"Dai-kun, you're back!"
Yuko's face lit up upon seeing me. And like always, she dropped the character she always wore in front of her classmates as she lunged herself towards me.
It's just less than 2 weeks but she grew more beautiful. Err… it could be just me missing her but yeah, compared to the others who were somehow linked to me, Yuko is different. I could really feel how much I'm attracted to her.
I caught her in my arms and even with two pairs of eyes watching us, we savored that moment. I got the urge to kiss her but yeah, let's leave it for later.
"Uhm. Welcome back, Daisuke-kun."
Since we're already acquainted with each other, Yumiko also greeted me after she saw us separate from each other.
Compared to Yuko who exudes elegance, Yumiko could be said to have a girl-next-door appearance. She's someone you will want to be childhood friends with. With her long brown hair, adorned by a simple hairband. Since everyone was in leagues of their own, only her height is lacking, you couldn't call her petite for her age but yeah, you'll want to protect her or watch her clumsily cook for you with an apron on.
"Thank you. I was informed by the Principal, it seems the next world will be yours. Did this originate from there?"
Though it's obviously her Otherworld, I still asked just for the sake of the conversation.
"Un. I got notified by those who are helping me about this. Erm... One of the fixed Portals I am using was uncovered by the enemies. They built their own fortress there while trying to open it forcefully."
Yumiko's expression was downcast, it's like she was blaming herself for what happened.
She then explained the process they uncovered. Looks like the other side can communicate with her quite well even if they're worlds apart.
Yuko could only receive simple messages from The World.
"Did something happen while I'm away?"
The Principal interjected as he observed the crack in space.
"It's mending by itself but after a while, it will go back to the same state."
Yuko explained to her father. Usually, you'll only see this kind of crack in space on a screen. Generated effect for a movie. But looking at it right now, it's somewhat dreadful, like if that opened, how many will be implicated?
"That means our world isn't that easy to be breached but we shouldn't be conceited, a tiny crack can break anything so we need to act fast and close the breach from that side."
The Principal mulled for a bit before talking about his conclusion from their observation during the time they were here.
I still don't know about that world but we were already given a task to attack a fortress. What should I say? I'm amazed?
I wonder what Yumiko's ability is? Is it as overpowered as Yuko and Raiden's ability?
This place was closed off by the military, looks like the Principal already informed the government about this and maybe they already came to an understanding not to let this matter reach the ears of the public.
I'm sure the Principal made a lot of deals with them and with his power, he wouldn't be wrung dry by the government who will surely try to acquire power for the country or themselves.
"You two can go and take a rest. I'll bring someone to stand guard here in your place. And Yumiko-chan should prepare for the summon as well as informing Daisuke about your Otherworld and your ability."
After saying those words, the Principal opened another portal that would send us back to his office. This ability of his is one of the things I find mysterious. Could it be he's also someone who stepped foot in an Otherworld? His Clairvoyance couldn't explain why he had that Bind and Portal he could freely use here on Earth.
When we went back to my dorm room, Yuko immediately prepared a meal for us. She's really like a housewife now who's welcoming her husband back from a long trip.
We only have three days and I have to prepare myself for that new world so the time I will be spending with her will be less.
She told me during our meal how she was also summoned back to the World of System, two of the weaker kingdoms already fell from the Invading World and were currently waging war at their neighbors. With the addition of the forces sent there, the Corrupted Individuals grew in numbers, hell-bent to let their world be assimilated for them to reach greater heights and to not be restricted by The World.
Most of their frustrations were about how The World regulated the systems and thought of it favoring certain individuals by giving Unique System to them as something unacceptable.
Yuko and her party members also fought a war there, with her as the cornerstone, one of the fallen Kingdom was liberated but with a heavy price.
Most of their enemies only consisted of Corrupted Individuals so it's almost the same as in that World Of Barbarians. They're preserving their strength and during the battle, an elite squad of Dark Soldiers that were all in Master-class ambushed her. Using Awakening once again, she managed to avert the crisis with the help of her party members.
She even praised Zerina for her growth. The girl's main character trait worked its wonders just like how Avelin got the Beast Core, The House in which Zerina's mother originated from turns out to be an ancient noble family. She inherited most of their lost Knight Skills elevating her strength to be on par with Caila in just a short amount of time.
Really… my guesses about them are slowly being realized then that meant even that image Yuko saw is slowly turning into reality. But still, that doesn't mean I'll be that grand of a character. At least not now.
After sharing what happened to her during the time we were apart, my turn came next. She listened to it attentively while commenting at times especially when I told her how Raiden acted in there and the discoveries I found.
And well, she didn't react when I told her about Avelin and Erin. It's like she already expected that. Somehow I want her to at least be upset with what I am doing but if she's this accepting, I don't know what to do. Should I just go along with the flow? I really need to remember what it is that I've forgotten.
"Then, Daisuke, how strong are you right now?"
Yuko curiously asked since she couldn't gauge my strength just by looking at me anymore.
"The Principal told me that I'm already at your level from one year ago."
Surprised, she stood up and went from being in front of me to my side as she used her hand to feel my body or rather my muscles that somehow developed after I passed the Mortal Realm.
"It's true. Now, do you believe me? You'll be someone great in the future."
Yuko exclaimed excitedly, she's basing everything from that image she saw. She firmly believed it as it is her ability who showed her that but if she will share that to anyone else, I'm sure they will not believe her despite having her Foresight as a supporting detail.
"Right now, I'm not really aiming for that. I just wanted to stand next to you to share your burden."
All this strength, I strived for it to close the gap between us. Hearing that from me, Yuko smiled enchantingly as she snuggled into my arms, we then moved back to our bed and filled the longing we had for each other.
It's still only kisses but that's enough for now. During it, she helped me refill the World Energy storage. The storage has been expanded so our kisses also got extended until it completely filled up.
Well, we're not against it and we enjoyed it together.
After things between us calmed down, I asked her about the thing I thought. Using her connection to The World to upgrade my System.
When I told her that, she told me something about how Unique Systems also have the feature of bypassing the missions given by The World. Her System was upgraded easily upon reaching the limit but yeah, it needs a huge amount of World Energy.
Understanding that point, Yuko looked at me bashfully. Her face turned crimson which further accentuated her beauty. Pulling her in my arms, our lips locked onto each other once again. At the same time, I used all the World Energy I could use to stimulate and swiftly bypass the restriction to upgrade my System.
Soon enough, a familiar ringing from my head sounded out.
[Ding!]
[Support Character System has been upgraded to Support Professional System.]
[…]