Ice came to, finding himself back inside the room he first woke up in when he was sent to El Fabula; a worried looking Sea sitting beside the bed.

“You’re awake! Thank goodness! How are you feeling?”

“Ugh… A bit light headed… but I guess I’m just fine, considering I did get forehead flicked by a huge golem…”

Ice rubbed his forehead and found a noticeable bump protruding right in the middle.

“Really now! I thought you had the sense not to get caught up doing stupid stuff like that. What were you thinking? And peeping in the womens bath of all things!”

Sea pouted cutely while giving Ice an admonishing look and proceeded to lecture him on gentlemanly behavior and common sense.

“Hehe. Sorry. I just kinda went with the flow so…”

Ice made his best puppy dog look and pleaded apologetically. Fortunately, it seemed to have worked. Sea let out a tired sigh and looked at him straight in the eye.

“Haaah… What’s done is done I guess. Just don’t do it again. You WON’T do it again right?…”

She was still smiling, but a distinct heavy aura was emanating from her and filled the entire room. Somehow, it felt really familiar. It was just like the ‘Haki’ her father gave off yesterday. Only this time, it was more saturated. And it felt several times more dangerous. If her father was a tiger, then Sea was a dragon. No! It’s the Demon Lord!

“I-I won’t. I promise! Really, I won’t. So please forgive me…”

“…Alright then. I forgive you. But if you ever do something like that with the boys again…”

“*gulp Don’t be like that Sea. I already said I won’t right?”

“Hmmm… Well, anyway, hurry and come downstairs. Breakfast is ready.”

Finding himself considerably hungry from last nights activity, Ice decided to take Sea up on the offer. He was really intrigued about how well the food tasted even if they looked 2D.

“___Wonder if I’ll ever get to taste [1]manga meat here hehe…”

With those silly thoughts in mind, Ice went down for breakfast.

***

“WHAT THE HECK IS THIIIIIIS!?”

Ice was again letting out a heart felt scream seconds after his breakfast got served.

“What’s wrong with you lad? Screaming like that on the breakfast table. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”

Mr. Alphonse scolded him with narrowed eyes.

“N-no but… but… t-this is… You’re saying this is… breakfast?…”

“Yeah, this is our breakfast today – barbecued Mercurian Cattle meat. What of it? Never had one of these before? Well, they are a tad expensive so… This was donated by a noblewoman who really liked the results after trying out our Spring Water bath reagent so we practically got it for free *heh.

It might be a little heavy for breakfast but this has a short shelf life because the meat gets really hard if not cooked relatively fresh even if refrigerated, so we gotta finish em off while they’re still good. Just be thankful I’m sharing this with you at all boy.”

“___No sir. That really isn’t the issue here…”

Ice was again dumbfounded. This world has been nothing but surprises ever since he arrived. And to think he would have the chance to try ‘this’ so soon…

“Mr. Ice, you better eat that while it’s hot. It’s really good.”

“Yep. Thish ish da besht! Mmmph.”

Vee was eating with impeccable manners using a knife and fork while Ein was really putting em down by taking huge bites off of the meat with relish.

“A-alright. Thanks for the meal…”

Ice took a bite with slight trepidation and his eyes widened in amazement soon after. He didn’t notice it himself but he was actually shedding tears. He was incredibly touched.

“Eh? What’s wrong Ice? Is it bad? Don’t you like it?”

Sea was flustered at Ices’ reaction.

“Eeh! You don’t like my daughters cooking?! Damn brat! I’ll put you in your place!… OW! Honey, what was that for?!”

Mr. Alphonse was suddenly pinched by Mrs. Romany on the arm.

“Honey, don’t be rude to our guest. That’s bad manners.”

“Bu-but honey, this brat just insulted our daughters cooking. I just can’t let that slide!”

“*sigh Can’t you see he’s just being emotional just now. He’s really enjoying his food. Those are clearly tears of joy…”

“EEEH!”

“Is that true Ice?…”

Sea asked worriedly.

“Y-yeah. I’m just so touched. To think I’ll be able to taste this wonderful delicacy in my life time. And it truly tastes amazing!

