The map was a little distorted, and didn't make sense with my… incomplete world map when put right next to each other by a side-by-side comparison… but at least it was still comprehensible and served its purpose of guiding me in the right direction. It's kind of scary that I know where to go but not know what's actually there. I will give him much appreciation for this later.

The map led me to a desert. That indicated I was already leaving the borders of Asparthens. It was seemingly free from mobs, but the heatwave there… That was the real enemy. It was hotter than I ever expected and made me sweat like crazy while begrudgingly crossing it. It's a good thing my armor is mostly cloth and partly leather. I couldn't imagine anyone with metallic plate armor surviving more than a minute here. It took me nearly two hours of non-stop walking just to cross it.

There's just so much this world was forced onto me. But I came prepared and replenished myself with some food and drink. From time to time, I was just eating to distract my attention from the heat. What I need to worry about are the limited emergency potions I have. Another game mechanic to feed into my strategy of being a solo adventurer. My potions act as my inanimate healers and support. I probably could’ve prepared harder for this… but when the budget is low, I can always just rely on myself to act according to the situation.

Beyond the desert was another empty land. This time it was a plain meadow. Not the most luscious and vibrant of meadows but seeing a meadow with a single tree and a nearby pond… just outside a desert? Weirdly placed landscaping… great game 10/10.

Seeing how empty the area was, I decided to rush towards it, knelt beside the clean water to give my face, my feet, and my hair a quick wash. I'm a girl of many needs. Cleanliness was one of them. (In contrast to how I casually skip baths daily in my once-normal life.)

After I was almost done, I heard a small stampede coming in my general direction. Without surveying what the source of that was, I rushed to put my boots on, which I forgot to clean from the sand that filled it up, had my staff drawn, and waited in attention to greet the potential threats.

To my surprise, a herd of [Sand Deer] was the source of most of the commotion. As they got nearer, I then scoped over a [Brute Dune Scorpion] that was behind them. I then realized it was the one chasing down and cornering the harmless desert herd.

The partition between this meadow and the desert was where the trouble was occurring, and it wasn't too far from the pond I stayed at. So I focused my light magic and blasted a simple beam of light at the scorpion. It got hit successfully. But all of a sudden after that, my staff gave off a noticeable spark of magic from one of the chipped parts of its wood, surging light magic throughout its body.

"Just a little more. Please hold it in." I whispered to no one in particular, but my staff, holding onto its handle firmly with both hands.

As for the scorpion, it exploded like a gross but green neon-colored mess. It was the only source of the color on the plain desert sand, so it stood out.

After that short while, the herd noticed they were no longer chased by the monster, so they slowed down. Conveniently, they stopped at the spot near my area. I approached them carefully and calmed a few of them down by rubbing their lower jaws. I then directed them to the nearby pond. After doing so, I kept an ample distance as they were drinking from the pond water.

I took that in for a short while, admiring this version of a simple scene of life in this cruel fantasy world. It felt rather nice to see that…

I took off after partially drying up. I didn't want to wait until nightfall before I could retrieve this alleged advanced staff. Not only is nighttime scary as hell by itself, but the monsters that roam during that time period are ridiculously strong; hyper-leveled so to speak. Not like that fact made any of the lower-level enemy types any easier, as almost anything in this world can be capable of killing (at least, that’s what I’ve experienced before).

––– –––

I finally reached the end of the map Clyde gave me after treading through the plains meadow for several minutes. I looked over to the sky. It would seem that an ominous red moon was over it, or it was just a deep hollow hole in the sky, as dark as… old blood. It was still an afternoon, so it was an extremely weird sighting.

"Just what exactly was the other reason why this quest was abandoned..?" I pondered to myself as I kept my pace towards this place.

Even if it was still day, that specific figure was shining down on one specific area as what seems to be the center, and the whole radius around it had an emphatic hue of red everywhere. It pretty much looked like it was its own world under a dome of red.

I rushed down towards the entrance to personally take a better look at it from the inside. Just stepping inside the field of red made me feel a great sense of "turn back now". But today was the day I didn't give in to that. Today was the day I finally proved just how my hard work paid off in my favor this time around.

I traveled for a bit, following a pebble road, and went to scan my area. The surroundings looked like it was ravaged by war. I traveled inside the desolate ruin city until I saw a gate. I recognized it to be some sort of a Japanese border gate. Now, what are those called again?

