17
It turned out their supplies weren’t enough either. Facing the extreme high temperatures, and completely out of provisions, Valerie, desperate to survive, drank Sterling’s blood. When it was time to clear the stage, seeing Sterling on his last breath and of no further use, she abandoned him. Sure enough, human nature is the most fragile under pressure. Faced with life and death, Valerie chose self–preservation.
“Welcome to the final stage: Fire Cavern.”
“The first to obtain the Staff will clear the dungeon.”
The mist before us cleared, and we found ourselves on a small island. In my previous life, the final stage was indeed the Fire Cavern. So, I was familiar with this stage. I pulled Ryker along, heading straight for the cavern. To my surprise, Valerie was quite smart. She didn’t go alone, but followed us, keeping a consistent distance. I didn’t chase her away because this stage required a Beast–kin partner to enter. As a lone wolf now, she couldn’t even get past the entrance to the cavern.
The entrance to the cavern was guarded by a strange entity called the Illusion. It would transform into our Beast–kin partners and make us choose. Choosing correctly would allow us to enter; choosing incorrectly would result in our elimination from the dungeon.
After hearing the system’s notification, Valerie was dumbfounded. This effectively announced that she had lost her chance to compete. I looked at her with sympathy. Her eyes widened in shame and anger. “Do you think I can’t clear the dungeon without a Beast–kin partner?”
“Forced entry will result in elimination.”
“I’m not that stupid!” Valerie whistled. Kaelen silently appeared and stood beside her. Good. For the ‘one true love‘ of his life, he truly was utterly devoted! If Sterling hadn’t been abandoned midway by Valerie, she probably wouldn’t have played this ace card so early.
