Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"And that takes care of that," Declared Raven, as he finished off the last of a pack of Monsters that had attacked them, a group of five Giant Boars.

"What lousy timing...I just washed up a short while ago and now I'm all sweaty again," Sighed Celia, wiping her brow.

About a week had passed since the pair set out to train in the depths of Pearl Forest, it was late at night, a few minutes to midnight, and they had been about to set up camp for the night and go to sleep, before being interrupted by the pack of Giant Boars.

"On the bright side, we've got a mountain of meat now," Pointed out Raven with a wry smile.

"Sure, but there's no way we can eat all of them before they spoil. Even if we chop them all up and put the meat in our Storage Rings, it'll only keep them from spoiling for about a day or so," Responded Celia, as she stretched up her arms and stifled a yawn.

"Yeah, that's true...in which case, we'll just have to eat as much of it as possible tomorrow," Surmised Raven with a thoughtful nod.

"Sounds good to me, I'm certainly not going to complain about that. I doubt we can finish even one of these things between us in just a single day, though..."

"Given how big they are, yeah, I'd be inclined to agree. Okay, then, I'll scatter the bodies of the other four a good distance around us, each in different directions. That should help distract and satiate any hungry Monsters that venture in this area while we're asleep," Suggested Raven, as he looked around at the Monster corpses.

"It really is convenient that your senses will wake you up in response to any danger while you're asleep...I never feel well-rested in the slightest in situations where we have to keep watch in shifts," Smiled Celia, as Raven picked up a couple of the Monster corpses and flew up.

"I'll place these away and then butcher the last one once I'm done, could you finish setting up the tents while I'm at it?"

"Mhm, sure, leave it to me," She replied with a thumbs up.

She then got to work on setting up the tents, as Raven flew off with two of the corpses. He dropped one a couple hundred meters away to the east of their campsite, before heading up north to drop off the second one.

Celia had finished setting up one of the tents as Raven returned and picked up two of the remaining three corpses, before flying off to the west.

He set one of the corpses down a couple hundred meters away, before heading south to do the same with the last one.

With that done, he headed back to the campsite, where Celia had finished setting up the tents and was starting to arrange a pile of sticks in front of the entrances of the tents, to start a fire.

Raven then got to work on butchering the last Giant Boar corpse, using his claws to skin it before slicing up the meat into large chunks as he cut it off the bones.

"Nice, you're getting pretty good at that," Observed Celia, as she finished setting up the firewood.

"Practice makes perfect, I guess. This used to make me feel kinda nauseous, but I'm getting used to it now," He replied, before adding, "I've dulled my sense of smell right now since the stench of blood is pretty overpowerung, so my detection capabilities aren't at their best...I can still sense Mana, so it shouldn't be a problem, but stay alert until I'm done, just in case."

"Sure, I'll keep an eye out."

"Cool...hey, could you pluck out some of the leaves of that tree over there? The short one with the big, wide leaves," Pointed Raven, as he began to finish up cutting the meat.

Celia nodded as she approached the tree and tore off several leaves, before taking them to Raven, who tied up the chunks of meat and put them away in his Storage Ring.

He then walked over to a small stream flowing nearby, running his hands through it to wash the blood off.

"Now we just need to start up a fire and go to sl-...oh, crap," Began Celia, before turning her gaze up to the sky as a drop of water hit the tip of her nose, several dark clouds gathering and blotting out the stars.

"Looks like it's about to rain, and if those clouds are any indication, it's going to be quite a heavy downpour," Frowned Raven, a rumble echoing out across the darkening night sky as a steady drizzle began to pour down, gradually increasing in intensity as the pair rushed towards the tents.

"Well, this sucks...it's really cold out tonight, and it's going to get even colder now. But with how heavily it's raining, there's no way we can start a fire," Groaned Celia, before the pair hurried into their respective tents as the rain began to pick up speed.

Raven spread out his sleeping bag and crawled into it, making himself comfortable...the cold didn't affect him much, his body would adapt automatically when exposed to excessive coldness and regulate his body temperature, keeping him warm.

A flash of lightning erupted across the sky as the rain pelted down, peppering the tents as a strong wind howled around. Raven yawned and closed his eyes, finding the sound of the heavy rain and howling winds relaxing, before he glanced up as he heard some movement outside his tent, right as the entrance got unzipped.

Celia poked her head in before stepped inside and zipping the entrance back up, shivering slightly before sneezing.

"You okay?" Raven asked her, as he sat up with a look of concern.

"Y-yeah, just really cold...um, do you mind if I sleep in here? I know it'll be a bit cramped, but that should help make it warmer," She replied a bit awkwardly, her gaze darting about slightly.

