Chapter 158: Tired, Yet Not Tired
She saw her own hand, saw the wheat-colored skin beneath her fingertips, saw the lines of those muscles, saw that shallow wound—
And then she jerked her hand back.
The movent was so abrupt that she nearly toppled over. She caught herself with one hand on the ground, scooted back half a step, and turned her face away.
Her face was burning as though it had caught fire.
Her ears burned. Her neck burned. Even her palm was burning—the very hand that had touched his skin felt as though it were clutching a live coal.
“I... I was only checking whether your injury was serious.” Her voice ca out muffled. “If you got hurt and turned into dead weight, I have no intention of dragging dead weight around with .”
Rex scratched his head and grinned.
“Don’t worry, Miss. I’m tough. This little scratch is nothing.” He pulled a small vial of potion from his waist, bit out the stopper, and poured a little over the wound. The liquid foad faintly where it touched the cut. He did not even frown, as though the injury were on soone else’s body.
After treating it, he tucked the bottle away and looked up at Lillian.
“Would you like so water, Miss?”
Lillian froze for a mont.
Rex had already unhooked the waterskin from his waist and handed it over.
It was still plump, more than half full.
Lillian took it, twisted off the stopper, and drank. The water was warm, but this was hardly the ti to be particular. She gulped it down, one mouthful after another, until she had drained nearly half the skin before finally stopping for breath.
“Slow down, slow down,” Rex said from beside her. “There’s still more.”
Lillian glared at him, but said nothing.
She leaned against his shoulder again and kept breathing hard. The water sloshed coolly in her stomach, and her whole body felt a little better.
From the mont they had landed until now, neither of them had stopped moving.
In that regard, they had been lucky.
When they entered the ruin, the blue light had flashed before her eyes. By the ti her vision cleared, she had found herself standing at the edge of a forest. She had not even had ti to take in the surroundings before she heard Rex shouting in the distance, “Miss! Over here!”
They had found each other in less than twenty minutes.
At that point, they had not even known where they were. All around them had stood those silver-gray trees, tall and densely packed, the sky hidden overhead. Rex had climbed up one to take a look and said there was a vast marsh to the north.
So they had headed in that direction.
The mont they stepped into the wetland, the monsters had started appearing.
At first there had only been a few jet-black snakes, which Lillian had dispatched easily enough. Then ca crocodiles. Then more snakes. Then those grotesque things whose nas they did not even know.
One after another. Wave after wave. They just kept coming.
They had been fighting from that mont until now.
How long had they been fighting?
She did not know. Two hours, perhaps. Three.
All Lillian knew was that her arm ached so badly it could barely hold the sword anymore, and her legs were so weak she could hardly stay standing. She had cast ice magic dozens of tis, and her Mana was nearly depleted.
Yet the monsters had kept coming, right up until the last wave, which they had only just driven back.
Lillian closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
Beside her, Rex took the waterskin from her hand and gave it a shake. There was still a little under half left, probably enough for another two or three swallows.
Without a second thought, he tipped back his head and drained it in one long gulp.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
Lillian heard the sound and opened her eyes, only to see Rex drinking, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
That waterskin—
She had just drunk from it.
“You—” Lillian’s face flad scarlet. “What are you doing?!”
Rex lowered the waterskin, wiped his mouth, and looked at her in bewildernt. “Drinking water.”
“I already drank from that!”
Rex lowered his head and looked at the waterskin in his hand, then looked back at her, even more confused. “But there was still water in it. Miss, you’d already had your fill, hadn’t you? If you weren’t going to drink it, wouldn’t it just go to waste?”
Lillian opened her mouth, but no words ca out.
Rex had already tilted the waterskin to pour the last few drops into his mouth. Then he stoppered it again and hung it back at his waist.
The whole motion was so natural, as though what had just happened did not count as anything at all.
Lillian turned her face away, burning all over. The heat spread from her cheeks to her ears, from her ears down to her neck. She felt as though her ears themselves were on fire.
This idiot.
This fool.
This bumpkin. This country lout. This commoner who did not understand the first thing about proper manners—
Ahhh, Rex!!!!
How could he be so shaless?
That was the waterskin she had drunk from. She had drunk from it. How could he just take it and drink from it so casually? How?
Lillian bit her lip and cursed him eight hundred tis over in her heart.
But after cursing him, she still snuck another glance his way.
Rex was sitting there, looking out toward the reeds in the distance, muttering who knew what under his breath.
The wound at his waist was still seeping a little blood, but he paid it no mind at all. He just sat there like a statue carved from stone.
Lillian pulled her gaze back and patted her own cheeks.
What am I even thinking?
It is not as though I drank after him. He drank after . I will simply consider it... a favor this young lady granted him.
Yes. A favor.
Lillian drew a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
At her ears was the whisper of the reeds, and farther away, the faint sounds of splashing. The monsters were still there, but they no longer dared approach.
At least not for now.
She leaned against Rex’s shoulder again and closed her eyes.
She was tired.
But sohow... not quite as tired as before.
The rustling of the reeds, the faint splashing in the distance, and Rex’s steady breathing all blended together into a strange sort of lullaby.
Lillian felt herself drifting toward sleep, her eyelids growing heavier, her thoughts more and more blurred.
She did not know how much ti passed—perhaps a few minutes, perhaps half an hour—when she suddenly heard Rex’s voice.
“Miss.”
Lillian opened her eyes.
The light had changed.
That grayish glow above them was now tinged with a faint orange-red. The sun was nearing the horizon. Though it could not be seen directly, the dusk-darkness was already gathering from all sides.
The shadows of the reeds stretched long, and even the reflections in the pools had dimd.
When they had entered, it had been midday.
Now it was nearly evening.
Lillian straightened up and flexed her stiff limbs. After resting for about a quarter of an hour, so of her strength had returned. Her hands no longer trembled, and her legs had so power in them again. Her Mana had not fully recovered, but it would be enough for a few more battles.
And then she heard it.
From deep within the reeds ca a chaotic crashing sound.
It was getting closer. Louder. As though sothing were charging straight toward them.
Lillian rose to her feet and narrowed her eyes into the distance.
Those dark yellow eyes had appeared again.
No—not just a few of them. A whole horde.
So many that they packed together in a mass, erging from the reeds, breaking out of the mud, surging toward them from every direction.
Abyssal Giant Pythons. Ironclad Crocodiles. Rotmarsh Giant Lizards. And those grotesque creatures with no nas at all—
All of them black as pitch, rolling toward them like a tide of darkness.
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