"Sigh, I was eating properly."
"I know, I was only teasing you."
She suddenly adopted a more mature tone, and the cuteness on her face decreased by about 60% I would say. Her face was once again, that of a studying maniac.
'Oh, she's back to her usual cold, smart person persona again.'
"I take it that you've somewhat completed your task, or that you couldn't because I'm too resistant?"
A surprised look crossed her face for a second, before the impenetrable wall was put up once again.
"So you've gotten one too, that makes sense."
We both turned to Marabelle, who had an extremely baffled expression on her face, trying to prompt her to reveal if she had gotten her individual task yet.
'Wait, did she forgot about the individual tasks? Well, not everyone has a perfect memory of the novel like I do.'
"Well, with that expression on her face, it's pretty obvious that she hasn't gotten an individual task yet."
"Yeah, so, what was yours?"
"Oh, it was to poison the same person 3 ways, so the first way I poisoned you was when I spoon fed you just now."
"And when will this poison kick in?"
"In about an hour or so, so prepare yourself."
"Alright, thanks for the heads up."
"Also, would you be wil..."
"Yeah I'll do it." I said, cutting her off before she could even finish the sentence.
"Thanks, so, what's you individual task?"
"It's to, well, hmm..."
"Oh yeah, we just met each other a few days ago. I totally forgot. Hmm... I'll sign a spiritual contract saying that I won't reveal anything, you too, right Marabelle?"
"..."
"Right Marabelle?"
"O-oh... y-yeah."
So they both proceeded to sign spiritual contracts with me, basically stating that they wouldn't reveal anything I said in the next minute to anybody else.
Satisfied, I revealed my individual task.
"Well, my individual task is to kill the boss of the portal we're about to go to."
"What?! Really?!"
"Yeah, pretty convenient isn't it? I actually just got it yesterday."
"And what's the punishment?"
"A deduction of 200 points from my ranking."
"Yeah, that's about the same as mine... wait..."
"Ugh, really?!!!! How didn't I figure this out earlier?... Can I reveal this to Marabelle?" She asked, a sick grin spreading across her face.
"Please don't Prim, if you still consider me a friend that is."
"Alright, for the sake of our friendship, I won't reveal your secret." She said, before turning her head around, so that Marabelle couldn't see, and then winking at me.
"Wait, but how did you... Oh!... Yeah, I totally forgot about that."
"Yeah, please don't remind me of that, I'm shuddering just due to the fact that you're thinking about it."
"But now, everything makes sense."
"It does, doesn't it?"
So, if you guys got completely lost during the above exchange between Primrose and Aki, then I'll explain it.
Basically, from the information that I gave her about my task, and the amount of points that would be deducted if I wasn't able to do it, she was able to figure out that "Akina" was in fact, "Ashen".
This was due to the immensity of the task, and how impossible it was for any student at her rank and below to complete it. Basically, she knew that she herself couldn't defeat a rank (D+) boss monster, and from watching and analyzing Ryker's and my admission exams, she could tell that we both had a chance at beating the boss.
"Wow, Akimitsu has a lot of connections doesn't he."
"Well, he is the same type as me." (A/N: Meaning that they're both half-bloods.)
"That is true..."
"Yeah, I mean, I sparred against that guy on my off time, and we actually tied!"
"Oh! Really?, So Akimitsu is stronger than me?"
"Yeah, he is, I think that he would've been ranked first or second, if he hadn't slacked off on his admissions exam that is."
"Hmm..."
"So, can you tell us something about Aki?"
At this, Marabelle's ears immediately perked up.
'Wow, she really wants to learn about me doesn't she?'
During this whole conversation, she had just been observing us, keeping quiet.
She still had a kinda confused expression on her face, but I could tell that she had probably figured a few things out, yet her zoned out face told me that she hadn't been listening in for the past minute. Well, actually, it was because I had messed with the sound coming from us with my stigma, so she hadn't heard anything that pointed to me being Ashen, because if she had, then she would know that I was Akimitsu. And I didn't even want to think about this scenario.
"So, what do you want to know? I'll tell you any one thing about Aki."
"Is him not being here related to his task?"
"Oh, you figured that out too?"
"Yeah, it was pretty obvious. I mean, from what I've seen, he's a guy that doesn't lie."
"Yeah, it's one of his unique character traits."
"Wait! So you do know why Aki isn't here Akina?!!!" Shouted Marabelle, interrupting our talk.
"Yeah, I mean, I just said Aki wouldn't lie, that doesn't mean me."
Seeing Primrose's eager face, I decided to just say it and be done.
"He couldn't come because he has a specific task he needs to do, and it's a doozy at that."
I let them absorb all the information that I had given them for a bit.
After, this, they waited for me to purge all the poison out of my system with my spiritual energy, before we finally proceeded with what we were planning to do anyways.
We were going to enter the portal for the first time.
And, seeing Marabelle's face that was now resolute, I knew that she was thinking what I was thinking.
You see, all the planning and preparation that we had talked about before was just to not make Primrose suspicious of us.
In reality, we both knew what was about to happen as we all stepped into the portal. In our wake were thousands upon thousands of dead monster bodies.
You see, the main reason that the hero of the novel wasn't able to kill the boss monster, was not because he was weak, it was just because of the way the portal completely screwed him and his team.
'Well, I hope that our preparations will be enough.' We all thought of this, as we crossed the barrier.
With that one last thought, we entered the portal.
I felt a singular distortion in space, as my body was transported to a different dimension.
And then, there was nothing.
"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."
I stumbled over a root, as my pursuers kept getting closer.
Landing on my hands, I sprained my wrist, but I bore the pain, and got back up, continuing my desperate sprint.
'I... must... get... to... him...'
I continued on running, the only thought in my mind being.
'I must find Arvil.'
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Sorry for not uploading the past three days. I had an SAT on Thursday, and then I got really sick, so I've been lying in bed the past two days. So... uhh, yeah, sorry about that.
1. The Discord server is up!!!! The link will now be here, in the paragraph comments, in the chapter comments, in the synopsis, and on my profile. Join if you want to get chapter updates quickly, and if you want to be privy to any new information regarding the two series as soon as possible.
New Discord Link (This one will work.): https://discord.gg/8ePQESSSHT
2. I would like to shout out a book that I'm editing. Check out "World Online" by "jdbeue" a top 30 author on Webnovel. I'll assure you that the series is good, which is kinda obvious due to the author's quality, and that it's worth checking out.
3. My final announcement. I'm gonna shamelessly announce this, so be prepared. I will now only be writing extra chapters as we reach powerstone goals!
So, here they are:
75 PS - 1 extra chapter
100 PS - Another extra chapter
150 PS - Another extra chapter
200 - ??? (I'll go there if we even get there, although I seriously doubt it.)