At first, Gray and Eliza headed back to Rorin village. However, along the way, monsters kept appearing to attack Gray. Deciding that it would be a good idea for him to test his limits before they began traveling, they spent a few days in the wood having Gray train against attacking monsters.

The monsters must have instinctively sensed Eliza's strength as they targeted Gray alone. Unlike last time, however, Eliza was standing close by just in case, restoring his stamina and any wounds he obtained as needed.

Essentially, she acted like a heal-bot, letting Gray do all the fighting for himself.

It was how things should have been... if not for the fact that he was struggling so much to stay alive.

"Dammit, wolf! Stay still!"

Gray let out a cry of frustration as his latest slash missed.

He was facing a wolf at the moment. For some reason or another, this one didn't travel in packs like the others he had fought. For that, he was both thankful and not thankful.

He was thankful, since he only had to face a single opponent. He wasn't thankful, however, because being a lone wolf apparently gave the damned mutt a lot of experience in fighting.

"It would be a good idea to hit the wolf with your sword, Gray. Attacking the air won't do you any good."

"Gee, Eliza. You think?"

"Yes. Ah, and take a step left."

"Take a step left? Why would- GODDAMMIT!"

Distracted by Eliza's commentary, Gray didn't pay attention to the wolf lunging at his right side. It was smart and didn't bite him, only lashing out with its claws.

His leather armor held up against the wolf's claws, but Gray still felt the impact.

He cursed and swung his sword out again, but the wolf had already opened the distance.

Gray narrowed his eyes and held his sword up in front of him, standing as a fencer would.

"You know, that is a really inefficient battle stance."

Again, Eliza let out some biting commentary.

Hearing that, Gray glanced to look at her.

The white-haired woman was idly relaxing against tree nearby. A crimson apple, from who knew where, was in her right hand, a few bites already taken out of it.

"...This is funny to you, isn't it?"

Eliza nodded. "Exceedingly so. I keep wondering how you managed to reach me alive, let alone free my bonds with how weak you are. Ah, and duck."

Remembering what happened the last time he ignored Eliza's warnings, he did as he was told.

Not a moment too soon, the wolf pounced over where he had been standing.

An opening.

Gray didn't hesitate and stabbed his sword towards the wolf's exposed belly.

The wolf was smart, however. Realizing it had missed its target, the wolf contorted in midair, causing Gray’s blow to only graze it.

Landing a few feet away from Gray, the wolf let out a snarl. It also glanced at Eliza, but a single look from her caused the wolf to turn its attention back to Gray.

It was a bit pitiful really. The wolf's only option was to fight Gray or die trying to escape.

"Good job." A sincere compliment from Eliza.

Gray felt a bit warm at hearing that.

"Of course, even a toddler could have done that. Probably better too, considering that they would have been smart enough to slash instead of stab at a moving target."

And the warm feeling went away.

"You know, I can't help but wonder if you're sincere about helping me, Eliza."

"Why of course I am, Gray. It is only that your talent for combat appears to be very, very low. Again, it makes me wonder how you managed to survive so long in this world... Slash to your left."

Gray immediately did as Eliza said.

A pained yelp sounded out. His blow had cut across the wolf's torso as it pounced again.

The impact caused the wolf to land on the ground in a sprawl.

Without a moment to lose, Gray dashed over and swung his sword at the wolf's head.

A low howl. After that, the wolf was silent, dead from Gray's last attack.

Gray scowled at the blood on his sword and shook it. Thankfully, Eliza had enchanted the sword to not rust, so he didn't have to worry about the blood staining his blade.

It still didn't stop him from being disgusted about it though.

"Better,” Eliza said. “You might be able to last a few seconds by yourself now."

"Hey! Just because you make it so easy doesn't mean everyone can do that!"

Eliza took a bite out of her apple and then walked towards the wolf's corpse. "It does. Most people can easily become an adventurer in Newark. In fact, I would say that the only people who do not have D-rank physique and combat skills are newborns and the unfortunate few born with an ailment or curse."

