Chapter 60: The Heart Within the Beast

Elias looked at the thing in Venatrix’s right hand, confused and a little disgusted at the same time.

Of course he was! She was holding out a heart that was still beating, with warm blood still flowing from it, as if it had just been pulled out.

*Thump... Thump...

"What... Is this?"

"What does it look like?"

"A heart?"

"If you already know, why ask."

"..."

Elias fell silent again because he didn’t understand why she was handing him a heart that was still beating. Was it medicine for his wounds? Or was he supposed to eat it?

But there was no way Elias could eat a raw heart. No matter what, he wasn’t a Demi-Human, he was a human! Not an Iron Wolf Fangs like Venatrix.

’I am kind of hungry. But there are a few things I have to do and make sure of first.’

First, what kind of heart is this? If it’s a human heart, Elias would refuse.

Second, if he confirmed it wasn’t a human heart, he’d accept it, and then prepare it properly first.

"Why are you... Giving this... To me? And... What heart is this?"

"What? Don’t you need it? This is the big kitty’s heart from earlier. And this is the Heartbloom."

Hearing that what Venatrix was holding was the Heartbloom made Elias jump in shock.

The Heartbloom he knew was a red flower with an abundance of energy inside it. But what was in front of him right now was truly a heart, still beating.

Sure, from the name, people might assume it was a heart. But the Heartbloom itself was a flower.

Evelyn then stood up and walked over to Venatrix with her face still sweaty.

"How did you get it? Wasn’t that tiger’s body completely obliterated, with nothing left?"

"Ah~ that... I took it before Voper’s attack hit the big kitty."

Elias tilted his head a little in curiosity.

"Took it?"

"I mean, I pulled it out."

"W-what?... How?"

"You guys ask too many questions... Yeah, I just stuck my hand into its chest, then I yanked the heart out. That’s all."

Hearing Venatrix’s explanation, Elias could only give a sour smile, feeling a little creeped out.

’I’m trying to get used to this, but these people always throw some unexpected surprise at me. And pulling it out... Even my sword had a hard time getting through its skin, and that was with energy coating it.

And this woman just pulled it out without a drop of energy? The gap is way too big! I have to stay on good terms with the Seven Monarchs forever...’

On the other side, Elysia, who had heard Venatrix’s explanation, just nodded along while holding her chin.

’No wonder. For a moment I saw that tiger cough up blood. I thought it was from Vesper’s attack hitting its blast of energy.’

Elysia had also felt that the energy from the White Dreadclaw’s breath blast had suddenly weakened before Ferrum moved them away.

’This woman is terrifying. And not just her, her comrades too! Where were these people before? With power like theirs, they should have been widely known "back then."’

While Elysia was lost in thought, trying to find the answer to her own question, Venatrix suddenly spoke to Elias, who was staring at the heart in his hand with a look that was still confused.

"This really is a Heartbloom."

"But... From what I can see... It’s a heart."

"Good grief... Of course that’s what you see. Because the Heartbloom is inside this heart."

"Huh...?"

Sensing that Elias still didn’t believe her, Venatrix sighed a little before splitting the heart in her hand open with her nails.

And once it was split open, sure enough, a single red flower was inside that heart, and it was alive.

Realizing that Venatrix’s words were true, that a Heartbloom really was inside the heart, naturally shocked Elias.

So many questions flashed through his mind, like:

How is this possible? Why is it here? Is this really a Heartbloom? It wasn’t like this in the game. How come? How did she know the Heartbloom was inside that heart?

"Do you want it or not? If not I’m tossing it! My arm’s getting sore with you just staring at it..."

Elias flinched and snapped back to reality when Venatrix said she’d throw it away.

"I-I’ll take it... Thank you!"

’Screw the "how" and the "what." Whatever, what matters is I got it... I can still live!’

Elias started crying with relief as the Heartbloom sat in his hand. Snot began to run from his nose.

Venatrix, seeing Elias’s face, took a step back with a frightened and disgusted look at the snot.

"That much, huh..."

’Alright, the mission should be halfway done!’

Elias opened his status window to check his earlier Quest while Evelyn wiped away his snot and tears.

[Ding!]

[The Marquis’s wife is in critical condition and only has days left to live! Find the cause and cure the Marquis’s wife!]

Reward: 1000 Exp, 10 Stat Points, 50 Grade B Mana Stones, and the trust of the Marquis.

Penalty for failure: Death.

Time limit: 6 hours remaining.

