The two spoke for hours.
It was just like old tis… with them babbling on and on about varying topics and stories.
It went without saying that Rey had to explain himself and the reason he was late—apologizing for what he determined to be caused by his weakness.
Of course, Es would not have that.
"There's no way you could have known about or prepared for such a calamity. Besides, if I was stronger… you wouldn't have had to face it all alone. It's not your fault!"
Her words reinforced what Ater and his friends had told him, yet sohow hearing her tell him this put his simring heart at ease.
As always, Es just always had an atmosphere about her that relaxed him.
Not once did he need to struggle with controlling his emotions, and the system also didn't shut them off at any period.
He was worried and cautious at first, but not anymore. Es was just the kind of person he could be comfortable with.
No… that wasn't quite it.
"I expected you to be a lot more awkward about all this…" Es admitted at so point as she smiled at Rey.
Her hand was placed on her cheek as her smile broadened.
rely staring into her eyes made his heart leap, yet there was no response from the System.
In fact, none of his other physiological reactions—since he encountered Es—triggered the Class Privilege's effects.
'I initially thought I wasn't flustered enough because it's Es, but the System has intervened for even less displays of emotion in the past. So what's happening here?'
Rey was surprised and confused at this point.
However, he had a theory—or rather, a question.
'Is the System being biased here?' When he thought about it, Es had always been favored by the System.
Even now, he was being told to help her out.
That was definitely not a sign of a Side Quest, as Rey had already figured out long ago. It seed, by all regards, that she was being protected by the System.
And she wasn't the only one.
'The other Elves I t also had similar stuff written in their Additional Information.'
That ant, for so reason, Elves were special in this world.
'Maybe the System does not register any emotion generated from towards her to be harmful, so it filters all of that out. Does that an it'll be the sa with the rest of the Elves?'
He found himself growing ever curious as he stared at Es, just in ti for ti to quicken so he could answer her statent.
"Awkward about what? Showing my face?"
"Mhm! You made such a big deal about it for so long that I never expected you'd show it to that easily."
"Well… perhaps I'm not the Rey you knew from back then."
Es laughed as she shook her head. Instantly pushing her face forward, she brought it close to Rey's
It was so close that they could feel each other's breaths.
"No… you're Rey alright." She smiled. "Even if I can no longer see your Status Information, there's no way I wouldn't be able to recognize you."
Rey didn't know why he blushed at that very mont.
As if that wasn't enough of a shock for him—
~VWUSH~
A sudden black swirl ford within the room and Ater stepped out of it with a casual sense of formality.
Rey was frozen in place as he witnessed Ater arrive.
Es's innocent face also turned as she gazed upon the tall, sleek fra of Rey's familiar.
"Mas… ah, apologies for the inconvenience. Please continue."
"Ater wai—!"
~VWUSH!~
Before Rey could say any more, Ater vanished from his position. His disappearance was too instant that even Rey was stunned.
His flustered state was imdiately suppressed, reminding him of his current condition.
"Haa… that guy. I'm sure he now has the wrong idea."
Es innocently turned her face to Rey and gave him a quizzical look.
"Wrong idea how?"
"He… ah… well, he probably thought we were about to kiss… or sothing like that." Rey looked away, blushing even harder than normal.
Monts like this made him want his emotions to be suppressed, but he also liked that he could feel things this intensely.
"Kiss… huh? I've never had one before." Es murmured.
"How does it feel like?"
Rey found his heart racing upon hearing that. One glance at Es's serious and curious eyes made him nearly give out.
Yet the System did not intervene at all!
"W-why would you even ask that?" For the first ti since forever, Rey stuttered, fidgeting a little as he analyzed the question she asked him.
"Well… you've kissed before, haven't you?"
"How can you be so sure?!" Rey swiftly responded, his voice raised a little.
Yes, Belle kissed him at so point, but it wasn't like 'he' kissed 'her'. In fact, wasn't he the victim in that entire mishap?
So, yes… technically he hadn't 'kissed' anyone yet. Soone kissing him didn't count one bit.
"Well, I—"
"It's fine, Rey. I was just asking because I was curious. If you're acting like this, then you've probably never kissed before." Even though this was the excuse he was going for, hearing Es say it like that hurt his pride.
He could feel sothing in his chest shatter.
"I'll ask a more experienced person about it."
Rey nearly clutched his chest upon hearing that. Sure, he didn't have much of an experience when it ca to these things, but…
"In any case, answer already." Es began to shift away from Rey.
Her face departed from his until they retained reasonable distance from each other.
"Why did you decide to show your face?"
As the question floated in the air, Rey brought himself back to reality. He took in a deep breath, allowing the sweet scent that now filled the room to enter his nostrils and perate his body.
He was silent for a few seconds, feeling Es's gaze on him through it all.
Then, he spoke up.
"I just… didn't want to hide anymore."
Surely, Rey had more than enough ti to get into disguise and face her with a mask or with any face of his choosing.
Yet, the thought never even croseed his mind.
He simply wanted to see her, and he wanted her to see him as well.
That was all there was to it.
"I'm really happy you're safe, Es. After everything that has happened… it really is more than a relief to have you right before my eyes."
Es touched his hand with hers, allowing him to feel her warm and soft touch.
She gave him a glowing smile at that mont.
"I'm not going anywhere, Rey. I've also gotten a bit stronger since last ti, so hopefully I'm not a burden to you anymore."
Rey chuckled as he saw her Stats.
"With those numbers… I doubt you will be."
[STATUS WINDOW]
- Na: Es
- Race: Half-Elf (Human and Elf)
- Class: Grand Elentalist (A-Tier)
- Level: 127 (28.14% EXP)
- Life Force: 360/360 ( 360) [500]
- Mana Level: 700/700 ( 700)
- Combat Ability: 503 ( 503)
- Stat Points: 0
- Skills (Exclusive): [Absolute Appraisal]
- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Absolute Magic Mastery]. [Absolute Magic Application]. [Absolute Mana Recovery]. [Absolute Elental Control]. [Grand Executioner]
- Alignnt: Chaotic Good
[Additional Information]
A genius, even by Elven Standards… with a special heritage and connection to the World.
She is your ally and friend.
… Help her.
[End Of Information]
Rey smiled as he saw all this.
'As expected.'
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[A/N]
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