The the first bite introduces you to a firm tender texture overflowing with juiciness. But the longer you chew, the more you’re introduced to different types of meat flavors! It’s like this encapsulates all of the best tasting meat types in one ultimate meat dish! Truly addicting! I dare say it even tops the Jewel Meat from the Regal Mammoth!!!”

“Regal what? What nonsense are you going on about boy?”

Ice suddenly grabs Seas hands and gave an impassioned ‘thank you’.

“Thank you mademoiselle for that truly splendid piece of manga meat. That was absolutely wonderful.”

“E-eh!… Umm… Uhh… W-well… I’m glad you liked it *blush”

“This damned brat! I’m going to… OOWWW!”

“Honey…”

“Yes, I’m sorry…..”

Ice proceeded to eat his fill with much gusto while Sea was still looking at her hands, blushing profusely. Mrs. Romany was nodding approvingly while still pinching her husband. Vee and Ein were whispering to each other while grinning.

***

“That was a great meal! I’m stuffed!”

Ice was thoroughly satisfied with the manga meat and was now dutifully picking his teeth. Ein then came close and whispered to him.

“Hey bro, that was really unfortunate back there huh? We were so close too.”

“Err… yeah it was he he. Let’s just not talk about this stuff when your sister’s around. That’s seriously dangerous.”

“Hah! Yeah, she’s seriously scary when she snaps. Bet you won’t even survive one second he he. Still though… What a waste. To think I’d mess up the bath schedules…”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“I messed up the schedules bro. I was sure I heard it was 1900. Turns out they were scheduled for the 9:00 slot instead. Maaan. Mom’s using bait and switch again.”

“Wait up… What do you mean you messed up the schedules? You mean there wasn’t supposed to be anyone using the bath till nine o’clock?”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin bro. I mean, you didn’t get to see anything right? The Memory Scrolls are useless now. Oh well. At least there’s next year right?”

Ice was confused by Eins statement.

“But… at that time surely there was…”

“Bro?… What’s wrong? Are you that disappointed? Don’t worry. We’ll plan really hard for next year.”

“Huh? Ah… no, it’s nothing… Excuse me. I need to go check something for a bit.”

“Eh?… Ah, bro! Where are you going? Hey!”

Ice was already running full speed towards the main inn.

***

Ice arrived at the main inn and frantically asked for directions from the staff. He was trying to find out where Lady Melva Hollcroft was staying.

“___The main suite… Third corridor from the left… There!”

Ice ran towards the room and hurriedly opened it.

“Excuse meee!”

Ice was met with plenty of startled looks from the occupants of the suite. Then, the tip of a sword was suddenly thrust in front of his face.

“Who are you?! What are you doing here?!”

A girl of medium height was glaring while holding the sword towards him. She had her ash blond hair tied up in a braid and had sharp features. Her deep ruby eyes were penetrating and radiated an aura of strength and purpose.

Ice, whose mind was going overdrive, came to his senses at the sight of the dangerous looking weapon and fell over backwards to the floor.

“___Oh crap! I was really panicking after remembering what happened last night and ran over here on impulse. Damn! Now what excuse should I give?…”

“What’s wrong Giselle? What’s all this commotion?”

A tall, gorgeous woman came from within the interior of the room. She had silver hair which curled slightly at the tip and a regal aura despite being only clad in a bath robe. And, despite trying to be a gentleman, Ice couldn’t help but stare at her rich chest.

“Lady Melva! Don’t come any closer! This guy suddenly barged in here without warning. I’m currently interrogating him. He may be dangerous.”

Melva turned her attention to Ice who was still sitting dumbstruck on the floor.

“Err… Hello ma’am…”

“………..”

“___Crap! What do I do? What do I do?!”

As Ice was sweating buckets, Lady Melva slowly moved towards him and the girl with a dazed expression.

“Lady Melva!”

The girl called Giselle was frantically trying to prevent her from getting closer, but Lady Melva was already on her knees and was currently looking at Ices’ face intently.

“Err… Ma’am?…”

“…………….”

“___What’s wrong with her? Why’s she looking at me like that?”