Gray felt like a bucket of water was thrown on him. There he was being happy that he had improved so fast, but then he realized he had actually only gotten to average...

"Of course, you do not need to worry about that, Gray. After all, you have me here. With my experience and my exceptional talents, you will definitely become strong in no time. It will just be... slightly painful and humiliating along the way."

Having said that, Eliza finished her apple and tossed its core aside.

Gray sighed. "You'd better not be lying to me to make me feel better, Eliza."

The silver-haired woman smiled. "Now why would I do that? It is much more fun seeing your reactions to the candid truth."

"...Right."

"Well... it looks like you have adjusted well enough to your newfound strength. It should be time we return to the village and resupply before we set off."

After that, the two walked through the forest in silence.

When they arrived back at Rorin village Gray had noticed that the village was much more lively than when they had first arrived. Compared to the empty square and buildings, there were people armed for battle walking there and about.

"...Looks like there are a lot of people interested in finding the divine artifact," Gray said.

Eliza nodded. "Indeed there are. Though, whether they are foolish for doing so is a question for another time. In any case... you should have some money remaining in your bag, right, Gray?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah... why?"

"Then go find something to do for a while. There is some business I have to attend to... and I also need to exchange our recent goods."

"...Is there something wrong?"

Gray thought it was odd that Eliza was telling him to go away.

"Hm?" Eliza shook her head. "Nothing in particular. I had just thought you might find it boring to wait around while I get new armor fitted."

"...Oh. Yeah, I'll pass on that."

"Then, I will meet you back at the inn. Try to stay out of trouble and do not go back into the forest."

"Do I look like someone who'd do that, Eliza?"

Eliza shook her head. "Admittedly, no. However, it appears that you have a tendency towards finding trouble. That coupled with your strange lack of self-preservation is a dangerous mix."

Gray frowned. "I'm not that reckless."

"The fact that you're denying it only makes it more so. In any regard, I will see you soon."

Saying that, Eliza headed off towards the merchant areas.

Alone with nothing to do, Gray decided to go take another look at the guild exchange hall.

With his sword at his side and leather armor, he blended in well with the other adventurers milling about.

He walked through the crowd, heading back towards the building.

Once inside, he noticed that the place was crowded. The counter was fully staffed today, but even so there seemed to be an excess of travelers in wait. Not only that, but the lounge area was packed as well.

Gray had been hoping to talk to Alain a bit by himself and find out more about Demons, but the older Demon was busy helping tide the wave of adventurers.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to do anything. Gray shrugged and turned around to leave. As he did, he caught sight of a notice board. There were flyers pinned on it, along with various rewards and missions.

"Is that an adventurer request board?" Gray muttered.

He walked closer and took a look at it. Probably due to the appearance of that artifact, there weren't many adventurers looking at the board. The only other person there was a tall man with golden hair and huge muscles.

The man was dressed in a simple outfit. A leather muscle shirt and matching pants. In all honesty, the outfit reminded him of something out of Street Fighter, especially when taking into account the man's obscenely huge muscles.

"Hm... nothing new here," the man muttered. His voice was low and gravelly, carrying a strange charisma about it.

After saying that, the man turned around, allowing Gray to get a look at his face.

A square jawline and sharp, gray eyes. Coupled with his muscles, he was a manly man if there ever was one, like the main character from an action movie.

"Hm? You’re…" He stared at Gray for a moment before shaking his head. "...You’re a newbie, I take it? Smart of you, looking at these instead of hounding the guild for information on that divine artifact."

"...Thank you?"

The man let out a booming laugh and then clapped a hand on Gray's shoulder.

It felt like a heavy rock hit his shoulder and Gray had to resist the urge to wince. Especially as the pain felt like a shock coursed throughout his body.

