Chương 94: Interlude: Avelyn

Avelyn couldn't sleep. The conversation from earlier kept replaying in her mind, refusing to let her drift off. She had been so certain Lyn needed to hear those words. She still believed that. So why did it feel as though she had only made things worse? The memory surfaced again. The careful smile. The way Lyn's breathing had changed. The quiet way she had turned away without saying another word. Avelyn sighed softly and rolled onto her side.

The others had returned hours ago, speaking in hushed voices before eventually settling down themselves. Sylrae had slipped into the tent so quietly that Avelyn had almost missed her entirely. Everyone else had fallen asleep. She couldn't. Eventually, her gaze drifted toward Lyn. The faint glow filtering through the tent painted everything in soft blues and pale violets. It caught strands of snow-white hair that had escaped during the night, adding further depth to its unusually ethereal shimmer. Lyn was asleep.

Actually asleep. One ear twitched every so often. Her breathing remained slow and steady. The faintest hint of a smile rested on her lips. Whatever she was dreaming about... Avelyn hoped it was something kind. Only a few hours ago, Lyn's hands had trembled ever so slightly. Her breathing had become deliberate. Her smile had looked too perfect, polished so carefully that it almost hurt to look at. Now there wasn't a trace of that girl left. She looked peaceful.

The contrast unsettled Avelyn more than tears ever could have. She knew what she'd seen. She knew something inside Lyn had hurt. Yet looking at her now, there wasn't a single visible sign of it. The little Foxkin remained curled beneath the sleeping bag, tail tucked close as one ear flicked lazily every now and then, as though nothing had happened at all. Avelyn pulled her sleeping bag up a little higher. She couldn't decide whether the sight reassured her... Or worried her even more.

The more she learned about Lyn, the less certain she became that she understood her. She knew how Lyn fought. She knew how she cooked. She knew the smug swish of Lyn's tail whenever she was pleased with herself. But the person beneath all of that still felt just out of reach. Close enough to see, too far away to help. Without thinking, Avelyn reached out. Her hand stopped halfway.... No. Lyn didn't like unexpected touch. Especially not while she was asleep.

Instead, Avelyn quietly shifted her sleeping bag a little closer. Just enough so that if Lyn happened to wake during the night... She wouldn't wake up alone. For some reason, that thought made Avelyn's chest feel a little lighter. Eventually, sleep found her as well.... The sound of someone quietly leaving the tent gently pulled Avelyn awake. She blinked blearily toward the entrance just in time to catch Sylrae slipping outside. Another tiny movement drew her attention. Lyn's eyelids slowly opened. Avelyn blinked.

Then immediately covered her mouth to stop herself from giggling. None of Lyn's usual regality had loaded in yet. The little Foxkin stared blankly at the ceiling, looking thoroughly bewildered as though she wasn't entirely convinced reality was worth participating in quite yet. Her snow-white hair had lost an argument with sleep so spectacularly that individual strands pointed in nearly every direction imaginable. Even her ears appeared affected.

Both drooped sleepily to either side of her head as though they, too, required several more minutes before becoming fully operational. It wasn't even unusual. Lyn had looked almost exactly the same yesterday morning. For some reason... Avelyn thought it was even cuter today. A few more seconds passed. Then, without saying a word, both Foxkin arrived at exactly the same conclusion. Avelyn pulled her sleeping bag a little higher and settled back down. Across from her, Lyn quietly did the same.

Neither of them possessed enough energy to meaningfully participate in the morning quite yet. Outside, the camp gradually came to life. Voices drifted through the tent walls. Someone laughed. Equipment clinked softly against stone. The world, rather inconsiderately, continued moving. The two Foxkin remained exactly where they were. Warm, comfortable, and perfectly content to pretend morning simply wasn't happening. Unfortunately, morning refused to respect that decision.

After what Avelyn felt was an entirely unreasonable amount of time—twenty-three minutes—the people outside apparently decided they had waited long enough. Avelyn sighed. Across from her, Lyn sighed at almost exactly the same moment. For some reason, sharing the suffering made it just a little more bearable. Together, with all the enthusiasm of two people reluctantly accepting a fate they could no longer postpone, they climbed out of their sleeping bags and began the important process of looking presentable.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Lyn approached the task with remarkable concentration. Watching her carefully smooth her hair back into place with almost ceremonial precision, Avelyn found herself smiling. She had a feeling Lyn considered looking composed nearly as important as surviving. As they got ready, Avelyn couldn't help watching her. She found none of what she'd been worried about. No forced breathing.

