for combat. Her aggressive actions drew out loud squawks from Volcan.

"Explain yourself...now!"

Trying to keep his avian friend calm, Ace responded calmly.

"Gladly"

The next few hours were filled with a lengthy explanation of how he ended up in the forest, how he survived off eating Raven eggs, and how he came to raise Volcan. He also told her of his plan to get back to the installation.

Hearing his words, Stellis' face grew into one of doubt. She couldn't help but express her concern.

"That's your plan? That's how you want us to get back?! Y-you're insane!"

He chuckled as shrugged his shoulders.

"In a way... there's just some people I would really like to see again... Now lets see about that water!"

*** 3 days later ***

Ace and Stellis stood on the bank of the river beneath the afternoon sun. Behind them, they carried the carried the corpse of a vampire bat.

For the past 3 nights they had been attacked by more of the blood thirsty creatures. Each time, they had managed to slay their attackers, relying heavily on Ace to immobilize the creatures with his ability. As a result, he was unable to gain any Sever Energy or a chisel.

Looking back at the corpse and then the river, Ace spoke quietly, his voice barely audible.

"And you're sure you can do this?"

Stellis remained stoic in her answer.

"Yes, just trust me on this one. You haven't seen my notch ability yet, but it's perfect for this. Now, lets do it just like we planned."

Nodding his head, Ace prepared the empty water canister strapped to his back while Stellis picked up the bat corpse and threw it right to the rivers edge.

They waited with bated breath. A short while later, the water near the bat corpse began to bubble furiously.