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3rd Pov
One could see the bustling Adventurer Guild; many adventurers could be seen entering and exiting the Guild. Many exchanged their spoils for the valis, while some were joyful, others were sad. Some were even terrified of their dungeon dive, some had their limbs missing, or were all bruised up. It was just every day in the guild.
Misha was walking with a bundle of papers on her hand when she saw someone. She stopped and looked at the Orario's one of the highest Adventurers, Sword Princess, aka Aiz Wallenstein. She walked in the guild garnering everyone's attention, everyone started muttering, while one could see quickly telling their friends to help them, for them to propose the Sword Princess.
Misha looked at the commotion for a moment and then continued with her work, when Aiz intercepted her," Uh, Sword Princess, how may I help you?", she asked her. She had observed for the past two weeks, Aiz had been Guild every day, she wouldn't talk or do anything, just walk around and then leave.
" I want to find someone", the sword princess said, Misha's interest was piqued and she asked," Who?", Aiz tilted her head and then replied in a low tone," I don't know", her answer left the Guild Employee baffled." Y-You don't know?", Misha said in a speechless tone. Aiz looked away in slight embarrassment.
It started a few days ago, she had been Dungeon Diving for some quick money, when she felt as if the entire Dungeon shook, or rather as if her entire being shook. After that she asked many about the phenomenon, but all were confused, as there were no earthquakes felt anywhere in the Orario. After that Aiz had been a feeling, she wanted to meet, she wanted to meet something, or someone.
She wanted to see it or see that person. It felt to her as if it was very important to her, in the end she stopped dungeon diving and had been running around entire Orario to look for that. She felt as long as she kept looking for it, she would find it, but her luck had been bad. Misha sighed, she knew that Aiz Wallenstein was a bit of airhead, still she couldn't understand the reason behind her unusual behaviour.
Well, Aiz Wallenstein was a peculiar girl, any reason behind her actions were already puzzling for many. But even then, her searching for someone, whom she doesn't know didn't sit well, in the end Misha decided to flee, and giving an apology and reason that she had a lot of work, she left. Aiz waited for half an hour more, before she left the Guild.
" What do you think the reason is behind Aiz's weird behavior?", said Tione with narrowed eyes as she observed from the top of a house, Tiona was who was beside her side sighed," It is really troubling, for last week Aiz had been really weird, even Captain and Loki are worried", she replied.
" We need to find out the reason behind Miss Aiz's weird behavior at any cost!", said Lefiya clenching her fists," Oh! She is leaving, let's go after her!", said Tione on seeing Aiz walking away, just like this, the three stalkers continued stalking on the sword princess who was totally aware of them. ' They are stalking me again ', Aiz thought as she stopped, her senses as a first-class adventurer were too good for to be in dark of her stalking.
She knew it must be Finn's orders, so she ignored them, and continued with her search, though after a few hours she returned to Twin Manor. The three meanwhile entered in the Finn's office." So, any result?", he asked, and they shook their head in denial." Aiz just like past few days went all over the Orarior, stayed in some places for some time, and then returned to Twin Manor", reported Tiona.
He sighed upon hearing that," It is really concerning, just what is Aiz searching for?", he said. Loki meanwhile said," This is really ticking me, what is happening with my Aizu?!", she seemed angry and frustrated. Riveria said," Aiz is saying she is searching for something or rather someone, however she seemed totally clueless for what she is searching for."
" Are we sure it is not some type of curse?", asked Gareth stoking his beard," But we have checked with Miss Airmid, she said she can't sense any curse on her, and even had healed her in case", said Lefiya, they all released a sigh. " That's it! Enough of this nonsense! We are going to Hostess of Fertility for a banquet today!", said Loki, and everyone just nodded.
...
" A party? Today?", asked Aiz tilting her head, Loki breathed deeply seeing her cuteness,' Ah! My Aizutonin! ', she thought and nodded," Indeed! You had been too worked up for last few days! So, I decided to take your mind out of mess! We party!", Loki said with a grin, soon the executives of Loki familia had reached Hostess of Fertility.
Many were surprised by the sudden appearance of Loki Familia's executives in the tavern, usually they would come after a deep Dungeon dive, or to celebrate something. " We Party!", Loki raised the cup of beer, and everyone cheered. Aiz meanwhile was silent and deep in her thoughts," Aiz do you remember what happened fourteen days before?", asked Riveria.
