169: The Third Princess 2
Alex received an invitation from the third princess, however when he entered the room to meet her he got suddenly attacked by someone, it was a woman wearing silver armor. Alex fought back to show his ability, as he was about to deal a fatal blow to his assailant, he was stopped by the third princess.
The woman in the silver armor removed the helmet, she was pretty, short silver hair and blue eyes. She seemed unhappy to have lost, she was pouting.
Alex paid her no heed, he focused his attention on the door on his front, currently, the door was open and from the other side, a woman walked in.
Without a doubt, this woman was beautiful, her beauty wasn't less than that of Silveria.
Perfect blue hair tumbled over her shoulders and beautiful blue eyes were like an endless sea. She had a sculpted figure which was twine-thin. Her perfect skin looked so fragile yet so soft and the unerring amount of freckles around her nose. Cheeks the color of pink roses and eyelashes longer than anyone's he had ever seen. She wore a light gold robe. Her height seemed to be the same as Maria's.
She smiled after she entered the room,
''I apologize for what just happened. You must understand that it was a test,'' she said,
Alex curtsied to pay his respect.
''It's fine I understood,'' he said.
She smiled once again, then she turned to face the woman in silver armor, she said.
''Isabella stops looking at him as if you want to swallow him, you are not his match, he didn't even use his Gift while you've already used yours.''
Isabella sighed dejected, however, she stopped glaring at Alex.
''Let's switch to another room.'' the third princess said before leaving.
Alex and Isabella followed after her, soon they entered another room, this room was pretty well decorated.
The third princess sat on a sofa, she invited Alex to sat across her. As for Isabella, she stood behind her.
''My bad I have forgotten to introduce myself. I'm Artemia Eretria Von Havens, the third princess of this empire. Nice to meet you.'' Artemia introduced herself.
''I'm Alexander Kael Touch, nice to meet you too.''
''Can I know why your highness asked me to come?" Alex asked.
Artemia smiled, she was not angry at Alex for going straight to the main point, on the contrary, she appreciated it.
''I want to employ you as my escort. I'm planning to dive into a certain dungeon.'' Artemia explained.
''I see. Excuse my bluntness but why me? There are lots of stronger Adventurers than I, so why me?" Alex asked because he was confused as to why he had been chosen.
Isabella was dissatisfied with Alex's question, for her Alex should be honored to have been chosen, and yet he seemed dissatisfied, he even dared to question her highness.
Artemia glared at Isabella, the latter immediately closed her mouth, she didn't dare to go against her mistress's wish.
''Isabella, leave us alone,'' Artemia ordered.
''But your highness-"
''I said leave. Don't worry, nobody is going to try anything against me. I'm not weak, to begin with.'' Artemia said without looking back.
Isabella could only leave because it was her mistress's order.
''I chose you because you are stronger, that is one of the reasons. I want to know more about you, this is another reason. To explain it for you to understand I'll say I've been waiting for you.'' Artemia explained with a smile. Her smile was breathtaking.
However, Alex was not in the mood to appreciate it. He drowned thinking 'Another one who was waiting for me. I wonder why?'
''Why would you be waiting for me?''
''Same reason as Ana- my bad I meant Elseria. You might not know but this world is cursed. In the future we will fight against the enemy responsible for this curse, at that moment your help will be needed. Only you can help us.'' Artemia dropped a bomb.
Alex's head buzzed, he was dumbfounded by what he just heard, unlike Elseria, Artemia told him what he will do, even if she didn't go into the details, what she said was enough for Alex to picture the whole thing.
''Did you believe in reincarnation Alex?"
Artemia suddenly asked.
''I do. I'm a reincarnated person, same with the other seven.'' Alex responded.
Artemia's eyes widened, it seemed that it was the first time she learned that Alex and others were reincarnated not summoned.
''I see. So, it will make things easier. I'm reincarnated, person.''
Alex was shocked, he was not expecting this. He didn't know what to say.
''I will let you figure out the answer on your own. I'm a reincarnated person but I don't have all of my memories. The reason I'm telling you all of this is for you to trust me. I want to build a good relationship with you where you will help us. I hope you will accept to be my escort during the dungeon exploration, fighting side by side will help us to understand each other, to build trust between us.'' Artemia said.
〖This girl is honest. I like her.〗Silveria suddenly said.
Alex stayed silent for a moment, before saying.
''I accept. However, there is something I want to know.''
Artemia was happy that Alex accepted her offer. She didn't mind Alex asking her a couple of questions.
''What do want to know?"
''Why you're not competing for the throne like your other siblings?" Alex asked this because when he looked at Artemia in the eyes, he did not see the thirst for power like her sister or Leonardo.
Artemia chuckled before saying, ''What I seek is not in this world.''
Just from those words, Alex understood that she does not need the throne.
〖Hehehe, this girl is serious. She has the spirit of adventure.〗Silveria said after observing Artemia.
''I see,'' Alex said, he prefers her answer.
''Or do you want me to compete for the throne? I will if you want it. I'll give it to you?" Artemia suddenly said.
''No thanks.'' Alex flatly refused her.
''Oh? Then do you want my body?" She asked.
Alex frowned, ''No, thanks.''
Artemia put on a shocked expression, ''So, I'm not beautiful enough for you to accept me?"
''I never said that. Just that I won't accept that offer because I know it's just a joke. If I want something, I want a girl I'll get myself. No need for her to offer herself.'' Alex explained while rubbing his temples. He was feeling a headache, he knew that Artemia was joking, however, to him her jokes were not funny.
''I see. I like your answer,'' she said before leaning on the sofa.
''I must say, I didn't expect you beat Isabella so quickly. She's pretty strong. She even used her Gift, even her special ability: Gravity, and yet you were unaffected. I wonder why?" Artemia looked at Alex, she wants to know why Alex was unaffected by Isabella's gravity.
Alex only shrugged his shoulders not replying, he was not going to tell that he had been training under stronger gravity, it was now that he understood the utility of Silveria's training, it was to help him increase his speed but at the same time to help to be immune when facing an opponent like Isabella.
Artemia sighed when she saw that Alex not planning to answer her.
''So, Elseria already made her move. Ah! As expected of her.'' She mumbled.
Because of his good hearing, Alex was able to hear what she said.
''You talk like you know her personally,'' Alex said doubtfully. In truth, he was trying to see if he could gain a little information from her.
''I do,'' she said. She didn't say anything else, she was smiling.
''I see.''
Alex said not saying anything else as he knew it was what she wanted, she was not planning to say more than that.
Artemia couldn't help but smile thinking that Alex was interesting, he didn't behave like the other men she had encountered. He was calm, she knew that she was really beautiful, she became more beautiful after she regained some of her past memories.
Suddenly, as if she had remembered something, Artemia smiled mischievously.
''Alex, did Katherina approach you yet?"
Even though he was surprised by the sudden question Alex still answered, he shook his head, ''Not yet, why do you think she'd that?"
Artemia rolled her eyes, ''Isn't obvious, you have shown how talented you are plus Elseria is backing you. Normally, she'd approach you. Getting you to work for her, guarantee her the throne, she will be the Empress. You don't understand your value, Elseria influence is no a joking matter. Having her as a backer guarantee that nobody will try to mess up with you because they're afraid of her. Be prepared for Katherina to approach you in the incoming days, she has already forgotten that you've insulted her, no, she must be regretting what happened back then.''
''I see, how unfortunate I'm not planning to involve myself in politics, I'm not foolish enough to do that. Even if I was, I will never work with her. I don't like her and nothing she'd do gonna change this.'' Alex said, he was not joking, he was aware of the fact that Katherina was eyeing him, she was plotting a way to win him over, unfortunately for her, Alex will never change his mind once he decided that he doesn't like you.
Artemia did not seem surprised by Alex's answer. She only smiled.
''Well, we will be going into a medium Level dungeon. As for the date, I'll tell you later.'' She announced.
''I understand. I'll be taking my leave then,'' Alex said before standing up.
Artemia summoned Isabella to accompany Alex to the room where the teleportation circle was installed.
'See you tomorrow.'' Artemia said while watching Alex leave.
Alex nodded his head thinking that maybe tomorrow he'd be summoned here again.
On their way towards the room where there was a teleportation circle, Isabella said, ''Let's fight another time. I'll beat you.''
''I refuse,'' Alex said refusing to entertain her, he wanted nothing to do with this girl, girls like her are difficult to deal with.
''You.'' Isabella's body trembled, she was furious, however, there was nothing she could do. She could only ground her teeth in frustration.
170: Her True Identity
Katherina's mansion.
Currently, Katherina was fuming, she had just learned that Alex visited her sister's mansion Artemia's mansion.
''I was sure of it. Why do want to snatch something I have my eyes on little sister? You are plotting to have him help you get the throne?" Katherina wondered. She was not pleased with the fact that Artemia made a move by inviting Alex into her mansion.
Even if Artemia is her sister, she was not able to read her. No, nobody was able to know what she thinks, not even their father. It was as if she existed here but was far beyond their reach at the same time. She didn't like to interact with others too much except for her deceased mother and Priscilla. Even so, she was the most beautiful, not only because of how talented, how smart she was but also because of her beauty. She's the pearl of the Drexia Empire, the most beautiful woman of all empires and kingdoms. If she wants something people would do anything to grant her what she wants, it was why Katherina feared her. What if she decided to compete for the throne?
Most of the current ministers, most of the nobles will support her if she decided to compete for the throne and when you add Alex on the top of it, it was a guarantee that she'd become the next Empress.
