The glowing platform shattered into nothingnessm the void collapsed, and Navi's overly cheerful voice echoed one last time...
"Good luck, Host!"
Then, Aurora was back in the cave. Back in the body she had already begun to resent. And back... on top of the man.
The transition was seamless.
Unfortunately, so was the position.
The moment her awareness fully settled, the man beneath her jerked violently. His muscles strained, and the vines binding his wrists creaked under the force.
"Get. Off. Now!"
The words were low, dangerous, and far less patient than before.
Aurora blinked once before muttering, "…Right."
This time, she didn't argue. However, dragging herself off him proved to be a task in itself.
It was not graceful, nor efficient.
And it was definitely not something a former world-class assassin would ever want recorded in history.
Every movement felt heavy. Her limbs were uncooperative, and her balance questionable at best. For a brief, deeply offensive moment, she wondered if she might actually fall over.
But somehow, she eventually managed to roll off and push herself onto her feet.
She stood there, breathing slightly heavier than she preferred. This new body of hers kept reminding her of its limitations with every second.
"Unacceptable," she muttered under her breath as her gaze dropped briefly to herself.
This body was not only slow, heavy, and poorly maintained, but also the house of all kind of health issues. The original owner hadn't just neglected it, she had destroyed it.
Aurora exhaled once, steadying herself.
Complaints could wait. But survival could not.
She lifted her gaze back to the man. Even restrained, even weakened, he radiated danger.
'Good.' Aurora thought in her head, because that meant he was still alive.
With a soft sigh, she stepped closer only for the man to tense immediately. His muscles pulled tight against the vines as he tried to shift away from her.
Aurora ignored him. Instead, she reached out and wrapped her fingers firmly around his wrist.
The moment her skin made contact with his, he jerked sharply and a low growl rumbled from his chest.
But she only tightened her grip. "Stay still." She didn't make her words sound like a request.
Her fingers pressed lightly against his pulse point as her expression turned focused... cold, clinical.
At the same time, the system set to work.
[Analyzing…]
While the system did its analysis, Aurora did her own, focusing on the man in front of her. His pulse was strong, steady...actually too steady for someone in his condition.
The analysis completed barely seconds later.
[Subject: Alpha Asher]
Status: Weakened (Drug-Induced)
External Injuries: Healed
Internal Condition: Poison Detected]
Aurora's eyes narrowed slightly.
As expected.
She let go of his wrist.
The dried blood on his body… was old. Whatever wounds he had sustained before being found by the original owner had already healed, with only a few small cuts left that would heal in no time.
Being a beastman, and that too someone as powerful as him, his body's self healing ability was really strong. Aurora found it both efficient and dangerous.
As for why he was still here... still restrained... even after his wounds had healed - it's because of the heavy dose of drug still present in his blood.
Aurora exhaled quietly as a small, almost imperceptible sense of relief passed through her.
She was actually relieved to learn how weak he was at the moment because it meant he couldn't kill her.
Yet.
Because in her current condition, she wouldn't last five seconds. Her years of training meant nothing when her body couldn't keep up.
And she didn't need to test it. She wasn't suicidal.
Her gaze shifted again as she focused on the real problem - the poison.
That was the real problem.
Though the poison wasn't deadly enough to kill him, it could be considered even worse as per this world. Because the poison was suppressing his beast form.
The poison was meant to attack his wolf, and the more he would use his beast strength and power, the quickly the poison would spread and weaken his wolf... until he would lose the beast forever.
And what could be worse for an alpha to lose his wolf?
Fortunately, Aurora was confident she could cure the poison. However, considering this was a primitive world with limited resources and barely any medicinal knowledge, it was going to be a tough job.
But not impossible.
She reached forward again, this time for his blindfold.
The man tensed immediately. "Don't-"
But it was already too late.
Aurora pulled the strip of animal skin away. And for the first time, she saw his eyes. They were sharp, cold, and predatory. Those deep purple irises locked onto her instantly, filled with undisguised hostility.
If looks could kill, she would already be dead.
Yet, she met his gaze without flinching. "Good to know...," she said calmly. "... that you are conscious enough."
A beat of silence passed between them before he spoke, "You have a death wish."
Aurora ignored that. Instead, she shifted the topic to what really mattered. "I'll cure your poison."
The air shifted instantly.
"…What?"
"I said I'll cure your poison," Aurora said again in a steady tone. "And in return, I want you to forget what happened earlier."
Her lips twitched faintly as she felt the sheer absurdity of that statement. But it had to be done if she wanted to survive.
"…The drugging," she clarified. "And the attempted… incident."
It took everything in her not to sigh. These were not her actions, not her mess, and yet... here she was, negotiating for it.
The man stared at her without even blinking, and he didn't look the least bit impressed.
"You think I'll believe that?" he said coldly.
Aurora didn't hesitate as she pointed out - "You are poisoned."
His gaze sharpened, but she continued while keeping her tone as matter-of-fact.
"Since I can tell you are poisoned, you shouldn't be too quick to assume I am in position to cure you."
She tilted her head slightly as she added calmly, "You know where I live. And as you can see…I'm not exactly in a condition to run. So if I lie, you can easily kill me later."
There was no hesitation in her words, no fear, just logic.
The man watched her - not her body, not her appearance, but her. The way she spoke, the way she held his gaze, and the way she stood calm, composed, and calculating.
This was not the same person who had drugged him after lying about helping him. That woman had been loud, greedy, uncontrolled. But this one... was quiet, sharp, and dangerous in a completely different way.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he said, "You are different."
Aurora didn't respond. There was no point as she knew he wasn't asking.
Silence stretched for several long moments, and then the man shifted. His muscles tightened, and before Aurora could react-
Snap.
The vines binding his wrists broke... just like that. It was clean and effortless.
Aurora froze as she stared at him. Her mind registered it instantly that the drug was wearing off now faster than expected.
The man pushed himself up, moving into a sitting position with controlled ease, as if the restraints had been nothing more than an inconvenience.
His sharp gaze never left her.
Aurora didn't move, didn't step back, didn't show it. But her body was tense.
He rolled his shoulders once, testing his range of motion. And then he spoke, "Start now. Cure it..."
His deep purple eyes locked onto hers.
"...and I might consider letting you live."