79 Chapter 79: Undercurrents

"What the hell…"

I felt my frantic heartbeat. I swiftly checked the thing under my blanket. I am familiar with morning wood, but there is an additional sticky something to it. Coupled with my dream moments ago, I knew what it was.

I…

…

'Shit..?!'

Blood rushed to my head. I found myself in a hyperactive state. The remnant feelings from that… dream feel complex. I wanted to commit a harakiri for dreaming of something like that, but I couldn't deny I felt complicated about it.

"It must be… yeah. Hormonal shifts."

I… no, everyone around considered me to be older than I actually am. Even I sometimes forget I am only a twelve-year-old. A kid's body could act weirdly at this age range.

With sufficient materials, it is unsurprising to see this happen.

I am talking about that river incident… and our kiss from last night. It ended well after that. We didn't feel awkward with each other. Only, I felt Lante's gaze when I accompanied Artemis to their familia home.

I had noticed her behavior long ago. I don't know what she'll do after seeing us together.

Anyways…

"Cleanse."

I didn't expect to use this spell on this. Cleanse is a fairly complex spell developed while I was conceptualizing [Wardrobe]. Its function is to mainly separate the selected factors before dividing them into a micro level. Fire magicka would then do its job and completely erase the said substances.

Such a spell that goes against entropy itself is used to clean this mess…

"It can't be helped, I guess."

I received a secret I would take to my grave.

I composed myself and changed into another set of clothes before I went out.

Ein was the first one who greeted me.

"Nobu?! You had a date yesterday?!"

"Ah?!"

What did just..?

"It's all over Orario! That you had a date last night!"

"Huh?!"

That was the only thing I could utter.

'Why would they waste their time over this… Right, celebrities.'

Today is destined to be a wild day.

*****

Nobu didn't bother to put up a disguise during the date last night. Inevitably, they would be noticed by people. It all started with the drunkards who saw him pass by with a girl. The next one to be interrogated by several people was a jagamarukun staff. The people around them overheard it.

The nail in the coffin was the adventurers present inside Babel.

Sirius is a household name that every adventurer recognizes. The number of people who wanted to have their own unbreakable magic swords couldn't be counted at all. Add to that his track record in Orario and the reason behind his wide fame becomes evident.

This city might not have something similar to the Internet, but information could rapidly propagate once its residents talk about a specific person all at once.

Thus, the rumors of Sirius having a date with a beautiful goddess spread in the North and West District this morning. It wouldn't take long before the latter two districts received the news.

"You didn't expect this?"

"I did… However, I underestimated their enthusiasm. Perhaps those gods wanted to spark something fun…"

Hephaestus noticed herself becoming absent-minded since two days ago. Even now, she was about to fall into contemplation if not for Nobu's voice.

"This is inevitable. You wouldn't choose to hide yourself like an assassin on your first date, no?"

"Yeah. I guess I'll bear through this for a few days."

Little did Nobu know it would have long-term effects that would need to be dealt in the future.

"Hephaestus-sama? Is something wrong?"

"...Nothing. I just thought of something."

"I see. Please don't stay up late at night."

"..!"

Much to her surprise, Nobu noticed her lack of sleep… literally. She couldn't sleep last night. He thought it has something to do with either work or personal matters, and he hit the mark.

They talked for a while—mainly Nobu's concerns to her health—before he left. Once he did so, Hephaestus couldn't keep up her calm façade anymore. Her face turned into worry and reluctance as she thought of her past decisions.

"Why do I..? Sigh…"

She recalled her conversation with Tsubaki last night.

…

"Thinkin' about his date, don't ya?"

"Tsubaki."

"Isn't it? I told ya should've been straightforward it with."

"..."

Hephaestus knew the feeling of suffering from bad decisions. If she placed more hints about her feelings, there might've been a fight. Sadly, she didn't; thus there isn't one.

Then again, a fight is what she wanted to avoid. Hephaestus knew Artemis from back in Tenkai. She was one of the few—including Hestia—who didn't show an aversion to her eyepatch. Even if it she tries to hide it, the gods know what was hidden.

