149 Getting closer(1)

(Author: As always, sorry for the delay, but I think you know the reason by now, now two pieces of news, one bad and one good.

The bad is that the next chapter will also be delayed.

The good is that from the first week of July it will be much freer and I will publish more chapters per week).

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"Supporter Mark this way!"

"I'm coming."

...

"Supporter Mark, help me collect these plants!"

"OK..."

...

"Supporter Mark patrols the area!"

"...Yes..."

...

Within the area called Large Tree Labtynth (19th-24th floors), a boy and a girl moved over the complicated terrain nimbly and with a trace of ease, considering their strength.

The common characteristic of the two was their appearance, which would attract the gaze of any person if they were present, indiscriminately by gender.

The girl moved cheerfully, but in her expression, one could see mischievousness, especially when she peered at the person behind her. The boy, on the other hand, had his eyebrows bent in a V shape and from how many times he had already sighed, one could tell that he was not having the best time of his life.

"Supporter Mark, be careful with the load!"

"...Zoe, be honest. You're finding the situation funny, aren't you?"

"Hmm? What are you referring to?" -Zoe bent her head as if confused.

"You are smiling." -With those words, he passed her.

"Oops."

Touching her cheeks, she noticed that they were raised because of her smile, which would have caused anyone who saw it to flutter; unfortunately, his opponent was Mark.

"In my defense, I say that I cannot help it. Never would I have thought that the famous Mark Tormeto, also known as Lost Prince, the record breaker, would become my supporter." -She said with exaggeration, still struggling not to laugh.

Mark, who was carrying a gigantic backpack on his shoulders, looked at her momentarily, then walked on again.

As she said, Mark was supporting her with the collection of materials she needed to make potions, but in return, she would help him with his training. That was the agreement between them.

"Just say you want revenge for this morning." -He said sarcastically.

"No... maybe just a little bit."

"Haa... anyway, look up."

"Up wha-"

"Shaa!"

Suddenly, a lizardman emerged from one of the tree canopies and swung its claws toward Zoe. The latter did not have enough time to prepare herself, so she rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the attack.

"Wind slash!"

Still crouching, she cast her magic towards the monster, who had intended to continue attacking her after the initial failure, but ended up having its head separated from its body.

"...Couldn't you have warned me earlier?"

"I did it."

"You can be really petty sometimes." -Zoe said with a grimace. She understood that joking with him would end up costing her double.

At her words, Mark lifted his shoulders listlessly, but there was one thing Zoe did not know. From the beginning, Mark had been ready to attack at any time, but he didn't think it was necessary.

Although he could not understand Zoe's aura, he could see how her size could easily compare to those at the beginning of level 3, despite being a level 2. Moreover, during the several hours they had spent searching for resources, he had seen her fight several monsters without too much difficulty.

The relationship between the two had mended after their morning chat, so they had no problem exchanging simple jokes, but because of their stubbornness, they tried to prevail against each other in their little confrontations. Unfortunately for Zoe though, her victories were microscopic compared to Mark's.

After spending several hours exploring, the two returned to the 18th floor to rest and have something to eat, as it would later be Zoe's turn to fulfill her part of the deal.

"Should we go to Bors' tavern? The food there wasn't bad." -Advised Zoe.

"To me, it is indifferent."

With corruption still stuck at 22%, it made no difference to Mark what he ate since anything would disgust him.

Seeing that Mark seemed to have no problem with her proposal, the two walked towards the inn they had used for a whole week during the War Game event.

The two quickly arrived at their destination. As with the various buildings scattered around the village on the 18th floor, the tavern seemed to have been constructed from various types of materials in a fairly crude manner, giving it a rustic feel.

When they entered, everyone's attention was focused on them. Besides the fact that their appearance always attracted the attention of others, they were famous figures, especially in recent months.

Leaving aside Mark and his various records, Zoe was also quite a famous figure. It may have been quite some time since the War Game, but the scene of Zoe pulverizing a group of monsters of a higher level than her own was still stamped in the minds of everyone who had seen it.

