Trust

-2 Weeks Later-

"Illya! Right there!" I yelled out. Illya flipped up the cloak on her hip and jumped on top of the Rubeki underneath her, pulling her saber through its neck before flipping off of its back and readying for another attack.

I charged in with her toward another intelligent Rubeki, slashing at it while it desperately tried to defend itself. It put up a great fight but was bested by the teamwork Illya and I had learned over these past two weeks.

The Rubeki vanished and we were left standing in a field of black smoke. We smiled at each other, then threw our sabers away and began to walk toward a nearby river again.

"Good thing we found flowing water that traveled through this place still. It probably saved our lives. You have your canteen?" She asked me. She flipped her hair back with a smile as I brought it up.

We both gathered water into our canteens and took a break in the water.

"I'll take watch. You can take a bath." I told her. Illya thanked me and I sat on the top of the cliff, watching the frontside of us for any Rubeki.

Illya and I have really started to form a bond. Every day I miss Shike, Belle, and Alexia more and more, but having Illya by my side really helped with being apart from everybody.

We've killed about two hundred Rubeki each by now, maybe even more, I lost count. Illya and I found this river a week ago and we both take turns bathing in it every day, then we kill more Rubeki, then we hunt, then we go home and eat and sleep for the rest of the night.

It was a simple life, but it was working, so that's all that mattered now. I'm not quite sure if I'll ever go back, but it felt like as long as I had Illya, I had a friend that could understand me. I felt... okay.

"I'm done, you can go now," Illya said, slipping her shirt on. I took my turn and sat in the river to just think.

My strand usage has been exploding in efficiency. I can swing the purple saber twice now, which turned my two years of training into nothing in comparison. With Illya, it felt... easier to train.

"Ready to go?" I asked Illya. She nodded and we started our walk back to the house.

"So, your strand usage, are you confident in your ability?" She asked me. I slightly nodded.

"I haven't gone all out since two weeks ago... I think I'm good with them, but is there a way to prove it?" I asked her. She nodded, explaining a new technique.

"You know how to reinforce your body... continuously do it now. Do not let that armor fade away from your body and you'll learn to control them even more. After all, think of strands as part of your body, and you can use them like they are your body. It's not just second nature, it's your body." She explained to me.

"Then, is that why you can heal using the strands? Will I be able to do that?" I asked her. She nodded again. She seemed to be doing that a lot now.

"Of course. On the smallest chance possible, you would be able to do it without planting the strand armor on your body, but I've only seen one person do that before. That's not important, comparing yourselves to others will only bring disappointment. You're doing just fine." She told me.

"Well, I know, I'm not comparing, I just wanted to know if there was a competition I had to beat," I told her. We both laughed over it.

"You'd crush them even if they could heal, don't worry about it. Anyway, let's kill some more Rubeki and head back home. Look, there's a group of five." Illya pointed out to me and I nodded, offering to kill them for her.

"If you're feeling energetic, I won't stop you." She said with her arms crossed. I smiled and summoned two sabers in my hands, running in boldly.

I caught the first Rubeki off guard, chopping at his knees and then cutting his head off. The Rubeki who looked like a moose was thrown to the ground and exploded in smoke. I wasted no time and ran over to the next Rubeki, kicking him in the face and piercing his skull with the saber. Meanwhile, the Rubeki flying in the sky started to close in on my position.

I learned from Illya to always watch my surroundings, so I quickly made work of the Gorilla Rubeki and cut down the hawk with one move. I took a deep breath and focused on the two in front of me.

The two in front of me were intelligent Rubeki shaped like humans, so they had sabers just like me. I had been seeing them more often, they were getting smarter and mimicking Illya and me if they survived our encounters, so I had to be sure to kill them.

Fighting two at once was no trouble, I was much more agile than them, but they just wouldn't die in one hit. It was like they had bodies that needed to be eliminated. It still didn't matter as I hit them with both sabers and killed both with ease.

I caught my breath as the field cleared of the dispersed black smoke and Illya playfully clapped in admiration.

"I'm impressed, looks like you're getting pretty good." She told me. I thanked her and we continued our walk forward.

"I definitely feel safe when I sleep now as long as you're watching. I have to ask, however... do you trust me?" She asked me.

"Of course I do. You could've killed me at any point in my sleep, or school, and you even got yourself exiled just to be here with me. You've definitely worked as hard as I have to earn your trust, so I won't undermine your effort by saying that I don't. I feel safe as long as you're here with me, both mentally and physically." I told her while looking up at the sky.

"What a relief... come on, let's go back home." She said to me.