The dark sky hovered the two of them. Maia and Misho were both tired from exerting their bodies under the hot sun. But they actually didn't feel as tired as they expected.
The both of them sat on the ground as they watched the starry sky.
"Maybe this is because of our cultivation," Misho said.
"If we did this in real life, we would be laying on a hospital bed for sparring for so long," Maia replied.
They had twenty bouts in total. It didn't sound that much, but it was actually a lot. Maia and Misho became more familiar with the wooden rods as they fought each other.
By their 20th bout, it lasted for three hours. During that time, Misho and Maia learned a lot about spearmanship.
"How about you use the spear too?" Misho asked her.
"I don't want to. I don't want to grow bulky muscles," Maia replied instantly.
She didn't even hesitate to answer his question. Maia was afraid Misho wouldn't like a muscular woman, so she would rather cast spell arts.
"I see. I do wonder if I will grow buff in the game. It will make my form in real life miserable if I do," Misho said.
He wouldn't be able to stare at himself in the mirror if that happened. He would always despise seeing himself in real life. It would become a problem if he didn't work out in real life because it wouldn't match with the game.
"Let's return home. We still need to leave tomorrow," Maia said and stood up.
Misho nodded his head and followed after her. He threw the wooden rod in his hand to a pile of broken wooden rods on the ground. Those were the wooden rods they had to go through.
Some of those wooden rods were too soft, and some were too hard. They eventually broke after their heated sparring session.
"I'm impressed, Maia. You used the spear well," Misho said in admiration.
There was an ancient idea that men used to think women were inferior to them. Misho couldn't help but disagree after seeing Maia's performance earlier. Their fight was almost like a spar between two spear masters.
"I don't dare take too much credit. I learned some while watching the villagers fight the goblins. I could still clearly remember them tearing apart the goblins," Maia replied and slightly smiled.
She remembered Misho's urgency to help the villagers. That memory was quite fond for her. It made her fall in love with him more.
"I see…" Misho nodded his head and remembered the male villagers dying before his very eyes.
He stared up at the starry sky and wondered if there was an afterlife in this game. He then shook his head and got those thoughts out of his head. He told himself that they were just NPCs in a game.
"It's alright, Misho. I'm sure they are proud the village is safe," Maia said and grabbed his hand.
The two of them were like this, always there for each other. Who says a man couldn't rely on a woman? If anyone disagreed, she'd slap them first before anyone could.
"Yeah."
Misho didn't know how to feel about NPCs dying. He knew they weren't real, but the ambition, hope, and anger they showed as they fought the goblins felt so real that Misho couldn't get them off of his head.
The two of them arrived back at Gerald's house.
"Good evening, Auntie Kea and Uncle Gerald," Maia greeted with a smile on her face.
Misho waved his hand at the two of them. He couldn't help but remember Kea voluntarily asking to hold his hand earlier.
Kea made eye contact with him and immediately turned away with a red face. Gerald didn't notice his wife's reaction and nodded at the two of them.
Misho and Maia entered their room.
"Misho, you bathe first. You stink," Maia said.
"You stink, too," Misho responded before heading directly to the bathroom.
"Hey!"
Maia frowned after hearing Misho's remarks. She watched him leave, and a smile slowly formed on her face.
"Finally, we are back to what we were used to be, and even improved our relationship forward," Maia said.
She was happy about how things went recently. She wouldn't know what to do if Misho rejected her right there and then. She was glad Misho also felt the same for her. It was just that he tried to deny those feelings he felt.
Misho was traumatized by his past. It would've been very simple for him to take her as his girlfriend if he weren't. After all, they had known each other for very long.
There were few secrets between the two of them. Basically, the other was their most suitable partner.
Misho finished taking a bath and returned to the room.
He found Maia sitting on the bed as she meditated. He could faintly feel something gathering around her.
"Is this fire mana?" Misho wondered.
He was a wind element cultivator. It was hard for him to detect fire mana even if he wanted to, but because Maia was cultivating, he could sense the unusual mana around her that he wasn't familiar with.
Misho sat on the bed and faced Maia. He watched her closed eyes and babyface. He admired her beauty for a bit.
Soon, Maia opened her eyes.
"Misho?" Maia called out.
She blinked her eyes at him.
"You're beautiful, Maia," Misho said.
"H-huh!?"
Maia jumped up in fright. She blushed red from his bold words.
"I'm not joking. I'm really stupid. I shouldn't have tried to look at other women when you were by my side."
"M-Misho! Stop saying weird things!" Maia protested as she blushed an even deeper shade of red.
"I shouldn't have tried to impress Rea," Misho said.
"Misho, that was the young you. You were inexperienced. You don't have to worry about the past anymore," Maia replied.
She felt her heart beating as powerful as a drum. She was taken by surprise by his sweet words.
"Thank you. I will try to impress you but not force you to do something you wouldn't like," Misho replied.