Seeing and not seeing doesn't make a difference. They know something hideous was hidden; they don't need to know how it looks like.

It is for such reason she became a semi-hikikomori in Tenkai.

Right now, a bundle of worries, fluster, and anxiety brewed over her mind.

"What should I do..?"

Fortunately, Artemis isn't the only one with a wingwoman.

"T'is isn't exactly the end of it, Hephaestus-sama." Tsubaki said with a smile. "Leave it to us."

…

Thinking about her previous acts, Hephaestus is ashamed of herself—of how she couldn't express herself properly.

Bocchi's story sounded interesting to her back then. Now, she knows exactly how it feels to be her. Hephaestus' hesitations costed her something.

She lost the race—

"...I'm sorry…"

—but it gave her the determination to pursue a second chance.

*****

After doing the usual tweaks on the supplies, I headed to Twilight Manor. I brought along [Squire] this time since Arbiter is undergoing a maintenance. Four days of continuous usage wore down some portions of it.

I am glad I brought [Dreamcatcher], another suit focusing on illusions and remotely-controlled armaments. It is often used to cast [Alice's Wonderland] on a large scale.

As for [Squire], it is modeled similarly to a knight. It uses swords and shields as its main weapon. It focuses on enchantment-type magicka.

[Arbiter] is a mix of these combat styles. It has the largest armory out of them all. I have to be flexible at times.

As I passed by several Loki Familia members, I noticed some strange gazes. It is more of interest with no mixed malintent. I didn't have the time to talk to most Loki Familia members, only their executives.

"You've done it now!"

I sensed a presence. My intuition was all it took to let me know it is a deusdea.

Someone placed their arm on my shoulders. It was the red-haired goddess of tricksters.

"Loki-sama. You're up this early?"

"Can't I?"

"Not exactly."

She is barely a few centimeters above me—the same as Artemis.

"You and Arty are official~?"

"...Yes."

I guess that gossip reached this place.

"Well, well! To think you could conquer one of the most famous chastite goddess in Tenkai! I can't think how I should praise you~!"

"..."

Even now, I couldn't get used to her boisterous personality. Yes, I acted like one in my "Red" identity, but it is due to the distance between that and my true self.

"I am more than happy to congratulate you by throwing petals of roses."

As expected, that was not the end of it.

"You can't have my girls anymore, after all!" She proudly said. "Or is it~?"

Her words elicited a frown to my face.

Being accused of a scumbag doesn't feel good. I wouldn't do anything to betray Artemis' trust.

"...I didn't have that intention from the beginning."

"My bad, my bad."

She separated from me.

Before walking away, she said something:

"But sometimes, things happen whether you like it or not."

"..."

I vaguely grasped onto something.

'Was our date enough to affect everything?'

I fell into a state of contemplation.

It was Hephaestus-sama this morning. No, scratch that. Ein, Filvis, and Haruhime acted somewhat strange when they gave me breakfast.

"..ius."

I am jolted back to reality by a familiar voice.

"Aiz-san. You arrived just now?"

"For quite some time."

Unexpectedly, Tiona-san isn't by her side. What is with her, however, is her fighting spirit.

"Let's spar?"

"Un."

We took our usual positions. The courtyard became a mess every time we did our spars, though they were fixed by [Renovatio Redivivus]. Placing simple components like dirt and grass back to their previous positions are not that hard.

A distance of seven meters existed between us.

Swoosh.

She caught the dull sword I threw over to her.

"You're not using that magic?"

"I won't." I smiled at her. "I want to feel my base strength."

"...Alright."

Since the day she saw me fighting Gugalanna, Aiz-san looked at me strangely. It's not simply a thirst for power but a fascination with it. Seeing such strength could be like that.

I have experienced that when I saw Satoru-san utterly obliterate several special-grade curses by himself.

We didn't need any words to start.

Swoosh-!

Aiz-san went for a downward vertical strike. I stepped to my right and placed my sword diagonally to my left.

Clang-!