Ignoring the whispering and curious looks of people, to which the two were now accustomed, they sat down at a table set slightly aside and waited for someone to come and serve them.

"Hoho, but look what we have here, the magic couple returns to my humble tavern."

Bors arrived to greet them, but from his stupid smile and the way he looked at them, he seemed to imply that there was some special relationship between the two, considering that he had seen them together several times before.

"Just to let you know, but whatever you're imagining is wrong." -Zoe said hastily.

"Yhea, yhea, I understand everything." -Bors nodded his head as if taking Zoe's words seriously, when in fact he was ready to gossip as soon as they were gone.

"Bors."

Hearing the calm voice, he turned stiffly towards Mark, and as soon as he laid his gaze on his eyes, he got goosebumps, but it was not the first time he had felt something similar.

Whenever he had to deal with him, his instincts told him not to do anything stupid because something human seemed to be missing in those grey, cold, and motionless eyes.

"I-I was only joking, what do the guests want." -Having a bad feeling, he immediately became courteous and took their orders, before walking away as quickly as possible.

"Seriously, you have to teach me how to do it." -Zoe said admiringly.

"But I didn't do anything..."

He intended to say something, but before he could, Bors had a complete change of heart, not that he minded of course.

"Really? Don't you realize that when you talk to others, especially when you're upset, you look at them with those dead fish eyes. Like this."

Zoe tried to imitate Mark's expression by strangely moving her facial muscles. But other than being scary, in Mark's eyes, it looked as if she was someone who was about to sneeze but was unable to.

"Ptf."

In the end, he couldn't stop himself from letting out a little laugh at how hard Zoe seemed to be trying to imitate him, even though she didn't seem to be succeeding at all.

"...It should scare you, not make you laugh." -She said with a pout.

"Then I regret to inform you that you have failed miserably." -Mark was brutally honest, albeit at a cost.

"I remind you that based on what you asked me to do, you will be mainly at the mercy of my magic afterward."

Seeing Zoe's little red lips upturned, some people in the tavern were unable to look away. But for Mark, who had heard the words coming out of those little lips, it was no different from a death sentence, so he raised his hands in surrender, making Zoe cheer even more.

When the plates arrived, the two began to eat and discuss what they were going to do next, but seeing the strange expression Mark had every time he ate, Zoe struggled to keep a straight face, teasing him about having an overly sophisticated palate, which Mark made no effort to answer.

After the two of them had finished eating and paid for their lunch, they walked to the same place where Mark had helped Zoe train her magic, being an out-of-the-way place where they would not attract the attention of others.

"I'll ask again just to confirm, but are you sure you want to do this?" -Zoe asked with a note of concern.

"I'm sure."

Seeing that Mark was not going to change his mind, Zoe sighed and began to check the contents of the backpack, which Mark had been carrying up to that point, and pulled out a strange root.

"This here is a root of a plant that is often used in alchemy to amplify the effects of potions, but toxic when consumed as it is."

"The effects?" -Mark asked as he took the root.

"For normal people, it is very toxic and without treatment, it can be almost fatal. Whereas for you who are both a level 3 and have 'abnormal resistance', the effects will be much less and you shouldn't even need a cure. Once taken it will take a while before you start to feel the effects, which should be weakness, headaches, nausea, and the similar, but nothing serious."

"I see..." -Hearing Zoe's words, Mark continued to look at the plant with a frown.

Seeing him still standing there with the plant in his hand, Zoe understood Mark's indecision and caution, which was why her expression became serious as she turned to him.

"Mark, I understand your doubts, after all, even if weak what you have in your hand is still poison and the only information you have is what I told you, but believe me when I tell you that I would never, ever do anything to hurt you." -She told him, not taking her eyes off him.

"As an alchemist, I have pride in my work and if I wasn't 100 percent sure that plant wasn't harmful to you, I would never have given it to you. Besides, in the hypothetical case, there is a reaction from your body, I already have an antidote ready. So even if it is difficult, I ask you to trust me."

