The stench of blood filled my nose, and on my tongue, I tasted something salty and metallic.

The man was already dead when I glanced down at him, his unseeing eyes staring up at me with an expression of pure fear.

I grimaced and leaned down slowly despite all the blood and gore that surrounded his rigid body.

Passing a hand over his eyes, I felt a wave of guilt washing over me like a dark cloud. Something in the back of my mind whispered at me, telling me that if I had been one step quicker, one second faster, than perhaps this man lying before me wouldn’t be dead.

From behind me, I heard soft footsteps trudging against snow as it moved closer.

“Ryo…”

It was Lily’s voice.

“You okay…?”

I glanced behind, seeing her staring down at me. She didn’t seem at all perturbed by the dozens of mangled corpses laid stretched out across the ground.

“Yeah…”

I stood back up to my feet, giving the man on the ground one last look, before staring at the path ahead of us.

“Let’s go…” I said, walking forward.

This was just one dead person… I couldn’t let myself drown in sorrow, just because of him… There were probably going to be many more people that I will see die. I had to get stronger, like Lily and Zoel, otherwise there would be no chance I could avenge my family. I had to.

~x~

“HRGH!!”

I threw my sword down at the tiger-like beast, stabbing it in the heart as a wave of red blood flew into the front of my cloak.

The beast let out one final whimper, before it fell limp, its breathing stopping.

“Great job, Kei!”

Zoel was jumping up next to me. “That one was an ice tiger. A beast that could normally take on twenty trolls. You’re improving so much!”

I wiped some splatters of blood that had landed on the side of my face, feeling sweat on my back.

“Really?”

I glance at her, pulling the blade out of the ice tiger. It was a giant beast, about the size of a large rhino.

“Yes!” Zoel said, then grabbed me by the arm. “Soon you will be strong enough to protect me!”

I shrugged her off my arm. “He-hey, don’t just go grabbing my arm.”

Zoel laughed it off as though I was joking. “You’re so shy, Kei.”

“I’m not shy.” I replied, a vein popping up on my temple. “I just don’t want you to touch me.”

“Oh, you…” Zoel said, waving at me. “You’re such a tsundere.”

I clenched my jaw, then turned over to Lily who was already walking ahead.

“Hey, Lily!” I called out, running to catch up to her. “Wait up!”

“You guys are slow.” Lily said, without turning her head back. “I don’t have time to listen to you guys flirt all day.”

“Shut the hell up!” I growled. “Who the hell would flirt with her?!”

Lily glanced at me dully, then her eyes turned to the figure chasing after us.

“Keeiii~!”

Zoel’s voice called out to me.

“You can’t just leave me behind like that.” Zoel caught up to my side, slowing down to match my pace. “What if I get attacked by a scary monster? Who’s going to look after me?”

‘You are a scary monster.’ I thought to myself. ‘And you’re also a fuck-tonne stronger than me.’

I sighed, choosing to ignore Zoel than waste my breath.

“Hey, Lily…” I said, glancing at her. She was walking without a trace of emotion on her face, her eyes focused on the path. “When are we going to reach the peak of the mountain?”

“We’ve only been here for a few hours.” Lily replied. “To reach the top would take about a few months.”

“A-a few months?!”

I knew from staring up at the mountain that it was astoundingly tall, but a few months? That was not what I had in mind.

“Hey, Lily, a few months, that’s…” I shook my head. “Didn’t the Rize King say that Azrael is storming the borders? Your castle will be under attacked by then. A few months is too…”

“Relax, Kei. We’re not actually going to walk all the way up.” Lily said. “That would be stupid. I just wanted you to fight some of the weaker monsters at the bottom to train yourself.”

“Oh, right…”

“I think about a week of training should be enough.” Lily said. “When a week is over, I’ll teleport us to the top of the mountain.”

“Teleport?” I almost tripped over. “You can teleport? Then why the hell were we taking a carriage to go everywhere? You might as well just send us to our destination in the blink of an eye!”

“...”

Lily glanced at me with a sigh.

“Sometimes, the journey is more important than the destination.”

“...”

I stared back at her with a skeptical look.

Seriously...? That’s her answer?

~x~

With the sun falling and darkness settling over the mountain, we entered a cave at the side of our path, my body fatigued and my mind restless. I had spend the whole day fighting monsters alone because Lily wanted to train me. Somehow I had managed to actually do it without needing help.