Katherina had the feeling that in near future every force in the lands would become frantic to win over Alexander Kael Touch. This wasn't a hunch. It wasn't a belief, either It was a prophecy. He was beyond special. Someone chosen by Elseria must be a nobody, she had already secured him. She had never done something like this in the past, this showed that she had seen something other haven't.
Even today, the Silent Princess a.k.a Artemia invited Alex over to her mansion, this was not a coincidence, she must also have seen something.
Leonardo and others were special but, to Katherina, Alex was more than that. If this was a story Alex would be without doubt the MC.
She had just learned how he was hailed as Hero of Eria's city because he had sacrificed himself to let his fellow party members escape. He faced a AA rank monster and did not die, he only lost an eye. It what people mistakenly thought when they saw him wear an eye patch.
'I should have secured him in our first meeting and yet. How foolish.' Katherina lamented.
There was no use crying over spilled milk.
What she needs to do now was to think of a way to win Alex over before her sister snatches him away.
''What should I do? Apologies? Honey traps?"
Katherina wondered before she heaved a long sigh.
''Amy will help me collect some information. I'll make moves soon. I must also visit the academy.'' she decided, she summoned one of the shadow guards and informed him of Amy's next mission.
••••
Alex was already back in his villa. After eating and telling his sister about Artemia. He was now inside his bedroom.
''Silveria, what do you think about Artemia?"
Silveria materialized, sitting on the bed she said. ''Even if she didn't tell you everything I can say that she told you the essential, she's pretty honest. I appreciate this type of girl. You should interact with her to see whether or not she's worthy of your trust. As for what she said it's indeed true. They will need your help to fight the enemy responsible for Mysthia current state.''
''You mean Elseria isn't it?" Alex asked.
''Indeed I mean her. Not just her, lot of people will fight if not-" she stopped until there.
''If not what?" Alex looked at her in the eyes.
Silveria sighed, ''The world will be destroyed.'' she stated.
''What?" Alex's eyes widened, say that he expected this type of answer would be a lie. It was like someone dropped a bomb. His head buzzed.
''Why? Who is that powerful? Why they need my help?" He asked.
Silveria couldn't help but sigh heavily.
''You have not seen powerful individuals, powerful entities yet. Pray not to encounter them, the current one is a fake yet, this fake was able to curse an almost Higher grade world. The true monster have destroyed the Original world, the supreme being first creation. Forget it, knowing more at your current level will burden you. It will occupy all your mind forcing you to become restless in the pursuit of power. You need to grow step by step, not to jump. There are a lot of things you will come to learn as you become stronger, a lot of truths about the world that not even some powerful people will not know.''
''Is it because I'm the owner of you two?" Alex asked because it was the only reason he could think of.
''Yes.'' Silveria's answer was immediate.
Before Alex could say something she continued, ''Not only you but Maria, Sakuya, Luna, Leonardo. All of you who have reincarnated. You didn't think that you've been reincarnated for no reason I hope?"
Alex was not surprised hearing her question, even though Goddess Mea had said to live their lives happily, saying she had no expectations for them, Alex knew it was bullshit, this was not your typical reincarnation, all of them received powerful Gift. There must be a reason for this to happen, if not normal Gift will do and yet it was not what they received. You don't give someone something powerful without a reason.
Leonardo and his crew may have believed Goddess Mea but Alex, Maria did not believe her. It was like someone gave you the power to live happily however once the world will be in danger to not lose your happy life you will fight. Whether you want it or not you will step out and fight to not lose your current lifestyle. It was a pretty devious plan.
''I'll take your silence for being aware that it wasn't the case. Something big is coming, you all will be in the center of it because you contracted with us. It's good that you are aware of it, the others are not. People like Leonardo, too lost in their world to ask themselves why he received such a powerful Gift. I may not be too fond of Arthur but currently, I feel pity. He's unlucky to be contracted to someone like Leonardo, he's not worthy of such powerful Gift.'' Silveria lamented.
Alex smiled wryly,
''You are not too fond of Arthur because of his previous master isn't it?" He asked, he was trying to understand the reason for Silveria's dislike toward Arthur.
''Indeed it's because of his previous master. This fellow is too unlucky, to begin with.''
Silveria said not going into the details.
Alex did not push for more either as he knew now wasn't the time.
He was more concerned about the future enemy, he started asking himself if he was not too weak, what to do to become stronger faster.
Silveria watched him with a sigh, it was what she feared, Alex's current state. It was not too good. She decided to divert his attention for now.
''Master, You're not asking yourself what kind of reincarnated individual Artemia is?"
The sudden question stopped Alex from continuing to ponder what he needs to do to gain power.
''I don't think she's reincarnated from Earth. Which left us with the only possibility that she may come from the past or maybe future,'' he said.
''I see. Your explanation does make sense. Do you remember the name of Gods and Goddesses of this world?" Silveria asked.
Alex stayed silent for a moment before saying,
''I only remember the name of the Goddesses:
Typhania, the Elve's Goddess, Luna's, the Goddess of the Beastmen, Lilith, the Goddess of the demon and Artemia, the Goddess of the human race, wait.''
''Don't tell, she's the reincarnated goddess of the human race? How this possible?" Alex asked, disbelief written all over his face. He didn't dare to believe in this conjecture, however, the more he denies it, the more evident this becomes.
If this is true doesn't it mean that others Goddess may have also reincarnated? Alex wondered.
''I don't know what happened but I believe it is the only plausible explanation. As for whether or not there is another reincarnated Goddess I can't say for sure. Maybe only Artemia is special. Interesting, this world is not simple as it seems, no wonder they have chosen it.'' Silveria murmured.
Alex was too focused on thinking about how Artemia was able to reincarnate after her death to be able to hear Silveria's last words. He was thinking about a certain possibility, if Artemia reincarnated, there must be another reincarnated Goddess, like Typhania for example, Artemia had let something slip early.
Does Elseria is the reincarnated Elve's Goddess? Alex wondered before shaking his head, denying this thinking. From what he learned, Elseria is an old monster, at least over 200 years old, so she couldn't be the reincarnation of the Elf Goddess, even though Elseria appears to be mysterious, Alex did not believe that she was related to the Elf Goddess.
171: A Glimpse
''Silveria, I was thinking that I'll give you another name,'' Alex said all of sudden.
Silveria's eyes widened, ''Why all of sudden?"
Alex scratched his head rather embarrassedly,
''Well, you know I kinda feel like your current name is too simple, little lame if I may be blunt.''
Silveria looked at her master strangely for a moment.
''What is it?" Alex asked, he was feeling uncomfortable under Silveria's stare.
Instead of answering him, Silveria burst into laughter, after laughing for a while she said.
''My bad, it's kinda funny when you said that you feel like my name is too simple. I wonder what you were thinking about that day when you were giving me my current name?''
''Ugh!" Alex's body stiffened.
Truth be told, that time he just gave her a name without much thinking. Thinking about it now, it was kinda rude. It was why he decided to give her another name, he thought that the name he was about to give her now suits her more.
''Nemesis, I'll add this name to your current one,'' he said, proud of this name. He expected her to be happy.
However, the moment Silveria heard the name Nemesis she froze.
Alex waited for her reaction, however, he heard nothing no matter how long he waited, finally he looked at her to find her frozen as if time had stopped for her.
''Silveria, what is it? You don't like the new name I give you?"
''No, no, it's not that. I'm just surprised. Nemesis huh! A fitting name for the nemesis of mages. I like it, my name will be Silveria Nemesis.'' Silveria said with a smile, however to Alex her current smile seemed strained.
Before he could probe further to know the reason why she was acting so unusually, Silveria disappeared, before leaving she said.
''Sorry, Master I'm feeling sleepy. Wish you good night.''
Alex could only sigh when he saw her leave like that. In turn, he decided to sleep, he was rather tired by everything that had happened today.
•••••
Late in the night.
Alex who was sleeping body kept twitching nonstop, it was as if he was experiencing a nightmare, a pretty terrible nightmare.
Currently, Alex was standing somewhere, on a battlefield, he scanned his surrounding everywhere he looks at it was destruction, only destruction. He could hear the sound of an intense fight, he saw a blue-haired girl fighting, this girl was injured, suddenly she got blasted away by what seemed to be a tail, she stabilized herself after one kilometer, suddenly something tried to attack, however, a purple-haired girl with black wings like that of a fallen angel rescued the blue-haired girl from a certain death.
Alex saw someone dressed in golden armor desperately fighting, another one dressed in red armor was helping him. A golden-haired woman dressed in white seemed to be casting a large-scale spell.
Someone was shouting in Alex's direction, it was an extremely beautiful woman, white hair and golden eyes, behind her was a big tree that seemed like it could pierce the sky. This woman was shouting at Alex, more importantly, her finger was direct toward Alex's arms.
It was at that moment Alex became aware of something cold in his arms, lowering his head like a broken robot, he saw that he was holding beauty in his arms, beautiful lustrous black hair and blue eyes, however currently there was no light inside her eyes no more, she was dead, even so, she was looking at him with a smile as if to say 'Don't worry, I do not regret it. It's worth it and I believe in you. Live well.'
Alex felt like his world had been broken apart, he had forgotten that he was badly injured. His world was broken apart, everything disappeared, no cries, no sound, no battlefield only endless darkness was what he was currently seeing, he stayed silent for a couple of seconds and he said,
''I won't accept it. I will kill you all.''
His current voice was so low, so cold that it could freeze one soul, he couldn't believe it was him that uttered such words, there was no emotion behind his words no hatred, only the will to destroy. To destroy everything.
Suddenly, everything went dark and Alex woke up in the real-life, inside his room in the Blue Haven Villa.
''Ah! Ah! Ah!" He gasped for breath. Alex held his head feeling an intense headache. His head was throbbing like crazy.