I never expected to see something like it, in a world like this. It was my first time seeing it in person. As if… it was straight out of an anime (or just normal Japan, in that regard).

That gate had columns of rock on each side. Giant, mountain-like ranges of rock that seemed to be the same material as the ground everywhere in this place. I walked on the path under it carefully… but before I could safely pass through, a huge monster came crashing down from out of nowhere, intercepting my entrance. It knocked me back as that monster shook the ground. Literally, it toppled me over away from the gate. I recovered quickly and regained my posture.

From where I was looking, it looked like it was supposed to be a humanoid creature from Japanese folklore. Its size was about 5 or 6 muscular men in height (my inaccurately rough estimate) and it wore an iconic, Japanese Oni mask on its face, but it had long fangs and tusks and a… disturbingly large tongue. Simply put… it’s a really big and red monster, with muscles and veins flexing and twitching with every movement. Such details I could witness with the lack of clothing on it. The most notable pieces on its body were samurai shoulder armor and a tattered loincloth for its lower body.

"No one shall enter these sacred grounds! I am to be called General [Oni], the elite general appointed by the Priestess of the Blood Moon herself!" The monster announced with incense-like steam, coming out of its nostrils.

"The P-Priestess of the Blood Moon??? This is h-h-her kingdom?!?"

The chills I had from just entering this place, came back and were gravely intensified by that sudden realization. But even so, my adamant stubbornness seemed to have exceeded my fears. With that, I decided to suck up my wimpish feelings and focused my attention on the situation at hand. This monster appeared to be more than I could manage, by myself at that.

"Even so… I still have to try! This has to be the one last chance for me to prove I really have become strong. No turning back at this point! You can do this Lily… you can do this!" I thought to myself, giving myself that little determination… for a short-term, false sense of security.

"If you really have intentions of making it through, and even land a single gaze on my Priestess, then prove your worth and defeat me in battle!!" The monster roared.

"I-if that's your way… then I don’t have a choice!" I sheepishly yet also loudly replied, readying my staff, and tightening my grip on it as my life depended on it. "I won’t hold back!!"

It was odd nothing else was there. Monsters should be patrolling the area or something like that. This was practically weird, for a world like this… but what am I even saying?? I should be grateful for the absence of enemy mobs!

The Oni roared once and just like that, the battle began. It dealt the first blow by heavily stomping on the ground once and sent a strong shockwave. I ended up flying backward. Yep. Right off the bat, it was too much for me to handle… I was so small and light that even just its stomp was enough to inflict so much force over me to send me flying. I landed a decent distance with a roll. I wasn't the most acrobatic, but I was able to use my weight to my advantage. Though the attack didn't hit my head or any vital limb, I still received a lot of scratches and bruises and became sore all over after standing right back up.

I at least sat back up and went over to chant,

… by the holy rays of light, cleanse thy disciple's suffering. Be my support for this fight!

"[Healing]!" I mention out loud.

It helped out greatly and I was able to stand up without any issues. After regaining my position, I saw the Oni charging towards me.

I cast offensive light magic by chanting,

… with light called, magic may befall… from the heavens, I summon thee!

"[Triple Light Beam]!" I shouted.

Two out of three hit the moving target. It dazzled its eyes, stunned the brute for a few seconds. That gave me a chance to reposition myself and run to its side. With a monster that big, I couldn't expect it to be too agile for its mass. I continued my barrage three consecutive times, while running towards the right side of the beast's area for a better position, while still keeping my distance away from the brute. I was pretty accurate with my spells and my spellcasting time has improved significantly by the way. (That I can actually be proud of!) The rush of this being a hard battle helped in making sure that I don't slip up, and also… not slip over anything as I run while not looking where I'm going.

I thought I could take this one down without having to resort to other means; but to my surprise, the Oni made one long, loud, and rage-filled roar. It became refreshed of the stun and immune to any further crowd control. I came to realize that as soon as my Triple Light Beam spell was becoming ineffective to stun it. I stopped in my tracks to catch my breath. It took a while before the monster turned to face me. In a menacing, glowing red aura.

Using my enhanced force spell, [Force of Light] was out of the question, with a monster of its size alone. It was still far away from me, but I saw it charging at me at full velocity in just a few seconds from its starting point. Every step the Oni took was a menacing ground shake which immediately made me fear for my life. With no consideration of a better option, I immediately considered casting my last resort as the necessity for my current situation.

