Surviving The Beast World With My 'Sassy' System-Chapter 56: Midnight Grind

Lavayla nodded slowly. "Okay... that’s good."

She planted her palms against the ground and started to push herself up when Mirek spoke again.

"Didn’t you ask me to show you the beast core once I was done with it?"

She froze.

Then blinked.

"...Oh."

Right.

That.

She turned back to him, a little sheepish. "I—yeah. I did. I completely forgot."

Mirek didn’t comment on that. Instead, he lifted his left hand.

Something caught the firelight—and Lavayla leaned in without even realizing she was moving.

The beast core rested in his palm.

It was... beautiful.

Completely at odds with the ravager’s brutal appearance.

The core was light brown, almost golden, translucent in places, like polished amber. Shimmering particles drifted slowly within it, suspended as if in thick liquid, catching the light every time it moved. It didn’t glow aggressively—just a quiet, steady brilliance, like it was breathing.

Lavayla smiled before she could stop herself.

"...Wow."

Mirek watched her reaction closely. Then his gaze dropped to the core, back to her face, and—just as she leaned away, satisfied—

He pushed his hand forward.

Lavayla stopped short, staring at him. "...Huh?"

"Take it," Mirek said calmly. "I’m giving it to you."

Her head snapped up. "What? Why?"

"Because I don’t need it."

She frowned, instinctively rejecting the idea. "That’s a mid-tier beast core. You can’t just—"

"I already have the condensed primal plants," he interrupted evenly. "And you’ve taught me how to absorb them."

He paused, then added, almost thoughtfully, "I wasn’t sure if the core would be useful to you before. But now that you seem to like it... I can give it to you."

Lavayla stared.

Then her lips twitched.

"So," she said slowly, "you’re giving it to me so I can admire it?"

She tilted her head, eyes flicking back to the core. "What if the energy dissipates and it loses its beauty? Then there’ll be nothing left to admire."

"The energy inside is extremely condensed," Mirek replied without hesitation. "It won’t dissipate easily. At least, it would take years before it does."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"...Really?"

He nodded, completely confident. "The beast had been absorbing energy directly from the condensed primal source here. Its core stored that excess."

Then, after a brief pause, he added, "It was close to leveling up. Likely within a few months. That energy was meant for the breakthrough."

Lavayla leaned forward again, staring at the core like it had personally betrayed physics.

"...So this thing is basically overqualified."

Mirek’s lips twitched—just barely.

"You could say that."

She hesitated for another second.

Then carefully—almost reverently—she reached out and took the core from his palm.

The warmth surprised her.

It was not hot. It just... felt alive.

Lavayla cradled it in both hands, awe softening her expression.

"...Alright," she said quietly. "Then I’ll take good care of it."

Mirek watched her for a long moment.

"You can do whatever you want with it," he said.

Mirek gave a small nod, then rose to his feet without another word.

He moved toward the outermost edge of the inner cave, choosing a position where stone curved outward just enough to give him a clear view of both the stream-fed passage and the deeper shadows beyond. He rested his back against the wall, stretching his left leg out while drawing the other up, his right arm settling casually over his folded knee.

Before relaxing, his eyes swept the cavern once. He listened next, every sense tuned outward, catching the subtle hiss of the waterfall, the distant drip of water along stone, the low hum of primal energy threading through the ground.

Nearly a full minute passed. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Only when nothing felt off did he tilt his head back, resting it against the cool rock, and close his eyes—still alert, still guarding.

Lavayla watched him for a second longer, then looked back down at the beast core.

She turned it slowly in her hands, watching the golden particles drift and swirl like trapped starlight. A ridiculous part of her wanted to bite it just to see what would happen.

"...No," she muttered. "We are not intrusive-thoughts-maxxing today."

With a reluctant sigh, she slipped the core into her space vault, sealing it away safely. Then she glanced back at Mirek, his posture relaxed but unmistakably vigilant.

She sighed softly.

Looks like sleep was going to be a short-term rental tonight.

She wished it wasn’t but there was nothing she could do, she had to try to get stronger.

Lavayla moved quietly and lay down beside Vai, careful not to disturb him. The baby shifted once, then settled, breathing slow and even. She adjusted the furs, tucking them around him before easing down herself.

’Nessa,’ she thought, exhaustion already creeping in.

’Yes, Host?’

’Wake me up at midnight. I need to continue the physique-strengthening manual.’

’Alright, host~! Sweet dreams!’

...

’Host! It’s 12:01 AM! Wake up!’

’Mm...?’ Lavayla murmured vaguely, consciousness surfacing.

’It’s 12:02 AM, Host! You told me to wake you up!’

She shifted, brow creasing, one hand coming up to rub her face. ’Five more—’

’No.’

Lavayla groaned internally, then forced her eyes open.

