Nox tried to make sense of things, but the pain was still pretty gnarly and the gods, or whatever they were, kept yapping in his head. That little box at the bottom of his vision, the one showing Auraelia's gifts, looked like the only helpful thing on screen right now.
'Accept,' he thought, putting everything he had into the mental nudge.
The second he thought it, something shifted inside him. It wasn't like the faint buzz from his new regen skill; this was way stronger. The bleeding in his stomach just... stopped. He could feel things pulling back together in there, surprisingly fast. The sharp, burning feeling faded into a dull throb he could mostly ignore.
He felt like he could actually move again, not like every muscle was shot. He took a breath that didn't make him feel like his guts were about to spill out.
He pushed himself up, first onto his elbows, then, with a grunt, he managed to sit. The girls had been watching him, looking completely wrecked, and now they just stared.
"What the... Nox? How...?" Kendra managed, her mouth hanging open a little.
Yeda, who'd been trying to patch him up with a strip of her shirt, yanked her hand back from his stomach, still clutching the damp fabric. She just looked at his torso, which was still a bloody mess but definitely closed up.
"It's... it's healed. Mostly."
"New skill I learned," he said. His voice was rough, but it didn't crack. He got to his feet, a bit wobbly, but he was standing.
"A skill that heals you that fast? Bro, I'm jealous, that sounds super useful," Kendra said, giving him a quick once-over. "You were practically a goner a minute ago."
Vasa just nodded, her focus fixed on him in that intense way she had. "Remarkable. The rate of recovery is beyond anything I've documented."
"So," Kendra went on, folding her arms. "What now, fearless leader? We just gonna chill in this bloody gym all night?"
He glanced around. Overturned bleachers, chunks of the wall missing – yeah, the place was totaled. He was beat, and even with the magic fix-up, his body still felt like it'd been through a meat grinder. He checked his internal clock. Already 9 PM. They'd been stuck in this school, this dungeon, for hours. And he was seriously starving.
"Let's go check out the cafeteria," he said. "Maybe there's food."
"The cafeteria?" Yeda's voice was small. "You think it's safe? And what if there are more of those... things?"
"If there are, we deal with them," he replied, straight up. "But I'm hungry. And you guys probably are too."
They hashed it out for a minute. Food sounded pretty good, and hanging out in the gym, with the dead boss monster and all the mess, really didn't. Eventually, they were on the same page.
Just as they were about to head for the exit, those bright blue chat screens popped up again in his vision, and he stopped.
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] NOX! Oh, thank goodness you're okay! Quick, before you go! The cores! You need to get the cores from the big furry boss and the alpha dog thingy! Don't leave them behind! ✨💎✨
He blinked, his focus going a bit fuzzy as he read the message only he could see. The girls picked up on him freezing.
"Nox? What is it?" Kendra asked, her brow crinkling. "You spacing out on us again?"
'Cores?' he thought, aiming the question at the chat, at Auraelia. 'What are you talking about? What are cores?'
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] Oh, right! You're new to all this! Monster Cores are super important! They're like, the crystallized essence of a monster's power, usually found near their heart or head! You can use them for all sortss of amazing things – enchanting weapons, crafting powerful armor, boosting your own abilities, sometimes even trading them for cool stuff later if a shop system allows it! They're incredibly valuable, especially from strong monsters like a boss or an alpha! Always, always grab them if you can! They're like treasure! 💖💰🛠️
His eyes refocused. Right. He looked at the massive, dead boss monster, then at the corpse of the alpha gobdog on the other side of the gym.
"Hold on," he said, his voice solid. "Before we hit the cafeteria, there's something we need to do here."
"Do what?" Vasa asked, her head tilting just a bit. "The immediate vicinity appears clear of threats."
He walked over to the dead boss, ignoring their looks. "There's something inside these things," he said, nodding at the corpse. "Something... important."
Kendra made a noise, somewhere between a scoff and a gag. "Important how? Like, their guts? 'Cause I'm not really up for a monster anatomy lesson, especially not before we eat."
"Not their guts," he said, crouching by the boss. "Something else. Just... trust me on this one. We need it." He didn't bother explaining more; they wouldn't get the system stuff, and he wasn't in the mood to make up a big story.
He used the jagged end of the pipe he still had to start digging into the monster's chest, roughly where he figured a heart would be. It wasn't pretty. Kendra looked like she might be sick but kept peeking. Yeda edged a bit closer, her curiosity apparently stronger than her disgust. Vasa just watched, still as ever.
After a few minutes of messy work, the pipe clinked against something hard. He reached into the cavity with his hand and pulled out a dark crystal, about the size of his fist. It throbbed faintly in his hand, some kind of light trapped inside.
[Beast Core (Anomaly - Boss) Acquired!]
[Contains concentrated demonic and beastial energy.]
"Huh," he said, turning it over in his palm. "Not bad."
"What is that thing?" Yeda asked, leaning in, her gaze fixed on the crystal.
"No idea," he lied, easy. "But I have a feeling it's useful." He then walked over to the alpha gobdog's body and did the same thing, pulling out a smaller core, less impressive but still with that same weird energy.
[Beast Core (Alpha) Acquired!]
[Contains moderate beastial energy.]
He shoved both cores into his pockets. "Alright," he said, wiping his bloody hands on his already trashed pants. "Now we can go find some food."
Kendra gave Yeda a 'you seeing this?' look, and Yeda just lifted her shoulders. They didn't argue, though. If he thought rummaging around in dead monsters was the play, especially after he'd just saved their asses and cleared the dungeon, they weren't about to stop him.
They left the gym, stepping out into a dark hallway, junk scattered everywhere. Their stomachs rumbled. Food. Definitely needed food.