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“Hm…”
Julian had completely forgotten when the last time was that he was just standing around with nothing to do… and it was making him anxious to the point that he kept on fidgeting with his new baby—Searadyn’s Veil.
He probably doesn’t even know that he was doing it; turning the twin rapiers into shields, and then back again as he stood in front of the window of an inn’s humble room. He was staring at all the people walking around the bustling street of Calydion, the light of the night sky subtly hitting his face.
The steady hum of conversation in the street, mixing with the sparks erupting from Searadyn’s Veil each time he shifted it from one mode to another.
“That… looks really fun.” Juliet settled into the bed across from him, her eyes blinking each time the Searadyn’s Veil sparked, “But you’ve been doing that for an hour now, aren’t you going back to Earthemia? Earth, sorry. I’m still not used to saying that.”
“Oh…” Julian finally realized what he was doing and immediately stopped, shifting the Searadyn’s Veil into a longsword and then carefully placing it on his bed, “...I’m sorry, were you sleeping?”
Juliet’s eyes narrowed, her mouth slightly open in disbelief, “No.” she whispered, “...We were talking about what we’re going to do until the guild’s reopening a week from now. Wait, don’t tell me our conversation just suddenly withered from your mind?”
“I... got distracted.” Julian closed his eyes as he sat down on his bed, his body not even sinking even a single inch onto the mattress from how hard it was,
“I thought you were just going to take it easy? You said you were just going to eat and sleep.”
“It was a jest, pretty boy.” She groaned, but soon, a giggle escaped her lips, “I was thinking of exploring the city, and then dropping by every day on the guild to see how the old man’s doing. And then take on some hunting quests—I feel myself getting rusty, and it’s been a while since I leveled up. I feel like I’ve been level 15 for like, years now.”
Julian nodded, taking in her words. “That sounds good.”
“...Do you want to like… accompany me?” Juliet whispered.
“Yes.” Julian shrugged, “We are already in a party—it wouldn’t make sense if we don’t do it together.”
Juliet smiled, relieved. “Then it’s settled. We’ll explore and hunt our way through the week! It’s time to gain some level!”
“Levels…” Julian whispered to himself as he finally remembered something, “...Guidance.”
_________________
[STATUS]
Name: Julian Winters
Class: No Class
Level: 12
Health (HP): 195/220
Mana (MP): ??/??
Stamina (SP): 67/178
Strength: 20
Agility: 18
Vitality: 20^
Mana: ?
Perception: 23^
Free Points: 13
Skills:
You have no skills yet. Please select a class as soon as possible.
Abilities:
Hyper Instinct - Due to some unknown factor undetected by the [Guidance of Artemis], your senses are highly abnormal. All Skills affected by Perception will have increased effectiveness.
Flames of Searadyn - An Avatar of Searadyn has sworn eternal loyalty to you, granting you the ability to manipulate the flames of the Spirit of Frostfire.
Active Quests:
Master of Shadows
Orpuk’s Whereabouts
The Flames of Juliet
Explore the world to gain more quests.
[End of STATUS]
image [https://i.imgur.com/RdhtWRY.png]
_________________
“Oh…?” Julian stared at this [Status]. And once again, it would seem his Perception increased all on its own by 2.
His Vitality had also increased by one, likely the result of forging Searadyn’s Veil and enduring her flames. It probably contributed to his leveling up as well, along with taking down those… goat-man hybrids, the fautyrs.
But of course, the most significant upgrade, and the one Julian was focusing on, was the gift from the gods: 10 Free Points.
And right now, there really is only one stat Julian was thinking of on where to put it all.
“...Put all the 13 points into Strength.”
He felt it. He felt it when he was trying to mold the glacivyr — it wasn’t only because of his promise with the Avatar of Searadyn that he used the frostfire alone to completely forge the Veil, no — the other reason why he let go of the hammer… was because he lacked the strength to mold the clear crystal with his current strength.
He’d known it from the moment his hands touched the Glacivyr. And if the rare metals of Artemia would all require such force, prioritizing Strength was essential. After all, he was, first and foremost… a blacksmith.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
And after enduring the pain of increasing his Strength stat, Juliet let out a long and deep breath, laying down on the bed beside the Searadyn’s Veil.
“Goodnight, Juliet.” Julian shifted his head, the brief flicker of the room’s light in his eyes fading as he seemed to go still.
