The next week was a grueling cycle of blood, mana, and wet moss. As they climbed higher into the mountain passes, the monsters stopped being "packs" and started being "predators." They faced Crag-Spiders that dropped from the canopy and Stone-Shelled Hounds that required Rixsa to crack the armor so Alexis could pierce the heart.
By Day 12, the explosive shouting matches had been replaced by a weary, professional grumbling. They no longer needed to watch each other's backs out of suspicion; they did it out of habit.
They reached the "Spine of the River King," a high ridge that offered the first distant glimpse of the valley where Blue Jade lay. To celebrate the halfway mark, and because they both smelled like goblin guts, they detoured to a natural geothermal pool tucked behind a waterfall.
The water was steaming, sulfurous, and heavenly. They sat on opposite ends of the pool, submerged to their shoulders, the mist acting as a thin veil between them.
Rixsa had her eyes closed, her ears drooping with exhaustion. Without her heavy armor and boots, she looked less like a brawler and more like a tired athlete. "I'm going to sleep for three days when we get to the city. I don't care if Nervall is there or not."
Alexis was meticulously washing her hair, her movements stiff. "You say that, but the moment you see Audo's hand on his arm, you'll be wide awake and looking for a heavy object to throw."
Rixsa opened one eye. "Heh. Maybe. But hey... Alexis?"
"What?"
"Back there, with the Hounds... you didn't hesitate when I got pinned. You could have let that thing take a chunk out of me. It would've made your 'competition' a lot easier."
Alexis paused, her fingers tangled in her wet blonde hair. She looked away, her face flushing from more than just the heat of the water. "If I let a teammate die for the sake of a crush, I wouldn't be fit to wear this coat. Besides... if I won because you were incapacitated, I'd never hear the end of it from Nervall. He likes 'strong' people, after all."
As they dried off and prepped their gear for the final leg of the trip, a low, rumbling sound echoed from the direction of Blue Jade. It wasn't thunder. It was the sound of a massive mana discharge—the kind only a Leviathan or a high-level Spirit or monster could produce.
"That sounded like his signature," Rixsa said, her voice dropping the playfulness. She was already pulling on her boots.
"It was powerful," Alexis agreed, her eyes sharpening. "But it sounded... frantic. Like he's not just training. He's fighting something big."
The fire crackled, casting a long, flickering light over the campsite on the night of Day 16. The heavy sounds of battle from the mountains had finally ceased, replaced by the eerie, quiet hum of the wilderness.
The conversation had started with combat tactics, drifted into "Blue Honey" logistics, and had now spiraled into a realm of logic that would make a philosopher weep.
"So," Rixsa said, leaning back with her hands behind her head, "if I have Nerv drain his honey directly into my mouth... does that count as him spitting in my mouth?"
"..... No, it wouldn't. But that's weird," Alexis replied flatly, though she didn't look away.
"But if we kiss and the honey is in his mouth, that's fine?" Rixsa pushed.
"Yeah?—wait." Alexis paused, her brow furrowing. "Does it become gross the second it's outside the body? Like, the moment it touches air?"
Rixsa sat up, eyes wide. "Holy... you're right! It does become weird once it's out. Why are we fine with it if it's inside? If you drink your partner's milk, it's fine. Their... substances... that's fine. Mouth honey? Totally okay. But the moment I want him to do it in a cup so I can drink it, suddenly that's the line?"
"Yeah, it makes no sense," Alexis said, shaking her head in genuine confusion. Then she froze. "Wait. So you did want him to do that in a cup?"
"No!" Rixsa snapped, her tail fluffing up in denial. "I was speaking hypothetically!"
Rixsa stared into the fire for a second before changing the subject. "Hey, how tall are the women of his species usually?"
"About 6'6" to 7'1"," Alexis replied, her voice tinged with a bit of elven envy. "Leviathans are naturally very tall."
"Huh. I wonder how big his... equipment... is," Rixsa said casually, standing up and stretching. "Whatever. I'm going to go hunt something that isn't dried jerky."
Alexis sat there in silence for a long time after Rixsa wandered off. Her mind was racing. 7 feet tall. A Leviathan. A different "classification" of Draconic. She looked at her own lap, then at her slender waist.
"Hey, Rixsa! I'm... I'm going to use the bathroom!" Alexis called out.
"Okay! Try not to die!" Rixsa's voice echoed from the trees.
Alexis scurried behind a massive ancient oak. Looking around nervously to ensure the coast was clear, she unbuckled her white plate armor and lifted her shirt. She reached into her hidden pouch and pulled out a small, enchanted measuring string.
She held the string against herself, measuring the distance from her "entrance" upward, her face turning a nuclear shade of crimson.
"If he's that tall... he should be about... here?" she whispered to herself, marking a spot on the string that looked terrifyingly long compared to her own petite frame. "Would that even fit inside me? I'd be split in half..."
"Well, what are you doing?"
"EEPP!" Alexis let out a startled, high-pitched scream, nearly leaping out of her skin as she tried to shove the string back into her pouch while simultaneously pulling her shirt down.
Rixsa was standing right beside her, holding a dead rabbit by the ears, an eyebrow arched so high it was nearly in her hairline.
"Is that... a measuring string?" Rixsa asked, her voice dropping into a dangerously low purr. "And were you just checking your internal capacity against a Leviathan's estimated 'stats'?"
"I—it's a tactical measurement!" Alexis stammered, her hands shaking as she fumbled with her armor. "I was checking my... my lung capacity for underwater combat! Leviathans live in caves, Rixsa! I need to know if I can breathe!"
"Right. And you measure your 'lung capacity' from your pelvis up? Interesting elven anatomy you've got there," Rixsa grinned, showing every single one of her sharp teeth.