Chapter 9: The Soul Weaver's Debut
"Then we leave it to you, Hasegawa-san" the police officer said as he gave instructions to everyone present. My answer never arrived, since I had already stepped into the Gate, Felix never leaving my shoulder.
*
As soon as I got inside, the entire place changed into a sort of rainforest, full of plants with shapes I had no recolection of ever seeing. Not like I cared at the moment. The first thing I did was push my Observation Haki to it's limit, searching the area for Yuno and the two dead bodies. Not because they were dead, but because they would be if Yuno wasn't in perfect conditions.
<There you are motherfuckers> it didn't take me long to find them. The Gate was around the upper end of B-Rank, almost reaching A-Rank., so they didn't have a chance to venture to deeply into it. They had encountered a group of monsters similar to the Jagras from Monster Hunter. It led me to believe a fully grown Great Jagras was around and I didn't want to find out unless I was close to Yuno.
As such, I began running with haste towards the are. I was pretty sure that I was running at around 60 km/h (37 m/h), considering I covered a kilometer in a mater of a minute. I was lucky they were close to the entrance, or else she might've died. Felix didn't seem affected by the speed, so I rushed even faster.
As I arrived at the area, I summoned Lament and my clothes were replaced by the Garments of the Guide. The full brunt of my power was felt in the place, since I was no longer restraining my anger. The only one seemingly unaffected was Yuno. As soon as I arrived, Felix jumped from my shoulder on top of one of the Jagras, severing its head with a bite. <Huh, didn't think it had any fighting power... and it seems to be just below my own>
With the sudden revelation that Felix had a power on par with an A-Rank and could possibly grow stronger, I rampaged through the thirty-ish Jagras, slaying them in a bloody dance. One that Lament seemed to enjoy, considering how it seemed to humm every time it pierced or slashed something.
As soon as every creature was dead, the two bastards ran towards Yuno, trying to get ahold of her. I simply dashed in front of her, standing in between both parties. I turned my back to the kidnappers, not worried at all about them trying to run away. Felix could keep them in check and, besides, they first had to somehow be able to move under the full pressure of my strength.
I then looked at Yuno, all signs of anger gone. She looked a bit roughed up, but nothing serious. She had no major injuries and it didn't seem like they had done anything... inhuman, to her. Only then did I give a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're ok Yu..."
I wasn't able to finish my sentence, though. A crying Yuno had thrown herself in my arms, bawling like a child that had just lost her mother. That was when I remembered Yuno's history and why she had become the way she was. My anger only grew at the idea of someone treating their child like that. I had been raised with love and values, so I could tell the difference between a monster and a person.
"It's alright, Yuno... you're safe now" I reassured her while patting her back. "No one can touch you anymore, I promise"
"Thank you *sob*, thank you, thank you *sob*" was all I heard for an answer. Once she calmed down, I asked her what she wanted to do with the pieces of scum. I looked into their souls with the Soul Seeing Eye, and they weren't too lost to be saved. Time in jail might do them good, though their only other choice was death.
She looked at them intently and said she would let the law take care of it. She didn't care about it because she now felt safe. I smiled and knocked the scum out, making sure they would stay unconscious for a long time, perhaps an entire day or two. "So... we need to clear the gate to get out" I told her to break the awkward silence between us.
Yuno didn't want to stay even a centimeter away from me, clinging to me as if I was her last hope -which I probably was. "Do you think you c..." my words were cut short by Yuno, who had thrown herself at me and kissed me. It wasn't my first kiss, neither would she be the first girl I dated, but it somehow felt different. I wasn't sure if it was the atmosphere, the moment or her full, supple and soft pink lips. Or the fact that she seemed to have completely devoted herself to the moment. She had known me for not even twelve hours. How could she throw herself at me like that?
"I'm sorry" she said, her voice as small as a mosquitoe. "I... I know it is too fast and that you think I can't love you but... you... you make me feel so safe... I just..."
I stopped her words by putting my hand over her mouth. I looked at her with a soft smile and reassuring eyes. "Don't worry. I don't think badly of you, I'm just surprised. I also can't say I even like you, but I do feel the strange need to protect you, reason unknown"
"Though it is weird, we can give it a try and, should it not work out, I will still be there to protect you" I said while releasing a sigh. None of this made sense. I even peered into her soul with my skill, but she wasn't dark at all. She also wasn't pure. Her soul seemed to be a weird mix of pink and a silvery blue. Curious about it, I checked my own soul. It was a weird thing, mostly teal with veins of black and white all over it.
I tacitly understood that my soul was like that because of my powers. Teal was the power to control and cleanse wouls, while black and white where the aspects of death -decaying and purity. I wondered what Yuno's colors represented, but I decided to think about that later. For now, we had a Dungeon Gate to clear. "Yuno, are you perhaps an awakened?"
"Um... I... I am" as she said that, she showed me her Status. It was a crazy stupid thing to do, considering that the Status was the identity of an awakened. It was more private than any other aspect of your life.
[Name: Yuno Gasai Level: 1
Job: None Fatigue: 33
Title: None
HP: 95/100
MP: 0
Strength: 5 Vitality: 10
Agility: 9 Intelligence: 15
Sense: 15
Status Points: 0
Lover's Contract: Noah Hasegawa
Skills: Lover's Contract (lvl. MAX)]
"Can you... show me what Lover's Contract is?" I asked her with an extremely weird expectation rising from the depths of my heart. "I... could see what it does?"
