Viers was looking at a dark cave while his eyes were shining green with rainbow hues, his pupils were like snakes. His left arm was covered with cloth and held up by an arm sling while his right was gripping the shaft of a spear.

He went inside, slowly.

The dark environment didn't faze him. His eyes could see just fine despite the darkness. It didn't take him long to find his target.

Wakey wakey.

Zlub!

“GRAAAWL!!?”

The monster’s roar filled the cave.

A few moments later.

“Uhukh, ohough, shit!”

Viers ran back out the cave while coughing, his eyes were tearing up and he got a runny nose like a snotty brat.

The monster followed him out menacingly. It was a bear, almost two meters long. Its body was covered with a variety of mushrooms in many colors.

It was a Gnarku Bear, this particular one was a Rank 1 monster.

Fighting monsters on the same Level was difficult. As Viers was still injured and wanting to save up his Victa, he targeted monsters weaker than him.

The earlier battle was a mess. Viers managed to deliver a critical hit with his first attack to the sleeping monster but the battle turned sour not long after. Viers danced with the angered bear when it was simply doing physical attacks, then the Gnarku Bear started emitting spores. Since the inside of the cave was a closed area with minimal air circulation, the spores kept filling up the space.

Viers ran away before he choked to death.

“Alright Paina. Let’s have it a go!”

“On it!”

Paina started playing her flute. The piece she picked was one with a battle-y feeling to it, a fitting choice.

While Paina was creating a melody, Viers didn’t do nothing. He mixed that melody with soul magic. Paina’s music only resounded in his head but Viers heard it clearly.

Arte — Combat Overture!

Viers successfully cast the Arte and felt his body filled with power.

“GRRRRR!”

“Haaaah!”

Like a bolt of lightning, Viers dashed to the bear with his spear in the front. His weapon pierced the bear’s heart. It came out still stuck on the spear tip from the bear’s back.

Viers pulled the spear and backed away so he wouldn’t be crushed as the bear fell.

“Wow… The effect is better than I thought. Good job Paina. Very well done,” Viers praised her highly.

Paina bashfully nodded. She didn’t say anything but Viers felt her happy mood clearly.

Viers took some of its meat and cooked it on the spot. This time, while his body was eating in the real world, Viers’ consciousness was with the girls.

The three girls and Viers were eating the bear skewers Viers created.

“Mmm~” Clarissa with a blissful expression. She always became like that when Viers created food for them to taste. Paina and Farley hadn’t been souls for as long as Clarissa so they didn’t miss the taste of food that much but even they seemed happier having something to eat.

As souls, they didn’t need to eat per se, even the thing they ate now was merely Viers’ replication of taste and texture he’d tasted but as long as this made them happier, Viers didn’t care.

Bear meat was hard to cook, I know this from Souma. However, this tastes great despite the way I cooked it, I only burned it over the fire with almost zero cooking preparation. In fact, most of the monster meats I’ve eaten were delicious. It seems this world is more like Toriko’s universe. Since I need to eat lots and lots of monsters, this suits me perfectly.

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The four of them were sharing a meal for the first time and the mood was excellent.

“Nice food. Girls, thank Paina for this meal we all enjoy.” Viers made small talk.

“Thankies, and congrats for creating the Arte. It was a splendid technique,” Farley smiled, pressing her cheek to Paina’s.

“Thank you Paina, and Farley’s right. You both achieved a sound Arte effect despite not having any affinity to sound. It is similar to Ixi Arte but different… fascinating,” Clarissa pondered.

Combat Overture was an Arte Viers and Paina created by combining Paina’s music and Viers’ soul magic. This particular Arte boosted Viers strength, defense, and speed while the music was ongoing. An overall buff to his stats. The name came from Viers of course.

“…You guys are praising me too much. It was mostly Viers,” Paina tried to be humble.

“I couldn’t do it on my own so credit is where it’s due. Be proud of what you achieved. And technically Clarissa, it’s not Ixi Arte. Combat Overture is still in the soul Arte category,” Viers bit a chunk of chewy meat.

