Chapter 40:
Rest and A Whisper of Something New
A special thanks to my beta-readers: Beta Orionis, Paul (MiiPhlet), and Pritchard (Reed_Writes SFW)
I set down my cup of bitter water on the slate ground. I cradled the labyrinth's mana crystal between my two crossed legs, trying not to let the pulsating light bother me. I leaned my head back against the pillar I'd propped my back against and sighed.
I was stuck here with Roxas until he recovered from his mana exhaustion—all of my attempts to lift him and get going resulted in me collapsing onto the ground. After an embarrassing amount of trial and error, I left him where he lay and let him use my backpack as a pillow.
It hadn't been a crazy amount of time or anything, but the minutes were starting to drag on. It wasn't like I had a handy smartphone on hand to pass or check the time, either. I had to make use of the vague indicators of time I had in my memory. We entered the labyrinth just after noon. It was hard to imagine that we'd disembarked the ship to the Milis Continent just this morning. So much had happened in such a relatively short amount of time. Since it'd been maybe four hours since our entrance, it should still be the late afternoon.
As you can tell, I had nothing else to do with this drudgingly long amount of time besides getting lost in my thoughts. I told myself that I would get up and go looking for the rest of the party myself after some time had passed, but I was quite afraid of drawing the attention of monsters and getting ambushed alone. And so, I continued waiting in the hopes that they'd eventually come across this room. The labyrinth's floor was a finite space, and I didn't think Alek was the type to get lost.
Ares… maybe. Wouldn't be the first nor the last time.
Then, I heard signs of a struggle echoing from one of the many tunnels that lined the walls of the crevasse. If that wasn't enough to spur me to action, I'd have no other excuse not to call myself lazy.
So, I gently set the pulsing mana crystal down next to Roxas, grasped my staff, and made a start for the direction of the sounds. I could vaguely make out sword swings, or rather, the clash between metal against metal—or a material close to metal. My pace picked up as I narrowed down the source of the sound, and was met with a towering rock wall. The tunnel the sounds were coming from was a bit higher than I expected.
Well… a 'bit' higher is a little misleading. Judging from my probably inaccurate guess, I'd say… what? 15 meters high? Nothing I can't handle, but any higher than this and I might've been in a rough spot.
Earth Lance!
I cast an earth lance with a flattened tip at my feet and used it as a catapult to shoot me into the air, wrapping myself in a thick coat of wind magic to try to control my landing. It was a little unreliable at times, but using this spell like this was a lot easier than making a staircase with earth magic.
After an ungraceful landing—I could already tell I'd feel that impact in my back for days—I brushed myself off and ran in the direction of the now crystal-clear sounds. I readily turned a corner, expecting a fierce, all-out brawl. But, no, it was a one-sided massacre.
Alek was wildly slashing through hordes of monsters, with Talhand and Elinalise supporting him from behind. Not that he needed it, but I suppose practicing teamwork is better than nothing. His bloodstained lips—the blood in question was not his own—curled in what looked to be glee as he tore through his opponents, Kajakuto still untouched and strapped to his back. It made for an honestly horrifying sight.
Ah, well, not like it's anything new.
I'd once wondered if it was his dragon-scaled greatsword, Kajakuto, that made Alek as strong as he was, but one look at this mess and I instantly crossed that thought out. He was wielding a relatively average-looking steel greatsword and still didn't have so much as a scratch on him. Piles of corpses littered the ground, my nose crinkling in direct response.
So much for our fruits of labor. How are we supposed to loot these things if Alek just obliterates them?
After a few indecisive moments of debating whether or not to pitch in, I looked over and noticed a red-headed body lying on the ground behind the pseudo-line that Alek, Talhand, and Elinalise were 'defending', the boy's eyes shut and his skin soaked with sweat.
Ares?! He doesn't look dead, thank god. How did he get knocked out? I wouldn't put it past Alek to let Ares get roughed up to teach him a lesson, but wasn't this a bit too far?
Gah, enough thinking! I shut down my thoughts and faced reality, forcing myself into the air again much more sloppily than before. It was hard to confidently leap over a horde of monsters, even if it was a magic-assisted jump. I internally thanked myself for keeping my hair short as it wildly thrashed around my head. However, upon landing, my enthusiasm quickly faded when a few locks of my hair covered my face.
" Pfoo ," I blew them out of my eyes, sighing and laying eyes upon Ares's unconscious body. Well… he's looked worse before. As far as I knew, Alek was still in his battle-junkie mode. I would be surprised if he so much as noticed me, so it didn't bother me that he didn't acknowledge my arrival.
"Ah! Mina!" Elinalise exclaimed, glancing at me in between her strikes. "Where's Rox—ah, heal Ares first!"
