Cambridge University Hospital
Megan Michelle, a mature woman in her late twenties, was walking through the half-destroyed hospital passageway when she heard someone call her.
"Sister."
She stopped, turning to meet Furina's gaze.
"Furina, have you been well?" Megan asked with a smile, knowing they rarely saw each other.
Furina's expression hardened. "Forget about me. What about you? How long are you going to be with that bastard? He's just toying with you all."
Their leader had saved the surviving students from the University, bringing them to the hospital with its underground safety bunker.
It was also where Elena's mother received treatment, admitted by her father after Elena's continuous persuasion.
"Julian is a good guy, Furina," Megan insisted. "He has his issues, but he treats us all with kindness."
"Screw that. He's made you his concubine, and you've accepted it for everyone's sake.
You and the other two girls were forced into obedience because he's the leader and the strongest," Furina spat bitterly.
Furina's hatred for Julian was palpable, mingled with self-loathing for feeling so powerless. She felt her sister had sacrificed herself for both of them, and hearing others praise Julian's choice of Megan as a "lucky" one only fueled her resentment.
"How is Miss Elizabeth's condition now?" Megan attempted to change the subject, mentioning her friend's mother.
"She's still hanging on. That plant thing is keeping her heartbeat steady," Furina replied, resigned to her sister's unwavering loyalty to Julian.
"And Julian has promised to explore some nature-related dungeon to find a cure for her illness," Megan added wearily.
"He's only doing it to impress Elena later. That man's always lusting after beautiful women. Mark my words, sister, he'll treat you like a trophy and discard you," Furina warned vehemently.
"Enough!" Megan exclaimed, her frustration boiling over. "I don't know what his intentions are with Elena, but I do know he's never forced himself on a woman."
"Never," Megan repeated softly, more to reassure herself than her sister. Though she couldn't admit it aloud, she had developed feelings for Julian, despite their complicated teacher-student relationship.
Megan sighed wearily, drained from yet another argument with Furina, a familiar cycle that seemed to repeat every time they meet.
"Furina, we could all be in much worse situations. I'm just an ordinary woman, scared like everyone else in this building.
Julian doesn't just protect us; he's been a shoulder for me to cry on when I miss our parents.
He's genuinely a good person. Why can't you see that?" Megan said, her voice tinged with frustration as she pleaded with her sister.
With that, she turned and entered Julian's room.
*************
Elena bled from her eyes, ears, and nose, teetering on the edge of death.
Connor laid her on a bed and spoke to her, but with her ears bleeding, she couldn't hear anything.
Realizing this, Connor decided to communicate through gestures and signs. He first pointed his finger at her mouth then pointed to his neck and then clutched it with his hands.
Elena understood his gesture but hesitated, confused about why Connor would want her to bite his neck.
From his behavior so far, he had appeared as a cruel, ego-centric, and resentful person. Connor, seeing her reluctance, forcefully brought his neck near her mouth.
"Elena, please", Connor pleaded her
Elena was shocked; it was the first time he had called her properly, and she also noticed the worried gaze he gave her.
After some hesitation, she finally did as he asked, using all her remaining strength to bite him.
As she bit him and the blood gushed out, the initial pungent smell made Elena throw up. Despite the sensation, she tasted and drank his blood slowly as strength returned to her.
She felt her vitality returning and her body healing rapidly as she drank his blood she continued to bite out blood more fiercely as she got addicted to the taste and the feeling she felt after she digested the blood.
Connor stopped her as he pulled her face near his, Elena's face became red as sanity returned to her slowly.
" Please be gentle and take it slow, you will suck me dry like this, I am also not in good shape", Connor said with a weak and tired smile.
Elena nodded, blushing hard as she realized what she had just done. She then noticed her body temperature rising, and as she looked around, she realized she had become a sweaty mess.
Realization finally dawned on her that she hadn't taken a bath since leaving for the dungeon expedition.
While she was busy in thought, Connor hugged her and brought her face close to his neck
"Don't think of anything else and just focus on recovering now" he said completely reading her thoughts.
' Just what are you? ', Elena thought as she contemplated if he was a nice guy or a bad guy while still sucking and enjoying his blood.
And just like that the session continued for 10 more minutes before both of them fell asleep in the bed.
Silvia was the first to find both unconscious as she entered the tent house to check on them but she could do nothing as they were both very tired and refused to move.
She did not want to wake them up but also found the whole situation quiet surreal as these two were just fighting like sworn enemies were now asleep together in arms.
After cleaning up the space around the two and spraying fragrance to remove the sweaty smell that covered the tent house, she quietly left them to rest.
Later that night, Elena was the first to wake up. As her eyes opened, she was met with the peaceful sleeping face of Connor.
Seeing that Connor was holding her with his arm, she got startled and let out a sharp gasp,
"Aahh!", which woke Connor as well.
