Proofreader: Me!

‘Heavy…’ I wished to say, but it’s always been prohibited to comment on a woman’s weight, or so Yumiko and Mum always said.

“It’s Light!” Lisana exclaimed under her breath.

Light seeped through the crack between my squinting eyes. I only realised that a faint figure was standing before me.

“Thank Eien you’re both safe!” Uriel stepped towards me and said, “You both look exhausted, what happened?”

“Uh, some fun stuff?” I spitballed a reply. How were you supposed to say I was fighting a minotaur for three hours on end while my comrade went on a journey to come and save me?

“Evil spirit,” Lisana murmured with disdain in her eyes.

“Err, seems like you both had it rough?” Uriel scratched her chin slightly, unsure how to reply to this girl’s words.

“First, Lisana can you get off now?” I shook my back, but her grip remained firm. “Right…”

“Not yet, spirits still nearby,” She stuck her head out above me, scanning the rest of the cave’s surroundings.

“I’m a priest, spirits are automatically exorcised by my divine power alone.” Uriel met Lisana’s gaze, “Which is why, you should probably stop disturbing Luke?”

“Understood,” She nodded but was adamant in her position.

“Let’s just go get the final herb, I want out,” I yawned as the burden of another person weighed atop me.

We wandered further into the cave sparking their suspicions, but I assured them of how close it should be.

“Is that it?” Uriel pointed toward a singular green stem from a crack in the ground.

“Yup, doesn’t look special, but it’s the main ingredient the quest giver wanted.”

I crouched, unable to bend down as Lisana wouldn’t let me release her hold on me.

“That's it,” I nodded.

“Ah, we’re going to have to trek back,” Uriel’s eyes lost its vibrant blue colour.

“It’s fine, I know a shortcut, if you could even call it one,” I pointed to the rocky ceiling, “The portal left behind by the magi-teleporter is right above us.”

“You’re telling me we went in a massive circle?” Her body seemed lifeless as she laughed slowly.

I pat her shoulder, “Well, this place isn’t entirely passive. The jungle we’re in has a bunch of verticality, but the land itself doesn’t spread far.”

“Yes,” Lisana nodded above me. “I looked outwards, saw nothing.”

In the game, the origin of this place was never revealed. If I had to guess, most likely, it was part of the elves’ territory. Considering the quest giver was anonymous, it made even more sense for that to be the case.

I picked up my sword, mentioning one more thing, “Also, this cave isn’t very stable so we can just lightly attack it.”

“Are you sure?” Uriel looked at me and the ceiling intermittently.

“Here,” I demonstrated it through actions, launching my sword upwards. The brittle ceiling crumbled revealing a small opening. “See, nothing too difficult.”

“Mmmm…” Uriel frowned but followed me upwards.

I hoisted my body upwards, even with Lisana still taking up my back. “Grab my hand, I’ll lift you.”

“Ah, yes,” She hesitantly grabbed my hand from below.

Leaning backwards, I practically yanked her into the air. “Eeep!” I caught her, as she landed in my arms. “Tell me before you do something like that!”

“Ack.” I wanted to respond, but my body gave out, “Too much weight.”

The three of us, stacked upon each other fell backwards. As we lost our footing, we fell face-first into the portal back to the academy. While the scenery changed, our limbs entangled and I struggled to move.

A soft sensation covered my face, and I felt a similar pressure around my legs.“Mmph!” I tried to speak, “Geh- one of you! Get off!”

“I can’t, my legs are stuck in between your arms!” Uriel panicked, shaking those legs and kicking my face.

"Mmmph..." Lisana's eyes were turning blank as she suffocated beneath me and Uriel.

After a few moments, we finally unwrapped ourselves.

“So, mind telling us what that was all about?” I felt a tap on my shoulder, “Luke, I thought you had your hands full with Julia, Serina, and Uriel… but another?”

Green eyes met mine as I whispered back, “Fen, listen… I can’t help, what I can’t help!”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I turned my head, scanning the room. While there weren’t as many people as there were in the morning, rumours would start spreading.

“Look, we can talk later dude, I need to claim the rewards and rest,” I shrugged him off, handing over the herbs to the receptionist.

“Ah well, so be it,” He sighed and walked off to another group.

I walked to the front desk, as my limbs continued to remain sore. The eyes of the receptionists gleamed with mischievous intent.

“If you want, we can keep this secret! Or, try to at least,” The receptionist smiled, winking at the same time.

I looked down at her name tag, Priscilla, it read. I would remember that, seeing as she was not only the girl I saved in the morning but also the one to dish out this embarrassment.

“And here are the rewards, thank you for waiting!” She handed over five gold coins. “This was a pretty tough one, wasn’t the terrain quite steep?”

“...”

“Sorry for asking,” Her smile fell, but she marked the quest as complete.

I made my way to the red-faced duo, “Two for you, two for you, and one for me.”

“Why only that much for yourself? We did nothing,” Uriel prodded me.

“You gave buffs, and Lisana saved me,” I explained. “And, I need to get going now, or else…”

“Else?” Lisana focused on that one word.

“Th- that!” The horror overcame me, but I couldn’t escape. “Let me rest, please!”

The Demon King’s daughter, her fiery aura told me everything I needed to know. The students in the surroundings retreated, unable to overcome the violent air around her.