Ice was getting increasingly flustered as Lady Melva continued to stare at him, and as Giselle was about to move to separate the two…

“My!!! What a gorgeous looking young man!!! What’s wrong? Are you lost dear? What can big sis do for you?”

“Eh?… Mmmmmph!….”

Ice was suddenly smothered between Lady Melvas breasts as she moved to hug him close; a horrified looking Giselle petrified to inaction near them.

“___Eh? Eeeeeh!!! Wait! Wait up! What’s with this deliciou… I mean outrageous development?!!!”

“M-My lady!!!”

Giselle, recovering from her daze, frantically separated the two while glaring daggers at Ice.

“Wha- Giselle! What are you doing? I’m just trying to comfort this poor young man here.”

“There she goes again with her peculiar ‘preferences’ *mumble….”

“Eh? What are you mumbling about Giselle?”

“Waah! N-Nothing my lady! A-Anyway, you can’t just go and approach anyone suspicious like that! It’s dangerous!”

“Eeeeh…”

“No ‘eeh’s my lady. It’s really worrying for your personal guard every time you do that you know. Sir Hendrix always seems like he’s about to have a heart attack whenever this happens.”

“Ookaaay.”

“*sigh Really, this woman *mumble *mumble”

Ice, who was left on the wayside, was internally debating with himself whether he should just run away or try to explain himself at sword point. Then, another development took place.

“Ice! What’s wrong? Why’d you run all the way here? Eh?…”

Sea followed Ice all the way to the inn after hearing from Ein and was confronted by the current scene – two ladies clad in bathrobes and Ice who was on the floor.

“……….Ice…. You know… when you said you wouldn’t do it again, I decided to believe you… And so I’m going to give you some time to explain yourself. If, by any chance, your explanation isn’t convincing enough…”

“___The Demon Lord cometh again!!!”

Ice was in even deeper crisis! He hurriedly stood up and tried to placate the situation before it got even worse.

***

“Hmmm… So you’re saying you somehow found something familiar with Lady Melvas name and went to confirm it without really thinking it through and you ended up barging into her room unannounced…”

“U-huh. I’m really sorry…”

Ice ended up making up another white lie and was again feeling a bit guilty about it. But telling the truth (ended up seeing a really gorgeous raven haired lady naked in the womens bath last night and ran all the way here to confirm if she was Lady Melva or a member of her retinue) would result in him digging his own grave and jumping headfirst into the pit, so he ended up not having any choice but to make up this hastily thought up excuse.

“*sigh I guess if you somehow managed to find a clue to your identity, you’d really want to confirm it right away… But that was still rude of you Ice. You can’t just barge into a woman’s room like that! And not just any woman at that! In normal cases, you could have been punished severely.”

“___If that were true, then why’d Ein and the men try that hard to peek at Lady Melva last night; considering the consequences… Those guys sure are dedicated… Well, after getting a load of that chest of hers, I guess I can understand them a bit… ehehehe…”

“…You’re making a lewd face…”

“W-Wah? N-No! That was my ‘troubled’ face.”

Ice decided to get his mind out of the gutter before he lands himself in any more trouble.

“So let me get this straight… This guy has amnesia and, somehow, he felt something familiar upon hearing Lady Melvas name; and so he went all the way here to confirm things.”

Giselle, who finally calmed down somewhat and had already sheathed her sword, inquired while sipping some tea.

“Yes, that’s right. If you could find it in your heart to forgive him my lady. He’s still pretty much confused from the whole ordeal.”

Sea was lightly bowing her head in a gesture of apology and Ice decided to follow her lead.

“Oh my. You poor thing. Of course I forgive him! There was nothing to forgive anyway. So, did you remember something from meeting me young man?”

“Uuh… unfortunately, no my lady. I’m really sorry for all the trouble though.”

“Think nothing of it. You’re such a dear.”

“….Are you sure you’re not just making this up to escape punishment?”

Giselle was still eyeing him with a suspicious look, so Ice tried to make his best none-threatening, innocent look.

“Well, anyway, this little thing is all cleared up. Say, young man… do you want to come with me to my villa so we can have some doctors look at your condition? It would be the best if some experts examined you. And I could perhaps take care of you while you’re there…”

“I think everything’s taken care of so we’ll take our leave!!! Thank you for the tea my lady!”