No hesitation whenever they happened to glance in one another's direction. Her ears and tail moved just as naturally as they always had. A satisfied flick of her tail once she'd finished brushing her hair. A small ear twitch whenever sounds drifted through the cavern. The same graceful, composed Foxkin Avelyn had met the day before. As though last night's conversation had never happened.... For some reason, that only made Avelyn worry more.

Eventually, they stepped outside the tent, earning visible relief from nearly everyone waiting around the camp. Everyone except Rin. The Catkin looked every bit as reluctant to be awake as Avelyn felt. Almost immediately, Lyn's vines emerged from her shadow, quietly distributing breakfast from her seemingly endless collection of stored food. Plates piled with berries, jerky, and assorted street food found their way into everyone's hands with practiced ease. Warm thanks followed from every direction.

Lyn's tail answered with one small, quietly pleased swish. Avelyn accepted her own plate with a grateful smile before immediately claiming a nearby rock. High places simply felt... right. She had barely started working her way through the strawberries when Lyn wandered over and settled beside her, balancing her own breakfast neatly in her lap. For a while, neither of them spoke.

Instead, they listened to Marek, Rin, and Zeke become increasingly invested in a spirited discussion regarding the merits of different armor designs. Avelyn wasn't entirely sure why. Surely the answer depended on the person wearing it. A Catkin would never choose the heavy armor many Bearkin preferred. A Bearkin would probably feel just as uncomfortable wearing something light enough for a Catkin. Though... She could think of one particular Foxkin who preferred considerably more coverage than most.

The thought made her smile. She glanced sideways toward Lyn. Then quietly froze. Lyn wasn't eating. The blueberry she'd picked up remained suspended halfway to her mouth, held loosely between two fingers. Her ears were still. Her tail was still. Even her expression had gone scarily empty. She wasn't watching anything, and she wasn't distracted. For a few quiet seconds, it simply looked as though the world had stopped reaching her. Avelyn's heart sank. Without saying anything, she shifted a little closer.

Then, as casually as she could manage, she reached over and stole a berry directly from Lyn's plate. Lyn blinked once. The blueberry resumed its journey toward her mouth. One ear twitched. Avelyn immediately popped the stolen berry into her own mouth and turned her complete attention toward the increasingly spirited armor discussion, wearing what she hoped was a perfectly innocent expression. Beside her, Lyn quietly finished chewing. Then, with impeccable timing, she stole one of Avelyn's strawberries.

Avelyn smiled. Apparently, breakfast had become a competition. A few minutes later, the final score was thoroughly one-sided. Lyn claimed victory with four strawberries and six blueberries. Avelyn managed three blueberries, a small piece of grilled corn, and one rather lonely strip of jerky. She pouted. Lyn's tail answered with one slow, unmistakably triumphant swish. Then her vines slipped quietly from her shadow and immediately went to work. Tent stakes disappeared into storage.

Sleeping bags rolled themselves into tidy bundles. Supplies sorted themselves into neat little piles before vanishing one after another. Some of the vines moved so quickly that Avelyn could barely follow them.

"Those really are convenient." Lyn nodded with complete seriousness.

"They are." One vine caught a loose tent rope before it touched the ground. Another folded an entire sheet of canvas with astonishing precision. A third was already retrieving supplies everyone else had apparently forgotten. Avelyn watched for another few moments before a thought occurred to her.

"... Wait. How many things can they do at once?" Lyn actually paused to think. She tapped one finger thoughtfully against her chin.

"I'm not entirely sure." Avelyn stared.

"You... don't know?"

"I have never reached a point where I needed more." Avelyn looked back toward the rapidly disappearing campsite.

"... That's a scary answer." Lyn's tail swished again. This one carried just a little more satisfaction than the last.

"You two done flirting yet?" Rin's voice drifted across the campsite. Avelyn's head whipped toward him, warmth instantly flooding her cheeks.

"We aren't—" She stopped. Rin was grinning.... He absolutely knew what he was doing. Before she could think of a response, Lyn spoke instead.

"You got a new bracer." Avelyn blinked. Only then did she notice the thin crystal scale bracer wrapped around Rin's left forearm. He lifted it proudly.

"Yeah. While you lazy foxes slept the night away, we actually opened the chest. Got some decent loot."

"I see." Lyn leaned forward slightly.

"May I inquire as to its effects?" Rin's tail tip flicked smugly.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lyn leaned in just a little farther. For one alarming moment, Avelyn became genuinely concerned that Rin had for some reason chosen this exact morning to antagonize the strongest person in the camp. Then she looked more carefully. Lyn wasn't watching Rin. Her ears were angled toward him, but her gaze never left the bracer itself. Avelyn blinked.... She was studying the runes. Somehow, that explanation made perfect sense. Lyn had shown the same look before, when discussing Classes.

