Aldo's eyes widen when he saw a familiar woman walking out of the woods, but his smile fade when he saw that there was a man who supports her by the shoulder.
Squinting his eyes, Aldo finds the man is supposed to be the man that had helped him numerous times. His eyes then fall onto Diane's stomach which is bandaged, she's clearly hurt seeing her limping on one leg while being helped by the man.
"Diane?!", Aldo exclaimed before running to check on her.
Without even minding Diane who is saying that she's alright, Aldo helped the man to bring Diane into the house hurriedly. They then lay Diane on the bed before Aldo looks at her in worry.
Diane slap Aldo's shoulder lightly and said, "There's no need to be so serious, I'm alright"
"Tell me what happened? Did you get into a fight?", Aldo asks ignoring Diane's comforting remarks, but she hesitated to answer so Aldo turns his eyes onto the man standing on the side.
The man who looks to not be too older than Aldo then explains, "I was going to Arkney Village to buy some things for the bar, it's like any normal day but I coincidentally met her. I saw her when I was about to go back to Pendle Village, she was being chased by seven soldiers"
"Even though she managed to take them all down, one of the soldiers manage to land a nasty blow. I watched this from the side, and after the battle ended I tried helping her and she told me to bring her here"
Hearing the man's explanation, Aldo looks back at Diane questioningly.
Under Aldo's questioning eyes, Diane finally gives in, "I heard from one of the villagers that ever since your sister got taken away, Ivor has left Pendle Village. A couple of days ago he visited Arkney Village and today I tried to follow him when he's leaving the village"
"But I got caught and chased by the soldiers, and end up like this", she added biting her lips.
Aldo was caught off guard upon hearing this as he looks at Diane in a new light, he was touched that Diane was trying to find a clue of Laziah's whereabouts but he can't help but chuckle, "Ivor is guarded by many soldiers! You're quite reckless for a teacher"
"Hey! Even if I'm only 26 years old, I'm still your teacher!", Diane rebutted, she turns her head away pouting showing a new side of her.
Upon hearing what Diane said, Aldo and the man can't help but popped their eyes in surprise. It's not that they're surprised at how Diane reacted to Aldo's teasing remarks, but it's due to the fact that she's 26 years old!
The man looks at Diane in absolute shock, "You're 26 years old?!!"
"Such a young Cleric?! How the hell did you become a Cleric, aren't being a Cleric super hard?", Aldo added while gazing at Diane in shock.
But their reaction makes Diane's expression darken, "Basically you both are saying that I look old? Is that it?", she asks while squinting her eyes, even the red aura around her body starting to spark making Aldo and the man calm clear their throats.
After the light conversation, Aldo then asks, "If you're chased out of Arkney Village, where are you going to go? Will the Astral Rose Church go after you since you basically deserted your job there?"
"Don't worry, they won't notice it until a while. I'll think of a solution. But in the meantime, I'm going to be here with you", Diane replied with a sigh, she seems to be in a tight spot.
Now that Aldo thought about it, the reason she's helping him is still a mystery.
Diane even dare to venture inside of Ivor's house just to search for a clue of Laziah's whereabouts, she's not dumb so she basically did that regardless of the consequences that may arise because of helping him.
It somehow makes Aldo looks at her in a new light, but also curious about her reason.
But he puts that aside for now seeing that she's not in a good condition. Although bandaged, the wound is steel bleeding judging from the red wet spot on the bandage.
"Wait... Why are you sighing like that? Living with me is not that bad", Aldo rebutted.
Just as he said that a subtle noise come from the man on the side. Aldo glanced at the man and finds that he's tried his best but a stifled laugh came out of his mouth as if what Aldo said is pure comedy.
This makes Aldo's eyebrows crease in confusion.
Diane also chuckle from the side before she added, "Look at this place..."
Hearing this, Aldo looks around and finds dirt staining the entire room from the shoes that he wears outside and also inside the bedroom. A couple of wooden plates that he used to eat inside if it was raining and also the position of the furniture inside the house that he didn't even bother changing at all.
"You see? Even if you're getting stronger to save your sister. Will your sister not scold you to see your living quarter like this?", Diane said with a teasing smile.
"Shut up!", Aldo said before rolling his eyes.
The reason that he doesn't even bother changing the interior of the house is that he's mainly outside training, he only went inside the house to sleep or eat if it's raining. As for the shoes he admits that it's his fault but he can just clean it up.
Diane and the man chuckle lightly, although they were strangers a couple of months ago somehow the chemistry between them is there. They're not at all awkward with each other.
While they're chuckling, Diane suddenly stopped remembering the scene he saw before, "By the way, I'm surprised you reach the first circle so soon. How did you manage to do it?"
"Oh, I got lucky and met with two middle-tier beast carcasses", Aldo replied honestly.
Since they're on the topic, Aldo looks at Diane before he grabs her hands and added with a bit of pleading in his tone, "Teacher... I'm waiting for you to teach me how to reach the second circle. Please help me!"
"You're calling me teacher just when you wanted something eh? Fine, tomorrow I'll teach you how to reach the second circle", Diane replied while shaking her head.