"R-Right!" I squatted down, trying to ignore the extremely bloody commotion around me. No time for greetings now…
Talhand grunted, probably having overheard. He crushed the head of a spider that looked a lot more like a beetle than anything else. "Get on with it!"
"Please don't be brain damaged…" I silently pleaded, inspecting Ares for the source of his injury. He seemed pretty roughed up at first glance, but when I inspected him, I realized most of the blood on his clothes was a sickly purple; it wasn't his blood.
I held his head in one hand and pressed a hand against his chest. I wordlessly cast an advanced-tier healing spell—which felt a lot more draining than it usually was.
His eyelids stayed stubbornly shut for a few seconds then slowly opened up. For some odd reason, he blankly stared beyond me, as if looking at something a thousand miles away. After a few short-lived moments of squinting, his pupils snapped to me.
"Ah… Lumina, I've found you…" he groaned. I snorted, flippantly brushing some stray hairs out of his face.
"Sure you did," I grinned. As much as I was happy to see him, this place wasn't a great place for someone who'd just come out of unconsciousness. "We need to get you out of here."
"Ah, damn…" Ares grunted. "We're leaving?"
"We really should. We've gotten rid of the boss, so—"
"You killed the boss?!" Ares exclaimed, sitting up with a fervor in his eyes.
"Ah, well…" I hoped he wasn't too upset we'd done it without him. If anything, he was the most excited out of all of us to fight a giant monster.
"That's awesome!" he exclaimed. "What was it? How long did it take to kill?! Damn it, why'd I have to go get myself knocked out like that!?" Ares balled his fist.
I chuckled and ruffled his hair. "It wasn't nearly as exciting as you think. Besides, it's not like you were meaning to get knocked out." I hope.
"Ah, speaking of, I want to know how you got to the point where you could even get knocked out in the first place if Alek was with y'all…"
Ares narrowed his eyes. "I can't keep depending on Alek all of the time, you know? I told him to leave me to my own devices when we had some alone time before we entered here."
"Still, he's the North God. I thought I could count on him to keep an eye on you," I muttered. For as much as he aspires to be a hero, I think he still has a few kinks to work out.
"I won't die that easily!" He flexed his bicep jokingly. "Plus, we've been through worse, Lumina."
"…You're right," I relented. Even if Alek was this figure of strength to me, at the end of the day, he was still Ares's teacher. I had to respect the relationship between the two.
"You sure are worried about me," Ares grinned. "Care about me that much?"
"Jeez. Just watch your head next time," I smiled, getting up to my feet. Ares followed and peered over to the group of three.
"Looks like I missed something," he grumbled.
I looked around, trying to make a mental note of which of the several passages I had entered here from. In the process of doing that, I noticed a partly obscured figure in one of them. That can't be Roxas. Maybe Alek missed one.
"Ares, I'm going to go handle this one," I said, not bothering to grab my staff. If it was a straggler, it was hardly worth that effort. Woah, I sound like one of those people who are too confident about their strength. Gotta shut that down…
"Ah, sure," he said, looking over to what I was talking about. Its yellow skin came into plain view, and I heard Ares draw a breath.
"Alek, get rid of it!" Ares yelled, his eyes downcast for some reason. I furrowed my eyebrows at the creature, a cross between a spider and a human. It looked gross, but nothing that seemed to justify Ares's reaction. The thing would probably go down with a Frost Flare .
"Wait, Lumina!" I felt Ares tugging on my shoulder desperately. "Don't you dare look at its—"
I met its eyes.
…
I was plunged into a sea of darkness.
I felt weightless—if that could begin to describe how it felt. I felt like I had no corporal body as if I were observing from an outside perspective. It was completely different from how dreams with Mister Man-God were. At least then I had some grip on my senses.
Right then, all of them were completely dull and numb. And then, something changed. Everything shifted, like a jump-cut in a show. I was in a room. Specifically, a room I'd slept in a few times.
My room in the Roa manor. That place had to be obliterated by now. This had to be a dream. Even though I tried to hammer that into my mind, I couldn't quite convince myself that this was some figment of my imagination.
One man was sitting in the chair in front of me. He sat cross-legged, his clothes just as crisp as the last time I'd seen him. The man's rattail was tied with a deep brown hair tie as always, and the golden ear cuffs that wrapped around his outer ears gave him the sense of authority he'd always had.
"D-Dad?" I was frozen in place, now regaining some semblance of control over my senses. My heart surged with joy. I nearly sprang out of my seat to wrap my arms around him when I noticed something.
There was something wrong. Paul's face—I couldn't focus on it. It was blurry, a blind spot in a room full of clarity.
