Adventuring life.

The sun was at its peak, casting its warmth over the forest and the plants. The serene scenery was suddenly disrupted.

A clash erupted, sending sparks of fire and shockwaves through the area, destroying everything in its path. The continuous clashes rang out as glimpses of two figures barely visible amidst the chaos.

One wielded a spear, tall and stoic, clashing with a sword emitting intense flames. Their eyes met - captivating black against cold blue. A smile bloomed on the woman's face as she parried another attack, then slashed her sword horizontally, aiming for her opponent's head. He leaned back, countering with an upward spear thrust, which she casually blocked with her sword before parrying it off.

While it seems they intended to kill each other based on their intense fighting, they were not actually aiming to do so.

As they jumped back simultaneously, putting a fair distance between each other, the man praised her, "You're far too experienced. While I do have the power to hold my own against you for as long as you can fight, I don't think I can win as I am now."

"Hm, that's right. While you do have power comparable to mine, even though it's only been a month or so since we met, so don't sell yourself short." The woman smiled at him, and they both lowered their weapons simultaneously, their respect for each other growing once again after their usual sparring.

"I'm nowhere near you if you've held a bow instead." She smiled brightly. Honestly, Karna couldn't understand why she was so happy about it, since this means he is stronger than her. While he does understand the feeling of juniors surpassing their seniors, that wasn't the case here, as it was about strength.

He could tell from the first glance that this woman was kind, too kind to harbor any hatred in her mind or soul. He glanced at the ground while clenching his hand. He didn't want to admit it, but he could see his mother's demeanor in this woman.

'Only a month, and I'm already as strong as her. The Unique Skill, [Divine One] must be the cause. While she can hone her experience by battling me, that's not the case for myself. I actually grow stronger the more I fight,' he thought with a small frown. His spear faded away into his spatial storage as he walked towards her, and she smiled.

'I don't have any problems with growing stronger. It's just that I won't be able to enjoy fighting her if I keep getting stronger while she hits her limit. This is truly a dilemma.' His frown suddenly vanished as a hand was placed on top of his head, and his companion patted him.

"I can tell that you have something bothering you. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but know that I'll be here for you, always." Hearing her words brought out a smile from him as he nodded.

★Tensura : Karna ★

The orange warm color of the sky indicated the slow setting of the sun. Walking down the road, they navigated through the crowds while discussing their next move.

"So, do you even know where we can get a map to this dwelling of the spirits? Honestly, I don't understand why you're so insistent on going there," the feminine voice came from the masked female, her white cape fluttering as she walked beside her companion, Karna.

"I mean, it does sound intriguing, doesn't it? I believe there could be something interesting there. After all, we did hear about the place from an elf," Karna replied.

Apparently, his reasoning wasn't enough to convince the woman as she sighed. Suddenly, Karna gained a goofy smile on his face as he thought of something that could get her to go with him without any resistance.

"I'll treat you to the Gordon steak that you wanted." A wide smile spread across his face as he saw her stop in her tracks. He turned to face her as she practically squealed.

"Really!?" His smile didn't leave him as he nodded, dramatically placing his right hand on his left chest, on top of his heart, and bowed slightly.

"As per your will, Princess Shizue~," he purposefully elongated the end of his words as he looked at her with a sly, teasing smile. He had spent only one month with the hero, but he had already noted down her weaknesses in his mind.

He couldn't see her face, but he truly wished to see it, as he could tell that her blushing face would look cute as hell! In his previous life, he didn't have any attraction to either gender; his sole attention was on that gold medal in the Asian Games, which he couldn't get due to the crash.

But now that he didn't have any burden other than getting stronger, he found out that he was as straight as an arrow and found Shizu unbelievably beautiful, which was also one of the factors that made him want to tease her. She was simply too cute when flustered.

"Well then! What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" She said excitedly, before suddenly stopping. It seemed that in her excitement, she had forgotten about the map. Karna deadpanned before she coughed, trying to mask her embarrassment.

"We should ask the elf for help; she might assist us if we offer her a few gold coins," Shizue said, her voice now serious, as they began walking once more.

"Yeah, but speaking of gold coins, we only have seven of them, and with the work we've done for the past month, I think this is a bit low," Karna said as he held up a pouch containing the money.

"Gold coins are very valuable after all; it's not that common for adventurers to have them. Mostly nobles and rulers keep them," Shizue explained, opening his mind to his misconceptions.

"So, is it because we aren't allowed to keep them or something?" Karna asked with a questioning look on his face.

"Nope, it's just that the Mutual-Aid Association won't give rewards in gold coins. We got them because we worked for kingdoms, that's all," Shizue clarified.

"I see, so we might just be able to convince that Elf with two or three. Well, let's go!" Karna exclaimed, running off as he grabbed her hand, dragging her with him.

'This will be an energetic adventure,' Shizue thought with a smile under the mask, allowing herself to be dragged.

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Fuck runny noses! I'm pissed as hell...got sick yesterday and fuck! It's irritating as hell..