The cave was wrapped in silence as Damien and Ruyue intently watched Zara, trying to glean any changes that occurred within her body after she ate the Death Seed.
However, to their dismay, there was nothing. Zara simply stood still with her eyes closed and savored the taste of the creature she had just ingested.
"Hm? Shouldn't there be some sort of wild gust of mana or something right now?" Damien questioned.
"I'm not sure about any of that, but I'm certain there should at least be some changes." Ruyue was also doubtful about the lack of reaction. Even the rapid stat boost that Zara was supposed to be experiencing would have some sort of physical manifestation.
The system relayed their physical abilities as stats, so that's how they were usually referred to. But they weren't simply status points in a game. Every time one received a boost in their stats, their body would experience a change, no matter how minute it was.
That was half of the reason Damien always went through horrendous pain whenever he evolved. Not only was the essence he devoured being sent through his body to temper it, but the drastic rise in stats would also remold him at a cellular level.
The system wasn't a simple thing at all, and neither was the quest and rise to power that all beings under its influence would partake in. They were always doing their best to raise their level, raise their skill, and in the end, raise their state of existence.
The term 'league' that the system always used was referring to this. An individual's league was their state of existence. Every time it rose, said individual was essentially being reborn as a higher being. It was just that before 4th class and 5th class when one was preparing for and entering the realm of Godhood, these changes weren't as prominent.
So they were more or less attributed to growth in stats.
For Zara right now, such an immediate and inconsequential increase in stats should have been reflected in her body. Whether she would be in pain or grow in size, whatever it was it should have been something Damien and Ruyue could witness.
So why was she acting like she had done nothing more than eat a sumptuous meal?
As if to answer these questions, a sudden change emerged in Zara. Her previous pleasureful expression contorted into a grimace and her eyes shot open.
Rather than the bright golden pupils that were usually contained within, there was only an endless amount of blackness. Even the whites of her eyes were dyed in black.
Her mouth opened, showcasing rows of blade-like teeth as she began to growl seemingly at nothing. From Damien's connection with her, he could clearly feel her erratic emotional state.
It was a mixture of pain, anguish, unwillingness, euphoria, and an indomitable fighting spirit. Such a mixture of emotions would have been confusing in any other situation, but Damien knew exactly what was going on.
'That thing is trying to possess her.'
Not just possess her, it was trying to completely eradicate her soul and become her. Within Zara's mind, a fierce battle was taking place.
On one side was a winged black wolf, the original owner of the body, and on the other side was a ghastly black dragon. With every second that passed in the outside world, the two traded hundreds of blows, but neither was able to gain the upper hand.
But Zara knew she was losing this battle. With every second that passed, more and more of her memories were being eroded and devoured by the being facing her. The only way for her to regain them was to defeat it.
Spreading her wings. She charged at the dragon like a black comet, brandishing her claws and fangs. She reached her target in an instant, slashing down while dodging the dragon's tail which whipped towards her like a mace.
With her every movement, bone-chilling ice spread through the floor of the mental world. Although her ice was only a manifestation of her will, it wasn't entirely useless. Even if it couldn't injure the dragon, it was able to freeze the progress of memory erosion that was taking place in the background.
Such was the level of battle within a mental world. The only limit on ability was imagination, since there was no physical form to manifest and no real mana being consumed. If one had a conceptual understanding, anything was possible.
Zara could freeze even time itself within this mental world if she wanted, but there was no point in doing so. The dragon would be able to escape just as easily.
So while she used her ice to freeze the concept of erosion that the dragon was using to consume her memories and soul, she used her shadows to create a clone of herself.
The clone was entirely black with none of the features a living being would have, but that didn't matter, its physical strength was on par with hers.
Together, the two circled the dragon, attacking its blind spots in perfect unison. The dragon thrashed around, using its tail and fangs as its main weapon as well.
Just like Zara, it couldn't harm its opponent with elemental attacks. Only physical attacks within this plane would be effective, since they were essentially battling with their souls.
As the battle within the mental world continued, Zara's body fell to the floor, convulsing. Her muscles were wriggling beneath her skin as if they were alive, causing awkward protrusions to occasionally rise from her fur. Blood soon began to exit her orifices as she continuously growled into the air.
The commotion she caused was significant, and her deathly howls attracted the attention of numerous beasts that had been wandering in the vicinity.
From the tone of her howls alone, they were aware that whatever beast was making those sounds was in pain. And an injured opponent was the easiest prey.
Damien and Ruyue's expressions were grave.
"This isn't good. We've been surrounded." Damien peered through the cave walls with his awareness and noticed an ever-increasing crowd of beasts eyeing the semi-hidden cave with greed.
"Those beasts are too ferocious. Regardless of whether or not we leave the cave, they will attack. We have no choice but to fight."
Damien gritted his teeth in frustration as he glanced at Zara. He hated seeing her in this much pain, but the situation didn't allow him to help at all. If they didn't protect the cave, all three of them would be in trouble.
"I'm trusting you this once. Don't let me down." Whispering those words, he nodded towards Ruyue.
The two of them soon exited the cave with their heads held high, refusing to be intimidated by the threatening convergence of auras they were subject to.
Although the pressure was weighty, it was nothing to the two of them, who had endured Tian Yang's aura suppression with nothing but their bare bodies.
"So? Do we fight together or separate?"
"Together would be nice, but there's too many of them right now. How about you take the left and I take the right, and we meet up in the middle."
"Hmm, a good plan but let's make it more interesting. Whoever finished last has to be the other person's servant for an entire week!"
"What? You're dreaming if you think I'll ever be your servant."
"Wow, are you that certain you're going to lose? Don't tell me you're scared of a little bet like this."
"Scared? As if. But these stakes are too dull. How about the winner gets a single favor from the loser, no matter what it is."
Looking at Ruyue's shining eyes, he got the sudden urge to tease her. His eyes unabashedly roamed her exquisite body and his mouth curled into a sly smile. "Whatever it is, you say?"
His blatant gaze seared into her skin. She felt like even though she was fully clothed, she was naked in front of his gaze. A blush inadvertently crept up her face, but she quickly turned away.
"I said whatever, so I mean whatever! Are you really so confident that you think you'll get a taste of this princess?"
Damien's eyes widened both at her meaning and the way she addressed herself. The unexpected retort was too much for him. Unable to hold himself back, he broke into a boisterous fit of laughter.
Wiping the slight tears that formed at the side of his eyes, he replied back. "Fine fine, whatever you say, miss princess. These beasts don't look like they can wait much longer anyway, so shall we start our contest."
"Hmph! Shake on it to seal the deal."
The two glanced at each other and grinned, strongly shaking hands. Truthfully, a few bolder beasts had already charged forth during their conversation, but had been either burned to cinders or crushed to meatpaste in the process.
The rest of the smarter beasts were eyeing them warily. They knew that with such a large congregation, most of them would end up dead trying to get to whichever beast was within the cave, whether by the hands of their fellow beasts or the two humans in front of them.
But none of them ran away. The prospect of evolution was too enticing for them to do so, and the aura of the injured beast within the cave was powerful enough to guarantee their progression. Even if it meant risking death, they would take the chance.
The two sides stared each other down, their auras clashing in the air between them.
And then, it was pandemonium.