“Impossible, you missed one day, but you can’t miss another,” With the swaying of Erin’s black hair, I was dragged away from my party.

“We’ll meet again!” I screamed with a tear in my eye.

“Oh, stop the opera, drama queen,” Erin slapped my arm.

“Alright, Instructor from Hell,” I sighed, unable to free myself from her tight grasp.

“Bye,” Lisana waved.

“Don’t go without me!” Uriel tried to run for me but was stopped by a figure I couldn’t make out from a distance.

“C’mon, don’t make me drag you all the way there,” Erin noticed my lagging feet.

“Sheesh, calm down,” I muttered.

Being forced to the training grounds, I remembered the time she entered the grave area. There was only silence between us, so my mind wandered in circles. Further, I was not only exhausted but also desperate to figure out Erin's thoughts. There was already a difference in the way she acted from the game, as well as her relation to a Goddess.

“You know, I saw you enter the forbidden grounds,” I spoke absentmindedly.

“What about it?” She answered without thinking.

I questioned myself, but it was already too late to end it. “The grave, I saw it.”

Erin glanced at me, “I did too.”

I was grasping at straws, and muttered what came to mind, “This is kind of a weird time to bring it up… but I’m aware.”

“…” Erin paused to look at me up and down. “Of what, exactly?”

“The relation between the two of you,” I gulped. “How you’re both Daughter and Father.”

We stood in front of a garden, Erin standing tall. She pulled out her sword, her face forming a conflicted gaze.

“Am I supposed to be afraid?” Her body exuded cautiousness.

I raised my hands in surrender, “Yo, yo! Abel told me when I got ambushed there!”

“Ambushed?”

“Remember, last week when I carried Serina to the infirmary and everyone was like, what?” I blurted out.

“Why tell me now?” Her hands smoothed over her sword, “It wouldn’t make sense unless you wanted something out of me.”

For a second I was rendered speechless. “For real?”

“What?” Her stance wavered, surprised by my reaction.

“You seriously believe that?” I felt somewhat offended. “I brought it up since I thought you might be feeling down or something, you’re already training me, what else could I ask for?”

“M- my subservience, my body… anything,” Erin dumbfoundedly responded. “With that information being spread, I could be ousted even if I was permitted to be here.”

I smacked my head, aware of the countless tragedies that were rapidly occurring. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but the world’s kind of ending, and your help with that would be greatly appreciated.”

“World… ending?” Erin paused her actions.

I shook my head, “Err... That’s beside the point, listen, we’re friends no?”

Intrigue and expectation were expressed by her raised eyebrows, leading me to continue.

“Friends worry about each other, and I might’ve brought it up awkwardly at first but even I’m offended that you took it this way.” I made my disapproval visibly aware through exaggerated arm movements. “I don’t blame you, but you’ve seen the things I’ve said and done right? Do I look like the kind of person to do that?”

“Possibly?” Erin asked out with a smirk, seemingly satisfied with my reaction.

"Hah..." I wanted to fall over, unable to deal with her mood shifts.

Erin lifted me, "You can tell me the rest of the story after we spar."

-x-

A sword was thrown at me, and Erin prepared a sharpened stance. Her form was already starting to resemble her end-game appearance.

I adjusted my footwork that I learnt from her. "I'll show you, that I'm different from last week."

I drove my hands forward, feinting an attack, only to swiftly change into a kicking form. My leg met steel, sending a jolt of pain through my shin.

“Sneaky,” She commented. “Nice try though.”

"That's not all!" I rushed forward leading with a thrust covered by speed.

Erin's arms moved to parry, but I expected that. Instead, I diverged from my initial line of attack by enhancing gravity to fall short.

"Hmm?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

I swapped from enhancing the gravity around me, back into my strength twofold and slashed diagonally upwards. Within this short burst of movements, Erin effortlessly met my sword.

"S- strong!" Erin let out a sly grin, "I'll show you something special."

The sword I held vanished, and before I knew it a foot was headed toward my stomach. I enhanced my agility to react quick enough, and strength to block it. Despite my well-timed defence, her raw stats overpowered my own.

"Why are you so tough!" I shouted, searching for my sword.

"It's behind me," Erin coldly stated.

It was time for another application of my enhancement, something I've been itching to put into practice. I readied my body to dash past her, however there was a twist in store. With a forward lunge, I dodged a horizontal slash by sliding on the hard and rigid floor. It was like ice, as I stabbed the just-acquired sword into the ground to stop slipping.

Erin applauded, "That's a new move"

"Yeah, I enhanced the property of slipperiness," I smugly announced. "I used it on Professor Haruto before, remember?"

"Indeed," Erin nodded. "Let's see how else you can use it."

"Wait!" I raised my arms in defeat.

Erin looked at me confused, "Why?"

"Truthfully, I haven't practised enough to use it in a confrontation," I laughed awkwardly.

“Nevertheless, you lasted slightly longer than usual. Did your stats increase?” Erin pointed out.

I shrugged with an air of renewed pride, “Somewhat, although I still use enhancements to compensate for most of my weaknesses.”

Erin threw me a water bottle and opened her mouth with a slight pause. "Luke... about what you said earlier, although I believe you have good intentions, I can't simply dismiss how you knew about 'that.'"

"Yeahhhhhh... about that, I have something one might call special eyes, and essentially, I can see the true essence of everything around me," I explained in the mindset of forming an answer with half lies and half-truth.