"Good luck, kid. Don't throw your life away like all of those fools chasing after a cursed Rune."

With those parting words, the muscular blonde man left.

"...Weird."

Gray shook his head, massaging his tender shoulder, and then looked at the request board.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was the typical adventurer board, containing what you would expect. Herb gathering, monster subjugation... nothing out of the ordinary. Surprisingly, there weren't any mentions about rank restrictions, but he supposed that was because all the tasks there were simple.

As he scanned through the stereotypical beginner quests, Gray heard Eliza’s voice drift towards him. "Hm? Gray?"

He turned around to see her walking towards him.

She frowned and said, "Did I not tell you to wait at the inn?"

Gray shrugged. "I was bored."

"I see." Eliza glanced over at the request board. "Are you thinking of filling out these requests?"

"Nah. It'd be a waste of time, wouldn’t it?"

Eliza nodded. "If you plan to get stronger quickly, then yes. It would be good for consolidating your combat experience, however. I doubt you have completely adjusted to your strengthened body quite yet."

"No... but we can do that on the road, can’t we?"

"…Still in a rush to improve, are you?"

Gray nodded. "Like I said, I can't waste time. The longer I'm away from home..."

He trailed off, not wanting to consider the fact that he may never return.

Eliza sighed. "I understand. Then, let's go."

"Hm? Are you done already?"

Eliza nodded. "Fortunately, the tailor had a spare set of armor from the recent business that was close to my size. As for exchanging for coins, Alain had already set some aside for us earlier."

Gray frowned. "He did? That's... strangely nice of him."

He supposed that it made sense. Alain seemed to have taken a liking to Gray and Eliza when they last talked, so it didn't seem too out of the ordinary.

"Come. The best time to train is soon approaching."

Saying that, Eliza grabbed Gray's hand and started dragging him out.

"What- Hey, I can walk by myself, Eliza!"

"True. But I don't trust you being out of my sight at a time like this. Especially among this crowd."

Gray frowned and wanted to protest before he took a look around. He noticed more than a few burly adventurers sending glares his way. He wondered why that was until he saw their gaze flit to his sword.

"...Say, Eliza."

"Yes, Gray?"

He saw yet another burly adventurer glare at him after catching sight of his sword.

"The sword you gave me wouldn't happen to be special, would it?"

"Oh, that? Not necessarily. It is only an iron sword that I enchanted to better suit you."

"Enchanted- Doesn't that make it a magic sword?"

The crowd parted before them as Eliza led Gray out of the hall. Still, he noticed that more than a few were sending him looks of disdain.

"I suppose so."

"...Didn't you say your magic was at the Braveheart level? Wouldn't that mean that this sword is strong enough to be considered a treasure by the kingdom?"

"Hm... now that you mention it, that might be the case. And here I had thought you were just unpopular and made some enemies while I was gone."

Gray sighed. This woman... I still can't tell if she wants to help me or hurt me...

With venomous gazes on his back, Gray left the guild exchange hall with Eliza.

----------------------------------------

Gray and Eliza had left Rorin village behind and returned to the hilly grasslands. Their next course of action was to head towards the capital of the Newark continent, Eternia, which was also the Eternal Kingdom's capital.

There was a slight catch, however.

"...You're telling me that we're going to have to travel over a thousand miles on foot to reach Eternia?"

Gray stared at Eliza and shook his head. "Tell me you're joking."

The white-haired woman shook her head as well. "I am not. There is a reason that Rorin village was called a frontier village. It is located at the furthest most reach of the human realm."

"But... won't that take at least a month to get there then?!"

They didn't have a car or any other mode of transportation. Taking a month to get there... who knew what kind of things could have happened while he was gone?

"No. You seem to still be thinking in terms of your old body. Now that your physique has improved, it will take us at most three days."

"...You're kidding me."

Gray couldn't believe it. Three days to travel over a thousand miles on foot?

