The famaliar dream came to Ryuji. It was one he had seen countless times before. In the darkness, a woman stood looking at him. The static surrounding her faded only around her silhouetted lips. He knew what she was saying. She was saying-

"Free." His eyes shot open as he said the word on his mind.

"What?"

Rhea, shocked by his sudden awakening, jumped back.

Ryuji fully woke up and tried to rise out of his makeshift sleeping bag. Pain hit him like a truck, and he fell back down. His vision blurred while the world seemed a little more slanted than before.

“Don’t move so fast! I only have a fairly low-level healing miracle. It was just enough to make sure you didn't die, so you need to heal yourself now.”

“Sacred High Heal.”

His body regenerated, and Ryuji could move again. As he glanced around, he saw that they were still outdoors in some grassy. In front of them was a nice and cozy campfire that put Ryuji on edge. The full moon was out, and thanks to that, Ryuji could clearly make out the angel sitting away from the fire. Rhea had ditched her expensive armor and now wore fancy red silks.

'Does this girl own anything that isn't red?'

He looked at her up and down and only then realized how filled out she was. Everything about her body screamed perfection to him. From her chest to her bottom, even her legs. To Ryuji, she was the picture of beauty itself. Absorbed in the scene before him, he almost forgot about the events that had just transpired.

“Did I kill him?” Ryuji faintly remembered doing something super awesome and wanted to know if that was a dream or not.

“Of course not. I killed Zephyr.” Rhea acted as if Ryujii had just spoken utter nonsense. Ryuji's dreams and self-esteem were once crushed by reality. “Although I definitely couldn’t have done it without you. Your self-abandonment and reckless charge saved my life. That move you used to cleave his head was brilliant! And then, even though you were lying in a pool of your own blood, you still reached out to me and saved my life instead of your own. For this, I am eternally in your debt." She bowed deeply towards Ryuji. "Please don't think of this as mere flattery, but I see you as a hero in your own right.”

In his head, fireworks were going off in celebration. When was the last time someone had given him a genuine compliment? He really couldn't remember. Even Elizabeth was more of a tough-love sort of person and never gave any sincere praise.

She got up from her bow and stared down at Ryuji. Her fiery eyes appeared uncertain. “I only ask, why did you save me? Surely you wanted to save yourself more than a woman you have no connection with. You could have just run away while his attention was solely on me.”

He didn't have to stop to think about his answer. “Did you already forget that we’re friends? Friends save friends; it's common knowledge." His true reason was too embarrassing to say, but his substitute answer wasn't a lie either. "Not to mention you saved me first, remember?”

“Still... do you do dangerous stuff like this all the time?"

"Nope, only when cute girls are involved." Ryuji smiled at the smirking knight and decided to ask the obvious question. “So, how long was I out?”

“Two days.”

“WHAT!?”

His smile dropped, and a face of pure dismay replaced it. Rhea giggled and pointed towards the horizon. On it, Ryuji could see a faint glow despite it being night.

“Cacim is just over that hill. If you walk, it’ll take you about an hour to get there.”

Ryuji was glad to have made it to his destination, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. “Where are you going? You still meeting that friend?”

She shook her head. “It was my mission to take down a roaming evil god, but I could never have expected it to be a Dark Moon. I need to go and report this as fast as possible.”

“Report it where?”

Ryuji had a bad feeling it was somewhere far away. By the sad smile she was wearing, he could tell he was right.

“I'll be going to the global delegation in Mallan.”

“That’s on the other side of the world!”

She looked down at the ground. “Yes… yes, it is.”

“So, this is goodbye?”

“I’m sorry I caused you nothing but trouble." Rhea rose and smiled. "I hope this audience goes well for you.”

A sinking feeling was all Ryuji had in his chest. He hadn't thought about being separated from her so soon. For the last few days, she had been the best thing in his life. Rhea listened, she joked, she laughed, she talked. Everything he had ever wanted out of a companion she gave him. If Ryuji could sum it up, he would say it felt like a genuine connection. And he was sure she felt the same way too. So could he just sit back and watch her leave? Would he find someone else who gave him this same sort of spark? He thought it highly unlikely. Not in his life of close to forty years had he ever felt this.

And so he did something uncharacteristic; he reached out and grabbed her hand. It was soft yet fully calloused from swordsmanship.

He looked up full of desperation and pleaded. “Please let me adventure with you!”

Words that she had always wanted to hear blessed her ears, but doubt rocked her. “Why? Why would you want that for yourself? If you're with me, more enemies like Zephyr will surely appear. What will happen to you then? It won't always turn out like this; one day, your luck will fail."

He could tell that she really wanted to say yes, but her compassion was holding her back. She couldn't bear to think of what might befall him if he tagged along.

His words were oddly bitter as he thought of that damned desk he used to sit at. “No one lives forever. I would rather die with you than live a safe life of stagnation." A lone rope filled his vision, but with a quick breath and a pause, he was back to his typical self. "Not that I want to die, of course! It's just that you have to live your life the way you want, even if it comes with a chance of consequences. Overcoming those obstacles and continuing to do what you want is what life's all about after all."

