My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Waking the others didn't take long. Damon unceremoniously slapped them awake, including the girls. Xander wasn't so lucky—he was jolted awake with a kick.

Damon looked at them. "Quit sleeping. We need to cross the bridge."

They all stared at him with a variety of expressions. Leona sniffled, choking down her tears before leaping up and tackling him.

"I… I knew you wouldn't die!"

Damon, who was forced to the ground, felt his injuries ache as the massive axe he had been carrying fell with a clang. Even then, he smiled lightly. "I'm not so easy to kill… Now get off before you break something."

Leona nodded. This was quite a Damon way to react. At least he wasn't rude today.

"You must have missed us far more than you let on," she teased.

He sighed, pinching her cheek. "I decide to be a better person, and you give me attitude?"

Leona smiled, hugging him again before whispering, "I'm glad you came back."

He nodded slowly, whispering back, "Me too."

Evangeline sat quietly, her expression stern, but he could tell she was relieved to see him. Still, he decided he didn't like this mature, peaceful version of her. He wanted problems, always.

"What's with you? Why are you suddenly acting mature all of a sudden? Did that troll hit you on the head or something?"

When he said that, she slowly turned to Sylvia. Damon followed her gaze to the elf girl, who wore a calm expression, her eyes focused on him—or rather, in his direction. Then, slowly, she smiled.

"I've been waiting for you," she said softly. "I'm glad I didn't have to wait long."

Damon blinked. That was not the reaction he had been expecting. "That was weird."

Even so, he nodded. He was the reason, after all, the one who told her to have faith in him.

Evangeline looked between them, her gaze lingering on Sylvia as if she wanted to say something but chose not to.

"I'm glad you won too, Damon," she said at last.

Xander watched the whole exchange, his body still coated in dried blood.

"You awakened your first class too… Figures. Why else would you want to fight a war troll?"

Damon nodded, his expression calm. "Yeah, so did all of you. But we can talk about our classes after we cross the bridge."

He stood up, taking on the role of party leader, and gazed at the other five.

"All party members are alive and accounted for—a little beat up, but alive."

Xander rolled his eyes. "I'd say we're more like half-dead than a little beat up."

The others nodded in agreement, murmuring their exhaustion. Damon smirked.

"Good. Then that means you're also half alive."

He stretched, cracking his neck.

"With our classes awakened, I can safely say our zero percent chance of surviving the Whispering Forest is now at least as high as… three percent."

Evangeline blinked. "Wait, didn't you say we had a higher chance last time?"

Damon chuckled. "I lied. Obviously. I didn't even think we'd make it past the Duhu Mountains. But you know what they say—when there's a will, there's a way. And we found a way."

He paused, glancing at them. "To potentially certain death."

"Or worse," Sylvia added.

He snapped his fingers at her. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sylvia. That really puts things into perspective."

She nodded slowly. The others sighed. At this point, they had grown somewhat used to the fear of the unknown.

Damon looked at them seriously.

"I won't bore you with any pointless speeches. The goal is simple cross the bridge. When we do, we cut it off to escape any potential pursuit from the demon army or Ashergon's minions."

He pointed at the rickety rope bridge ahead.

"Once we cross, we can rest for a day or two before we brave the dangers of the Whispering Forest. During this time, we'll share the details of our classes so we know what skills and abilities we have in our deck."

The party looked ahead at the precarious bridge and then back at each other. Damon exhaled, gripping his axe tightly.

The others nodded. This would also give them the opportunity to recover any supplies they had lost—some to the devil monkeys, while the rest had been used up.

They needed to rest. They were tired, broken both physically and mentally. There wasn't even time to rejoice at having survived certain death. They had to keep moving, keep running, keep surviving. But looking back, they had made progress.

"We have a little time," Damon said, glancing at Sylvia and Evangeline.

"You two, drink the last of our healing and mana potions. Heal yourselves."

He then looked at the others.

"Once they're recovered, they'll heal the rest of us. Our job is to make sure the healers stay safe at all costs. They're our lifeline, especially since we won't have any potions left after this."

They all nodded as Evangeline and Sylvia went to work, channeling their magic to mend wounds and restore vitality.

Damon sighed. He wanted to use his class skill, but it kept failing. Last night, he had been too exhausted to attempt it. Now, he simply watched as the others were treated. Sylvia approached him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder before pressing her forehead lightly against him in an embrace.

"I... I'm so happy you didn't die."

He nodded, feeling her breath against him as he observed the others quietly eating their rations.

Sylvia placed her hand over one of his lingering wounds, a soft glow emanating from her palm as his injuries slowly began to mend. She remained by his side, her eyes never leaving him.

"We all got to rest when we fell unconscious. But you... you haven't slept at all, have you?"

Damon sighed. "If you're going to lecture me, save it. Evangeline's going to give me one when she's done brooding."

Sylvia chuckled softly. "She's probably mad at me for knocking her out mid-battle."

"Wait, what?"

She placed a finger against his lips. "Shhh. I'll explain later."

Before he could protest further, she gently guided his head down, pulling it to rest against her lap. He tensed, attempting to sit up, but she refused to let him.

"We'll be here for two hours, right?" she murmured.

"So why not use my thighs as a pillow? Get some sleep. That way, when we reach the other side, you'll be prepared for whatever comes next."

Damon hesitated for only a moment before conceding.

His head rested against her soft thighs, and the exhaustion he had been ignoring began to creep up on him. Slowly, the tension in his body melted away. His eyelids grew heavy, and before he knew it, he was asleep.