Chapter 41: Trust

After what felt like minutes, Ariel let go of the hug. Her eyes were puffed up,

'Looks like I messed up again…' John thought.

"So John, aren't you going to say thank you?" Asked Serena as she looked at Ariel.

'Thank you..? Speaking of which, what happened after I killed the eel?' John wondered.

"Why do you have that confused look on your face? Ariel saved your life, you drowned she-"

"Serena, you don't have to talk about it..." Interrupted Ariel with a reddened expression.

"No, he deserves to know who saved him." Said Serena with a straight face.

"But he saved us too." Said Ariel.

"That's exactly why, if he always saves us and we don't do anything, he'll think we're useless, so tell it to him in a straight face that you saved him!" Argued Serena.

"Wha- What's gotten into you?!" Said Ariel while flustered.

"U-Um... I'm confused, but Ariel has already saved my life countless times so I'll always need her help. The same goes for you Serena, you've also been a great help, more than I'd like to admit." John said.

"John... Wait, what was that last part?" Asked Serena as her expression changed from a proud smile to an annoyed expression.

"You've also been a great help?" John said with a confused expression.

"Ah, never mind, I must have imagined it." Said Serena as she looked away.

"But yeah, what was that about drowning?" John asked.

"Oh yeah, listen to this, Ariel she-"

Serena was interrupted by Ariel, who forcefully covered her mouth.

"Serena... Please..." Said Ariel as she desperately tried to stop her.

"A-Ariel, C-Calm down, O-Okay! I won't tell him. How are you so strong!?" Said Serena as she desperately tried to hold back Ariel.

"Thank you..." Muttered Ariel.

"Uh, I could hear you two... I don't know why you want to hide it from me, but thanks for saving me, Ariel." John replied.

"I hate to admit it, but I wasn't of much help this time..." Muttered Serena.

'Since she doesn't want to talk about it, I won't ask how. She probably removed water from my lungs using magic, but when did she learn the concept behind the water element…' John wondered.

'Another theory is CPR, but she probably doesn't know how to do it... But if she tried, then that means we kissed? But who could have taught her it... Wait.' He further thought.

"Um, Ariel... Was your uncle something like a doctor?" John asked.

"H-How did you know?" Asked Ariel with a surprised expression.

"Just a guess... Did he ever teach you first-aid?" John curiously asked.

Ariel who had realised my intentions quietly nodded.

"Ah, I'm very grateful, thanks to those lessons you saved my life," John said.

"You're not mad..?" Quietly asked Ariel as she looked at him.

"Why would I be mad? I'd rather be alive." John said as he started to laugh.

"I-It's not funny..!" Said Ariel as she hid her embarrassed expression.

"John, I've been wondering. Why did you stay still when the Eel went to eat you?" Asked Serena.

"Oh, it managed to stun me with its shock wave and so I couldn't move," John said.

"But, weren't you still able to cast your spell inside of its mouth even though you were paralyzed? Why didn't you just propel yourself around the water and wait until you'd be able to move again?" Asked Serena.

"I could have done that but... Its skin was anti-magic, you see, so I thought it'd be better to attack it from the inside" John answered.

As John said that both Serena and Ariel stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.

"So... What you're saying is... You made us worry for nothing..?" Asked Serena as she placed her palm on her face.

Ariel remained frozen with a dumbfounded expression.

"I wouldn't say you worried for nothing, there was a low chance of it succeeding. In fact, that eel had very sharp teeth, if I was a second slower at propelling myself straight onto its tongue without.. getting... bitten...-"

John stopped as Ariel quietly got up and walked up to him.

"You idiot!!! Do you have any idea how much you made us worry?! Why do you always take these sorts of risks? Do you not value your life? Me and Serena are here... You can rely on us more... So stop taking risks like that..." Said Ariel as she hung her head.

This was the first time John had ever seen her this mad.

"Why are you always so reckless? We're a party so if one of our members is reckless then naturally we have to join in... Don't underestimate us..." Said Serena as she made an annoyed expression.

"Take more care of yourself... You don't have to always worry about us... Aren't we partners?!" Asked Ariel as she lifted up her head.

Despite having puffy eyes from all that crying, her eyes once again started to water up. Seeing this even John began to tear up.

After a few seconds, which felt like minutes, John spoke up.

"You're right... I'm sorry I made you two worry. Next time I promise to rely on you two more... So.. Um... Can you two cheer up?"

'I'm not good at cheering people up, and honestly, I was taken aback by everything that just happened and didn't know what to say…' John thought.

"On one condition..." Said Serena as she looked over at Ariel.

"What is it..?" John asked.

"Take us on another date, when we get back, I'd like to see that view we saw before." Said Serena with a bright smile.

Ariel's eyes lit up at what Serena said and paid close attention to their conversation.

"Don't you think you'd cheer up if he did that Ariel?" Asked Serena as she looked over at her.

Ariel hastily nodded her head at Serena's question.

'These two... Can't you be more considerate of my feelings? Ah, that's right, I didn't tell them a date was supposed to be between lovers.' John realised.

'Speaking of Feelings... I never really thought about it before but... How do I feel about Serena and Ariel..?' He wondered.

'They're important to me, but my feelings... I guess they're like family..? But what if…' John thought.

"So, John, what do you say?" Asked Serena with the same innocent smile.

"Y-Yeah, if it'll cheer you two up," John said with a flustered expression.

Ariel's face changed into a smile as she heard a reply and Serena remained with her smile as if everything had gone according to her plan.

"Now, let's get out of here. I should've mentioned this earlier, but I'm really tired and I'm running out of Power. I'm not sure how long I'd last if I tried to cast air bubbles." John said.

Serena and Ariel stretched out their staffs, and each poured part of their magic power into his gloves.

"When did you- Nevermind," John muttered.

After having some of his mana recharged, John created air balls and a hole in the ice cube before propelling them to the big blue magic stone which was from killing the eel.

After He put the stone in his toolbox, John propelled himself over to the door to the next floor to see if it had opened and to our surprise it did, the door was open but the water wasn't passing through the other floor, as if there were some sort of invisible wall blocking it.

After confirming that the door had indeed opened, they headed straight up; John increased the speed, and they reached the top within a minute.

After they reached the top, they went straight towards the door which led to the previous floor. As they arrived, they were surprised at how the door was shut close. It automatically opens after the boss is beaten.

John poured his strength into trying to open it, but it wouldn't budge. Worry began to fill Ariel and Serena's face as they began to grasp the situation they were in.

"Glacies" John muttered.

John propelled the ice spike at the door and it evaporated.

"Looks like we're trapped, we have no choice but to head to the next floor..." John said with a worried expression.