*Lili's Narration*
-SHING! TIRDTH!
An assassin.
That what comes to mind, every time I see him fight.
This is no longer just about Magic. He is a natural predator of the night.
His battle tactics, his fighting style… his approach are all in a league of their own.
He wastes no movements. He fights as though he knows exactly what his opponents will do before they even move a muscle.
His every swing either kills or cripples. Not something just anyone can do. Especially not when facing enemies stronger than oneself.
Although I had told him that people with no Falna come here to train and make money, what I didn't was, they do so in a party of at least 6 and even then they never to venture as deep as we did today. Certain death awaits if they did.
And even then, they never engage a group that outnumbers them.
Yet, Master Argus before me dispatched 15 Goblins in only 15 seconds, despite being weaker than the norm.
They'd laugh at my face if told someone that he learned how to swing his blade only yesterday.
If I have to term this… him. I'd say 'Miracle'.
Without a shadow of a doubt, he is a miracle. From his Magic, his sheer raw talent of combat, to the way he is, Master Argus is a miracle.
A miracle that happened to me.
But how long this miracle will last, I wonder.
"So, what'd you think?"
A merry sounded snapping me out of my thoughts as my eyes turned to him.
A clean, tidy, and grinning Master Argus stood before me, swirling the Karambit around his finger.
"Better than the last one but, you got careless… and a moment of it is enough to spill your doom, even with my support."
His shoulder dropped as he stared at me with almost pitiful eyes and said, "Listen, my plan was perfect… Blink's timing just got a little off!"
Only I knew how badly I wanted to tell him the truth.
How I wanted to scream that the feat you pulled off so casually is an impossibility in everyone's book.
But, the way he is, he is bound to get cocky, then arrogant, and then an Adventurer.
I cannot let him turn out that way.
Not even in my worst nightmares can I picture this cute and innocent friend of mine, looking at me with the same weary and condescending look in his eyes or worst… pity.
Ever since I met him, I had no longer been wishing for this world to burn before sleep.
Can't I get to have it? Can't I get to have someone who wouldn't look at me like that?
Then why does this guilt eats me alive?
"I think it's enough, Master Argus… No Non-Leveled has reached this far… solo."
A chuckle broke on Master Argus's face as he slowly shook his head and said.
"That's because they didn't have Loli with a Cross-Bow."
"Look, Non-Levelers only ever come here in parties of at least 6, and even then they never engage the numbers you do… What you're doing is an impossibility! Feats no one should've been able to pull off! It's not just about your Magic. You're a natural. And… and I'm sorry for hiding this from you... I'm sorry for taking advantage of your ignorance on the matter and not letting you realize… just how special you are." I said with my head bowed low.
The least he deserved was the truth.
I tainted the genuine friendship he offered with lies and deceit. Thinking it's for his own good. But maybe I was just being selfish again.
Afraid, if he realized his own worth, then he'd also realize that I'm nothing but a burden to him.
What good will keeping him ignorant of his own worth will do?
Make him stay?
Maybe…
I heard his chuckle once more, but this time it felt… different.
[So this is it, isn't it? Maybe… THIS is for the best.]
My shivering body flinched as I felt his hands reaching for my face in a frenzy.
[Is he going to slap me?]
My heart cried louder along with every inch his hands got closer to my face. My eyes forced shut while my body tensed to brace for the impact.
Just when his palms were only a few inches away from my face… just when he was about to slap me.
He grabbed my cheeks instead! And flipped my head to face him.
The disappointment or the wrath I was so sure of was not there. Not even a shred.
His grinning eyes gazed into mine as he pulled my cheeks even harder and spoke.
"Now YOU look, Loli! God knows what goes inside that little head of yours… and I admit, I'm slow but not stupid. The moment you said Non-Levelers come here, I figured they do so in groups… I thought it was obvious! It'd be really stupid to go in solo. As for me taking on hordes? It was all nothing but confidence. And guess where'd that come from?"
I answered the only reason I could think of. So, with my cheeks still stinging in his hands I said, "Becashh you knew you're sph'ecial…?"
With an eyebrow lifted in confused fluster as he stretched my cheeks even harder and spoke, "What? Nooh! My confidence comes from you! Because I know you got my back… and you're not gonna let anything happen to me no matter what! So I fight with no regards to my life… that's what makes it happen."
Letting go of my stinging cheeks, he got up and walked past me, leaving the stunned me behind while he said, "Let's get goin, I still don't think I've gone all out!"
As for me, my mind had seemed to have stopped working as I stood there rubbing my cheeks.
[I'm the reason he was able to all that…?]
"Hey, Lili…"
His voice once again brought life to me as I around I said, "Yes?"
"I'm real faltered you thought of me as someone special…Really. But the reality of the matter is… I'm just a loser who got lucky. That's all there's to It." he said with a small smile, yet his eyes spoke what he couldn't frame in words.
The chaos that I held on to broke loose at that moment.
[Is this what he thinks of himself?]
Maybe, in the middle of being his friend, I made him my safe heaven?
Heaven, I didn't wish to be tainted by any evil.
He always understood me, but did I do the same?
And that's when it clicked. And a warm and fuzzy feeling swelled in me.
It was like the rising sun, banishing away the darkness.
For the first time, I saw the world with clear eyes…
For the first time, I knew where I belong… I knew what I had to do…
And It was the first time I truly felt I was not alone.
So I smiled. I smiled from the bottom of my heart.
-For I had found a home.
"Hey, Master Argus! If you're just a loser who got lucky… Then I'm just a fraud who got lucky because, you! got lucky."
Laughing, he said without turning back, "Cheesy! That was just so damn cheesy… and trust me, you would've been better without me."
[But, I wouldn't have been able to live with my head raised so high… nor would I have understood.]
His steps came to a sudden halt just as I was about to follow.
Turning around, he walked towards me at a rather brisk pace and spoke.
"Lili, why don't you go on ahead…? I gotta do something here real quick."
"Of course not! I'm not leaving you alone in the Dungeon! Do what you need to do… I'm standing right here."
His eyes lost all patience right after he heard my stance while his body tensed even more. Taking a deep breath, he hurried past me and spoke while flicking his belt.
"Okay, fine! I gotta pee really bad… So, yeah! Sure, watch… and watch close. Just don't jump in fright when Little Argus wiggles 'hie'."
Blood flooded my face, the moment my brain registered what he just said.
"Don't you have a shred of decency!" I yelled while my heel spun towards the exit of the room before breaking into a sprint a second later.
His cheap laugh resounded out of the room as he said, "A man's gotta go when he's gotta go, Loli! Can't do nothing about it!"