The impact shook my right hand. Nevertheless, her blade slid through mine. Just then, Aiz-san flipped her grip and switched to its other edge.

Momentum was generated by the act. She swung her blade upwards in an attempt to parry my blade.

I stepped backward to avoid it.

Swoosh-!

My sword is still in my hands.

Our gazes met. Aiz-san wasn't startled, perhaps due to practicing with me oftentimes.

Her move created an opening.

I ducked before charging at her.

Clang-!

Aiz-san swiftly reacted. Her blade desperately reached out to my charging strike. She managed to protect her body from being hit. The tip of the blade is a few inches away beside her face.

As expected, my current status on the verge of being level four is far from enough. Though, I am now able to react to her silhouette which was once blurry. It seems the theory about statuses are right. I held off leveling until I reached the limit of each level. It made me stronger than the usual level three.

I pulled my sword back and twisted my upper body. I was able to place a two-handed grip as I spun.

Clang-!

Bam-!

Aiz-san couldn't do much except to try and fall back. She placed the blade behind her back in a hurry.

With that move, I was able to push her a few steps back. Her feet was dragged onto the dirt.

"Om namo bhagavatyai aryaprajnaparamitayai…" (The Boddhisattva of Compassion. When he meditated deeply…)

I was cleared of any distracting thoughts. Everything within my perception became much clearer. This battle was the only thing I thought at this moment.

I leaped through the air. A single charge placed me two meters forward. I held my sword diagonally downwards in front of me.

I could see Aiz-san's determined look. The surrounding soil cracked as she placed her feet on solid ground.

She learned that my attacks could be both heavy and light—one of my main tricks in feints.

Wind swept on my face.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

I easily reached the strike zone. The moment I did, she prepared her own counterattack.

Unfortunately—

"...Ah?"

—I had no plans of attacking normally.

Swooosh-!

In a split second, my blade spun downwards. I switched to the infamous reverse grip. From the slashing motion, it became a stabbing one.

Aiz-san blocked it with the side of her sword.

Clang-!

"Incussus Levare." (Impact Release.)

The gathered force on the sword converged at one point. They were then released at the blade's tip as a form of shockwave.

It isn't enough to injure a level five like Aiz-san—causing a distraction was its limit, and that was my intention.

Her right arm was pushed back. She lost her previous firm grip over the sword. Nevertheless, it would be hard to remove it from her.

Thus, I changed to the normal grip before placing the blade lower than my shoulder—akin to a thrusting position.

Sou-!

Clank-!

The metallic tip perfectly made contact with her breastplate.

A few seconds later, both of us relaxed. We pointed the swords away from each other.

"...It's a new one."

"Something I've been saving up until this moment. How was it?" I asked.

"Good. No one expects to change grips during battles."

Aiz-san mostly uses [Desperate] which is a rapier. It only has a limited form of grips to employ, unlike curved blades like katanas and kukri knives.

This spar is different from our first one. Aiz-san is long aware of my flexible fighting style, raising the difficulty of using my tricks. Defeating her in a minute without enhancements while being on guard against me is an improvement.

It's not as if she lacks life and death experiences; rather, she only lacks experiences against humans. If it comes to monsters, she might be able to equal my strongest output.

I could still recall how she killed Levis, someone who should've had a higher status than even Ottar himself. She is level six at that time.

In all of Orario, there might not be someone as good as her when it comes to fighting monsters.

"You became strong again."

At this moment, frustration appeared on her eyes.

"The same goes for Aiz-san." I replied. "Or is it that you aren't satisfied with it?"

"It's true."

I was surprised for a moment. She isn't someone who easily admits stuff like this.

"I could already tell… You are about to catch up. You are holding off your leveling up."

"...Yes."

Silence fell upon us.

I have been busy testing out the supplies and my current combat capabilities. I didn't have the time to implement something. If it's her speed of growth… I could help her with that.

"Aiz-san. Do you want to fight strong enemies? People who are far stronger than you've imagined."

Her eyes turned bright. Excitement brewed upon them.

"I'll help you do so."