William opened his eyes to look at the ceiling, enraptured by the array of glittering stars that described the unbeatable beauty of the night sky. When he looked at the slumbering girl in bed next to him, he suddenly felt the need to change his thoughts of the sky to "almost unbeatable beauty".
Charlotte seemed to wake up at the same time as him, because her eyes fluttered open, surprised at first to see William until she remembered the events of the night before. She became calm while the two looked at each other for a while.
"What should we call this?" William asked. He had never been in this kind of situation with a girl, so he hoped she would have an easy answer.
"Let's think about that later." Charlotte smiled as she got up from the bed, scanning the room for some clothes to wear. Despite the previous night, she felt bashful when William looked at her.
William felt a little weird being in Charlotte's bed at this moment, so he took the opportunity to locate his own clothing, thankful that the System had helped with the removal of his Artifacts.
How awkward it would have been if William needed an hour to take off the Starmetal Batteries and the Artifact Belt, among the multitude of other Artifacts he carried with him 24/7. By the time he got everything off, the mood would be totally ruined!
I'm mad at myself for letting my Humanity mess with my emotions, but thankfully it ended well. I'll just have to be more careful in the future.
He and Charlotte spent the remainder of the day together, alternating between watching movies from William's memory displayed with Arrays to their own form of dual Cultivation. It was a very refreshing feeling, one that made William feel like a brand-new man.
After their relaxing day together, William and Charlotte eventually opted to return to their usual tasks, no longer able to put off their needs. Charlotte wanted to catch up to William as quickly as possible, while William himself still had to prepare for Riyald's mission.
Since the others would be coming with him, he had to make a few extra preparations to make sure they were as safe as possible. If a fight broke out, William wanted to ensure he had the ability to protect them at all times, so he started by creating the Chaos Elemental Sphere for his Artifact Belt and registered it with the System.
William had most of the supplies he needed to go on the journey, and what he didn't have, Riyald provided for him. Since William was retrieving the Soul Cultivation Technique for him, Riyald had no reason to ask for any compensation or favors.
The group prepared to leave the following morning, which also happened to be the night of Christmas Eve in William's old world. There was no such traditions in Efretta, but William still felt it right to present a gift each to his friends.
Just a few more months of training and I'll be able to defeat these things, but something's weird about the way they're attacking...
"Hey, are you even trying to kill me?" she asked, though she didn't expect a response.
Surprisingly, the Kamei Hameis stopped fighting right away and looked at Fria, "Our Master has instructed us not to kill any humans unnecessarily. I hope you can understand."
"Your Master?" she asked. "Is his name William? He told me to meet him here."
"Oh, yes! He did say something about someone coming here in the future..." one of the Kamei Hameis rubbed its head with its foot. It had completely forgotten about this matter.
It bowed its head, "Forgive me, but you'll have to wait until he comes back."
"Until he comes back? He's not here right now?" Fria asked.
"No. He said he might be back in the next few years. You can come by then if you want."
A few years?!? I don't want to wait that long! I'll have graduated College before he gets back! Damn this game and its realistic timeline...
"Where can I find him now then?" Fria asked.
"I can sense that he's going East, to another Continent. You may be able to catch up to him there if you're so willing."
Another Continent to the East? It must be the Velos Continent...
"I'll be there." she said before flying into the distance.