"Did you enjoy it?" Soren asked.
"Yeah."
Soren and Amelia had just had breakfast together after the events that had taken place in the catacombs.
"What are you going to do now?"
Amelia shrugged in response.
"Do you want to help me train for a little while if you have nothing better to do?"
"Sure."
Since they were already back at the academy, the walk to the training grounds wasn't far.
It was a space that Soren had become more acquainted with ever since meeting Amelia. It wasn't the magical one that he frequented; instead, it was the one that the warriors of martial studies made use of.
Upon arrival, they changed into their training uniforms and headed to the track, where they stretched.
"What should I do?" Soren asked.
"Same as usual."
He nodded in response.
Since they had become friends, it was a semi-regular occurrence for Soren and Amelia to train together in the mornings or after classes had ended.
'The first few times were hell.'
Amelia, being a genius, was unaware of the limits of someone with such a frail body, and accidentally pushed Soren too far on multiple occasions.
However, ever since they had talked in the restaurant, things had been different.
It was as if she paid even more attention to him; she could now precisely measure what was too much for Soren's body, even if he tried his best to hide it.
Thanks to that, their training together had become a lot more bearable and even somewhat fun for him.
'What's happening to me…?' He asked himself, sighing and looking back on how much he had changed since transmigrating.
After his warm-ups, he walked over to the track with Amelia and waited for her countdown.
"3… 2… 1… Go."
The moment the words 'Go' left her mouth, Soren began running around the track, Amelia already far in the lead.
Although Soren's body had improved, even now, his strength and stamina stats were lower than those of the average adult man in this world.
He knew better than anyone how vital stamina was after his frequent run-ins with danger, and beyond that, now that he used a handaxe the majority of the time he fought, his strength had also become something important.
Of course, his mana and agility stats were still the most important, as he was still focusing on being a magician.
"Huff… Huff…"
After about 15 minutes of running, Soren's breath became heavier; he was beginning to reach his limits.
Before he could do so, however…
"Stop," Amelia said.
Soren collapsed onto the ground and drank some water created by [Aqua].
"Rest."
"Thanks."
In the time that Soren had taken to run two laps, Amelia had run sixteen, and there wasn't even a speck of sweat on her face.
The difference in their physical abilities was overwhelming, but unlike before, where Soren would've lost confidence and even felt frustration, he was now relaxed.
It was like something that had been chasing him had disappeared.
Amelia also noticed the change in Soren's demeanour ever since waking up in the catacombs.
A faint smile crept its way onto her face; she was glad that he was doing better.
Soren rested for five minutes before jumping to his feet.
"What's next?" He asked.
"Sparring."
They walked over to a clear area made for practising duels and faced each other.
Once the sparring began, as usual, Amelia just stood there.
Whenever they sparred, they would take turns attacking and defending against each other.
Soren summoned his handaxe and prepared a spell as he awaited Amelia's signal.
"Go."
The moment the words left her mouth, Soren leapt forward, his mana flowing into the axe in his hand as it began to glow.
「Einhardt Axemanship - Crescent」
The axe swung in a horizontal arc towards Amelia.
It was a skill that Soren had been trying to learn for weeks now, and only after his battle with Alex did he finally get the hang of it.
Clang!
Amelia blocked the telegraphed attack and nodded.
"Good."
This wasn't the first time that Soren had tried using [Crescent] in their sparring; in fact, he had tried using it every time from the moment he had first learned its movements.
Wooongg—
Generally, after an attack was blocked in such a way, Soren would have stepped back to make distance between them so that he could cast spells, but not now.
"「Breeze」"
Whoosh–!
Light green wind shot from his foot, propelling him forward at speeds previously impossible for Soren.
His movements were still unsteady thanks to the magic circle only being applied to his left foot, but that was something he could fix over time.
As he accelerated towards Amelia, Soren formed another magic circle in his hand.
Shatter
However, this was nothing more than a diversion; the moment Amelia's attention became focused on the circle, he broke it and swung at her with all his might.
Grab!
Unfortunately, she had been prepared, as she grabbed the handaxe that had been swung towards her and spoke.
"Time's up."
"Hah… hah…"
Soren threw his handaxe back into his inventory, slumped down onto the floor and let out a deep breath.
"Hooo… So how did I do?"
"Decent."
Soren smiled at her words.
Until now, the best result he had achieved was a 'fine,' which he could tell was her attempt at being nice, but just now she had said it with complete sincerity that he was decent.
His efforts were paying off.
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
"Thanks for the help, Lily."
It was the afternoon of the day he left the catacombs, and Soren had decided to visit Lilliana to return the book he had borrowed.
"It's fine, are you feeling better now?"
He nodded in response.
The first thing Lilliana noticed upon seeing Soren was that he seemed more relaxed, and as his friend, she couldn't help but be happy.
"Have you eaten?" She asked.
"I was planning to grab something on my way back to the dorm."
