As he found himself at Earth parity, he considered whether he should swap over to the plane’s stats now, or wait out the whole year. Even as he considered the idea, a prompt flew up before him, asking him if he wished to merge stats. His thoughts soon muddied as he found himself unable to make a decision as doing so was always seen as a crisis event and getting over the idea that it was now OK to do so was proving difficult. He spent a good chunk of time going over any positives or negatives for doing so when he came to one that proved to be quite a bit more concerning than he realized. What about weapons? Weaponry outside their approved class ripped themselves from the hands of those who tried to use them. It was disconcerting to know that once he was merged, he might not be able to use all his weapons. Even now, with the effect alleviated by his Earth stats, he found it hard to hold the weapons in hand. He’d assumed that if he’d simply gripped harder, as he did now, it would be fine after the merge as well, but he was very surprised by how powerful the spear had rejected Garnedell’s hand when he offered it to him. Even if Joe’s grip was strong enough to hold it, being able to skillfully, or even meaningfully, use it in combat would be very difficult.
Joe ended up moving on from his system and began practicing his mana expression and mana point manipulation. As before, he had his mana points divided into a control and experimental group, and the lone quarantined one. He had even divided the experimental group into sections, focusing on a specific set of exercises and played with each of them each in a specific way so he could be careful of any strange interactions that might occur. Each of the points improved according to his purpose before he would then return to mana expression when he saw that his MP had returned. As he’d figured out just the other night, he made sure to push himself beyond the MP that he had so as to make sure that he was actually exercising his own personal MP skills and not the overlaid system skills. He continued this way for several hours until he drifted off to sleep again, exhaustion returning him to rest.
* * *
Gwenvair woke with a nervous agitation, her body calm but her mind unable to relax. She couldn’t sit still nor could she accept any form of activity to pass the time. The only thing that was allowed her was to pace uncontrollably until it was time to meet the others at the dungeon, which she did so for several hours until it was time. It was… quite unpleasant.
* * *
Kilinara had woken that morning well rested but distracted. She had laid in her bed for several moments before finally continuing her usual morning activity; dressing quickly to escape the inn she was at to go to where her brother and Joe slept and slid carefully into the room and into Joe’s bed. She slid next to him and found him asleep. She’d been concerned before because she usually always found him awake. To always wake so early made her concerned for him but when she found him asleep the last few days, she’d calmed and felt much better.
She stayed with him and found herself burrowing into his warm side, the heat calling to her as much as any warm rock or the heat of the cradle. She drifted, a common effect for most Acokzau when sleeping in warmth. She was well rested and so did not sleep, but felt no need to move, simply basking in the warmth. When he stirred, she did nothing, too far gone into the warmth until he’d shifted and bounced her head a couple times as he called out to her.
“Hey. Kilinara? Hey! Hey, Kilnara… don’t fall asleep on me. Wouldn’t be a good idea.”
After a few moments, she finally became aware and stared up at him with a lazy smile, “Hey to you, too.”
“You doing ok?”
“Yesh… yes!” Kilniara flinched, then blushed a bit when her haziness while lost in the warmth had her slur a bit. Joe simply smiled before sliding an arm up and rubbed her head to ease her embarrassment.
“What happened?”
“Just… you’re very warm.”
Joe chuckled, “Really? That’s enough?”
Kilniara flushed a bit, “You don’t understand how heat calls to us Acokzau.”
“I’m not sure I could understand completely, but yeah, I think I at least get it.”
Kilniara smiled a bit, this time with sincerity compared to when most other non-Acokzau claimed to understand the call to warmth as it appeared that Joe really did seem to get an Acokzau’s need for warmth. They said nothing for a while, both simply basking in each other’s care until both seemed to naturally move towards practice without any need for communication, both now used to the habit and having learned each other’s rhythm.
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After that, time seemed to pass quite quickly, and when Kilniara next came to, she found Joe ushering her from the room quickly as the boys began stirring and then shortly after, exhausting herself in ways she never knew were possible in the courtyard of the inn. As always, she felt as if she’d never been this exhausted ever before while also being more grateful than she’d ever felt before, especially for the healer’s wonderful work. It was strange to experience the same seemingly unique feeling anew over and over every morning. She was worried that she would ultimately become inured to it, but she still hadn’t lost it.
She worked hard and didn’t slack despite her exhaustion and when she found herself enjoying breakfast, she finally felt she could relax once again. Despite that, the stress from the coming exercise was replaced now by worry over Gwenvair’s return.
* * *
When it was time to head out, Joe called them all to head out towards the dungeon. The boys, as usual, ran on ahead and danced through the crowds, leading ahead then slowing when they noticed that Joe was slow in following behind. Kilniara, however, seemed a bit off today, her personality a bit more repressed today. She followed behind the other two but did not interact with them or prove as active, simply following along behind them rather silently, obviously pensive.
