The Blame Game

The "giant" corpse in the distance, still emitting white smoke, stubbornly polluted the air with its acidic, burnt stench.

Xia Lin slumped onto the cold, rocky ground at the cliff's edge. Every attempt to inhale felt like invisible flames searing the wounds on his lungs and shoulders.

He looked towards Kasimir, who was also slumped on the ground. A rare pallor of exhaustion showed on the usually stoic face.

On the other side, Barrett lay like a sack of heavy grain, only faint breaths rising from his chest.

They had won, but in a way that had nearly shattered them.

"Ugh... my head..."

Lila's groan broke the stagnant air.

The young Apprentice Mage pushed herself up, one hand pressed to her forehead. Her dusty little face was etched with confusion.

She blinked, her gaze sweeping over the horrifying corpse of the monster on the ground, its head only half intact. She gasped, and then her face erupted in the ecstatic joy of survival.

Her eyes shifted, landing on the battered states of Xia Lin, Kasimir, and Barrett. The joy instantly vanished, replaced by deep concern.

"Nethys above!" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet.

She stumbled over to Kasimir, crouching down to examine him urgently.

"Mr. Kasimir, are you alright?"

The Duelist merely raised a hand slightly, signaling he was just exhausted.

He looked at Lila, his voice dry as sandpaper. "Potions..."

His words didn't even finish.

Lila leaped up as if her tail had been stepped on, swiftly pulling two standard healing potion bottles, deep crimson, from her overstuffed backpack and tossing them backward without looking.

"Here you go, sir!"

She then produced a large potion bottle, shaped like an exquisite perfume flask, its liquid a warm amber hue that seemed to emit a soft glow.

Carefully holding this bottle, she hurried to Xia Lin's side, knelt, and gently helped support his upper body.

"Xia Lin! Hang in there! Quickly, drink this, it's a Potent Healing Potion!"

She nimbly removed the crystal stopper and brought the bottle's opening to Xia Lin's cracked lips.

Kasimir reached out and steadily caught the two standard potions that had nearly hit his face. His gaze flickered to Lila's almost "attentive" posture towards Xia Lin.

Watching her doting actions towards Xia Lin, something on his eternally frozen face seemed to melt for an extremely brief moment before quickly freezing over again.

He unscrewed one of the potions. Once he regained a little strength, Kasimir stood up and walked to Barrett's side, confirming the thick-skinned old crocodile had merely fainted.

He roughly twisted open Barrett's mouth and poured the potion directly in. He then raised his boot, clad in tough leather, and kicked Barrett in the ribs.

"Stop sleeping, idiot."

"Ugh... damn it... which blind bastard..."

Barrett's eyes snapped open, a slurred curse rumbling in his throat. He struggled to sit up, but the sharp pain in his chest made him gasp.

"What happened... where's the monster?" he asked, looking around, clearly still disoriented.

"The monster's dead. We're alive, thanks to the newcomer," Kasimir explained concisely, tossing the unopened potion to Barrett as he spoke.

Barrett took the potion and drank a few gulps. His complexion improved slightly, and he finally understood.

He looked in Xia Lin's direction, his eyes complex.

Having narrowly escaped death, they should have been celebrating or comforting each other.

But in the next second, a fierce argument, or rather, a blame-shifting session, erupted between the three "veterans."

Kasimir struck first, looking coldly at Barrett. "If it weren't for you, old crocodile, being slow to react and not activating your [Aegis] in time, getting knocked down immediately, we wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

"Bullshit!" Barrett's eyes immediately widened, spittle flying. "If this damn brat hadn't been greedy! Insisting on scraping that cursed candle wax, provoking that thing to go berserk, would I have been forced to expend too much energy saving her and gotten caught by that monster?"

"I... I didn't know the candle would attack people!" Lila's eyes immediately welled up with tears, but this time she didn't back down. Instead, she retorted with her hands on her hips, "Besides! Uncle Kasimir, you were the one responsible for vigilance and handling priority threats! If you had noticed the altar was problematic earlier, none of this would have happened! It even caused Xia Lin..."

As she spoke, she glanced worriedly again at Xia Lin, who was being rejuvenated by the "deluxe" potion.

"My mission was to eliminate the spellcaster threat, and I made no error," Kasimir replied expressionlessly.

"You call that vigilance? You wouldn't have noticed until the kobolds were jumping on your face!" Barrett roared.

"Better than some people who can't even hold up a shield steadily."

"Who are you calling unable to hold up a shield?!"

Barrett was about to struggle to his feet but met Kasimir's icy gaze. His roar caught in his throat.

Lila also wisely shut her mouth.

The three glared at each other. The tense atmosphere from moments before deflated like a pricked balloon, leaving only awkward silence.

Xia Lin leaned against the rock wall, the amber potion warmly mending his body.

Watching the three go from blaming each other to collective silence, he almost couldn't help but laugh. It felt like even the pain from his wounds had lessened.

Barrett let out a heavy cough, breaking the silence.

He struggled to his feet. Though his steps were unsteady, he took the lead, walking towards Xia Lin.

Kasimir and Lila exchanged a glance and silently followed.

The three walked up to Xia Lin and stopped.

Xia Lin looked at them, somewhat bewildered.

Without a word, Barrett, Kasimir, and Lila, these three Adventurers who had been bickering incessantly just moments ago, moved in unison and bowed deeply to Xia Lin, who was sitting on the ground.

"This time... thank you, Xia Lin." Barrett called him by his name for the first time. His voice was a little hoarse from his previous shouting, but it was exceptionally solemn. "This time, we owe you. Honestly, if it weren't for you today... the few of us would probably have left at least two behind in this godforsaken place, becoming snacks for those beasts."

Kasimir and Lila also nodded along, the same sentiment in their eyes.

His gaze swept over the giant Golden Candle, the shaman's corpse on the ground, the scattered kobold weapons, and any potential hiding spots.

Barrett straightened up, looking at Xia Lin with a serious expression. "According to our previous agreement, that batch of 'cargo' is mine. As for the other things found on this adventure..."

He paused, emphasizing his words: "The money, you and the three of us will split equally. As for other items, like that damned candle, the trinkets on that shaman, or anything else valuable that can be scavenged from the cave... you get to pick first!"