“Good—” Juliet paused, shaking her head as she noticed that Julian was already knocked down, “You… should have at least waited for me to say good night back, Master Julian.”
“Oh… What’s the matter, Juliet?” And all of a sudden, Cyrus’s voice rang out in the dim room, grinning as he just popped up from his own bed. Yes, Cyrus had been with them in the room the entire time.
“Could it be…” He leaned over, eyebrows waggling, “...Someone’s falling?”
“Ugh.” Juliet rolled her eyes before throwing a thick, hard pillow straight toward Cyrus’s head, causing him to just lean back.
“Don’t misunderstand.” Juliet’s words were quiet, turning her gaze back to the sleeping Julian, “What I have for the pretty boy is respect, utmost respect.”
“Sure, sure,” Cyrus threw the pillow back before turning to sleep, “Just deep, undying respect… got it.”
***
“Oh, welcome back.”
Ellie’s voice was the first sound Julian heard as he woke up on Earth. It was, however, mixed with the soft hum of the holographic television that was next to the wall. He then heard Ellie running around before returning to his side, handing him a glass of water.
“Thank you.” Julian took it. And as he drank, he noticed the voice speaking from the hologram—from the way she was speaking, it was probably a reporter. He wouldn’t have heeded the voice any mind at all… but in this case, he couldn’t ignore it.
How could he?
[...and authorities still believe the recent deaths are likely connected to underground crime activity, despite that police department’s insistence that it was done by a daemon…]
How could he ignore it when it was reporting the… incident on the tunnel back on Cleveland.
[Julian.] MEGAN’s voice whispered in his mind, [She’s been watching and searching any article on the Cleveland tunnel incident—she’s been at it for hours now.]
Ellie waved her hand and shifted the news feed to another report. She was scrolling through various stations, but they all seemed to be covering the same story: the gruesome deaths from that night.
“Is… something bothering you?” Julian asked.
“I just…” Ellie hesitated to speak, but after a few more seconds, she waved her hand down to shut off the hologram, “I don’t know. I’m just… I’m waiting for news about what really happened to them, I guess I’m hoping they’ll figure out who’s behind it?”
“Hm…” Julian was the one behind it.
“Those bodies. Julian, it was like… like a horror movie.” Ellie’s voice trembled, “I saw some of the leaked images going around on social media, and they were… you know how I like watching car and bike crashes from when everyone still drove on their own and didn’t rely on AI, right?”
“I… am very aware of that, yes.” Julian sighed as he remembered all the nights he could hear Ellie gasping while watching horrific videos—and yet she still continued to watch them… plus those criminal documentaries.
“Well…” Ellie moved closer to Julian and placed her hand on his thigh, “...Their bodies reminded me of those accidents. Their limbs looked like they were run through by something… their skulls were crushed and their bellies… exploded. No human would have done that and it’s obviously a daemon… and yet why are they still investigating?”
“You… might be overthinking again.” Julian was trying his best to lie. His heartbeat, steady even as her words weighed heavily in the air. He knew Ellie knew nothing, and that any of her suspicion wasn’t directed to him.
And yet, he couldn’t help but feel like she was about to point at him at any moment now.
“Hm… well, anyway.” A smile crawled on Ellie’s face as she scooched under the blanket next to Julian, resting her head on his shoulder as they shared a blanket, “What’s the plan today? Are we heading back to my place? Not that I mind these fancy hotels… but it’s getting kinda expensive.”
And before Julian could answer, MEGAN suddenly popped out from the hologram on the side of the wall.
[Good morning, Ellie!] She waved her hand.
“MEGAN…?” Ellie was confused at first as to how she was projecting herself, “Oh, right—I forgot I gave you permission to connect to the projector.”
[That’s right, that’s right. Fufu.] MEGAN crossed her arms before pointing at Ellie, [19,400. For the last 3 days, Julian’s streaming profit has brought in a total of 16,400 Credits! And half of that was just earned in the last stream.]
“Wait… what!?” Ellie’s eyes widened in disbelief, her voice almost cracking as her eyes darted back and forth, “I thought you said his daily earnings would decrease!?”
[We were wrong.] MEGAN wagged her finger, her nostrils expanding as the smile on her face widened, [It continues to increase—and Cyrus said that Julian is now the fastest-growing streamer in the galaxy.]
