55 That's a lot of Forest

"I'm still alive but barely moving." Alex thought idly to himself as his mouth refused to open for him. "Scratch that, I can't move at all."

Right now, Alex found himself back at the post-paralysis state which followed the aftermath of his use of the Star-Crusted Dagger.

Just like what happened before, Alex's body was once again paralyzed, and he was sure that even Alina was also paralyzed too.

Not only that, but he could also barely use his Esper Power too, which should be the same case for Alina.

Maybe this was the effect of using the Star-Crusted Dagger while having a Power Synthesis with Alina.

Speaking of Alina…

"Oh s**t, Alina just witnessed her sister sacrificing herself earlier! Instead of lying down here like a lazy kid watching YourTube, I should be comforting her now!"

But to Alex's chagrin, he had no way to comfort Alina, as he was unable to move at all.

And this state of his will stay this way for 12 more hours.

"...….."

Since he knew that moving won't do any good, Alex decided to scout his surroundings with his limited vision.

Alex used his eyeballs to look around him, and he realized that he and Alina were inside a forest.

Alex could somewhat see numerous amount of trees around him and Alina, with the trees towering so high that sunlight could barely trickle in.

Alex could also smell the decayed leaves, musky trunks, and moldy air, indicating that he and Alina were really inside a forest.

Seeing himself in a place like this should make Alex happy right now, but he was not, since his current state was not that good.

"… I really hate the Endless Monarch." Alex thought to himself as he remembered what happened earlier.

***************

3 minutes earlier.

After Elizabeth has explained to Alina her plan to die, she teleported Alina, Alex, Ricardo, Lord Gallius, and his master Clint away from their location.

The next thing that Alex knew was that he's back at Clint's house with the others.

At this point, Alex was already paralyzed along with Alina, so they were unable to voice out any words that they wanted to say.

"Oh no! What the hell happened here! Clive, get the medicine kit! Your father and this smug-looking guy needs some first aid!"

"Roger mom!"

Alex could clearly hear countless worried voices, which obviously came from Clint's family. They sounded a little shaken with what they saw, but Alex could feel that they were strong enough to  

stomach the current scenario.

At the corner of his eyes, Alex could see Natasha, Natalia, and Clive doing their best to attend to Clint and Lord Gallius. Ricardo, who still looked slightly dazed from what happened, stood beside Natalia as he helped them.

As for Alex and Alina, they seemed to have been ignored first as they looked fine.

"...."

At that time, Alex thought that he and Alina will have to spend 12 hours inside Clint's house before he and Alina sets out to the new world.

But after just 3 minutes of waiting, Alex suddenly saw that his own body was covered by a glow which looked suspicious to him.

"Don't tell me…"

Alex strained the rotation of his eyeballs in order to look at Alina beside him.

"No f**king way." To his utter surprise, Alex saw that Alina was also covered by the same glow as him.

Aside from Alex, every other conscious occupant in the room saw what was happening, and their shouts of panic confirmed that they were also worried about the glow covering Alex and Alina.

"....."

It did not take Alex that long to realize what was about to happen next.

"What the hell? Why are both of us leaving now?" Alex thought to himself furiously as he managed to glare at Asteria, who was floating just right above him. "Isn't this too fast?"

Because Alex was paralyzed, he was not able to voice out any of his resentments to Asteria.

However, Asteria seems to have realized what Alex was thinking of, as she looked at Alex and Alina while saying,

"Main Mission Completed. Bonus Mission Completed. Mission Grade: S." Asteria's cheeky grin did not leave her face as she continued on talking.

"With the Traveler Alex and his Companion Alina completing the mission in this world, the Endless Monarch had deemed that Traveler Alex and his Companion Alina will now be heading to their next world." The glow intensified after the small fairy said these words.

"Hehehe, isn't this fun?" Asteria said as she saw the hidden distress on Alex's and Alina's faces. "We will be on our trip now to the next world! It's time to see new sights and find new babes! Oops, forget the last line, making a harem will only depend on the Traveler's desires…"

Alex tried to ignore Asteria's raucous laughter as he felt his body being brought away by the same power that brought him into this world.

At the corner of his eyes, Alex could see Alina being brought away too.

As for Asteria, she still looked the same, although Alex could feel that Asteria will just ride along with them.

"Let's go now!" Asteria shamelessly said as she rode Alex like a broom.

"To eternity and beyond!"

Alex tried not to cringe after hearing this.

Fortunately for him, his paralyzed body was able to hide his cringe.

