Chapter 162 - Little Sister Tantrum

< Level up! 1 to 2 >

"Fuu... It's extremely refreshing!" Especially when I level up. 

I'm really satisfied now. Then, I will say, nothing can beat the delicious scent of blood like this.

After the fight, I relaxed my muscles for a while. My stress has gone completely. The fight was so fun and I wanted more. But...

"How long you guys will become statues like that? Do you guys want to take these monster Magic Stones or proceed with our journey as soon as possible? Please state your decision."

The words I voiced pulled everyone from their daze.

Oswin blinked then said, "Let's take their Magic Stones first. We'll continue the journey as quickly as we can after that."

The Shadow Elf moves to chop the corpses of those monsters. They shed more blood to fill this place with a delicious scent. The meat they cut seduces my appetite.

It's been a while, the Heart of Monster showed an effect it hid a long time ago. It made me yearn for the meat of those Silverback Wolfs.

Now, I'm hungry or maybe starving. I want to eat fresh meat as soon as possible.

"Where are you going?" Ruciel asked. At the same time, she grabbed my hand to stop my steps.

I turn to her and blinked my eyes. I'm disconnected from the Heart of Monster effect, I can control my body again. The girl I love pulled me out from the other borders of madness.

"Thank you," I said, then took a few steps back.

Ruciel keep an eye on me as I stopped my breath to calm myself down. I want to banish the smell of blood that tempts me and the hunger that tries to control me.

Yes, I don't want to show them the scene where I eat raw meat. That would give an extremely bad impression. I don't have to imagine the consequences of that to be afraid.

Time passed and calming down is harsh labor for me to do. So, in the end, I leave the battlefield to search for fresh air.

"Big sis!" Kimi shouted at me when she was running. The little girl approached me quickly and ended up hugging me.

A moment later, she bit my stomach out of nowhere.

"Gah!" I pinched the little girl's fox ears and pulled her head away. She released her bite with a loud-sounding plop. "What are you doing!?"

Immediately, I pull up my torn shirt shortly after snapping at Kimi. I have Pain Resistance at level seven. With that, if I felt pain, it would be a thing that couldn't be ignored.

And sure enough, my blood flowed from a fresh wound.

"Look at what you did little girl! If you don't have a good explanation for this, you'll get into big trouble!" I threatened my little sister but...

"Hump!" She instead made an annoyed expression then turned her face away. She ignores me completely.

My tails made a strong swing as my face heated up. "Grr... [Healing Water Ball]"

My wound healed quickly. After making sure that the tear was closed, I approached the little girl and pulled her cheeks.

"Why are you doing that!?" I demanded in a harsh voice.

Beyond my expectations, she didn't answer me and instead, she tried to escape by pulling my hands. Unfortunately for her, my strength is not something to laugh at.

Kimi couldn't move my hands.

"Ow ow ow! Stop big sis! It hurts!" She begged as I pinched her cheeks harder.

"Ho... So you know pain. If so, you know what to say, right?"

My little sister keeps trying to escape from me. Tears gathered at the end of her eyes and yes, she showed absolutely no signs of wanting to apologize. She even made a soft growl to show her anger.

Again, she set me off. "Apologize, now!" I demanded.

"No!" She yelled.

"Apologize now or your cheeks will rip off!" I threatened and slightly increased my strength when pulling her cheeks but...

"Grr... No!" She refused again.

"Why are you being unreasonable!?"

"Because big sis is unfair!"

Yes, the explanation she said confused me. 

What does she mean by unfair? I always treated her with affection. I fulfilled her reasonable requests. I also gave her pocket money. Not once, I ignore her.

So, which partly makes me unfair to her?

"I can't understand what you're saying. What do you mean by this unfairness?"

The little girl made another faint growl then says, "big sis become strong quickly! That's not fair!"

I didn't expect an answer like that, I didn't expect her to thinks about strength, and I never noticed that she had a desire to be strong.

"You, want to be strong? Why?" I let go of Kimi's cheek and saw her in confusion.