’...Wow,’ she spoke in her mind. ’You’re heartless.’

She rolled onto her side, pushing herself upright slowly, joints protesting in solidarity. The fire had burned down to a steady glow, casting soft light over the cave. Mirek was still at his post, eyes closed—but Lavayla had no doubt he’d notice if she so much as sneezed wrong.

She exhaled quietly and straightened her back.

Alright.

Midnight grind it is.

Lavayla closed her eyes, steadied her breathing, and reached inward—toward the manual waiting patiently in her mind.

"Okay," she whispered to herself. "Round two. Let’s start over."

——

She redid everything from the beginning.

Lavayla straightened her spine carefully, easing herself into a seated position beside the sleeping Vai. She adjusted until her back was aligned, shoulders relaxed, chin slightly tucked—no slouching, no tension pretending to be strength.

Strengthening the physique, she reminded herself, wasn’t about brute force.

It was about cooperation.

The manual’s words surfaced clearly in her mind, no longer abstract, but instructional.

Strengthening the physique meant both the body and the internal channels.

Not merely accumulating strength and not hardening flesh like armor.

But aligning muscle, bone, blood, and will.

Lavayla inhaled slowly through her nose.

One. Two. Three. Four.

She held.

One. Two.

Then exhaled through her mouth, slow and controlled.

One... two... three... four... five... six.

Again.

Her heartbeat, which had still been faintly restless, began to settle. The lingering ache in her limbs softened—not gone, but no longer shouting for attention. Her thoughts stopped tripping over each other.

For humans, the first stage begins with acceptance.

The body must be taught that ambient energy is nourishment, not an invader.

Before absorption comes awakening.

Before awakening comes repetition.

She breathed again.

This time, something changed quietly.

Lavayla let her awareness sink inward, exactly as instructed.

She didn’t reach, grab, or want it.

She observed.

At first, there was only the familiar—her pulse, steady and slow. The subtle rise and fall of her chest. The warmth gathered in her abdomen from the fire and from the meal she’d eaten earlier.

Then—beneath that was something else.

So faint she almost dismissed it.

But she didn’t.

She remembered the warning so she stayed still.

And slowly—very slowly—it became clearer.

The air inside the cave wasn’t empty.

It never had been.

There was a pressure to it, barely perceptible, like standing waist-deep in water that didn’t touch the skin. It threaded through the stone beneath her, hummed faintly through the walls, drifted lazily with the warmth of the fire.

Ambient energy.

Everywhere.

Lavayla’s breath caught in recognition and excitement.

Her body reacted before her mind did.

A subtle warmth bloomed along her spine. Not heat—alignment. Her muscles loosened further, as if something invisible had gently adjusted her posture from the inside out. Her blood felt... heavier. Fuller. Like it was carrying more than oxygen now.

She didn’t pull the sensation closer.

She let it come.

And it did.

Thin, threadlike currents brushed against her skin—not physically, but internally—testing, probing, retreating when she stiffened even the slightest bit.

So she relaxed again.

Accepted.

The threads lingered.

One slipped deeper.

Lavayla swallowed, pulse steady but unmistakably louder in her ears.

Oh.

That was new.

It wasn’t painful nor was it overwhelming.

Her dormant channels—whatever they were—didn’t burst open or blaze with light.

They stirred.

Lavayla’s lips parted in a silent breath.

She stayed still.

She didn’t chase the feeling.

Just then, the ambient energy didn’t slide past her like she didn’t exist.

It paused.

Then, cautiously, it stayed.

Then it slipped into her.

The moment that first thread crossed whatever invisible threshold marked hers, the rest followed like they’d been waiting for permission. Ambient energy seeped inward in thin, careful streams, winding through her body with surprising gentleness. There was no violent reaction, no searing pain—only a strange, spreading fullness, like her body had taken a deep breath it didn’t know it needed.

Lavayla’s brows knit faintly.

So this is how it’s supposed to feel.

The energy didn’t pool all at once. It traced paths—hesitant at first, then more confident—sliding along muscle fibers, brushing against bone, settling into blood and marrow. Wherever it passed, there was warmth and vitality.

Her heartbeat slowed even further, steady and strong. Each inhale felt deeper than the last, each exhale cleaner, like something stale was being pushed out and replaced with something clearer.

Minutes passed.

Lavayla had no real sense of time—only the rhythm of breathing and the quiet hum inside her body growing denser by degrees. The fire crackled softly nearby. Vai slept on, undisturbed. Across the cavern, Mirek remained motionless.

By the time she sensed the buildup cresting—not overwhelming, but full—nearly forty minutes had slipped by.

Lavayla slowly eased her breathing to a stop.

She didn’t cut the energy off abruptly. The manual had been very clear about that.

She guided it to settle.

The incoming flow thinned, then ceased, leaving behind a quiet, concentrated presence inside her.