Chapter 50：Young Love (2/2)

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”Do you like Hazel?” Jin asked after he sat next to Arthur, who was barbequing the lunch by the stream. Arthur remembered what happened the other night. Hazel kissed him, before returning to the tent leaving him lingering for more.

After his father's disappearance, Arthur was isolated from his friends without realizing it. He had some he liked to hang out with, like Noah and a few others, but he never was that close to a male friend.

”I…” Arthur remembered how Jin looked at Hazel and felt he can't say the truth. ”I like her as a friend, just that.” Jin looked at him and nodded.

”Thank you for helping us,” Jin said. ”If there's anything I can help you with, please tell me.”

”I will,” Arthur nodded, feeling slightly guilty. He fidgeted in his spot before asking his question. ”What about you?”

”I loved her ever since we were kids.” His answer was a firm one, making Arthur regret asking since he felt so guilty. He felt like couldn't do this to a friend of his, so he decided to back away.

”You knew each other when you were kids?”

”Yeah, we used to play all the time. You know, she's like the first person I loved, and she was the only one who treated me nicely.”

Arthur wanted to say something, but he saw that Jin wanted to keep talking so he shut his mouth and listened.

”But we got separated after our abilities appeared, it's so stupid. What use do these abilities have if they're the reason we're miserable?” Jin was looking at the ground, his hands turning to fists.

”Abilities are meant to help us gain what we want, not the other way around,” Arthur said.

”That's what I thought before, but I don't know anymore. Since she got her legacy, things would be different now. That's why I'm so grateful, so let me help you.”

”There's one thing,” Arthur said, smiling. Hazel and Miko came back and they sat next to them. He turned his gaze toward the other two and continued. ”Miko already knows about this, but there's something I need to do.”

”No matter what it is, I'll help you. You have already done so much to help me,” Hazel's eyes were filled with determination and gratefulness.

”There's a monster I need to take down. It's probably high-tier, hopefully, a low-high-tier monster. I didn't think I can do it alone, that's why I want you guys to help me. If you feel that it's too much of a risk, then we can call it off.”

He felt nervous telling them, but his worries were unnecessary as Hazel laughed. She was a lot more confident after receiving her legacy, strengthening her greatly.

”We can do it, my new summoned creature is the Witch herself, and she's really powerful.”

”That's true, but we can't have Kira help us this time. The monster is underground, and there's no way that Kira could go there.”

The situation was now different, and the atmosphere got a lot tenser. Jin's eyes flickered, but he nodded after a short moment of thinking.

”There shouldn't be an issue. It would be a close-call, but I think we can manage. If it's something you need to do, then we're willing to help you out.”

”That's right!” Hazel chimed in.

”Thank you, guys. What about you, Miko?” Arthur turned toward Miko, who simply sighed and agreed.

With this, they were ready to go underground. Arthur longed for his humble home and safe life, and now he would finally be able to return to it. There were so many new things that he needed to do like his training with Master Ronin, the academy, creating artifacts, making skills, and free his family of their debt.