Realizing this girl had avoided everything related to the system after her awakening, I decided to explain to her how to properly use the system. I also told her that having no Job or Title was something rare, since a Job was given by the system the moment someone awakened and a Title was not too hard to get, since it was mostly an epithet based on one's powers. <She might even become like me...>
"So I only had to focus on it... hehe, I feel so dumb" Yuno said when she finally got to see what the skill did. Her eyes turned watery, but it seemed to be because of relief and happiness rather than sadness or grief. Before I could even ask her to show me, she did.
[Lover's Contract (lvl. MAX): It is a skill that forms a bond with the soul of the person the user decides to dedicate her everything to. It is very similar to a slave contract in the sense that the person can't have any negative thoughts about the contractor or the user will experience severe pain. Also, if the person dies, the user will also die, as both souls are connected. This skill also grants two special skills.
Lover's Share: Both parties get 50% of the EXP earned by the other as a bonus. The other party still earns 100% of their EXP. For this skill to activate, both parties have to be 50 meters (164 feet) from each other or less.
Lover's Reunion: The user and the contractor can summon one another no matter the distance between them, even if it was interplanetary, it would take nothing but a millisecond for the other person to arrive.]
"You... you... just how much..." I tried to ask her the question, but it just wouldn't leave my mouth. I was beyond stupid, what she had done. The scary thing was that she used the skill unconsciously. It wasn't her mind, but her being, that wished for it. Her answer came without even a second of doubt. "If you told me to jump from a bridge I would do it. That much"
I just sighed. I couldn't anything, since she had already used the skill. I could perhaps try to remove it with my Soul Cleansing, but I had no intentions of doing so. Besides, it might scarr her, both physically and emotionally. <Just what am I going to do with you...>
It was evident that Yuno had one trai similar to her original self. She was obsessed with the person she loved, enough to bind her soul to him as if she was a slave. Luckily this Yuno was not a yandere... and she was just as beautiful... <Noah, get your mind out of the gutter. Now is not time for that>
"Felix, would you mind healing Yuno, please?" I requested from my little partner. He answered with a sound similar to a meow before his eyes started shining and Yuno was enveloped by a light-green light.
Yuno stood up and then squatted, before petting Felix while thanking him. The little guy didn't mind Yuno touching him, which only made me feel happier. Felix approved and Yuno had one more thing in favour of her. I still had to make sure of one little thing.
"Yuno, you don't... you know... feel the need to kill people who get close to me or kidnapping me... or anything of the sort, right?" she looked at me with utter shock and disbelief in her face. Then answered while frantically denying with her hands. "Nononono, what are you even saying?! I might love you but that is too much!"
I could only thank whatever God had blessed me with such a loyal woman. I still couldn't say I loved her so honestly, but I certainly appreciated her a lot and felt attracted to her. Was that because of her beauty, her devoted and selfless love, the Lover's Contract or a different major power, I didn't care.
"Well... you're healed and everything... we might as well clear this Gate and get you a few level's up" I told Yuno with a reassuring smile. After all, with the Lover's Share active, she would level up even if only I killed the monsters.
Yuno nodded cutely and Felix jumped back to my shoulder. She didn't leave my side even when a horde of almost fifty Jagras surrounded us. I didn't see her flinch nor could I see an ounce of fear in her eyes. <You're so unfair, Yuno...>
Though fighting while protecting someone wasn't the ideal thing to do, it wasn't that hard. After all, we were in a B-Rank gate while I was an S-Rank Mercenary. I could probably clear three of these Gates in a day!
"Noah..." Yuno called me while we were walking in the direction both my instincts and Felix pointed towards. "What is it, Yuno?"
"Can I live with you?" I almost tripped when I heard her question. It seemed so honest and... a bit desperate. She was afraid of my possible answer. "*sigh*... You ARE so unfair... I don't see why not."
"Yay!" she exclaimed in happiness while hugging me -shaking Felix a bit while at it-, before bashfully letting go. Of course, not without giving me a soft kiss on the cheek. If she kept that up, I was going to end up falling for her because of something similar to peer pressure, but it was more like... <How many attacks can my poor heart handle?>
I just couldn't deny her.
*
We had been going around for quite a while. Enough for my Fatigue to reach 30 and Yuno's was around 50. I didn't want to push her too hard, so I decided that it was time to take a break. At first Yuno protested and said she could still go, but as soon as I seriously said that she had to rest she became meek and sat beside me, our backs against one of the huge trees.
Yuno was so tired she was about to fall asleep, though she wasn't able to unfortunately. Felix jumped from my shoulder and stood in front of us, ears totally standing. I shook Yuno slightly, stopping her from dozing off. From one of the threes jumped a creature I wasn't so intent on seeing.
"Why the fuck couldn't it be a Great Jagras?!" I shouted in utter disbelief. The creature in itself wasn't that dangerous, its just that a Great Jagras would've been a lot easier to deal with.
The Nargacuga is one of the Flying Wyverns in the world of Monster Hunter. It is a bat-like creature covered in a pitch black fur that just might lift an elephant. It is fast and it can fly. I almost forgot that it has a long spiked tail.
"You just had to make my life harder, right?"
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