Help! I'm just an extra yet the Heroines and Villainesses want me!-Chapter 27
The group ran through the cave passages with the Sovereign-class beast’s roars echoing behind them, and William could hear the sound of crystal formations shattering as the creature pursued them with single-minded determination.
"Split up at the next junction!" Marcus shouted while running. "It can’t follow all of us at once!"
They reached a branching passage and the group divided with Marcus, Sara, and Lyanna taking the left path while William, Seraphina, and Claire went right. The beast hesitated for only a moment before choosing to follow William’s group, apparently drawn by something in their essence signatures.
"Why is it following us?" Claire gasped while running as fast as she could manage.
"It doesn’t matter, just keep moving!" Seraphina called back while leading them through passages that were getting narrower.
William could feel the beast gaining on them despite their speed, and he realized they needed to either find an escape route or figure out a way to slow it down. The passage ahead opened into a smaller chamber with multiple exits, and Seraphina immediately assessed their options.
"There," she pointed to a narrow crevice that was barely wide enough for a person. "The beast won’t fit through that."
They squeezed through the opening one by one with the creature arriving just as Claire, the last one through, made it to the other side. The beast roared in frustration and slammed against the rock, causing the entire chamber to shake but not breaking through.
"Keep moving," Seraphina ordered. "That won’t hold it forever."
They continued through the tight passage which eventually opened back into the main cave system closer to the entrance. Behind them they could hear the beast still trying to break through the barrier, and the sound of cracking stone suggested it might succeed eventually.
The group emerged from the cave entrance into daylight and found Marcus, Sara, and Lyanna already there looking relieved to see them alive.
"Everyone okay?" Marcus asked while checking them over for injuries.
"Fine, just terrified," Claire admitted while trying to catch her breath. "That thing was way stronger than anything we should have encountered here."
"We need to report this to the faculty supervisors immediately," Lyanna said with urgency. "A Sovereign-class beast in a first-year training area is extremely dangerous."
They made their way back to camp quickly and Marcus found their assigned faculty supervisor to report the encounter. The supervisor’s expression turned serious as they listened to the description.
"A crystal bear of that size shouldn’t be in this sector," the supervisor said while making notes. "I’ll report this to the expedition coordinators. You all stay at your camp and avoid that cave system until we’ve dealt with the threat."
The group returned to camp feeling shaken from the close call, and people scattered to process the encounter in their own ways. Seraphina immediately went to her training spot and began running through sword forms with aggressive intensity. Lyanna pulled out her books but seemed too distracted to actually read them. Sara started organizing camp supplies just to have something to do with her hands.
William found his usual tree and sat down, but his heart was still racing from the chase and he couldn’t settle into cultivation practice. Claire sat down near him without asking, apparently seeking the same comfort of presence she haf needed last night.
"That was too close," she said quietly. "If Seraphina hadn’t found that narrow passage..."
"But she did," William pointed out. "And we’re fine."
"This time," Claire countered. "What if the extraction keeps getting delayed and we run into something else we can’t handle?"
William didn’t have a good answer for that because she was right that their luck might not hold indefinitely if they kept encountering threats beyond their level.
The afternoon passed tensely with everyone on edge from the morning’s events. Sara tried to maintain normalcy by preparing lunch, but the usual relaxed atmosphere was gone and replaced with an awareness that the Vale wasn’t as safe as they had been treating it.
Marcus organized a group discussion about safety protocols and established new rules about where people could go alone versus requiring partners. Nobody objected because the crystal bear encounter had reminded everyone that they were still students in a potentially dangerous environment.
Evening quickly came and the group gathered around the fire for dinner, but conversation was subdued compared to previous nights. People ate quickly and several glanced toward the forest shadows as if expecting threats to emerge from the darkness.
"We should set double watches tonight," Marcus suggested. "Just in case."