" Two weeks before?", muttered Aiz looking at Riveria, who sighed," I guess you forgot about that incident with white-haired boy", she said and Aiz released a 'Oh', recalling the incident," Maybe you can apologize to him if he comes today", she said and Aiz nodded, she had almost forgot about it. As everyone was partying, someone entered the tavern.
" Ah! Mister Cranel- Oh, I apologize! On seeing the white haired I assumed you were someone else", said Ryuu, the person meanwhile shrugged. " Anyway, I heard you see delicious pasta, I want to order some", he said, and she nodded, while he took a seat. Aiz meanwhile on hearing the familiar name from the waiter's mouth looked at the person who entered.
As her eyes meet the unfamiliar pair of Golden eyes, time seemed to stop for her. She felt like that the entire world trembled at the moment, her pupils widened as she looked at the person. Time seemed meaningless at the moment, the tavern that was booming with shouts of Loki and others seemed dead silent.
A small figure of Aiz manifested before her," He is finally here", she said with unhidden joy, Aiz asked herself," Who?", her little self-giggled," Our Hero- or you can say our other half", she replied in a sly tone." M-My Hero?", muttered Aiz, the small Aiz vanished next moment, and Aiz stood up from her chair, her sudden movement gathered everyone's attention.
Aiz was gasping heavily, as if terrified, or rather excited. " Aiz?", asked Finn with a frown, Loki Familia's attention was on her." Aiz what happened?", asked Riveria, Aiz didn't respond, rather she looked at him taking pasta in his tiffin and paying. Her eyes were totally focused on him, she wanted to smile, she wanted to hug him, she wanted to stay with him.
It was rather weird, but for some reason, she wanted him. Her thoughts were interrupted though as he left the tavern, on seeing him leaving, her reason returned and ignoring her friends calls, she charged out of the tavern, but her pupils dilated when she found him missing. " H-How? Where? Where is he?", she muttered looking everywhere, but found herself despairing on seeing him gone.
She couldn't understand on how he vanished. She gritted her teeth, and jumped on a house, and started looking everywhere. ' N-No! He can't vanish like this! He can't! ', she thought with frustration. Suddenly she saw a silhouette in distance, finding it similiar, she quickly charged. Her sheer speed made her reach to him in two seconds.
" Ahh!! Sword Princess!", the person said with shock, falling back, she looked at the person and her expression fell. It wasn't him. But she didn't give up, as she jumped on top of a house again, and started looking for him again. Tiona and Tione meanwhile were already chasing her," Aiz! Stop! What happened!", but she ignored their calls, her mind was on searching the person.
In the end she was grabbed by both of them," Aiz!! Tell us what happened!", Tione demanded, " Leave me! I need to find him!", Aiz shouted desperately, " Who? Whom you want to find?", Tiona asked, and Aiz replied biting her lips," Him... The person I had been searching for so long", her reply puzzled them, and they sighed looking at each other.
" Aiz lets return, Loki and others were extremely worried, when you left so suddenly", Tiona said, and Aiz nodded with disheartened look on her face. ' He is teasing us... ', said the small Aiz in her mind. ' Teasing us? Why tease us? Did I do something bad? ', she said, wondering if she did something bad. Little Aiz pouted looking at her and said,' Find it out for yourself! ', and looking away from her she vanished.
Aiz sighed, if she wasn't an airhead, she would have been speechless of herself. They quickly returned to tavern, and Aiz was bombarded with questions from her familia. " I found him- He was here", she said, making them silent. " Who? Whom did you find?", asked Loki with a frown, Aiz frowned herself, what should she call him anyway? In the end she replied with determined eyes," My other half."
" The other half?", Finn rubbed his chin, Gareth looked at him, and so did Riveria. " No way! Is that romance I sense?", said Tiona with a grin, and Tione grabbed Aiz," Our Aizu has hots for someone!", said Tione with a smirk. Aiz blushed realising what they were saying." Is that true Aiz?!", asked Bete with a grunt, he didn't like a bit where things were going.
" Hm", Aiz nodded in confirmation, the girls yelped, mostly Lefiya, who felt despair. ' Impossible! How can Miss Aiz who rejected over thousand proposals and is airhead can fall in love?! It must be a joke! Yes, it must be! ', she thought as she looked at her idol." How does that Motherfucker look like?", asked Bete in angry tone, as he got in front of Aiz.
Aiz remained unbothered with his glare and instead replied," Why do you care?", hearing her reply Bete felt an invisible arrow shoot through his heart, breaking it into pieces. While others were shocked by her savage reply from her. Loki meanwhile was biting her nails off, she wasn't unaware of falling in love due on first meeting, but Aiz's unusual behavior for past week clearly indicated something else on play here.
