"M-My life!?"

Lawrend walked back away from her in shock. The eyes she was looking at him with were cold.

"You know, you said that you can't express your gratitude to me. So why don't you give up your life for me?"

Aezel explained to Lawrend with a smile.

"W-What are you saying?"

Lawrend looked at her in shock as he gulped nervously.

"Fufufu. I'm just kidding. Why are you being so tense?"

Aezel laughed seeing Lawrend's response.

"... Because you're a demon, and you're saying such things…"

Lawrend replied to her softly.

"You'll know in the future why I'm taking you with me."

Aezel suddenly explained to him.

"O-Okay."

Lawrend slowly relaxed his body. Though, he still kept his distance from her.

"Fufu. Did I scare you that much? Here you can touch them as much as you want."

Aezel chuckled seeing Lawrend act so afraid of her. She offered her chest to him with a teasing smile.

"..."

Lawrend looked away awkwardly. Even though she's offering it. He doesn't dare to touch them. She might use it as an excuse to kill him.

"I'm serious. You can touch them."

Aezel looked at Lawrend with a frown.

"No thank you."

Lawrend waved his hand at her.

"Oh my, you're being a gentleman when you were staring at my chest so intently last night."

Aezel covered her mouth in amusement.

"T-That was—!"

Lawrend's face turned red in embarrassment.

'She actually knew!'

Lawrend thought to himself in shock. She knew, yet she allowed him. Just what are her intentions?

"No need to be embarrassed. I actually don't mind as long as it's you."

Aezel reassured him with a smile.

"What do you mean? You've been saying this since yesterday. Why?"

Lawrend couldn't help but ask. She was not acting like how women should be when it comes to their private parts.

"At the end of our journey, you will know."

Aezel said to him mysteriously.

…

And so, a week passed. Lawrend traveled with Aezel nonstop for kilometers.

"This is…"

Lawrend looked at the trees in front and behind them. There was an obvious difference between the two of them.

"I don't know what this is, but it seems like the forest ahead is less dangerous."

Aezel said to him in response.

"That's the Great Berthan Forest."

Lawrend replied to her. He can still remember the difference in the size of the trees when he saw the divide between the Great Berthan Forest and the Undrasil Monster Forest.

"Fufufu. So you know where we are going now?"

Aezel looked at him with a knowing smile.

"Yes."

Lawrend nodded his head. After a week has passed, he got used to her presence. Though, it sucks that he hadn't gotten the chance to take a bath for more than a week now.

"Then, let's go."

Aezel said to him.

"Yes."

Lawrend nodded his head. Thus, the two of them stepped out of the Undrasil Monster Forest together.

…

Deep inside the Undrasil Monster Forest, a large bird the size of a small building with flawless white feathers opened her eyes. The bird had a beautiful crown of feathers on its head.

She turned her head towards the southeast where Lawrend and Aezel were.

"Just what was so special about that demon? Why did the goddess order me to shelter her?"

A beautiful female voice sounded. After looking on for a few more moments, the large white bird closed its eyes.

…

"It's raining?"

Lawrend opened his palms and caught the small trickle of rain that passed through the tree's canopy.

"It's your chance, Lawrend."

Aezel said to Lawrend with a smile.

"What do you mean— Yes! You're right."

Lawrend was about to ask her in confusion before he realized what she meant. It's raining, which means that there's a good chance that lightning will strike.

"But how can I attract lightning?"

Lawrend turned to her and asked.

"Release all of your lightning mana towards the clouds in one strike. You have a lot more lightning mana compared to before, right?"

Aezel said to Lawrend and asked.

"Yes."

Lawrend nodded his head. This past week, he practiced magic beside her. She helped answer any of his questions regarding lightning magic. Of course, he didn't ask advanced stuff. He wanted to build his foundation first.

Lawrend climbed on top of the tree beside him. He stood on top of a branch that could just barely hold his weight. Meanwhile, his one arm was wrapped around the tree branch beside him. He was soaking wet as the rain poured on seemingly endlessly.

"Oh. This rain seems familiar…"

Aezel looked towards the clouds with an amused smile. It could be said that she was the cause of this rain.

Lawrend readied himself. He closed his eyes and raised his palm towards the clouds.

"O' great Amber, be my electron and kill my enemies, Shock… ARC!!"

Lawrend chanted and released all of his mana in this one spell.

BOOM! Crackle...

A bolt of purple lightning shot up from his palm and stopped 15 meters above him. It then dissipated anticlimactically.

"What? It didn't work?"

Lawrend looked at the sky blankly. He didn't even blink when drops of rainwater hit his eyes.

"It's coming."

Aezel suddenly said in alarm. She looked towards the sky intently and moved backward.

The clouds above suddenly changed shape. It churned and created a vortex above Lawrend. Lightning crackled inside it.

'Holy sh*t! That's gonna kill me!'

Lawrend cursed inside his mind. Those thunderclouds look like it was intending to kill him. It was accumulating a great deal of power.

"Don't be afraid, Lawrend! Close your eyes and focus! Keep your hand raised!"

Aezel reminded Lawrend from far away.

Lawrend had already developed a sense of trust towards her, so he did what she said. He closed his eyes, relaxed his body, and waited for the lightning to come. He also tried his best to avoid thinking of the huge thundercloud above that could potentially kill him.

Then, it shot down. A bright flash of light lit up the whole surrounding.