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  “I believe we have spoken enough fer now,” Hreidmar said. “I will let ye four remain here for the time being. We shall give ye accommodations and food, though do not expect much. This is our last stronghold and our people are on the verge of defeat.”

  While it was hard to believe these people were on the “verge of defeat” considering what I’d seen, I recognized that if this really was the last safe haven they had, then it was obvious they wouldn’t have much to offer us.

  All of us graciously accepted and thanked Hreidmar for his consideration. Then we were led to several rooms by another pair of Dweorgs. We were given three. We would have been given four, but Kari and I informed them of our intentions to share a room.

  The rooms were interesting in that while there was very little furniture, the walls were designed with artful and elaborate motifs. Our room had a bed, a wood dresser, and a basin where we could apparently wash ourselves off. That was it.

  Kari and I were both so tired from our journey that we didn’t even bother washing. We threw ourselves onto the bed, so grateful to actually have a bed that we didn’t even care that our feet were hanging over the edge (the bed was meant for Dweorgs), and fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  I managed to avoid getting in trouble with Kari, Fay, and Lin, but only after giving them a thorough explanation of what happened between me and Dyr. Even so, the three had looked doubtful until Dyr corroborated that what I told them really had happened. The girl had then apologized to the trio. I think it was her bowing and scraping that ultimately saved me from whatever ill-begotten fate awaited me.

  Now that I had returned to the group, we continued our journey. Our goal was still to reach Nymph Lake and then head to the caves, where I would find four-tongue clovers. We’d been knocked a bit off course thanks to that unexpected battle against the Giant Svart, but we were back on track.

  Our journey led us across a plain, around a large mountain with white peaks, and through another forest. According to the map we’d used to plan this route, Nymph Lake was located within a deep valley.

  One of the most interesting aspects of the Demon Beast Mountain Range was that it wasn’t just a mountain range; we called it that for convenience sake. It had mountains, valleys, ravines, forests, plains… the name Demon Beast Mountain Range was actually in regards to the mountains that surrounded Nevaria, protecting the city-state from Demon Beasts.

  Because of what happened to me, it took an extra day to arrive in the forest surrounding Nymph Lake. When we arrived at the forest’s edge, our group made camp. We set up a small perimeter, created a fire pit, set up our sleeping bags—though I no longer had one—and went out hunting.

  Since I no longer had any equipment to set up thanks to losing my backpack, I had been asked by Kari and Mykkel to procure our food alongside Fay. Geirolf had also offered to go, but he’d been shot down by everyone else.

  “Just how are you planning to catch food without any equipment?” asked Fay as we walked along the forest floor. The trees in this area were more open, so the light poured down from above.

  I was looking at the sky, but when I heard Fay ask that question, I turned my head toward her. She was gazing at me curiously, but I just smiled.

  “So long as my Spiritual Power hasn’t run dry, I always have ways of catching food.”

  “I’m interested in seeing how you plan on doing that.”

  “Just keep your eyes on me and I’ll be more than happy to show you.”

  Our banter was fairly light up to that point, but when I finished my sentence, Fay’s countenance suddenly changed. She stopped walking and stared at me. I also stopped walking and turned to her. She looked away from a moment, glanced at me out of the corner of her eyes, and then opened her mouth and said, “I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight again.”

  “Fay?”

  “I…” Fay’s lips trembled for a moment, but she forced them to remain still. “I had every confidence that you were still alive after falling down that ravine, but even so… even though I was confident about your survival, seeing that happen to you made my heart stop beating. It felt like I’d been plunged into a nightmare I would never wake up from. I’ve never been… so distraught in my life.”

  Song-birds chirped around us, but I ignored them in favor of Fay, who looked like she was holding back her emotions. I realized she’d probably been keeping them in check ever since I’d returned. That was likely out of consideration for Kari who, upon me returning alive, hadn’t left my side for even a second. Actually, that made me wonder why Kari had suggested Fay and I gather food, but I realized what her intentions had been seconds after this thought flashed through my mind.

  Kari had done it for Fay. She had done it to give Fay time alone with me.

  I closed the distance between us and engulfed the redhead in a hug. Fay’s body froze like a block of ice, but as I placed one hand behind her head to stroke her hair and the other around her waist, the young woman relaxed and leaned into me. Her own arms wrapped around my body and held me tightly. I could feel her shuddering breath against my neck as the pent-up emotions inside were finally released.

  “I’m sorry for worrying you so much,” I whispered into her hair. “I’ll be more careful from now on.”

  “Don’t make a promise if you don’t intend to keep it,” Fay muttered.

  “Who said this was a promise? I know myself well enough to know that this isn’t something I can promise with absolute certainty. If you, Kari, or Lin were ever in danger, I would rush to your side heedless of how reckless such an action was. I know that. This is why I’m not promising to always act with care… but for the sake of not worrying you three, I will try not to be so reckless when I can help it.”

  “I suppose that’s the biggest concession you’re going to give me.”

  “It is.”

  “Then I’ll take it.”

