The others were still retreating when Cedric suddenly appeared beside them in a flurry of feathers. Even though he was already severely exhausted, he didn't stop and kept retreating with the others.

By now, the Saurians were all far behind. They weren't known for leaving their territory, so as long as the party got to the stony plain, they would be comparatively safe.

It didn't take long for them to see an obsidian boulder, and as they kept on moving, the grass field finally gave way to the stony plain. The party didn't stop and tiredly pushed forward until they got to where the boulders were clustered together.

There, they made camp.

Not long after setting up a small fire, Ino and Audrey quickly made dinner. Everyone was famished, but it seemed that the person who was the most desperate for food was Audrey. She stuffed massive mouthfuls of meat and ate with a frantic intensity that made it seem like she hadn't seen food in weeks.

As Cedric watched her eat, he was definitely sure that if he ate like that, he would definitely choke or end up with a severe stomach ache.

'Does it have to do with her abilities? I noticed she's been eating a lot lately.'

Audrey grabbed her pouch of water, took a long, heavy swallow to clear her throat, then she continued eating really aggressively.

'Maybe her cost?'

Even though she had prepared a massive portion for herself, she finished it and began eyeing Cedric's portion.

Cedric arched a brow. "You okay?"

His voice snapped her out of her trance.

She looked up from his meat to him and nodded. But Cedric could see the lingering hunger still dancing in her beautiful green eyes.

He sighed, then took a large piece of his meat and gave it to her. A large smile spread on her pale face and she reached out to take it from his hand.

"Thank you." And then she stuffed it in like a person who had been starving for days.

"At least chew your food before you swallow," Cedric muttered before resuming his own meal. He studied her slender frame from the corner of his eye, wondering where exactly all that food was going.

It was then that Dion spoke, "God, I'm exhausted. I'm sorry guys, I know it's my turn to keep watch tonight, but… I don't think I can."

"Me too," Evelyn chimed in.

Celeste sheepishly raised a hand. "Me three."

Leon looked around at the weary group and asked, "So who's going to keep watch tonight, then?"

Cedric quickly replied, "You, of course."

"Huh?" Leon blinked in surprise. "Why me?"

Cedric gave a sly smile. "You look the least exhausted. Be the bigger person and look after us."

"Yeah, man." Dion slapped Leon's back with a tired grin before slowly standing up.

Evelyn also stood up before muttering tiredly, "Good luck, brother."

Celeste just looked at him and nodded before going off to sleep.

And just like that, one by one, everyone retired to sleep, leaving a flabbergasted Leon on night watch.

***

The morning sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting a warm, amber glow across the jagged obsidian boulders of the stony plain.

Cedric stirred awake with dark circles under his eyes and a dull, persistent ache throbbing through his muscles.

He slowly looked around to find that the others were still sleeping. Even Leon was now sleeping too, with his bond curled up on his lap.

They all looked severely mana depleted, and some had a few lingering minor injuries that they had sustained from the hunt yesterday.

Even Cedric had some bruises and cuts on his arms and torso where the impact of the struggle had been the most direct. He rubbed his stinging eyes and looked away.

A few meters away, a campfire crackled and hissed softly, and beside it, Aika was sitting quietly while drinking something hot from a cup. A large shawl was draped over her shoulders, covering most of her frame as she watched the steam rise from her drink.

She had the same haggard appearance as Cedric. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. Since Cedric had exhausted all his mana and both of them had been too tired to replenish his reserves during the night, they both looked like ghosts of their former selves.

The only reason they had any energy at all was because even though one didn't draw in mana actively, a little still seeped back into their bodies passively when they were in their element.

But with the night gone, there was nothing both of them needed more than for this day to be over.

They were also out of mana and health elixirs in their inventory, so both were going to have to recover naturally.

Cedric yawned as he trudged over then dropped to the ground opposite her. "Bad morning."

Aika finally lifted her bloodshot eyes to his and replied. "The worst."

On the fire sat a small, blackened pot suspended from a makeshift tripod made of dry branches, filled with a dark, bitter tea. Cedric poured some into a cup he pulled from the inventory, then wrapped his hands around it, letting the warmth soak into his numb fingers before taking a cautious sip.