''What was that?" He asked himself, he couldn't recall everything but he knew he was holding someone dear to him, someone dear to him who had lost her life, as for the identity of this person, he couldn't tell, he couldn't even her features clearly, everything was blurry. Even so, he was truly afraid of such a thing happening.
Suddenly, he noticed blood in his hand, his right hand to be more accurate.
''What the hell?"
He looks at his right hand to check if he was injured without him knowing, however, no matter how many he checked he didn't find any injury. It was then, he noticed blood dripping onto the bed, the blood was dripping from his right eye, he unconsciously touched his right eye where the death's eye is, it was indeed bleeding, his right eye was tightly shut.
Before he could further check what happening, he was assaulted by sudden fatigue, this was not physical fatigue, it was more like a mental one. He immediately fell asleep.
Silveria appeared, she seemed extremely worried, she cleaned Alex's right eye, she cleaned all the blood on the bed with the flick of her fingers. She then helped Alex to put the blanket on. She caressed his face while muttering,
''It was why I didn't want to tell you anything. Because of what you heard you unconsciously sought power to be stronger and the result is this. I don't know what happened but I promise I'll be there for you, we will, we will try everything we can, so don't worry.''
As if her words had reached Alex, his tensed-up body after what he experienced loosened and his breathing became even.
Silveria did not leave, she took a chair nearby and sat. She decided to watch Alex's sleeping face. She found his current face cute, a vulnerable Alex was cute, somehow it triggered her motherly side and at the same time, she wanted to pray pranks on the defenseless Alex.
''Ah! I should control myself.'' she berated herself.
''Nemesis huh! I never thought I'd be called like that ever again. I have almost forgotten it. How long it has been? 1 million years? 2 million? I can't remember anymore. Hah!'' she sighed looking blankly at the ceiling.
When suddenly her eyes turned cold so cold that you could have mistaken them as her sister's eyes,
''This time none of them will be spared, even if I have to disappeared I'll make them pay.''
Her voice was full of hatred, unconsciously her silver eyes turned crimson, immediately all the lights in the mansion, even outside stopped working as if someone had cut off their source of energy. Everything was working using magic stones, it was to say magic. The scene of a whole mansion turning suddenly dark was eerie, so eerie that it was disturbing.
Everything returned normal soon, Silveria was unaware of what happened. She did not know that her eyes had changed color for a moment, she was too lost in her world, she was remembering all she had lost. It was too painful, nobody should experience this.
However, while Silveria was unaware of what happened, somewhere someone saw it, she was surprised, her piercing blue eyes twitched.
''Who would have to? He's Indeed different. However, it's dangerous for him to unlock that ability at his current stage. I'll seal it.'' she said, her voice was emotionless.
She made hands seals albeit with difficulty because she was chained against an obsidian throne, the black chains were tightly wrapped around her body and the obsidian throne.
After her hands' seals finished, a blue pentagram composed of unknown characters appeared out of thin air before fleeing toward Alex, the blue pentagram entered inside his right eye, currently, inside Alex's right eye something was revolving however it stopped after the blue pentagram entered the eye. For a moment, that thing wanted to fight back, however, it failed, the blue pentagram was too strong thus managed to seal it. Alex's right eye returned to the way it used to when he first obtained it.
~Back to chained woman's side.
She sighed, she seemed exhausted as if she had just performed a rather heavy task. Her blue eyes pierced through space, her eyes seemed to peer through the third layers (Lower, Middle and Higher realm), she saw myriad of worlds, in some world people were fighting, destroying things, in another one they're living happily, in another one people went on an expedition to conquer more lands.
However to her, to what she had been through, she considered what she had seen to be peaceful.
''Ignorance is a kind of happiness,'' she mumbled. She couldn't help but let another sigh escape as she knew what was about to happen in the future, the approaching darkness, the darkness that wants to swallow everything, leaving only destruction behind.
Closing her eyes, she murmured, ''Maybe with him, things will change. Maybe I may change.''
Even though her voice was still emotionless, it held a tiny amount of hope. The hope that everything wasn't lost. The hope that something may change in the future.
172: Two New Students
The breaking dawn scattered the darkness, ushering a new day for the land.
The gentle rays of the rising sun peered their way through the light curtains and provided a serene light in the room.
Alex woke up, he was feeling refreshed.
''Morning master, how do you feel? Did you sleep well?" Silveria greeted him with a smile.
Smiling in turn as he could feel her concerns through the way she was looking at him. She must have stayed awake watching over all night.
''Morning, Nemesis. I slept well. Thank you.'' he said.
''Great,'' Silveria said before leaving.
After taking bath and doing some light exercise, Alex decided to check his status.
Even though he had trouble remembering last night's nightmare, no, he had the feeling that it was more than a nightmare. Maybe a premonition? He shuddered just by imagining this possibly.
'I need to get stronger to never experience the feeling of losing someone.' he thought before thinking if it was a premonition than it related to my eye? He wondered before he decided to check his status and at the same time use the unused BP.
『[Alexander Kael Touch]
Class: Magic Gunslinger
Age: 17
Male
Race: High Human
「 Rank 7」
Level 64
Experience Value (XP): 800/18700
Magic Power: 5010
Magic: None
Attack: 1010
Defense: 890 (+10 BP) ✒ 900
Agility: 985 (+25) ✒ 1010
Intelligence: 890 (+10 BP) ✒ 900
Luck: 690
BP: 0
SP: 0
Gift: Two Guns * Semi-sealed*
Skills: [Advanced Appraisal Level 1] [Item box Level 2] [Swift Fingers Max] [Divine Sense Level 4] [Throwing knife Level 5] [Dark Vision Level 2] [Dual Wielding Level 2] [Accel Level 3] [Knife Art Level 4] [Link Level 3] [Gun Art Level Level 10] (New) [Normal Regeneration Level 5] [Mana Recovery Level 5]
Special Abilities: [Language Comprehension][Danger Sense] [Overdrive] [Death's Eye] [Envisage] {Erase} {Magic Bullet} {Snatch} [Hellsing] [Xerox]
Titles: [Otherworlder] [The one who can't use Magic] [The one whose fingers are faster than Flash] [Goblin Slayer] [The Reborn]』
[Death eye: A special eye with numerous abilities.
1st lock: Fear: You will be able to induce fear into your enemies just by looking at them in the eyes. Makes them relive their deepest fear.
Create an illusion and makes your enemies experience hell.
Cost: 500 MP.
Note: Does not work on enemies two Ranks higher.
2nd Lock: Premonition: ???????? Sealed.
3rd Lock: Sealed]
''As I thought. Why it's sealed?" Alex wondered.
〖It's for the own good. Remember what you experienced last night. Your mental strength is lacking, the second seal is too strong for the current you. The true ability of the second seal it's not Premonition but prediction, the ability to predict your opponent's attacks to some extent. Premonition is just a side effect and its apparition is random you can't trigger it, you can't control it.〗Silveria explained.
''I see. I need to become stronger I'm still too weak.'' Alex said thinking about how to quickly increase his strength. It was a good thing that he accepted the third princess's offer to escort her into the dungeon.
〖It's good to think like that but you ought to know that you must not be too hasty. You should consolidate your current level, familiarize yourself with it to perfectly display your current level to its full capacity. You're a brute diamond that needs polishing. Intense training is what you need at the moment, not a crazy leveling.〗Silveria suggested while licking her lips.
Alex shivered, however, he still accepted her suggestions, ''I understand.''
〖Great, we shall intensify the training a little starting from tonight.〗
Hearing the she-devil instructor's words Alex could only smile helplessly. He decided to switch the subject.
''It's you who sealed my eye?"
〖No, it wasn't me. It's my Big sister.〗Silveria answered.
''I see. I must thank her later then.'' he decided.
Silveria did not say anything she only chuckled.
Meanwhile, in the black space, the woman chained against the obsidian throne titled her head to one side while wondering why would Alex thanks her?
Unaware of what happened after he said those words, Alex went to take a bath. After he finished, he joined his sister and Silveria to take breakfast before leaving for the academy.
•••••
Imperial Magic Academy, Alex's classroom.
Just after Alex and Gracier walked into the classroom, they did not have the time to properly greet their friends before Chris their teacher came in.
''Good morning everyone. Today, two new students will join us. Please come in.'' Chris announced.
Everyone was curious about the two newcomers, however, when they saw the persons who entered, they were surprised beyond belief. Especially, Alex, it was then he understood what she meant by 'see you tomorrow.'
Two beautiful girls entered, it was Artemia, the third princess whose beauty was renown through the world and another great beauty not less than her, she had long black hair and purple eyes, it was unusual pair of eyes.
''I'm Artemia Eretria Von Havens. You all know me but I'm not here as a princess but as a student so no need to act tense in my presence. Please take care of me.'' Artemia introduced herself with a smile.
Most of the men's eyes shone with the desire to possess this girl. Leonardo, Kevin, Dodolus, Damien, even Ferris were no exception. Only Alex and Leon did not react like the others. Not because they were not interested but because they knew how to control themselves.
After her introduction, Artemia exchanged a glance with Alex for a moment, her eyes seemed to be conveying 'Didn't I say we will see each other?' before selecting a seat in the middle.
Alex smiled not saying anything, this exchange goes unnoticed by most of the students, unfortunately, Leon saw it.
Nudging Alex's shoulder, Leon said, ''Bro, aren't you too quick? You just arrived and yet you are already acquainted with the third princess? You're not to be underestimated.''
Alex's lips twitched before explaining to him it was just for a mission, an escort.
''Just? Ah! I quit. You don't understand at all do you?" Leon said with a helpless sigh.
''Understand what?" Alex asked amused.
