-Vol 5: A New Life-
-Chapter 212-
After talking to the bubbly girl named Chiba, Kenshin realized that she was, actually, only seventeen years old. Despite her age, she was a talented magic skill user and carried the hope of a whole guild on her shoulders. She reminded him very much of her Akari, she was also not that much older than her. Kenshin’s brotherly instincts kicked in and his voice became even more mellow when he talked with her.
Although it was none of his business, he still asked various personal questions to her. Some she answered happily and some she avoided tactfully. But during their talk, the girl also got the biggest shock of her life;
“WHAT! You mean, you are really a magic user?” she couldn't believe her ears, thinking that they were ringing, she inserted her pinky and started to clean them. Her eyes were widened to their maximum proportions as they were glaring daggers at him.
“Did you think I joked around that time?” Kenshin answered with his mouth curling upwards, enjoying her flabbergasted look. There was something, some weird sense of pleasure he derived from fooling a young girl; Kenshin rationalized it might be because she was of the same age as his sister.
“Yes, I mean, No! Definitely not!” she avoided his eyes while denying weakly at the same time furiously read through Kenshin’s hunter's license. To make her believe him, Kenshin handed her his hunter’s license, though it wasn’t updated since he joined DCB.
“haha! Don’t worry. I suppose, seeing me like that, you wouldn’t believe me even after I tell you a hundred times.” Kenshin laughed
“What a surprise, I clearly thought you are a physical skill user, probably something to do with strength enhancement. But, you are, in reality, a magic skill user; a powerful fire elemental one at that…” blinking her emerald like eyes, Chiba took in a deep breath to calm her rapidly beating heart.
After that, they both exited the dungeon with Kenshin going back to retrieve his things. Chiba waited near the gate for him to appear. As a known hunter with magic skills, she enjoyed a few special privileges around here. Even when she was standing in front of the main entrance to the dungeon, nobody dared to bother her.
Kenshin appeared a few minutes later, dressed in some decent clothes. In his hands was his tattered rags, rolled up into a ball, ready to be thrown into a dustbin nearby. He gave a smile at her surprised look when she saw a changed Kenshin appearing from the barracks. The rooms in the back had a built-in washroom, he only went in and washed his face and hair. With all the dirt and grimes washed away, the real, handsome face of Kenshin came to light.
His beyond ordinary PHY had done some serious changes to his face, as well as his body. Although, it didn’t change how he looked; the facial structure and bone arrangement were all changed, making him more handsome in comparison to the past.
Back in the north, when he was with Vera, they talked about various things. During one of the conversations, she informed him about a fact. When their strength or level increases to a certain degree, a qualitative change occurred through a hunter’s body. They experience a complete metamorphose of their physique, evolving to a much higher level. When that happens, not only their strength increases, even their lifespans increases. Though to how much she didn’t know.
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And somehow from her words, Kenshin knew that the point Vera was talking about was when his PHY stat reaches 1000 value. He was already halfway there. Though he couldn’t feel his life span increasing, he still felt that his body couldn’t be compared to a normal human any longer.
A normal hunter could only reach a 1000 value towards the end of level 190 and the beginning of level 200.
“What! Can’t recognize me anymore?” Kenshin joked while throwing the pile of rags into a nearby dustbin.
“No! I mean yes. Definitely recognized you…” again she stumbled with her speech. Kenshin noticed; she tends to do that when her emotions were too high.
“Haha! Don’t sweat it. Let’s go.” Kenshin’s laugh filled with the guilty pleasure of teasing a young girl pulled Chiba out of her embarrassment, giving her a much-needed break. But then his last sentence caught her off-guard, a red hue dusted her cheeks as she shyly asked.
“Where!?”
“Hmm! Let's go to an…ice cream shop. I treat you to some icecreams … or do you prefer meal?” he asked. The time has passed noon now, so he thought she might be in the mood for some ice…girls her age tend to crave for those often.
“NO! Ice Cream will do!” it came a lot hastier than she thought. Paling a little, she looked at Kenshin’s face from the corner of her eyes. But his face didn’t change, and that perpetual smile was still present, making her breath in relief.
She was afraid that he would think of her as a glutton, for some reason she didn’t want to make this man hate her even if its just a little. Scratching her head, she looked at his broad back while thinking of her mother, ‘Mom! What's happening to me? Why do I have such feelings?’
Kenshin led her to a nearby ice cream shop, under her recommendation of course, and found himself enjoying some matcha chocolate cones. She ordered some mochi waffle cone for herself. With his bliss filled face, her closed eyes and her red filled cheeks, she looked like a content cat.
Kenshin suddenly had a devilish urge to pinch those red peach-like cheeks. His hands moved on their own, and before he realized it, he was pinching her right cheek.
“Hmm!” startled at sudden touch, Chiba opened her eyes then blushed red at finding a strong but not callous, hand on her cheek. She retrieved her ice cream cone from her mouth and looked down, too embarrassed to look at his face. A small cream was struck on her nose, looking very cute on her red face.
Kenshin soon realized what he was doing and became embarrassed himself. But he didn’t retrieve his hand, he played it cool instead. After pinching her once more, he wiped that smudge on her nose and returned his hands to its rightful place.
“Hmm! I just found your cheeks so cute and couldn’t resist the urge to pinch it. Sorry!” he smiled at her. His demeanor, though, didn’t look like he was apologizing at all.
“Aa-uu—aa!!” she was so embarrassed and shy that she forgot what to say. She was only seventeen, despite being a strong hunter, having high status, she was yet to awaken to the first spring of her life. Although everywhere around her was filled with influential or handsome people, she never met anyone whom she genuinely liked or not see as an elder.
After awakening her skill, he never got to enjoy her youth. Day in day out, burdened by her mother’s condition, she would train diligently and work hard to earn money and change their life. Finally, when she achieved everything, she realized; she was in place to enjoy her youth anymore. Her new status won’t allow it.
Today, after interacting with this man named Kenshin, she suddenly found that there was no need for her to hold into the pretense of a cool lady. Either way, this man wouldn’t care. The way he was looking at her wasn’t the same as how others look, although she wasn’t sure what those looks entail, she was sure that they didn’t contain anything malicious.
That’s why she let go of herself and showed that shy little girl she always was inside her heart. After her mom, Kenshin was the second person whom she had shown this side of herself.