Everyone agreed, and the watch schedule was reorganized to have four people awake at all times instead of the usual two. William took first watch with Seraphina, Marcus, and Sara, and they positioned themselves at different points around the camp perimeter.
The forest at night felt more threatening than it had on previous evenings, and every sound made William tense with awareness that danger could approach from any direction. Seraphina paced her section with her hand never leaving her sword hilt, and even Sara’s usual cheerfulness was muted into quiet vigilance.
Their watch passed without incident and they woke Lyanna, Claire, and two others for the second shift. William returned to his tent and found Claire already inside waiting, apparently having decided that their arrangement from last night would continue without needing to explicitly ask again.
"Do you think the extraction will actually happen tomorrow?" she asked once they’d settled into their sleeping positions.
"Maybe," William said while staring at the tent ceiling. "We’re past day nine now. Either they’ll come get us or we’ll have to seriously consider walking back to the academy on our own."
"That would be a long walk," Claire observed. "And dangerous with beasts like that crystal bear around."
They lay in silence for a while before Claire spoke again with the same vulnerability she’d shown last night.
"Thank you for last night," she said quietly. "For letting me cry and not making it weird afterward. I needed that more than I realized."
"It’s fine," William replied simply. "People need to break sometimes."
"I’ve never had someone I could break around before," Claire admitted. "My family doesn’t allow weakness, and everyone at the academy sees me as either a threat or an opportunity. But you just... let me be human for a while."
William turned slightly toward her. "You can be human around me whenever you need to. I’m not going to judge you for having emotions."
Claire’s expression in the dim light looked grateful and slightly overwhelmed, as if the concept of unconditional acceptance was foreign enough to be almost frightening.
"Can I ask you something?" she said after a pause.
"Sure."
"Why are you okay with me being close like this?" Claire gestured to their shared tent space. "Most people would either try to take advantage of the situation or assume I had ulterior motives. But you just... accept it at face value."
William considered the question. "Because I don’t see the point in complicating things that are simple. You wanted company instead of sleeping alone, I don’t mind sharing space, so we share space. It doesn’t need to mean anything beyond that unless we decide it does."
[Claire interest in you has surpassed 40%]
They settled into comfortable silence and Claire gradually relaxed into sleep while William lay awake.
He found it incredibly hard to sleep so he had no choice but to go out, light up the camp fire and sit close to it.
Listening to the sound of burning wood made William relax a little and he even found it a bit amusing due to how soothing it was.
"You couldn’t sleep huh?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind him, when he turned around he saw Seraphina walking towards him with her sword at her hip.
"Yeah I couldn’t" William replied as he turned his gaze back at the fire.
"Same" Seraphina said as she settled down a few inches from him while placing her sword on the wood beside her.
They sat down in silence for a while until Seraphina couldn’t take it.
"I see you’ve been ignoring me for a while now" Seraphina said with a small smile on her face.
"I thought likewise," William said simply making Seraphina clench her first.
"I feel like punching the hell out of you right now"
"Then go ahead"
"You’d die if I did"
"Oh that true" William said slowly backing away making Sera chuckle.
It had been a long time since she and William had spoken and even if she didn’t want to admit it, it had taken a toll on her the entire time and she didn’t know why.
She just always felt a natural urge to be with William which she had no explanation for but he surley did.
[Seraphina’s interest has increased by 6%]
When William saw this message he simply shook his head, he had completely forgotten about this system for sometime that he was beginning to think the system was non functioning at all.
[Catastrophic Allure Activated]
Huh?
Suddenly Seraphina out of nowhere jumped upon him with a predatory gaze. "You are mine!" Seraphina said hungrily as she immediately pressed her face against his locking their faces into a kiss leaving William dumbfounded.
Huh?
Huhhhhhhhhhh?!!!
What the fuck is this?
William tried to speak but she didn’t allow him, as her tounge hungrily ravaged inside his mouth as though she was searching for something.
’Fuck this damned system!’
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