Chapter 81: Sharing Pasts (1/2)
Kaelith threw a colored ring that landed accurately around one of the many small wooden poles in her sight. She flashed a smirk at Rakna who was staring at her with a blank expression with Pronos having decided to return on his shoulder after all the… jiggling had made him dizzy.
”Seriously? Don't act smug about that when you probably have hundreds of points in dexterity,” Rakna uttered and the vixen gave him a pout. While strolling through the town, they had ended up in a street that seemingly was in an eternal state of festivity.
Several stalls were hosting small games like this ring toss and they even offered rewards such as plushies or toys, not much different from Earth in that regard. Kaelith immediately suggested playing them and this was their third one. She had already won several toys on the way.
”Unwind, wolfy,” she retorted with a huff and handed him one of the rings which he received. He looked at it and he let his mind and body instinctively feel the weight and shape before throwing it to the side without even looking. It perfectly landed around its target and the stall owner gawked at the sight.
Even Kaelith seemed to be a bit surprised. ”What did you just do? It's as if you didn't even think about what you were doing but it still ended as a bullseye.”
Rakna didn't answer right away. His expression didn't show it but he was a bit confused himself. He looked at his hand and repeatedly opened and closed it. For a second, as he was tossing that ring, he felt something take over his body.
”Hey, can you give me the rest of the rings?” He asked and Kaelith tilted her head before handing the three remaining rings. He grabbed them all with one hand and juggled them a bit. This time, he went as far as closing his eyes before throwing them over his shoulder.
The owner and Kaelith watched them fly all the way until a target each. When they confirmed with their own eyes that it had flawlessly wrapped around the rods, they became stupefied.
Meanwhile, Rakna received a simple notification from the System.
⠀
❮◈❯ Eyes of the Soul has leveled up! ❮◈❯
⠀
'I think I get it,' he thought to himself. This weird feeling he perceived came from his soul. He didn't know for sure what, but something had changed ever since he woke up earlier.
[Rakna, this is a theory but, I believe it may have something to do with your crippled state,] Alexa spoke up on her own. [Since both your internal force and mana are completely depleted, probably for the first time in your life as well, they have left a void. This void seems to have been filled by the power that you were already slowly grasping; Soul Power.]
'I see. In other words, since everything about my body is weak right now, it leaves a place for my soul to be more predominant. My instincts feel considerably boosted. When I grabbed that ring, it felt as if I could predict its trajectory to the last detail no matter how or where I threw it.'
As he was contemplating that idea, Kaelith quickly shrugged off what happened and shamelessly went to grab the prizes from the stall owner. After picking a large teddy bear, she returned to his side and pushed his shoulders to make him walk, forcing him to stop his musing.
”I don't know what you're thinking about wolfy, but it has not even been twenty minutes since we left the Pavilion and you're already distracted. You're not a good date, you know that?”
Rakna grunted as he started walking alongside her so that she would stop pushing him. ”Why are you saying that as if I was the one who came up with the idea?”
”Because it's the man's job to spoil the woman,” she replied with a smile.
”I don't think that's a thing, foxy. Borderline double standard.”
”Semantics,” she waved her hand. ”Anyhow, did you eat breakfast today yet?”
Rakna paused as he was about to answer. His mind briefly flashed back to when he swallowed Verias whole and he blinked dazedly. He didn't want to acknowledge that as food. ”No…?”
She looked at him with a faint scowl. ”Why do you sound hesitant?”
”…nothing to worry about. Even if I had eaten breakfast, I could probably still eat more.”
”Ah, true. You wolves do have a big appetite,” she commented and put a hand on her chin. ”Now, let's see…” She muttered and looked around before pointing at one of the street angles. ”Let's go there. There should be a nice café around that corner.”
”How do you know that?”
”Map,” Kaelith replied simply as they headed in the direction she pointed at.
”Have you been here before?”
”Well, not exactly. I did, of course, come to the Fifth Plateau in the past but the town I was in at the time wasn't this one. However, that doesn't mean I can't have the map of this area.”
Rakna blinked in confusion. ”I'm not sure I follow.”
Kaelith giggled. ”It's simple; maps can be bought from the System.”
”Really? Sounds a bit too easy.”
”That's because you don't know everything. Firstly, you can't buy the maps of Plateaus that you haven't conquered yet, and secondly, they only include key locations like towns, Dungeons, and other things that are not affected by the reset,” she explained as she checked the itinerary after taking a turn.
Rakna hummed passively as he heard that and his attention was progressively caught by the looks the passersby kept giving Kaelith. They were of all genders and ages; not only was she drawing attention with her beauty but also her race.
'Well, I guess that's to be excepted. I got the same kind of reactions in Black Steel as well,' he said inwardly and before he knew, they had reached their destination.
They entered the café and with just a smile and a bit of convincing in the form of a pile of Talys, Kaelith demanded from the owner to have a private room, which they awkwardly agreed to. The truth was that they simply didn't have such a room but the vixen took complete advantage of her status to force him to accommodate them in a staff room instead.
'Poor guys,' Rakna thought as he sat down at a table in what seemed to be a break room for the staff. When both of them were settled, a waitress came to them with a nervous expression to take their orders.
Once they were alone again, Kaelith leaned her head on her arm. ”Now, let's talk. The logical thing to do here would be to learn more about each other, don't you think? So, why don't you start?”
Rakna scowled at her. ”Shouldn't you be the one to start and give the example?”
”As if. Knowing you, you would take this as an opportunity to learn more about the System through me while you will just say something like your age and name.”
”…”
”What? Am I wrong?”
”…no.”
Kaelith sighed exasperatedly. ”What happened in your life for you to be so damn secretive? Are you like that to your friends as well?” His silence was all the answer she needed. ”Really, you need to get rid of that anti-socialism, you know?”
”I wouldn't call it being anti-social. I just avoid talking to people to…” Rakna paused and looked up for a few seconds. ”All right. Point taken. I'm anti-social.”
Kaelith deadpanned at him. ”I'm waiting,” she uttered.
He sighed and leaned back on his chair. ”Why do you want to know about me anyway?”
”Do I really have to tell you the definition of a date?” She retorted. ”You're surprisingly dense for someone with a mind as sharp as yours. I don't know if your past is too hurtful or maybe you just think that it is boring but you must let it out. Never confiding in others isn't a good thing. The more you hide, the harder it gets.”
Rakna stared at her through half-lidded eyes and as he was about to refuse, he happened to see Pronos looking at him with a curious and hopeful face, one that was mirrored by Kaelith.