Connor rubbed his eyelids, feeling like he still needed some sleep. "What time is it?" he asked casually, glancing at Elena, who started glaring at him.
"How would I know? I was also sleeping with yo—" She stopped and blushed realizing how it sounded as if they were a couple.
" You are right, Go tell Silvia to bring me some food, I am starving," Connor said while rubbing his tummy.
" Why should I do it?" Elena snapped at his audacity to command her as if he owned her. Then she realized that he might think like that since he did save her life by offering his blood.
Thinking back on it made Elena embarrassed again but she also became curious and asked him what she had been thinking for a while now,
"Connor, are you even human?"
Connor was taken aback by the question. "Why do you ask that?"
"I mean, the way you stood against a constellation, insulted him, and used his own threat against him. And then there's that delici— I mean, your otherworldly blood that healed me."
Elena had almost blurted out something embarrassing.
" That was my 3rd order passive skill 'Rejuvenating Physique' "
" What?!" Elena was again shocked by such a revelation " Then you have 3 skills and a 3rd order skill no- you have two 3rd order skills, but that is not possible unless- "
" I have two skills, Darkness Surge, and Rejuvenating Physique," He said not caring about letting out his secrets to her.
He found it strange, as if something inside him was controlling or influencing his actions, making him behave in ways he didn't fully understand.
" Why are you telling all of this to me ?" Elena asked, even she knew that a man such as Connor would never reveal his secrets and strengths unless he had an ulterior motive.
" I honestly do not know" Connor just shook his head with a sigh as he dropped his head to the pillow again and looking tired.
" You do not know why you are doing what you did? " Elena asked with a suspicious look.
" Yeah, but If i had to guess it would probably be to get close to you" He said while raising his hand toward the moon that was peeking from the torn top side of the tent.
Their battle had really destroyed a lot of their surroundings.
"You want to get close to me?" Elena asked in disbelief, replaying everything that had happened so far.
It started with Alya suggesting that Connor might have a crush on her. Then, during their confrontation, Thor mentioned Connor having his eyes on her or something along those lines as she was in so much pain to recall what he said back then but she remembered it was something similar.
And now Connor himself saying that he wants to get close to her, All of this only led to one conclusion which she wanted to ask, but connor spoke first.
"Forget that, Did that thunder freak leave your body?" Connor asked in a chilling tone which brought back the bad side of him.
She opened her profile and was shocked by the changes,
" This... "
[ Name: Elena Schmidt
Race: Human ( Hybrid Valkyrie )
Class: None
Subclass: None
Level: 9 ( 52/1000)
AP: 1
Attributes:
->Strength: 42
->Endurance: 20
->Stamina: 21/33
->Agility:30
->M.P: 20
->Mana: 15/140
Weapons(1) Equipments(2) Skills(2) Weapon Arts(0) Blessing(0) Esper(1) ]
" What happened?" connor asked with a hint of concern and unease
He feared Thor had done something to her but before he could ask that elena replied with enthusiasm.
" This is so great, That pervert really left my body but what is good is that he did not take his powers from me "
"Did you just call him a pervert? He's a constellation, you know," Connor asked, feeling quite happy with her words.
"He took control of my body without my consent, nearly killed me, and wanted me as his concubine. Yet, I'm not even allowed to call him a pervert? And this is coming from you, who spewed so many curses at him." Elena looked annoyed as Connor gave her an amused expression.
'You bastard, just you wait. I will get back at you one day,' she thought.
"Actually, I am sorry," Connor said aloud, shocking Elena with the unexpected apology.
"I said all those harsh things about you and accused you of unfair things. That was very rude of me. I was jealous of you... jealous that you got so strong so easily.
I thought that, with your beauty alone, that pervert thunder god favored you. I realized I was wrong after he took your body, and perhaps that's why I went to such lengths to save you." Connor was speaking not only to her but to himself.
He also questioned himself on why he went through so many risks while gaining nothing in return.
'No, I did gain something,' Connor thought as he looked at Elena, who was staring at him in shock.
"Forgive me, Helen—no, forgive me, Elena," Connor said, getting up and bowing to her deeply while calling out her actual name this time.
"Uhmm, since you know you were wrong and apologized properly, I will forgive you. You have also saved my life, after all," Elena replied, quite happy with his gesture.
"By the way, what were you saying about not losing your powers?" Connor asked, having forgotten to ask the important question due to being distracted by Elena's smile and the news of Thor leaving her body.
"Oh, that..." She grinned. "I can still use the Lightning Transformation despite the blessing having disappeared."
"What? Are you serious?" Connor was shocked, having never thought it was possible.
Seeing him stunned, Elena enjoyed the expression on his face. 'So he can make expressions like that, huh...' she thought.
"How?" Connor asked after getting no response from Elena.
"The blessing turned into an Esper," she said.
"An Esper?" Connor recalled the term, as his blessing had turned into what he could conclude as a semi-esper, but he didn't understand back then what an Esper meant.