The cabin was quiet at first, just the soft hum of the evening outside. But soon, the gang gathered in a circle again, their eyes on Zane like students waiting for a lecture—except this time, the lecturer was very much Zane.
He stretched lazily in the middle, one arm resting behind his head, the other draped across his knee. "Okay, ladies and gentlemen," he began, his tone half serious, half teasing, "it's been a long journey. We're here for… the status report."
He paused for dramatic effect, letting his gaze sweep across everyone. "So… I was decommissioned during the fight with the Horned Owl—which, by the way, upgraded itself into a rank 2 corrupted beast. My apologies for my lack of… direct involvement. I had other things going on, which I promise I'll explain eventually."
With that, Zane flexed slightly, revealing the dark rose tattoo that stretched from his neck, catching the faint light of the cabin.
Asher whistled low. "Wow… that's… nice."
Zane smirked. "Thanks, man. I have no idea what it does or its purpose yet, but the important part is… my sister is in trouble. She needs my help. And the only way I can get stronger? Keep consuming monster cores."
He looked over at Luna, who was grinning sheepishly. "Oh, and Luna, all by herself, turned that owl into a… kebab. Nice work, chef."
The girls chuckled, Asher tried to hide a laugh, and Zane raised an eyebrow. "Since we can't exactly tell the school I consumed the monster core without… causing a lot of paperwork and maybe death threats, we'll just say we failed the mission. But it's okay, because we did get Mana crystals."
Zane turned to Mira, his voice dripping with mock authority. "So… how many crystals did we manage to scavenge?"
Mira puffed her chest out, pride written all over her face. "Forty-eight."
Zane clapped his hands together. "Perfect. We'll each take six, and we'll give eighteen to the school. That way, it looks like we actually succeeded. Mission accomplished… kind of."
He leaned back again, smirking at the group. "So that's all, folks. First mission? Flying success."
The cabin erupted into cheers. Luna punched the air, Mira smirked proudly, Celeste clapped enthusiastically, and even Asher gave a small, begrudging cheer.
Zane just lay back, a lazy grin on his face, feeling that rare sense of satisfaction—this was how victory was supposed to feel. And for once, the shadows around him twitched happily in agreement.