Silence.
Both Charles and Nora sat in complete silence, focused on regaining their strength.
Charles was seated on the rock, his back against the wall, feeling the weight of Nora leaning across his legs.
His soaked clothes still clung to his body, and the burning in his eyes, though less intense, continued to nag at him.
It wasn't the time to ask the system what it had done by forcing his level, as his priority was checking his status to assess how much damage he'd taken and how much energy he had left, but he couldn't just say "status" out loud.
Nora was already on edge, and talking to the system in front of her would sound strange, even suspicious.
If he wanted to get out of there alive, he'd have to improvise.
Trying to sound as natural as possible, Charles cleared his throat and turned his head toward Nora, though he couldn't see her.
"Hey, Nora…" he said, his tone casual. "How're you holding up? I mean, what's your… status?"