  We parted after Fay’s last comment and our banter returned to being light-hearted, though I felt it was more genuine now than it had been before. I also noticed Fay’s adorable blush. She must have been embarrassed by our hug, which I thought was the cutest thing ever. It made me want to hug her again just so I could see her reaction.

  Our journey continued a little while longer before I found what I’d been searching for.

  “There.” I pointed at a round bird with blue and red feathers sitting on a tree. “You see that bird? It’s a blue-breasted quail. Their meat is incredibly tender when cooked over an open fire, though we’ll have to be careful not to lose any of the fat during the cooking. That’s our dinner tonight.”

  “Just the one?” Fay raised an eyebrow.

  “We’ll find more,” I assured her. “This type of quail is very populous in this region of the Demon Beast Mountain Range. They’re a natural source of food for the Demon Beasts who live here.”

  Fay accepted my explanation with a nod, though now she had another question. “How are you going to kill it?”

  “Just watch.” I gave her a mysterious smile.

  Raising my right hand, I channeled the water element into it. Small misty droplets soon gathered around my hand. A tiny sphere of water appeared within my palm, which I closed my hand around, but then the water extended from either side of my fist, elongating into a curved bow. With a bow made entirely of water in my left hand, I created an arrow made of water in my right. There was no string like on a normal bow, but even so, I made similar movements to what a bowman would do as I took aim at the quail and released the arrow.

  Guided by my Spiritual Power, my arrow struck true, piercing the quail through the heart. My prey didn’t even let out a sound as it fell off the branch and hit the forest floor with a thud.

  “So you can even make weapons like this out of your Spiritual Power,” Fay murmured in admiration.

  I nodded as we traveled up to the quail carcass. “It’s not very useful in combat because it takes so much time to form, but it’s great for something like hunting. Of course, it will
be a different story once I reach the Third State of Spiritualism, but that’s a long way off.”

  After grabbing that first quail, Fay and I hunted down seven more, one for each person, and then we returned to the camp.

  It looked like everything was set up. A brilliant red fire was crackling merrily, the sleeping bags had been laid out, and our group was arranged around the small area. Kari, Lin, and Dyr were tending to the fire. Meanwhile, Geirolf, Mykkel, and Earland had spread the map they had brought across the ground, pouring over it.

  “You two are back.” Kari was the first to spot us, presumably because she had been keeping an eye out, and stood to greet us. “Did you two have a productive hunt?”

  “We did.” I knew she wasn’t talking about the actual hunting. Kari’s consideration toward Fay impressed me. She had always been a kind woman, but I never imagined she’d be the type to so willingly let someone else spend time with me.

  I once again had to note the differences between the Kari in this timeline and my previous one.

  Fay nodded as well. “It was very productive. I feel much more at ease now. Thank you, Kari.”

  The look on Kari’s face, filled with genuine kindness and tender love, was so passionate that even Fay, who I believed was a completely heterosexual woman, could not help but blush a little.

  “I’m glad,” Kari said simply before gesturing us over to the fire.

  I had already made the spit necessary to cook the quails on; all that was left to do was stick them and then roast them. Since I had caught the meal, the girls decided they would be the ones who cooked it. I requested they lightly sprinkle the bird with the salt and pepper we had brought.

  The key to cooking a quail so it remained juicy was basting it. We used a tin cup to catch the fat that dripped off, then slowly poured it over the top, repeating the process until the quails were fully cooked.

  Once the quails were finished cooking, we stuck each one on its own stick and handed them out. We all sat around the fire. As seemed to be the usual, Lin and Kari sat on either side of me. Fay was next to Kari. Dyr had chosen to sit beside Lin. Kari’s three brothers were located on the opposite side of the fire.

  As we ate, Mykkel began speaking. “I believe we should discuss our strategy for dealing with the Water Nymphs now that we’re close to Nymph Lake.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I agreed. “I actually have a strategy to deal with them, if you’re interested.”

  “Tch! Shouldn’t you leave something like strategizing to the people who are more experienced?” asked Geirolf. Mykkel elbowed him. “Ow! Why did you do that?”

  “What strategy have you come up with?” asked Mykkel.

  Nodding at him, I presented them with my plan. “Water Nymphs are individually weak but often form communities to protect themselves from stronger Demon Beasts. They are classified as a C-Rank Demon Beast, but their threat level can go up to a B or even an A-Rank depending on how many there are. This is especially true if they’re being governed by a Water Queen, the next evolutionary stage of a Water Nymph.”

  Mykkel nodded along with my words, his eyes stating he already knew all this. I was presenting this information for the sake of Fay, Lin, and Dyr. I didn’t think they knew anything about Demon Beast physiology. On that note, I was positive Kari already knew this because of all the studying she did.

  “The best way to defeat a community of Water Nymphs is to separate them and fight each one individually or in small groups of two and three,” I continued. “That’s why I am going to use a Spiritual Water Technique to disrupt their community, drive them to the shore of the lake, and throw them into chaos. When I do that, I want everyone to split up into two groups and quickly move in to fight the Water Nymphs. Do what you can to further separate them and then take them down one at a time.”

  “That’s a sound strategy,” Mykkel said with a nod.