“B…but…” Ellie stammered, her lips not knowing whether to smile or sob, “...It hasn’t even been a month?”
[Fufufu…] MEGAN nodded with a hint of pride, [...And with our current savings, and based on my calculations, we could buy back our apartment!]
Ellie gaped at Julian. “Are you… going to buy it back?”
“No.” He hummed.
“Huh?” [Huh?] Both MEGAN and Ellie seemed momentarily stunned, their faces heavy with surprise. But soon, Ellie’s face softened as she rested her head on his shoulder again.
“Why not?” she ashed, her voice a little hushed, “It’s… your parent’s place, Julian. It’s the only thing they left behind for you.”
“No.” Julian’s hand trailed to the side of the bed, his fingers brushing on his cane that was resting there, “The apartment is also a reminder of all the time I was being taken care of like a child. I would like to move on from that.”
“Oh…” Ellie fell silent as she gazed at Julian, her eyes filled with understanding and sympathy. And after a moment, she placed her hand on his cheek, pulling him into a gentle kiss, “...If that’s your decision, Julian. Then I’m all for it.”
“...Thank you.” Julian rested his forehead on Ellie’s. The two of them, staying like that for a moment. As for MEGAN, well, she was wiping the tears rendering from her eyes.
And after what seemed like an eternity, Ellie pulled back with a smile, her hand lingering on Julia’s cheek, “So, what do you want to do today?”
“Hm.” Julian thought for a moment before he replied, “I was thinking of heading to the gym.”
“Well… let’s.”
***
“Footwork!”
There were a lot of sounds echoing in the gym—the clanging of the weights, the steady thump of people’s bodies, their heartbeats, and yet the only sound Julian could really focus on was the trainer’s voice.
He was standing in front of him, holding two batons while he worked on the position of his feet.
“Footwork!” the trainer barked, pushing Julian’s feet into position with his own. “You can swing like a pro all you want, but without the right footwork, you’re a sitting duck sucking on cock!”
“Huh?”
“Footwork!”
Julian could do nothing but adjust his foot again, only for the trainer to move in and trip him up. He could have easily avoided it, but the point of all of this was to learn how to fight and fight well.
And so, without uttering a word, he stood back up.
“Again! Left horizontal slash!”
“Okay!” Julian roared back as he swung the baton with a practiced arc, feeling how smooth it was moving through the air. His swings, refining with each shift in weight and angle.
“Ha!” And then, with another swing, he cut up a giant wolf lunging at him completely in half. After training the entire day, he was now back on Artemia, using what he learned against beasts and monsters.
He stepped back with intent as the trainer had taught him, swinging his almost transparent longsword.
“Julian, behind you!”
And not even a millisecond after hearing Juliet’s warning, several sparks exploded from his longsword as it turned into one big shield, blocking the large club that was threatening to smash his head in from behind.
Another day had actually passed since he fought with the wolves, and this time, he was fighting a hobgoblin—and as Juliet explained it to him, they were… much larger cousins of the normal goblins.
Julian felt himself almost fold from the hobgoblin’s strike, and he did. He let himself fold, spinning in place as another spark boomed from Searadyn’s Veil, the shield blocking the club, much smaller now as half of it turned into a rapier which he swiftly thrust up straight through the monster’s chin… killing it instantly.
“How…” Juliet slightly stammered as she saw the hobgoblin fall, “...How are you even improving so fast?”
The days that followed were a whirlwind. During the mornings on Earth, Julian wakes up to the hotel where Ellie is waiting. By afternoon, they trained in the gym, refining his footwork and endurance until it felt like his senses could extend through each movement, every shift in balance and weight. And when night came, he was back in the mornings of Artemia, training, fighting, and forging with Juliet, each task a test of the new skills he’d gained…
…Cyrus and Juliet even teamed up to teach him how to read.
The week flew by without a hitch, and soon, it was only a day before the reopening of Calydion’s Blacksmith Guild. Without a hitch, yes. Until…
“Did… you have more questions for me?” Ellie was once again in front of the two officers who visited them last time. And this time, they did not sound as friendly at all.
“Not you, Ma’am.” The female police officer shook her head.
“Huh?” Ellie was confused at first, why would they be here if not to ask her more questions?
But then, she noticed the officers were looking behind her…
…looking at Julian.
“Sir, we need you to come to the station with us.”
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