His visit to Lilliana's dorm had been purely to drop by and return the book, as he didn't want to appear out of the blue and take up her time when she might have been busy.
"Eat with me then, Ren."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother."
"It's fine, it's fine." She said as she grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the doorway.
"Can I help then?"
He had said it because he didn't want to be a bother, but Lilliana's eyes sparkled.
"I finally get to taste Ren's cooking!"
"If you want me to."
"Of course I do!"
"Just don't get your hopes up," He said as he walked through the familiar dorm.
'Am I coming too often?'
He couldn't help but have that thought when he went back over his memories.
It hadn't been all that long since they had become friends, but it felt like he was spending more time at Lilliana's dorm than his own.
Soren was worried that rumours might spread at this rate and thought that maybe he should tone it down slightly so as not to affect Lilliana.
After all, if rumours spread, Lilliana would be the one in danger, not him.
"What are you thinking so hard about?" Lilliana asked as he was preparing to cook.
"Nothing, don't worry… But are you really going to watch?"
"Is that not okay?"
Aria's face briefly came to mind at Lilliana's words, causing a sad smile to appear on Soren's face momentarily.
"I don't mind, just be careful."
Even if Lilliana was a dhampir with the ability to restore lost limbs, he didn't want to see her hurt.
In response to his words full of care, Lilliana took a few steps back so as not to get in Soren's way.
A peaceful atmosphere flowed between the two of them.
It was the first time in a while that Soren had felt like he could properly rest.
Until now, he had been running nonstop out of fear and self-doubt and only now had he finally stopped and looked back at his actions.
"Wow, you're better than I thought."
"Aha, thank you, but I can't compare to you."
As Soren had only ever cooked for himself and Aria, he had no concept of his own abilities when it came to cooking.
Aria had always complimented his cooking, saying how amazing and delicious it was, which tickled his heart, but he had always thought that she was just being nice.
In reality, however, Soren's skills were much better than he thought.
Once the meal was complete, he plated it and took it over to the table before taking a seat next to Lilliana.
"It looks amazing, Ren, thank you."
Lilliana saw his smile and then turned her attention back to her plate.
It was a fairly common dish among the nobility, a mix of vegetables such as carrots and broccoli on one side, while on the other was a large serving of mashed potatoes.
Then, resting in the centre, was thinly sliced, medium-rare beef.
It was truly a simple meal, but watching Soren make it made her happy.
It was the first time in her life that anyone had cooked for her besides the servants at her household.
Even the fact that he had remembered she liked her meat on the rarer side was a fact that tickled Lilliana's heart.
She lifted the gravy boat and poured some over her meal before picking up her utensils and digging in.
Her eyes widened as she turned to look at Soren.
"Delicious."
Soren always felt a sense of awkwardness when receiving direct compliments, as he didn't know how to respond.
However, that didn't mean he disliked them; if anything, he was vulnerable to them, as evidenced by his upturned lips and faint blush on his cheeks.
"I'm glad you like it."
••✦ ♡ ✦•••
"Ahh… that was great! I didn't know you could cook so well, Ren."
"Thanks, but you're way better than me. Pass me your plate."
Soren stood up from the table and walked over to the sink to wash the dishes.
"Hang on, Ren. Let me do that, you cooked after all."
"I don't mind."
"Shoo, you've done enough."
She pushed his back towards the living room, then turned back towards the kitchen.
Soren lightly chuckled and lay down on the sofa.
Whether it was because he hadn't slept properly or because he had just finished eating, Soren felt sleepy.
It was currently an ambiguous time, too early to be considered evening, but too late to be called afternoon.
"Hmm~♪ Hmmmm~♪"
A cute sound came from the kitchen; it was Lilliana humming as she washed the dishes they had just used.
The soothing humming mixed with the comfortable sofa made it impossible for Soren to keep his eyes open any longer, and slowly but surely they drooped shut.
Only seconds later did soft, steady breaths escape his mouth; he had fallen asleep.
"Ren, I'm done—Oh, he's asleep."
Lilliana, done cleaning, had returned to the living room, only to discover Soren's state.
She grabbed a blanket from her bedroom and draped it over his body.
"I wonder what happened…?"
Lilliana, being close to Soren, had easily noticed his drastic change in mentality from the moment he appeared at her doorstep.
It was such a significant change that she wondered if it was even possible overnight, but at the end of the day, that was irrelevant; Lilliana was just happy that her one and only friend was feeling better.
"I wish I could've helped though…" She muttered under her breath with her cheeks puffed out.
She had always told Soren that she was there for him, but for some reason, he never went to her first; he would only talk to her if she said something first.
To others, it might have seemed like a petty thought, but to Lilliana, it was important.
She didn't want Soren to suffer, not if she could help it; she knew how fragile he was, both physically and mentally.
Lilliana reached out and stroked his hair, and Soren's expression softened.
"Sleep well, Ren."
————「❤︎」————