"You two look like you had fun," Veldanava smugly stated as Velzard and I walked back in through the gate leading to the Heavenly Star Palace.
"Wha-" Velzard started getting flustered at the comment immediately before turning her head away with slightly red cheeks.
I simply scratched the back of my head, running my fingers through my now very messed up hair with a slight blush on my face. "Well, let's just say that today has been a very good day, and leave it at that," I said with a wide smile and laughed awkwardly.
Velzard gave me a nudge with her elbow to shut me up while Velgrynd was smiling smugly from ear to ear. It seemed she couldn't get over her feeling of wanting to heckle us as well, so she started speaking too. "Isn't that nice, Big Sis?"
"Congrats." Dino said from on the floor while Ramiris floated in circles around the both of us shouting something about how she would give us her 'blessing' and how we should be thankful for it, but I really wasn't paying too much attention to her.
After listening to the heckling for a moment, I saw that Velzard was slowly coming out of her shell and being less bashful about our new relationship. I felt like it was a shame, since there weren't really all that many opportunities o see it, so I got a dumb idea. I grinned evilly for a moment and Veldanava, seeing my face, gained an understanding but smug face as well.
I quickly stepped towards Velzard, who had turned her back to me to speak with Velgrynd and wasn't expecting my approach. I quickly put my arm around her and quickly pulled her into my embrace. She was smaller than me here so I could do so easily, especially when she was off-guard.
"Ehh! Alaster, quit it! Everyone is looking at us!" Velzard pleaded but then whispered to herself. "We can do this more later..."
Unfortunately, she seemed to have forgotten that the people in this room were among the strongest people in the multiverse (created by Veldanava at least), and that we all had superior sensing capabilities and heard her clearly.
"Oh my!" Velgrynd was the first to comment. "You're so much more passionate with Alaster behind closed doors huh?"
Velzard was making cure noises while burying herself in my chest for a moment before I quickly spun her round, showing her off to the people in front of me and holding onto her shoulders so she couldn't run away.
"Everyone! This is my bride, Velzard! I hope we get along well!" I shouted, trying to ooze as much confidence as I could while showing off my girl to people who knew her better than me.
"Y-y-y-y-you... YOU IDIOT!" Velzard shouted as she elbowed me in the stomach hard and ran away.
I keeled over and spat out a mouthful of blood while the world began to darken rapidly. "Worth it." I stated as I passed out.
"These guys are so fun," Dino said with a smile while Veldanava and Velgrynd gave each other a victorious smile and high-fived.
...
"Are you sure you want to leave? I still wanted to teach you how to wield Primitive Magic?" Veldanava asked as I stood in front of the Heaven's Gate leading to the Heavenly Star Palace. We were currently standing in a field in the Cardinal world as we
"I'm sure. I've become very strong over my time here and have, for the most part, completed all of my training. Besides. I made a deal with you to become humanity's first Hero. I can't do that if I'm bundled up inside the Heavenly Star Palace all day." I replied with a smile.
"Too bad then. I guess you'll just have to give up the Ultimate Magic then..." Veldanava stated monotonously.
"Yeah right. Like you'd actually teach me anything yourself... You were just going to give me access to the Library to study it myself, weren't you?" I said with a knowing, but teasing voice.
"Gee! You know too much!" Veldanava reacted comically at being caught in the act.
I chuckled a bit before I realized that he has held out his hand to me. I looked at it for a moment before smiling and shaking it. We looked each other in the eyes while silently wishing each other the best and promising to meet again with our eyes... or at least, that's what I thought we were doing, but Veldanava never did like not having the last laugh.
"Well anyway, I'm sure you and Velzard couldn't get all Lovey Dovey while within her brother's home right? Gotta have that time for yourselves." He teased.
"Brother!" Velzard yelled in complaint from behind me.
Veldanava smirked a let go of my hand before flicking his wrist and producing a shining golden sword from the middle of nowhere. It was beautiful and radiated power on a completely different scale from anything I'd ever seen before. It probably had an existence Value on par with myself, and I had well over that of 3,000,000 according to Ramiris' estimation.
"This is a weapon I had made for you by crystallizing some of my Stardust Energy. Its mythical grade and will become more powerful the longer you use it. Velgrynd helped to attune it to the same Light Energy wavelength that your power uses. It'll serve you well." He said with a compassion that was so characteristic of a being who could be called the Creator God of the Universe.
"Think of it as a graduation gift. Even I have trouble fighting you as you are now and have to rely on the difference in our energy values to beat you. Use it to protect my sister." Velgrynd stated from beside Veldanava.