Falling down to the ground and almost fainting on the spot, I felt a comfortable warmth spreading over the cave, and I glanced to my side wearily to see that Lily had lit a fire at the centre of the cave.

“Are you okay, Kei?” Zoel bent down, her eyes glancing me over with concern.

“Yeah…” I grumbled, then pulled the sword off my back, resting it on the wall of the cavern. Then I rolled over to lie face up. “Just tired…”

“Maybe you need a massage.” Zoel suggested. She placed her hands on my arm, squeezing my biceps. “I give pretty good massages.”

It actually felt pretty good, until I snapped out of it, and pushed her hands aside with an irritated look. “Please, Zoel. Don’t do that.”

“How about a kiss goodnight?”

“If you want a kick to the face.” I closed my eyes, trying to relax. “Go to sleep, Zoel.”

She groaned, moving away from me. “You’re no fun, Kei…”

Waiting a few seconds, I opened my eyes to make sure that she was actually gone, then I glanced over at Lily to see what she was doing. She was lying on the ground, with her back up against the wall of the cave, her eyes closed.

“Lily…” I called out to her.

She kept her eyes closed, but I knew that she was listening.

“How strong is Bahamut…?” I asked. “Will you be okay against it…?”

“...You don’t have to worry about me, Kei.” Lily said. “Just worry about yourself.”

“...”

“You’re really weak at the moment, Kei…”

“Yeah… obviously…” I replied. “I’ve only been training in real fights for a day. Not everyone’s as gifted as you, Lily.”

“...”

“Anyways, don’t you worry.” I turned my head away from her. “I’m definitely going to get stronger, no matter what. You’ll see.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

I raised an eyebrow. That was weird for Lily to compliment me like that.

Well, it wasn’t really a compliment, but still…

I would had expected her to just laugh at me.

I closed my eyes, trying to sleep.

A silence took place.

“What will you do when you get your revenge?” Lily broke the silence. “After you’ve killed Balzard.”

I opened my eyes, then took a moment to think about her question. To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far.

“Well…” I thought back to the Blood Pact I made with Lily. “I guess I’ll just spend the rest of my days serving you. That’s what we agreed on, right?”

“What if we didn’t have the Blood Pact?” Lily asked. “What will you do then?”

“...”

I shifted on the ground. “I guess I would probably just kill myself. I don’t really have much to live for, honestly.”

“Seriously?” Lily said with a sigh. “You’re an idiot, Kei.”

I shrugged. “Whatever you say, Lily.”

“...”

“Lily… My family is all dead… my village…” I took a deep breath. “Do you know what pains me the most…?”

“...what...?”

“I… I had a sister… a little sister…” I closed my eyes. “Her name was Ali… She was 12 years old… and…”

“...”

“I-I couldn’t protect her, Lily… I promised my father and my mother… I promised them that I would protect Ali… I had one job… and I fucked it up…”

“...Kei… it’s not your fault she died…”

“If only I had been stronger… if I wasn’t messing around all the time back then, living life idly… maybe she wouldn’t had died…”

“You were never going to stop a demon god.” Lily sighed. “No matter how hard you trained.”

“But I’m getting stronger, right now, aren’t I?”

“...”

“I should had been training like this before… Even if I couldn’t fight off Balzard, maybe I could had grabbed Ali and ran faster… Now that I think about it, I should had just fucking grabbed her and ran straight away. I don’t know why I was thinking about saving the others in the village. If I just—”

Lily got up from the ground, and I stopped speaking for a moment, caught by surprise. My breathing was heavy, and anger was clouding my mind from thinking straight.

She walked up to me, then bent down.

I was about to say something, when she leaned towards me, and her arms wrapped around my back, pulling me into a hug. Her head was at my side, her azure hair tickling my cheeks.

“L-Lily?” I stared to my side at her, but her face was past my shoulders.

“It’s not your fault…” Lily said softly. Her voice held a soothing tone, that was causing the anger inside me to subside. “Please, don’t blame yourself…”

“...”

My breathing was slowing down.

“...Thanks Lily…” I muttered, my cheeks warm.

She pulled away from me, staring at me. Her eyes had their usual deadpan expression, but she forced a smile.

