Chapter 749: She Owed No One
Kaelen’s voice became slightly more serious. "The form you used against those three Advanced Horrors was risky."
Charlotte’s smile dimmed only a little.
"Very risky," Kaelen emphasized. "The balance required to maintain that state is not something most students would understand. One wrong step, one moment of misalignment, and you could have slipped too deeply into the were-jaguar state. Had that happened, regaining yourself may have become extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible under Nalim’s conditions. On the other hand, if your human side had asserted itself too strongly at the wrong moment, you would have become vulnerable while surrounded by enemies capable of killing you in seconds."
The screen showed Charlotte narrowly avoiding a tearing strike from one of the Advanced Horrors, her claws catching against bark as she launched herself sideways, then dropped low and ripped into the exposed underside of another demon’s neck. Her movements were not clean in the way an academy demonstration would be clean. They were desperate, vicious, and demanding.
Yet they worked.
"Even if you maintained that form for barely two minutes," Kaelen said, "you used it well. It allowed you to survive a situation that could have ended very differently. That does not mean you should rely on it carelessly, but it does show what you are capable of when pushed."
The highlights shifted again, and this time, the screen displayed something that immediately drew a stronger reaction from the crowd.
Charlotte was shown carrying Liam through the forest.
He was unconscious, his body limp and battered, one arm hanging loosely while Charlotte supported his weight across her back and shoulder.
The footage showed her moving through the forest slowly but steadily, adjusting her grip whenever his body shifted too heavily, stopping at intervals to check the surroundings, and dealing with smaller demons that wandered too close.
At one point, a Feral-class demon lunged from the brush, and Charlotte, still carrying Liam, drew a sword with one hand and cut it down with a single clean motion before continuing.
The hall stirred.