  Geirolf snorted. “That sounds overly complicated. Why not just use a Spiritual Lightning Technique to fry them?”

  “Because if we did that, then the Water Nymphs’ bones would get fried as well,” I chided. “The whole purpose of coming to the Demon Beast Mountain Range was to get my hands on Water Nymph bone marrow. If their bones fried and the marrow was destroyed, all that effort we put in would go to waste.”

  “I-I knew that,” Geirolf mumbled. “I was just testing you.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I’m sure.”

  “What should we do if there’s a Water Queen?” asked Earland. “Those are B-Rank Demon Beasts. I have never seen one myself, but I’m told they are even more powerful than a Giant Svart.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” I said. “If there is a Water Queen among them, I will fight it.” Earland nodded like he had expected that answer. I turned to Fay, Kari, and Lin. “I would like you three to work together during this time. None of you have experienced live combat like this yet, so it’s best not to overextend yourselves. Watch each other’s backs and attack in tandem. If possible, the three of you should work on a formation where one is defending, one is attacking from close-range, and the other is providing long-range support.”

  “The three of us have actually been discussing doing just that,” Kari admitted. “We were talking about it while shopping for supplies.”

  “Do not worry,” Lin added. “This princess believes she can work well with Big Sister and Fay.”

  “I wonder why you are ‘Big Sister,’ while I’m just Fay,” Fay mumbled at Kari, who merely giggled as if she knew of an inside joke they were unaware of.

  “Um, excuse me?” Dyr suddenly raised her hand, causing everyone to glance at her. “What should I do?”

  I studied the girl who sat uncertainly beside Lin. Did she want to help? Well, even if she did, there was something of a problem with that.

  “You can’t fight, right?” I asked with a small shrug. “In that case, you don’t need to worry about battling alongside us. That said, if you could find a secure place to hide yourself while the battle is happening, that would be ideal. I don’t think the Water Nymphs will attack you since they will be too busy dealing with us, but there’s no sense in being careless.”

  Dyr nodded and accepted my suggestion. We finished our meal, then prepared for bed. The sky was already growing dark. Since I didn’t have a sleeping bag anymore, I leaned against the tree next to the girls.

  Lin and Kari were sharing their sleeping bags. They were actually using them as blankets. One was spread out on the bottom, and the other was thrown over them. Lin’s tail stuck out of one end, and I could see how most of it was wrapped around Kari’s body. Fay had offered to share her sleeping bag with Dyr, who didn’t have a sleeping bag of her own, so the two of them were also sleeping together. All four had nodded off soon after climbing inside of their bags.

  As I sat there, I stared up at the night sky and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

  Chapter 2

  Water Nymph Lake

  I opened my eyes and stared at the latticework of the unfamiliar ceiling. The amount of detail put into the ceiling, which possessed swirling circles and hard angles, was something that, with my currently sluggish brain, I couldn’t help but find astonishing. At the same time, I had to wonder why this ceiling used latticework. I couldn’t say I’d ever seen such a thing.

  Groaning, I made to sit up, but then realized Kari was lying on top of me. Literally half of her warm body was resting against me, which I realized was partly because this bed was so small. Our feet were hanging over the edge. With that in mind, I scooted back and slowly eased myself into a sitting position where I could rest my back against the headboard. Kari mumbled something as she was jostled a bit. Then she settled down.

  While I waited for her to wake up, slowly running my hand over the smooth curve of her hip, I thought about what had happened so far. We had traveled to another world—no, another realm—and met with a group of people called Dweorgs. From them, we had learned that there were nine realms, including ou
r own, and that the Sekbeist currently attacking us had been enemies of these nine worlds thousands of years ago.

  Furthermore, there were nine people known as the Nine Great Overlords. Eight of those Great Overlords had sacrificed their lives to seal away the Sekbeist leader, while the last one had sealed the nine realms from each other, isolating them so the Sekbeist could not easily move their forces across the realms.

  It was a lot to take in.

  Kari woke up as I was trying to absorb what we had learned yesterday, lifting her head off my chest and looking around before her eyes locked onto me.

  “Morning,” she mumbled as she leaned up for a kiss. I didn’t get the chance to greet her before a pair of lips were hampering my own, but I decided that if things were going to be like this, I would just use my tongue to greet her in another way. When she pulled back, cutting the saliva string connecting us, her nose wrinkled. “You smell.”

  “So do you,” I replied.

  “Right. It has been awhile since we’ve been able to bathe, hasn’t it?”

  “It has. We should use that basin over there to clean off.”

  At my suggestion, Kari climbed off me and wandered over to the basin, discarding her clothes with little care as she went. I almost sighed, but it wasn’t like I didn’t understand how she felt. Neither of us liked being dirty.

  I discarded my own clothes, folded them, and set them on the bed before making my way over to the basin of water.

  “It’s empty,” I muttered upon seeing no water in the basin.

  “Yeah…” Kari was also frowning.

  The basin itself was rather intricate, with golden designs like nothing I’d ever seen carved into it. They appeared random at first but flowed together in such an intricate way that I couldn’t help but wonder. It seemed almost wasteful to add such detail into a simple basin.