"Huh? Oh, uh...s-sure, I don't mind," He nodded, starting to get up to move his sleeping bag in order to make room for hers, before he stiffened slightly as she approached him and crawled into his sleeping bag, catching him off guard, "Wh-wha...!? I...I thought she meant she'd bring her sleeping bag here and just sleep next to me, not this! I-I mean, I'm not exactly opposed to it, b-but..."

Raven's sleeping bag was on the bigger side, since a normal one was too cramped for him, due to his wings. So, technically, it was big enough for two people to sleep in.

"Wow, it's so warm," Remarked Celia in surprise, before placing her hand on Raven's chest, smiling slightly and adding as she felt him flinch a bit as she touched him, "Ohh, I get it, you can warm up your body to combat the cold. Not gonna lie, I'm kinda envious of that."

"U-uh, well, it just happens on its own, it's not something I do consciously," He muttered as he felt his face heating up, before turning around, his back to her as he thought to himself, "O-okay, just...just stay calm. She's only doing this because it's so cold, so get your mind out of the gutter and-..."

His train of thought was suddenly cut off as Celia moved closed towards him, softly embracing him from behind. His heart began racing as he felt her hands on his torso, her chest pressing into his back and her breath brushing the back of his neck, making him squirm slightly.

"U-um, is this okay? If it's not, tell me to back off and I will," She whispered quietly.

"C-come on, that's not fair...there's no way I can say that," Raven thought to himself as his face continued to heat up, before he responded as his voice cracked slightly, "N-no, it's fine, I...I don't mind."

"Th-that's good...hey, um, could you turn around? I'm still a bit cold, a-and I can't get closer with your wings in the way. A-apparently, snuggling up with someone is a really effective way to warm up," She replied with a slight stutter, while thinking to herself, "Wh-what am I doing? I-I've got to stop acting on every impulse that crosses my mind, I need to slow down! Seriously, I'm being way too forward right now, where'd my self-control run off to!? A-at this rate, I'm going to end up freaking him out!"

Raven was silent for a moment, before quietly taking in a deep breath and slowly exhaling, in at attempt to compose himself at least a little bit. He then turned around, holding his breath without even realizing it, before he met her gaze.

Neither of them said a word, both unable to think of anything to say, they were too distracted by their current position. Celia then moved closed, wrapping her arms around Raven's body, a deep blush spreading out across her cheeks as he responded in kind, embracing her and pulling her closer.

Too embarrassed to look him in the eye any longer, Celia buried her face in his chest, in an effort to hide her increasingly red face, as Raven found himself raising his right hand almost unconsciously, before placing his hand on the back of her head and stroking her hair.

"W-wait, what am I doing? I-I should stop before she-...huh? She...she doesn't seem to mind it...actually, it feels like she's leaning into my touch..."

"Your heart is pounding," Whispered Celia, as she placed her hand over the left side of Raven's chest.

"C-come on, there's no way I can help it in this situation," He muttered quietly, his heart skipping a beat as she lifted her head and met his gaze, a bashful, warm smile spreading out across her lips as she reached up and placed a hand against his cheek.

"Yeah, that's true...after all, my heart is pounding too," She responded in a low whisper, as they looked into each other's eyes, their faces slowly starting to move closer to each other-...

Suddenly, Raven tensed and sat up, turning his gaze upwards, as the rain began to slow down.

"Something's coming...we need to get outside, quick!"

"Huh? U-uh, yeah, okay!" Nodded Celia, caught off-guard by the sudden interruption before the two of them got out of the sleeping back and stepped out of the tent, turning their gazes up to see a large creature looming several meters above them.

A flash of lightning burst out across the murky sky, illuminating the creature...

"That's...that's a Wyvern, right?" Inquired Raven warily, as the Monster eyed them with a narrowed gaze, letting out a deep growl.

"Yeah, I think it's a Water Wyvern, to be precise," Nodded Celia, before they swiftly split up as the Monster unleashed a rapid, swirling blast of water down towards them.

It was a large, reptilian creature covered in light blue scales. It had webbed feet and fin-like ears, with a large, foldable fin across the middle of its back, sleek, narrow wings and another foldable fin at the tip of its tail.

Raven flew up as the blast of water slammed onto the ground in front of the tents, before he opened his mouth and fired out an intense wave of purple flames towards the Monster.

It quickly swooped down as the flames came roaring towards it, screeching in pain as the flames hit its back and burnt the large fin across the middle of its back, as well as the base of its wings, before Celia raced across as she took her gauntlets out of her Storage Ring and quickly put them on, before leaping towards the Monster as it got within her reach, driving her right fist towards the side of its face.

Its head jerked across to the left as she slammed her fist against its jaw, a trickle of blood running out of the corner of its mouth as a couple of teeth flew out upon impact, before Raven came zipping down towards it from above, intense lightning crackling around his hands as he balled his fists together and swung them down towards the top of the Monster's head.