“Go back to sleep, Kei.”

I averted my gaze, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and gratefulness.

I thought I was already done with all of this back when I was stuck inside Lily’s bedroom.

Why was I still acting like some kid throwing a tantrum?

And even moreso, why was it always Lily the one that had to cheer me up?

I was a man...

I shouldn’t have to rely on Lily all the time…

Lily went back to her spot to sleep, and I took another deep breath, closing my eyes.

~x~

Waking up feeling faint sunlight hitting my eyelids, I cracked open my eyes, glancing around the cave. The fire had died down, and I could see Lily’s petite figure sleeping on the floor, her body huddled together. There was a peaceful expression on her face, much different to her usual cold look.

Zoel was gone, which confused me.

Grabbing my sword, I walked outside of the cave, staring around at my snowy surroundings. There was a light snow falling on me. It didn’t seem like that the snow ever stopped on this mountain, like some type of perpetual snow fall.

“Zoel?” I called out, glancing around for any sign of her. “Zoel!”

A silence, and then…

Zoel’s figure popped out from the end of the path leading up the mountain. She was running towards me with something in her hand.

“Keeeiiii!” Zoel cried in an enthusiastic tone. “I got you breakfast!”

“Breakfast?” I raised an eyebrow then stared down at what she was holding.

She stopped in front of me, dropping the bloody head of a snow troll onto the ground. “Here, eat!”

“What the fuck?!” I moved my leg away as the head hit the ground, blood splattering onto the white snow. “How the hell do I eat that?!”

She blinked at me confusedly. “Like this.” She picked up the head and opened her mouth.

I whacked the head away from her hands before she could take a bite.

“Are you serious?!” I shook my head, grabbing her hand to drag her back in the cave. I didn’t want her running off alone again. She was supposed to be sticking close to me and Lily so that she couldn’t flee from us. “Don’t go off like that!”

I grumbled angrily to myself as I entered the cave, then turned to her, my face turning to shock at what I saw.

She was blushing madly, her eyes teary and staring into me with a lovestruck expression.

“Wh-what’s with you?!” I said.

“That... was the first time you held my hand…!”

I quickly released my grip of her hand.

“I only held your hand to drag you back in the cave.” I said. “Don’t go thinking—Ah!”

Zoel ran into me, her arms wrapping around my back.

“It’s okay, Kei, you don’t have to be shy!” She said. “You can go to second base anytime you want.”

“Se-second base?”

“I’m a bit nervous cause this is my first time but if it’s you…”

I pulled her away from me, then stared at her with a clenched jaw.

“I didn’t hold your hand because I wanted to.” I started shaking her, my hands holding onto her shoulder. “Do. You. Understand?”

“Ahh!” Zoel was rattling back and forth.

I stopped when I thought it was enough to get my message across.

Zoel stepped back, sighing. “Jeez…” She glanced at me with a frown. “It’s so hard having to love a tsundere.”

“Y-you!”

Zoel ran off and I chased after her, swinging my sword around.

~x~

It was day 4 of our journey up the mountain, and I was fighting another monster, this time, a Thunder Lizard.

Thunder Lizards were creatures that matched the size of an elephant, but of course, were a lot more dangerous. Their horns emitted powerful lightning attacks that had enough power to kill a man in one hit. They were also extremely sturdy, having thick, rugged skin all across their body, acting as armour.

I jumped out of the way of a lightning bolt as it smashed dangerously close to me, zapping at the snow and causing a fire to light up where it had struck.

“S-shit!” I glanced at the fire burning up the snow. If I had been a second slower, I would had…

“Open your eyes!”

Lily’s voice snapped me awake, and I jumped again, dodging another lightning bolt that shot out from the Thunder Lizard’s horn.

“Jeez…” Lily was staring at me with a pathetic look. She placed her hand in her face, shaking her head. She was standing at the sidelines with Zoel, who was also watching, albeit she had a concerned face instead of one of embarrassment.

“Ahh, be careful, Kei!” Zoel called out, her hands clasped in front of her.

“Yeah, yeah, I know...” I muttered, staring at the Thunder Lizard in front of me.