“Yes! I think that’s for the best! Please don’t let anything like this happen in the future.”

“Of course! Well then!…”

“Eeeh! But what about my offer?…”

“The lord wouldn’t approve of it anyway. Do take care Miss Sea.”

“Yes, thank you. We’ll be going now.”

After Sea and Giselles rapid exchange, Sea tugged at Ices’ arm and led him out of the room, leaving a disappointed looking Lady Melva and Giselle frantically trying to keep her from coming after them.

***

“Hey, it’s master! How are you doing today master? Need any back rubs perhaps?”

“Uh… he he… Maybe some other time Nichols.”

“Hey there Mr. Ice. I made some porridge and I was wondering… Could you come with me for a bit? I need to talk to you about some things you see. Preferably some place quiet. We can share the porridge if you’d like.”

“I’m actually quite full Lenoire. And busy! Yeah, that’s right. Mrs. Romany had me run some errands you see…”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Next time then Mr. Ice. I’ll be waiting!”

“Y-Yeah. Next time.”

“*whisper Geh! It’s Ice… Damn! Somehow I’m really annoyed, but still… You gotta admit, he has guts.”

“*whisper Yeah! If it were me, I wouldn’t even make it past the inns entrance… Damn, it still makes me jealous though…”

After this mornings fiasco, Ice found himself gathering increasing attention from the male populace in Maleena village. Apparently, word spread about how he, in an act born from an unprecedented passion about all things ecchi, boldly went to the room Lady Melva was staying at in order to fulfill the dashed hopes of every male that participated in last nights failed peeking attempt.

Instead of being beat up and/or punished, he was even rewarded by a hug and had obtained the experience of his head being sandwiched between her bountiful breasts.

It turned him into an instant celebrity. An idol worthy of envy, respect and admiration for the young men of Maleena village. Even some of the older guys looked at him with eyes filled with welling emotion.

“You did good lad! You did good… Gaah! If I were ten years younger!…”

Mr. Galen was crying buckets as he held Ice in a tight bear hug a little earlier.

Ice had his awkward smile on all throughout. He wasn’t expecting to be made famous for this kind of stuff. He held mixed feelings about it. But what he minded the most was the slight stiffness that was readily apparent whenever he interacted with Sea. She was trying not to show it of course, but it was still painfully obvious to Ice.

Somehow, it really bothered him. It bothered him a lot. But, as he was woefully aware of his abysmal experience interacting with girls apart from Lin, he was at a loss about what to do.

“Well if it isn’t the man of the hour himself. How are you holding up dear? You’re garnering quite the following from what I heard. *giggle”

Mrs. Romany greeted Ice with a glowing smile as she met him down the village road. It was bright. Too bright. Even though there wasn’t even a hint of admonishment in her expression and demeanor, Ice felt increasingly guilty for some reason while looking at her smile.

“Haha… Frankly ma’am, it’s a bit too much for me. I really didn’t have any questionable motives when I did that this morning. I really didn’t!”

“Oh, don’t worry about that too much dear. It’s fine. I believe you. Besides, I’m used to you menfolks antics.”

“Ahaha… Actually ma’am, from the way Ein described it, you actually knew about what the guys were planning last night. You even had some traps set up in advance. Why didn’t you just nip it in the bud if you already knew? Could’ve saved a lot of trouble.”

“*giggle Of course I knew. This practically happens every year. This years was a lot more flashy than any of the previous years too. It seems it was a big hit with the audience. A lot of them said they were looking forward to next years event. So I’m planning to make it even flashier. I’m counting on you for next year too Ice.”

“Yes ma’am. I’ll do my be…. W-Wait a second! Audience?! We were being watched?”

Ice was surprised by the sudden revelation. Were the men already aware of this?

“Ehehe. You were quite amazing back there dear. You actually even gained some female fans among some of the noble ladies. Something about ‘not minding if the ones who were coming to peek were cute boys like them (Ice and Ein)’. I’m actually planning to have an Artist draw a picture of you two for promotional purposes.”

“A-Aha ha ha ha…”

Ice only managed an awkward laugh while having one of his mental face palms.

