CHAPTER 87: CHAPTER 87 - REGENERATING

Warmth.

That was the first thing Logan felt.

It wasn’t the aggressive warmth his body had endured for the past hours. No, it was a much softer, gentler warmth.

His eyes cracked open slightly, barely able to focus.

He could see a stone ceiling above him, filled with tiny stone stalactites. The only light within the cave came from a small fire a few meters away.

Then, the pain hit.

A sharp wave of agony came from his shoulder, down through his chest and spine—but the worst pain by far came from his core.

He clenched his jaw, gasping quietly as his mind returned to reality.

"Logan?!"

Hearing Livia’s voice, a wave of relief washed over him.

’We survived,’ he thought, closing his eyes again.

Turning his head slowly, he saw Livia sitting beside him. Her face was pale and her eyes were red. Her combat suit was torn, even her hair was covered in frost.

But she was alive.

"You’re awake," she whispered, her voice filled with exhaustion.

Logan coughed; his throat felt like sandpaper.

"Barely," he said, trying to sit up.

His body trembled as he pushed himself up, only to twist sideways in pain.

"Damn..." Logan hissed, remembering he’d lost his arm as pain shot through his body.

"Don’t move," Livia said, moving closer. "You’re in absolutely no shape."

Her face twisted as she stared at where his right arm should’ve been.

"Your arm..." she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"I know," Logan said, his voice flat. "It’s gone."

Silence fell between them, both exhausted and broken from what had happened.

Logan’s eyes fell on the entrance that had been covered up by snow.

"The panthers?" he asked.

"Gone," she replied, shaking her head. "Some snow caved in over the entrance... we should be fine for now."

He nodded weakly.

"How long was I out for?"

Livia shook her head. "I don’t know. A few hours, maybe."

Logan’s eyes fell shut again, not from exhaustion, but to process it all.

The betrayal, the escape, the cost.

Anger coursed through him as he remembered the smirk on Derek’s face. He took a deep breath and shoved the anger aside. Now wasn’t the time.

Silence fell in the cave.

Livia pulled her knees to her chest, her voice soft and broken.

"I thought we were dead."

"So did I," Logan muttered, memories of crashing into the lake playing through his mind.

When Logan looked at Livia, the teasing girl who toyed with him was gone. So was the commanding force that led their team through the dungeon.

Now, she sat curled up by the fire, staring silently into the flames as a single tear rolled down her face.

"We’re not dead," Logan said quietly, breaking the silence. He grunted, forcing himself upright with his remaining arm and leaning back against the cold stone wall. "That’s something."

Livia quickly stood up, hurriedly walking over to help him.

Her voice trembled, looking at his body. "Your arm..."

"When we get out of here... my father will fix this. I’ll make sure of it."

Logan shook his head, smiling.

"No need," he said. "I can regenerate it myself."

Livia’s eyes widened, confusion crossing her face.

"What do you mean?"

"My affinity," he said, smiling weakly. "Phoenix fire. It regenerates my body."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. "That’s... possible?"

"Well..." Logan exhaled slowly, gaze dropping to his shoulder. "Not completely sure about full limbs yet. But without its regeneration, we wouldn’t be alive right now."

The mention of his affinity reminded him of what really mattered—was his core broken?

"I need to check my core," he muttered.

Livia gave a small nod, keeping quiet for his concentration.

Logan closed his eyes, focusing inwards on his core.

His Bronze Core hovered at the center of his inner world, looking even worse than he feared. Deep cracks ran across its surface like shattered glass.

’There’s no way any other Bronze Core could’ve done what I did,’ he thought, frowning.

The stress he had put his core through should’ve been enough to shatter it the moment he dragged them out of the ice lake.

’Why am I different?’

Looking closer at the swirling fire mass and the cracks along his core, Logan noticed something that left his mouth wide agape.

One of the smaller cracks lit up faintly, a sliver of silver appearing inside it.

’It’s... regenerating my core?’

Logan shook his head. ’No,’ he thought. ’It isn’t just healing.’

His core was slowly getting rebuilt by the phoenix fire. Stronger than it was before.

’It’s slow,’ he thought, observing the silver color appearing speck by speck.

He was happy and relieved, his worry about being crippled fading.

At the same time, he was curious.

’A core this badly cracked healing from an affinity... that’s completely unheard of.’

Opening his eyes again, Livia stared at him, waiting on his answer.

"How is your core?" she asked, worried.

"A few cracks," Logan lied. "Nothing serious."

Livia let out a sigh of relief, sitting down beside him.

She glanced towards the cave entrance, then back at Logan.

"Should I fire an emergency flare?"

Logan shook his head. "They warned us. There would be no rescues around this mountain."

"Besides, I want to try and heal my arm before leaving here."

Livia gave a quiet nod, her expression softening as she crawled closer beside him.

Several hours passed by.

Logan’s eyes opened slowly.

He felt his body temperature return to normal, which probably explained why Livia was no longer leaning against him.

"You slept for a while," Livia murmured.

"Felt like I needed it," Logan responded, his broken bones and the flesh around his stomach healing.

A quick glance at the test timer told him it had ended an hour ago.

"Seems like we’re late," he said, smiling.

Livia gave a dry laugh and leaned her head back against the wall. "You think?"

Logan chuckled softly, then fell silent.

’I wonder what story Derek’s telling right now,’ he thought, anger bubbling back to the surface. ’Not that it matters. The recording device should’ve captured everything.’