I smiled at Velgrynd and nodded. "Thank you. I will do just that!" I replied. Velzard also mouthe a silent 'Thank You' to her younger sister.
"Eh.. um... I didn't realize we were giving gifts so... Ah-Ha!" Ramiris said. She was squirming a bit when Veldanava gave me the sword and looked devastated when she realized that she didn't have anything for me, however, not to be outdone, she quickly came up with something on the spot and began to rush over to me.
"Not this time." Velzard caught Ramiris by the face as she charged at me with kissy lips.
"Wha~ Belbarb leb mi gow. I neeb tu gib hin hib pewbent!" She tried talking, but Velzards steely grip was firmly placed on Ramiris' have and covering her mouth. A violent red aura surrounded her and she was smiling but her eyes were not.
Veldanava sighed beore smiling and talking to her. "Velzard, it's fine. She won't do that anymore. I already told her it was a no-go."
Ramiris flinched, as though she had forgotten that she couldn't do it but the moment her face was released, she began to act all smug. "Y-yeah! It was just a joke! A Joke! Heh..." She couldn't bear the look that Velzard was giving her so she quickly changed subjects and looked at me with an uncharacteristically mature and subdued smile.
"Alaster. I'm going to really miss you. I don't have the power to crystalize energy and form it into a sword like Veldanava does, but I do have a gift for you too." She said as she reached one hand towards me and tapped my forehead.
i was slightly taken aback by the announcement and even Veldanava seemed a bit put off by what occurred. "Hey, Ramiris. I didn't make you the Administrator of the Stars for you to abuse the system like that." He complained with a smile on his face.
"Ehhh!?! Who cares? This much is fine right?" Ramiris complained but smiled at me. "If you ever need me, don't forget to call! With my blessing, instead of summoning a silly little Fire Giant like an Ifrit or a Spirit Lord, you'll be able to summon me! Well, isn't that great? Aren't I amazing!"
"Wait what!?! How did you give me a Unique Skill!?!" I asked, genuinely confused at how something like that was possible, though Ramiris ignored my question and continued to brag.
After a moment, I turned to look at the other people who were there. Dagruel, Dino, and Feldway were standing by to say their farewells too.
Dagruel took a step forward and showed his fist towards me. "Sorry I don't have anything for you. I know we didn't speak much together, but I thank you for showing me the ropes and apologize for how I acted when we first met."
I smirked back at him and placed my fist against his and gave him a fist-bump. "No problem! Please take care of this guy for me. He's great but tends to be lazy when no one is looking" I said pointing my thumb at Veldanava.
"Hey!" Veldanava yelled from behind me but Dagruel only laughed a hearty laugh and nodded before stepping back.
Dino then looked around, seeing that Feldway wasn't going, so he took the initiative and stepped forward. He probably didn't want to be the last one to say goodbye, as it would be awkward for him. He then pulled out a large white pillow from somewhere. Dino was actually pretty skilled with spatial magic, to the point he even created his own dimensional storage space to keep his main weapons and other essentials for lazing around.
"This is a pillow made of the softest feathers in the multiverse. It's good to lay down on and the material is also pretty sturdy and doesn't get dirty easily." Dino said, seemingly reluctantly giving me the pillow by the fact that he wouldn't let go when I tried to pull on it to take it with me.
After a short tusstle, I finally yanked it out of his hands. Dino looked like he was about to cry and Veldanava even went over to comfort him a bit and promised in a quiet voice to make him another one.
I shook my head, thinking that Dino looked like a kid who just gave up their favorite toy before turning to face Feldway. Feldway looked back at me for a few moments before finally opening his mouth.
"What? I wanted you to leave anyway. I don't have anything for you." He barked and folded his arms.
I smiled and turned away, walking toward Velzard who had finished her goodbyes as well and was waiting for me. As I walked toward her I thought of something funny and stopped halfway. I quickly turned around to him and said with a mischievous smirk. "That's our resident Tsundere for you! I know you'll miss me the most!"
I then began to run towards Velzard and scooped her up into a princess carry before taking off into the sunset, dodging the multiple fireballs that Feldway was throwing at me as I ran. Velzard and everyone else were laughing as we did so.
.~.~.~.
Lore Bit: Velzard is extremely shy when it comes to her feelings and when receiving love but is pretty confident in herself otherwise. She is still a bit reserved but is much more comfortable getting intimate when they are alone.
Alaster has only ever seen Velzard in her blue-eyed non-serious form, but her golden-eyed big boobed form she uses later in the Light Novel hasn't made an appearance yet.