"Sit still, Lumina."
"What?" His voice was like cold, freezing nails. It snatched every last drop of my attention.
"I shouldn't have given you everything you wanted at the drop of a hat," he spat. "It's like I shot myself in the damn foot."
"..." I shrunk in my seat. This felt all too real, so vivid. But that form of speech… how would Paul know about that expression? It couldn't be real, yet his voice was so commanding. The loving voice that came from a man who, despite his faults, loved his family, was now harsh and unforgiving.
"You yelled at your mother. She was trying her hardest to be reasonable and you yelled. Ran out of the manor like some delinquent, too. I raised you better than this. " Paul wouldn't say this… he wouldn't. This isn't real.
"All because you were being selfish. Because you couldn't wait three years. She wasn't being 'overbearing,' she was trying to protect you! We both were. Why couldn't you get that into your head?"
"No, no, no… that's not… I didn't mean to…" I squeaked.
"Didn't mean to what? You didn't mean to raise your voice at your mother? The woman who spent days and nights loving you and coddling you and spoiling you as if you were the thing that made her the happiest?"
"I…" I choked.
"Well, guess what, Lumina?" He wasn't calling me 'Lumi.'
"You. Were."
And my world shattered.
…
I coughed and coughed, my consciousness struggling to piece itself back together. My vision was peppered with black blotches that disoriented me. The only thing I could make out was Ares holding me up and saying something, as well as Alek standing in front of the halved corpse of the monster I'd seen before going into that…vision.
Whatever Ares was saying, I couldn't understand. My ears were ringing too loudly. It felt like my heart didn't fit in my rib cage anymore. What…was that?
That monster… when I looked into its eyes, it put me into some sort of vision. No, it was like it forced me into having a lucid dream. Did the monster have any sort of control over what I saw? If so, that made it scarily intelligent. But monsters in this world weren't usually like that. Instead, it made more sense for it to make a scenario that would cause me the most distress.
That couldn't be the case. I wouldn't accept that. I couldn't. I felt an indescribable fear that I couldn't shake off no matter how hard I tried. What if… when I met Paul again, he'd react like that? Would I be able to deal with that? How could I?
My pounding head washed me out of my thoughts, and I felt my vision and hearing returning to me.
"...okay! …doesn't seem to have any…" It was clear that the speaker was Ares, who was talking to someone. That person stood in front of the corpse, clearly having brought his sword down on it when it was still living. Ah, it's Alek.
"That was the last of 'em!" Talhand hollered.
"Ah, uh, good," I breathed, my heart still pounding in my throat. "Roxas and I, uh, found the mana crystal. I can… lead the way."
"Lumina! You can speak!" Ares sighed a breath of relief and sheathed his sword. I unsteadily planted my feet on the ground and stood, Ares's hands letting me go. He glanced over at me and met my eyes, his gaze softening. The gesture made me blink a few times, not having properly registered that my emotions were showing on my face.
"Hey, Lumina," Ares began. I nervously turned to face him. "You look like you're on the brink of collapse right now."
"That's… um… not—" my fuzzy head struggled to come up with an excuse. I paused when he sped in front of me, turned his back to me, and reached his hands behind him. It was… like he was going to give me a piggyback ride.
"C'mon!" he urged.
"You don't have to do all of that," I waved him off, trying to distance myself from my emotions as much as possible. My breath shuddered, and suddenly the walls of the labyrinth felt so much more invasive than before. It was so cold.
"I-I…" I couldn't find the strength to take a step forward. My tongue felt dry, completely useless in forming any words. A chill ran down my spine, and my vision blurred.
I couldn't. I couldn't take a step forward no matter what. I was so terrified, but it was dizzying to try to figure out what it was that scared me. I felt so cold, so starved of warmth.
I swayed, almost thoughtlessly as my numb body hardly registered it.
"Ah." It suddenly felt so much hotter. Alek had caught me.
After a few moments of silence, Alek spoke. "Lumina, you looked into its eyes, didn't you?" he asked. I silently nodded. I felt the throbbing pain in my chest start to fade.
"I've seen too many allies go mad with the visions those creatures force onto others. Even Ares did. I'm sorry you had to go through that, Lumina," Alek said, stroking my head slowly. "Can you stand?"
I nodded wordlessly, planting both feet firmly onto the ground. I fiddled awkwardly with my robe, tightening the cincture around my waist.
Ares perked up and set his backpack down, reaching into it and grabbing his flask. He strode over, holding it out to me. "Here you are."
I breathed a word of thanks and relished the cool relief of the drink. I swallowed, the lump in my throat now completely gone. Ah… I can't believe I almost forgot.