That last resort was a spell I just happened to learn by chance from a kind, aged Light Sorcerer. It was something that I shouldn't use regularly because its risks were far greater than its results (given my current capacity to cast and control spells). Adding to the enigmas of using it, was the fact that it was my first time using it officially in battle! But of course, I didn't have time to critically look over these thoughts and pick better decisions. I panicked as usual.

I tried my best to calm my thoughts down, even for a moment, and then concentrated on that massive spell, enchanting my staff while uttering these words (that light sorcerer told me it was supposed to make the spell grow more powerful than it already is… but I think the words are just there for me to say because it sounds cool):

"… light my eternal ally… With thee, I shall banish the darkness and the creatures that dare defy your might… Grant thy divine blessing to aid thy humble disciple in unleashing the might of the will that lusters before all… In the absence of light- nothing but darkness… let this power retribute thy loss…" I chanted as the beast charged at me with murderous intent.

Light seemingly flowed down like water from above as I chanted, and collected itself on top of my staff. I smiled with confidence after my lips touched the final words of my chant.

I definitely didn't sound too chunibyo by saying it to that much detail- did I? (~_~*)

"It is too late for you! Behold the light's [Grand Final Burst]!!!" I shouted, applying intonation with each word of the spell’s name.

In a second, a huge magic circle appeared facing towards the target where I was pointing the tip of the staff. With it, I fired a massive beam of light. It was so large and so intensely bright that I even had to close my eyes.

By the time I reopened them, the smoke had just recently cleared. I witnessed the monster being visibly sore and woozy. Its "rage" aura was gone. Its skin was singed and smoke swirled around its body as if it was the source. It lost its balance then finally collapsed, causing a small earthquake. The spell was a direct hit! It put much of a smile on my face to realize that. And with that small joy, it was followed by something else.

I involuntarily knelt, with my knees aching after meeting the rocky ground. My mana was critically drained. I no longer felt the will to do anything but breathing. Seconds after swaying like a single blade of grass to the breeze that blew through me, I too lost my balance and fell to the floor completely. My staff fell right in front of me.

Another event came, opposing my moment and my glorious victory. The way I saw it, light magic worked up my staff beyond its limit. After a few seconds, it simply exploded (making one snapping sound, comparable to when campfire wood crackles from burning) with the remaining residues of light and magic seeping through each scattered individual piece of wood following shortly after.

"Thank you for everything. Rest in peace, old friend." I whispered looking over to the broken pieces of my former staff.

Okay- now I definitely did sound chuuni… but who cares?? I have leeway being in a world like this, right? (And, I guess it did sound pretty… cool for me to do… contrary to the embarrassment I’ll feel later on when I’d recall the event.)

Once again, I was left unarmed, unable to move my body and limbs. My stamina was down to a critical, and all I could was stare over in one direction.

"Wonder how I'll be able to get home from here. Well… at least I took down the Oni, a-and by myself this time. Thank goodness…" I whispered to myself, closing my eyes, and sighed in relief afterward.

I fluttered my eyes back upon and decided to glance over to the monster that I saw collapsed on the ground.

"!!!"

I immediately shook in fear and horror to see that the monster I poured all my energy on, still got itself back upright.

… being in a world like this is suffering…

I thought to myself, as the words rang in my head, half-assuming that I may be undergoing yet another experience of… that same suffering.

As I could’ve expected, it walked over to where I was lying. I closed my eyes, shutting them harder and harder each time its footsteps made small tremors I could feel, increasing gradually to indicate the distance it closed in between us. All of which made me… fear for my life, as all my stubbornness from earlier had subsided and my sensible realism was all that’s left in me.

"Seems like you are unable to battle, eh?? But not to worry- it was not all in vain; you did put up quite a valiant effort. Therefore, I must commend your… stupidity, little girl! And yet your magic could only dream to compare the stings of the daily heartache I receive from my beloved Blood Moon Priestess! Graaah~!!"

I gulped down hard. I couldn’t even move anything no matter how hard I tried. Still in shock, I didn’t answer. I incredibly failed this one…

"It looks to me that I still won the battle~" The monster snickered cockily while picking me up by my two arms with its large hand.

It hurt while I was hanging.