“___She totally played us! Do Ein and the guys already know about this? Maybe they knew about it but went through with it anyway… And this happens every year?… Oh boy…”

“You should’ve seen your face dear. It was classic. Too bad we switched up the bathing times a little huh?”

“Err… This is just a ‘what if’ question… but if we actually managed peeking in the women’s bath, what would have happened?…”

Mrs. Romany made a smug look (while still managing to appear absolutely gorgeous) and puffed up her chest.

“Well, I’m really quite confident about the countermeasures I set up every year. But if someone does manage it… Well, I guess we’ll leave him to enjoy the spoils for a while as it were. The men do try their best every year after all. It would feel wrong if you didn’t get some form of reward from time to time.

Of course, leaving it as it is would be a huge breach of our customers privacy. So I’ll just have the guy captured and use some Memory Alteration scrolls or something for damage control.”

Ice felt a distinct chill from Mrs. Romanys’ answer and gulped audibly.

“But ma’am, aren’t Memory scrolls actually an army-only resource? And you have to clear several approval levels before you could actually use one. Especially for Memory Alteration or Erasure scrolls. Ein told me the scrolls he got from Mr. Findor yesterday were officially ‘never here’ if someone actually comes to poke around so… isn’t it kind of… really illegal if you got one for private use?”

“Well, of course it is. But a woman has her ways dear. A woman has her ways…”

“___Scary!!! This woman is seriously scary!!! Is every member of their family this dangerous?! Was my life officially forfeit the moment they were the ones who found me in this world?!”

“By the way dear…”

“YES!!!”

“Hehee. You don’t have to be so jumpy. I have a small favor to ask if you could spare me some time…”

“I’ll spare you all the time I have ma’am!!!”

“My, how admirable! Well then, could you go and fetch Sea and pick out some wild flowers from outside the village so we could use them for our aroma therapy bath sessions? She’ll help you pick out the usable ones.”

“Yes ma’am! But… why me? I’m not familiar with this stuff at all.”

“Oh, I just noticed you two needed some time alone to discuss some things is all. You don’t want to?”

“___She’s really perceptive. Then again, as expected of her I guess.”

“We’ll go right away ma’am.”

“Do take care dear.”

Mrs. Romany sent Ice away with a knowing smile.

***

They already spent quite some time walking in the woods, but Ice and Sea were still pretty much keeping their distance from each other.

“___Damn. This is really awkward. I need to do something soon. Cmon you damn ‘torpe’! Get your act together!”

“Umm… Sea…”

“Hmm?…”

Seas back was still turned away from him and was walking slightly ahead. Ice hurriedly caught up with her and managed an apology.

“I really am sorry about what happened this morning. I wasn’t really thinking straight y’know. Can’t I do anything to make it up to you?”

Ice wasn’t really sure if the reason Sea was acting like this was what he thought it was. If it were true though, then it made her all the more adorable. On the other hand, he was also wondering if it was only his wishful thinking.

Maybe he was just too heavily influenced by the shows he watched and was actually totally reading this wrong. He felt some slight self loathing from actually considering himself becoming a protagonist of some anime or novel.

Also, considering his real age, he was actually supposed to be way past all of this stuff already.

“___I really am one hell of a late bloomer huh?… Pathetic…”

Sea stopped walking and turned towards Ice, her face slightly looking down on the ground.

“You know Ice, I’m aware you didn’t really mean anything barging into Lady Melvas room like that. After all, you did have your reasons. But you see… it still annoys me for some reason. They way she was looking at you… And she even offered to ‘take care’ of you in her villa…

Aaaah! It annoys me to no end you know! I don’t really know why, but it just does! And I ended up taking it out on you too. I’m… really sorry.”

Sea clasped Ices’ hand and offered an apology herself, still looking slightly down with her ears turning bright red. Ice was dumbstruck. He really was finding himself in a lot of situations that made his ‘brain.exe’ go haywire ever since finding himself in El Fabula.

“___So it really was… No, but still… Has spring finally come for me too?… In another world… with an Anime girl?!!!… Uwaaaaaah!!!”

Ices’ eyes were going circles and, although he wasn’t able to look at his face, he was sure he was already red as a tomato.

