Walking along the location for our duel, I looked around to see if Greg was nearby, luckily he had already gone hunting with his guards after declaring a duel with me.
'I hope he's not some battle junkie'. My body shuddered at the thought of constantly fighting someone – win or lose, and being continuously pestered to fight at any given time.
"This should work". I mumbled as I placed my hands on my waist.
Using my scythe to dig out a piece of earth from the ground, I brought out a medium sized metal ball with a silver colour and placed it inside carefully.
"Nothing like a little explosion to change the terrain and earn myself an advantage if things get too tough".
Yes, I was cheating, but so what?, I had to ensure my victory by any means necessary so I could get him to wyvern hunt with me and in turn get some easy cores and sweet skills from my system.
Planting the miniature bombs in different parts of the ground, I covered them up and made sure they wouldn't be found out if one didn't look carefully.
Opening the battle mage manual once more, I practiced a set of fighting techniques and maneuvers, practiced using my scythe without mana and practiced my emote for when I won.
Hours passed and the sun began to shy away to the moon and stars, "It's beautiful...". I muttered in awe as I stared at the blanket of stars in the sky. Reaching out my hands and grasping at nothing, I stared at my callused fingers.
"It's been six days since I got here". I recalled absentmindedly as I lay on the ground with my hands behind my head,"This shit is hard, and to think I'm doing all this because of some stupid robe". Sighing at my predicament, I stood up and entered my tree house.
" It's Surprisingly cozy". I muttered as I closed my eyes and laid down on the bark of the tree.
Emptying my head of the meaningless thoughts, I finally managed to fall asleep, oblivious to the storm I had brewed by not returning home instead.
*
Back at the inn, it wouldn't be an understatement to say Laura was going crazy.
Dishevelled hair, the teasing smile long gone from her face and replaced by a look of intense worry, her nails disfigured due to the continuous biting caused by anxiety and her mumbling with a lost look on her face.
"Clark, Clark where are you.....come back please". She mumbled as she rocked on the bed.
If not for her connection with Clark as her guardian and the fact that it has only been a day, she would've assumed he was captured or worse, dead, so she managed to maintain the little sense of reason left in her as she desperately pleaded to whatever god there was for Clark to come back.
The poor girl didn't know he was sleeping in a damn tree.
"I have to go look for him.....he....he might be in trouble and would have no one to ask for help". Laura hurriedly stood up with a sense of urgency and with a wave of her hand, her dishevelled hair was combed, her nails regenerated and her tear marks dissapeared.
"I can't let him see me in that state". Opening the mahogany door, she walked down the stairs and opened the door calmly so as not to alert the people there.
...They couldn't see her and the fact that she thought they could, proved just how much of an impact Clark had on her mental state.
Immediately outside, she flew with all her might and the surrounding trees were nearly pulled out of the soil with the amount of wind resistance she was gaining.
Utilizing the connection to the system that was in Clark, she entered a forest with a frantic look on her face as she had began imagining the worst case scenarios.
'What if he had been kidnapped or killed and dumped here?'. Her chest tightened and she started hyperventilating as more and more possibilities came to her mind.
Nevertheless, she didn't stop following the track the connection led her to, despite the amount of fear, sadness and regret that was washing over her.
She had finally realized that despite the short amount of time she had spent with Clark, she needed him, more than she could or even Clark could ever understand .
Finally, she stopped Infront of an abnormally large tree with a part carved out and her frantically beating heart calmed down just a bit as she walked slowly to the tree as if afraid to disturb who was inside.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the sleeping Clark,"He got his weapon and started hunting monsters without me". She muttered as a sad smile formed on her face as she looked at the scythe engraved with runes on the resting on the side of the tree.
"Mm...mmmhhh". With a light groan, Clark stirred as his eyelashes fluttered open and a light yawn escape from his mouth.
Startled, Laura tried to get out before she could be spotted by Clark, completely forgetting the reason she came to see him in the first place.
Fortunately or Unfortunately, Clark woke up and she heard his slightly hoarse voice call out to her, "Laura?".
.....
'Urgh, the day and night cycle here completely messed up Circadian rythm'. I thought as I opened my eyes slightly.
A familiar scent wafted through my nose as I regained consciousness and I jolted awake just in time to see a yellow headed woman trying to go out of my tree house with a frantic expression.
"Laura?". That word came out of my mouth involuntarily, I had planned out how my meeting with Laura would go in my head several times even during training.
I would walk up to her, apologize for my assumption and would restart our relationship as purely guardian and incarnation.
As much as it tore my heart to pieces at the mere thought of it, I knew I had to do it so we could move forward with our lives.
