Yuki and Aria took a presumed shortcut to the village which meant climbing a small hill. They were both in a good mood. Yuki was happily talking about the fight that just took place and even Aria let go of her inhibitions and joined in.

“That was slightly impressive, but don’t let it get to your head. You still have ways to go if you want to be considered strong in this world. I am curious about a few things though. You were very inventive in that fight and some of the tricks you used I could understand, like multiple lesser lights and lesser haste. But the rest flew over my head.”

“Well, well” Yuki was in the mood for a bit of teasing. “Did I manage to pique your interest, my princess? He relished.

“Oh, just forget I asked anything.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.” he smiled at the pouting wisp. “Now my honor binds me, kukuku.” Aria zapped his nose.

“Most of the ideas behind that fight were actually improvisations. That being said, there is an array of similar skills described and depicted in video games from my world so I wasn’t completely uclueless as to how they are supposed to work.”

“Video games? What is that?”

“Ermn, a type of story, but instead of being written, it’s visual and you can influence it with your actions.” Yuki scratched his head, unsure if his explanation was clear.

“Huh, something like magic mirror stories in this world. The difference is you can’t really influence these stories. Weird. Sorry, go on.”

“I used the combination of Lesser haste and Soft steps to increase my speed and agility and further it by making my armor lighter with Armor Enhancement.” Yuki flicked his chest armor making a metallic sound.

“Increase carrying capacity was the biggest gamble, as I didn’t think it would work so well. It helped me stop my running momentum to react in time. There is probably some complicated math behind it that I don’t understand, but I’m just happy it worked.”

“And last, the one that I’m most proud of, is the usage of Danger sense. Danger sense enables you to feel a malicious or aggressive intent against you from nearby. My assumption was that the closer the source of danger is to you, the easier it would be to pinpoint its exact location. That enabled me to make precise cuts out of my field of vision and fight with my eyes closed. I actually tested this on one of the boars that attacked us a few days ago.”

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Listening to Yuki reminded Aria about something that her father once told her, long ago.

Remember Arianna, level and magic affinity are not everything. Stop judging people based on that.

Back then she quickly dismissed father’s words, but was now starting to realize what he meant. “How foolish of me.” Foolish was perhaps an overstatement. She was naive. Like most royalty, she was quick to disregard what she thought was beneath her level and rank. It was only when her father’s body fell lifeless before her feet and she was forced into this damned form, that she realized the narrowness of her own bubble.

Her whole world crumbled in a matter of minutes and everything that she thought made her who she was was taken away. Class, rank, social status. All became worthless.

“Hey, you are surprisingly quiet. I was expecting at least one sarcastic comment about my rashness and stupidity.” Yuki’s voice made her snap from her painful memories. She looked at him, realizing she could learn much more than she thought from him.

“No. I actually think that was incredible.” she said softly.

They continued walking up the hill in silence. As they were approaching the hilltop, Yuki asked with an uncertain, almost diffident voice.

“Hey Aria, why don’t you tell me about your story and that curse? I understand that it’s a difficult story to tell, but it would help me understand our task better.”

Aria sighed heavily. “I guess you’re right. I…” she suddenly stopped. “Yuki, look.”

From top of the hill they could see their destination. What once was a quaint little village, was now a ruined, burned down graveyard. Charred bodies were scattered everywhere. Only the stone walls were left standing, damned to forever remain witnesses of the calamity that went through here.

The whole scene painted a traumatic picture of the tragedy that unfolded here. It almost made Yuki puke. He wanted to look away. Never before had he witnessed something so ghastly and abhorrent. And it was all too real. Real village and real people. Real tragedy. This was not one of his video games, nor was it a world of fables, fairies and happy endings. Reality just punched him in the crotch, forcing him to wake up.

He crumbled down to his feet. “Who could have done this? Why?”

“W-war. War passed through this village.” Aria was a bit more composed but also in shock. “I-I didn’t think it would be so close.”

Yuki turned away from the hideous sight. “What war? You never mentioned a war. I thought there was a balance between the ruling kingdoms.”

“There is. Or rather, there was. Until the kingdom of Lunaris broke the balance. But the war was much farther to the west. I never expected it to reach us this soon.”

“Aria. Is this the kingdom you are from?” Yuki’s voice was shaking.

She stood silent for a moment. “Yes. Yuki, I think we should…”

“Aria. I think it’s time you told me your story.”