After Alen was done waking up the "young lady," he casually walked over and sat on a nearby rock. Luckily, this particular boulder was completely intact; it hadn’t been destroyed by the blonde guy’s devastating fists during his rampage.

Alen looked around the clearing, which was completely wrecked.

Zane lay unconscious on the ground. After drying herself off, Serene stood up and hurriedly walked over to him.

She glared back at Alen and asked defensively,

"Why is he lying there? Did you do something to him?!"

Alen just shrugged his shoulders.

"Your friend just went completely berserk after seeing me hit you. It’s not my fault. Besides, I didn’t even attack him. He exhausted himself."

Serene ignored him, rushing over to Zane and kneeling beside him.

She looked down at his peaceful, sleeping face. She gently caressed his blonde hair, She looked at him worriedly after noticing his current state, she activated her magic.

[In the name of Heaven... I bless his body with ’Self-Healing’...]

[The Heaven’s Grace: Blessing Type - Rapid Healing!]

As she cast the blessing on him, a warm light enveloped his body. His natural healing speed increased drastically. His burst mana veins quickly knitted themselves back together, and the internal damage caused by his berserk mode rapidly healed up.

As the blessing took full effect, his body reacted, and his consciousness returned.

Zane slowly woke up. The very first thing he felt upon opening his eyes was the tickle of Serene’s silky blue hair. He blinked, looking up at her beautiful face, which was filled with deep worry for him.

"Are you okay, Zane?"

Serene asked softly, worried that the aftereffects caused by the berserk state might still be causing him pain.

Zane put a hand to his forehead, trying to shake off the lingering mental pressure. Even though his body was completely healed now, his previously exhausted mental energy still took a heavy toll on him.

He nodded slowly.

"Yeah... I’m completely fine."

He quickly looked her over, making sure she was okay. To his relief, Serene was completely fine. She had already cast a minor healing spell on herself before walking over to him.

Serene playfully flicked his forehead.

"Hey, dummy, I’m completely okay. You don’t have to worry about me. You need to worry about yourself! Why did you go berserk?!"

Zane suddenly remembered his enraged state and his frantic fight with Alen. He looked around the ruined cavern until he spotted Alen sitting calmly on a rock a few meters away.

"Sigh... You don’t have to blame him," Serene explained, following his gaze.

"I was apparently under someone else’s control earlier."

"The last thing I remember was walking and talking with you... but after that, my memory is completely blank. I think a monster put me in some kind of illusion or possessed me."

Serene frowned.

"And whatever possessed me was continuously absorbing your mana. Hmph! But it’s still weird... Why didn’t you realize your mana was being sucked away, when even Alen noticed it immediately? Does he just have exceptional senses?"

Zane narrowed his eyes as Serene explained the reason behind Alen’s actions.

He was finally able to comprehend what had gone wrong. The reason he hadn’t realized his mana was being drained was because he had been completely captivated by Serene’s cute chatter. He had been so hopelessly distracted by her that he had dropped his guard entirely.

A slight redness crept onto his cheeks as he realized he had been so smitten by her pretty talking that a parasite had nearly drained him dry without him noticing.

He looked away, coughing awkwardly, and glared at Alen to hide his embarrassment.

Alen, who noticed the glare, he just rolled his eyes. He was highly observant, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was really going on in the blonde guy’s head.

Serene looked confused at Zane’s weird, flustered behavior but didn’t ask about it. She simply assumed he was still suffering from some side effects of going berserk.

A few minutes passed as Serene and Zane sat there, talking back and forth to make sure they were both okay.

Alen just sat on his rock, trying hard to ignore their affectionate bickering.

After some time had passed, he checked the trial timer on his system interface. Only two days remained for them to conquer this dungeon, and these two were just sitting around flirting.

*Sigh...*

Alen stood up and looked at them.

"If you two are done talking, shall we leave? We have a long way to go, and there are only two days left before the trial ends."

"Yeah... We have to leave... We can’t stay here; it’s risky."

Zane stood up and completely ignored Alen, brushing past him.

Alen after noticing the guy’s blatant ignorance, felt a sudden urge to tease him. He stepped forward, closing the distance, and leaned in.

He whispered so quietly that only Zane could hear:

"Oh, young bull... I just want to let you know that I am fully aware you have a massive crush on the young lady. If you don’t behave and treat me with some respect, I might just spill the beans to her. Hehe... Should I?"

Zane’s face turned completely red upon the realization that Alen knew the truth.

"Y-You dare?!" Zane hissed under his breath.

"I am going to kill you, you bastard!"

He glared daggers at Alen but didn’t dare start a fight. He absolutely didn’t want Serene to know his true feelings for her atleast not yet—not when he himself wasn’t prepared to confess.

Alen just smiled and patted Zane’s shoulder condescendingly, the way one might soothe a temperamental child.

Zane slapped his hand away. He stomped off, heading straight toward the designated tunnel where his Shadow Detective had signaled it had found the correct path.

As he walked away in a huff, Serene hurried to follow him.

Alen looked at Zane’s stiff back, an amused smirk playing on his lips, and then started walking after them.