Wonderful Insane World
Chapter 48: Fated Gift

Chapter 48: Fated Gift

Dylan remained silent for a moment, eyes fixed on the massive corpse of the creature.

Even he was having a hard time believing they’d actually managed to bring it down.

His gaze slowly drifted to Élisa.

She was busy pulling out one of the long spikes, twisting it in the flesh before yanking it free. A wet sound accompanied the extraction.

Without the slightest hesitation, she plunged her hand into the gaping wound in the creature’s chest...

And pulled out a stone the size of her palm.

Maggie and Dylan exchanged a glance, visibly shaken.

They had never seen an anima gem that large before.

The ones they’d retrieved so far barely exceeded the size of a human thumb.

This one glowed with a crimson light—almost alive.

Even from a distance, they could feel the spiritual essence it contained.

"Don’t tell me this is why you wanted us to kill that thing?" Dylan asked, eyes locked on Élisa, his tone almost accusatory.

"Absolutely," she replied, a smile creeping onto her lips like the question amused her.

Maggie, tense, spoke up:

"We’d better get out of here. The Hystrix might still be lurking around."

"I doubt it," Élisa said, still smiling.

"You have no idea what you just took down."

She chuckled softly, almost joyfully.

"Remember? I said the Hystrix was a second-rank creature.

And now, right in front of you, that bony monster—probably third rank—got pulverized. Even its bones couldn’t withstand the porcupine’s projectiles."

She paused, then added in a lower tone:

"Don’t you wonder why this one’s flesh held up a little better?"

Dylan swallowed hard, a humorless smile twitching on his face.

"Because it was the same rank... or higher," he said.

"Good answer," Élisa nodded.

She pointed calmly at the corpse.

"That big guy’s a young orc, judging by his size. But even young, that’s still a third-rank creature."

She lifted the crimson gem between her bloodstained fingers.

"And this big guy just gifted us a third-rank anima gem without too much effort."

Her gaze turned to Maggie, her golden eyes gleaming with something strange.

"I don’t think the Hystrix would’ve stood a chance against him either.

Think about it... All that raw will to survive he showed when we tried to finish him...

You really think he’d go down easy against the Hystrix? I’d bet he fought back even harder."

She looked back at the corpse, then continued, her voice pensive:

"An orc, even a young one, has ridiculous strength... Way beyond what its rank suggests.

The fact that you managed to kill him is already insane."

Dylan’s expression darkened, shifting from thoughtfulness to something closer to horror.

"Then why the hell did you insist we kill him?" he asked in a low voice.

"You didn’t even know if we could pull it off... I trusted you, Lise."

Élisa shrugged, almost nonchalant.

"And yet... you succeeded, didn’t you?"

Dylan felt betrayed.

And that radiant smile of the elf only made it worse.

"She looked fragile. Almost innocent... but sometimes, she was terrifying."

The image hit him—Élisa gently stroking the orc’s head, a totally unnecessary gesture. Then, without hesitation, she’d shoved the barrel of her rifle into the creature’s ruined eye socket to finish him off.

A chill ran down his spine.

Silence fell between them, heavy and uncomfortable.

Then Élisa held out the anima gem toward them.

"It’s a third-rank gem. It’s worth ten second-rank gems... and twenty first-rank ones.

Whoever absorbs it can form their spiritual core with just this one."

Maggie crossed her arms, eyes fixed on the stone.

She rarely spoke without purpose, but this time, her voice sliced through the tension:

"Then why don’t you take it?"

Élisa slowly turned her head to her, looking almost surprised... as if the thought had never occurred to her.

Then she smiled—that smile no one ever knew how to interpret.

"It’s not that I don’t need it... but you need it more than I do."

She rolled the gem slowly between her fingers.

"Once one of you forms a core, our strike force will get that much stronger. So I’m stepping back for your sake—since you’re both better in combat than I am."

Maggie narrowed her eyes, suspicious.

"You mean... you’re just giving it to us?"

Élisa nodded, almost innocently.

"It was for you that I pushed you to kill him. Not for me."

Dylan frowned, suspicious as well.

"And you’re not asking anything in return?"

Élisa raised both hands theatrically.

"You wound me. Do I really look like someone who’s into bartering?"

A heavy silence settled again, everyone digesting her words.

Then she added, slipping the gem into a small leather pouch:

"I’ll let you decide who takes it. But make it quick.

The forest doesn’t like when we hang around corpses too long."

Dylan didn’t respond right away.

His eyes flicked between Maggie and the gem, like he was trying to read her intentions... or maybe his own.

Maggie stood straight, her gaze fixed on Élisa.

"I should probably thank you," she said, with a hint of irony.

"But I can’t decide if you’re a brilliant strategist or just completely insane."

Élisa shrugged.

"Why not both?"

Dylan snorted, not exactly amused.

Then finally, he reached out a hand toward Maggie.

"Take it."

She stared at him, surprised.

"You? You’re giving this up?"

"I still don’t have full control over my spiritual essence," he replied. "If I absorb it now, I might get torn apart from the inside. You, on the other hand, seem way more stable."

Maggie pressed her lips together, weighing the options.

"But still... You could form your core and become stronger. Aren’t you the ’man’ of the group?"

Dylan smirked.

"You’re my superior. And look at yourself... Tell me who’s really the man here."

He looked up at her—she towered over him by a good head.

She didn’t hesitate a second longer. She grabbed the pouch in a swift motion.

The crimson gem pulsed briefly, as if recognizing its new bearer.

Élisa smiled again.

"Perfect. One anima gem, one dead orc, and probably some beast nearby looking to finish what the other started."

She turned on her heel and headed toward the two hares she’d been skinning earlier.

"Let’s go. If night catches us before we reach that damn cave, we might as well dig our graves now."