[She does not lie, that plant is very unlikely to have a heavy effect on you].

Hearing the Guide's words, he felt more confident, but strangely he didn't think he really needed them. Part of him knew that Zoe had no reason to hurt him, but the other part of him just couldn't bring himself to doubt her, which was quite strange when he thought about it.

It had taken him a long time to even keep his back exposed to the members of the Loki Familia, but with her, he always felt... calm. It was very similar to what he felt with Tiona, that with her cheerfulness and freedom, he couldn't be on his guard against her, but with Zoe, it was so natural that it left him surprised.

Her attitude, her naturalness, that hint of innocence and seriousness that those heterochromatic eyes managed to convey, gave him every reason not to doubt her, even though he could not read her aura.

"Good, I will trust."

Without hesitation, he chewed the root and swallowed it.

Seeing it, Zoe's eyes lit up and her pulse increased slightly. It was a big step in their relationship of trust and if this relationship had grown a little more, Zoe would have had no problem telling her story to Mark.

"Since the effects will take a while, let's move on to the second part. You will have to cast various elemental magics on me, mainly fire, ice, and electricity, while I will have to resist the effects as long as possible. Obviously, limit the power as much as possible in the beginning." -Mark especially emphasized the final part.

"And here I thought you could start right away with Fire Blast." -Zoe said with a note of regret.

"I doubt you would want to do that since you would have to waste time collecting my ashes afterward... on second thought, I doubt there would even be any ashes left."

Mark knew that Zoe was joking, but when he thought about it carefully, he had to admit that he had taught her some very destructive magic. Because of the corruption, he could not feel fear, but he was also not so stupid as to believe he could receive such magic and stay alive.

Shaking his head from strange thoughts, he moved a few meters away from her.

"Tell me when you are ready."

"Yes, one second."

After pulling away, Mark began to undo the armor on his upper body, causing Zoe confusion.

"Why are you taking off your armor?"

"Because I don't want to damage it, same with the shirt. I don't want to go back up and look like a beggar."

"Rightly... wait, the shirt too?"

By the time she understood his words, it was too late and what she saw was a half-naked Mark.

Back a few years earlier, when her teacher Al was teaching her, she also learned from him about the biology of people. Things like organs, bones, and the differences between men and women were saved in her memory, and under Al's tutelage, she had seen different bodies of people coming in for treatment. She had seen different ones, man to woman, old to young, fat to thin, but Mark's body was a realm apart.

As she looked at him, she could not help but marvel at the perfection of his form. His broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist, accentuated by a chiseled six-pack and sculpted pecs. Each muscle was defined, but not overly bulky, yet unable to hide the strength contained within them.

Had it been a few days earlier, Zoe might have seen an ugly scar on Mark's right chest, but after Arimid treatment, his skin had returned shiny and smooth, making her believe she was in front of a sculpture made by a master.

"Do you like what you see?"

"Yhea..."

She unconsciously answered the question, but when she realized what she had said, she immediately panicked.

"W-Wait! I said yes involuntarily! Well, you indeed have a good body, no wait, not that! What I mean... what I mean is that I can see you work out a lot..."

She had tried wildly to explain herself, but seeing that it was getting worse, she took a deep breath and replied as if the scene from before had never happened. Unfortunately, the shade of red extending from her ears to her neck betrayed her.

"Don't worry. Sometimes, even I am surprised."

Mark was honest. There were times he spent several minutes in the mirror admiring his body more and more, wondering if he possessed divine genes or if the remodeling done by 'god' had anything to do with it.

"...Then can you put your shirt back on?" -She almost seemed to beg him.

"It is useless. It would be destroyed in no time. See the bright side though, the underside is covered by the armor, so there's no problem." -Said Mark, trying to cheer her up.

Zoe did not know whether to laugh or cry at his words, seeing how little tact he had for the situation.

'The next few days will be dangerous for my little heart.'

Considering that they would have to repeat something similar for several days, Zoe feared for her sanity.