“Ice?”

“Y-Yeah…”

“Can we just act the same as before? I’m really sorry if I kinda ignored you for a bit. I’m really just being such a kid aren’t I? Ehehe.”

Cute! Sea really was incredibly cute! Ices’ brain just went white from looking at Seas blooming smile. His heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his chest at any moment. Steam was already coming from his head. And, although steam coming from anybodys head was quite peculiar and was only possible in a world like El Fabula, Ice couldn’t care less.

“O-Okay! Same as before! Right! We’ll go with that! Sure!”

“Really?! *giggle Thank you Ice. Cmon, let’s go look for those flowers.”

Sea started to walk again while still holding hands with Ice. His ‘brain.exe’ already shut down so he was just going along with the flow without thinking; the feeling of Seas soft hand filling his head.

***

Ice and Sea arrived at a small clearing after going a bit more into the woods and found the flowers they needed.

“Here Ice. This is the Mint Rose. We need to bring back quite a few so the stock would last at least until next week. I’ll be collecting some over there. Just head on over if you need some help okay?”

“Will do. I just need to fill up these bags right?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll see you later then. Let’s take a small break for lunch before we go back. I made some snacks. I hope you like them *giggle”

“Ah, Y-Yeah. That would be great.”

“I’ll see you in a bit then.”

“Yup.”

Ices’ gaze followed Sea as she went towards the other side of the clearing and let out a small sigh. There’s no denying that he was absolutely ecstatic about what happened. Why wouldn’t he be? It was literally the first time a girl other than Lin showed interest towards him. Well, there was Melva but Ice thought that her case was a bit different.

But that was precisely the problem: Lin. He wasn’t really all that sure that it really was the case with her since they’ve never really talked about it much. It was like they were both afraid of ruining the status quo.

But when he was with her, he felt at peace. There was no pretense and it felt like even one small impetus would be enough to push them all the way to a proper relationship. That was the plan anyway. At least until Ice found himself in El Fabula.

He almost forgot all about the fact that he wasn’t from this world. He may have enjoyed himself too much. Even if he allowed himself to fall for someone over here, how would that turn out in the end? He still wanted to go back to Earth after all. He missed the internet. He was worried about his parents. He wanted to see his friends and loved ones. And there was Lin.

Ice was a little incensed by his current thoughts and tried to distract himself by focusing on picking the Mint Roses and chugging them inside the bags. But after a few moments passed, he suddenly felt something was off.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Everything was absolutely still. The light breeze that was slightly messing up his hair stopped as well. Ice felt it was very unnatural. He was having goosebumps.

There was a sudden rustling sound near the trees just ahead and Ice focused his attention towards it.

Dark silhouettes flitted in between the shadows of the trees. Ice braced himself. He was told that this area was relatively safe because it didn’t have much of a monster presence. Looks like this was just one of those days when his luck turned for the worse.

A large creature finally emerged from within the shadows and growled menacingly. Two large canines protruded from the large maw lined with several smaller, but no less dangerous looking teeth. Its dark red fur resembled the color of blood.

It looked like a large wolf. But it was at least thrice as big. Ice estimated that it would have no problem exceeding his height if it stood with it’s hind legs. It also had a large horn that grew from the center of its forehead.

He wasn’t sure what kind of monster it was, but he was sure it was dangerous. It’s blood shot eyes were already focused on him and reflected pure animosity.

“___Damn! What the hell is this thing?! How’d I end up in something this dangerous right from the get go?”

Ice made sure not to let his attention stray from the monster. He was backing away slowly and, if given the chance, would try to use the trees for cover as he ran away. Facing it head on could only end in disaster since he didn’t carry any weapons and, even if he did, this thing didn’t seem to be the type to be downed by just one person. He also had practically zero experience with this stuff so he was actually going at it blind.

He was conflicted on whether he would try to go where Sea was to warn her or not. He wasn’t sure how many of these things still lurked within the forest and if by chance this thing was alone, going towards Sea would only serve to get the both of them in harms way.