Elias was shocked when he saw that the time limit was down to 6 hours. Even though he had changed his approach to the search earlier, with less than 2 days on the clock, he still wouldn’t make it back to Nocturne in time!

’I didn’t think my fight with Vladir would take that long. Counting the time the Seven Monarchs needed, maybe it was only thirty minutes to an hour and a half.

Wait! Why am I thinking about that now? The real problem is how we get back to the Mansion before the time runs out!

The Main Quest doesn’t even have a completion notification yet... Damn it! And I was just happy that I still had a chance to live.’

Seeing Elias’s face drenched in sweat, with his forehead furrowed, Evelyn and Elysia grew worried again, and Evelyn touched his face.

"What’s wrong, Elias?"

"..."

"Talk to us, maybe we can help you."

Elias then glanced at Elysia, who was looking at him with teary eyes.

"We’re short on time."

"What?"

"Even though we’ve... Gotten the Heartbloom. If we ride horses at... Full speed, the trip back... Would... Take about a whole day. And that’s without any rest. That alone is already a problem. Not to mention the horses we’re... Riding... They also... Get tired if they run for a whole day without rest."

"How much time is left?"

Elias gave Evelyn a wary sidelong look for a moment.

’What is this? Do I have to answer? What if they kill me right here, right now? But if I don’t answer, that might set off their anger, and then I’ll end up dead anyway.’

Even so, Elias answered in a voice that sounded hesitant.

"That’s... Six hours."

Evelyn and Elysia fell silent when they heard the time that was left.

They had also just realized that the earlier fight really had eaten up a lot of time. And this had already changed from what the two of them "knew" before.

’Damn it! If only that tiger hadn’t gotten stronger...’

’We might have been able to get back in time!’

Seeing Evelyn and Elysia biting their lower lips with furrowed brows out of frustration, Venatrix sighed for a moment before saying,

"How much time is left?"

"...Six hours."

"Alright, that’s enough."

Venatrix walked over to a spot with a fairly wide stretch of open ground. Then she began drawing a Magic Circle on the ground using her mana.

Watching what Venatrix was doing, Nox snorted a little with one corner of his mouth lifted.

"Hoo... You’re going to summon her?"

"Can’t be helped... Master asked for it. Honestly, why is he so soft on this human anyway. It’s just annoying."

Elias heard that their master was the one who had ordered Venatrix.

’Baekhyun? What is he planning to do?’

Once the Magic Circle was finished, Venatrix bit her thumb until it bled and dripped the blood onto the Magic Circle.

*Drip...

The moment the blood dripped, the Magic Circle immediately gave off a deep, dark purple light.

"Open."

The light from the Magic Circle grew brighter, and in the center of it, a shadow of a huge figure appeared.

*Roar!

The Magic Circle shattered the instant the figure let out a loud roar.

Elias then looked up to see the figure.

"A wyvern..." he muttered.

A creature related to dragons, but much smaller.

The wyvern then descended to the ground and walked over to Venatrix.

"This girl’s name is Buka, she’s a wyvern I raised from an egg."

Elias stared in awe at the wyvern, whose scales were white like snow. Her violet eyes were truly beautiful, and her long, curled lashes added a charm of their own.

’I wonder what this wyvern would look like if she got hit with "Japanese Beam," I bet those artists would make her look absolutely stunning.’

"Buka. Take these three to Nocturne territory. You should still remember it."

*Grrr

"Alright. She says she remembers."

"She understands human language?"

Hearing Elysia’s words, Venatrix raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. She can turn into a human too."

Hearing that, Elias’s eyes lit up with excitement.

’W-what?! How! Show me! I wanna see!’

"But lately she’s been getting chubby, so she doesn’t want to turn into a human."

’What a shame...’

In short, Elias, Evelyn, and Elysia were soon up on Buka’s back.

’Good thing I don’t get airsick.’

Before they left, Elias asked them to let one of the Nocturne soldiers know that Elias had found the Heartbloom and was bringing it home.

That way, they wouldn’t keep searching for Elias.

Of course, Elias didn’t forget to thank all seven of them again. Well, three of them were nowhere to be seen, but at least Elias thanked them from the bottom of his heart.

"We’ll... Be going now."

"Yeah, yeah. Don’t forget to feed the girl. Buka has quite the appetite."

Elias smiled at them all before they took off, quickly leaving Blackwood Forest behind.

*Whoosh!

Elias looked up at the sky, where the sun was now high overhead.

’It feels like forever since I last saw the sky.’