Joe followed behind a bit and grew more concerned as he realized something was subtly wrong. Joe hurried his steps and brought himself up next to Kilniara.
“You OK? What’s wrong?”
Kilniara jumped a bit, skipping a step before looking up at him then flushing a bit in embarrassment from being surprised, “Ah! Oh… um… I’m OK.”
“Are you sure? You seem a bit off this morning.”
Kilinara looked at him a bit, considering, “Truly, I’m OK.”
Joe thought for a bit before nodding, “OK, but something does seem to be … on your mind."
Kilniara sighed and nodded her head before looking up at Joe, “Gwenvair.”
Joe’s eye’s rose a bit, “Gwenvair? Did she do something to you? Harm you or something? She seems pretty nice and I didn…”
Kilniara’s eyes widened as Joe continued before she finally shook her head and interjected, “No! No, no, no, no! She did no such thing.”
Joe considered a bit more then frowned asking cautiously, “Then… are you worried… that I may leave you for her?”
Kilniara’s eyes widened at that, surprise initially shown but then quickly replaced by confusion and fear. Joe caught the flash of changing emotions and had his eyebrows collapse into a frown and he interjected quickly.
“I’m not going to leave you. I’m an honest man. I told you this before. I’m a pretty simple person and careful in my choice. I choose, and I do not change my mind. Why do you think I’ve been so slow and cautious for… anything more to happen between us,” Joe ended quietly.
* * *
Kilniara’s fear quickly disappeared, replaced by embarrassment as her face flushed red while zoilsha broke out all over her body. A different form of embarrassment shuddered through her when he promised to never leave her even while explaining why he waited, referencing their morning moments of privacy. Kilniara quickly rejected his assumptions.
“No! Ahh… no!” Kilniara rushed, flustered, “I’m… I… I’m just wondering … uh… worried if Gwenvair will come back today.”
* * *
Joe saw Kilniara’s reaction, a bit confused, “You’re missing her? Are you worried that she won’t return?”
Kilniara stared at Joe, her fear apparently lessened before she sighed and nodded, “I liked her.”
Joe’s eyebrows rose in surprise and he laughed, “Oh! I’m… ok… I’m sorry… I kind of jumped to conclusions there. I should have trusted you a bit more.”
Kilniara flushed red a bit and shook her head, “No… it must have been confusing. I didn’t explain myself very well.”
“Maybe, but I still jumped pretty hard and fast to a rather odd conclusion.”
Kilniara giggled and Joe’s statement before shrugging, “It’s fine.”
Joe shrugged, “I’m glad you are feeling fine about it but I still need to apologize.”
“Well… then thank you.”
Joe nodded, staring at her a bit as she glanced back up at him before slipping to his side and intertwining her arm in his and walking by his side, “And thank you for the reassurance.”
“Huh?”
“That you wouldn’t change your mind…?”
Joe took a bit to grasp her meaning before he flushed in embarrassment, “Ah… yeah. You…” Joe cleared his throat and continued, steeling his nerves and deciding for utter honesty, “You are incredibly important to me and I don’t take our relationship lightly. I do not trade… relationships… uh… women lightly.”
Kilnaira smiled brilliantly at that, squeezing closer to her side as she wrapped his arm more tightly in her embrace but then she sighed slightly. Joe glanced down and noticed that she appeared a bit saddened.
“You liked her.”
“I think I did. She was … really an amazing person.”
Joe smiled, “Yeah… she seems to be pretty nice, for a noble!”
Kilniara looked at him with wide eyes, then giggled, “Yeah!”
Joe smiled warmly, “But, I agree… I like her, too. She is quite kind and fun to be with. I can see how you enjoy being with her.”
Kilniara stared at him for a bit longer than usual, obviously searching his gaze but Joe simply smiled calmly at her. Gwenvair was interesting but held no real interest for him as he knew her only as an acquaintance. Hopefully she gets it soon… doesn’t need to worry about me… not going to head off after another… and not really looking for something purely physical… really hope she can understand that… not going to… Joe hid his own flinch at his musing, honest enough in the thought that while he wasn’t one to jump from woman to woman, he still had to admit to understanding and being tempted by physical desire. Don’t flinch now, though… bad idea! Joe maintained his own soft smile as he stared back at her, allowing his smile to grow more.
Kilniara ended her measured consideration by nodding and looking away, a seeming decision having been made but that firm choice seemed to have been only a temporary reprieve as she sighed again and Joe glanced back at her. Why is she so… oh… OH! Uh… missing a girlfriend, maybe! Joe found himself lost in thought as he tried to figure out any real solution to Kilniara’s loneliness for female companionship. As his mind whirled through the options as he struggled to find a solution, his eyes looked on ahead and noticed that Gwenvair was standing at the entrance to the dungeon. Joe smiled. Well… that solves the immediate issue, but Gwenvair’s not going to be joining our group… maybe I should look for another female apprentice? Give her a friend… we do have a lot of guys right now.