"I may be a beast in the eyes of many and to your petty adventuring kind, and hhhhr… also a little sore from your magic, but I know how to show some mercy for delicate people such as yourself~" The monster grunted, releasing steam near me.

After the pain set in, I opened my eyes only to look away in shame, downed upon remembering… Clyde's sole intention was to help me.

"But I cannot just let you off with just a mere warning now, can I?" It said while taking me near to its own face.

It then took its mask off. I didn't see that as a relief, and I was damn right it wasn't…

"Let us have a little 'fun' before I let you go." It snarked at me happily, intentionally spraying saliva at every syllable with f and v.

What I saw, even as I struggled to move my head to turn away, was even worse than the word ‘ugly’…

To think its face was horrible enough, its breath smelled far worse than any horrible smell I virtually knew that existed… for that reason, I instinctively vomited the chyme right out from my stomach.

"O-oh!! I must be careful now! You need to stay alive and well to spread my splendor off to the land!"

It smiled pervertedly. Even from a beast, I could already tell the looks of someone who would dare do something… shameful, as tamest as I could describe it– well I guess towards me.

Why… must the disgusting monsters… always seem to take an interest in me…?

"Hfff hfff- wait a second… I think I smell something… appetizing?"

The Oni examined me, sniffing me at every given angle until it had laid its nose on my bag. That bag I strapped onto my belt. The turkey legs, Aria stuffed in, were there.

"Would you mind if I take a while to eat these?"

"…"

"Of course you won't~!" The monster cackled.

It laughed loudly as it gently put me back down, with me lying motionless on the floor. It snatched that bag. It turned around and sat on the ground and flung the bag up and down while it was opened. Whatever spilled out of it, the Oni immediately ate.

I used the very last bit of energy I stored in that interaction by crawling away slowly. Using my one slightly functional arm, I dragged myself across the ground.

"I… need t-to… get out of… h-here…" I muttered quietly to myself, tearing up as I utilized the fear for my own life to gather my remaining stamina.

Unfortunately, the metal bits of my equipment made brief yet alarming sounds against the uneven rocky ground I was crawling on. Although it was very brief, the Oni picked up the sound very quickly and turned around to check what I was doing. I didn't even reach a safe distance, though I thought I did.

"No no no, no!! We're still not done here!"

It reached and dragged me with its soiled hands. It placed me right below where it sat. It continued eating after that.

I didn’t really know it was possible, but I just made my situation worse, and sooner. Now that monster was just chowing down like a pig and I was positioned under its head. I was like the dish that caught up under all its messes. Bits of meat, grime, and spit drizzled on top of me. With no weapon to fight with and no actual strength to move anything besides my head, the "best" I could do was brace myself for the spit and chewed turkey bits that fell over its mouth as it was carelessly eating. Oh, how I hyperventilated using my mouth as I refuse to let my nose pick up the scent that was now on my person.

A bit of the scene from my past just came back to nudge my weak mind even further now that these things were happening.

Slimes were everywhere. Slimes were everywhere, piling on me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even have the strength to complain. I felt so dirty… inside-out.

Back to the reality of my situation, I could see the monster giving me a grotesque smug as it might've thought I wouldn't notice it was purposely doing those things.

"Oh~! How careless of me! I shoooouuuld clean you up~" The Oni looked down at me pervertedly, as it licked its lips with its disgustingly wet tongue.

By now you should be able to guess what that monster did to me… No? Oh… then brace for it (as I did). I'm gonna have to describe it in detail.

The monster bent down, leaned its mouth a few feet right over me… and licked me, down from my feet, up to my legs (it was so sticky that the tongue lifted my skirt and the garments underneath were touched on as well), then to my torso and my face. I closed my eyes and mouth tightly though those actions could only do so much to mitigate what I was in for. Several strings of translucent green saliva accompanied the slimy tongue that took its time before departing from me. I vomited while facing up at the horrifying blood-red sky soon after. My eyes gave up easily after they had filled themselves up with tears, all while twitching from way too much going on. The feelings I missed from the events I remembered from my rough past… returned to me for a split second.

A single shock of feeling went over me. It was terrifying. It was depressing. It was painful.