I started forward and wrapped my arms around Ares, digging my face into his neck.
I'm not alone. Never was, from the start. Though I was still scared of facing my father, I couldn't say that I'd have to face it alone. Maybe Paul wasn't angry at me. It wouldn't be the first nor the last time I've overthought something. But I knew I'd get through it.
I had allies. Friends.
"Lumina…" Ares whispered. It broke me out of my thoughts immediately, his lips so close to my ears I could practically feel the words on his tongue. I drew away, not in fear but in worry of a specific other reaction to his closeness.
"Ah, let's go get some fresh air, haha!" I spoke. Ares deadpanned.
"And just leave that teacher of yours here?" Ares cracked up. No, wait! I didn't forget about him! No!
"You know what I meant!" I cried.
I smiled, my two companions wearing the same expression on their faces. It almost felt like we were back in the Demon Continent, with just the three of us again. For all we've gone through, I owed the two of them so much. Ares still held the same sword I'd given him a year ago, and Alek had changed so much in that same time.
They were my friends. And I could say that with all of my heart.
I woke up and laid eyes on the pale tan ceiling of the luxury hotel room. It felt like I was melting into my bedsheets—I couldn't bring myself to get up.
It was the next morning if the sunlight shining through the room's stained glass wasn't deceiving me. Alek was forced to be the one carrying Roxas back to the hotel, which ended up being significantly more funny than I could have ever imagined. Mostly because it was a bridal carry.
Long story short, we'd made big money. The crystal itself was worth 40 King's Dollars. Yeah. That didn't register to me until hours after I'd heard it for the first time. That's two million yen. Milis's currency was the second most valuable in the whole world, second only to the Asura Kingdom's. While it did mean everything was more expensive, it came with the lovely tradeoff of the Adventurer's Guild paying significantly more.
40 King's Dollars would be more than enough to cover high-quality meals, clothing, shelter, supplies, basically anything we needed, for all six of us for months and months to come. I hadn't expected our very first labyrinth raid to be as lucrative as it ended up being, but diving deep into the third layer had its benefits. Plus, it was still a handful of days before the rainy season, so the bulk of the adventurers hadn't arrived to snatch up the more valuable stuff yet.
So, we had no real need for a treasurer anymore. I'm suffering from success, I tell you.
Ah… it's just… so comfy… Did I really need to drag myself out of bed? I just had this nagging feeling that I was forgetting something…. Well, if I forgot about it, it probably wasn't that important.
A red mess of hair sprung into my field of vision.
"Lumina! I've been waiting for you! It's almost noon, ya know?!" Ares chirped. Alek stood next to him, his unimpressed eyes looking straight at the redhead.
"Give her some space, Ares. Don't you remember what Roxas said she had to do yesterday?" Alek scolded like a middle-aged mom.
"Guh!" Ares pouted.
"Wait," I interrupted. "You were waiting for me… for what?"
Ares paused for a moment, perplexed. "Our duel! We agreed to do it when we got to Milis, and look at where we're at now!"
That promise of mine came rushing back to me. "Didn't we agree to a spar, not a duel?" I snorted.
"Well, it's a duel now! I'll be out in the training yard, waiting!" Ares declared with no room for negotiation. He bolted out of the room, a glimmer in his eyes.
I sighed. Better make good on that promise, then.
…
After tying my short hair into a ponytail and downing my especially tasty breakfast—which was closer to lunch than a by-the-book breakfast, actually—I began on my way down to the training courtyard that the hotel had on its premises. The hotel itself was massive, comparable to a mansion. Though, it looked nothing like one. If I had to compare it to something, I would have to pick the Roa manor.
It had a large canteen, though a lot different from the average tavern-style dining hall that I'd grown more than used to. The dining hall was full of wealthy people dressed in lavish robes dyed across the spectrums of colors. It was, oddly enough, the first time I'd felt that my pure white and sky-blue robe fit in. I could hardly see any demon folk, which was a surprise to me but objectively aligned with Milis's culture.
I wasn't all that sure about the details, but a lot of the residents of the capital city of Milis, Milishion, held some hatred for demon folk. While Zant Port was more of a melting pot, I figured that it wouldn't be out of place for those same emotions to seep into a select few around here. But it was all conjecture, anyway. I just found it odd that there were no demons to be found.
Roxas and Alek walked by my side down the steps leading into the courtyard, with Roxas having wanted to tag along to observe our duel and Alek coming as the referee. He didn't say it, but it was clear that Alek wanted to see Ares in action against somebody other than himself—or namely, a magician. Ares and I had sparred before, but those were always just spars. This one was going to be a full-fledged duel.
