Chapter 26 - Battle attire

After opening my eyes, a smile appears on my face.

"I'm getting stronger and stronger, can I say I'm using cheat?"

I let out a wry smile at my thought, getting those thoughts out of my head I quickly activate the teleport to go to the first floor, I don't know how much time Saemi has left so the sooner I heal her the better it will be, with that in mind I am filled with a blue light before closing my eyes, as soon as I opened my eyes again, I realized I was already out of the swamps, i quickly noticed Saemi lying there, her veins were still green showing that the snake venom was still in her body, her face was quite bad and drops of sweat were falling all the time, it was apparent that she was suffering, i quickly approached Saemi and picked her up on my lap.

"Saemi, it's me, sorry for the delay, I got the medicine, you'll be fine soon, I promise"

Hearing my words Saemi slowly opened her eyes.

"M-Mak-koto?"

Saemi's voice still sounded halting, clearly, she was finding it quite difficult to speak.

"Don't worry Saemi"

Saying this I took the bottle containing the medicine and positioned it in Saemi's mouth.

"Drink this"

As soon as I said this, I started pouring the medicine into Saemi's mouth, Saemi started drinking the medicine without even doubting, in a few seconds the green veins that were all over Saemi's body began to disappear and her skin began to take on a brighter color, the sweat dripping from her forehead ceased and she began to breathe more steadily, in a few seconds Saemi was sleeping peacefully, it seemed that the suffering of seconds ago had never happened.

"Whew, is she okay now?"

"She is healed, good job Makoto, you really exceeded my expectations"

With a wry smile on my face, I decide to thank Aurora-sama, which is a bit ironic since she originally told me to abandon Saemi.

"Thank you, Aurora-sama"

After that I get up and look at the sky, it was already possible to see the first rays of light between the trees indicating that soon it would be dawn, looking at Saemi I see that she is still sleeping peacefully.

"I think I will go hunt something to eat"

Saying this I head towards the forest hoping to find something for us to eat, after a while I was walking back to the camp where Saemi and I were staying, in my little hunt I managed to catch two rabbits that would be perfect for breakfast, as soon as I reached the camp again, I noticed that Saemi was already awake although she was still lying down.

"Makoto"

Saemi spoke my name as soon as she saw me.

"How are you?"

Hearing my question Saemi put her arm over her eyes before answering.

"I'm fine... you know, I really thought I would die this time, my body hurt at the time and it felt like my veins were about to burst, by the time I was stung I realized that you couldn't teleport with me, deep down I had realized that we had fallen into a trap... so I thought it would be better if you left me"

As Saemi spoke I kept looking at her, I also noticed that the reason she put her arm over her face was because she was hiding her crying.

"But you know... I was really scared, even though I knew it would be dangerous for you to stay there with me I couldn't help but want you not to leave me, I know I'm a hypocrite for saying that after all I put you through"

Saemi said in tears, after sighing I put the rabbits on the ground and approached Saemi, after holding his hand, I begin to speak.

"I admit that I really thought about leaving you, after all, as you said yourself, you made me suffer a lot... but I couldn't, I remembered our moments together and although I still hate you, I also can't say that I don't love you, so you don't have to blame yourself anymore, I decided to protect you by my own will"

Hearing my words Saemi's crying intensified even more and before I knew it, she was hugging me as rivers of tears fell from her face, after a while Saemi and I were cuddling in front of the fire while we waited for the two rabbits to finish roasting, as soon as we finished eating, I decided to tell Saemi everything that had happened while she was here, I told her about the boss on the 2nd floor and how I managed to heal her, I also told her about the two new powers I had acquired and that now both of us can advance to the 3rd floor.

"So have you checked out the third floor yet?"

Saemi asked as she had her head resting on my shoulder.

"Not yet, as soon as I defeated the boss I came as fast as I could to the 1st floor to heal you"

Hearing my answer, a silence fell between me and Saemi again, however this silence was quite comfortable, I was feeling as if we didn't need words to express ourselves, in the meantime that Saemi was poisoned something seems to have happened, I feel that Saemi is even closer to me than before.

"So... you want to go take a look at the 3rd floor?"

Hearing Saemi's question I raised an eyebrow, she had just recovered.

"Are you sure you're well enough for that?"

I asked.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, besides I've had enough of lying around all day without moving my body"

Sighing at Saemi's answer I decide to agree with his idea.

"If you say so, but before that there is something I want to test"

Hearing my words Saemi was a little confused but said nothing, i stood up and started to test what was on my mind.

"Dark manipulation"

Saying these shadows began to form in front of me taking on a round shape, after a few seconds of modeling I made 2 black overcoats using my power, one was for a male form while the other was for a female form, i decided to call these clothes battle suits, although they used my power these suits were basically independent so Saemi could also control them at will if she put in a little magic power, they were also quite sturdy so they would serve as an extra defense, with that Saemi and I prepared to go to the third floor.