Quest!

I find myself staring ht her. She stares back at me. She is a little embarrassed, but she insists on keeping staring right at me. I can't help but do just the same. This girl is not just smart, she is not just cute and loyal. Her energetic behavior is not just "hype". This girl is POWERFUL.

"Luna".

-"Yea?"

I keep staring at her a bit more.

"Let's keep going. Even with your drop rate buff their wings might be quite rare to get. But this is fun!"

-"YES! Time to kick some butt!" She confirms. -"Wanna see some offense magic?"

"Of course! Destroy them!" I reply with hype.

We keep walking a bit more deeply into the forest. We find a new butterfly. It seems a bit different. It looks like it's close, but... Something is weird...

We get closer to it and it gets bigger and bigger and it won't stop, despite us still having some room to get closer. No. It was bigger to begin with! That's why it looked like it was close. That butterfly is MUCH bigger the the normal ones and has two pairs of wings. It's a boss monster.

-"Rune! This one is a rare 'Mega Crystal Butterfly', if I'm not mistaken it might be the easiest boss. It does have a 1,000 life points though".

"Let's get him!" I declare. "Do you want to start?"

-"Sure!"

Luna prepares a damaging skill. It's a fire blast! She blasts it twice, dealing 50 damage with each shot.

"Luna! That was massive!"

-"Actually... I took it too far, I barely have any magic left. This spell is very powerful even early-on, but costs A LOT of magic. I only have enough left to get you the buffs, or heal you once. We don't have magic potions, only health potions. We had so much fun, I forgot we need to get some potions from Learslake first".

"Okay, no problem Luna! It seems pretty easy, so give me the buffs, we won't need healing for this one".

-"Roger that!" She yells, and quickly cast her buffs.

I'm glowing and a glassy dagger appears in my hand. I can get used to that.

I throw it, and then quickly throw some more. After 5 throws I already dealt 30 damage, and I keep throwing more, delivering a fury of raining daggers. Every dagger already deals 10 damage each. The damage accumulates and after only a few seconds I already dealt a 100 damage.

It has 800 life points left.

Suddenly, it tries to chase me, looks like it's also trying to... Head-butt... Maybe? Some sort of barging maneuver. I roll backwards and keep my distance. I'm throwing daggers while being on the move so it won't catch up with me.

I deal some stable damage, It's already down to 400 life points. As I struggle but keep hitting - it gets down to 300, 200, 100, and eventually down to 50 life points!

I keep at it and I suddenly bump into a tree root that was reaching a bit higher from the ground. I misstep, and my footing is in shambles. This slowed me just enough for the mega butterfly to slam into me once.

I bounce from the force, its' power is quite impressive.

-"Rune, I regenerated enough magic for one heal or one fire blast!"

"Heal me! I still got the drop rate buff, will it work if you hit the last hit?"

She heals me. -"It only works if you dealt the most damage, but you still need to be the one to finish it. Good call!" She reaffirms me.

So it won't work if I only deliver the final blow. I see...

I slam right into the mega butterfly, and deal some physical damage. I slash it multiple times and it's finally defeated.

It drops 2 pairs of wings! We now have 3 of those.

"Luna! It dropped 2 pairs!!"

-"That's great! I'm actually not sure what is the normal drop rate from the boss monster. Maybe the boss even gurantees it, haha!" She realizes.

"Pff... haha... Let's go back to the guild to see when a wagon will be available for questing near Learslake".

-"Aye aye, captain!" She replies.

"But you are the captain!" I remind her, humorously.

-"Aye aye... In general!"

"Hahaha, after you then". She is so fun to be with.

We start walking back from the forest. It suddenly seems akward to me to just be walking behind her. I bridge the gap and get next to her, walking on the same line. We look at each other as we keep going. She smiles. And then I smile as well.

I slowly, and ever so lightly... Reach for her hand...

It seems time itself has been slowed down just for us.

I can feel the gaps between her fingers, as our hands meet, and slowly transition to a comfortable position. It's one of those moments that make you want to live forever, and the world helps a bit, making the moment last longer.

In the guild

We arrive. We go to the desk and the girl behind it recognizes Luna as they work together in the guild.

-"Hey Luna! The guildmaster told me you went on questing! Who is this? Your boyfriend?" She asks, trying to tease Luna.

-"Yes".

Her co-worker is a little fazed by that reply. Luna seemed quiet, but... Powerful. She felt so... Confident. I like what she said. I like How she said it. And mostly... I just REALLY like her.

-"When is the next shuttle to Learslake?" Luna asks.

-"Just now at 12:30! You might still make it!" She warns her, pointing outside.

-"Rune! Let's run!"

We run outside. We change course to the shuttle area and we can see it from afar.

-"Wait!!!" Luna yells.

"Hold on a second!" I join her.

We manage to outrun the wagon and match its' speed. We can see a bit inside it.

-"You are late! The next shuttle is scheduled for the same time, tomorrow", the carter says.

-"Roku, you see this kid? He looks just like Ichi and Nana", the man inside the wagon says. -"Hey kid! Is your mother a scary warrior and a terrible cook by any chance? Hahahaha".

"My mother is a great cook. Mostly because I taught her. She taught me everything else".

-"Stop the carriage". It's a voice that is different from the man who was laughing just now.

It wasn't said by the coachman, obviously. Probably another man from inside the wagon.

The carriage stops. We get on. Inside, there are two men.

-"Wow, they look just like them. Roku, did you know Ichi and Nana had twins?"

-"They didn't. Only the boy is their son. The girl just happens to look a bit like Nana", he replies.