Not to the death! I had to make that clear to Alek, for some reason. The rules for a traditional duel were to go until the other side was incapacitated or unable to fight any longer. Usually, you wouldn't do this unless in the presence of a well-tailored healer, though I filled that role well enough. My experience in the labyrinth taught me that I was more than capable of healing my body while unable to move my hands, so I was confident I would be fine.
In any case, I wasn't expecting to lose. I wouldn't let him get that leverage over me. He probably wouldn't let me hear the end of it.
"You've got this," Roxas encouraged. I grinned.
"I know," I cheekily responded.
I stepped out into the dirt clearing with the sun beating down on my skin. The air was a little chilly today—which was how I liked it, with my robe and all. Alek hurried to the side of the court, between Ares and I. The boy in question had a cocky grin on his face, standing straight in his makeshift training outfit some odd 15 meters from me.
"It's been a few months, Lumina!" Ares said, drawing his sword out of its sheath. Haha. Miss me? "I've grown more than you might think!"
I smirked. "Have you now?"
"You'd be surprised. Let's get on with it, then. Alek!" he called out. His sword glimmered against the autumn sky as he pointed directly at me using it. "Our duel!"
Alek nodded, digging Kajakuto directly into the ground in front of him with a slam.
"First, two ground rules," Alek spoke, holding out his pointer finger.
"First, no fatal strikes. Restrain yourself, Ares." I felt like he was casually ignoring me, but I let it pass me by.
"Second, Lumina, you cannot use Curse Magic," Alek spoke, taking me by surprise. Ares had to have put him up to it. He'd called it cheating before, even if he found it awesome to witness. I'd put up with it—Curse Magic was only a silver lining to my arsenal. For now, at least, it wouldn't be debilitating to lose it.
I drew a breath, sighing. Alek nodded, saying, "That's all. Now…"
I untied the knot holding a piece of gray fabric wrapped around Tailwind Zephyr's magic crystal, removing it and stuffing it into my pocket. A few beats passed in utter silence apart from the breeze whipping against my skin.
"You may… begin!" Alek yelled.
Ares advanced, my body tensing. He moved at a pace I was not familiar with, preemptively shoving me out of my comfort zone. He wasn't quite as fast as Paul, but he was much swifter than before. I hardly saw his feet touch the ground once by the time he'd almost cleared the distance between the two of us.
I cast a burst of wind at my feet to dodge out of the way, forcing my entire body a few feet above the ground. When I glanced down, I caught a glimpse of Ares pivoting instead of slicing through the empty air like I was expecting. With that in mind, I braced myself for the impact—not for the actual fall, but for the short length of time I would have to react the moment I'd touched down.
I landed on my two feet, wincing at the faint wave of crushing discomfort. Ares charged at me once again in my peripheral vision. I wasted no time, blowing away Ares's attack with a forceful pulse of air.
That's enough time on the defensive, I thought bitterly, having been taken by surprise.
Ares recovered almost immediately, readjusting his sword to prevent it from flying out of his hands. I pumped my left arm full of mana, shaping a slim, sturdy earthen shield and attaching it to a secure binding on my wrist for better mobility. Ares's expression momentarily shifted, confusion filling his eyes. However, it only lasted for that moment and he went on the offensive again. Since I was now much too close to dodge any attack from him viably, the broad shield served as a passable if not decent, counter to his heavy, calculated attacks.
Though, this wasn't what I had in mind. I had to make some distance if I wanted any chance of winning the fight. He drew a short breath and stepped into my striking range, swinging his sword diagonally toward the right side of my face. My mind rushed to deflect his attack away from the shield, in case even my magically conjured rock was too weak to hold itself together under the stress of one of his direct attacks.
As his sword glanced off to the side, he took a marginally noticeable step back and spared no time in recovering, almost immediately diving into another strike, this time at my left where the shield left my abdomen exposed.
If this stance is full of holes, I've got to change something up. But what? As my mind struggled to think of an option, I brought my shield down to defend against his secondary attack, only to hear a loud slam on its surface. That attack must've damaged the shield!
I couldn't spend any more time dawdling. I dispelled the magic holding the binding that attached the shield to my arm together and kicked the falling shield at Ares. He took the downward momentum from his previous strike and cut up, cleaving it in two in a single attack. However, I had a counter in place already.
Coldheart Bolt!
Something was off—Ares was extremely responsive. In our previous spars, he always had this blind spot in his swordsmanship; I would usually take advantage of his weak response time to land a hit in the heat of the moment without him being able to foresee it. He'd improved, that much I could see. Then, I realized something I'd let slip past me in the fast pace of the battle.