''Woman's heart, it's what I'm talking about. She must be interested in you to have specially chosen you over dozens of other excellent men. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying you're not excellent just you've not fully blossomed yet. There are stronger people than you, more fitting people than the current you. If she was not interested in you? Why would she select you over others?" Leon questioned.
''Who knows,'' Alex said not saying anything else. Alex couldn't tell him what the two talked about, it what a private matter. Not even the emperor and the royal family knows that Artemia was the reincarnated goddess of humans. She shared this secret with Alex because she wants to gain his trust, a solid and durable relationship is based on trust, it's what she thinks.
Sharp as he is, Leon knew that there was something his friend wasn't telling him. He could only sigh, it was understandable for Alex to behave like that, Leon would have done the same thing if he were in his shoes. He just has to earn his trust for him to share some of his secrets, some of his burden. Leon couldn't deny that he had an ulterior motive approaching Alex, it is just that his motive was not something nefarious like plotting to use Alex. Leon became friends with Alex because his intuition told him that by being beside Alex he will experience thrilling things, he won't be bored, there will be a fight, being battle maniac there was no way he would let go of such occasion and above all his personality was compatible with Alex, Alex seemed to be the type of person unconcerned by his status.
''Who is the second beauty? I've never seen her, nor heard about her.'' Leon said, switching the subject.
''I don't know either,'' Alex responded, his eyes zero in on the black-haired beauty with purple eyes. Somehow, he had the feeling that he knew this girl, that he had seen her somewhere. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember where it was no matter how hard he tried.
The black-haired girl with purple eyes advanced to introduce herself, her eyes were cold as ice, ''Morning, I'm Lilith E. Astaroth.''
It was all she said before sitting near Artemia, however just before sitting she looked in Alex's direction, her lips curled up into a grin just for a second before she returned to her cold persona.
Alex did not notice this as he was too focused on thinking about something at the moment, however, Artemia noticed it and she flicked Lilith's forehead, the latter glared at her as if she could not wait to swallow Artemia. Artemia giggled while Lilith harrumphed.
There was a commotion the moment Lilith introduced herself, her eyes aside, her family name was something most people heard about. The Astaroth's Family, the current ruling family in the demon continent. Even though the demon and the rest of humanity were not at each other throats, nobody expects someone from the Astaroth Family to appear here, as student nonetheless, they were surprised.
People started wondering what she was up to? She seemed pretty close to the third princess and the latter did not show any repulsion being near her, she even flicked Lilith's forehead.
'What is their relationship?' most people were curious.
173: About Dungeons
At the same time while Lilith was introducing herself, in another location in the academy, Freya's office.
Freya was sitting in a big chair, she was glaring at the woman sitting in front her legs crossed.
''I'm busy as you can see. Why-"
Elseria didn't let Freya finish before stopping her. ''Oh my, my, don't be so cold. I just came to see how my protégé is doing.''
''Don't worry he's fine. I'm not planning to snatch him from you. I'm not-"
''It's why you're still a virgin.'' Elseria teased Freya with a smile.
Instantly, the temperature in the room plummeted to a dangerous degree, the whole room was covered in layers of frost.
Elseria was unfazed by this amount of cold, she was still smiling, waving her hands, a green light covered the room, this green light dispersed the frost in the blink of an eye.
Freya clicked her tongue in annoyance, crossing her arms she said, ''You talk as if yourself-"
Once again she couldn't finish because she was locked in place by a terrible force, Freya could not help but shiver, others may think they know this woman, know what she was capable of, however, they don't know anything, the real her, her true strength. She knew because-
''Little Freya, it's how you talk to your mentor? What a gal. Forget it, let's talk about serious matters, shall we?"
Freya sighed in relief in relief when she saw Elseria not pursuing the previous matter.
''You are talking about her? You know what her attentions are." She said.
''I do. The last is too cunning. I tested her when she made a blunder. Fortunately, she cooperated if not, hehehe she'd hard time settling in here.'' Elseria said.
''Did you think her plan will work?" Freya asked.
''Let's hope so. The situation in the demon continent is chaotic. Seriously, it seems some of them never learn. To think that lass will also show up.'' Elseria said looking in the direction of Alex's classroom, her gaze seemed to pierce through everything to watch Artemia, having sensed something Artemia smiled.
Elseria's lips twitched, ''This girl. Fufufu, for a partially awakened being you're sure cocky.''
''I heard Artemia invited Alexander to her mansion yesterday.'' Freya suddenly said this.
''I know. Let her do what she wants for now. We have more serious things to talk about. So, as you mentioned people keep disappearing?"
Elseria asked, her playful side had disappeared and was replaced by seriousness.
Freya nodded before giving Elseria files that contain details of the missing individuals.
••••
~Back to Alex's classroom.
Chris did not seem surprised by Lilith's introduction, he must know beforehand her real identity. The current relationship with the demon can be considered a little peaceful, the princess of the powerful Astaroth's Family, the current royal family becoming a student at the Imperial Magic Academy can be seen as a way to further strengthen humanity and the demon's current relationship.
'Well, I'm just a teacher. I hate politics anyway.'
Chris murmured while observing his students, to him they're all his students, race, status, matter not to him.
''Let's start,'' he announced.
Alex was still lost in thought, after wracking his brain he was aware of why Lilith seemed familiar to him. They knew each other.
'So it's you. I wonder if the current you is the truth you. Are you also a reincarnated?' he started wondering.
''Alexander, it seems today's lesson is not to your liking?"
Suddenly Alex heard Chris's stern voice. Lifting his head Alex saw everyone looking his way, he was too focused on thinking about Lilith that he had forgotten that he was still in the classroom.
Scratching his head awkwardly, he apologies
''My bad, I was thinking about something. I promise it won't happen again, please continue.''
Chris stared at Alex for a moment before continuing, Leon chuckled, he had tried warning Alex to focus, however, it didn't work as Alex was too lost in his thoughts to hear his warnings.
''As I was saying earlier, today's lesson would be on the number of years you gain per Realm. However, before starting can someone tell me the four races' normal lifespan?"
Chris's voice echoed through the classroom.
To Chris's question, it was Luna who replied,
''Human normal lifespan is = 90 years, Beastmen= 100 years, Demon= 150 years and Elves= 200 years.''
''Exactly, now let's talk about how many years you'll earn per Realm,
✒ Beginner Realm: an increase of 50 years
✒ Intermediate Realm: 100 years
✒ Master Realm: 150 years
✒ Grandmaster Realm: 200 years
✒ Saint Realm: 300 years
✒ Demi-God Realm: 500 years ''
If Alex and others managed to step into the Demi-God Realm, because their race is different from a normal human, they will live for more than 1000 thousand years.
''Now let's talk about dungeon's level. As most of you know, there are three levels: Low, middle, and High.
Nobody knows how dungeons come to be, they existed since the creation of the world. Maybe it was the creation of a Supreme being, nobody knows. A dungeon can exist as long its core is not destroyed. Sometimes when a dungeon disappeared after being conquered, another one will appear. Dungeons are everyone dream because of the endless amount of treasures you can find within it and also most importantly because dungeons are like a farming ground to become stronger, there's an endless amount of monsters at your disposal to get stronger, it's why everyone wants to possess the license to dive into dungeons. As students of the Imperial Magic Academy you're lucky, after graduation you'll automatically get a license to enter most of the dungeons in the world. Perform well, it's to say if you are an outstanding student, you'll receive a Black gold license, with this license you can access any dungeons in the world. Well, we will talk about what Black gold license is another date.'' Chris stopped talking for a moment.
Alex and others were interested in this Black Gold Licence, however judging from their teacher's words, he will not continue talking about it today. They could not help but sigh with disappointment.
Chris opened his mouth to continue today lesson,
''Low-level dungeons are composed of 12 to 15 floors, Middle Level one is composed of 55 floors, as for High-Level dungeons, they are composed of 100 floors, something more than 100 floors. On each five-floor, there's a Boss level monster guarding it. However, like everything in this world, there is some exception, sometimes instead of seeing Boss every 5 floors, you'll encounter one every 7 or 10 floors, those dungeons are called irregular ones.''
Chris stopped for a moment to let his students digest this information. His explanations were more detailed compared to what one may read inside a library.
''After the mock battle in few days, the most outstanding students will be selected to explore low-level dungeons,'' Chris announced.
''Low level?" Someone asked, this person seemed dissatisfied about the reward proposed.
Chris couldn't help but chuckle, ''It seems that some of you are dissatisfied with what I said. It's understandable because of your background, you may have had the chance to explore the low level, even middle level one. However, do not compare those garbage dungeons with the ones I'm talking about. I said Low level, however, they are composed of 30 floors, one wrong move and you'll die even if you are Rank 6. So, do not get too conceited. You've not explored the world yet, there are lots of unknown things in this world that can shatter your common sense, shatter your beliefs.''
Facing Chris's stern warning, the students who were about to complain shut it. Alex nodded his head thinking that what Chris said was not wrong, most of the students were impatient to start exploring High-Level dungeons because they have been training in middle-level dungeons, however, what they did not know was that there are different types of Low, Middle, and even High-Level dungeons.
''Even though I said there are three levels of dungeons, I forget to tell that they are classified by Difficulties: Easy, Normal, and Hard. Let's take, for example, the Low-level dungeons I was talking about, the one the students who will perform well in the incoming Mock battle will have the chance to explore. Even if it's Low-level dungeon, its level of difficulty is Hard, it's why it's composed of 30 floors instead of 12 or 15. By the way, Low-level dungeons with 1-15 are considered Easy, while 15-20 floors are considered Normal difficulty.''
