A Stroll Around the World

7. A Missing Summoned

[MILDLY FOUL LANGUAGE WARNING]

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Vallika felt her knife slice through yet another monster. Its long scaly hides had protected it from any harm to its life to this point, defending it against the sharpest of blades, until today.

 Her black metal knife was perfect for the job- it went through the body like butter. Sometimes even she was scared of how easy it was for her to take a life. Slice, hide, and repeat- that was her life.

She wondered how high her stats would be- around level 34, she was a relatively skilled warrior.

"Alright! Everyone take a step back!" Sejin called out. Vallika automatically hid among the crowd away from him. It wasn't the first time he had seen Sejin's ultimate attack, but it still looked as awesome as it did three months ago. Bright, beautiful spheres of light hit the boss monster and devoured the last pitiful bits of his HP. It was so bright it was blinding. Vallika closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she discovered the monster had disappeared into nothing but processed raw materials, neatly strewn onto the floor. She sighed.

His skills were so flashy and radiated his confidence from his very bones. She wanted a skill like that too. She also wanted a cool skill that could utterly destroy bosses and process materials with a single touch.

"Good job, my Hero!" the Priestess's voice rang out from the crowd. She hugged him.

They were a perfect couple. A beautiful princess with her handsome hero. Sejin smiled in response, his blonde hair dancing in the wind of his victory.

Vallika sighed again. She wanted someone like that.

"You done?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. Vallika forcefully relaxed her stiff shoulders and arm muscles. The annoyance was here.

"Of course I'm done. You okay?" She asked him.

"Great!" he smiled brightly. "Did you see that combo move? So awesome. As expected of Sejin!"

Vallika just nodded. Her friend could go a bit over the top when they talked about the Hero.

"And I'm training under him. I'm training under him! He's so nice. Princess Louise hates the idea- they even fought about it- she opposed him 'cuz she thinks we're wasting his time, and you know what he said?"

Vallika opened her mouth to answer, but Hangil snatched it right away from her.

"He said we are also powerful warriors! And that he can trust us!" He said dreamily. "Isn't that just so cool?"

Vallika laughed, looking at his face. "Knock it off." she said, pushing his face away. "You sound like you're a love-struck maiden. Does he know you have a crush on him?"

"A crush?" Hangil sounded offended. "I don't have a crush. It's more like respect, you know? He's powerful. He's our only way to get back to Earth. Only he can defeat the demon lord.

"Besides, the only person I have a crush on is-"

Vallika's grin faded away, almost as if it wasn't there in the first place. 

"Stop it with the bullshit." She scowled. "This isn't the first time you confessed, and my reply is the same as ever: no."

"Aw..." Hangil whined. "You won't even consi-"

"No."

Hangil shrugged. "Honestly, I can't say I didn't expect this."

"I know I might look like a pushover, and I might be bouncy and I might look easy, but I'm harder than I look."