The safe house turned out to be a small apartment in a better part of the city, still modest, but a far cry from the ruins seed had been hiding in. Elena unlocked the door and gestured him inside.
"Sit," Elena ordered, pointing to the couch. "I'll get the medical kit."
Seed sat, wincing as his ribs ached him. Elena returned with a well-stocked first aid kit and began examining his injuries.
"Three cracked ribs and various contusions." She pulled out a healing potion, mid-grade, expensive. "Drink this."
He did. The familiar warmth spread through my body, knitting bone and soothing aches. Not as instant as the system's healing salve, but more comprehensive.
"Thank you," seed said quietly.
Elena sat across from him, her hands folded in her lap with her expression unreadable. "Tell me everything. From the moment the dungeon collapsed to tonight. Leave nothing out."
So seed did. He told her about waking in the morgue, the system's activation, the dual mana requirements, the skill variants, Marcus's ambush. The only thing he left vague was exactly how he was supposed to acquire White Mana, she had already figured that out anyway.
When he finished, Elena was silent for a long time.
"This is insane," she said finally. "Cheat Systems exist, but they're rare. And none of them work like this. You're essentially saying you need to maintain a balance between death and life."
"That's what the system says too."
"And if you don't? If one pool becomes too dominant?"
[EXCELLENT QUESTION!]
[IF DARK MANA EXCEEDS WHITE MANA BY MORE THAN 300 POINTS, YOU'LL START LOSING YOUR HUMANITY.]
[IF WHITE MANA EXCEEDS DARK MANA BY MORE THAN 300 POINTS, YOUR BODY BEGINS TO REJECT THE RESURRECTION AND WELL...]
[EITHER WAY, YOU DIE. AGAIN.]
[BALANCE IS KEY!]
Seed relayed this to Elena. "So you're on a time limit. Once you start gaining Dark Mana from hunting, you'll need to..." She couldn't quite finish the sentence.
"Yes."
Another long silence. Then Elena stood, walked to the window, and stared out at the city lights.
"The academy thinks you're dead," she said. "Your status as a student is terminated. Your hunter license is revoked. Officially, you doesn't exist anymore."
"I know."
"But." She turned to face seed. "I can help you register as a new hunter. Fresh start. F-rank, work your way up. It'll take time, but—"
"Why?" The question burst out of seed. "Why help me at all? You could turn me in. Let the Hunter Association study this system. Maybe they could—"
"Because it's my fault you died."
Elena's composure finally cracked. Moisture gathered in her eyes, quickly frozen into tiny ice crystals that sparkled as they fell.
"I was team leader. It was my job to assess the dungeon's stability. I should have noticed the seismic irregularities. Should have called for backup. Should have gotten us out before—" Her voice broke. "You died saving me, Seed. You pushed me out of the way when the ceiling came down."
Seed hadn't remembered that part. The memories before his death were still fragmented.
"Elena—"
"So no. I'm not going to let you disappear into some lab or die alone in the streets." She wiped at her eyes, the ice crystals melting on her fingers. "You get your second chance. And I'm going to make sure you don't waste it."
Relief flooded through seed, so intense it was almost painful. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me yet." Elena's expression hardened again, back to business. "We need to get you properly registered, acquire basic equipment, and start filling those mana pools. The Dark Mana will be easy, low-rank dungeons are everywhere. The White Mana..." She paused, a faint blush returning to her cheeks. "We'll figure something out."
[OH, THIS IS GETTING INTERESTING.]
[SHE'S DEFINITELY CONSIDERING IT.]
[NICE.]
Seed shot a mental glare at the system. "I appreciate the help. Really. But Elena, you don't have to—"
"I know what I have to do." She cut him off, but there was something different in her voice now. Softer and vulnerable. "Three days, Seed. Three days of thinking I'd never see you again. Never get to tell you..."
She trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished. The air between them felt charged, heavy with unspoken words and shared trauma.
Before he could respond, her hunter watch beeped. She checked it, frowning.
"Emergency alert. E-rank gate opened in the eastern district. Small, but it's near residential areas." She looked at seed. "You're in no condition to fight, but... do you want to come? Watch how proper hunters handle it? Consider it your first lesson in your new life."
He stood, testing his newly healed ribs. The potion had done its work. "I'm ready."
"No, you're not." Elena said as she smiled,a small genuine smile that reminded seed of before this whole ordeal. "But you will be. Come on."
They headed for the door, but Elena paused at the threshold, her hand on seed's arm.
"Seed? I meant what I said. About making sure you don't waste this second chance." Her blue eyes met his, and for a moment, the ice melted completely. "Whatever it takes. Even if that means..." She glanced away. "We'll talk about it later."
Seed's heart hammered in his chest. "Elena—"
"Later," she repeated firmly, pulling her professional mask back into place. "Right now, we have a gate to close."
As they stepped out into the night, he felt the system's presence in his mind, practically radiating smugness.
[QUEST UPDATE: GAIN ELENA'S TRUST - PROGRESS: 60%]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE PROGRESS: 25%]
[OH, AND SEED?]
[YOUR WHITE MANA PROBLEM MIGHT SOLVE ITSELF SOONER THAN YOU THINK.]
[WOMEN LOVE A MAN WHO COMES BACK FROM THE DEAD.]
[JUST SAYING.]