"... You sound like a hermit."

"That is so rude! Do you see these guns? Would a hermit have these!?"

Rhea couldn't help but smile, looking at Ryuji's improvised 'gun show'. "You'd be surprised how many old people I've seen with bigger muscles than you."

"What do they feed the elderly where you're from?"

A soft silence covered them both as they sat there thinking about their futures. Rhea was the first to speak up.

Her voice was choked up, and she was having a hard time pushing the words out. "... You really want to join me? It won't be easy or pleasant, you know? Are you sure?"

"How could it not be pleasant? I get to talk to you! Wait! Don't hit me I promise I'm taking this seriously, okay? The answer is a resounding yes!"

"You're a big stupid... idiot! You know that? Here I am being all teary-eyed and you're over there making jokes!"

Ryuji was about to answer back with yet another joke when he was ambushed. Rhea pulled on his arm and enveloped him in a big hug. Ryuji's mind was overloaded by the realization of how soft and warm girls are. Scratch the girls part, Ryuji couldn't remember if he had ever been hugged by a person in general. His brain no longer processed thoughts, only static. He decided to just roll with it and put his arms around her. Their arms tightened around one another as they pulled their bodies closer together. He could feel his heart literally thumping out of his chest and just knew that she could too.

“Hugs really are nice, huh?” Rhea interrupted his brain meltdown.

Ryuji couldn't hide his nervousness, and it didn't help that she was practically whispering into his ear. “I-I tried to tell you earlier before we got interrupted.”

“Oh?” She leaned further in and hugged even tighter while giggling. “How’s it feel to be the nervous one for a change?”

Her giggle promptly put him somewhere on cloud nine. “I-It’s not so bad, ya know.”

Rhea backed away and released her grip on Ryuji. She looked at him with an energetic smile. “Now that that's out of the way, you are going to have to go through the proper channels if you want to come with me!”

“Proper channels?”

“If you want to adventure with me, you need to be the proper rank. I took a peek at your card while you were unconscious. You need to be a way higher rank than that.” Rhea looked at him disappointedly.

“Why did you look at my card? What else did you look at!?”

“N-nothing. Ahem, you need to go to the Academy for adventurers.”

Ryuji was a little upset that she was just glossing over it but decided to let it go. “There’s an academy for that?”

“Yes, it's in the capital of Dengal. It's very selective and expensive, so you need this.” She handed Ryuji a pendant on a chain with the engraving of a phoenix. “You need to get there within the next month. The classes should start soon after.”

“So this will get me in?”

“Yep! It's proof that you're with the Sword Saint, so take good care of it!”

She swiveled around and started gathering her things. Ryuji felt a nervousness that he couldn't shake off.

“Hey… when and where should we meet up?”

“The class takes a year, so how about in a year and two months we meet in the river city of Priscillaca?”

“Sounds good!”

Ryuji felt another wave of nervousness. He felt it rush down and grip him by his core. 'What if she doesn’t show up? What if I don’t make it there on time? What if-'

“Can you pinky promise me?”

All negative thoughts blew away as Rhea leaned forward towards Ryuji, pinky outstretched. Her hand was shaking badly as if it was taking all of her courage to keep it there. Ryuji stared at her dumbfounded.

“I-If you don’t want too that’s okay. I just-"

Ryuji slipped his pinky around hers and held firm. “I swear I'll be there at Priscillaca.”

“Me too!”

A radiant smile that could outshine the sun blazed on her face. Her eyes were still a little red from the previous waterworks, but her otherworldly beauty remained. The image burned itself into his mind.

‘It just dawned on me. This, this is the kind of fantasy I wanted. To be looked at like that, to be wanted like that, to be missed like that. It's going to be a long year...’

The feeling of her warm hand and the softness of that hug was all he could think about as she left, and he headed closer and closer towards his fate in Cacim.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////

After arriving, he couldn’t contain his excitement. He beelined it straight for the royal house. Cacim was your pretty standard city in Dengal. Loads of brick and wood houses cramped together. Paved stone roads for coaches. An outer wall for defense and impoverished living standards.

'Where the hell is the king's court?' After some walking and questioning, he made it to the center of the city where the local king and his court resided. It was a big ornate building that reminded him of medieval architecture.

"Hey guard, now I know this might sound weird, but the king is waiting for me. Oh yeah, I was sent by Ishtar."

The guards looked at him with angry and confused expressions. He was pretty sure he was about to get arrested when they returned and suddenly permitted him to pass.

The guard leading him sobbed openly. "I can't believe that it actually happened! Now we lost the bet, damn!"

He walked past the other sad guards and made his way to the hall. To his surprise, the king was still up even though it was fastly approaching midnight. Ryuji thought that the king must be pretty serious about his job if he was going to such lengths.

The king sat upon his throne with a tired look like he was preparing himself for disappointment. “What do you want adventurer?”

Ryuji had a hard time remembering exactly what he should say. “I’m uh… the fortunes hero? And I have this pendant from the Sword Saint if you don't believe me.” He half expected to just be kicked out. Just then, the king erupted in elation.