'I see. I wonder what level of difficulty the dungeon, Artemia and I, are going to explore is?' Alex wondered, unconsciously he looked in Artemia's direction, and coincidentally she was also doing the same thing, smiling she mumbled something.
Alex's widened when he reads her lips, what she said was this '70 floors.'
'What? This is without a Hard level difficulty for a Middle-Level dungeon. I wonder what she's after. Is there any particular reason for her to want to go into that dungeon? I'm sure it not because she wants to increase her level, talking about her level I don't know her rank. Is she stronger than me?' Alex wondered because he wasn't able to appraise Artemia the day they met, no even now he couldn't, it was impossible.
And as if reading Alex's mind, Silveria announced.
〖Indeed, She is.〗
174: Inviting Luna
〖Indeed, she is〗
Silveria's words resounded like a clap of thunder in Alex's ears.
Smiling bitterly he asked, 'Can you tell me her exact Level?'
Having felt her master's emotional state when he learned that Artemia was stronger than him, Silveria couldn't help ca huckle. It should be noted that Artemia is currently 18 years old, one year older than Alex and others.
〖Level 71〗she announced.
'Sigh! She's almost Rank 8. She can be considered to at the peak of Rank 7. I need to work harder. There is always someone stronger than you no matter what you'll do. Even so, I'll be the one to stand at the apex.' Alex declared.
〖Oh? So, you want to take the Supreme Being's place?〗Silveria playfully teased her master.
'I will do it.' Alex declared proudly.
Silveria was dumbfounded by Alex's words for a moment before she burst into laughter, she laughed hard.
〖I'm looking forward to it to that day.〗she said before adding,
〖We need to start training hard as soon as possible.〗
'I know.' Alex responded.
Unbeknownst to them, the moment Alex declared he will stand at the top and even takes the Supreme being's place, in a distant place, in a place so beautiful that no word could be used to describe it, a man whose face was shrouded by a mist could be seen sitting on a purple throne, this man let out a chuckle when he heard Alex's declaration.
''You want to take my place? Sure if you can take the responsibility that comes along with it, I do not mind. You're sure an interesting creation.'' he then shifted his gaze from Alex to look into a certain space, a sealed space.
The man couldn't help but sigh, he is omnipotent, yet at the same time, he's not. How contradictory.
''I wonder what this one will accomplish.'' he wondered.
•••••
~Back to Alex's Location.
Class continued for another two hours. Today's class was about end.
Suddenly, Alex raised his hand as he had a question, a question which was bothering him since some time ago.
After he received Chris's authorization, he stood up and raised his question,
''I want to know if you former gods who had disappeared were true gods?"
Silence descended upon the classroom, Artemia's eyes widened for a moment before she let out a small giggle, she made sure that nobody noticed this.
Chris sighed, he seemed he hadn't expected this kind of question, still he decided to use this chance to clarify some of the misunderstandings most students have.
''Do you all know that he currently in the middle realm? That there's the higher realm, meaning higher world than this one?" He asked.
Everyone nodded their heads, it was a truth that all of them know, however as for how to go into the higher realm it's unknown.
''Good, then do you believe that God Realm here is strongest on the other side?'' Chris asked.
The students did not answer, however, this could be taken as an answer. There will Higher realms than God Realm in the Higher worlds. What is considered strongest here can be the weakest on the other side, so there's no way God Realm, it was to say, the previous gods are true gods.
''Because we have been cut apart from the rest of the other realms we don't know the limit, how strong people on the other side are. Some people speculated that our world was from the Higher plane, it's to say Higher realm. How can a world existing in the higher plane fall back to the Middle plane? The answer to this question remained unknown. Well, it's only a speculation. Ah! My bad I'm going off-topic already. To answer your question Alex, I'll say it's no. They are not true gods. To be called God, you need to advance into Level 200. Even though we don't know anything from the other side, we know for sure that, Level 200 is not the limit, it's said that Level can reach 999, as for what is beyond that, we do not know. Considering the Realms beyond our God Realm we do not know. You may find out if one you manage to set foot in the Higher plane, something I doubt will ever happen. So, our Gods can be called Fake Gods as well, only by being on the other side that we will come to learn about the real realms.''
Chris explained, his explanation cleared a lot of doubts most of the students had, and at the same, it opened their eyes that this was just the beginning, this was the true stage, the true stage is on the Higher plane.
Unfortunately, it impossible for any of them to ascend to the higher plane (Realm), nobody has managed to do it since thousand years ago.
''Thank you teacher for the explanation,'' Alex said before sitting back.
Immediately he asked Silveria a question,
'Is there any to ascend to the higher plane?'
〖There is no way, it's what I would have liked but that would be a lie. There is a method, let's talk about it later but I'll give you a little hint, you already know about it.〗Silveria said not giving any more details.
'I already know it? Could be?' Alex thought about it for a moment before finally understood. This method must be related to Artemia and Elseria's goal.
'Huh! I need to become stronger.' he murmured.
Everything comes down to strength, he was still weak. If he's powerful enough he will know the secret of the world, nobody will entrust something to someone weak.
Finally, today's lesson ended, however, the others still had another class to attend, Magic Class. And because of Alex's ineptitude to use magic, he couldn't attend this class hence after the end of Chris's class he chose to go home.
''See you tomorrow, Leo.'' Alex and patted Leon's shoulders.
''See you tomorrow, bro,'' Leon said while still thinking how unbelievable it was for Alex to be unable to use magic. At first, he did not believe Alex's words because the latter possesses a monstrous amount of Magical Power, his MP surpassed everyone in this room, yeah everyone, it even surpassed Chris. But Alex assured him that he was not lying, Gracier confirmed this claim as well, even Maria and her friends confirmed Alex's words.
'I'm impatient to know what your Gift is.' Leon muttered while looking at the leaving Alex's back.
After chatting with Gracier, Maria, Luna, and Sakuya, Alex decided to leave.
Most of the students were surprised, (those who doesn't know that Alex couldn't use magic) when they learned that Alex won't participate in the Magic class. Damien became vigilant when he learned this because he was only interested in Luna, nothing else mattered to him, he did not know that Alex could not use magic, he was wondering why he possesses such a monstrous amount of MP then.
'Maybe it is related to his Gift? Well, it doesn't matter. I just hope he won't get too close to my goddess more than he should. She's mine.'
Damien said while glaring at Alex. He had already designated Alex as his enemy because he could feel that was something between the two, some kind of connection. Blinded by jealousy he started to see Alex as an enemy, some he must get rid of, he had already forgotten about the Pope's order to tried to befriend Alex. At this point, there was no way he was going to remember that order, to him getting Luna was a must, not because they needed her in their empire but because of his interest.
Therefore when he saw his object of interest, he soon to be a woman looking at someone else other than him, it pisses him off so much that he ground his teeth. Because he couldn't act he can only glare at Alex, his eyes filled with hatred.
On the other side, Alex who was leaving the classroom suddenly stopped and looked back as he felt a sudden hostility. This hostility was coming from Damien, Alex immediately knew the reason for his hostility, it must be related to Luna.
Grinning evilly Alex spun back and went towards Maria and others, he stopped in front of Luna and announced. It was something he planned to do tomorrow but he decided to do it today. He was not planning to secretly court this girl, so why hesitate to make it known publicly.
''Luna, I want to invite you on a date the day after tomorrow.''
Silence. Absolute silence.
The students who were preparing to go to the Magic class stopped and looked at Alex, they were surprised by Alex's words. Ferris, Eris, and Kuina's eyes were wide open. Leon was grinning, giving Alex a thumbs up. Maria and Sakuya were smiling, while Gracier was nodding her head as if to say 'How bold as expected of my brother.'
Artemia and Lilith had already left, if there were present, their reaction would be interesting. Leonardo did not say anything, however internally he was boiling mumbling how dare he.
There was something who was more infuriated than he was, Damien, his face at the moment was pale, he was trembling, if looks could kill, Alex may have died a thousand times already.
Everybody waited for Luna's reply, the latter was surprised by Alex's sudden word. Even if she knew Maria's condition, and was aware of the fact that Alex may approach her in the incoming days, she was still caught off guard.
Luna remembered her best friend's words, 'I've already done what I can, the rest is up to you. Stop hesitating. What if he doesn't remember you? You just have to make him remember. So, no more hesitation.'
'Yeah, no more hesitation.' Luna gave herself an illusionary slap.
Locking eyes with the man she knew since the past, the man who had forgotten about her, Luna put on her most beautiful smile and said.
''Why not? I shall gladly accept. Please take care of me.''
175: Illusionary Battlefield
Everyone present was mesmerized by Luna's beautiful smile, whether it was men or women.
Alex quickly gets hold of himself, he smiled toward the girls before leaving. Damien was still surprised by Luna accepting Alex's invitation. Even though he speculated that there must be something between the two, it was only speculation, and judging by the way Luna smiled just now, what he feared the most was going to happen.
''I need to do something,' Damien mumbled before leaving the class.
Maria and Sakuya started to tease Luna on their way towards the Magic Classroom. Gracier joined the two.
•••••
On the way back to his villa, Alex was chatting with Silveria, the latter was asking Alex a question.
〖Master, why did you try to provoke Damien ?〗
'As you may have sensed it, his gaze was full of hostility toward me. The reason is because of Luna. He's treating her as an object that belongs to him, she's not an object and she doesn't belong to anybody. As he has already regarded me as an enemy, I decided to do the same by declaring that I accepted, I'll be going after Luna, I'll get her.' Alex explained before sighing.
'At the start, I may have not planned to date Luna but now it's different.'
〖Is it because of Maria's condition?〗Silveria asked.
