Emma hastily scooped Cotton Candy into her arms and rapped on its head lightly. "You've got to stop sneaking off like this. It's dangerous here!" She'd been so worried out of her mind about Edric that she'd completely forgotten about this fluffball. As she berated Cotton Candy, her eyes landed on Marcus, who was leaning against a tree trunk. So, she darted over to him with Cotton Candy in tow. She'd just closed the distance between them when she saw Edric fighting a beast. "Ed—" She clamped her palm over her mouth, worried that she might distract Edric. When she saw the blood oozing from his wounds, she couldn't help but feel her heart clench in fear. It looked like it hurt. "Marcus, help him," she urged, pushing Marcus in Edric's direction. However, Marcus only straightened and explained, "Edric is using this fight as an opportunity to break through. Ms. Tibarn, this is his best shot at breaking through. Edric can do this. He doesn't need me to step in right now." "I see," she said softly, backing down. Her arms tightened around Cotton Candy as she watched Edric fight with worried eyes. Edric's snake form looked like it had suffered quite a beating with its patchy scales and cuts. Yet, he was still going strong. Emma stood next to Marcus, anxiously clutching the hem of her shirt. She was so nervous that there were drops of sweat beading her forehead. Marcus tilted his head slightly. When he saw how tense she'd become, he gently pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. I won't let him die," he said lowly, his gruff voice exuding a sense of safety and calm. Emma raised her head and met his eyes. As her eyes fell into those deep pools, she felt the knot of anxiety in her chest loosen. Just then, the beast let out a yowl. Emma saw the dark purple snake coil around the massive beast tightly, his poisonous fangs piercing through the beast's meaty neck. The Rank 10 beast started thrashing in a desperate attempt to shake Edric off. Alas, the beast's struggles began to slow as the venom invaded its system. Eventually, it fell to the ground with a loud boom. It was so heavy that its carcass created a crater on the ground. "Edric!" Emma exclaimed, finally daring to give voice to her worry. Then, she shoved Cotton Candy into Corbin's arms and ran toward Edric. Edric's eyes swerved to her when he heard her voice. His snake body immediately transformed into his human form. "Emma…" I did it. The fight left him almost instantaneously. He forced his arms to move and desperately wanted to embrace the girl running to him. Alas, his body betrayed him as he fell into a dead faint. "Edric!" Emma yelled as she dove to his side, her eyes turning red-rimmed at the sight of his tattered body.She swiftly took the flower Silas had given her and fed it to Edric. Edric's wounds began to visibly knit themselves together as soon as the translucent seven-petaled flower touched his lips. Yet, Edric showed no signs of waking. "Is this not enough?" When she noticed that he was still unconscious, she quickly reached for more leaves, crushed them with her ability, mixed the crushed leaves with water, and fed them to him. If one wasn't enough, then two should work. Is two not enough? Fine, she would just have to give him more. It wasn't as if she was lacking in leaves. Silas had plenty more to spare. Unfortunately, Edric was still down despite ingesting more than 10 leaves. Was all of that not enough to heal him? Emma was about to stuff more leaves down his throat when Marcus rushed to stop her."Ms. Tibarn, that's enough. He'll die of indigestion if you keep this up. He's still unconscious because he's exhausted after the fight. All he needs is a few more days of rest, and he'll be right as rain." Ah, so that's how it is, she thought in relief. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" Marcus shot her an innocent look. "You didn't ask." Frankly, Marcus wouldn't have bothered saying anything if Edric weren't on the verge of turning into a Thanksgiving turkey. Emma had a sneaking suspicion that Marcus had done that purpose. Now that she was sure that Edric was fine, she finally felt her shoulders loosen. Then, she instructed Corvin to carry Edric back and asked Marcus to remove the Rank 10 beast's beast core. Of course, that meant that he had to skin the beast as well. The beast's hide and bones were plenty useful. They were going to take all of that good stuff back home.Marcus obediently did as told and skinned the Rank 10 beast. Corvin was overjoyed now that Edric had broken through. He carried Edric back to the rest pod and even changed Edric out of his shredded clothes. "Edric, you'd better wake up as quickly as possible." Edric had finally broken through, which meant that they could finally bond with Emma. Corvin had just changed Edric into proper clothes when Emma entered the pod. She took one look at the unconscious Edric and said, "I'll stay here and keep vigil, Corvin. You should get some rest, too." Corvin nodded. "I'll be right outside, Emma. Call me if you need me." Once he left the bedroom, he wasted no time tapping on his lightcore, started a group chat, and added Lucien and Silas to it. He didn't mince words with the group chat's name—"Bonding Chat Group" Silas and Lucien could only stare when their eyes landed on the name. Lucien then texted, 'Corvin, aren't you supposed to stay by Emma's side on Planet A3? What the hell are you doing right now?' Corvin's reply came barely a second later.