Throughout the entire day at the tower and all the days that came after, Nawiri "came onto" Terran many times, always brushing past him, sneaking in a playful touch, and throwing in compliments that had Terran blushing all the way to Sunday. It took all his will to resist.
It was not that Terran did not like Nawiri. Instead, it was because he was plagued by all kinds of hang-ups; from matters of his own alien origin and identity confusions, to his pursuit of power and strength for both his family's sake, to his own personal ambitions.
Love is one of those things that the weak hearted understand better than the strong.
Even then, Terran almost could not resist her "moves". And Nawiri was not ignorant of this. She understood full well that her strongest weapon was her precious smile that came with a sensual mind.
Hot and fierce!
She knew it was only a matter of time till this man completely fell for her.
During their stay at the tower, Terran was "terrorized" almost daily until the two completed their task. Their objective in coming to the Stargazing Tower in Easter Jin was to manually map out the locations of demon gates located in the stretch of land from Eastern Jin Nation to the Kingdom of Toro.
With the alliance between the 2 nations, dealing with demons was a collaborative and collective effort. However, for Terran and Nawiri, they mostly did the reconnaissance work.
The battles between humanity and demons were mostly left to the true experts of the 2 major departments that dealt with demons – the Demon Suppression Department and the Demon Slaying Department.
The two spent a few weeks in Eastern Jin and Nawiri had yet to succeed in breaking Terran's 'will'. After around 2 weeks in the foreign nation, Terran and Nawiri finally returned to Black Terrace after collecting and forwarding all their data.
For a time, Terran's life went back to normal – chattering away with Zeri, bickering with Zafarani, and flirting with Nawiri.
"Why are you so shy?" At one point, Nawiri asked Terran.
"I am not shy, I am just holding in my awesomeness so I don't overwhelm you." A cocky answer.
"Yeah right." She replied with a chuckle.
Knowing he was just blowing white smoke, she decided to a bit braver.
Nawiri got on her tippy toes and whispered in Terran's ears, "Then let's go 'home', and spend a steamy night together." She made sure to stress the words 'steamy' which left Terran shivering in excitement, and some fear.
Expectedly, Terran bolted.
However, after 'escaping', he couldn't help but wonder why he was even running away.
"Why am I even running away? I haven't had any sort of relationship in 3 years!" Terran asked himself.
When he met Zeri later that evening, Zeri also asked him the same question.
"Why are you running away indeed?"
"When was the last time you were in a relationship?" Zeri continued asking.
"3 years ago." Terran answered.
"3 years? 3 years! 14, 15 years old? That doesn't count. You were practically a toddler!" Zeri exclaimed in shock.
"What are so scared of? Even if it doesn't work out, so what? Look here, in 3 years time do you want to say 'I went out with the hot girl' or do you want to say 'I haven't seen any action in 6 years'?"
While ruminating on Zeri's words, Terran finally started his apprenticeship under one of the 13 Masters and Protectors of the Black Sword, the 3rd Master titled "The Chameleon."
Zafarani had finally managed to contact the Chameleon, her own teacher, and connect him to Terran.
The Chameleon was a short and stout man who usually dressed in all green. The most notable thing about him was actually that he had no discernible facial features. He looked completely ordinary. However, when Terran met him, he knew that this ordinary appearance was just another disguise.
Udona Delphin – That was his name. However, within the borders of Toro, there was probably not a single soul who knew this man's real name, not even his fellow protectors of the sword.
Since the day he had entered the field of espionage, he had never used his real name again. At this point, he had not used the name 'Udona Delphin' for several decades. Now, everyone just called him 'Kallo' or the 'Chameleon'.
"That excuse of a student recommended you to me. And I can see that you are qualified. My only hope is that you will not embarrass me like her." The first words out of Udona's mouth were an admonishment to General Zafarani.
Hearing Udona call Zafarani a poor student, Terran could only agree silently, "How can someone so casually forget their disguise, all the time!"
"Right now, there are undercurrents in this nation. The skill of being able to become anyone, at anytime, in any moment is more crucial than ever." Udona said.
"As my student, I will teach you everything I know. What I don't know, I will look into it or find others who are more knowledgeable to teach you. I will give my 100%!"
From Udona's words, Terran understood that he was a thorough teacher. Once he committed to something, he would give 100% of his effort to fulfilling his task.
"All I require of you is hard work and diligence, nothing more nothing less. At the end of the day, every accomplishment lies on the foundation of constantly pushing forward and refusing to give up."
Diligence and hard work.
This request was something Terran was more than willing to do. With such a diligent teacher, how could he as the student possibly laze around?
"Give me some iron powder and I can make all the demons go poof, easy peasy." It was the voice of someone boasting to their peers.
As Terran entered the Underground after a few weeks of not going there, he was met with the voice of someone boasting about how they could deal with demons so easily. When he saw who it was, he almost could not believe it.
Hearing this person's words, Terran's upper lip twitched endlessly.
"Well aren't you a clever little girl." Terran remarked in the most sarcastic tone he could muster.
"Terran!" Hearing his voice, Nawiri actually screamed in happiness. There was a bright grin on her face as she turned towards him.
"You are truly a hypocrite." Terran said with a smile on his face as well.
Nawiri had previously chastised him for not taking demons seriously yet here she was. It was truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
"Sue me." As an expert in 'shamelessness', Nawiri was not phased by Terran's words. Instead she was overwhelmed by happiness after seeing his again.
Nawiri skipped over to him happily and fell into Terran's arms hugging him tightly.
To Terran, her hug was like a breath of fresh air that sent his heart racing; her scent was like a drug that left him intoxicated; her breath on his neck caused his skin to shiver in excitement.
'Too much stimulation! I can barely keep my balance!' These were Terran's thoughts as he held onto Nawiri. He had truly missed her so much.
Under Udona's tutelage, the first few weeks were very crucial so Terran had been under a strict schedule. He could not even leave Udona's compound let alone visit his friends. This was actually the first time he was allowed to leave.
"What nonsense were you saying about demons? You know all true demons possess peak strength and have invincible bodies right?" When they finally got away from Nawiri's friends and colleagues, Terran did not forget to tease her about her boasting.
Indeed, while true demons could be beaten, their bodies were invincible against any real damage even from the strongest warriors. The only way to deal with them was through methods such as sealing, exorcism, and purification.
As for killing them, the only things that could do so were demon slaying techniques and weapons such as the Sword of 'Demon' Extermination belonging to Kaskara the Rebel.
"Enough talk about demons," Nawiri quickly deflected all the 'demon talk' and mentioned what had been on her mind for many weeks now, "You haven't given me your answer yet."
Terran knew what this was about, 'It's about the confession!'
"You should be with someone who gives you the love you deserve." This was his reply.
"You are that someone." She countered.
Terran was left speechless.
"How about this, look into my eyes. They say the eyes are a mirror to the heart. To prove whether or not there is love between us, we will know with a look." Nawiri said.
Terran who had always been avoiding eye contact knew had gotten got!
When they looked into each other's eyes, they were both lost in the worlds behind each others' eyelids. With his heart almost beating out of his chest, Terran quickly looked down.
Point proven!