Partly because of what was happening to me at the moment, but some other… was because of how it was my fault that it was happening in the first place. I started to feel like all of these were equal punishments to what I did to Clyde. His pained smile was all I could manage to think about…

"Your fear, your sadness, your humiliation… they all leave a sweet sensation that drives me crazy!! Forget about letting you go… I'll just gobble you up right at this spot!! I will never know when I will ever get another chance like this!! Only a FOOL would let an easy opportunity like this slip away!" The monster slurped lustfully while cackling maniacally, dripping more of its awful spit on me.

"It's my fault. I shut you out… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" I whimpered to myself while crying all that my eyes stored.

I lay down on the floor beaten down from the pain and exhaustion, all grimy from the lustful Oni's saliva, and depressed from everything that I found wrong with the decision I've chosen…

"How could I've been so stupid…? I didn't even worry if the boss was stronger than me. Even if I had already known that all I cared about was getting stronger… my 16-year-old shut-in mindset still wasn't ready to put my trust in people, even after a long session of being alone and being picked on by both fellow adventurers and weak monsters… Guess I still haven't learned anything at all… me and my immature decisions. I took pity on myself now that I was going to die??? … I really am weak, after all… I’m sorry… I failed my friends. I failed that blindfolded hero… who saw worth for my being alive… So this time, Oni food."

I didn't really think I'd be able to accept death so freely but… I just slowly closed my eyes tightly and waited for my imminent doom.

………

"Aww… do not fret, little girl! This will only take a little while. Quick and easy! FWAHAHAHA!- aa…!"

With an abrupt pause, the ground shook twice so hard the sound rang in my ears. It also interrupted the Oni, as if something heavy fell and impaled the ground with something solid.

"AHK.. a-AHHH… HHKK..!"

I didn’t know what it was, and I don’t have the strength and will to look yet.

"GRAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" The monster then shrieked in pain.

After hearing something like that, I slowly lifted my eyes open and took a peek at what was going on.

"!!"

I suddenly widened my eyes in shock to see two, large, spine-shaped ice shards, impaling the monster's hands to the ground.

"WRAAAAHHHHHHH!! AHHHH!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! " The monster continued its series of shrieking as it struggled in pain to free itself.

I heard echoes of footsteps somewhere. The sound was like high heels firmly stepping with a passion to a smooth, wooden floor. After one, firm and loud step, I heard these words:

"You've made an unforgivable mess of my young, innocent friend… I will, then, take such pleasure in making a sweet, sweet mockery of your death in exchange!" A woman with a familiar voice said as she raised her voice with anger.

I heard a heel stomp echoing everywhere from a single point, accompanied by ice cracking sounds from the distance.

"… I know that voice…"

I slowly turned my head to the source of those words, while minding the pain that accompanied my movement. I felt a sense of utmost joy to see a familiar face, even though she was just new to me. The same brown-haired waitress coming to my rescue, as it would seem so.

"AHHHRRRGG!! Set me free you Ice Witch!!!" He roared at her, continuing his series of ceaseless howling and cries of pain.

"You know?- insulting me will only make things worse for you. Perhaps… I should give you another cooold touch~", Aria replied with a sadistic snicker, as ice magic visibly flowed in between her fingers.

"GRAAAHHHHH L-let's talk this out! I-I-I did show m-mercy t-t-to your friend. S-s-show me m-mercy too!!", the monster pleaded.

Aria turned to face me blankly for a while, but right after she turned back to face the Oni.

"Mercy…" She repeated the word in a menacing tone.

She was dead serious about punishing the Oni. She was beginning to place tension into the matter. She scoffed.

"Well… it would be fair if I let you off this time, seeing that you didn't kill her immediately- but it would also be fair to show you that same mercy you said you gave…"

She paused with a dark shade stretching across her face.

"I'm only giving you to the count of five! Get out of my face… or else~" She continued, smirking amidst the sadistic look on her face, then cackled shortly after. Almost like… how witches do.

Besides my positive take on her arrival, I was totally shocked to see that side of her. From an innocent and seemingly clumsy waitress to a powerful yet sinister magic-user. I never expected her to be an adventurer at all, and that came out of nowhere… she came from out of nowhere!

The monster roared in pain as it struggled hard to break free from the ice shards that impaled its hands to the ground. The pressure of the situation had built up while she was approaching with firm heel sounds echoing with the crackling ice. The Oni sounded even angrier and complained even louder as Aria continued counting down. She reached 2, but the monster couldn't even budge its impalement.