I sensed a pulse of mana released from Ares's right eye. He's using the Demon Eye!, m y mind screamed at me. My mind dove straight back into the battle as Ares ducked away from the icy bolt, the projectile grazing his hair and leaving a trail of water droplets behind on his scalp.
I had no idea just how strong that Eye made him. I can't catch him off guard, because he'll see anything seconds in advance.
But that just makes him more interesting. I grinned. Ares with his new improvement was an opponent that made me use my head in a spar the likes of which I hadn't experienced since Paul.
I leaped back and shot a fierce pulse of wind at him closely followed by a wide-area gust that created a wave that he couldn't possibly dodge, just retreat from. It seemed he'd already taken initiative, avoiding the initial pulse and bolting for the edge of the wave. I took my staff in both hands, slamming it into the ground while forcing as much mana as I could quickly pump into it. This might backfire, but I have a plan in case it does.
Icicle Field! I cast it at ground level and forced it into the shape of a massive ice field around my current position. It spanned almost the whole courtyard. There. Now I've leveled the playing field, I mused, using the slightest bit of magic to maintain a thermal vent at the bottom of my feet so I wouldn't be affected by the ice. I eyed a few ice crystals that had formed from the ground around us. Whoops. Guess the spell wasn't perfect.
Still, it wasn't the first time I'd pulled that spell off. That honor went to one of my countless attempts to take down Paul in a fight. A good amount of the tactics I use nowadays were thought up during those times. In the end, even if I never got the chance to defeat him, I guess they still counted for something. I knew how to use my body efficiently while using my magic, and how to move in three dimensions. Of course, Ares was a whole different can of worms to fight, but my main approach wasn't going to just change.
"That's…" Ares widened his eyes. He sighed, and said, "Clever."
"Right? That sword style of yours is full of tricks, so I figured I should come at you with the same sentiment," I shot him a cheeky smirk.
"How considerate," Ares set his sword to his side. "But let's see you try to match…" he slashed a crystal of ice that had sprouted up, shattering it and grabbing ahold of one of the larger fragments.
"…this!" He launched it straight at my face, blindsiding me.
I tensed, quickly manifesting a rudimentary earth shield, and heard the glass-like shattering of the crystal's impact against its surface. I shoved the shield away from me rather than dispelling it and kicked off from my position the moment I noticed Ares approaching me.
I didn't allow him to close the distance, using a wind-magic-assisted leap to cross to the opposite side of the courtyard. I took advantage of the situation and clasped my hands together, pressed the tips of my pointer fingers together, and cascaded mana into a fine point, forming a flare of flames.
Wildfire Bloom! I spewed out a continuous stream of flames, sending it forth. Ares, who'd already made it halfway to me, kicked off from his position, sliding across the ice to avoid the stream. I followed him with my spell, aiming to stop his advance. However, he picked up the pace and continued to evade my attack, having made it one semi-circle around me from where he'd started. The moment he'd circled me to the point where I had my back turned, he abruptly cut off his orbit around me and kicked off toward me.
That's it! I pivoted, throwing my hands upwards and dispelling the stream. I caused a pillar of earth reaching toward the sky to burst through the ground behind Ares all in the second I had before his blade reached me. With his desperate attempts to stop his advance but failure to do so thanks to the ice's slipperiness, it was simple to see he'd foreseen what I was about to do—and he had no way to counter it. He'd invested both his momentum and any chance of dodging into a hit that would have otherwise been a sure-hit strike. I'd cornered him.
I flashed a smile and shot an intense pulse of wind toward him, throwing him back a meter or so where he smashed against the pillar.
"K-Kh!" Ares gasped, eyes wide. I bolted at him, shooting a blunt rock cannon at his dominant hand. It impacted, and just as I'd hoped, he released his grip on his sword. I arrived before him and kicked the sword out of the way with all of my might.
"It's over," I declared, smiling devilishly at Ares. I knew he'd be the type of stubborn person to try to use a trick up his sleeve at this crucial moment, so my hand moved to grasp his collar and tugged him forward. His eyelashes fluttered for a second, surprised. Our faces were inches apart as I leaned in close to his ear.
"The score's 4-0," I whispered. The moment following, I fired a blunt Rock Bullet at his head, ending the fight.
With a contented sigh, I kneeled forward, pressed two fingers against his temple, and pumped a healing spell through it. Shots to the head can be deadly, so this is more or less a precaution.
So, I won. I whooped a cry of triumph, despite the fact I'd never lost a fight against him before. He put up a tough fight, much fiercer than any before, and I think it was worthy of celebration on my part. Though, this nagging thought kept creeping up on me.
"Even though that's impressive for his age, I have a feeling he doesn't feel that he's particularly strong compared to you."