' Can it be?! ', suddenly her eyes widened as she recalled Aiz's mysterious skill." Everyone! We are returning to Twin Manor now! Aiz! You need to come with me!", she quickly said, everyone looked surprised, but they understood her intention.' Loki is right, Miss Aiz's weird behaviour suggests it wasn't a simple love on first sight ', thought Anakitty.
Soon, they returned to Twin Manor and Loki, the trio and Aiz gathered in a room. " So, Loki what is this about?", asked Riveria, and Loki replied," Do you recall Aiz's mysterious skill?", they were surprised, and Gareth suddenly asked," Do you think Aiz's skill is at play here? ", and Loki nodded, Aiz took out her cloth and laid, ignoring their conservation, thinking about his face in her mind.
" One day out of nowhere, Aiz acquired a new skill, which just like Finn's was unreadable, Aiz behaved weirdly that day, and even said she felt complete, till now we don't know what her skill does, but her unusual behavior might be caused by it", Loki said as she prickled her finger, dropped her blood on Aiz's back, activating her Falna, she looked at the status shocked.
" Nani?!", she shouted, surprising everyone. " Loki what happened?", asked Finn, and Loki's lips trembled," What the hell is with the boost!! This is too broken!", she said confusing everyone as the parameters of Aiz's status changed rapidly, finally when she was done updating, she quickly copied it on a paper. Aiz, sat up curious, and the three waited patiently as she looked at the paper.
[Status
Name: Aiz Waldstein
Race: Demi Spirit Human
Level: 5
Strength: D555--->B788
Endurance: D547--->B701
Dexterity: A825--->S921
Agility: A822--->S902
Magic: A899--->SS1001
Hunter: G--->E
Abnormal Resistance: G--->D
Swordsman: H--->F
Skill:
Soul Mate Bond: The user gets stronger in the presence of its soul mate; the growth of all abilities is amplified heavily based on user's feelings and the chance of acquisition of new abilities and magic becomes tenfold.
Avenger: Increases the attack Power greatly against Monsters.
Magic:
1) Tempest: Tempest
2) None
3) None]
Everyone looked at the status in silence, most affected was obviously Aiz, it has been months since her progress had severely halted, and now out of nowhere her status skyrocketed, after update she could feel a newfound strength surging in her, not to mention her basic parameters increased, her development abilities also got stronger.
" Th-This is crazy", said Riveria as she put down the status sheet and rubbed her temples. " Soul Mate Bond huh? So that's the name of the skill?", said Gareth with narrowed eyes. Aiz meanwhile stared at her status in silence,' I became stronger... So much stronger ', she thought, and the voice of little Aiz rung in her head," I told you didn't I? He is our Hero!", Aiz nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile Loki scratched her hair in frustration," What kind of bullshit Deus Ex Machina shit is this!", she muttered out loud, frustrated. She understood how broken this skill was, ' No way! Aiz gets an husbando out of nowhere and Deus EX Machina in the presence of her- Soul Mate?! ', she thought with jealousy, as for her, a random man came out of nowhere and stole her Aiz! Worse?! Aiz gets stronger with him.
Loki admits! She has never seen such a bullshit skill ever in her life. She could only sigh in defeat," I want to meet him!", Aiz said with firm eyes, and everyone sighed. " Loki", Finn called out to her, and she nodded," Yes, so as you can see, her skill amplifies her growth in presence of her soul mate and growth is proportional to her feelings. Also! Aiz's Magic has broken the known S999 limit and reached SS1001! This is simply crazy! She has broken the set limits of her falna and entered an unknown realm!", she said.
Everyone meanwhile gulped, the big three won't lie, at this moment they felt extremely jealous of Aiz, especially Riveria's whose eyes were literally shining with envy as she looked at SS1001 Magic Status, at this stage they would need to work hard for months to get a significant growth, and result? In a few days, Aiz surpassed that, and broke through all her limits because of her skill.
The entire place was silence, till Gareth said," Any chance I can meet my soul mate and get a similar boost?", even Riveria nodded and asked," Yes, Loki is there any way to meet my soul mate?", Finn coughed out with slight embarrassment and said," Indeed, if I were to meet my soul mate it would aid greatly in my mission", looking at the shamelessness of her Familia's leaders, Loki was left speechless, and clicked her tongue.