"1… 1… 1… 1… 1… 1…" Aria flicked a pointer finger from side to side, sarcastically counted down, making fun of the suffering Oni right over its face.

She already spawned an accumulated amount of huge horizontally-aimed ice shards, floating behind her back. All these have been occurring ever since she started counting down. All she had to do right there was make all of them move to her will.

It was just no use; the Oni wasn't able to free itself with the time given. Aria, half-cocky with the situation, already was standing before the monster.

"Zero. Die." She cheerfully said with a serious yet mocking tone.

Just the icy aura from her action made the area swirl of ice magic. Aria's face immediately turned grim. Before the Oni could complain and plead for more, she reached and laid her hand forward, making the ice shards move in one by one, piercing the monster by its two feet, both sides of his upper torso, its crotch, and then lastly, its mouth piercing all the way up to its brain. All in that chronologically brutal order…

She closed that hand into a clenched fist, with all the magic immediately dispersing from the air. With a sudden motion of events, I saw a horrific sight of the beast, filled with more shards, impaling inside-then-out, and made each of the said body parts and limbs fall off.

Imagine a baked potato with a large fork forcing itself onto its center, while it's being impaled by forks on the same spot after it had been deformed by the first large fork. Then what's left of the madness had been impaled with a multitude of toothpicks from inside-out. Sounds like a mess doesn't it? It actually was…

It was a good thing that physics still played a role in this scene… because her intense ice magic prevented the Oni's blood from flowing… it froze the blood even! Thus, preventing a messier display of gore.

Witnessing all that, I didn't know what to follow. Was I supposed to be happy that the monster, who shamed and almost ate me, died? Or was I supposed to be really wary of how Aria deals with her enemies…?

After turning around to face me again, she rushed towards me with a frustrated look. She does have a flexible personality. One moment she was being sadistic, then the next she became her caring self. But what am I even complaining about at that point…?

"I-I'm sorry I was late!" She said to me while laying her hands over me, casting a healing spell over me.

Through the coldness of the ice magic she has, I was starting to regain my strength back… but my emotions, my trauma still kept me down.

"I was weak… but I s-s-still considered doing this… alone.." I stammered while sobbing throughout my response.

"You're still young. For all I know, it was… our fault for letting you…" She said while bending her knees to level herself as she went right next to me.

"Let's get you back on your feet. C'mon I'll help you." Aria said while she just went in with her arms and started lifting my back.

She didn't even seem disgusted with the mess that was dripping onto her. I stopped her from making me stand up and slowly ended up in a sitting position instead. I was still tired, filthy, and down… I kept telling myself those over and over.

"Lily…?" She asked.

"Let's go home…" I replied while mindfully wiping my tears away. "I'm done for today…"

"But… you came this far- didn't you say you wanted to get stronger??" She asked.

"I failed my own quest already! I almost died trying! If I couldn't do this alone… if I can't pull my own weight, how could I possibly do well in a team of my own! I can't even do anything at all!! I almost let down the one who saved and made it possible for me to… reach this point. I almost threw my life away!" I raised my voice unintentionally. My eyes filled with tears again as I broke down and started to sob even more. My eyes were too soggy for me to see what Aria went to do, but I'm pretty sure she quietly sat beside me.

"You know? I just met you and all, but I already see something with your attitude. It's not entirely wrong. It's… just too much. But it’s something I can relate to, somewhat." She calmly replied, following a sigh. "In your case, you say you never think of relying on anyone, and you never let yourself be assisted especially when you know that it'll be coming for you, but in reality you were just so afraid of letting anyone down, letting anyone get hurt- maybe because they cared for you… or maybe, because of your weaknesses and how you see yourself."

I was struck by her idea. She was right. Even if we just met, she just read me like a book. At least for my attitude? Maybe she knows more about me than I do about myself. Maybe…

"Maybe I… I have been… b-but this s-still doesn't change the fact that I will still be weak and I won't be right by Clyde's side… instead I'd be falling behind, at his back. Scratch that! I'd fall b-behind everyone's back! Not to mention, I p-promised I'd get stronger…" I replied while minimally trying to fight back the tears.

"I see-" She then immediately pointed a finger near my face. It caught me off guard that I put almost all my attention on it. "You're panicking because he was able to let himself in with his pain, and you let Clyde rely on you as you intend to rely on him, and you're ashamed of failing him, correct?"

I flinched… but nodded slowly.