The next day,
Early in the morning, Diane woke up to the sound of shattering that shakes the entire house.
Without even needing to see where this sound is coming from, Diane already knew that it came from Aldo who is probably training. And true enough, when she got outside she saw Aldo is punching the hill's wall beside the house.
Aldo's punches are earth-shattering, he did it with perfect form twisting his torso for the utmost output of power he can generate using his punch.
"Keep it down, will you?! I'm resting!", Diane shouted annoyingly.
Hearing this, Aldo stopped punching the hill's wall turning his body to face Diane, "Sorry! I forgot that you're here", he shouted back apologetically. He then walks to the front of the house taking the steel sword before intending to do another training.
But just as Diane was about to get back inside, her eyes widen seeing what Aldo did.
Out of her total expectation, Aldo suddenly breathes fire onto his sword before focusing his red aura to embed the fire on the sword and keep it blazing. As if it's a normal thing, Aldo then resumes by slashing his blazing sword repeatedly.
Diane was rooted on her spot for a moment before she hurriedly went to Aldo and pulled his shoulder, "What are you doing?", Aldo asks in confusion.
"How are you able to do that?", Diane asks while looking at the blazing sword.
While inspecting the blazing sword Diane finds that the fire is not created by magic, it's certainly through his Ego Beast but the question is how is he able to do that, "Only Ego Fighter in the third circle can use their Ego Beast's ability, how did you do it?"
"I sorta did it I guess...", Aldo mutters thinking back to the night he killed Erick and his brother.
Even though he trusted Diane since she basically saved his life numerous times, he still doesn't feel safe telling her that he killed two people. It's not that he doesn't trust her but he fears what Diane might think of him, 'I can't just tell her that my Ego Beast lend me power and told me to kill two hunters...'
But upon hearing Aldo's answer, Diane was shock-stricken, "I-Innate Skill?!"
"What is an Innate Skill? I heard of it before", Aldo asks in confusion, he remembers Erick's brother saying this Innate Skill when he saw the fire breathing.
Diane tries to collect herself while looking at the blazing sword but she can't, Aldo needs to wait for a full minute before she was finally able to snap out of her daze and explained, "An Innate Skill is extremely rare, only a very powerful Ego Beast can bestow an Innate Skill to an Ego Fighter. It allows an Ego Fighter to be able to use the Ego Beast's ability without needing to reach the third circle"
"This puts an Ego Fighter with an Innate Skill a natural advantage over other Ego Fighter in the same circle or even above, it's a gift...", she mutters slowly.
Hearing this, Aldo can't help but look at his blazing sword.
Although he only thought to himself that he's the only one that can do this amongst the Ego Fighter in the first circle, it's all for cheering himself up and motivating him to do better. Who would've thought that it's actually something special.
Diane's expression then turns serious before she said, "Wait for me here"
"I'll go change my clothes and get ready to teach you how to reach the second circle, you have a Talentless Body condition but my god is your Ego Beast powerful and mysterious. Maybe you can bypass your Talentless Body using your Ego Beast", she added before running into the house.
Not long after, Diane came back after changing her clothes.
Aldo who is sitting on the ground waiting for her was stunned upon looking at her, she's wearing his clothes because she didn't bring any when she arrived here yesterday. The sight makes a smile creep on his face but he quickly turns his head away seeing Diane's glare.
"Don't you comment anything about my outfit", Diane said with puffed cheeks.
Hearing this, Aldo tries so hard not to look at her clothes and replies, "Yes, ma'am!"
But even with him trying so hard to not look at her outfit, his eyes can't help but wander down to see the baggy clothes that she's wearing. The clothes Aldo usually wear is baggy, even for Diane who has a slightly bigger frame than him it's still baggy.
The funniest thing is her lower part that wore Aldo's brown lush pant, the pant is tied together with a string and it makes her look like a classical tomboy which is contrasting with her womanly oval face.
Diane suddenly snaps her head to look at Aldo, this instantly makes Aldo looks away from her outfit while whistling.
Feeling a bit annoyed, Diane then said, "Sit down and watch!"
"Yes, ma'am!", Aldo salutes like a soldier before he sat on the ground just as Diane orders, he then looks at Diane who widens her stance into a more comfortable position before closing her eyes.
Swish...
A red aura started to steam around her body while she closed her eyes.
The energy from the red aura breezes Aldo's cheeks just like a subtle push of wind, but then under Aldo's eyes, both of her hands started to create a bubble of red energy. It's like she's gathering the red aura onto her hands and creating these bubbles.
It didn't take long before the energy becomes even more powerful than what Aldo has ever felt, the feeling of suppression can be felt clearly coming from these bubbles.
Not long after that,
Swoosh!
Two identical gauntlets that took the shape of three claws appeared on Diane's hands, they were sizzling with intense red energy. Aldo can feel the threatening energy coming from those two gauntlets made of pure red aura.
After summoning the gauntlets, Diane then open her eyes and look at Aldo, "This is the sign of an Ego Fighter of the second circle, Astral Weapon"