A loud crunch rang out as he shattered the scales around that spot upon impact, several small sprays of blood squirting out, the Monster roaring in pain as Raven severely damaged its skull.

He then quickly flew back up as the Monster swiped its claws at him with a snarl, but it's movements were stiff, its body electrocuted by Raven's lightning, the rain making it all the more effective.

As the Wyvern lifted its head, keeping its gaze fixed on Raven as it opened its mouth and began to charge up a swirling mass of water, it suddenly screeched in pain as Celia went under it and unleashed a barrage of rapid strikes at its stomach, the impact of her hits magnified by her gauntlets, before she swiftly zipped out from under the Monster as it flew up and swung one of its hind legs at her, streaks of blood pouring out of its mouth.

As she evaded the attack and raced away, Raven zipped down to the Monster's right, in front of its eye, before swiftly firing out his beams straight at it, which shot forward and hit the Wyvern's right eye before it could react, a roar of pain ringing out as the beams pierced through its eye, before the roar abruptly faded as Raven's beams drilled past the eye and into the Monster's brain, killing it.

As it fell over and collapsed onto the ground with a crash, Raven hovered down and landed on the muddy grass with a slight squelch, right as the rain slowed down and came to a stop.

"Not bad, we took down a High Level Threat in no time...looks like our training has paid off," Remarked Raven, as smoke flowed out of the Wyvern's right eye socket.

"Yeah, I felt like my movements and reaction speed were much faster than before. Maybe it's time we head back to the hideout now...if we go back tomorrow morning, we should reach it by the end of the day," Nodded Celia, as she walked over.

The pair then glanced at each other, before they both found themselves adverting their gazes, as what they'd been about to do before the Water Wyvern showed up flashed through their minds.

"U-uh, yeah...sounds good. Let's head back after we wake up, then. So, uh...the rain's stopped. Which means we can get that fire started and go to sleep," Replied Raven awkwardly.

"Y-yeah, let's do that," Nodded Celia, before thinking to herself as she felt her face heat up, "If...if that Monster hadn't shown up when it did, would we have...? I-I just got so caught up in the heat of the moment, b-but now that I think about it, I-I feel so embarrassed! Since we can start a fire now, I guess that means I'll be sleeping in my tent...w-well, if he happens to suggest that I sleep in his tent like we were about to, th-then I guess I'd have no choice. I-I mean, it'd be rude to refuse after I was the one who barged into his tent in the first place...is he going to say it?"

"Since it's not raining anymore, there's no reason for her to sleep with me...b-but if she asks, then I suppose I-I have no reason to refuse. I-I mean, it'd be embarrassing, but...I definitely wouldn't be opposed to it. It doesn't look like she's going to ask though...maybe I should-...? N-no, I don't want to come off as a creep or something," Raven shook his head, before saying, "Anyway, uh...I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Huh? Oh, yeah...mhm, see you in the morning," She nodded in response, before thinking to herself with a slight sense of disappointment, "Oh...I guess he isn't going to ask, then. I-I mean, it makes sense, but still..."

"Well, um...goodnight, Celia."

"Yeah...goodnight, Raven."

Meanwhile, atop the Pearl Mountains...

"I'm exhausted...," Groaned Tacitus, as he flopped onto the ground, inadvertently landing on a few small rocks, "Ow."

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty drained myself. Let's call it a night, we shouldn't push ourselves too hard," Replied Aster, as he took a deep gulp from a bottle of water.

"I really hate this place...not only does it tire me out faster, but it also makes it harder to catch my breath once I am tired. I'm starting to feel lightheaded," Complained Tacitus, as he stared up at the night sky wearily.

"It's serving its purpose well though...you're making great progress in mastering the use of your Relic Armament, and I'm getting used to mine too. It shouldn't be long before I'm able to wield them as well as I was able to wield my old blades," Responded Aster with a wry smile.

"I'll admit, I'm growing stronger faster up here than I would normally...but that doesn't change the fact that this place is the absolute worst," Sighed Tacitus, pushing his hair off his forehead.

"You said more or less the same thing about the Quartz Ruins..."

"Yeah, that place really sucked too."

"Well, on the bright side, we don't have any reason to ever go back there again."

"I'm holding you to that...if you ever say something like 'we should go back there to train' or whatever, I swear I'll punch you."

"...I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah, you'd better," Responded Tacitus dryly.

"Well, anyway...what do you say we head into the cave and get some sleep? It's a good thing the entrance is so small, all the Monsters that reside on these mountains are too big to get us in there," Remarked Aster, turning his gaze to the narrow cave entrance a few meters to the side.

"Even if something did attack us now, I don't have the strength left to fight it. And on that note...what do we do about these?" Inquired Tacitus...as he gestured to the several Dragon corpses sprawled across the ground all around them...