Underground Shenanigans

"This is complicated," Verina said with a blank gaze. "You're telling me to perform what a plant can do but without the sunlight and water? This is taking a toll on my head."

"You literally bend reality to perform miracles using blood as the catalyst, Verina."

"I think I can learn a little bit faster if you give me a kiss on the cheek."

"And what do I get in return?"

"A wagon load of oxygen."

"That doesn't sound worth it."

"Narcissus, you relieved Lupina of her rut. She didn't give you anything in return."

"Are you telling me that you want me to do the same to you?"

"Hypothetically, will you?"

"If it's necessary for our survival."

"Yet giving me a kiss on the cheek is off limits."

"These lips are worth more than these hands."

"Then, how about this? Instead of you giving me a kiss on the cheek, I'll be the one who gives you a kiss on the cheek."

"These cheeks are off limits either."

"What if it's lips to lips?"

"Your method of bargaining baffles me."

"Hmm, how about a hug?"

"If you learned how to cast oxygen, I will reconsider."

"I'll learn this in no time."

"You can easily learn this. You just want to use this as a chance to get something from me."

"I got caught."

While I was giving a harsh private lesson to Verina about the thing she could do to 'cast' oxygen, my knife-eared hearing managed to pick up the conversation between Tahlia and Lupina in the background.

"So, you once got captured by a slaver, and then you staged a prison break with the rest of the slaves?" Tahlia re-summarized the tale that he heard.

"It's hectic, I tell ya!" Lupina pointed with her index. "There is this one sick inmate that almost got ignored to death by the warden, so we all decided to revolt just so that we could bring this one lassie to the healer to get patched up!"

"Despite your brain performance, I didn't expect you to carry so much adventure and stories behind your back."

"Hehehe."

"You said that you were together with Verina before you stumbled upon an off putting cabin that housed Narcissus, right?"

Was my wooden cabin design that off-putting??

"Yeah, what of it?" Lupina tilted her head, donning a carefree smile.

"How did both you and Verina meet?" Tahlia conveyed his curiosity. "The two of you sound like a pair that doesn't get paired unless something special happens."

"Gyaha! You hit the mark in the center! It is a long story though. Like, a very long, long nuanced story that is better to be told in the daylight, where no threat is looming in plain sight."

"Alright, I'll take your word for it then~ You owe me a fine and interesting story with this one!"

It looked like the two of them got along well.

"So, anything you want to know before a Calamity Object suddenly spawn out of nowhere?" Lupina asked.

"In case we manage to survive this ordeal, what is the thing you're currently striving for?"

"Uhm, this might sound obvious, but please don't tell anyone." With a shylet demeanor, Lupina leaned forward and whispered, "I'm thinking of trying to go after Narcissus."

"Are you sure?" Tahlia whispered back. "Narcissus… She is… Uhm, I don't know how to say this, but why do you want to go after her?"

"She can cook."

"And?"

"She is so beautiful, I don't think I can fall in love with a man anymore."

"And??"

"If we keep going, there won't be an end to this, to be honest."

"Mmm, do you know that Verina might also have the same goal as you?" Tahlia suggested. "I caught her flirting a lot of the time. Won't this clash of goals damage your friendship in any way?"

"I'm thinking of 'sharing'."

I heard you.

Verina also probably heard you.

"You're truly adventurous," Tahlia commented, unsure if this felt right or wrong.

Even with the glooming dread and ticking time bomb, it was surely a rather stress-removing downtime for all of us.

And talking with one another enhanced that effectiveness.

Ten minutes later, Verina announced that she had already crafted her first prototype spell.

"Is it safe to point your first prototype spell against a real living target?" I said as I got the tip of the cold barrel of a musket directed at my face.

"If this spell fails, you can retract the hugging reward," Verina said with no hint of remorse in her eyes.

Without giving me time to prepare myself, Verina pulled the trigger.

Sweeping forward from it, was a cool, crisp mist that immediately enveloping my face, carrying a subtle hint of eucalyptus. 

Almost immediately, I felt my lungs filled with the purest air I'd ever breathed, as if I were standing on a mountaintop sloped by rich nature and greeneries.

"Is it working!?" Lupina shouted.

Feeling nothing wrong, I gave them my thumbs up to signal that the spell was working as intended.

"Alright, you two, lineup so that I can shoot each of you in the head with this spell."

"That doesn't sound comforting at all," Tahlia wryly said.

Before long, the two of them were shot in the head with Verina's new spell, and they began to exude the same kind of satisfied expression like the one that I had.

Lupina's eyes were wide and awake. "Is this what heaven smells like?"

The same goes for Tahlia. "Mmm~ this brings back memories of my former citadel."

After shooting both Lupina and Tahlia on the head with that refreshing spell, Verina glanced at me with anticipation.

"Alright, alright." I opened my arms, welcoming the hardworking kilnalan to my embrace. "Don't waste this moment now."

Without a word, Verina lunged at me, embracing her promised reward with utter bliss.

Albeit with a lack of facial expression, like the usual.