34. Travel companion

The next morning Waldina briefed last night’s events to Claudia and sleepy Kiandra. Most importantly she explained they’d now have some extra company. After hearing the name Kris and Jaspis the color drained from Claudia’s face. Extra company, especially one searching for her, meant she couldn’t take off her disguise as Diaz at any moment. Kris was a man. If he wanted to shower together with Claudia, she couldn’t exactly say no to him, without a proper reason. The mere thought made her nauseous.

Kiandra on the other hand was hardly surprised by the news. When Waldina had woken her up last night, she’d already known something was terribly wrong. Her ninja friend had a good sense of impending danger, especially after the third stage-exam. Though it hadn’t improved that greatly back then, as the main reward was the skill stilgan. Yet Kiandra had trust in Waldina’s senses and intuition; the ninja wouldn’t wake her up without a good reason.

“Why?” Claudia yelped as she finished washing her face for the third time with the water Kiandra casted. The short brown hair of Diaz was ruffled up due to sleeping well at night and his clothes were a tad bit wrinkled. Claudia never slept without clothes on and she didn’t have that many change of clothes for her manly version. Actually, she only had two light-gray shirts and two sets of dark pants, the other were full-length and the other were closer to shorts. Waldina frowned at the notion. Claudia needed new clothes before they’d reach Xunte Sintra, in order to better adapt to her new life as a male student.

“Kris wants to know who we actually are. He’s stubborn and doesn’t believe my words, even though I already told him everything there was to know,” Waldina smiled pointedly, annoyed, keeping her voice stable. She couldn’t be sure whether Kris was listening to them even now. Yet she had a hunch that now that he was so close to them, nothing slipped past his attention. The earl Cliffertown had promised Kris and Jaspis something so unbelievably good as a reward that they wouldn’t give up easily. That much was clear from the mage’s attitude. Waldina had no idea what the reward could be yet she doubted she, as someone who’d just reached the world of AO, had nothing better to offer for them.

“Oh no,” the words slipped from Claudia’s lips and Waldina hurried to correct her words before anything else came out: “I know. You’re so shy I didn’t want to add extra company just yet.”

Claudia nodded slowly, without a word. Waldina’s demeanor and reactions told her all there was to know: even slightly odd actions and speech could reveal the truth to Kris.

I wonder how this’ll go, Waldina wondered to herself. After she’d heal completely, she’d leave Kris behind. It would take some days and leveling up. If she managed to level up her stamina and agility enough, she might just be able to leave behind the more skilled mage. The biggest problem would be ensuring Kris wouldn’t catch up with them again. She wasn’t exactly sure if it even was possible since Kris had a hunch of their destination and had the skill for long-distance teleporting. At least Waldina was sure his skills included that of teleportation as nothing else could explain his catching up to them so soon.

Waldina checked her clothing again as she waited for Kiandra and Claudia to be ready to leave. Mostly just Claudia, who was still panicking over Kris joining them.

Waldina had on her new ninja costume. The short, crop top shirt only covered her chest, leaving most of her stomach and even the wounds on her back, bare. Luckily the wound had already closed up so it wasn’t a problem. The skirt on the other hand began from her hip reaching slightly over her mid-thighs. As it was cut from the side it exposed her other leg nearly to her hips. The costume was perhaps exposing but Waldina was really starting to enjoy both its looks and how it felt on her. The fabric was softer compared to her first ninja costume here and it looked slightly more detailed. Besides the skirt’s hem reached further in this one, hiding her other thigh belt almost completely. Due to that she was able to hide some of her weapons, especially in cases of ambushes. Once she’d gotten over the shock of having to wear something so exposing, she was actually starting to like the costume.

“Let’s go,” Claudia’s tone was ever so slightly given up but she still managed to smile. Waldina nodded in approval and they headed towards the tavern’s main area.

“Mornings,” the tavern owner, Maaret, called out with a strong voice. “Would you travelers want some breakfast?”

“Yes, please,” Waldina smiled shortly before checking the menu. The trio chose the recommended sets and quickly finished their meals.

At the stable the worker was already taking care of their horses and readying them for the journey. Next to him there was Kris who appeared to have noticed the trio coming a while ago. Yet only once they were close enough to talk he turned to grin at the purplehaired ninja and her friends. Waldina rolled her eyes, not really caring about the man. She had made her choice to try and treat him as rudely as possibly, in order to not get attached to him.

“So ladies, did you sleep well?” Kris’ smile widened with each word. His attentive gaze traveled from Waldina to Kiandra to Diaz, staying there for a minute.

“Well, Kiandra, did you sleep well?” Waldina turned to look at the blue fairy with a meaningful look on her eyes. The fairy hid behind the purple hair in response. “Though I don’t think you need to address Kiandra as multiple ladies,” Waldina added, emphasizing each word carefully. For Kris the words worked as a reminder of their conversation last night. For Claudia they were a reminder that she was in fact not a lady right now, but a strong man.

“Thanks for asking,” Kiandra began, peaking slightly from behind Waldina’s hair. “I barely slept, thanks to you.”

