Conflicted

Liam looked at Eric with an unfocused gaze before he looked down at himself and started touching his hands, shoulders, chest, etc.

Then he suddenly exclaimed out loud, "I'm not dead!"

"..."

Both Eric and Jake looked at him, speechless.

"How did we survive, Eric?" Jake asked after seeing he had no visible injuries on his body.

Eric shrugged. "I don't know. I had fallen unconscious, and when I woke up, the beast had vanished, and we were alright."

Liam stood up and put his arm around his shoulders as he said, "I know why we are alive."

Eric's heart sped up a little. He indeed didn't know why the beast hadn't killed them but guessed the demon must have helped. So, when he heard Liam, for a moment he thought he had found out about it.

Jake looked at Liam with a questioning gaze.

Liam squeezed Eric's neck and laughed, "It's because it must have been impressed by my boy's unyielding will. Haha, only that can be the reason."

Jake shook his head and stood up. "Let's go. We should return to the city."

"Yeah, it's not safe here." Liam agreed before clicking his tongue, "Tsk, wasted our time. Maybe we should've asked for our payment in advance."

Jake's expression fell. He really needed those credits. But he sighed, "We should be grateful we are alive."

Eric looked at the two, his brows raising as he asked, "You are not angry those three abandoned us?"

Swoosh!

Liam, with an anxious look, hurriedly placed his hand on Eric's forehead and then exhaled in relief, "Phew! You are not sick."

He then put on a pondering look on his face and muttered, "But I wonder why you are talking as if you are. Maybe the beast scared you too much."

Jake was also looking at Eric as though he had said something nonsensical.

Seeing their reactions, Eric smiled wryly as he remembered why they were not feeling bad about being abandoned. 

It was not a new thing. Many times, their employers would leave without paying, or on some occasions, they would leave them to die or worse, they would try to kill them so they didn't have to pay them. So, they had already gotten used to it.

He was the same as he had been scammed too many times and a few times, he barely managed to leave with his life.

'Hmm, it seems my emotions are still a mess.' He thought. Otherwise he wouldn't have felt angry at Charyl and others for abandoning them.

Soon, they left the forest and headed back to the city.

After entering the city under the city guards' disdainful gazes, Jake parted ways with them, so Eric and Liam headed back toward their homes together.

While walking, Eric felt a tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Liam looking at him with a concerned look. "Are you alright, man? Is something bothering you?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm alright." Eric said, snapping out of his thoughts. 

He had been thinking about the system's quest. However nervous he was, he also felt excited, not only because after completing it he would be able to start cultivating, but for the quest itself.

Though his situation hadn't afforded him the luxury to think about girls and sex too much, he was an 18-year-old young male and was very much interested in such things. So, the prospect of finally doing it and losing his virginity excited him.

But the problem was… 

'I don't have a girlfriend, nor do I have any money to pay someone. How am I supposed to do it?'

Liam stopped walking and looked at him seriously. "Come on, man. Tell me what's going on. Are you worried about money?"

Eric hesitated before nodding, "You can say that."

Suddenly, he remembered Elsa and tentatively added, "I was thinking, if I were to accept Elsa's feelings, I would need to earn more money to take care of her."

Elsa had made it clear she loved him and wanted to be with him, and Liam also didn't seem to have any objection. Also, it wasn't like he didn't like Elsa. She was a sweet girl, and he liked her.

'Fuck! What's wrong with me? I'm thinking about taking advantage of her feelings to complete the quest?' He suddenly felt disgusted with himself.

Liam stared at him in silence, making him feel even worse.

"H-Hey, sorry man. Forget I said any—" He started saying, but Liam suddenly patted his shoulder heavily and laughed, "Good, good. Big sister would be thrilled to find out you also have feelings for her."

Then, his expression suddenly turned incomparably serious, and as he stared into Eric's eyes, he continued, "I'm serious when I say I would be happy if you became my brother-in-law. Also, you should stop worrying so much about money. It isn't everything in life."

Phew!

Eric exhaled in relief seeing he wasn't angry. Then after thinking for a moment, he said, "I think I want to talk to her."

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go." Liam said and started dragging toward his home.

"Hey, fatty. Not now. I'll talk to her later." Eric said, stopping him.

Liam clicked his tongue. "Tch, coward."

Eric smiled wryly. "I'll come by later."

After talking for a few more moments, they parted ways, and he headed to his home.

'Although I don't have the same feelings for her that Elsa has for me, I think they can be developed later. And if I don't abandon her and marry her later, it shouldn't be bad if I…' His thoughts started wandering.

If Elsa wasn't Liam's sister, he wouldn't have thought too much about it, but since she was and loved him so much, he didn't want to hurt her.

'But…' He suddenly hesitated as Elena and Riya's faces surfaced in his mind.