“Anyway,” I continued where I’d left off, “I even tried using a weapon that was made from the bones of an A-Rank Demon Beast, but it only lasted slightly longer than the others before shattering on me.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a problem,” Tungsten said.
“Eryk’s Spiritual Power has always been abnormally strong, but he’s been getting even more powerful lately,” Kari admitted.
“What sort of weapon are you looking for?” asked Erica.
“You know, I’m really not sure…”
I had tried all kinds of weapons in the past—swords, staffs, maces, spears, staves, morning stars, sickles… none of them felt right. Most of them were too light, but all the heavier weapons like spears and polearms didn’t suit my fighting style. I needed something I could use with one hand or two depending on the situation. A sword would have been ideal, but it needed to be heavier than the average sword. Something like Erica’s claymore might work.
The same Dweorg who served our ale came by with some food. It was meat. I didn’t know what kind it was, but as I sunk my teeth into it, I found myself surprised by the tender juiciness filling my mouth. It was simply flavored. They probably used salt and pepper—or this world’s equivalent—but that was all it really needed.
As we were discussing what sort of weapon I should be using, a massive rumbling shook the tavern. The Dweorgs around us screamed in surprise. All four of us stood to our feet as the table shook and our drinks spilled everywhere. We looked up at the monster core lamps above our heads as they swung erratically.
“What in the blazes is going on?!” shouted Tungsten.
“Let’s go outside and take a look!” Erica suggested.
While the Dweorgs were panicking, the four of us raced between the tables and traveled outside, where we soon learned that the entire mountain appeared to be shaking. The shaking stopped eventually. However, it was only for a second before an even more powerful shaking hit the mountain. It wasn’t just a powerful tremor, though. It was…
“That sounded like an explosion,” I said.
Kari nodded. “That was definitely an explosion.”
As we came to this conclusion, we found a familiar figure running past us. It was Samraek. We quickly ran up alongside him.
“What’s going on?” asked Erica.
Samraek looked grim as he continued running, forcing us to keep up. “Danger. The Sekbeist have found us. We’re under attack.”
We had completed our task of getting water nymph bone marrow and gone to the cave to acquire four-tongue clovers. Several days after our attack on the Water Nymphs, I found myself standing in the place where our group had been attacked by the Giant Svart. The bridge was gone. However, my weapon, the Dragon's Tail Ruler, was still embedded into the ground where I’d left it.
“We decided to leave it there as a grave marker,” Mykkel replied to me as I stared at my weapon. “Of course, there is also the fact that your weapon was simply too heavy for us to carry. I’m honestly not sure how you can swing around such a weapon with so much ease.”
“I’ve trained my strength so I can carry it,” I said as I wrapped my fingers around the handle and lifted the blade out of the ground, then set it on my shoulder. It certainly was heavy for most. I would say it weighed at least fifty-four kilos, but that wasn’t heavy to me. If anything, it was exactly the right weight.
Mykkel shook his head in faint disbelief.
Kari, Fay, Lin, and Dyr were standing by the cliff face and looking across the ravine. The uncertainty on their faces made me realize what they were thinking about. I walked up to them.
“Fay, do you think you can use the Flash Step to cross this gap?” I asked.
Biting her lip as she judged the distance between the side we were standing on and the other side of the ravine, she soon shook her head. “No… it would take at least two steps for me to be able to cross it.”
“And you haven’t learned the second stage of the Flash Step.” I rubbed my chin as I pondered that, and then ran a hand through my hair. “Well, I guess that just means I’ll have to carry everyone across myself.”
“How are you going to do that?” asked Dyr.
“Like this.”
Since Kari was the one closest to me, I hooked one hand under her legs and the other around her shoulders, and lifted her into a princess carry. The blonde beauty’s cheeks turned red as she gave me a startled look. I just smiled at her and said, “Hold on tight,” before activating the Flash Step.
It was over in an instant. One moment I was standing next to Fay, Lin, and Dyr. The next I was on the other side of the ravine, setting Kari back on her feet.
“That really is an impressive technique,” Kari said as she gazed at the distance we had crossed in less time than it took to blink.
“Yup. Doesn’t it motivate you to master it?” I asked, winking.
Kari giggled. “It does actually. I’d love to be able to use something like this. It’s comparable to my mother’s Spiritual Light Technique, Three Thousand Steps.”
“We’ll keep working on it when we return home,” I assured her. “Anyway, wait here while I bring the others over.”
I used the Flash Step to appear back on the other side, then carried Lin, Fay, and Dyr across the ravine in quick succession. Once the girls were on the other side, I turned to the three guys. Earland, Geirolf, and Mykkel didn’t look like they were as interested in being carried over by me. Geirolf was the most adamant of the three about not letting himself be carried.
“No way. No how.” He crossed his arms in front of him, forming the shape of an X with them. “There’s no way I’m gonna let myself be carried like some kind of princess!”
“So I should just leave you here?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Geirolf scowled. “I’ll find another way across!”