'Yes but not entirely. I don't know if you have noticed it but some part of my memories are blurred, no missing would be the correct words.' Alex explained while leaving the academy, he decided to tour the capital on a later date, maybe with Luna, or Gracier.
Silveria nodded at Alex's words. Indeed as he said, some part of his memories were missing, she wondered why, she considered asking her master why but she refrained from doing so as she was afraid that this question may bring some unwanted memories if the latter had suffered some kind of trauma, and due to this trauma, unconsciously he had chosen to seal some of his memories.
However, from Alex's words, it doesn't seem like it was the case.
〖What happened?〗Silveria could not help but ask, she was curious.
Alex heaved a long sigh before answering,
'It is because of amnesia. My parents died in a car accident you already know that but you don't know that I was with them when it happened. Even though I survived, I stayed in the coma for almost one year and when I woke up, I had forgotten some part of my memories, I forgot everything except my name and my parents, I don't even remember the name of my elementary school. Doctors said it was partial amnesia due to the violent shock my head experienced in the car crash, that my memories would come back, it may come back in a month or years. Unfortunately, these memories never came back even after I reincarnated.'
〖I see so that's why. I would have never thought it was because of something like that. However, what does Luna come to do in this? Because from your words she may know something, she may be related to your past.〗Silveria asked a little bit puzzled.
'In the past, I didn't think too much about it, however recently I started to think about her unusual behaviors and I concluded that she and I, know each other. I have this feeling, and recently I got stronger whenever I see her. I don't know if it's true or not but Maria must be aware of something it's why she suggested that I must start with Luna first. I'm not that dense and even if I have interacted with her few times, I noticed some facts, she treated me differently, look at me differently, especially today when I invited her, she was happy as if she had been waiting for this. Well, everything will become clear after our date.'
Alex said before entering the Blue Haven Villa.
He directly went toward his chamber.
Meanwhile, Silveria was thinking that her Master's words were right on the mark. Luna knew him. Shaking her head she announced,
〖Master, go eat and after you're done, we will start the training.〗
Alex nodded before he asked his maid to prepare him something to eat. After he finished eating, he went back to his room, lay on his bed, and closed his eyes.
'Let's start.' he said.
Silveria smiled before clapping her hands together.
Immediately, Alex's consciousness got teleported inside a world. This world was different from the one he usually trains in.
Alex appeared in front of a forest, this forest was gigantic, it seemed that there was no end to this forest. There was a sun in the sky, he could feel the wind caressing his face, he could feel the solid ground under his feet. It was like he got teleported to another world, this seemed too real, not an illusion.
''Where is this?" He asked while looking around, eyes filled with vigilance. He had the feeling that the forest in front of him was dangerous, it was like a sleeping dangerous beast, one wrong move you will die.
Suddenly, Alex heard a giggle followed by the appearance of Silveria, floating in the air with her arms crossed haughtily looking down on the world like some kind of Goddess, she proclaimed.
''Welcome in the Illusionary Battlefield, this is my self-created little world. This is the first Level: The Endless Forest. Your training is about to start. Because it's not your real body, you can revive after death, however, there's a penalty, every you die, the gravity inside the forest will increase by 100, and what you gained will be lost. Mind you, you will not gain any level but your stats may increase. This is random, though. To clear this level you'll need to kill the boss in the depth of the Endless Forest. Without further ado, let's the fun begin.''
Alex did not have the time to ask any questions before being hurtled into the Endless Forest at an extremely frightening speed. He silently cursed Silveria's shameless behavior, she must be enjoying it.
Indeed, Silveria was enjoying it, after sending Alex into the Endless Forest with a rather brutal method, she was grinning, when suddenly her expression contorted for a moment before she smiled again as if nothing happened.
''Ops! I forget to tell him that the gravity is around 150 Kg. Well, it doesn't matter, fufufu I shall see I long he will survive.''
•••••
Back on Alex's side.
Just as he entered the forest, he tried to stabilize his fall to peacefully land, however, due to the sudden shift in gravity, his head almost collided against a gigantic tree, he hastily used his arms to not crash against the tree.
Because the gravity was still at a bearable level, he managed to safely land on the ground after almost colliding against the tree trunk.
Just as he set foot on the ground, he heard a whooshing sound, Alex immediately sidestepped on his left to avoid a sudden attack.
Looking at the culprit of this sudden attack, his eyes couldn't help but widened. It was five meters long green python, above the python head was a small white window, It was written : [Level 25 Green Python].
''What? A level 25 monster at the edge of the forest? You must be joking with me.'' Alex cursed under his breath before throwing a knife at the startled monster.
Even though the monster was stunned that its surprise attack had fallen, its instinct was still sharp, he quickly avoided the fast knife and at the same time his eyes turned vicious, glaring at Alex, he spat a green venom in his direction.
Kicking the ground Alex dodged the Green Python venom, the green venom melted the ground with a sii sound. Alex's scalp tingled, fortunately, he had dodged if not his skin may have melted.
Whoosh !!
Two Black Bettie's were thrown at the green python, the green python was ready to dodge however suddenly his body stiffened because without turning Alex aimed his silver gun to his left and fired.
Bang!
There was a thud sound, something heavy seemed to have fallen onto the ground, and the green python in front of Alex was injured, he started thrashing left and right destroying everything in his sight, he seemed extremely enraged by something.
Alex sneered, he did not hide his contempt.
''How cunning of you. Unfortunately, your little plot has fallen because you meet me. Another Green Python was waiting patiently in ambush to give the coup de grâce. It must be a female python, maybe it's your wife?"
Alex's words made the thrashing python act more violently, Alex chuckled before finishing the green python.
Just after the python was dead, his body disappeared, it was like what you experience in-game.
''Seriously?" Alex wondered before he suddenly jumped back.
Bang!
In the place where he was previously standing, a stone landed there.
''Gyi~ Gyi~''
''Gyi~....."
From the other side of the forest, five monsters suddenly appeared, it was goblins, however, unlike normal goblin whose skin is green, the five goblins in front of him skins were red.
''Don't tell me they are all rare species?" Alex asked nobody in particular before sighing.
He used Xerox to create another silver gun, he was ready for battle. Coming from another side were a group of another monster.
Without a doubt, things were not going to be peaceful for him, yet Alex was grinning, eyes full of battle intent.
''Let's see how far I can go before experiencing my first death,'' he muttered.
176: Against The Wolves
Alex stared at the five unusual goblins, there were also doing the same thing. Above their heads were their levels, they had the same level, [Level 28].
''Gyi-"
Before one of the five red skin goblins could talk, Alex fired.
Bang bang!!!!
They were eliminated with a bullet in the head, it was too fast. None among the five had the time to react before they got killed.
Alex did not wait for the next enemy to attack him, he went on the offense. Aiming his guns in the direction of the incoming enemies, a deluge of bullets rained.
Bang!!!!!!
All of the six incoming monsters, (goblins) died. Alex started to walk deeper into the forest, his Divine Sense was already activated, ready to inform him in the case of the enemy's attack.
Just after waking a hundred meters deeper inside the Endless Forest, Alex's Divine Sense caught sight of something, it was an enemy whose speed was extremely fast.
Just in the blink of an eye, it was already near Alex.
Bang!
Without giving this monster the time to close he fired. Surprisingly, the wind wolf dodged the bullet by law extremely low against the ground.
Alex was surprised by the monster's cleverness, so much that he was almost caught off guard by the monster's next attack.
Two horizontal wind slashes were sent toward him, perfectly controlling his body he was able to pass through the two wind blades.
Alex's eyes narrowed dangerously, he fired another bullet at the monster, the latter jumped back to avoid the blueish bullet.
However, just as he was landing, he felt sudden goosebumps rising all over his body, his instinct told him that he was about to die.
The wind wolf tried to shift his body in the opposite direction before Alex's blade could pierce its neck, unfortunately, it didn't work.
The blade still manage to connect to his neck,
''Awuuuuu~''
The wind wolf howled, his howl spreads in the forest like a wildfire. Knowing that he was going to die he decided to alert the other wind wolves in the forest.
Alex's expression sank, without waiting to check whether or not the monster had died, he dashed into the forest, running in a random direction at extremely fast speed.
Coming from all sides of the forest was wind wolf howling.
''Awuu~''
''Awuu~"
It was something of call, all wind wolves in the vicinity went after Alex, they numbered thirty.
Alex who was running ahead felt a chill down his spine, when in his head he saw numerous red dots moving towards him at extreme speed, it was as if they couldn't wait to tear him apart. Even though his level was above their level, it doesn't change the fact that having thirty Level 35 wind wolves after you, was not a pleasant feeling when you consider how enraged they are.
'How can they locate me?' Alex asked perplexed because no matter where he went they still followed him. Almost as if they could pinpoint his exact location.
What he didn't know was that before dying that wind wolf had put a tracking spell on him, so no matter where he would go, the others will be able to track him down.
Alex sighed before suddenly, his eyes shined because he suddenly had an idea. He immediately put it into motion, using Vanishing bullet on himself, his presence was immediately erased.
The wind wolves who were chasing after Alex came to an abrupt stop as their target's presence vanished. They started searching for him everywhere, however they weren't able to feel his location as they used to, it was as if he completely disappeared, not even his smell could be sensed.
Leaning against a tree fifty meters to the panicked wind wolves, Alex heaved a long sigh when suddenly his eyes widened, not far from him was a goblin hiding, probably because he was scared of the enraged wolves.
Whoosh!
Alex did not give the poor goblin to blow up his cover before silencing him forever with a silver Bettie's, this throwing knife was extremely swift compared to the Black Bettie's.
Unfortunately, Alex's move didn't go unnoticed.
Because of the sudden dreadful sensation he got, Alex Accel-ed to reappear a hundred meters away, the place where he was got destroyed, the trees erased by destructive wind blades.
