Livia walked in the front, holding a map close to her as she pushed through blue vines and branches.
Little by little, Logan began to realize how valuable this locked dungeon reward actually was. Livia had been serious the entire time, not even teasing him once.
Eventually, they came to a halt in front of a massive river with crystal-clear water flowing through it.
"Wow," Logan mumbled, crouching down to look at the water.
Far on the bottom of the river, he could see blue shining lights coming from tiny mana crystals embedded in the floor.
"Never seen some mana crystals before?" Derek scoffed with an arrogant smirk, shaking his head.
Logan rolled his eyes and stood up. ’Maybe I should’ve let him get eaten by those wolves,’ he thought.
Then, a small smirk grew on his face.
"I’ve been looking at your face so long that I forgot what it was like to appreciate beauty," Logan remarked, smirking.
Livia let out a soft chuckle while she was studying how to get to the other side.
Derek’s face turned red, his smirk vanishing as he heard Livia chuckle.
"Is that so?" he said through gritted teeth. He took a step closer to Logan, lowering his voice. "Must be easy, running your mouth when everything’s handed to you."
He scoffed. "Some of us have to earn it."
Logan didn’t blink, staring him down as he remembered the years he’d spent begging on the streets.
"What exactly have you earned?" he asked, voice calm. "You were born with a golden spoon. What have you done besides wave it around?"
"Sure, maybe you’ve trained hard," Logan continued, looking down at Derek. "But who hasn’t?"
"I can tell you right now that there are hundreds of thousands of people who’ve earned it more than you, but can’t ever get it because of being born in the wrong family."
Derek couldn’t respond, only letting out a scoff as he backed away.
"Easy for you to say," he mumbled, face red. "You don’t know what my life’s been like."
Turning back to look at the river, Logan saw Livia give a small approving nod from the corner of his eye without saying anything.
Logan gave a small nod back, satisfied as he looked over the river.
’It was about time I did that,’ he thought with satisfaction. ’Sure, I don’t want to be the kind of person who reacts to every insult, but even I have my limits.’
Shaking off the argument, he looked at the width of the river before turning to Livia.
"Should we just swim to the other side?" he asked, pointing across the 1000 feet wide river.
He could see a small smirk form underneath her veil for the first time in a while.
"If you have any better ideas, I’m open for suggestions," Livia answered, teasingly.
"None here," Logan shook his head.
He crouched near the river’s edge, activating his mana sight to scan for creatures beneath the surface.
Then—two hands shoved him from behind.
With a loud splash, Logan hit the water.
He broke through the surface, sputtering as water streamed down his face.
"What the hell was that for?" Logan shouted, wiping water from his eyes.
Livia stood there, her veil fluttering slightly from the water droplets that had fallen on it.
Though he couldn’t see her expression, Logan knew she was enjoying this.
As he stayed in one place too long, the water around him began to fizzle.
’Crap,’ Logan thought as he immediately started swimming to the other side.
Derek looked from afar with a bitter expression as Livia jumped into the water and swam after Logan, only diving in himself once the two had nearly reached the other side.
"What happened?" Livia asked once they stood on the opposite shore.
Knowing Livia had seen and also had an SSS-rank affinity herself, Logan decided there was no point in hiding it.
"Just my affinity," Logan said, shaking his head. "My body temperature is far higher than that of normal people."
Hearing that, Livia fell silent. Her eyes grew unfocused, slowly changing into a distant stare.
Logan turned to her and froze, his mouth falling open in shock.
Livia snapped back to reality, realizing Logan was staring at her with his mouth wide open.
"What?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.
As she reached for her face and realized, a beautiful smile spread across her lips.
"Are you that impressed by my beauty?" she asked, taking off her wet veil entirely.
Logan closed his mouth, staring at her in silence.
Strands of wet silver hair clung to her cheeks. Droplets still ran down her skin, but they did nothing to hide how clear and flawless it looked. Then finally, her clear green eyes and the warm smile plastered on her face.
’Wow,’ Logan thought, his eyes wide. ’She looks beautiful.’
Clearing his throat, Logan spoke up. "I just wasn’t expecting that."
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then, Livia grinned and tossed the damp veil at him.
"I’ll take that as a compliment. Think you can dry it for me?"
Logan caught the veil mid-air, giving her a small nod as he sat down and started using his fire mana to heat it up.
Livia sat down beside him, hugging her knees with her silver hair still clinging to her face. For once, she kept quiet, waiting patiently for Logan to finish.
Looking at her damp face, Logan couldn’t help but admire her beauty once again.
"Do you want me to dry your face as well?" Logan asked, handing her the dried veil.
Livia smiled, taking her veil.
"How nice of you," she said with a teasing smile. "But it’ll dry soon enough by itself."
As Livia was putting her veil back on, a loud splash sounded behind them.
Both of them stood up and turned around.
Derek climbed out of the water slowly, his movements heavy as his soaked suit clung to him.
He didn’t speak or even look at them as he walked past them.
’Did he see?’ Logan wondered, observing him carefully.
Logan noticed Derek’s gaze shift from Livia to him, a brief flicker of hatred crossing his face before it vanished behind a blank stare.
"Tell me when we’re moving," he said flatly, walking over to sit beneath the shadow of a nearby tree.