“How?” I spread my arms wide. “The other side of this ravine is blocked off by mountains no matter how far you travel. There’s no other way to reach this section except to cross the ravine. Unless you plan on climbing up from the bottom…”
Reticence flashed through Geirolf’s eyes as he looked from me to the ravine. I knew he understood what I was saying, but then his petulance came back, and he stubbornly backed away from me, as though to say he still refused. I shrugged and turned to Earland and Mykkel.
“What about you two?”
Mykkel scratched the back of his head and released a weary sigh. “I don’t see any other way to get across, so I suppose there’s no choice.”
“I don’t care one way or the other,” Earland added.
With their agreement, I quickly grabbed the two older brothers and used the Flash Step to bring them across the ravine, where the girls were impatiently waiting for us. Once the two were on the other side, I Flash Stepped back and looked at Geirolf.
“No,” he said.
I raised my eyebrow.
“No way.” He shook his head.
I tapped my foot against the ground.
“I’m not gonna do it! You can’t make me!” he screamed, but I was having none of it. I decided if he was gonna be stubborn, then I wouldn’t give him a choice.
Using the Flash Step, I appeared behind him, knocked his legs out from underneath him, and hauled him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Geirolf didn’t seem to realize what was happening at first, but then he screamed and began to struggle. Before he could really begin fighting, though, I used the Flash Step one last time and appeared on the other side of the ravine, where I dropped the boy on his ass.
“Owch!”
“All right!” I clapped my hands several times and smiled at everyone as Geirolf rubbed his sore bottom. He glared at me, but I ignored him. “Let’s get a move on and return home.”
Everyone glanced at me, then at the blushing and heavily scowling Geirolf, and then back in my direction. No one said anything. They just slowly nodded. Thus our journey in the Demon Beast Mountain Range came to an end.
; “It’s good to be home,” I said as I stretched my arms above my head. All of us were standing before the north gate, having just returned to Nevaria.
“It does feel rather nice to return after a long journey,” Kari added with a smile. “This was a lot of fun… despite some of the things that happened.”
I’m sure she was referring to when I had fallen down that ravine, but I didn’t say anything about that as I nodded and agreed with her.
“I feel like I learned a lot during this trip,” Fay told us, her expression quite serious. “I’ve learned that I’m still too green and lack experience. I’ll need to work even harder than before so I can be prepared for the dangers we might face if we travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range again.”
Kari nodded at her friend’s words, but while the two of them appeared to have recognized their own weaknesses, Lin merely crossed her arms in an uncaring fashion. “This princess is just glad to be back. She can’t wait to take a nice, hot bath.”
While the three girls were chatting amongst themselves, Geirolf, Earland, and Mykkel all walked past our small group. While the youngest and eldest continued on—Geirolf was grumbling something under his breath, though I could not hear what—Mykkel turned to us with a smile.
“We have to report back to our fathers and inform them of what happened. We’ll need someone to go out and remake the bridge. We also need to let them know about the Giant Svart that attacked us. A B-Rank Demon Beast appearing this close to Nevaria spells trouble.”
“I understand. I also plan to speak with Dante a little later. There are some things I want to talk to him about, and I have an idea about the bridge.” While Mykkel gave me a curious look, I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not important right now.”
Nodding, Mykkel said, “See you later,” before moving to catch up with his two brothers. As they disappeared, I glanced at the three girls I was courting, who still appeared to be chatting among themselves, then looked at Dyr.
I paused.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Huh?” Dyr stiffened up when I spoke to her, but then she gave me a fake smile. “Oh, yeah. Everything is fine. Just fine. Anyway, I really should be going. I’m sure Hagen and Skygge are waiting for me.”
I thought about denying her, about telling her to stay here and not return to those people who treated her like dirt, but I realized I did not have the right to do that. If she wanted to go back, then that was her choice. It wasn’t something I could contest unless I wanted to be like those two she mentioned.
“Right. I’ll see you later,” I said with a wave.
Dyr waved back as she took off at a quick trot down the street. I watched as she walked, turned back to me, gave me a quick smile, and then disappeared around a corner. Hmm. Something about that girl bothered me. I wasn’t sure what, and I didn’t think it was the girl so much as her circumstances, but some unidentifiable matter regarding her caused my stomach to twist into knots.
“Did she just say ‘Hagen’?” asked Kari, brow furrowing.
“Something wrong?” asked Fay.
Kari continued frowning in the direction Dyr had disappeared in, but then she shook her head, slowly, and said, “No… I suppose not.”
There must have been something on her mind, but no one said anything. It seemed to me like we were all too tired to talk for much longer.
Fay mentioned that her father was probably worried about her, so after giving all of us a quick goodbye, she left next. That meant it was just me, Kari, and Lin. I could probably count the two gate guards who were staring at us in that equation too.
“Well,” I began, turning to Kari, “do you want me and Lin to walk you home?”
With a slow, hesitant shake of her head, Kari gazed at me with large, innocent eyes that were clearer than the sky and twice as blue. The imploringness in her gaze made me pause. “Actually, I was wondering… if I could stay the night at your house.”