"I am not." Eliza gave him a pitying look. "I had hoped that you could achieve a 'Champion' physique before we set off so that we could reach there in a few hours, but it seems that the gap is too large to cross, even with my help."

"Wait. Why does that make a difference?"

"Hm? ...Ah. I had forgotten to explain. Give me a few moments to consider this."

Gray and Eliza walked for a few moments before the silver-haired woman nodded.

"Alright. Consider the failure level as a baseline of 1. All the other levels build off of this baseline."

Gray nodded. "Alright..."

"An entrant level would be about... one and a half times better than the failure level. Say you could lift a weight of 100 pounds. By raising your level to Entrant, you would suddenly be able to lift 150 pounds. Understand?"

"...Alright. But I still don't see how improving my physique a rank could reduce the travel time to a few hours."

Eliza sent him a cross look. "I am getting there. Now, a Dabbler is roughly twice the baseline. In truth, you should be twice as strong, fast, and so on as you were at the Failure level."

"I don't see the big deal yet."

"From Dabbler to Champion, the difference is an entire magnitude. A Champion level is roughly ten times that of a Failure level."

"...What?"

Eliza nodded. "And the difference only becomes more extreme from there. A Braveheart adventurer is said to be worth a thousand Failure-level adventurers. And as for an Almighty..."

"Ten thousand times?"

Eliza laughed. "Were that the case. There is a reason why the level is considered 'Almighty', Gray. Hm… beyond the level of Braveheart it gets complicated, so let us leave it at that. In any regard, people of that rank are so powerful they tend to not concern themselves with the state of the world. Those who have reached the Almighty level tend to be an eccentric sort and wander the world seeking its truth rather than involve themselves within it."

"I see."

Eliza nodded. "Did that answer your question?"

"Huh?"

"You were wondering on how we would travel such a distance in a short time period. For the you now, it should not be an obstacle. Even traveling only a few hours a day at your full speed will get us there in a few days time."

"Right."

Gray still found it odd to consider. Only a few days ago he was only an ordinary person, and now he was apparently twice as... strong? Fast? Smart? Regardless, he was supposed to be twice the baseline human potential as he currently was.

"-Wait. And how strong are you, Eliza?"

She laughed and gave Gray a sly smile. "Now that is a secret. If you want to find out-"

"Take responsibility and all that, yeah."

Eliza nodded. "If you were curious about how long it would take if I traveled at my full speed... it should not be more than a few minutes? I do not think you would survive the ride, however."

A few minutes? At that speed, wouldn't Gray turn into a meat smear if he fell off? No, more like wouldn't just Eliza taking off cut him in half?

"...Right. So no fast travel for us then."

Eliza laughed. "I am afraid not. Though this is fortunate as well. We can spend time exploring along the way."

"So, just how am I supposed to get used to this? Just... start running?"

Eliza nodded. "That's right. It might take some getting used to, but once you do, it will be a natural response."

"Alright..."

Gray was still skeptical, but he nodded. "So, how do we-"

"I will be taking the lead then. Just follow me and try not to get left behind."

With only those words as a warning, Eliza suddenly took off.

"Wait!"

Gray started running after her.

­­-A strange experience. Surreal, even.

Gray was running after Eliza, but soon lost ground. The reason was that he was running like normal, but Eliza was taking huge bounds, leaping through the air entirely.

Not wanting to be left behind, Gray did the same.

-Really, a surreal experience.

He had the sense that he was moving fast, the ground beneath him swiftly vanishing with each bound. And yet, everything was still in real-time.

It was... hard to explain.

It was like… being in a moving car. Inside the car, everything was normal. Everything moved at the same rate as it normally did. But in reality, they were traveling at an extremely fast speed. Just looking out the window would be enough to realize that as the surroundings flew past.

That was what Gray was experiencing... but at a more extreme level. Without paying attention, that was what he experienced. But he noticed that if he focused, time seemed to slow down- no, it wasn't that time slowed down, but that his actions were that fast?