There was a large distance between me and the Thunder Lizard, and I was having trouble getting close because of all the lightning that was flying dangerously out of the Thunder Lizard’s horn, whizzing into the air sporadically. I had to form a plan here…

I glanced around at the open field we were in. There was nothing to use as shelter, which made the task a lot harder. If only I had wings like Zoel, or if I had magic like Lily…

I raised my head as something came to mind. That’s it… If I do that…

I braced myself, feeling satisfied with my plan, then as another lightning bolt came flying at me, I ran under it, sprinting as fast as I could towards the Thunder Lizard.

“HAAH!!”

The distance between us was closing quickly. I raised my sword up, preparing to strike with all my force.

Another bolt of lightning shot out from the Thunder Lizard towards me, and my heart quickened, a strange energy rising from my core.

Remember your training, Kei!

Clenching my teeth, I placed my empty hand towards the lightning bolt, channeling the energy I felt surging inside me at the space ahead.

The lightning bolt smashed into an invisible barrier where I had released the energy, crackling fiercely in the air. I winced, feeling a sudden fatigue falling over me, but now wasn’t the time to rest.

Despite the Thunder Lizard’s tough armour all over its body, I had already thought up of an area to strike where I was sure my body would pierce through.

I jumped on the last step, leaping up to the Thunder Lizard’s head, my blade poised at my side.

Its eye!

My blade gouged through the Thunder Lizard’s eye and it let out a horrible screech causing my face to wince, but I pushed harder, feeling my sword sliding in.

“You fucking ugly beast!” I yelled, then jammed the blade the rest of the way through, stabbing the sword into what I presumed was its brain.

The guard of the sword stopped the blade from going any further in, but the damage was enough.

The Thunder Lizard fell sideways, collapsing onto the floor, and I jumped backwards, pulling the blade along with me.

I landed on my feet without a problem, then stared at the giant beast as it crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, blood pouring out from its eye.

It was dead, alright.

“Not bad…”

Lily walked up to me, glancing at the Thunder Lizard. “But it took you way too long to figure that one out.”

“Yeah.” I said, turning to face her. “But I still killed it in the end anyways. That’s what matters.”

Lily furrowed her eyebrows. “If you were fighting a stronger beast, you’d be dead.”

“...”

“That was amazing!” Zoel danced up to me, her arms outstretched. “You were so great, Kei!”

I placed my palm out in front of me so that her face would collide into it. Then I held her there as she struggled to get out.

“Anyways, Lily, when are you going to teach me more magic?” I said. “Maybe how to shoot a fire ball out of my hand or something?”

“We will get to that.” Lily said. “What you need to be focusing on at the moment is your swordplay.”

“This is too slow...”

“Well, that’s because you’re a beginner, Kei. Be happy with your progress. You have a long way to go.”

“Tch.” A vision of my Ali flashed in my head, along with a pang of anger. “I need to get stronger quicker, Lily! I want to be able to fight a demon on my own!”

“You need to start off from the bottom first—”

“I’ve already beaten all these monsters! Maybe if you throw me against something stronger, I can get better quicker!” My voice was raising now. “How am I going to fight a demon god if you don’t teach me more?!”

Zoel pulled her face out of my hand, glancing between me and Lily with a confused look.

“I said you need to start off slowly…” Lily said.

“I don’t want to start off slow! These monsters… they’re just annoying to deal with! It was nothing like fighting Zoel! Why can’t you teach me more magic? You’re so strong, Lily, and all you’ve taught me is one thing!”

“...”

“Throw me against a real demon. Or even Bahamut. I’m’ sure I will get stronger quicker if I feel that my opponent is strong. Maybe if I—”

Lily slapped me across the face hard, and I stopped speaking, my head turning the other way. I stared back at her slowly, my cheek stinging, and my anger pulsating inside my chest, but gradually dying down with the pain of the slap.

Lily met my stare with a harsh look, her lapis lazuli eyes cold.

“Keep that up and you’ll die.”

She turned away from me, walking ahead on the path.

“A-are you okay, Kei?”

Zoel was standing by my side, wincing.

I stared at Lily’s back, trying to control my emotions.

“Yeah…” I sheathed the sword behind my back, then started continuing on our path, following Lily. The anger inside me was subsiding, replaced by a numb feeling. “I’m fine…”

Zoel stared at me unsure, but followed me quietly, knowing that this wasn’t the time for one of her jokes.

We walked in silence, following Lily’s lead.