43. It sounded way more badass when I did that

Lewis immediately grabbed Erena's hand with sparkling eyes in euphoria, thanking her for the present. "You are the best, Erena."

"Thanks," replied Eren warmly while slowly placing her hand on Lewis's shoulder before whispering something into Lewis's ear. "Why don't you invite me out for a drink to show your appreciation, sweetie~?"

Lewis's face immediately turned slightly red before he answered in a stutter, "Y-yes, I-I will."

Content with his answer, Erena chuckled before returning to her workplace. "Anyway, I have to continue working, my dear friends. Hope we see each other again.~"

Luz stood there stunned, and it wasn't until their beloved guild staff was out of reach that he grabbed Lewi's collar and cursed him to death.

Lewis responded enthusiastically with a smug, "Oy, Oy, is someone here envious? But don't worry. Your younger brother will also assist you in winning the heart of a lovely damsel.

Luz couldn't deny he felt a tinge of jealousy, but not to the degree it would affect his judgment. "I don't need your help, brother. But I'm more curious about what she told you."

Lewis, on the other hand, remained silent, and Luz hissed through grinding teeth, "If you don't spill the beans, I'll take that smug look off your pretty face, brother.~"

"Fine, fine," Lewis sighed before answering with a grin going from ear to ear. "Well, she asked me when I will invite her to a drink."

"That's it?" Luz questioned as he was rather unimpressed, and Lewis nodded.

"Then I might as well take my leave now," Luz sighed. But, before he could stand, Lewis grabbed his arm and begged, "Do you have any experience, bro? I definitely need your help with that."

"Well, I indeed have some experience," Luz replied with a sad chuckle, and his mood slowly went downhill.

"Ohoh, now you got my attention. I won't let you leave until you spilled all the beans," Lewis said while tightening his grip.

Realizing that he had made a mistake, Luz hesitantly replied, "I once had a girlfriend," hoping that Lewis would let go of him.

Unfortunally, that wasn't the case, and Lewis's curiosity only increased. "Had? Why have you never told me about that!?" Lewis cursed, and Luz sighed, "Well, the situation is quite complicated, my dear brother."

At that point, the roles reversed, and Lewis was the one grabbing Luz's collar, demanding the uncensored story regarding Luz's experiences with women.

"Fine, Fine, Fine," Luz sighed before beginning his narration. "I dated Alina, the chief hunter's daughter, for a year, and everything started when I was 16 years old. Their hunting squad, which was made of teens around my age, wanted me to join them. Ironically, they wanted me not because I knew how to hunt but rather because I knew how to skin, cut meat, and cook."

"So you were basically their cook/back package carrier?" Lewis giggled in amusement, and Luz nodded.

"Nevertheless, I looked up to Alina, the team leader, and even though the chances of me marrying her were slim, a man will still try to grab after the stars. Alina and I got closer over time since I partook in every hunt, and she even taught me how to use a bow. But I must admit, no matter how much I tried, that girl always beat me in every hunting discipline, no matter how hard I tried."

But before Luz could continue, Lewis interrupted him, asking, "Wait! Wait! Wait! Let me get it clear. You know how to use use a bow, right?"

Luz nodded, and Lewis began shaking Luz again while questioning him further. "Why have you bastard never chosen it here? I mean, it's the weapon with which you are the most familiar."

"One after the other," Luz sighed before continuing his narration. "As you might expect, her father wasn't so enthusiastic about our relationship. Nevertheless, he respected his daughter's choice and remained quiet. That was until she awoke her magic talent at 16."

"But that isn't out of the ordinary. Rather it's unordinary to awake at such a late age," Lewis commented before asking, "How did that affect your relationship? Did she leave you for a boy with more potential!?"

Luz chuckled painfully. "Yeah, you are right, if it were something ordinary like a fire talent. But unfortunally, it was a rare one. She awoke the nature talent, which isn't as rare as mine, but I was a mere mortal at that point."

"Yeah, that is quite a rare talent," Lewis agreed before adding, "Liv also has a nature talent. If I remember correctly."

Luz wasn't surprised by that revelation since he expected that. "Nevertheless, a week didn't even pass before she disappeared from the village, and I never even had the chance to say goodbye to her," Luz sighed with regret as he felt a sting in his heart.

"Sorry that I asked about it," Lewis commented before adding, "But bro, you haven't yet answered why you haven't used the bow since then.

"Well, I was a hotblooded boy, and when the girl I loved the most disappeared, her father asked me if I wanted to take the youth hunting team leader position.

I was so infuriated that he pretended that nothing happened since a mage definitely took her, and in my anger, I destroyed the bow she gifted me before swearing that I would never use a bow again."

"Well, that sounds edgy," commented Lewis, and Luz nodded in embarrassment before adding, "It sounded way more badass when I did that as a 17-year-old teenager."

Lewis laughed before asking, "have you ever thought of using a bow again?"

But Luz answered with a tinge of shame, "I tried, but whenever I touch one, old memories surface. I think that I'm not ready to face them yet since I rather want to forget them."

"Yeah, that's understandable. I would probably face the same problem if I experience something like that," Lewis admitted before asking, "How was your life after that event?"

"Like any hotblooded youth, I couldn't accept the reality. In my desperation to one day reunite with her, I tried out many different methods of awakening my talent without having a goddamn idea what my talent was," Luz laughed as old memories of him trying the stupidest shit out.

"I went so far as to face the elements themselves. In hopes of awakening a water talent, I tried drowning myself in the local river. That didn't work, so I tried to awaken a fire talent by burning myself. Unfortunally that didn't work out either. So I tried awakening a wind talent by facing a storm. Yeah, I think you can imagine how that went."

Hearing Luz's stories, Lewis laughed before asking, "Stop bullshitting. As if you went so far as to set yourself ablaze."

Luz merely shook his head before showing Lewis his scarred left calf.