“Huh?” I asked in the most eloquent voice possible.
I stood in my bedroom, my alchemy set on the table in front of me, and tried to ignore the sound of splashing coming through the wall. Kari and Lin were both in the bath. I had drawn the bathwater and heated it by adding two fire affinity monster cores. I’d also gone a step further and dropped a pair of Body Forging Pills in the water, which would help heal their aching muscles and make them stronger at the same time.
While I had let Kari come to my house, I wondered if that was okay. It seemed to me that letting the Princess of Nevaria stay the night with me was a bit improper. While it was true that I had never cared about propriety before, I at least understood that, as of this moment, I needed to tread carefully when courting her. Hilda Astralia was not a woman I could afford to cross, especially if I wanted to strengthen Nevaria with the knowledge I had. I needed her on my side.
Shaking my head, I stopped thinking about that, at least for now, and instead focused on the two ingredients I had acquired during my time in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. I had twelve monster cores with a water affinity, about thirty Water Nymph bones, and two dozen four-tongue clovers.
The four-tongue clover was a plant that grew in underground lakes, or in damp, dark places that had plenty of water. Their name was derived from their appearance. Each leaf was wide and shaped to resemble a tongue. There were four in total to each stock, and they spread out from the stock, branching in four directions to create a cross shape.
Each four-tongue clover was laid out side by side. I had grabbed two dozen simply because I was hoping to convince Feinrea to create a building specifically for growing more so we wouldn’t have to travel into the Demon Beast Mountain Range every time we needed some.
“Tomorrow, I will have to go see Feinrea and teach her how to make the Blood-Replenishing Pill,” I mumbled to myself. I also had to speak with Dante. I wanted to propose several ideas that could help increase the defensive strength of Nevaria, and I wanted to ask if he knew anyone named Hagen and Skygge.
As I was thinking about all the things I needed to do tomorrow, a knock sounded at my door.
“Eryk?” Kari’s voice echoed from the other side.
“It’s open,” I called out, turning around.
The door opened to reveal Kari on the other side. She was dressed in the attire she’d worn during our excursion into the Demon Beast Mountain Range—sans her leather armor. Dressed only in a black shirt, skirt, and stockings, the daring lines of her body drew my eyes to admire her. I couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t wearing breast bindings either. Her large bust strained against the shirt.
Her hair was still wet, showing she’d finished taking a bath. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
“Thank you for letting me use your bath,” Kari said.
“You’re welcome,” I replied simply. “Lin isn’t with you?”
“She’s asleep.” Taking a few more steps into the room, Kari smiled at me as she placed her hands behind her back. “I think she was exhausted after our adventure.”
Her comment made me imagine Lin as she slept underneath the blankets of her large bed, dozing away as her tail thumped against the floor. The thought made me smile for a moment. I shook the thought off, however, and soon turned my attention back to Kari, who was looking at me with a strange smile.
“I’m surprised you’re not heading to bed as well,” I said.
“I am tired, but I also wanted to speak with you about something,” Kari admitted, and here, she seemed a tad embarrassed. A gentle trace of pink sprang to her cheeks, making me once more realize how utterly stunning this girl was. That look of hers made my breath hitch.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
Bringing her hands to her front, Kari gripped her skirt and gazed at me with eyes that trembled with an emotion she seemed to be just barely restraining. “When you fell down that ravine, I felt… like my heart had stopped. I already realized some time
ago that I loved you, but until that moment, I never… never realized how much you meant to me…”
A small droplet of water like a tiny crystal leaked from her left eye, slowly wound its way down her cheek, and dripped off her chin. One soon became two, and two became three. Kari raised her hands to her face and tried to wipe them away, but she didn’t have much success as more tears continued leaking from her eyes.
I closed the distance between us and cupped her face with my hands. I used my thumbs to wipe the tears away as Kari closed her eyes and nuzzled her face into my hands. After I finished, she took a shuddering breath, opened her eyes, and continued.
“My own feelings came as a great shock to me.” She gave me this painful admittance as though even she couldn’t believe the intensity of her own emotions. “It felt like someone had ripped open my chest and pulled out my heart. It was like some part of me that had always been there had suddenly disappeared.”
Kari had stopped crying now—it had only been a few tears—but I continued to rub her cheeks with my thumbs. She hadn’t told me to stop.
“You’ve been holding that in this whole time, haven’t you? Ever since I returned after falling,” I said, already knowing the answer.
“I didn’t want to appear weak in front of my brothers,” Kari admitted.
“But you don’t mind appearing weak in front of me?” I teased. I didn’t mention how she and Lin had both cried into my chest, which I believed her brothers would consider a bigger sign of weakness than what she was doing now. I honestly saw nothing weak in her actions.
“Y-you’re different! I mean, you and me… we’re together, and you’ve always listened and accepted how I feel without reservation, so I… it’s like I feel more comfortable talking about my feelings and showing weakness when I’m around you.”
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