"Because I want to protect big sis!" She declared.

Ah… I remember she already told me about it before. And at that time, I said, "someone who should have a role to protect is me. You are my little sister and I am your older sister. I will protect you, not the other way around."

"No!" She denied it with a shout. "I'm the one who will protect big sis, not the other way around!"

This conversation will become a circle if I re-emphasize that I will protect her. So, instead, I said, "then practice and raise your level. That way, you will become stronger."

"I've done it!" She told me with anger.  "I train every day and I always hunt with big sis. But in the end, I still lost to you. And I just remember, when we fought strong monsters, big sis always forbade me to fight! That's not fair either! Thanks to that, big sis becomes stronger, right!?"

"I forbade you because I didn't want you to get hurt. You're not ready to face such powerful monsters yet."

"That's why I want to be strong! I'm worried to see big sis fighting monsters like that!"

Hmm… how unreasonable Kimi was, she said it all sincerely, I could see it from the light in her eyes. yes, she shouldn't have to worry about protecting me. 

I was a Nine Tails Fox and I can become stronger faster. I can take care of myself. As for chasing my strength, this little girl will pass through a steep road.

I am a Divine Beast and that has already made me stronger than a normal Beastkin. Moreover, I have a Heart of Monsters and Soul Eaters that will give me strength easily.

For Kimi to be stronger than me, "it's impossible."

"What did Big Sis say?"

"I say, you, my little sister will never be stronger than me no matter how hard you try."

"I can! And will do it the way you did. I will also eat monster meat and Magic Stones!"

"No, you're not allowed to do it," I forbid her with a harsh voice.

"Why!?"

"You already know it. I have a skill that can neutralize the poison and then absorb the Magic Stones. If you did it, you will die."

"Grr…"

No, I won't hold back. I'll tell her the truth. Something like this is better said as soon as possible. I don't want her to continue chasing the impossible. I want her to understand the limits she has. More than that, if she could get past this truth, she could become stronger as she wished.

"Big sis is lying!"

"I'm not lying to you. You can't eat Magic Stones, I keep becoming stronger and you will never be able to catch me up. That's the truth and you must accept it."

Kimi began to cry. A moment later she bit my stomach again. I let her do it and she got a big bite. After she was satisfied, she ran up to Chloe and cried in her arms.

Comforting that a little girl is a vain act if I was the one who does it. So, I'm going to let her face this reality alone or together with her friends. 

It's for her own good.

Time passed and our journey continued.

Day becomes evening and evening becomes night. In an open space in the forests, we camped to spend the night.

One day later we saw in the village of the Shadow Elf that were our destination. And yes, I hunt monsters whenever I can't help myself. Thanks to that, I went up two levels.

< Level up! 2 to 3 >

< Level up! 3 to 4 >

I became stronger but now, let's go back to the village.

Honestly, the village was different than I expected. It was also different from the village within Ark Fantasy Online.

The Shadow Elf Village that I knew was built on flat ground, had three meters high wooden walls surrounding it, unique treehouses, and of course, large tall trees.

Meanwhile, the village we visited was built in a long ravine that splits the ground. The houses are on two sides of the wall as wooden bridges connect them. At the top part of the ravine, there are hundreds of large trees. They became the umbrellas that gave chilliness and blankets that hid this village. This place is hard to be found if it was searched from the sky.

After I expressed my thoughts about the Shadow Elf village I know to Stella, I got an answer or explanation that is, "The village you described was the village of the Elf. Unlike those who live together with nature, we live with shadows. We hid but didn't run away from something, we just didn't want to be found. Thus, a village like this was created."

"Let's not waste any more time," Oswin said. "We need to go home as soon as possible to explain why we're late and ask permission for our guests."

Stella's long ears jolted. Then, in a soft voice, she said, "Sorry, we might get troubles for my selfishness."

"You don't have to apologize. You made the right decision when you said, we should check on the people camping outside the woods," Oswin comforted Stella and she managed to get a nod from the girl.

Sometime later, I was able to officially say, we arrived at the Shadow Elf's village.