It was like everything was playing on fast-forward, but if he paid attention, he could make it play in slow-motion.

Either way, he chased after Eliza before she left him behind.

In that strange manner, he didn't realize how long had passed before they stopped. It was only when the grasslands had turned into rocky terrain that Gray realized how far they'd gone.

Eliza came to a sudden halt near an outcrop of rocks. Unprepared and not knowing how to deal with such a sudden halt, Gray frantically stomped the ground, trying to slow his speed down.

A long trail of dirt sprayed in the air, along with stones and other debris before he stopped.

Covered in dirt, he let out a long sigh.

The sound of laughter form behind him drew his attention, and he scowled. "You couldn't have told me how to stop before we got going?"

"I could have... but experience is the best teacher."

"Sure it is..."

Eliza smiled and took a look around. "I think this is a good place to set up camp for the night. It seems fairly safe."

"Here?"

Gray took a look at his surroundings.

They were in the middle of nowhere. Well, that wasn't entirely true. They were somewhere, but nowhere near a village or any sign of civilization.

Like he thought, they had stopped at an outcrop of rocks. Stone pillars and plateaus rose from the grassy plains beneath, with the occasional copses of trees in the area. At the moment, they were on one of the higher outcrops, a few feet above the ground.

At first, he thought nothing of it, but the more he looked around, the more he realized how breathtaking the view was.

Water crashed down in the distance in a waterfall, cascading down into a river valley below. Because of that, there was a light mist in the air.

"Where are we?"

Gray gazed around in bewilderment. How did he miss the fact that they had arrived in a place as scenic as this?

"This is a place known as Lyre Falls. Beautiful, is it not?"

Gray nodded.

The sun had set a while ago, with the main illumination now being the full moon above. Perhaps because of that, the place looked even more serene, the mist in the night giving off an otherworldly atmosphere.

"It has been said that famous mistrals and bards come here often for inspiration on their journey across the lands."

"Why's that?"

Eliza shrugged. "It is a famous place for travelers due the fact that there is a dungeon nearby."

"A dungeon?"

"Yes," Eliza said. "One that you will be venturing into the next day in order to gain the 'Cascade' sigil. It should allow you to jump a grade in your magical prowess... or at the least allow a novice such as yourself use magic."

"...Is this what it feels like to be hard carried through a game?" Gray muttered.

"What was that, Gray?" Eliza gave him a strange look.

"It's nothing."

"In that case, allow me to prepare our campsite. In the meanwhile... Ah. Here."

Eliza handed Gray a book.

Gray took it and said, "What's this?"

It was a hand-bound journal. Flipping through it, Gray saw various stances and notes. The diagrams looked oddly familiar. And the person performing them…

"Notes. Those are my findings and analysis of your fighting style and potential fixes to help you improve. It is currently incomplete, but it should be enough to allow you to fend off a Champion level opponent if you train enough."

Gray closed the journal and said, "This will let me fight someone nearly fifty times stronger than me?"

It was kind of hard to believe.

"No. It will be enough for you to stay alive for a second or two. Just enough time for me to arrive."

"...Hah." Gray shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "Just how much longer will I have to keep depending on you, Eliza? I'm grateful... but this much effort goes beyond repaying me saving you, doesn't it?"

All he had done for her was untie her back in that abandoned building. In return, she not only had prepared him for the world here, but healed him, taught him things about the world, and from the look of the detail in the journal, spent time painstakingly dissecting his every flaw to help him improve.

"It's nothing." Eliza smiled, a hint of red on her cheeks. "I am happy that you appreciate my efforts, however."

"I more than appreciate them. At this point, I think I'm the one in debt to you."

Eliza laughed. "Well, I would not thank me so soon quite yet. Tomorrow, you still have to challenge a dungeon by yourself. ...Well, I will be at your side, but you will be doing most of the fighting."