Was I really that easy to read? I didn't even realize I'm doing all that intentionally… I was just caught up with his sharing. Maybe I did relate to him in some way… I just didn't know why. Why do I remember only the useless parts of my old life, instead of the really important ones that matter? The ones that actually would make the most sense…

"If it's of any interest to you, I've done something similar in the past." She said while she was fixing the bangs of her hair to the right position with her head turned at me. "But that's info I can only share once we finish this. So we better finish this first." She added with a smile while attempting to hand brush through my slimy hair to clear off a significant amount of grime and fix the bangs stuck over my face. After which, she firmly shook off her hand in one motion to flick off what she scooped.

"Don't rely too much on yourself. You're only getting so far with what you've been doing 'alone'. You can do sooo much… but not with that thinking of yours. Let me help you… even at least for now."

She offered her hand to me after standing up, offering her other hand with a clean cloth. She was actually smiling. Upon seeing that, I reflected for a moment…

"I won't be a shut-in anymore. If I will get stronger because I trusted in my new friends then that's fine, just as long as they're the ones lending it. I will pay them back when the opportunity arises, eventually… But as of right now– I probably should focus more on getting used to becoming dirty as long I'm living here in this world… since that's what this world keeps on offering to me." I thought and humored myself.

I reached for her hand. I still felt bad that she let me touch her in my current grimy state. Maybe she really was that kind not to mind it. I stood up and shook a bit before I regained my posture and used the cloth she gave me to wipe up my slimy face.

"I'm ashamed that I'm bothering you with this. But since you put it that way, thank you… for this… but please, stop touching me. I don't want you to get dirty too…"

Then we both laughed at ourselves. Aria might be strong-willed but I wasn't sure if she was that daring.

"I'll even carry you all the way if I have to." She replied and stared down at me seriously.

"Umm- let's k-keep moving! We already cleared the entrance anyway." I shifted the conversation and maintained my distance, slightly raising my hands with a ‘don't come near me’ gesture, fearing that she really would do something of the sort.

"I knew it was going to happen, but I didn't think far ahead enough," I added while looking and pointing to the pieces of my broken staff.

"Don't worry, I'll be prepared when that matter comes up, so you can count on me, okay??" Aria said, winking at me.

It was the same way I winked at her from earlier. How the turn tables… turn tides… uh, how does that expression go again…?

I just nodded. We went further inside from the border gate. Now being inside the area, I saw that it was even more empty… desolate, devoid of life. The open space was so large. There were large stones arranged around the whole place, serving as a wall, almost as if it was an arena.

I recognized these given conditions in these kinds of games very well.

Semi-open areas + the fact that it was suspiciously empty and quiet = boss fight.

But even as we were nearing the other side of the whole place, no one was coming. We haven't even heard a single sound ever since we entered the gate.

"Strange… usually when people get this far, they’d get jumped by a boss as they’d do in cutscenes." I thought while looking over my left and right.

"Be on your guard and stay close to me." She said and looked at me, turning away after I gave a brief nod.

After several minutes of walking cautiously, we still saw nothing but the same ruined rocks scattered all over the place. We eventually arrived at a blood-drenched throne. The scary part about that is the blood that soaked it, where the blood hole figure thing was "shining" down on the chair- or maybe letting down a stream of red light continuously. It even had the stench of actual fresh blood!

It's where that "hole in the sky" was shining down upon so I could guess that it could only mean that we were already at the exact center of the ravaged Kingdom.

"This must belong to the Priestess of the Blood Moon, whoever that is… according to the Oni from earlier," I said.

"There's her throne, but where's the Priestess?", Aria replied and looked around.

Wait… Do priestesses have thrones in this world? Something seems off with the concept… I might have to consult people about this later. But for now, I just kept my mouth shut.

I noticed two tables far apart from the grand chair. One had a really shiny-looking staff. The other one was covered with a clean cloth, but I was sure something was moving under it. I tugged on her shirt (whatever a guild house waitress wears for a top) to call her attention.

"Hey look– I think that's it!"

I pointed to the conspicuous staff that seemed to be unguarded. We approached it cautiously.

"Be careful-!" She said.

I nodded and turned my attention to the staff in front of us. I slowly reached my hand over it. Then thoughts suddenly ravaged my mind on the topic that it might be set for a trap or anything else, in particular, relating to that matter.