Viers created mugs with black liquid inside them.

“This is a good opportunity. You all have greatly helped me in these few months. Cheers to all of you!” Viers raised his mug.

“Cheers!”

They drank from the mug in one go but the girls’ eyes bulged when the drink touched their tongue.

“Ack! What is this!?”

“My tongue stings!”

“It’s cold, sweet, and bubbly-bubbly!”

Viers watched the girls’ reaction to having a cold cola for the first time in their life with a smile.

After they finished their lighthearted lunch, Viers asked a more serious question.

“Paina, why the sudden desire to help me?” Viers asked her in front of the others. “You’re dead and I have a small hand in causing your death. In my effort to make things right, I now journey to Valkut city, see how’s the situation there about your father, then revive you when I can. Even if you just sit back and do nothing, it will be fine… I know you’re reluctant since the start so why?”

“…I’m just an ordinary person. Unlike you, Farley, or Clarissa. I don’t have a great background and my water affinity is just 3. You never ask for my help and never expect anything from me. I had doubts about my place here from the start,” Paina took a deep breath. “But one thing I do know, is that moping around inside you wouldn’t make my miserable condition get better. It would only make it worse… I’m sick of being powerless so I’ll seek strength, just like you advised little Luca.”

Paina said resolutely.

“This is what I came up with,” Paina held her flute with her hand. “It’s pretty underwhelming but I’ll make something out of it.”

“…Aren’t you against me, killing other people? Especially innocents.”

“I do, and still am. Hence I’ll do something so innocents won’t have to die.”

“And how would you accomplish that?” Viers looked at her amusedly.

“That… I’ll think about it from now on! Ahh, don’t laughhh!!”

Viers chuckled. “Eheh, sorry. I don’t hate people trying their hardest to make a world a better place, just remembering similar people with your motivation.”

Her simple motivation is like those shounen protagonists with clear eyes and pure heart, hehehe. She’s so simple it’s cute.

“Well, I don’t like killing innocents either. I will if I have to, since I’m not a saint nor a good person. But if you can give me a better alternative, then I’ll be counting on you.”

“…Yes,” Paina’s eyes were no longer filled with uncertainty. She had found purpose.

“…You were right. I didn’t expect anything from you. But if you really seek strength, truly from the core of your being genuinely seek strength, then you’ll become strong. I have seen more examples than I could count in the Fables. I believe in you.”

Viers honestly conveyed his feelings.

“I will. Thank you for believing in me,” Paina looked gratified.

“Still, it’s very fortunate you come to this realization so early. Let me tell you a story. There was a girl with initial S. She was in a group of three people, with a fox boy and a red-eyes boy. While the boys were getting stronger and stronger, S rarely did anything. During the early arcs, her role was either pitifully crying or become the red-eyes boy's fan girl. Unlike the boys, she was very ordinary. She didn’t have special parents, special lineage, special powers, special anything.”

“Well, to be fair, the protagonists of this Fable were the fox boy and the red-eyes boy so it was the author’s fault but that’s no excuse for making her like that. She was more like an extra despite supposedly being the main heroine… even the three’s teacher got fleshed out waaaay better than S.”

“S got stronger in the end. But it took 28 books for that to happen and it was far too late by then. And sadly, after that, she’s still pretty much outclassed by the increasingly stronger enemies. Until the Fable was over, her role was pretty much a minor one.”

“…Don’t be like that,” Viers looked straight at Paina’s eyes.

“If you decided to stay as an ordinary girl then all is fine. As a passenger in a carriage, I’ll bring you to your destination then we’ll separate, for we live in a different world, you and I. But now that you’ve decided on your free will to embark on this Path, then prepare yourself. Viers Corporation does not accept incompetent employees.”

Paina was silenced by CEO Viers’ stern voice.

“And let me correct one thing. You said music is underwhelming? A certain renowned philosopher would have disagreed with you. He said: Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

Plato did have a way with words.