Chapter 20: A familiar

Kanae took a step forward, till they were just one step apart.

"Then, in this last moment, I wish to give you company." Kanae said, giving a close-eyed smile.

The doppelganger creased her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I'll accompany you in dying. Even if it might not be real for me, take it as my parting gift." Kanae answered and plunged the knife first into the doppelganger's heart and then into hers.

Almost instantly, both fell to the ground.

Their clothes were wet with blood, breathing heavily.

Gasping, Kanae said," I would have given you my place. But I'm afraid, you would have reached the same fate. You're too kind, too naive and too fragile. And that world is too cruel."

A tear dropped from the doppelganger's eye as she replied, "Doesn't that make me a human?"

And then she was gone.

—

Kanae's eyes opened.

She was in another new place.

"What's with all these new places?" She grumbled, annoyed. She was already stuck in a life-death situation back in the real world, and here, she was being transported everywhere like a package.

"For god's sake, people! Give me a damn break already! Be it help, powers or anything! Just give it." She screamed out loud. "I ain't got the whole day to deal with you all!"

On top of the room, a lady dressed in a beautiful yukata, laughed lightly. "She's an interesting one. Let's give her what she deserves, and put her to rest."

The man beside her grunted, "Not easy. She's different. Killed herself along with her reflection."

"True...Hmm,leave it to me." The lady answered.

Startled, the man replied "Wh-what?", and looked at the woman, but in her place were floating cherry blossoms. She had vanished out of sight, leaving only those fragrant pink cherry blossoms.

The man could only sigh. This woman became more of a pain to deal with every passing day. Alas, he couldn't do anything about it.

Back in the room, silver light flooded in along with beams of coloured light. Kanae cringed, but soon her eyes adjusted to the brightness and her gaze fell on a lady at the centre of the beams.

Excited to finally see a living being, she got up. "Hi there, Miss beautiful! Mind lending me some help?"

"What help?" The gorgeous woman asked, amused.

"Can you make me immortal?"

"No."

"Can you give me powers?"

"No."

"Can you give me insight on how to defeat a level 145 Dungeon Boss?"

"No."

"Goddammit! Even the market has more options available than this! Couldn't you have put atleast one option open? The customer needs to buy something… Now what am I supposed to do in that horrible forest?! " Kanae blabbered, mentally banging her head on the wall.

The woman let out a tinkling laugh.

"I can't give you powers, knowledge or immortality. But I can give you a weapon." She smiled, flashing her pearly whites.

Kanae immediately straightened up. "What kind of weapon?" Her tone turned serious.

"You'll find out soon." She smirked, and a wrapped weapon appeared in her hands.

Kanae blinked. She had just seen the woman summon a thing from nowhere. It felt like she was acting out a part of a fantasy manga. She didn't even feel surprised anymore, and that was what she was shocked about.

Ignoring the pain in her body, she walked upto the woman, and snatched the weapon from her hands. With a twist, she removed the cloth wrapped around it and a beautiful weapon revealed itself.

With black metal and shiny edges, it was breathtaking. A stripe of orange ran at the centre of the blade. As soon as Kanae touched it, the orange stripe glowed. The weapon looked simple, just like a sword. But it was different.

Strange marks were carved on the blade, in a language that Kanae had never learned. When the orange stripe glowed, the characters drawn on it started glowing with it.

Kanae's hands wrapped around the handle.

She already felt comfortable with it. A warm feeling gushed through her, blocking all the cold air in the room. A huge gust of air surrounded Kanae, whose blonde hair crackled with fire.

A bundle of red rays formed a spiral and made Kanae its centre.

An insane amount of mana surged through Kanae. She felt full, to the point that her muscles ached dully, but this feeling made her more alive than before.

"What's this?" She gasped. The feeling of pleasure was at a whole different level here.

The woman gave an impish smile, "I knew it."

Kanae gave a questioning look.

"This is your familiar."

"Huh? I thought familiars were supposed to be half beasts." Kanae commented.

"What do you mean?" The woman narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing, just something I read from a fairy tale. Tell me more about this familiar of mine." She said, running a hand on her gorgeous weapon lovingly.

"Your familiar doesn't have a name. You can name it. It's a mystery, just like you are. That's all I have to say. Rest all lies on you to find out." With an elegant wave, she disappeared, once again leaving pink, fluttering cherry blossoms in her place.

One of the cherry blossoms got stuck on Kanae's nose and she sneezed.

"Irritating woman, and her irritating cherry blossoms. Would it have hurt her to tell me more?" Another grumbling round started as she swirled around her new sword. "First a zombie, then my reflection and now, an irritating woman. What next? A Panda? Not that I would mind, Pandas are cute."

"Ah, why am I not back yet…"

[You have to name me.]

A hoarse voice sounded in her mind. Startled, Kanae almost dropped her weapon.

"Holy… You scared me."

"Name… What should I name you?"

"Well, since you're supposed to be my familiar, the closest to me and my soul. I name you, my familiar, Hemisu. For you are my other half."

[Hemisu greets you.]

Kanae couldn't help but giggle. She really loved Hemisu already. Not only was he OP, he even had a hot voice! What more did a girl need?

After having named him, Kanae's body started to shine. Slowly, she started to disintegrate and not long after, she was back to the real world.