****************

Back to the present time.

While Alex was busy on cursing the Endless Monarch, he could see Asteria playing with Alina's body.

Of course, not that kind of 'play'.

What Alex could see was Asteria using Alina's body as a sort of mini-playground.

There's nothing dirty with this, as Asteria mainly focused on Alina's arms and legs.

Alex could see Asteria jumping up and down on Alina's arms and legs like a silky and fragrant trampoline. Aside from this, Asteria also occasionally tickled the paralyzed Alina.

Well, Alex was slightly incensed that Asteria was out there touching Alina's leg, but Alex could take it, as he saw that what Asteria was doing seems to be helping Alina out.

In Alex's opinion, Asteria was doing her best to act like a cute pet comforting her owner Alina.

It seems to be working as the sad pallor on Alina's face was slowly disappearing, with it being replaced by a healthy glow.

Hell, if Alina could move right now, she will be surely smiling.

"But even if Asteria managed to cheer Alina up a little, it will still be inevitable for Alina to be extremely lonely." Alex thought to himself as guilt stabbed his heart once more.

"F**k, I cannot just let Alina stay this sad!" Alex angrily thought to himself as he tried to think of ways to cheer Alina up.

"Well, I can cook her some good food later once we are able to move…" Alex inwardly nodded in this idea, as he knew that Alina loves eating delicious foods. This could be enough to cheer her up more.

"But since I am paralyzed, I still have to wait for half a day before I can cook something." Alex thought to himself as he imagined the dishes that he can cook later.

"Awoo!!!"

Alex's musings however were broken as he heard this ghastly howl echoing around him.

"Oh no, how could I have forgotten about this?" Alex's pupils narrowed in fear as he just remembered something important.

Because of his paralysis, Alex will be unable to defend himself from anything that will attack him within 12 hours! Alina will be also defenseless because of her paralysis.

This means that Alex and Alina will be easily killed right now by anything that will try to kill them!

As for Asteria, Alex already knew that this fairy won't be able to do s**t in close combat. She's better for infiltration and information gathering.

"Oh no, will we be just another food chow here in this new world?" Alex thought with a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Come on, we just arrived here in the new world, and we are already in danger?"

Alex tried his best to move, but the best that he can do was nothing. Only slight groans came out of his mouth, signifying his futile effort to move.

"F**k!!!" Alex was about to hyperventilate in fear when suddenly, Asteria's soothing voice washed over him.

"Don't worry Alex, this place where all three of us landed in is entirely safe. "Asteria said as Alex and even Alina felt their eyelids starting to close.

"Nobody will be able to attack you two in this place, so you two should not be worried. So, instead of being like this, I guess you two should take a sleep first. After all, you two need some rest too, with all the crazy stuff that you did."

"Ngrh…" Alex tried his best to say something, which also failed miserably.

"Tsk, I don't understand what you are saying, but I can see what you want to do." Asteria muttered as she flitted towards Alex's left hand.

Asteria placed her hands under Alex's left hand as if she was holding a weight, and after a few seconds of waiting, Asteria flew up, lifting Alex's hand high up in the air.

"Ugh, why is your hand so heavy!" Asteria complained as she started to pant. "F**k Alex, you owe me 10 jars of honey after this!"

Alex was not sure what Asteria did to his left hand, but 10 seconds later, he felt his left hand slowly descending until it touched something warm.

Alex started to feel an electric tingle crossing his body, as if what he just touched greatly stimulated him.

"Yosh, 'Operation Holding Hands' is a success!" Asteria said as she flew back above Alex's face. "Hehehe Alex, how do you like that? You and Alina are holding hands now! Aren't I a good wingman?"

"Wingman your ass!" Alex thought to himself as he failed to hide his blush.

He could feel Alina's silky fingers intertwined with his, and Alex could not help but feel excited with this minimum skin contact.

"Aww…" Asteria let out a satisfied mewl as if she saw something that satisfied her. "Both of you are blushing like tomatoes right now! Are you two this innocent? Tsk, and I thought Alex will be a lady-killer…"

"Shut your mouth, old hag." Alex thought sourly to himself as he felt his drowsiness overcoming him.

"Asteria, I swear that I will make you pay for all of this later…" Alex swore to himself as his vision was covered by darkness.

"So sleepy…"

But before Alex could sink to his sleepyland, he tried to reaffirm the sensation of his hands touching with Alina's.

It felt warm and good, something that Alex looked forward to feel later once he wakes up.