The culprit of this destruction was a gigantic gray wolf over ten meters, it was an alpha.
''Awuuu~'' he howled loudly to call his pack to join him to slaughter this enemy responsible of the demise of one of them.
For the first time since he entered the Endless Forest, Alex decided to become serious because in front of him was a Level 50 Alpha Wind wolf while coming from the other sides were more than thirty wind wolves. He was caught in the middle, he could have chosen to Accel away, however by doing something like that he was admitting that he was scared of this little challenge, he could pretend to want to become the strongest while at the first setback he will flee. He decided to see this fight as some kind of test. Can he be able to pass this test without losing his life? It was unknown, however, he decided to face this challenge head because he was sure that in the future, scenes like these will become common, him standing in front of numerous enemies. So, better use this opportunity to get used to it.
Silveria who was watching everything from the sky nodded her head. If she was in Alex's shoes she would have done the same thing. If he can overcome this little thing then better drop the idea of conquering this level as they are more terrible enemies laying in the depth of the forest, some work solo while some operate in a group.
Silveria giggled because she just remembered that she hadn't told Alex everything. No, it could be said that she deliberately omitted to inform him about a crucial fact. She wanted her master to experience it himself and after that, well, for sure he will become crazy.
~Back to Alex location.
He removed his eye patch, his heterochromia eyes locked the alpha in place. Alex knew it was a temporary thing, therefore he fired bullet after bullet at the frozen alpha.
''Awuu~'' the alpha howled, doing his best to shake the sudden fear he started feeling, he managed to do it, however, some of the bullets still managed to touch him injuring him.
Enraged he sent numerous wind blades at Alex wanting to tear him apart.
As if he had been waiting for this, Alex Accel-ed to reappear elsewhere. Having lost their initial target, the wind blades continued on their path, they killed more than five wind wolves who were planning to ambush Alex from the back. Only the unfortunate ones who were not faster enough were killed.
Seeing his pack being killed by his attack, the alpha was furious. He kicked the ground and jumped toward Alex, midair he spat out numerous wind bullets at Alex.
Alex jumped back his two guns aimed toward his left and right, he fired repeatedly, eliminating wind wolf after wind wolf, he refused a confrontation with the alpha wolf not because of fear but because he was using the latter rage to help him thin down the forty wind wolves.
The alpha was enraged beyond words because every time he attacks this human, he would dodge and one of the wolves in his pack would die. This human was too treacherous, refusing a one-to-one fight, how despicable. It was what he was thinking, if he could talk he would have cursed Alex eighteen generations for him not playing fair.
Fair? There is nothing fair in a fight, especially when your life is in the line. Alex didn't care if the strategy he comes up with was deemed despicable. Because it was the other party that started by calling all his pack to join them, now he will not complain if he uses him to finish some of his pack members. Call it despicable, however to Alex this is called being clever.
The fight continued this way with Alex dodging the alpha's attacks while slowly killing wind wolves. Soon, the forty wind wolves had been reduced to fifteen.
Suddenly, Alex's right eye throbbed, so without knowing why he used one of his special ability, [Envisage].
Alex saw a vision where he was attacked by the alpha, he dodged by stepping on his left and before he could counterattack, another wind wolf assaulted him from the back, this wind wolf was special, his speed was fast almost like of the alpha's speed. He couldn't avoid so he was gravely injured, almost losing an arm. The vision ended there. It lasted few seconds, however what he saw send chill down his spine.
Even though this was a dream, Alex did not want to experience the feeling of almost losing his arm.
The alpha attacked Alex as he did in the vision, Alex dodged exactly as he did in the vision, however, because he knew what was about to happen, he dropped low on the ground, a small black wolf passed above him.
The alpha and the black wolf were surprised because they were sure that their perfect combo would have worked.
For a moment, it seemed that time had frozen, using his hands Alex launched himself into the air, when he was passing by the black wolf, he kicked him toward the alpha.
Bang
Everything happened too fast, by the time the two became aware of what happened their bodies had clashed together creating a bang sound.
Still mid-air, Alex consecutively fired two Phantom Bullets at the two.
The two powerful Phantom Bullets created a gaping hole in the stomach of the two monsters. Disbelief was written over their face until their eyes lost their shines. They could not believe how they died.
Thud!
Two bodies fell onto the ground, silence descended over the forest.
177: What He Gained
As the two bodies fell into the ground creating a thud sound, a dead silence fell upon this zone of the forest, it was as if time had stopped.
None of the remaining wolves had expected this outcome, they were expecting their enemy to be shred to pieces under the combined might of their alpha and their number 2. Unfortunately, it was not what happened, it was their alpha and their number 2 who died at the hand of their enemy.
Currently, there was only thought inside the mind of the remaining wolves,
'Flee.'
Immediately, without looking at each, as if they shared the same thoughts, the remaining wolves turned tails and ran for their lives.
Alex grinned before starting to massacre the poor wolves one by one. Even so, some had managed to escape, he chose to let them go.
After killing the last wolf in his vicinity, Alex heaved a sigh. He started digesting his gain. Previously he too focused on killing the remaining wolves to take the time to digest what he got.
Just as he kills the alpha and the black wolf, he noticed something unusual, something flew out of their corpses and entered his body. His body became light all of sudden as if he had gained something. Somehow, even without checking, he was sure that his stats must have experienced a slight increase.
''So that's it. If I kill a stronger opponent such as these two. My stats will quickly increase compared to killing a lot of low-level monsters.''
Alex murmured, his eyes flashed in understanding before he sighed when he thought about Silveria not informing him about something this important.
''Well, knowing her she must've done this intentionally. She must've wanted me to find out on my own. There's no need to cry over spilled milk. What's left for me to do is to go massacre some high-level monsters.'' Alex mumbled, his heterochromia eyes were shinning, he couldn't wait to go slaughter all of the high monsters inside the forest to see how much his stats would increase.
However, he quickly calmed down, nothing good would come out with him acting recklessly as killing high-level monsters will not an easy feat. Better carefully plan things before going all out.
After he decided what to do, Alex wanted to continue forward but he suddenly stopped because Silveria appeared right before him.
She was floating in the hair. Locking eyes with Alex she announced.
''Time out. Let's go back. It was already night. Little Alexandra is anxious because you're not responding to her calls for hours.''
''What? How much time passed since I came here?'' Alex asked.
''Five hours outside. Ten here.'' Silveria answered.
Alex sucked a mouthful of air, he hadn't thought so much time had passed, he was too engrossed in his fight to notice the passing time. He decided to go back and continue his training later.
''Let's go.''
Silveria nodded before flicking her fingers, everything disappeared.
Back in the real-life, Alex woke up feeling exhausted. It must be because of what he experienced inside his dream when he was training.
When he opened the door, he saw a worried Gracier standing in front of his door.
''Evening Alexandra.'' Alex greeted her while scratching his head.
Gracier was elated when she saw her big brother, she wanted to hug him, but she stopped and pouted.
''Big brother is a meanie. You were inside the whole time and yet you did not answer my calls. I wonder what you've been doing all the time that keeps you so busy that you can ignore your sister?"
Alex could only smile helplessly when he saw his sister's mood.
''Let's go eat. I'm rather hungry. Don't worry, I will tell you what I've been doing once we're done eating.'' Alex announced, he was trying to soothe his sister.
As expected when Gracier heard Alex's promise, she calmed down before dragging Alex with her.
When they finished eating, Alex explained what he had been doing. He explained about his training.
Gracier could not hide the envy she felt when she heard her brother's words. She pestered Ignia to also devise something like that for her. She didn't want to be left out, the gap between the two was already wide even before this training, it was going to widen more if she stays silent not doing anything.
Considered the incoming Mock battle in few days she ought to train to perform well during this mock battle not to put shame on her brother, shame on the Touch's family. In this mock battle they must show that even though it is a small family, it was not to be trifled with.
•••••
Back inside his room, Alex sat on his bed before calling Silveria out.
When she appeared, she was looking sleepy like some who just finished exhausting work. Curious as to why she was looking like this, Alex asked.
''Nemesis, what happened?"
''Nothing, I'm just a little bit tired after performing such arduous tasks like creating the training tower,'' she explained while laying on Alex's bed as if she owned it.
Alex's face twitched when he saw this, however, he decided to not comment because he just heard something interesting.
'So, The Illusionary Battlefield is a tower? I wonder how many floors there is in a total?' he wondered, he could have asked Silveria about it however he decided not to as the latter was already sleeping.
She seemed so defenseless that does who don't know her would think of assaulting her. However, Alex knew he'd be doomed if he were to attempt anything. How knows maybe it was a trap she'd carefully planned.
Shaking his head, Alex decided to focus on something more urgent. Now that it seems he would not be going into the Illusionary Battlefield because of how tired Silveria was, he decided to check his status to see what he gained.
Thinking about his status, a blue window panel appeared right before his eyes.
『[Alexander Kael Touch]
Class: Magic Gunslinger
Age: 17
Male
Race: High Human
「 Rank 7」
Level 64
Experience Value (XP): 800/18700
Magic Power: 5010
Magic: None
Attack: 1010 (+10) ✒ 1020
Defense: 900 (+10) ✒ 910
Agility: 1010 (+10) ✒ 1020
Intelligence: 900 (+10) ✒ 910
Luck: 690 (+10) ✒ 700
BP: 0
SP: 0
Gift: Two Guns * Semi-sealed*
Skills: [Advanced Appraisal Level 1] [Item box Level 2] [Swift Fingers Max] [Divine Sense Level 4] [Throwing knife Level 5] [Dark Vision Level 2] [Dual Wielding Level 2] [Accel Level 3] [Knife Art Level 4] [Link Level 3] [Gun Art Level Level 10] (New) [Normal Regeneration Level 5] [Mana Recovery Level 5]
Special Abilities: [Language Comprehension][Danger Sense] [Overdrive] [Death's Eye] [Envisage] {Erase} {Magic Bullet} {Snatch} [Hellsing] [Xerox]
Titles: [Otherworlder] [The one who can't use Magic] [The one whose fingers are faster than Flash] [Goblin Slayer] [The Reborn]』
''So, I gained only 10 points after all my kills?" Alex mumbled a little bit dejected.