" Haha, look at you three! Wishing for a soul mate? Do you think having a soul mate is like finding a dress? Only one in a hundred million or so, have a soul mate!", said Loki in a sly tone, making fun of the three, who glared at her with embarrassment. " *Ahem*, Anyway, we will need to refer to specialist, I don't know much about this soul mate thingy", she said shifting the focus of them, escaping Mommy Riveria's anger.
" Specialist? Who?", asked Aiz with curiosity and interest, she now wanted to know everything about her soul mate bond. Loki sighed and said," There aren't any Gods of Death here, and well we drove out most of them seven years ago, that means we need someone knowledgeable about souls, and in Orario there is one such Goddess, Turururu! Which is none other than Freya the Freak!"
Everyone became troubled upon hearing the so-called specialist in souls, after all having a conservation with Freya Familia, especially there Goddess considering their current rivalry was nothing but trouble, even then, they needed to meet her for Aiz's sake.
...
The next day, in a bar one can see Freya in robes, with Allen and Ottar by her side, while Loki sitting in front of her, Aiz and the big three stood by her. " Oh, to think you took the Big Three here, alongside the Sword Princess", said Freya leisurely, as she drank her drink. Loki looked at Allen and Ottar who stared at the big three as if wanting to eat them alive and sighed.
" Look Freya, I got in a bit of a hitch, and I need yer expertise!", Loki said, and Freya smiled," My Expertise? Have you found out a new lover, and real one at that, so you need my advice in your sexual life?", she said making Loki spurt out her drink," *Cough* Not that, I have already lost all interest in males... What I want is to know about soul mates, and their bond", she said
Freya suddenly stopped, her demeanour changed, and she looked at Loki with seriousness," Soul Bonds? Why do you want to know? Oh, must be your Sword Princess", she said glancing at Aiz, the Loki familia flinched upon hearing her words, especially Aiz." No need to be surprised, after all I can see her soul dazzling immensely as her soul mate is near", Freya giggled.
" So?", asked Loki, and Freya said," You will owe me one", and Loki sighed," Fine, now tell us, would ya?", and Freya stopped, becoming serious," Soul Mates, it means the compatibility of two souls is 100%, any less and they won't be soul mates, these types of souls need to be created together as well, in a soul mate's case, usually female is the first one to fall in love with the male deeply, while latter realizes his feeling a lot later on", she said.
" Soul Mate's bonds are envied by Gods, especially Goddesses, as they already have their other half from start, someone who would love them unconditionally without any greed, without any deceit, she is really lucky to have a soul mate, as meeting your soul mate is another matter. Your soul mate might be born when you are already dead, and then you are reborn when he or she is dead, not to mention both can be born in countries apart, that's why soul mate who meet each other in their life, are envied the most", she said.
She looked at Aiz, who quickly looked away from her eyes," You are lucky, I have seen the soul of your soul mate, it was... breath taking, that was the most dazzling soul ever, I would have taken him myself if not for-", she stopped and stood up," If not for? Tell me what you meant?", asked Loki with seriousness, and Freya giggled," Sorry, I can't tell that... Just know that I won't intervene in their love story, for now I would need to leave."
Loki frowned and said," I hope you stay true to your words", and Freya stopped," Of course, I would", and left the place. Everyone sighed as Freya and her lackeys left," That was nerve-wracking", said Gareth, Finn nodded," Imagine being stared by Ottar for so long", he said with a chuckle. " So Loki?", asked Riveria and Loki said," As much as I hate to do this! We must meet that Mister Soul Mate!"
They nodded, and left the place, after returning to Twin Manor, they were greeted by a pleasant news," Wait! You know where he lives?!", asked Aiz grabbing Tiona, who grinned," I was just inquiring it, but he came to the hostess of fertility in the morning, thankfully Miss Ryuu remembered my request, and asked him about his place, and he told us about his residence", she said.
" I need to meet him!", Aiz said, and grabbed Tiona by her arm and charged out of the place dragging the girl, " Aiz! Wait for... a bit- Here she goes", Riveria said, and sighed, Finn looked at Tione and said," Tione, would you follow them?", she nodded with joy and said," Aye! Aye! Captain!", and charged out of the place.
" So we should go after them?", asked Gareth, " Let's wait, he will come here anyway after meeting with her, not to mention, I doubt he told his true residence location", said Finn, and they nodded. Lefiya meanwhile panicked hearing their words, while Bete was already gritting his teeth,' Fucking soul mate shit, I am gonna fuck him once i meet that bitch! ', he thought, Lefiya shared his feelings.
To be continued...
(Author's Note: Here comes the new volume! Enjoy~)