But looking at Laura once more, the notion of severing all ties sounded more like a bad joke than a resolve.
"Clark I....". She tried to open her mouth and say something but she just couldn't get it out no matter how hard she tried.
I stood up and held her hand as we walked out of the tree house, the moon was in full bloom and the light it emanated seemed like it was only meant for Laura as it enhanced her already beautiful face and blood red eyes that couldn't meet my gaze.
"I know you didn't mean what you said". I broke the silence and noticed her jolt a little as she heard my words, "You were angry and insecure so your reaction to a guy you met less than a week ago trying to dig into your past was completely valid." I continued.
Did I mean those words?
If someone asked me that question before, I would have said no, but now, seeing the hidden tear marks on the sides of her eyes, the loose strands of hair on her head and the dirt on her feet and clothes, the answer couldn't be more clearer.
"N–no, you didn't deserve that, you were always truthful to me and wanted the best for me but I couldn't bring myself to trust you no matter how hard I tried". Laura responded as she looked into my eyes with tears gathered in the corner of hers.
"My past experience with a mortal left a scar so deep in my heart that I wondered if it'll ever heal". She continued and grasped my hands eliciting a gasp from me,"But just a day without you nearly drove me insane, literally!". A smile appeared on her face as she looked at my dazed expression.
'This sounds like what you'd hear in a telenovela'. I thought as Laura continued.
"I'm willing to tell you everything about my past, my family, my–"
Placing my finger on her mouth, I shook my head with a small smile and said, "I don't want to hear you say anything about your background until you're truly ready".
"And besides it's not like I need it anyway, I was just curious and you were acting–"
I felt a soft sensation on my lips, interrupting me mid speech, but before I could understand what was going on, it had already dissapeared and I could only dazedly stare at the widely smiling Laura as her eyes formed into crescents,"That's for being such a cutie". She said with a cheerful expression.
....
Feeling the callused finger on my lips, my brain momentarily stopped working as I stared at the blue eyed man saying what my brain couldn't understand, 'He's been training really hard'. A small sense of guilt washed over me knowing the fact that I pushed him to do this.
'But, why do I have this sense of comfort like when I'm with mom?'.
I stared at him for a while and looked at his moving lips,'He's talking too much'. I thought, then my body moved on its own and I sealed his lips with mine.
'It's soft and sweet'. I thought as I kissed him, I pulled back quickly as soon as my mind registered what I was doing.
I was flustered, but I couldn't let him see me like that so I covered it up with a large smile,'Did it work?'. Looking at the dazed Clark, I was pretty sure it did and so I simplified everything I felt in my heart and said, "That's for being such a cutie, teehee".
.....
"Oh....uhmm thanks.....I.....damn....sheesh is it just me or is it hot in here?". My thought process was messed up as I stared at Laura who had a teasing smile on her face and a shine in her eyes I hadn't noticed before.
"Ara~, so cute~". She said with a chuckle as she sat on a log of wood.
'She said the thing!!'.
The mommy voice and a compliment combo is everything a growing man needs at least once in his life and here I was getting more than that.
"Now, tell me everything you've been through the past day". She asked as she leaned foward with a smile on her face.
Getting a grip on my degenerate thoughts, I nodded and sat next to Laura and began recounting my experiences, excluding my wyvern therapy session, I told her everything.
"You've made so much progress without me". She muttered with a low voice.
Noticing the sullen expression on her face, I placed my head on her soft laps, closing my eyes I said, "it was harder without you though".
My heart was beating unbelievably fast at that moment,'Was I too fast?', 'Did I startle her?'. Numerous thoughts ran through my mind but before I could sit up and brush it off like nothing happened, I felt a hand slowly caressing my hair, opening my eyes, I saw Laura with a smile on her face as she lowered her head slightly causing her long hair to envelop both of us, with her voice barely a whisper, she said "If you defeat that Vandemire loser, I'll give you a special reward".
Almost immediately, she leaned backwards and continued caressing my head with a happy smile on her face, meanwhile, my heart and head were in dissaray at that moment but there was only thought that was consistent in my mind was, 'Greg is going down tomorrow, by hook or by crook'.
Thinking thus far, I buried my face in Laura's well toned stomach which caused a slight jolt from her but she didn't refuse me, so I closed my eyes and fell asleep in the most comfortable place in the world at that moment.
Hello, author here!, if you've read this far, that means you like the story no?, if you do, leave a review, a power stone or a comment, they give me the affirmation I desperately need. If you don't, well I'm sorry I still couldn't deliver after all these chapters 😔