Once Bob left, the rest looked at each other before sighing in exasperation. This night would be one to remember for the three of them.
Thereafter, they snuffed the fire as they went back into their rooms. Fluffy went to Ran's room and laid there like a huge pillow; it seemed that he had already convinced her of her new job. While she doesn't have much work experience, she has a great work ethic and teamwork skills.
Plus, she didn't seem to dislike it. After all, she used to be all alone in the forest next to the mountains. But now, someone had unhesitantly taken her in when no else did. So of course, Ran meant something to her and with the scar on her forehead, their connection seemed to grow stronger with each passing day.
Thus, she didn't mind being a pillow, though Ran was just joking most of the time, and snuggling with him. After all, no matter how big she is, she was a cat.
Luckily, for Ran, she was too lazy to wake up at three am to go full beast mode around the ship. Yet, she wasn't the only one to enter the room.
That's right, just behind Ran as he followed Fluffy was none other Ann—that sneaky bastard!
He entered the room and was going to close the door when he noticed her presence.
"What are you doing?"
"Umm.. nothing. I just remembered… i-i left my underwear here." She thought for a moment before convincing herself of her story by saying "yup, that's right" and bobbing her head up and down.
"Yeah… why did you leave them here?" He was skeptical, but he soon reconciled with her.
"Well, whatever; you can get 'em in the morning." With that, he yawned and closed the door on her face.
"Wait…" she reached for the handle, but stopped when she heard the bolt locking. It would be easy-peasy to open this door; a single soul juice-infused punch would be all that's needed.
But she wasnt that reckless. Doing so would officially invade his privacy and their relationship would begin to crumble from that moment onwards. So she could only pout and leave in a fit of frustration.
Does he hate me now, she thought. No one, no matter who, would want to have to deal with unwanted guilt for something somebody else did. So maybe that guilt turned into indignation and anger—thus lending itself to hate? She could only postulate, though she doesn't give Ran enough credit.
Ran, by nature, was a loving person. Like, despite the situation with his parents, he would never say he hated them. He considered the word hate too strong to be used so lightly. Well, that's what he thinks.
And that's also why Ran went directly to sleep instead of making sure that she was telling the truth. That's because it didn't matter as it was all an excuse anyways—he understood, which is why he wasn't the least bit irritated.
Now obviously, when he woke up, he indeed did not find any clothing that belonged to Ann. And it was definitely because if he did find it, he would have to return it; it was for no other reason… really.
…
When morning came, and the two suns' sunlight shot through their windows, they all woke up lazily. Each step it took to get out their doors took that much longer; It was as if the events of yesterday had sapped them of their springiness.
When they did, however, and they all gathered, they were surprised to find Bob already awake. He was, as usual, laying on some pillows and was seemingly relaxed with his eyes closed. Yet, he was the one who was most aware of their surroundings.
But what was truly surprising was the aura he was radiating.
It was just like Rans and Fluffys. In other words, he ranked up from eight to seven! Clearly, drudging up all those memories, and letting them free, had triggered a sort of revelation within Bob. Well, that and the fact he had already been at rank-8 for months and was at the peak.
He didn't really think much of it though, rank-7 truly wasn't much in the grand scheme of things. So everyone approached him and congratulated him, he simply shook it off. It would take much more than that to make a difference.
And… that was it. It was surely a surprise for everyone, but it was nothing much.
So, with the freezing fog growing thicker by the day, the ship closed in on their destination.
During this time, Ran gave Ann some rank-5 cores (about a hundred of them) for her to progress with. By the time they reached land, she would have reached the midpoint of rank-5—directly showing the effect of having resources for the first time. It wouldn't take more than two weeks to reach the peak and then it would be up to her to break through.
Not just her too, Ran and even Fluffy were reaching the peak of their rank, which was mostly thanks in part to Rans refinement rune formation. They were likely to break through anywhere within the next two weeks.
…
After another week, for a total of three, the ship finally was within eyesight of land. Well, that would be true if it wasn't for the fog, but it did thin out a little the closer they got.
The water got clearer and clearer and the bottom could clearly be seen as they passed overhead. Well, that would be true if it wasn't night time.
Now, after getting close enough and the fog disappearing completely, they clearly saw their first destination—Angleford.
Well, that would be true if everything wasn't so… WHITE.
Yup, that's right readers, welcome to the middle layer; also known as the winter wonderland!
Well when compared to the desert and mostly barren wasteland that is the lower layer, then yes it is a wonderland. Now compared to the upper layer—that's a story for another time.
As they approached they saw the harbor and steered their ship towards it. When they reached it, they immediately noticed a particular red ship that was parked off to the side. It was indeed eye-catching as it was basically the only thing that had a splash of such vibrant color within the vicinity. The only thing that is just as noticable would be the lights that only civilization could produce. A sign of life.
Once they hopped off the ship and Ran placed it back inside its bottle, they immediately strode over to what was presumably Queenie's ship; after all, they were supposed to have made the journey together, but they were separated not even halfway through.
At the same time, the residents currently on the ship saw Rans ship arrive and they too left.
Four soldier-like people followed behind a youthful girl. The girl was of a pale complexion, fit for this kind of environment, and had raven black short hair. She had long and sharp eyebrows which were naturally arched in a way that made it seem as if she was angry. Though her eyes were dark brown, almost appearing to be black, they shimmered as the snowfall reflected the starlight onto them.
At the moment, she was completely fine and apparently relaxed while the others… not so much. They're faces were one of fatigue, like they hadn't slept much and they all had some cuts and bruises that were healing. Luckily, they were just a little beaten up and none of the injuries were life threatening.
At the moment, once the two sides met each other, an interesting reaction occurred. The bodyguards merely nodded, and the group of four all did the same.
Sigh… alright, i'm gonna be honest with y'all. I… I forgot all of the bodyguards' names! I know, I know they're all just background characters; damn it, I Just had to give them names, didn't i? Well, I'm not gonna cheat and go back to see their names, so I guess they no longer have names.
And that's not even the worst thing I've done yet. Queenie, out of nowhere, simply walked up to them and hugged Ran!
What!? No no no… this is not supposed to happen! There's not supposed to be a romance arc this early; we don't even know anything about her! Well, I know everything about her… does that make me a creep. Sigh, I'm all over the place today…
Plus… even as the author, I'm not even sure if Ran knows how to be romantic. And his next words would only confirm this.