23 Memories

Silence spread throughout Jayce's living space as Jayce cooked dinner for him and Yuko. He knew she could probably cook better than him but decided it might be better for the both of them if he did it.

After pouring the alfredo sauce over the pasta and adding some parsley, Jayce took the two plates over to the dining table where Yuko was seated.

She had her head down as Jayce put her plate down next to her. Jayce took a seat on the other side of the table and began enjoying his dinner.

Picking up the fork, Yuko took a small bite of the pasta.

'It's good.' She thought as tears flowed out from her eyes.

Yuko began eating the pasta while crying; Jayce didn't move from his chair as he kept eating.

As Yuko took the last bite, she thought that the tears would stop along with it. But the tears kept leaking through her eyes as she tried desperately to wipe them away.

Seeing that she finished her food, Jayce stood up and walked behind her. He wrapped his arms around her while simultaneously pushing his face closer to hers.

"I'm not going anywhere," Jayce whispered in her ear.

Memories flooded into Jayce's head as he said those words. When he started taking part-time jobs, he would often work late and would arrive back at their home in the middle of the night.

Sometimes he would arrive to see Alice crying in the corner of her room, with thoughts that he had abandoned her as their parents did.

Jayce would always do the same thing to calm her down, hug her, and tell her he was not going anywhere until she cried herself to sleep.

For some reason, it felt like the natural thing to do even though he only has known Yuko for a week.

Yuko jumped out of her seat and into Jayce's arms, the feelings she was trying to hold back flooded out like a tsunami.

"I was scared! Scared that you wouldn't make it back!" Yuko said while bawling her eyes out against his chest.

Unlike many students, she knew Jayce had no mana as she was the one who tested his mana capacity.

It was unheard of for a magician to lose to a normal human, so when she heard about the duel she wanted to stop it before it was too late.

"I have no plans on dying just yet," Jayce responded while petting her head.

Yuko didn't know why but she had grown attached to Jayce over the past several days.

Maybe it was that he didn't look at her with lust or malicious intent or that he was always pushing himself to get stronger even if it hurt him.

The more she got to know him, she could see that Jayce was a kind person hidden behind a wall of sorrow and pain, or so she thought.

A few minutes later, Yuko fell asleep in Jayce's embrace. Picking her up, Jayce took her to his bedroom and laid her once again in his bed. Jayce quietly closed the door to not wake her up, but as he did a single tear fell down his face.

Quickly wiping the tear away, Jayce went to clean the dining room and kitchen. After finishing the cleaning, Jayce lay down on the couch as he slowly closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

Opening his eyes, Jayce was no longer in his living room but standing in a wasteland with large pillars spewing out fire.

The sky was completely covered in gray clouds that struck red lighting.

The earth began to shake violently as the cracks on the withered ground spread apart.

A large humanoid figure that was at least 10ft (3 m) and red with black lines flowing from his limbs towards his bare chest. Its long black hair matched its dark horns that stuck out from each side of its forehead.

Step by step, the creature made its way over to where Jayce was standing. When he first saw the creature, his instincts told him to run or he would die. But as much as he wanted to, Jayce couldn't move.

The creature leaned down so that it and Jayce were face to face as it stared into Jayce's soul with its crimson eyes. That was until his vision started falling toward the ground.

'Huh?'

Jayce's head was cut off in an instant, without any sort of warning. Even with {Combat Clairvoyance} the creature moved too fast for him to see it.

Feeling that death was imminent, Jayce closed his eyes as the creature spoke.

"You are weak even though you are my descendant, disappointing." It said in a husky voice.

Jayce shot up from the couch and he grabbed his neck with his hand. Looking around he was now back inside his living room.

'Was that a dream? No, it felt too real.' Jayce thought as he rubbed his throat.

Although it was only for an instant, he remembered the pain of his head being severed from his body.

"Sleepyhead, breakfast is ready."

Turning around, Jayce saw Yuko wearing an apron with some dough on her face. He was wondering why she was here then remembered what happened last night.

Before he could reply, suddenly a notification appeared in front of him.

[Quest Received]

[Evolve!]