"Yes, that's a Core Stone. They're solid objects sometimes found inside Crazy Beasts after they die."
Aziel rolled the small, rough object in his palm.
"What does this stone do?"
"Well, it doesn't have that many functions. But the interesting thing about Core Stones is, just like Mana Stones and Miasma Stones, they can also give superpowers to whoever consumes them."
Aziel paused, his interest piqued. "Superpowers?"
"Yes. Someone who consumes a Core Stone can change their body to look exactly like the Crazy Beast the stone came from."
Aziel's eyes widened slightly. "Oh? So if I ate this Core Stone, I could transform into that Crazy Beast? The one with the gorilla arms and the insect body?"
"That's right."
"So, basically, the superpower I'd get from eating this thing is just... becoming even uglier?"
"Haha, well, you're not wrong about that part. But besides that, you'd also gain the exact same physical strength as the Crazy Beast it came from."
"Could I inherit its magic power too? The camouflage?"
"Yes, the user of a Core Stone can also use the Crazy Beast's magic. However..." Blackie paused for a bit. "There's one big downside if someone consumes a Core Stone."
"A downside? What is it?"
"Every single time the person transforms, they completely lose control. They go into a berserk state. To put it simply, they go crazy."
"Ooooh, like that."
Aziel pictured himself transformed into the grotesque beast, rampaging uncontrollably. The image wasn't appealing.
"So? Why do you ask? Thinking of trying it out?"
Aziel chuckled dryly. "Haha, I don't think so. At least, not right now. I don't see any reason for me to be ugly and crazy just yet."
While the stone held no immediate use for him, especially with the risk of losing his mind every time he used its power, Aziel decided it was still worth keeping.
He carefully wrapped the Core Stone in a small piece of cloth he found in his sparse belongings and stashed it safely under his bed.
Maybe it would be useful someday… maybe.
**********
Hana sat at her desk in the clinic, sorting through patient files. The familiar scent of medicinal herbs and disinfectant filled the air, a comforting routine she had settled back into.
It had been a month since the incident in the forest, a month since the terror in the cave.
She'd returned to work two weeks after the incident.
Her physical injuries had healed remarkably fast, thanks to her own healing magic and the care she received. By the third day in the patient room, she was physically mending well. However, the mental scars — the fear, the helplessness, the echoes of past trauma — took longer to fade away.
She needed those two weeks of rest, away from work, just to feel steady again.
Her mother, Madam Rosita, had filled her in on the details once she seemed better. Hana hadn't remembered much immediately after waking up, her mind foggy from the head injury.
"Elias ran back to the village gate alone," her mother had explained, her voice tight with worry even in the retelling. "He was frantic, told the guards you'd disappeared while picking herbs, and that Jonas had gone searching for you."
Naturally, panic had set in.
Several guards were immediately dispatched into the forest with Elias. He led them to the spot where they had last seen her, showing them the first pool of blood.
From there, they followed the blood trail. It led them through the dense trees, eventually ending abruptly at the edge of a steep cliff. More blood was found below.
The trail continued from the base of the cliff, leading the search party to the mouth of a dark cave hidden amongst the rocks.
Inside, the air was thick with the stench of decay, littered with bones and the impaled bodies of humans and some other unknown creatures.
They found Jonas first, unconscious, his legs mangled, his hands crushed beneath heavy stones. And then they found her, battered and bloody, beside Jonas.
Sprawled near them was a fresh carcass of a grotesque Crazy Beast.
At the time, the guards didn't know who or what had kidnapped them. It was only after Hana spoke about the creature that had tormented her that they understood a Crazy Beast was responsible.
The revelation sent ripples of fear through Glenwood.
The forest was now deemed too dangerous. Entry was forbidden, and the village walls saw reinforced patrols day and night. The watchtowers were manned constantly. Glenwood felt a little less open and more wary than before.
Hana tried to refocus on the patient records, pushing the unsettling memories aside.
Just then, the bell above the clinic door chimed. Elias stepped inside.
"Morning, Dr. Hana. Morning, Ren, Rina."
"Morning, Elias," Ren and Rina replied in unison.
"Morning, Elias."
Hana looked up from her papers. She watched him as he removed his light jacket and hung it on the hook by the door. He looked just like he always did. Yet…
Her thoughts drifted back to the cave, to the moments when the Crazy Beast had tossed her around like a rag doll. Despite the pain and fear, she recalled something. She remembered someone jumping in, and somehow fighting back against the Crazy Beast with movements that were almost too fast to follow. Though her vision had been blurred, her mind hazy from the blow to her head, she was almost certain that figure had been Elias.
She recalled the memory of how fast Elias moved, or how he'd managed to kill the Crazy Beast so quickly.
It didn't make sense. Elias couldn't possibly possess such power. Could he?
The guards had found the Crazy Beast dead, but Elias had told them nothing of a fight, only that he and Jonas had found the blood trail. As soon as Jonas left him alone, he rushed back to Glenwood to get help.
If it was him, why hide it? What reason could he have for concealing his power and skill?
Regardless of that, she was sure of one thing — he had saved her and Jonas. If Elias hadn't come at that time, Hana and Jonas would likely be in far worse shape, maybe even dead.
Her mind flickered to the moment she woke up in the clinic bed, disoriented and terrified. She remembered instinctively reaching out, grasping Elias's hand, and her desperate plea for him not to leave. And she remembered the unexpected sense of safety, the calm that had washed over her just having him stand there beside her.
A faint warmth spread across her cheeks.