A couple of weeks have passed since I met the Gilbinga family. I'm currently training with Artemis, our blades colliding against one another as our bodies spin on the open plateau. We clash again and again, repeatedly pushing each other back just to run at each other again for our blades to meet once more. I see an opening and trip Artemis, making her fall to the ground. "This is my chance!"
I go in to press my blade against her neck, but she pulls me down against her. Her arms are wrapped around my neck and her legs around my waist. My entire body glows red, the faint pink in Artemis' cheeks combined with the look on her face and the way she pants does not help. "A-Arte-" I shiver as I feel her blades against the back of my neck.
"And now you're dead." Artemis winks.
"W-Wha?!" I'm absolutely shocked by this sudden development.
"Don't be surprised if a woman suddenly uses her allure to win a fight." She smiles playfully.
"T-That's cheating and you know it!" I grumble, my hands at either side of her head.
"I could say the same to you, Riku. Are you going to move? If you don't, I might get hot and bothered for real..." She twirls a piece of her hair around her finger, averting her eyes and smiling as she blushes.
My own blush deepens and I quickly roll off of her. "S-Sorry!" She too rolls over, on top of me that is, and holds her blade against my neck. "And that's two for one." Artemis winks once again.
"Y-You..." I can't think of anything to say, so I simply grumble at her.
Artemis laughs in response and helps me stand up. "Don't pout like that silly. You're getting a lot better at standing your ground. In fact, I want you to take those blades and go on another mission today. If you see Bee there, take her along too alright?"
"Are you not coming this time?" I frown a little bit, making sure that Artemis can't see it to avoid the embarrassment that would follow.
"I have something important to do today, so I can't." She rubs my head. "I expect good news from you tomorrow though, alright? Don't let me down."
"I won't. Who do you think you're talking to?" I smile confidently.
"A boy who doesn't like to be treated like a kid yet is slowly getting used to my head rubs?" She smiles playfully and I blush, swatting her hand away quickly. Artemis laughs once against and grabs my hand, leaving two energy tablets in my palm. "Come back safely alright?"
I nod slowly, giving her a confident smile. "I won't let you down, don't worry."
Next thing I know, I'm in the Adventurer's Guild. And who is the first person I run into, but a certain dark chocolate skinned bee. "Hey! I was just about to go looking for you! You should help me with this quest!"
"Funny, I was just gonna look for you to see if you wanted to do a quest too." I chuckle. "What's the quest?"
"Great minds think alike." She grins and grabs my hand, pulling me over to the board and pointing at a C ranked quest. "It's this one. I know it sounds tough, but it's only one monster, and even without your teacher, I think we can do it. Fighting that bee woman combined with her army of mutants was at least a B rank considering there were only three of us."
"Hmmmm..." I read the quest over, and sure enough, it doesn't seem too bad. Defeat the monster in the caves so the miners can mine the ores and materials in the cave. The reward is 750 credits, but it says we'll get even more if we bring back the monster's corpse and some of the ore around its nest. "Sure enough, it sounds easy, but for it to be C rank, it must be a pretty powerful monster..."
"Yeah, it probably is, but I know we can do it! And just think of how high the reward will be if we can get those bonuses! Besides, since there's no +, C rank quests only require two experienced heroes! Come on Riku, the two of us can do this for sure! I've even gotten a little bit stronger since the last time we met." She puts her fists on her hips and struts out her chest, grinning with confidence. "What do you say?!"
"Hm... I guess I can't say no to that." I chuckle a bit and nod. "Alright then, let's go kick this monster's butt." I smile in return.
"Hell yeah!" She wraps her arm around my neck as a form of hug, and in the next few minutes, we're off to the cave.
YOU ARE READING
Cross Worlds
FantasyRiku Fumiya, a 17 year old boy in high school. He's a loner, a geek, and somewhat of an otaku, and is bullied in school for it, just as any other kid with similar traits in high school would be. Originally, he didn't mind it because he always had vi...
