She didn't move away from my chest. Chloe had placed on one of my legs between her thighs while she was hugging me in the same position. She was resting her chest on me without moving. She also was using my chest like a thing to rest her head.

I could feel her body breathing, and the sensation of her heartbeats.

She didn't say anything, nor did she move away from me.

Combining the temperatures of our bodies together, it became really hot.

[ How long are you plan-- ] ( Hatsuko )

As I was trying on pushing her away, I noticed that she had her eyes closed.

Did she fall asleep here?

What does she think I am? Some kind of personal bed for her?

I was trying to push her away but she didn't seem to let go of my body.

After I managed to get her body away from me, I carried her body using "telekinesis" and "Materialization".

And after a few seconds, I decided to get out of the pond as well...

After I checked that my clothes were dry enough, I put them on. I also dried myself using one fireball as a source of heat.

I took a look at Chloe and saw her naked and wet.

I placed a fireball near Chloe so she wouldn't catch a cold or anything. I laid her body on a simple bed I created with my skill.

And while waiting for her to wake up, I sat down near a tree. I wasn't sure what to do at that point.

I thought that spending some days in the forest, searching for a specific monster would be faster than I thought.

But now, I have realized that I wasn't getting anywhere. I still haven't found the last required soul, and the progress of my status improvement was getting slower and slower.

Am I reaching my limit?

No, I don't want to think about that!

I will do anything to become stronger and I won't ever let anyone call me weak anymore.

...

I laid my head on the tree and closed my eyes.

I could feel as my thoughts were fading away.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

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....

My vision was really foggy, making my head a bit dizzy.

From what I can understand... I am currently running?

With each step I took, I could feel the sensation of the grass in the ground.

Where am I going?

I looked ahead and noticed someone pulling my hand as we were running through the soft grass of this place.

Pulling my hand was a little girl with brown hair and ragged clothes. But her face was blurry, making it impossible to see how she looked like.

Where is she taking me?

[ [ Hehe! Seikatsu, this way! ] ]

We kept on running and running and running and running. It felt like this was going forever, in this infinite field filled with green grass everywhere.

And the little girl seemed like she was having fun.

Her soft hand kept pulling me gently without letting me go. My body became warmer and I could feel my legs becoming heavier.

What is going on?

Our hands separated from each other.

I stopped running.

[ [ Seikatsu, hurry or I will leave you behind! ] ]

I couldn't run anymore, it was as if my legs were being held by something.

Just like the girl's face, everything around me became blurry as well. It was as if the world was collapsing

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I opened my eyes and found myself laying near the tree.

A dream?

The moment, I woke up I realized that all of that was just a dream. It felt so real even though I couldn't remember any of it anymore.

It was as If I had forgotten everything about it the moment I woke up. But somehow, I feel like I have had similar dreams to this.

[ ... ] ( Hatsuko )

The fireballs I had created were already gone.

The same goes for the bed I had created for Chloe. It seems like I couldn't keep using my skills while I was asleep.

But wait, where is Chloe?

[ mhm... ] ( Chloe )

A voice close to me was heard.

At that moment, I felt my legs a bit heavier than usual. I looked down and saw Chloe sleeping.

She already had her clothes on.

Did she wake up and put on her clothes?

That doesn't matter right now.

[ Wake up! Sleep somewhere else! ] ( Hatsuko )

I told her as I was trying to push her away.

[ mhmmm... five more minutes... ] ( Chloe )

She didn't let go. She kept hugging me even tighter than before.

She was being so annoying, and I didn't like that at all.

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* * * *

After some time had passed, we continued walking in one direction.

I turned towards Chloe and noticed that she was rubbing her head from the hit I gave to her.

[ Couldn't you have been a bit gentler when you woke me up? ] ( Chloe )

She complained.

But I didn't care at all. She was getting way ahead of herself.

Who does she think she is?

[ I will break one of your fingers next time. ] ( Hatsuko )

I threatened her.

If she keeps acting this way with me, I'm not sure when she might attack me.

She pouted as she looked at me.

[ Geez, don't be so aggressive with me. You treat me as if I was your enemy! ] ( Chloe )

[ ... ] ( Hatsuko )

I looked away from her.

[ W-wait... don't tell me you actually see me as an enemy?! ] ( Chloe )

I still don't know when she might attack me. I couldn't even check her status for some reason. And her acting this way was getting suspicious.

[ Hey why aren't you responding? ] ( Chloe )

She asked as she got close to me once again.

[ Hey, hey, hey, hey?! Hello? ] ( Chloe )

She was being really annoying.

Do I hit her on the head again?

This was the first time it has happened to me, and now it was getting really bothersome.

I turned towards her.

She looked at me in surprise, at the sudden movement I just did.

I created a katana on my hand and pointed at her throat.

[ Who are you? ] ( Hatsuko )

I asked her as I was looking into her eyes.

I still was trying to see her status, but I couldn't see anything.

Assassin skills, hidden status...

Who is she?