Hawk went to Dove and helped her sit up. She slowly regained consciousness as Hawk helped her sit up. “What happened?”

    “That attack… where I screamed… it felt real… as if I was hit… in the real world…” Dove feebly mumbled out.

    I looked at Master Zoe to see her thoughts, but she asked Hawk, “Any ideas?”

    “Not now... I’m too tired to think.” he replied offhand, focusing most of his attention on Dove.

    We rested for a minutes until Dove’s felt better.

    Reaching out his hand, Hawk said, “Can you get up?”

            Dove grasped his hand and was pulled up; however, her balance was off, and she had trouble standing properly due to her trembling feet.    

            “Zoe, could you lend a shoulder to Dove.” requested Hawk.

            “Hawk you know that’s not the correct decision. Although I want to princess carry my little sister home, it’s the prince’s job to escort her.”

            Hawk was both annoyed and embarrassed from what Master Zoe said. He stood idle for a few seconds. Contrasting the Hawk who made spontaneous decisions quickly in battle, this Hawk wasn’t sure what to do. In the end, Hawk looked back at Dove and asked, “Is it alright?”

            “Just do it already!” she shouted in a weak but annoyed tone.

            Hawk carried Dove on her back. Despite not being visible to Hawk, I noticed Dove’s surprise at Hawk carried her up. She probably expected to be lent and shoulder, not carried, but she did not complain. It didn’t seem like she disliked it; she was just surprised.

“You can have the staff. The two Elixirs… we’ll have one of them.” said Hawk.

            “No. You can have both Elixirs.” replied Master Zoe.

            “But Fumes…” hesitated Hawk.

            “It’s fine. I think he acquired something far greater in this battle.”

            Hawk approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder. With a smile, he said, “You did amazing. Duel me sometime, okay?”

I enthusiastically replied, “Yes.”

            Something inside me disappeared. I wondered what it was. When I looked at Master Zoe, I found the answer. Society is trash. People will look down on you… but it matters not. There are people here who believe in me; that’s what mattered.

    We used the sphere to exit the Dungeon. Evening had come and the moon could be seen from the sky. We rushed to the closest Inn to rid ourselves of the odor. After cleaning oursleves, we reunited outside the inn.

    “Let’s go eat!” announced Hawk.

    We went to the restaurant Master Zoe always brought us too. It appeared Hawk was a customer here as well, seeing as he could use the special terrace room to eat. To my surprise, Kim, the head of the waiters and waitresses and the owner’s daughter, served us personally. We ate more than we usually did in celebration. Since Master Zoe and Dove preferred not to drink alcohol and Hawk seemed hesitant as well, I refrained from drinking alcoholic beverages myself. We exchanged a few words, but we were too tired to hold much meaningful conversations.

            As we were about to leave, Hawk approached Dove, “Are you fine now?”

            Dove did not answer for at least ten seconds. Just as Hawk was about to ask again, Dove answered, “No. Please continue carrying me.”

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            Hawk let Dove climb unto his back again and we left the restaurant.

            “Looks like this ends our temporary Party.” said Hawk.

            “Is that fine with you? Telling everyone that Cerulean Seas cleared the Naut City Sewers?”

            “Yes. Popularity would make Players flock to join my current two-member Party. I don’t want to deal with the trouble.”

            “Then we’ll part ways here. You two don’t hesitate to call me anytime if you need anything.”

            After walking our separate ways for a while, I brought up a point Master Zoe, “After eating, Dove said she still couldn’t walk, but her feet were no longer trembling and she did not reply immediately.”

            “She lied. She’s similar to me in that regard. An independent woman who can do anything, but after tiring and tense moments, we… want to be rewarded as well. Letting Hawk spoil her was her form of reward. Well, the possibility of this probably crossed Hawk’s mind, but apparently he never had a girlfriend before, so he would dismiss the possibility as his own selfish wish.”

            “Do they… have romantic feelings for each other?”

            Master Zoe flicked me at the forehead and said, “You shouldn’t butt in to other people’s love lives.”

            “Okay.” I replied, a bit disappointed.

            “But if you really want to know, Hawk clearly has a large romantic interest in Dove. Considering his personality, the interest stems from his university days with her. He’s just unsure of what to do due to lack of experience. As for Dove, right now, she probably thinks of Hawk as someone who she can trust, someone she can rely on when she’s tired, and someone who will protect her when she’s weak. If I had to choose, I’d say no, not yet at least. Not only that, I sense that something may have happened in the past that is straining their romantic relationship.”

            Hearing Master Zoe’s analysis reminded me, “I forgot to ask Hawk’s analysis.”

            “He actually told me before we fought the Boss.”

            “Ehh! What did he say?”

          “You found a good tank. If ever he breaks free of whatever fears he has of his past, he may one day be great.”

            “I’m… flattered…”

            “He didn’t tell you before the Boss because it may hinder your performance.”

            “I… will…”

            I clenched my fist and resolved. I would work even harder than before… for the sake of Master Zoe.

            Dove POV

            I lied huh… Well, if he learned this and got angry, then I would apologize, but for now, I’m tired, let me spoil myself for a bit.

            “Are you awake?” asked Hawk.

            “Yes. We did amazing, didn’t we?”

            “Indeed.”

            “At first, I felt Fumes wasn’t performing well, but he stepped up quite a bit during the Boss. It is probably because the encounters were too weak to necessitate a tank.”

            “No. It’s not just that. His performance actually did spike during the Boss battle, probably because he felt he was holding us back.”

            We arrived at the Inn we stayed at. I went off Hawk’s back. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed and wanted to be spoiled more, but this was enough for now.

            “Are you sure you’re fine?” asked Hawk with a worried face.

            “Yes. The ride was quite thrilling. Thank you.” I said as we went rented our rooms. The pain had long subsided. Only fatigue slowed me down.

            I entered the shower and let the cold water flow across my whole body. Looking up, memories of the Boss fight flashed across my mind. What was that pain I felt? I’ve never felt pain before in Reality.

            “Father… Mother… I’m definitely going back to see you.” I restated my purpose to resolve myself.

            “Despite only being active for two days, being with Hawk made me realize this world was fun and exciting. This is the best game I’ve played; probably the best game ever created. So for now, until I leave this place, it’s alright if I enjoy the moment, right? Father. Mother.”

            I no longer wanted to leave Reality immediately. It’s not as if time was wasted here since time was not flowing in the real world. Of course, I’m homesick, but this brand new world felt like another adventure for me and another page of my life.