Elias then looked toward Blackwood Forest, shrinking smaller and smaller behind him. He had gained a lot there and met a lot of things too. So many events and things that had never existed before.

’Truly full of mysteries.’

He then turned to face forward again, and began drinking a healing potion to hold back the pain that was still in his body.

* * *

In no time, Elias and the two girls arrived at the Nocturne family Mansion, in four hours.

They landed right in the front yard of the mansion, causing quite the commotion.

It was more than enough, and honestly Elias was a little surprised by Buka’s speed. Even though she said she was getting chubby, her speed could only be called incredibly fast.

Several soldiers, Arhan, and Alistair rushed out and approached the wyvern. At first they were on guard, but after seeing Evelyn and Elysia, they began to lower their guard.

"My ladies! Elias!" Alistair shouted, his face streaming with sweat from worry.

The two girls climbed down from Buka’s back and ran straight to hug Arhan.

Elias climbed down from Buka’s back too, but the moment he got down, his legs gave out and he dropped to his knees.

*Thud!

Several soldiers were startled and rushed over to Elias, trying to lift him up.

"Sir Elias!"

Not only the soldiers, even Alistair came over to Elias with a face streaming with sweat.

"Elias, I’m glad you..." Alistair’s eyes went wide when he saw the injuries Elias had suffered. But the most shocking part was Elias’s left arm, which was gone.

"Elias..."

"That can wait. I got the Heartbloom. Let’s give it to her right away."

Hearing Elias’s words, Alistair felt a heaviness in his chest, but in the end he nodded and brought Elias inside along with Evelyn, Elysia, and Arhan.

Once they were inside, the healer immediately began preparing the Heartbloom Elias had handed over earlier, and it didn’t take long.

* * *

In Valeria’s room, everyone , Elias included and started to feel worried, cold sweat covering their faces.

’Please...’

When the healer gave the prepared Heartbloom to Valeria to drink, at first her body seemed fine. Until suddenly, Valeria began to convulse.

"Honey!" Arhan shouted to Valeria.

"Mother!" Evelyn and Elysia cried out too, worried about their mother’s condition.

"What the hell did you do! Why is my wife like this? Did you trick me, huh?!"

"I don’t know, Marquis!"

"My lord, please calm down!"

Arhan grabbed the healer by the collar on instinct. Anyone would be furious in his position. A husband who loved his wife and daughters deeply.

Elias, seeing the situation, naturally panicked. He had no idea what was happening. It should have worked, because her illness really did call for a medicine like the Heartbloom.

[Ding!]

[The Marquis’s wife is in critical condition and only has days left to live! Find the cause and cure the Marquis’s wife!]

Reward: 1000 Exp, 10 Stat Points, 50 Grade B Mana Stones, and the trust of the Marquis.

Penalty for failure: Death.

Time limit: 1 hour 30 minutes remaining.

’Damn it! Why? What went wrong? Where? Everything was there and I already got it all!’

Elias started biting his lower lip until it bled out of sheer frustration.

He still couldn’t just stand there while Valeria was convulsing.

While he was thinking about what he’d gotten wrong, suddenly the Cursed Orb came out of his storage pouch on its own. Then it floated above Valeria’s body before shining a dark purple light onto her.

’That’s the one Baekhyun gave me...’

"Elias! What are you doing to my wife! I’ll kill you—"

"Wait a moment, Marquis!"

Arhan stopped right away when the healer called his name, then turned around.

"Madam’s body is starting to recover! She’s not convulsing anymore."

"What?"

"Are you serious?"

"I swear by the Emperor. Madam is starting to recover."

Hearing those words, Arhan, Evelyn, and Elysia couldn’t hold back their tears. A miracle had happened in the final moments.

*Sob... Sob...

"Thank goodness... Thank goodness..."

"Mother..."

*Thud!

While they were crying with relief, suddenly a heavy thump sounded from behind them.

"Elias!"

Seeing Elias unconscious, Evelyn and Elysia rushed over and shook his body, even louder sobs coming out of their mouths.

"Elias! Wake up!"

"Elias!"

The healer immediately went over to Elias to check on him. He touched Elias’s neck, then his temple.

*Sigh~

"Don’t worry. He’s just asleep."

"What?"

"He’s probably completely exhausted. I don’t know what he went through out there. For now, let him rest."

Hearing those words, Evelyn and Elysia wiped the tears from their faces. They looked gently at Elias’s face, as he slept peacefully.

Unseen by Evelyn and Elysia, a system board notification that the Quest was complete appeared beside Elias’s head.

* * *