“Ohh you’re a grumpy one. Though I don’t remember keeping up a sweet fairy such as yourself last night,” Kris acted as if he didn’t know what Kiandra was talking about, whilst touching his chin.

“However, I did keep up a certain ninja,” Kris winked at Waldina, voice full of flirt and the double meaning didn’t go unnoticed by the ninja.

“And it certainly wasn’t a good thing,” Waldina laughed dryly before turning to the worker taking care of their horses. “Thanks a lot for your services. We’ll continue our journey in a bit.”

“It’s okay. Your horses are doing well. Do stop by our village another time. I’ll gladly take care of these buddies,” his voice was filled with kindness as he glanced at the horses. It was clear to Waldina that this man truly enjoyed the company of the horses.

Gratefully she went to the horses and swiftly checked that everything was alright with the reins and the saddle. After being happy with the result, she signaled Claudia to hop on her horse before climbing up to her own. Kris looked at them with curiosity, still standing on the ground.

“And how will I travel?” the male mage asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t think that’s our problem. Perhaps you can use the same method as you did when coming here,” Waldina chuckled as she urged her horse forward. Kris ran after them and she could hear him chanting something. Then he appeared behind her, settled on her horse. Without hesitation he grabbed her by the waist, holding her in a hug-like way. Waldina’s expression was sour as she urged her horse to gallop through the village.

“When I agreed with you joining us, I did think you’d figure out your own travel method by yourself,” Waldina hissed and moved the man’s arms away from her waist.

“The horse is more than capable of carrying the both of us. You’re so light. Besides I couldn’t use my teleportation to keep up with you,” his tone was honey-sweet as he kept on holding to Waldina gently.

“Stop touching me or you’ll end up on the ground,” Waldina warned after they’d reached the forest, their planned route. Simultaneously, she made a mental note of the fact Kris did in fact use teleportation to get here. His teleportation just happened to be a skill meant for longer distances unlike her skill leap.

“Well well, I know you like it,” Kris tried but quickly gave up after noticing the bloodthirsty aura of hers. He was reminded of their conversation last night and he took a bit of distance from the girl, as much as it was possible whilst riding a horse. One thing was clear to him: the ninja didn’t fall for his charms and didn’t approve of him using them. As long as he wanted to keep the peace - and his life - he should lay off with the attempts.

“Ah, so you have a partner,” Kris stated as he tried to figure out the meanings behind her actions and words. He crossed his arms to his chest and balanced his body on the fast-moving horse’s back, careful not to touch the ninja in front of him.

“Where’d you figure out such?” Waldina chuckled. The whole statement was more than absurd and she couldn’t help but think it as a joke. She had been in this world for mere weeks. When would she have had time to fall in love? Back in her home world she’d had a couple of relationships, though never anything major. So she wasn’t exactly missing anyone special.

“You’re not at all interested in such a charmer as me,” Kris sounded nauseatingly confident and Waldina couldn’t stop the giggling from escaping her mouth.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, did I hurt your ego?” she managed to say in between her giggles. The mage wasn’t thrilled at all.

“Hmm,” Kris began again, trying to figure out her situation. “Perhaps you’re into your companion. Diaz was it?”

Waldina glanced at Claudia weighing her options. Would it be easier to lie here and actually get Kris to believe Claudia was Diaz, an ordinary man.

“How’d you know?” she whispered with a voice so tender, imitating the actions of people in love. Though she failed miserably.

“Ah, you’re lying,” Kris laughed dryly without a care for her act. “But let’s leave that. I’ll get you to talk one day.”

“Is that so?” Waldina smiled and threw her shuriken towards a yellow wasp charging towards them. The wasp disappeared on impact and her shuriken fell down just as she rode past it. She managed to grab it from the air and kept holding onto it, just in case. Kiandra had finally given her the right to move around a bit more, thus making it possible to once again use her shurikens and daggers against the wasps. With little effort she managed to catch them back as they fell down so she didn’t need to worry about wasting them by leaving them behind.

“Why’s such a talented young lady specializing in being a ninja?” Kris inquired curiously looking at her actions.

“Why not? It’s fun,” the ninja replied, avoiding the actual question. She wasn’t interested in talking about her home world with Kris of all people. She couldn’t trust him and she had no intention of giving up and telling him the truth. Kris could travel with them if he so wished, but she refused to give him anything else.

“You could be a talented sword-wielder,” Kris persisted in trying to get Waldina to talk.

“Yes. And now I can be that and dagger-wielder, trapper, assassin and spy. Besides, usually one is born as a ninja, not deciding to become a ninja,” she snarled, seriously thinking of ways to shut the man up. Was it illegal to kill someone in the world of AO? She wasn’t sure so she decided to leave it at only thought-level.

“You might be right,” Kris admitted, giving up. He continued inquiring about Diaz, but Waldina skillfully evaded all the questions. Claudia herself stayed behind them so that she couldn’t accidentally end up taking part in the conversation. Kris was opposite to her: talkative and confident, but most importantly terribly curious. Everything she didn’t need for her life right now.