If others were to hear him complaining, they would have cursed him. This is not farming for XP, it was training, you train in your dream to be able to perfectly display your power and at the same time, you gain few stats points. Others would kill to have what Alex has and yet here he's complaining.
Shaking his head as too ridiculous his behavior was, Alex decided to sleep. Now that he was aware of what he gained, he ought to try to clear the Level 1 of the Illusionary Battlefield, The Endless Forest.
'I wonder how much I'll get once I cleared the Level 1?' Alex wondered, his eyes were shining, if not because of Silveria's state he would have continued his intense training. If he were to do this it wouldn't have helped him because he must first digest what he gained before continuing. It seemed that Silveria was aware of this, it was why she feigned being exhausted, it was not that she was not exhausted, just it was not to the extent that Alex could not continue training.
Alex went to bed, he did his best to not stay too close to Silveria because knowing her she may use this as an excuse to strike.
•••••
The next morning Alex woke up feeling refreshed, when he checked if Silveria was sleeping beside him, he did not see her. It seemed that she had already left going to her world.
Alex let out a small chuckle as he had expected her to try something. Not that he was not prepared if she did anything, his divine sense was activated all night.
After doing his morning exercise, taking a shower, and switching into his school uniform. Alex with his sister left for school.
Chris's class ended after few hours, after exchanging jokes with Leon and Ferris. Alex approached Luna, the two greeted each other before discussing the meeting place to start their date.
Just when Alex was about to leave after he finished talking with Luna, Maria stopped him.
''Alex, please take care of her. I hope you will listen to her story,'' she said, her gaze when she was talking was serious.
Alex nodded his head before leaving. He ignored Damien who was glaring at him. He had more important things to do, he was hoping to use this opportunity to train like he did yesterday.
178: Date Start
After Alex returned home and wanted to resume his training, Silveria refused to let him trains saying he ought to prepare for tomorrow's date. He must rest in preparation for tomorrow. Reluctantly Alex accepted.
That night Gracier became her brother's counselor, she told him what he must and mustn't do. Alex didn't know whether to laugh or cry seeing how enthusiastic Gracier was.
Almost as if was her who going on the date.
••••
The next Alex went to the meeting place. It was a beautiful fountain located in the northern part of the Imperial Magic Academy.
He was wearing a simple shirt and buttoned it up fully to support the graceful bow tie he was wearing. On top of the shirt he was wearing a stylish vest with 4 buttons, it had a fairly deep v-line, which causes the vest to line up perfectly with the jacket's v-line when it's button-up.
The jacket perfectly wraps around his body. It had a wide herringbone pattern which gives the suit a classy and graceful look. The 3 buttons of his double-breasted jacket are all buttoned up except for one, it gives the suit a bit of both world, casual and stylish.
The jacket was the same length all around, it has a vent at the back, there's a single pocket on one side and there's a breast pocket that has been left empty.
He was wearing pants which have the same color as the jacket, but a slightly different pattern and they perfectly complement his shoes.
There was a long black scarf wrapped around his neck.
All eyes were on him, some bold girls even tried to strike a conversation with him, trying to invite him. He politely declined their offers and continued toward the meeting place.
When he arrived as he expected, he did not see Luna. He waited for her, however, he didn't have to wait for too long before a graceful figure appeared from the other side.
'Beautiful'
Was the only word anybody could think of when they saw the approaching golden-haired young girl.
For a moment Alex was captivated seeing the current Luna. She wore a light golden dress matching her hair.
The dress covers her shoulders almost fully and flows down into a fancy jewel neckline. It was a tight fit which makes the dress both enjoyable to wear and look at.
Her arms have been covered to about her elbows. The sleeves were simple, yet elegant. A perfect combination of grace and style.
The dress's waist was wide, but it was a comfortable fit. A small, elegant belt helps accentuate her waist without being too much.
Below the waist, the dress widens and has a princess dress style. The dress reached just above her knees and was the same length all around.
She was wearing open toes, an ideal match for this dress.
She walked until she stopped in front of Alex, smiling she said.
''Good Morning Alex, I hope I didn't make you wait long."
"Do not worry. I do not mind waiting forever if it's for you."
He winked while throwing this corny joke, hoping to help her relax a little as he had noticed how tense she appeared.
This seemed to help as a small smile formed on her face after the momentary pause as she was not expecting Alex to say such a line.
''By the way, you look gorgeous in that dress. So, much that I want to kidnap you and never let you go.'' Alex said with such a serious tone that you wouldn't think he was joking.
Alex's words made Luna blush heavily.
''What a glib tongue you've.'' She said with a pout, however she couldn't hide her sweet smile, feeling happy inside. Which girl would be unhappy when the one she's in her heart complements her? The answer would be none.
''Let's go,'' Alex said while extending his hand in Luna's direction, his intention was obvious, so Luna did not shy away, she put her hand his Alex's large hand.
For a moment she felt safe, she could see Alex's broad shoulders which could shoulder all of her burdens. She almost stopped and tell him everything, she bit her lips, she decided to endure it, soon it would be done, soon. She told herself.
As they started walking forward Alex said,
''I thought you would be a little bit nervous.''
Luna smiled, ''I am but I know how to hide it.''
''I see,'' he said.
''Indeed I'm nervous, however, being able to walk beside you like this it's what I want. You don't how happy am I.'' Luna murmured.
To her what she said, Alex did not hear it because her voice was extremely low, almost impossible to hear her.
Unfortunately for her and fortunately for Alex because of his enhanced senses, he was able to hear what she said.
He was inwardly surprised, he could feel Luna's affection toward him from her words.
More than ever, Alex wanted to know what kind of past they had because he had no recollection of it. Luna was the key to the missing part of his memories. Maybe after today's date, that hole would be filled.
Even if he was unaware of what kind of relationship they had, now that he had accepted Maria's condition, he decided to think about how to make this woman happy, at least today.
''Luna, let's just hang out like this, talk about all sorts of stuff, laugh together… and learn a little bit more together. What do you think?"
"Sounds great," Luna responded to Alex's suggestion with a bright smile.
The two continued to advance, they left the central sector of Avalon's capital to move to the third district, the commercial district.
By the way, Avalon, the floating capital was divided into three districts, namely known as:
✒ Central District: Where the palace, Imperial Magic Academy, Adventurer Guild, Mercenary Guild, Merchant Guild, and other powerful organizations are. Alex's Blue Haven Manor was located in the Central District.
✒ The Noble District: As the name suggests, it was a sector where the powerful Noble families reside.
✒ The Commercial district: there's nothing to be explained here as the name of the district already suggests what you can find in this sector.
•••••
While walking with Luna, Alex was remembering Gracier's lessons. She had said that women tend to love sweet things, especially Luna. As for why Gracier seemed sure of this assumption, Alex did not question his sister because he was able to deduct that this kind of information must be something either Maria or Sakuya had told Gracier.
Their reason for doing something like this did not take a genius to guess as it was to help Alex to make today's date perfect.
'Well, you already give me a push. I'll believe in you and gamble.' Alex thought.
Today Silveria was not with Alex, she decided to let Alex have his privacy, she did not want to intrude on their date. Today could be considered a special occasion for both of them. To Alex it was today he'd be able to know whether or not he can get his missing memories back and to Luna, today was the day she will not run and face Alex head-on. Both had their own thoughts.
Just as they entered the third district, Alex who knew (had been informed) favorite things were sweets. As such, while walking, he went towards a slightly trendy street with several confectionaries and restaurants.
When they entered the small candy shop, he felt Luna's body tremble, she was excited there was no doubt about it.
'So, the information was not false huh' Alex thought while looking at the excited Luna.
''I know that you don't remember. It must them, still, thank you.'' Luna said, not giving Alex the time to say anything, she pulls his arm along as her eyes sparkled and began looking inside with curiosity and wonder.
In addition to a large number of sweets, all the pastries in the store looked colorful and delicious. Luna had a hard time choosing.
Finally choosing several expensive sweets after struggling for a while, she was preparing to pay for it but Alex stopped her.
"Ahh, Luna, no need, I'll pay for it."
To Alex, he did think that it was normal for the man to treat the girl at least on their first date, so, he couldn't let Luna pay.
Luna smiled not insisting on paying as she knew if she continues, Alex's pride would be hurt. Something, she wouldn't do.
After they bought some candy and left the store, with a smile on his face Alex suggested.
''Let's go grab something to eat. Afterward, I'd like to try few candies as well.''
Hearing Alex's words, a smile blossomed on Luna's face as she knew Alex did not have a sweet tooth as she did. He must be doing this in consideration for her. She was happy inside and she did not hide it.
''Mmh! Let's go. Where are you taking me?" She asked curiously.
Smiling Alex said, ''To my restaurant of course. In fact, today will be the first time I'm visiting it since the day I've acquired it.''
Luna nodded while inwardly she was extremely happy, 'I'll be the first one to set foot in his restaurant, not Maria, not Sakuya but me.'
If Alex knew what Luna was thinking at this moment, he wouldn't know whether to laugh or cry. Women are sure complicated and interesting.