At that moment, multiple screens appeared in his vision, each showing the stats of his party members.

The first screen that Cedric looked at was the one displaying the stats of his rival.

~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~

Character Name: [Leon Von Caprio]

Age: [19]

Level: [19]

Grade: [2]

Element: [Light]

Class: [Knight]

Exclusive Class Attribute: [Master of Arms]

Bond Name: [Uriel Avelini]

Bonded Ability: [All-Seeing Eye]

Exclusive Skills: [Judgement time - Lv10], [Mother's Protection - Lv8]

EXP: [3,800/10,000]

~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~

Cedric coughed.

'What?! This guy is at level 19 already?'

He blinked a few times in disbelief.

At this rate, Leon would definitely be a grade three soon.

In the history of the empire's expeditions, although it wasn't common, only a small handful of dominants usually returned from their very first lunar eclipse as a grade three.

Those that returned to the empire from the first ring as grade threes could not go back to the first ring again during the next eclipse, as the blue bridges filtered grades.

It worked like this: there were many blue bridges scattered across the various empires, and they acted as a filter.

For instance, only those of grade one and two could journey to the first ring. If a grade three or four tried to use the same bridge, they'd be sent to the second ring, which was an entirely different realm altogether.

Come to think of it, now that Cedric knew about causality, it occurred to him that causality was the reason for the grades filtering.

Anyway, that aside, a realization suddenly struck Cedric at this moment.

Unlike previous years, where most dominants spent most of their time in the safer grade-one regions of the first ring, the situation this time was entirely different. The red bridge sat deep within a dangerous grade-two territory, and the blue bridge was set to appear in a grade-three region. This shift meant that any survivor who fought their way through all that and made it home alive, would definitely be a grade three due to the massive amounts of exp that they would be forced to absorb just to stay alive.

'If I survive, I'll definitely be a grade three too by the end of this eclipse.'

That thought made Cedric's heart race. Reaching grade three would be a massive leap in power. Not only would he finally be able to journey into his inner sanctuary at will, but he would also unlock his third exclusive skill, which was a milestone that was fundamentally different from the rest.

All third exclusive skills were summoning abilities that allowed a dominant to call forth a powerful creature born directly from the depths of their inner sanctuary. These creatures were warriors that could aid their master in battle.

Cedric licked his lips as he grew excited, but after only a moment, he decided to shove that aside for now. He was still very far from that.

His eyes shifted to the next screen in front of him.

~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~

Character Name: [Dion Athamas]

Age: [17]

Level: [15]

Grade: [2]

Element: [Air]

Class: [Rogue]

Class Attribute: [Swashbuckler]

Bond Name: [Ino]

Bonded Ability: [Maenad's ecstasy]

Exclusive Skills: [Lock & Pull - Lv8] —> [Can't be used], [Lock & Push - Lv8] —> [Can't be used]

EXP: [7,000/10,000]

~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~

'So Dion succeeded in unlocking his regalia yesterday…'

A small satisfied smile crossed Cedric's lips as he shifted his gaze to a different screen.

~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~

Character Name: [Evelyn Marcus]

Age: [17]

Level: [15]

Grade: [2]

Element: [Water]

Class: [Necromancer]

Exclusive Class Attribute: [Sanguimancy]

Bond Name: [Julius Salvador]

Bonded Ability: [True Vampire]

Exclusive Skills: [Blood Aegis - Lv9], [Eternal Covenant - Lv9]

EXP: [3,220 / 10,000]

~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~

'Evelyn too…'

This was great. At least everyone in his party now had a regalia.

…Well, except him.

He sighed, then muttered, "Soon…"

At that moment, his ears suddenly twitched as he felt a connection. That connection came from his raven, Muninn, who was calling for him all the way from the puppeteer's grove. The raven had just perched atop a tree in the red and white forest, a fair distance from the central grove.

It was watching a group of cadets gather around the base of a massive tree.

Cedric immediately synced his perception with the raven, and his vision blurred for a second before snapping into the bird's perspective.

That was when he could see a familiar fellow in the center while the others stood around him.

The fellow was Casimir Adalricus.

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