“The horse tires more easily when you’re on it too,” Waldina complained as the night came. They had in fact reached the area she had been planning to reach today, but she wasn’t about to admit that to him. If there was even a small reason to complain about his company, she’d gladly do it.

“Well well, I know you like it,” Kris grinned and petted the horse as he got down to the ground.

“At best in your daydreams,” Waldina chuckled. “And even then only a little.”

“Is that so,” Kris squinted his eyes though he didn’t continue the conversation. He followed from the sidelines as Waldina began setting their camp between trees, on a small flat area. As she noticed the ninja gathering wood, he took a step closer and without another thought he rested his hand on her shoulder. The ninja flinched and backed away from him. Her scared and suspicious eyes gazed down on him.

“What do you want?”

“I was just wondering why you’re preparing the fire?” Kris calmed his tone trying his best to sound like a friendly partner, not just some annoying intruder. He wanted to know whether Diaz was somehow the noble his team was looking for, yet he was also intrigued by the ninja in front of him. Some part of him wished she’d join Jaspis. Perhaps it was due to his superior intuition.

“For food, obviously,” Waldina replied with her tone self-evident.

“In that case, don’t bother. It’s warm enough without the campfire,” Kris laughed while showing off his fire magic skills. As a mage he had all sorts of skills, including that of fire magic. Fire magic was easily one of the most destructive elemental magics and thus most mages prioritized it. Of course, when used and practiced correctly, other elements could be far more destructive.

“Hmm… And does it cost me?” Waldina was suspicious for a reason. She really didn’t know if she could trust his words.

“Of course not,” Kris tilted his head, thinking. “Or actually, perhaps you could give me some of the food.”

“Maybe I’ll just make the campfire,” she mumbled as a reply.

“But you could practice or rest longer if you eat faster,” Kris winked, finding the ninja’s weak point. Waldina did indeed want to practice against the monsters here so she could level up. Finally she agreed to his proposal and Kris cooked their dinner.

Kiandra glanced at the food offered to him mistrustingly but after Waldina ensured her it was edible, she went on to enjoy her meal. During the meal Claudia stayed mostly quiet. She was deadly afraid she’d attract unwanted attention if she were to talk more than absolutely necessary.

And then came the moment she had been dreading for most of the day. She wanted to shower before going to sleep on the hard ground, yet she absolutely didn’t want to do it in Kris’ presence. Waldina noticed her friend’s problem and managed to find a solution.

“Kris, would you come with me to defeat some close-by monsters, to ensure they don’t bother us during the night?” she suggested drawing the mage’s attention to herself. His emerald eyes were filled with suspicion though he didn’t argue. He just nodded and followed Waldina outside the camp.

In fact there weren’t many monsters in the area. Just a couple of yellow wasps and arthunds. Waldina defeated the wasps with her water bullets. Arthunds she killed with her sword. She managed to surprise the first arthund and cut through it with her blade. The other arthund was more alert and she had to protect herself from its teeth with her blade. After evading it she quickly drew the sword towards her and without stopping turned it to face the arthund, slashing it to pieces. The third arthund she defeated from behind her smoke screen: it didn’t even have time to react as she cut it from behind.

“You don’t need my help,” Kris’ statement was more of thought out loud rather than conversation starter.

“Better too careful than not enough,” she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and placed her sword back to its sheath.

“You wanted to get me away from Diaz and Kiandra,” he continued guessing her motivations, this time turning his judging gaze at the ninja who was over a head shorter than him.

“And you’re not seriously flirting with me,” Waldina threw the ball back to his court, earning herself a flinch from Kris. “Why do you think so?”

“I’m sure the ring on your left ring finger is not just some pointless decoration,” she noted pointing at his finger. He turned to look at it, cursing his mistake. He had pursued the group so suddenly that he’d forgotten to go through all of his usual routines, like checking his ring was not there.

“Fine. We’re tied,” Kris admitted without further questions. “My fiancee is one of the members of Jaspis.”

“I get it. Stop flirting if you want to keep her. Rubin doesn’t seem like a person who’ll keep on forgiving you for your actions,” Waldina noted whilst calling out the name of Jaspis’ archer. It confused Kris.

“How’d you know?” he yelped. “In any case, Rubin knows that part of my tactic is acting like a charmer. An infatuated girl is more talkative and open.”

“Intuition,” Waldina smiled and turned towards the camp. She kept her steps needlessly slow, giving extra time for Claudia and Kiandra. Her mind wandered back to their first meeting with Jaspis. Rubin’s aura as a bloodlusting archer didn’t seem to stem from her being a hunter, but rather it was due to Kris’ actions. After all, the man had shown interest in Waldina, with his flirting eyes nonchalantly pointing at a different woman than his fiancee. That was enough to anger most women. Not to mention if such things kept on happening all the time.

“Hmm I wonder,” Kris wasn’t entirely convinced yet he had to admit he’d lost this round as well. Waldina was far smarter and observant than he’d anticipated. Fooling her would be no easy task.

Waldina agreed with Kris. Fooling Kris would be difficult. Yet at the end of the day, it was their only goal; to fool each other.