Something Alek had said. I'd rushed to Ares's side when Alek had advised me that, and his reaction to my words was fairly positive back then. But it just got me thinking, now that I was standing before an unconscious Ares. He was strong, that was clear to see.
But maybe I should've gone easy on him…
No, that's the wrong way to think about this. I felt that after Ares had opened up to me that day after we'd sparred, we'd become much closer. He promised me that he'd get to my level, and pretending to be weaker just to make him feel better would be unfair to him—if not outright deceptive. I owed it to him to play fair, so we could grow stronger in tandem.
I got up and turned to the spectators. I let out an 'eh?!' when I spotted Elinalise running toward me from the side of the courtyard, Roxas and Alek following closely. Wasn't she out with Talhand running the laundry?
"That was phenomenal!" she said, grasping my free hand.
"Ah, Miss—er, Elinalise, I didn't even know you were watching. Thank you, though," I said, bashful about her barrage of compliments. I still regarded Elinalise as an almost motherly person, given the way she was a beacon of praise to me.
"That's alright," she smiled. "I wasn't aware you were going to duel, so I came as soon as Tally told me."
She leaned in close to my ear, "I noticed the way you looked at Ares at the end of that fight. I could give you some tips on how to really sweep him off his feet if you want it."
My eyes fluttered in surprise. "Eh? N-No, that's…" I couldn't find the words to refute her for the life of me. What way!? I wasn't…! Wait, when I pulled Ares in close?
"Hehe, you're too cute, Mina. I'm just teasing," Elinalise petted my head. I turned to Roxas to avoid getting any more embarrassed by her.
"Impressive, Lumi. First time I've ever seen ya fight against something that wasn't a monster, believe it or not." Apparently, now it was Roxas's turn to pat my head. I swear, is this like an instinct for older people? Even Alek's done it to me!
"Well, the last time we've properly spent time together was when I was a toddler. Not exactly prime conditions to be dueling someone," I laughed.
"From the looks of it, it sure looks like ya have some experience fighting Ares over there," Roxas bit back laughter as if he were trying not to make fun of Ares's defeat. Oh, Roxas, go right ahead. Ares's done a lot worse for much less.
"You could say that," I jeered. I had ought to wake him up, but I was in the middle of a conversation. He could wait.
"That boy's talented for his age, I've noticed. I know about how you two met, but isn't it a lucky break that he turned out so great as a party member?" Roxas chirped, looking toward the boy of the hour.
"You know… our first meeting wasn't really in the Demon Continent," I admitted.
"Hm? Then why didn't you mention it before when you told me about how you'd rescued him from the slave market back in Rikarisu?"
"Ah… to be completely honest…" I drew my words out as I scratched the nape of my neck. "...I was trying to tease Ares while telling the story." I'm a proud multitasker, you know?!
"Of course, that doesn't mean any of what I said about Rikarisu was exaggeration or anything, but leaving the story like that would probably be lying by omission. Sorry," I gingerly lowered my neck.
"Jeez, it's alright. Trying to mess with your buddies doesn't make you a liar. But I am still curious, so do tell me how you two met for the first time," Roxas asked.
With a glance at the eavesdropping Elinalise, I spoke. "So, it was during my tenth birthday party as I was enjoying the festivities." By that, I mean I was totally freaking out by the amount of sweet treats.
"My, what a setting. What, did he come up to you and ask for your hand in a dance?" Elinalise butted in, spoken like a true amorist. And, apparently, a psychic.
"That's exactly what happened. He and I had a dance, and it was quite nice, actually. Of course, until he tried to invite me over to an inn and… you know," I gestured awkwardly with my hands for a few moments.
Elinalise let out a boisterous cackle, slapping me on the back several times. "Really? Him? That's hilarious!"
"I wouldn't call it the greatest first impression. He's nothing like that now, but I guess Ares was a ladykiller in the past." Something about that kind of bothered me, weirdly enough.
"Hmm…" Roxas looked over at me for a moment. "Your birthday party was backed by the Boreas, right? Since Philip Boreas Greyrat was the one who arranged it all like you said."
"Yes?" I confirmed.
"Then what was Ares doing there? As far as I'm concerned, the attendees of noble celebrations are usually all nobility," Roxas said.
"Nobility?" I repeated. If anything, my party was open to the public, free for anyone in Roa to just waltz in. I vaguely remember dozens of commoners intermingling with the nobility with no issues. Maybe Roxas was used to stuff differently than I was?
"Nah, they'd probably let him in regardless of status. Besides, it was the first time I had a proper presentation to the public. I doubt they'd be so tight on security for the daughter of a knight, after all," I explained.
