Chapter 676: Temporary Shelter

"You’re ruining the team’s mood with your whining. You’re picking a fight in the middle of hostile territory because your pride can’t handle watching someone do things you can’t. And at this rate, that attitude is going to put every person here in danger." He held Kayn’s gaze without blinking.

"So if you have something you want to prove, prove it. Right here, right now. Stop hiding your jealousy behind concern for the team and say what you actually mean, or drop it and fall back in line. Those are your options."

The rest of the team had gone still, watching the two of them stand just inches away from each other in the falling snow.

Kayn’s teeth ground against each other, his jaw clenching. His hands twitched near his blades

Moon didn’t move an inch, waiting.

"Alright, alright. Nobody’s fighting anybody." Nina stepped between them, one hand raised toward each, physically breaking the line of tension. She shot Moon a quick wink, a silent ask to let it cool, and Moon held her look for a moment before easing back a half-step.

Nina turned her focus to Kayn.

"Come on. Walk with me for a second."

She took his arm and steered him away from the group, and Kayn, still stiff from the altercation that hurt his pride but unwilling to shove past her, let himself be moved. Once they were a few meters off, she lowered her voice.

"I’ve fought beside that man before. Inside the first S-Rank gate to ever open. So listen to me, because I’m telling you this as someone who’s seen more of what he can do than you have." She kept her tone even, "You don’t want that fight. Not because he’d beat you, though he would. Because he’s the reason we’re still alive in here. He turned a hundred beasts against each other so we didn’t have to die throwing ourselves at them. Everything he’s hidden, he’s used to keep this team breathing."

Kayn said nothing, his face still but he was listening.

"I get it," Nina continued. "Watching someone do what he does, it makes you feel small. I’ve felt it too but that feeling is yours to deal with. Don’t turn it into a knife you hand the whole team by picking fights in a place that’s already trying to kill us. If you want to be stronger, watch him and learn. At least that’s what I’ve been doing, use that feeling inside you to grow stronger."

Kayn was quiet for a long moment. Then he exhaled, some of the rigidity leaving his shoulders.

"...Fine. You’re right. I let it get to me."

She patted his arm and glanced back toward Moon and the others. "Well done. if you must, challenge him to a spar once we return back to Earth, where losing won’t get anyone killed."

A reluctant, tired almost-smile tugged at the corner of Kayn’s mouth.

"...Maybe I will."

Nina led him back toward the group, the confrontation defused, and Moon met her eyes with a small nod of thanks before turning north again, toward the dark spire and the plan still unfolding ahead of them.

If Moon and Kayn had actually fought, the awkwardness would have poisoned any chance of teamwork for the rest of the gate.

That was something none of them wanted, least of all in a place already trying to kill them. Nina defusing it had spared the team more than a scuffle. It had spared them the slow rot of a group that couldn’t trust itself.

The group made their way north, following Moon, who walked behind his line of subordinate beasts that led their journey.

The team had climbed down from the Grizzlers’ backs. The ride was no longer needed, their strength returning with the stamina potions and Marek’s healing, and they needed to hold proper formation as they moved deeper into dangerous territory.

They stopped roughly a kilometer from the black spire and began searching for a place to build their temporary shelter.

After some careful looking, Theo managed to spot a round and low dome of packed ice, an igloo of a kind, evidently built by one of the beasts that denned in the area.

He signaled the others.

"This should do," Moon muttered.

It was small, sized for a single beast, but that was a fixable problem.

A few quick renovations would open it up, make it spacious enough for seven people to rest inside, and the ice walls would cut the wind and hold the heat their crystal-fed fire could produce.

Moon led the team toward the ice den.

He didn’t hide his aura as he approached. He let it spread as an open invitation, waiting for whatever lived inside to show itself.

True to his thought, a creature emerged from the dome, a mix of black and white, standing upright on two clawed feet.

Its body was rounded and thick, its beak was long and sharp edged like a sword, its dark eyes were cold, just like the frost that clung to its plumage.

The beast released a harsh bark and lowered its head, ready to defend its den.

"Ugly penguin...not cute." Nina muttered, staring at the beast.

Moon glanced back at his team.

"Does anyone want to take this one?"

For a moment, silence.

Assuming nobody wanted the fight, Moon moved forward. "I’ll handle it, th—"

"I’ll take it." Suddenly a voice cut him off.

Kayn stepped forward, both blades already in hand, staring at the penguin-beast with a dark, hungry look.

All the feelings he’d been carrying, needed somewhere to go, and the poor creature in front of him had just become the outlet.

Moon watched with his arms crossed, a small smile forming on his face.

Kayn had been rude and difficult, but Moon held no personal grudge. The man hadn’t escalated further after Nina pulled him aside, and that was worth something. The de-escalation spoke as much to Nina’s growth as to Kayn’s.

Nina hadn’t struck Moon as the persuasive type back in their first gate.

She’s grown a lot since then. Emotionally and physically.That’s good to see.