As well as aspects, evolution, and skills. Practically anything connected to the System. Unlike Avelyn, who mostly cared what something could do, Lyn seemed genuinely interested in how it did it. She approached every new discovery like a puzzle waiting to be solved. Maybe she simply hadn't had the energy to examine the loot properly after spending half the previous battle moving at speeds Avelyn was fairly certain she shouldn't be capable of at her level.

Unfortunately for Rin, he seemed to think he was competing with Lyn's attention. In reality... He was competing with the bracer. Having received far less of a reaction than he'd clearly hoped for, he eventually sighed, his ears drooping ever so slightly before explaining the item anyway. Avelyn had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling.... He deserved that a little. The bracer itself was reasonably sturdy and possessed an active skill that launched a specialized water spear.

Since Rin could immediately freeze the projectile into an ice lance, it suited him far better than anyone else in the party. Beyond that, though, there wasn't much reason to keep it. Once the dungeon was cleared, they would simply sell it and split the earnings. The explanation had barely finished before Lyn politely spoke up.

"Would you mind if I looked at it a little more closely?" The wording was perfectly courteous. Somehow, the request still sounded remarkably difficult to refuse. Rin held out his arm.

"Would you mind rotating it slightly?" He did.

"A little farther, if possible." He obediently turned it another few degrees.

"Perfect." Lyn's expression never changed throughout the entire exchange. Even so, Avelyn couldn't help thinking that most people would probably do exactly as asked when a beautiful, powerful, and slightly ethereal Foxkin looked at them with that much quiet interest. It was probably the easiest interrogation technique Avelyn had ever witnessed. There had been other treasure as well. A crystal scale gauntlet focused on durability and Vitality had gone to Marek.

A longsword crafted from one of the Tyrant's enormous fangs had immediately been offered to Lyn, who accepted it without hesitation before calmly storing it away to sell later. Both items received almost exactly the same treatment. Lyn examined them carefully, paused to think for a few moments, then gave one small nod. Her tail flicked once in quiet satisfaction before she apparently decided she'd learned everything she wanted, immediately losing interest. Avelyn smiled to herself. Some people collected treasure.

Lyn, it seemed, collected understanding. Several potions had also been tucked inside the chest. Two were immediately handed to Lyn to replace the ones she had used on Marek during the fight. The rest were divided between Marek, Sylrae, and Avelyn, who, according to the group's collective judgment, were the least likely people to require emergency healing in the first place.... Excluding Lyn, though she insisted she still had plenty of her own. Every piece of equipment turned out to be Rare quality.

The potions, meanwhile, were merely Uncommon. Not especially exciting. Especially with a healer already travelling alongside them. Once the final adjustments had been made, everyone prepared to leave. Only for Lyn to stop walking almost immediately. She blinked at the cavern around them.

"... Would anyone mind explaining why everything is back to normal?" Avelyn followed her gaze. Then immediately understood. The shattered islands had returned. The broken shoreline looked untouched. Even the lake had regained its usual crystal clarity. There wasn't the slightest indication that a colossal serpent had exploded across half the cavern less than a day earlier. Then Avelyn remembered. Right. Lyn had grown up in a world without the System.

"This is normal," she explained.

"Dungeons slowly repair themselves. Once we leave, the miniboss will eventually come back too. Hopefully without mutating this time." Lyn blinked. One ear tipped sideways.

"... How?" Avelyn opened her mouth. Then quietly closed it again. She... actually had no idea. Finally, she settled on the only honest answer.

"I don't know." Lyn looked at her for several long seconds. Then she gave one tiny nod before looking away again. Avelyn couldn't help smiling again. That expression is familiar. It was the look that people wore whenever they encountered something they couldn't explain and reluctantly filed it away under the wonderfully broad category of... Magic. The group resumed moving soon afterward. Rin froze a path across the lake. Sylrae lifted into the air to scout ahead. Everyone else followed behind.

Avelyn naturally fell into step beside Lyn. Only a few moments later, a single vine quietly emerged from Lyn's shadow. It crept across the ground with remarkable stealth. Its target... Was a rock. Not a magical crystal, or a rare ore. Just a particularly interesting-looking rock. The vine carefully picked it up. Presented it to Lyn. Lyn studied it with complete seriousness for several seconds. Then calmly placed it into her spatial storage. Avelyn stared. Slowly, Lyn noticed. The two Foxkin looked at one another.

"..."

"..." Without a word, Lyn turned her head away and very subtly increased her walking speed. Her ears angled outward. Avelyn recognized that particular tell almost immediately. She was embarrassed. The realization made Avelyn smile again. She simply matched Lyn's pace and continued walking beside her as though nothing had happened. The cool rock, apparently, had been worth keeping after all.