"And there's that too. Guiding me like that instead of doing everything for me... I really don't know how I can repay you, Eliza."

Eliza laughed and said, "You could always marry me if you are that grateful."

Gray paused.

Seeing his reaction, Eliza's expression changed as well. "...Gray? Can it be that you have fallen for my charms?"

"Eliza, I..." He took another look at her.

-Beautiful. Even now, that thought didn't vanish from Gray's mind. He had just been ignoring it.

There was no doubt that Eliza was an attractive woman. That, coupled with her caring and protective nature... he wouldn't mind having someone like her for his wife. In fact, she actually met all of his standards.

But he wasn't someone who would be staying in this world. At some point, he would leave. At that time, even if he somehow took Eliza with him... it would be putting her into an entirely different environment and way of life.

In his world, there was no such thing as magic or monsters and conveniences like the bag of holding were just a pipe dream.

Even if she managed to get used to it, Eliza wouldn't belong to his world. Not to mention that someone like her could easily get a job as a Hollywood actor or model just for her natural beauty. What would make someone as outstanding as her stay with him?

Gray clenched his hand, his heart throbbing. "I..."

Eliza laughed. "Enough of that, Gray. It was merely in jest."

Her clear voice cut him out of his daze.

-Right. She was just joking.

Looking at her face, he saw that there was only amusement in her eyes.

"I am touched that you would consider it," Eliza said. "But you have some obligations to attend to, do you not?"

"Eliza-"

She shook her head. "It's fine. While I do not know your circumstances, I know that it is something important you cannot speak of."

He stared at her a while longer. Her voice, expression, and smile showed that it was fine. Like a friend being amused at a joke, but nothing more.

"...Yeah. Don't mind me. I was just thrown off by your words."

Eliza was strong, and from a different world. The two of them had only met by chance and at the end of it all, their paths would diverge.

So then there was no need to think about it.

Gray smiled, carefully locking away the budding feelings in his heart. "I'll just be practicing then."

Eliza nodded. "Do not wander off too far."

Gray left her to work and then found an open space nearby and drew his sword, focusing all his efforts on the words and diagrams written in the journal.

If someone was nearby, they would hear his sword cutting through the air with a vicious force, almost like he was trying to carve away the feelings in his muddled heart.

----------------------------------------

Four days and five nights. That was how long it had been since Eliza had met Gray. That was how many days it had been since she had sworn to give him her all.

Eliza sighed as she stared at Gray's sleeping figure.

The young blond man had tired himself out from the training and traveling, unwillingly turning in early for the night.

Gray had recklessly insisted on being the first to keep watch, but it didn't take much from Eliza to get him to fall asleep. His eyelids had already been half-shut when he argued with her.

Eliza sat on a boulder, looking out at the vast expanse before her.

"Lyre Falls... is it coincidence, or fate? To think that I would have to hide the truth so soon..."

Lyre Falls. That was what she told Gray this place was called. As smart as he was, the blond had determined that it was called 'Lyre Falls' after she mentioned bards traveling here for inspiration.

But the true name of the area...

"Liar Falls. The name of the place where the first hero vanished after betraying the Eternal Kingdom for his demon lover..."

Eliza muttered the truth of the area and fell into contemplation.

While Eliza had made jokes before about the two of them running away together, she knew beforehand that wasn't to be. While he didn't speak much about his past, Eliza had seen enough to know when someone was burdened with obligations to not inquire too much into it.

Because of that, she also knew that anything happening between them was impossible. Not just because of Gray’s desire to return to his home, but also because-

Eliza shook her head.

There was no point thinking about that.

She looked out upon the distant lands and muttered, "The Hero and the Demon Queen... I wonder if that short time you had together was worth it?"

No answer was forthcoming, but Eliza hadn't expected it.

The question of everything, the meaning of everything... since she was born, it had eluded her. But now... she might just have caught a glimpse of what it was.