There were claps of the three girls behind him. With admiration and smiles on their faces, they walked toward Loki.
"That was cool, Loki!" Rika said she jumped out of excitement.
'I can do everything I want with this ability!' Loki screamed in his head. "That's nothing, Rika. The hardest part was holding back so I would not end up destroying their tusks."
"And you did a good job doing so, Loki," Ariel said as she picked up one of the tusks. "All of them are unscathed, not even a hint of the devastating attack boars' received. Quite amazing." She said, "So, that attack is the thing that you want to test?"
"Yes. Now, I finally have a decent understanding of how it works." Loki said and crossed his arms. "Now, should we continue hunting? This time, I want to see what the three of you are capable of."
"Sure. But I would say it now, we are not as powerful as you are, so I hope you won't get disappointed if you end up not liking what you will see." Ariel said as she walked toward Loki, maintaining eye contact. Half of Ariel's lips slowly rose as she was drawn to Loki's sharp gazing eyes.
Loki on the other hand fought back and stared the same way. "I already like what I am seeing... and I am eager to see more if you allow me to."
"Then, let's go," Rika said as she walked ahead and was followed by Ariel.
What was left behind was Loki and Lian, walking slowly. Loki was watching the back of the two girls ahead with curiosity in his eyes.
"I... I think you look cool back there, Mister Morningwood." Lian said using a very soft voice. She looked down, hiding her flushed face and ears which were visible because of her hair tied in a ponytail and smooth white skin.
'Shy girls are cute! Her ears are red by just saying simple compliments, and she has a very soft voice that sounds like always whispering... that would be a piece of fantastic music if she whispers in my ears.' Loki screamed inside his head. "Thanks, Lian. However, I prefer if you just call me Loki, I would like it more."
Lian raised his face and looked at Loki who was looking at her. She pushed her glasses and softly bit her pink lips. "If... If you say so... Loki."
'My god! She's cute! I think my heart just dropped! Call a funeral service because I think I just died and met an innocent angel!' Loki thought. "That's better. I like the sound of it when your soft voice calls my name." Loki said and expressed a gentle smirk.
Lian stopped walking and remained to look at Loki. Her brown eyes, which were hidden in her glasses, widened.
Loki looked back. "Why? Is there a problem, Lian?"
Lian on the other hand, didn't reply and just jogged ahead and left Loki behind. She was clenching her staff while her already red face turned more red. A weak smile emerged on her face while shaking her head.
Loki scratched the back of her head and furrowed his eyebrows while watching Lian walk away. 'Why, though?' He asked in confusion. 'Maybe I overdid it by complimenting her voice. Man...'
The party continued their hunt and most of the time, Loki just observed them from the sidelines. While watching, Loki learned how their party worked. Rika was their warrior, the one fighting in the front line, which surprised Loki because, despite her soft and bubbly personality, she was powerful enough to actually fight toe to toe against larger monsters.
And while Rika was the one facing the enemies, both Lian and Ariel were helping her by taking down the enemies as fast as they could. Loki rarely joined the battle and just did when he was certain that the girls were having a hard time dealing with their enemies, so he would not end up taking away the fun of adventuring from them.
Regardless, their quest had ended faster than they thought. The moment they had finished, the sun was still up and they still had a lot of time to take a rest. They decided to eat their late lunch in one spot in the forest and had lively chats while laughing at each other's jokes. Loki easily fit into the group, and immediately felt welcome to the group, especially of how kind they treated him.
"Where are you going, Loki?" Rika asked while sitting on the grassy floor. She was putting the utensils they used to eat inside her dimensional storage.
Loki stopped on his track and looked back. He found Ariel, Rika, and Lian staring at him. "I think I saw a river nearby, I'll go clean my face," Loki said and walked away from them. "I'll be back soon."
Loki walked aimlessly for a few minutes and finally found a river. Upon seeing the beautiful scenery of the place, a gentle smile emerged on his face. "What a wonderful sight." He said as he walked toward the river. While getting closer he removed his shoes and pulled his pants up and walked into the water.
He remained unmoved while watching his reflection in the water, then he scooped the water using his hands and washed his face.
"How is the water?"
"It's refreshing," Loki said and looked in the direction of the familiar voice. "Rika..."
What Loki found was Rika standing at the edge of the river, the light coming from the sun made her smooth white skin glow whiter, and so did her red hair. Her fox tail swayed slowly while her fox ears were standing. Loki just noticed it when his eyes darted to Rika's face... It was red while her eyes were attentively watching Loki's every move.
"Both Ariel and Lian decided to lay down and rest on the spot where we ate our lunch... So I decided to accompany you here." She said using a soft and alluring voice that Loki heard for the first time.
'What's up with that erotic look and tone!' Loki screamed in his head, but didn't show it on his face. He slowly nodded and walked toward the riverbank where Rika was standing. "I see... There are only two of us then." Loki said as a joke to lighten up the mood.
"Yes. There are only two of us... Loki." Rika said with an alluring smile on her face.
'Uhm... I have bad and good feelings about this.'