"Ugh… my head hurts." Max muttered as his blurry vision slowly cleared. He held his head, which was spinning for a few seconds, before it finally calmed down, allowing him to see where he was.

Turns out, he was back in his room, lying on his bed with the sheets pulled over him. Glancing to the side, he froze when he saw a face leaning in close, causing him to yelp loudly and shoot upright.

"Are you okay, sire?" Jim asked in deep concern, his tone shaky as he leaned toward Max, who was still calming his wildly beating heart.

"Do… don't call me that again." Max scolded, glaring at the E–ranked hunter who stared at him with genuine concern. "I'm fine."

"That's such a relief, considering the fact that you slept for an entire day. The doctors said it was because of the poison you were injected with.

It was an extremely potent one, especially since it came from a hybrid. It's a miracle how well your body fought against it though." Jim explained, shaking his head as if still in disbelief.

"Right." The dragon muttered, nodding as he glanced around the room with a tired look in his eyes. "Uhm… where's Jake? And what are you even doing in our room?"

"Oh! He went to get you something to eat and asked me to stay here and look after you, which I gladly accepted. It seems like he's a bit paranoid that someone might come and attack you while he's gone, and honestly, it's a valid paranoia considering what just happened. Though I…"

"You talk too much." Max cut him off coldly, pushing the blanket away from his body before slowly rising to his feet. But just as he tried to take a step forward, several system messages suddenly flashed before his eyes, almost blinding his vision.

"Huh?" He muttered, quickly sitting back down as his gaze focused on the glowing texts in front of him.

Seeing the confusion on Max's face, Jim instantly grew worried. "Is something wrong?" he asked cautiously, but Max simply waved him off and continued reading.

Tring!

{Host has managed to kill a dozen beasts}

{Rewards granted: +1000XP; +2 free stat points.}

{Host has managed to resist the poison injected into his bloodstream for an hour. Congratulations! You have shown resilience.}

{New skill added.}

'New skill?' Max thought with furrowed brows. He quickly clicked on it to see the details.

{Skill name: Immunity}

{Effect: Passive}

{Description: This skill will give the host complete immunity to the following: Poison, mind control, some elemental abilities.) no matter how strong the poison or mind control is, it would never affect the host}

'So why the hell didn't I get this earlier, before being injected with hybrid poison and suffering for minutes on end, you stupid system!' Max roared inwardly, his irritation boiling. Still, he forced himself to calm down, exhaling slowly. 'Tch! Whatever, better late than never.'

"Are you sure you're okay though?" Jim asked again, leaning forward slightly, still anxious.

Max nodded, about to reply, when the door creaked open and Jake walked in carrying a tray of food.

"Oh! You're awake." Jake's face lit up with relief, a wide smile breaking across it as he strolled forward and placed the tray on a stool beside the bed. "Alright then, start eating."

"Huh?" Max muttered with furrowed brows, eyeing the tray skeptically.

"What? Don't go and say that your brother isn't caring. Do you know the trouble I went through to bring you this delicacy?" Jake said with a playful frown, crossing his arms.

"I never said I wouldn't eat." Max clicked his tongue as he grabbed the spoon, wasting no time. He began downing the food rapidly, his body screaming for nourishment after the battle and his long unconsciousness.

Jim could only watch silently, feeling a strange warmth at the sight of the brothers' exchange. For a moment, despite the chaos and bloodshed from earlier, the room felt… normal.

"Eat and regain your strength because we need to talk." Jake said with a light yawn as he walked towards his own bed.

"Am I safe?" Max asked, his mouth half filled with rice.

"Depends." Jake shrugged as he slumped into the bed.

"Now I feel worried." Max forcefully swallowed down the food in his mouth but still shrugged and kept eating. "I cannot be worried on a hungry stomach though."

'Does it make me weird that I find Max kind of cute?' Jim thought as he chuckled inwardly while watching the dragon chug down food.

Feeling the stare, Max glanced up, pasta hanging from his lip-stained mouth as he glared at the smile Jim was giving him.

"Just so you know," Max began then…

Slurp!

He slurped the pasta in. "I don't swing that way. I like women a whole lot."

Jim just chuckled loudly and then the room went dead silent with only the sound of Max chewing.

After a few seconds, he was done eating. He had cleared the whole multiple plates of different dishes Jake brought to him, and then belched loudly while patting his stomach in satisfaction.

"Now, what did you want to talk about?" Max asked as he wiped his mouth of any food stains and then turned to stare at Jake, who sighed, walked over and then glared at Jim.

"Can you kindly leave the room? I want to speak to Max, alone." Jake requested, and the E ranker raised an eyebrow.

"Is it that confidential?" Max took the initiative to ask.

"Yes, I only want to speak with someone whom I trust." Jake replied with a small nod.

"Well, after the battle, I kind of trust Jim. I mean, he stood up to a C ranked hunter who was about to kill me all by himself.

Refusing to back down even after countless beatings. Someone who can endure that level of pain for a total stranger like me… he has my trust. So if you have anything important to say, just say it now." Max declared, and on hearing his words, Jim's eyes glistened and became totally moist.

'He noticed me. Ma… Max actually took notice of my existence! Som… someone actually cares about how I feel!' Jim thought excitedly inside.

Jake just sighed and walked towards the door, opened it, tilted his head left and right, and on seeing how empty the hallway was, he shut the door back, locked it and then walked back into the room.

His expression had grown heavier, and for a moment Max could feel that whatever he was about to say would change things between them.

'What is so important that he wants to speak about?' Max thought with furrowed brows, already bracing himself for the unknown.

"Max, I know that you are a hybrid. No! You are a dragon!" Jake spoke, and Max instantly choked on his own saliva, his eyes going wide.

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