I then backed out and turned to Aria.

"Uhmm it might be weird but can I hold your hand while I'm doing this…? So if it is a trap you can respond better to me."

She held my hand before I could reach hers myself.

"Good thinking. I'll stay vigilant and attentive." She said with much intent.

Quite the fast affirmation, but I guess that was okay. I turned my attention to the staff once again.

"Okay, let's do this. Fast and easy? Slow but careful?" I thought to myself.

I cleared my thoughts upon realizing the thought that someone was with me this time. Giving myself some time to look at it, the staff was a slender white rod that was embedded with eleven jewels and gems on its main handle. All of which had their own unique colors. There's a prettier gem that floated on the staff's head. It was sparkly white and when I reached my hand to it, it lit up faintly. I felt less tense and was mentally strong enough to pull the staff from its place. I quickly grabbed it and unintentionally tightened my grip on Aria's hand. I blinked hard and slightly squealed.

"…"

Nothing happened. I quickly jumped backward, distancing myself from the humble table.

Seconds after, with a surprising turn of events of holding onto the bright staff, it glowed even brighter. Initially, the main jewel on its head glowed. What followed was the handle that enveloped the jewels in light. Brighter and brighter until all I saw was white light. I felt its power coursing through me. It felt both strange and wonderful, first-hand and for real! It made me and my entire body glow with it. I couldn't even see my own body during that scene. At least, it was the kind of light that my weak eyes could endure staring. During that whole scene, my only question in mind was, "What…?"

Aria didn't seem to have any negative reaction while I still continuously held her hand, so I thought it was okay to keep holding onto her. I also felt… powerful for a second, as if I was able to cast my most powerful, yet mana-hungry, last resort spell… multiple times!

Of course, after a few seconds, the wondrous light show ended abruptly. All of the stains that were on me were gone and the state of my damaged equipment was refreshed and looked good as new. I wasn't tired, dirty, and down anymore. Still maybe a little down, but eh… I got over the first.

I'd get over something like this as I always did.

"It's almost as if… it was yours all along. Just… wow." Aria uttered in surprise.

At her response, I looked up at her and thought to myself: "I didn't even know what happened…"

"Well, that's that. Staff retrieved. Even if the reward money isn't going to be registered with it being an abandoned quest and all, the weapon in question might as well be the reward. With that said, let's go home, Lily!" She smiled and tried to let go of my hand.

I held her hand even tighter for a moment.

"Not yet…"

I let go to place my face over her belly, with my arms latching onto her back, forming an embrace as my personally impractical token of appreciation for her saving my life. Try imagining that yourself, to gauge how small I really was. (now I'm admitting it, and I don't care anymore… well, at least just for now.)

"Thank you for saving me… I wouldn't have gotten this far without you and your help. Thank you. Thank you…" I said with my face muffled over where it’s planted.

"Uhmm- it's… not a-a big deal… umm it was- ermm one way t-to make up for our mistakes… but umm- th-thanks for t-thinking so…" She nervously replied.

I may be easy to read, but no one knows what this little girl's going to do next. (I won't ever admit that out loud myself! I just did but… n-never again!)

Aria exhaled in slowly and returned the hug while stroking my hair.

"You're too straightforward… and you surprised me a lot today. But I gotta say– this feels nice. Thank you for reminding me that these kinds of things still exist here." She added with a mellow tone.

I felt it and she was right about that. Though, I wondered what she meant by that last part. She kind of reminded me of someone from way back at home. She reminded me faintly about something…

But when you thought things couldn't get any better (the opposite actually), then came an unnecessarily startling snore. It echoed all over the place. It startled me so much that I detached from what I was being emotional about, and suddenly let go of Aria.

"W-where did that come from??" I asked, alertly navigating my vision around.

I looked over towards that other table we haven't checked out. Something, under a cloth cover, was moving while it made sounds, so I called Aria's attention and pointed to that specific table. We approached it cautiously.

"Okay, I'll do this one this time. Stay alert." She whispered.

"Be careful," I whispered in reply.

She didn't hesitate to pull the cloth out of the way. At the moment she gripped on it, she swiftly pulled it towards us for us to see what was under it.

We both saw a creature peacefully sleeping soundly. It wasn't a gross creature… it wasn't "blood" or "blood moon" related at all, and was entirely out of place with the whole feel of the area…

Because what we saw… was a living star.