He was laughing maniacally like he had heard the funniest thing ever told. “I knew it! I’m not crazy! Those dreams were real! I never told a soul about them. I just tell my guards to let anyone in here who’s an adventurer. I even stay up every night, as late as possible, in my audience hall. It finally paid off! You even have a connection to the High King's dog! You must be him. you must be the hero!”

Ryuji felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden. He felt like he should let the king have his moment, but he really didn't want to stand by listening to a joker laugh for the next five minutes. “So, do you have something for me... or what?”

“Huh?" It was like he forgot Ryuji was even standing there. "Oh, yes, of course. Guards bring out my daughter, please!”

“Daughter! What for?”

“She’ll be going with you, of course. Every hero needs companions to get through their trials. My daughter has trained for years just for this moment. I'm sure you will find her exceptionally useful.”

“Riiight.”

It wasn't really what he had in mind, but he wasn't going to turn his nose up at the offer. He also didn't know how he felt about a father just giving his daughter to some random guy.

..............................................................................................

He felt awkward waiting in the complete silence so, he drummed up some conversation. “So, is it normal for children of kings to do this? I figured you would want your daughter to marry some lord or... something.”

“She is my third daughter. She didn't really serve a purpose, so either she was doing this, or I was sending her down to Hofel and having her become a holy woman. Since she said she would rather be a warrior than a 'purposeless welp' I sent her to train.”

“What kind of training?” Ryuji had doubts about an aristocrat becoming an adventurer.

“She has received formal training in hand-to-hand combat for the last fifteen years.”

’Fifteen years? That’s as long as my time here!’

“What is it, father?”

From the right of the throne came a girl. She was slightly shorter than Ryuji and had short, jet black hair. She seemed to like the color green as her entire outfit was seafoam green. Ryuji figured it might be because her eyes were jade.

“This here is the hero!”

“Hello, I am Ryuji Koyanagi. I hope we can become good friends!” His voice broke halfway through from his nerves.

‘Bad start! Bad start!’

“I'm Marie Northridge. I hope you live up to your title.”

Her voice sounded cold and grating. Her eyes lacked any trace of life in them as well. But it didn’t bother Ryuji in the slightest. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect.

‘Ah, she’s like a Kudere! I didn't know people like this actually existed!’

His face apparently showed this excitement as Marie picked up on it. “Mr. Hero, I believe you are having disgusting thoughts about me. Just because I serve you does not mean I’ll be doing that with you.”

“No! I was not thinking about that... yet.”

“Ah, so it’ll happen later then. Ill remain ever vigilant.”

“Can we please just leave? Having this kind of discussion in front of your father is very unsettling.”

Even though he said that the king was already on to other business and signing papers. It was like this whole thing was just some fun side project to him, and now that he had done his job, there was no need for him to concern himself with it anymore. Marie looked off and sighed before jerking Ryuji out of the building with her.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ryuji shilled for an inn that they could sleep at. The problem was, he needed money to fix his sword, and that meant saving it in any way he can. To sum it up, one room, two people.

“Well um, goodnight then!” Ryuji darted to his bed as he didn't want any awkward situations on their first day meeting each other.

“Hold it. I need to see something, right now.”

“Uhm you see, I’m very shy, so could you- “

“Keep your pervy thoughts to yourself, please.”

She reached into his pocket and took out his card.

“Let’s see, D-rank and… level twenty-five Grandmaster Swordsman!” She seemed genuinely shocked by his class rank. "So you can make your own skills?"

She seemed pretty intrigued, which only put Ryuji on edge. "Uh yeah."

"Then may I ask why you're only D-rank, even though you're a Grandmaster? You should make A rank easy."

Sweat formed on his forehead. "I don't have any aspirations..." His answer was quiet as he formed the most transparent lie in history.

"Tell me why." Her tone was grave, and he felt under threat.

"I can't use Grandmaster or Master skills. They hurt me pretty bad. I guess that's what happens when you make your own skills; you got to work out the kinks..."

"I see, so you're a level twenty-five, a D-rank, and a loser!"

He was hit by a low blow. What was worse about is that his level had actually been about five lower before his recently deadly encounters. "What’s your level, missy!”

“I’m level forty-five!”

“Oh… oh yeah?”

The last part was inaudible as Ryuji had no comeback. Levels measured how much potential you had left. The higher your level, the more tapped into your inner potential you were. By becoming level one hundred, you would reach maximum potential. Those who went beyond that limit were known as gods.

“I trained for a decade and a half, and when you finally arrive, you’re just a big disappointment.”

Her tone took on one of someone who had a life of misfortune after misfortune and that this was just the most recent one to her.

“You can go back if you want.” Ryuji was just a little upset at being so openly criticized.

Her voice softened and dropped in volume. “Go back? I never want to go back." Though very quickly, she changed it back to the usual cold tone. "Being with an addle-minded hero is better than being with an addle-minded old fool.”

Ryuji could tell that she had some pretty bad family issues and that he would do well to leave them alone. “Well, I’ve had enough beratement for one night. I’m going to bed. I’ll fill you in on the plan tomorrow.”

As they lay in bed, they both felt disappointed. And they both hoped that the next day would prove to be better