“___Well, it looks like trying to look non-threatening won’t work. That thing already has me pegged as ‘prey’ from the get go. But I don’t know if I can even outrun it. It’s huge and those legs sure look fast. Ha ha… Looks like trying to lead this guy away from here is the best I can manage. Damn me and my rotten luck…”

“Alright big guy. You want a piece of me? Come and get it.”

As soon as Ice got fairly close to the trees, he started to run and shouted a warning towards Sea.

“Sea! There’s a monster after me! Go back to the village and get some help!”

He made a mad dash for it as soon as he finished shouting. After a few moments spent running, Ice found it odd that there was no sign of something chasing behind him.

“___Why isn’t it coming?… Shit! did it decide to go after Sea instead?!”

As Ice was panicking at the thought of the monster ending up hunting Sea instead of him, a glint of red ran past his eyes.

“___What the?…”

It was the monster wolf. It was now in front of him again after approaching silently like a ghost. It was eyeing him again, stock still.

“___Why isn’t it attacking? It’s clearly hostile but it’s just standing there and growling at me.”

Ice tried to run away a few more times only to have the same thing happen to him each time. When he decided to quicken his pace and widen the distance, it caught up to him instantly and grazed his cheek with its claw; drawing blood.

Ice looked at the blood he wiped from his wounded cheek and smiled bitterly.

It seemed weirdly comical to see his own blood. It looked shiny and unnatural. Of course it did. He was in the appearance of an anime character right now so it was a given that his blood looked like how it was depicted in an anime. But it reeked of iron just the same.

And the palpable pain he felt on his cheek was a grim reminder that this was no crazy ass dream he was having after a night of binge drinking with his co-workers after payday.

“___So you’re not expressly trying to kill me right away but you’re also not allowing me the possibility of escaping huh?……”

“You’re toying with me aren’t you?! You’re just like my cat Lionel, playing with his catch before he goes for the finish!”

As if to answer him, the monster wolf’s maw shaped itself similar to a domineering sneer. It was truly like that of a hunter playing with its prey. It licked the fore claw it used to wound Ice and changed its stance.

“Looks like playtime’s over huh big guy. Damn…”

Ices’ mind was racing. He knew it was hopeless but something about this situation really didn’t sit well with him. He really didn’t like the fact that he was being treated like a toy and being made a fool of. By a monster no less.

“___Dammit! DAMMIT!!! Can’t I really do anything now? Is my life gonna end like this?! You’ve got to be kidding me! Dying while being played around with by this damn monster… There must be something… Anything!!!…”

Unfortunately, he really couldn’t see any way out of his current predicament. He was totally helpless and it was made apparent earlier on that he can’t outrun this monster. He bit his lower lip so hard he drew blood.

And the monster pounced. Its large jaw was clearly aiming to mangle him to death. Ice closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable.

“___SHIT!!!”

…………………

But the attack never came to pass.

Ice opened his eyes to find Sea standing in front of him; facing the monster with long daggers held in each of her hands.

***

“Eh?!… S-Sea?… Wha…?”

“Don’t move and stay where I can see you. This will be over soon.”

Ice nodded weakly, surprised by the change in Seas demeanor. It was akin to seeing an expertly crafted blade finally being drawn from its sheath and taking on its true nature – a weapon that was as beautiful as it was deadly.

The air around her was sharp and heavy. The pressure she was currently releasing sent chills down Ices’ spine. But what he felt wasn’t fear. It was awe. He was completely taken by the petite figure standing in front of him.

The monster was wary. Unlike earlier where it took on an attitude that oozed of mockery and contempt; this time it was cautious and alert. It paced around slowly; fully focused on the adversary before it which it regarded as a clear and dangerous threat.

Sea and the wolf monster both observed the other intently; looking for any opening to exploit. The tension was teetering on the brink, and the stalemate could be broken at any moment.

The wolf broke the silence first. It charged for Sea at breakneck speed, fully brandishing its large fangs and claws against her.

It was an instant. Truly just an instant.

Sea kicked off the ground and moved like a blur, first cutting off one of the wolfs forelegs from the knee down and sent it tumbling sideways. As it was having difficulty trying to recover because losing one limb ruined its sense of balance, Sea moved in quickly and finished it off by jumping on top of it and stabbing the base of its head with her long dagger.

