The forest had grown quiet.
Too quiet.
Kazuki sat beside Lyria, keeping watch as moonlight streamed through the swaying branches. His body ached everywhere—bruises blossoming across his ribs, cuts burning across his arms—but he refused to rest.
Not until he knew she was safe.
A soft glow flickered before him as the system window appeared.
◈ STATUS UPDATE ◈
Name: Kazuki Arai
Level: 13
HP: 330 / 330
Strength: 38
Agility: 46
Endurance: 34
Intelligence: 27
Perception: 29
New Skills Unlocked:
• Herbal Insight (Lv.1)Identify, harvest, and evaluate medicinal plants and their effects.
• Basic Medicine & Potion Crafting (Lv.1)Craft low-tier potions, antidotes, and healing salves.
• Combat Instinct (Passive, Lv.1)Increases reaction speed and enhances enemy movement prediction.
Kazuki stared at the numbers in disbelief.
"In one night… I actually got stronger."
Not just stronger—alive.
If that boar had hit him once, he would've been paste on a tree trunk. But he wasn't the same person they abandoned to die. This world was hell, but somehow… it was also giving him something.
A chance.
He closed the system window quietly and looked down at Lyria again.
Her breathing was calmer now, the potion's soft green glow fading from her lips. The fever had finally broken. Color returned to her face like dawn returning to the horizon.
Kazuki released a long, shaky breath. "Good… thank God."
He brushed a stray leaf from her hair.
"You better wake up after all this trouble," he murmured.
As if hearing him, Lyria's fingers twitched slightly.
Kazuki leaned closer. "Lyria?"
Her eyes opened slowly—dull at first, then sharpening with awareness. She blinked several times, confusion washing over her.
"…Kazuki?" Her voice was faint, barely a whisper.
He nodded. "Yeah. You're safe now."
Lyria tried to sit up but winced, clutching her side. Kazuki immediately reached out to help her.
"Easy. Your body's still recovering."
She stared at him—no distrust this time. Only quiet disbelief.
"I… I thought I was dying."
"You almost were," Kazuki admitted softly. "You burned yourself out using magic and the wound got infected. Your fever was getting worse."
Lyria glanced around, noticing the glowing mushrooms, the faint traces of magic still lingering on her skin.
"You healed me…" she whispered.
Kazuki shook his head. "Not alone. The potion did most of it."
"A potion?" Her brows furrowed in confusion. "You… crafted an Elven Healing Potion?"
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Yeah. The system gave me a skill. Medicine and potion crafting."
Lyria blinked, stunned. "Humans cannot learn elven alchemy. It requires mana sensitivity and high spiritual control. Most elves struggle with it. But you… learned it instantly?"
Kazuki shrugged lightly. "Guess the system is broken."
Lyria stared at him for a long moment, as if seeing him for the first time—not as a human, not as an outsider, but as something else entirely.
"…You truly are strange," she whispered.
Kazuki huffed. "You've said that before."
She almost smiled.
But her expression turned somber as she touched her healing wound.
"If you hadn't found that Moonsap Herb, I wouldn't be breathing right now."
Kazuki's eyes widened. "You remember?"
She nodded slowly. "Moonsap is rare. Even seasoned elves fear going after it. Forest Razorbacks guard the streams where it grows. They sense magical herbs… and kill anything that approaches."
Kazuki froze.
"You're telling me… that monster was guarding the herb?"
Lyria's eyes widened in return. "You faced a Razorback?"
He swallowed. "Yeah. Level fifteen."
Lyria almost choked on air. "Kazuki, that's an elite beast! Even trained warriors avoid them unless they're in groups!"
Kazuki looked away, rubbing the back of his neck."…Well. It almost killed me. But I got lucky."
Lyria's eyes softened—not with pity, but something deeper.
"You risked your life… for me?" she whispered.
He met her gaze.
"You were dying. And I wasn't going to let that happen."
Something in her expression melted. She looked as fragile as the night breeze, yet stronger than the ancient trees surrounding them.
"Nobody has ever…" Her voice faltered. "I've never been protected by anyone."
Kazuki blinked. "Really? You're an elf princess or something, right?"
Lyria stiffened.
Then looked away.
"I… can't say. But I wasn't someone people protected. I was someone they wanted controlled."
Kazuki felt that in his bones.
"Yeah," he murmured. "I know what that feels like."
A heavy silence settled between them, but it didn't feel awkward. It felt… shared. Bonded. Two outcasts thrown together by fate, finding something unexpectedly human in the middle of a monster-filled forest.
Lyria lifted her head weakly.
"Kazuki… thank you."
His heart thumped unexpectedly hard.
He cleared his throat. "Don't mention it. Besides, you gave me a reason to get stronger."
"That boar almost killed you," she muttered.
Kazuki grinned faintly. "And yet… here I am."
Lyria shook her head, half frustrated, half amused.
But then—
Her ears twitched sharply. She bolted upright, eyes widening.
Kazuki tensed instantly. "What is it?"
Lyria's voice dropped, tense and urgent.
"…We're not alone."
Kazuki reached for his damaged sword, scanning the darkness.
The forest was dead silent.
Too silent.
Then—
A twig snapped.A whisper echoed.A shadow moved.
Lyria grabbed Kazuki's arm, her voice trembling.
"No… not them. Anyone but them."
Kazuki's grip tightened around his sword.
"Who's coming?"
Lyria swallowed hard.
"The hunters… from Sylphria."
Another whisper. Another shifting shadow.
And then, a voice drifted through the trees—
Smooth, cold, and merciless:
"Lyria Sylphwind. By decree of the Elven Council… you are to be captured alive."
Lyria trembled.
Kazuki stepped in front of her.
"Over my dead body."
He raised his sword as glowing emerald eyes appeared between the trees.
The night held its breath.
END OF CHAPTER 7