"That's reasonable," Roxas nodded. "Ah, now that I'm thinking about it, Alek kept bothering me to go along with him after the duel was done, so I've gotta make good on that promise. See ya, Lumi."
He departed, making his way toward Alek and striking up a conversation. One mentor to another, I mused. Though, Roxas's stature stood out next to Alek's. Alek wasn't super tall or anything, but his well-built stature was still a stark contrast to Roxas's slim build. Ah, well, I'm just as tall as Roxas is…
I cracked my knuckles, stretching my limbs out and smoothing over my robe. Which, by the way, still hasn't so much as been scratched.
I made my way over to the pillar of white rock and ruffled Ares's hair in a futile attempt to wake him up. Hm. Should I be doing this? The last time I tried to wake him up, it didn't end well for anyone involved. Eh, it's fine. Here goes nothing.
I flicked his forehead, the corners of my lips tugging upwards. "Hey, sleepy. Wake up already, jeez."
His eyepatch trembled slightly as he stirred, a look of confusion and then a slight curve of his lips when he realized the voice was mine.
(Special Art created by Fairy08Tanya on the Archive of Our Own Version of Mushoku Tensei:Lumina Greyrat)
Ares's eyelids opened, his groggy, crimson eyes locked with mine. He looked like a mix between dazed and confused.
"Is… it dinnertime yet?"
I just laughed in his face.
Ares and I sat wide-eyed at one of the dining tables in the hotel—which was aptly named The Banquet Hall— entranced by the beautiful vista in front of us.
"Could it be…?" I could scarcely believe my eyes.
"This is…!" Ares breathed.
Before us lay a beautifully arranged selection of cakes topped with all sorts of fruits. But that wasn't what my eyes were locked on. No, I was focused on what looked to be some otherworldly equivalent of cheesecake. Which, by the way, I hadn't seen so much as once before since coming to this world.
Why focus on cheesecake, you ask? Well, it was only the single most underrated delicacy on this side of the world. Not once did I hear any of my friends, family, or anyone speak about how good it was in my previous life. I'd have to force them to get a slice of cheesecake for me. Well, it's not like I've had much of it after high school, but… uh… haha…
It was all I could do not to grab a fork and dive right in.
"What's this about, Alek?" I asked him, the one who'd gone and surprised us with this once we'd freshened up after the duel.
Alek beamed confidently. "I figured we ought to treat you two after that duel. Plus, we've gotta have luxuries like these now and again, right? With the money we have from the labyrinth, staying here and waiting out the rainy season as planned should be easy."
Roxas laughed. "A treat, he says. Ya should've seen the look on his face when he saw them bringing them here to the table."
Alek's a fellow dessert connoisseur? He doesn't exactly look the type, what with the massive sword he carries around, but I guess the more you know. One whole year and I'm just now finding it out? It struck me as ironic. To be completely fair, the closest thing to sweet in the Demon Continent were slightly bitter fruits that gave me indigestion the two times I'd tried to incorporate them into a meal. Suffice it to say, I was brimming with excitement.
"My," Elinalise said. "Can't say I've been able to enjoy something like this in a long while."
"Enough, let's dig in already!" Ares impatiently tapped his foot. He grabbed a biscuit with what looked to be powered sugar and sank his teeth into it. I immediately followed his lead and cut into a piece of cake with a fork, popping it into my mouth and savoring the light tart taste of the bread.
Oh, my dear, how I've missed you! I could probably eat this for the rest of my life and I'd die happy.
That night, my stomach definitely didn't agree with my reckless eating. Oh, well.
Author's Notes:
Been a minute, huh? I'm still here, cruising along. It's summer for practically everyone, so I should say happy summer! While I initially thought I'd have way more free time to write and all, turns out my family's a great supporter of the 'staying at home sucks, let's go out all day!' mindset. Though I am still constantly brimming with ideas for Lumina Greyrat, as I've been saying often. It's great to finally release something for those of y'all who have been patiently awaiting a new release. I extend my thanks to you, every last one of you, to my Spanish audience and my English, and to anyone else who decides to set aside their free time and read my story, thank you.
Onto the announcements again, Beta Orionis and I have released Part Three of Lumina Greyrat x Tanya's Reincarnation, which can be found at chapters 5-8 in the Omake sections of Beta Orionis's work,"Mushoku Tensei: Tanya's Reincarnation". This is largely a project for fans of both of our stories, a niche of a niche, but do be sure to check it out!
As always, thank you for reading. I have another mostly character interaction chapter planned for the next one, and then we can dive right back into the skeleton plot. Ah, and this marks the official 40th main story chapter! Thank you for sticking with me all this time, I truly appreciate it.
The next Chapter's Title is: The Two Mentors and a Dream