The monster wolfs HP was brought down to zero instantly with just two quick strikes.

It turned to dust and left behind some items on the ground.

[Sable Wolf (α) Horn] Crafting Item – Rare: The long horn of an alpha leader of a Sable Wolf pack. It is very durable and can be made into a variety of weapons.

[Sable Wolf (α) Hide] Crafting Item – Rare: The hide of an alpha leader of a Sable Wolf pack. It is very tough and flexible and is possible to be made or incorporated into armor and shields.

[Sable Wolf (α) Fang] Crafting Item – Rare: The long canine of an alpha leader of a Sable Wolf pack. Some indigenous northern tribes of the Valis continent use them to craft accessories that serve as proof of their coming of age and battle prowess.

Finally easing up after the quick battle, Sea sheathed her daggers on a belt strapped to her waist and went over to check on Ice.

***

“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?”

“Eh…! Ah… no, I’m fine. Just a little shaken up…”

“Thank goodness. It’ll be best if we went back to the village for now. There could be more of those things lurking here and I’m not confident I can protect you if we were to face a group.”

“…………”

“Ice?”

“Sorry… Okay, let’s go back.”

“Alright. Need a hand?”

“No, I’m fine… Let’s go.”

“Mm.”

Ice felt frustrated that he was again relegated to the role of ‘bystander’. He had no choice. There was nothing he could do except watch, un-moving. And this was the first time he truly felt angry about being so powerless.

He wondered if it was hubris, but he truly felt he wanted to at least have the power to protect himself. He didn’t really feel offended that it was Sea, a young girl, who saved him. That wasn’t it. It was just that the experience of not being able to do anything while at the mercy of someone or something else was unbearable to him.

He thought he didn’t really care for things like ‘pride’. Looks like he was wrong.

Ice dragged himself away from the forest with heavy steps.

-Approaching Danger End-

[Note]

*HP serves as a clear indicator of ones over all condition in El Fabula as it was a world that heavily resembled an MMORPG. As long as ones HP was not depleted, it drastically lowered the chances of him, her or it suddenly giving out/collapsing during battle.

It also granted a sort of quasi- invulnerability and both monsters or people could only be truly killed once their HP goes down to zero. At that point, bodies turn immobile and become fully vulnerable to any attack. Things like the Defense stat become invalid and even the toughest of hides or armor could be easily cut up or crushed.

If not revived by a recovery spell, one generally only has ten minutes before fully succumbing to death. In the case of monster bodies, they turn to dust and only leave behind things people liked to call ‘loot’, ‘monster drops’ or simply ‘drops’. With people, their equipment items could now be easily looted off, which was very appealing to bandits and cutthroats.

There are exceptions though. Some high level boss monsters sport attacks that could cause instant death with varying degrees of probability. It bypassed HP and the ten minute revive window and instantly kills if the effect is triggered. These monsters are labelled extremely dangerous and are usually avoided, even by high level bounty hunters and adventurers unless facing one was necessary. There are items and equipment that are used to prevent this effect but are usually either very rare and hard to obtain or astronomically expensive.

HP also sometimes didn’t drop when someone is sick with things like colds or flu. It seems that bodily conditions outside that obtained in a battle with monsters or other people didn’t affect it much except for a few rare cases such as eating something poisonous. Potent poisons also reduce the time window for revival or outright negates it making them very dangerous.

There are also high level skills and very rare titles that offered the possibility of negating the revive window such as Absolute Assassination or Underworlds Beckoning. People that possessed these skills were very elusive and quite a few are engaged in some pretty shady business.

Finally, if there was a drastic level difference between the levels of two opponents, the one with the higher level is also able to negate the revival time window and kill the lower leveled one instantly. This also depends on current equipment and if one aims for critical points like the heart or head as with what happened to the Sable Wolf in this chapter.

As for exactly how far Sea was in level compared to Mr. wolf, we’ll leave that for the following chapters.

[1] Manga Meat – prevalent in mangas since the 1990s, it is usually depicted as a thick roll of meat wrapped around a large bone. It’s referenced often in other popular works such as Muv-Luv (Fwoooooh!).