22 – Their Feelings

Brunch maneuvered again to avoid various objects while Alan stuck his hand out. They were getting closer to the cyan-colored crystal.

"Ugh!" The young man's shoulder was hit by a rock, causing him to almost fall.

But he didn't give up. With one sweep, he finally managed to take that thing.

"Good job, Brunch!" Alan rubbed the Wyvern's nape while his right hand tightly gripped the crystal that was about 3 inches in diameter and 8 inches long.

The young man then discovered that the spirits were flying in another direction, but it wasn't toward the priestess.

"You guys still want to show another crystal?"

Brunch chimed in with a shriek.

"You still want to look for it, Brunch?" Alan asked that beast. As soon as she nodded, the young man exclaimed. "Let's go, then!"

Brunch moves around various objects to follow the spirits again. It didn't take long for them to find a second crystal that was slightly larger in size.

"Awesome!" Just like before, Alan stretched out his hand and got a shiny object.

Then, the spirits pointed out the location of the next crystal. Without thinking twice, Alan and Brunch hunted down that thing. They even kept doing it for the next few crystals.

In total, Alan got seven crystals of various sizes.

The spirits show the eighth crystal. And Brunch remains dived to pursue it. She and Alan were already quite close to the ground. The young man can see the roofs of buildings in a city.

Then, a terrifying deep roar emerged from below, instantly stopping Brunch. Alan's heartbeat jumped up. He had never heard a roar like that before. That thing sounded like it came from another realm.

The spirits stopped too and turned to Alan and the Wyvern.

"I have a bad feeling, Brunch." The young man couldn't believe his hands were shaking uncontrollably just because of that. As soon as the second roar appeared, he hissed at the Wyvern. "Let's just head back up."

When Brunch finally turned around, Alan glanced back. He didn't know what roar it was, but the impact it generated was enough to make him choose to leave.

Better to focus on other, more important things.

***

Upon returning to his land, Alan found that Hilda was already lying there. Meanwhile, Paul sat beside that priestess with his head down.

"When this island collapsed, he ran to save Madam Hilda," Celia explained as soon as Brunch landed. "Meanwhile, I'm too scared to do it."

"Well, that's okay. It was only natural, given the devastation. I also wouldn't have ventured into those ruins without Brunch." Alan tapped his friend on the shoulder.

"I know…" The female fighter took a breath and gave a faint smile. "The important thing is, Madam Hilda is safe."

"Maybe she needs a few days, or maybe even weeks, to wake up." Paul stood up and faced Alan. "I am very grateful to all of you. Without you guys being the triggers, I don't know how long Madam Hilda and I will continue to be in that illusion."

"You're welcome," Alan responded. "Then, after this, what will you do, sir?"

The scarred man looked at the former wind village. What was left, were only some parts of the island scattered around. "I will wait until Madam Hilda wakes up. If she wants to stay here, I will accompany her. If she wants to go, then I will still follow her."

Alan gave the Wyvern a signal. "Please push this land, Brunch."

The Wyvern nodded and did so while Alan pointed the way to the village church.

"That place means a lot to Madam Hilda, right?" Alan smiled at the scarred man. "Maybe Madam Hilda's magic aura accumulated there, keeping that building intact."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Despite saying that, Paul sounded pessimistic.

After Brunch pushed that land far enough, they found that Alan's guess was correct. That church still stands tall on a floating piece of land.

While carrying Hilda in both arms, Paul jumped to that place.

"You two can stay here too, but Madam Hilda said something to me before she passed out. It would be best if you guys immediately went to the nearest town, maybe you can meet other saviors. That way, you can immediately unite and save this world."

Alan guessed that this church's supplies were limited. He didn't want to bother Paul.

"And we have to find a way to return to our world," Alan whispered to Celia. "Looks like we can't stay here long."

The female fighter nodded. "You're right."

They've been in the fantasy world for days. They still don't know what happens to their bodies in the real world.

"I agreed. We should probably leave soon," Alan replied to the scarred man.

"But today, you must be exhausted. How about you guys sleep here for one day." Paul makes an offer. "And even though this place is sacred, I wouldn't bat an eye if you two did something lovers do."

Alan and Celia exchanged glances, then answered in unison. "We told you we're not a couple."

The scarred man laughed out loud.

***

Alan's level goes up when fighting those villagers, but at that time, he doesn't have time to choose a new skill. So, he did it now, when he was relaxing in bed.

After doing various considerations, he took a particular skill, one of the continuations of ground manipulation.

[Ground detection - to detect what is happening on the ground within a certain distance]

Alan had imagined scenarios where he would use that skill.

Just as he pressed the yes button for that skill, he heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"Al, are you asleep yet?" Celia's voice came from outside.

"Not yet. Wait a second." The young man got up and opened the door. He was a bit stunned when he found that Celia had brought a pillow.

"Somehow, I feel like I can't sleep alone." She said with a faint smile. "Can I sleep with you... It's not for some weird reason, you know?"

Alan chuckled. "Even though you can be bottomless in a different room, you still can't sleep, huh?"

Celia scowled with a blush, and Alan found that cute. He shifted to let the girl in, then closed the door.

"You can sleep here with me," Celia muttered as Alan placed his pillow on the sofa from the bed. "You don't need…."

The female fighter's voice shrank.

"The bed is too small for both of us." Alan lay on the couch, feeling inappropriate to take advantage of the situation. "One of us might fall and bump into the other."

Celia then sat on the edge of the bed, hugging her pillow. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They were both silent for a few moments.

"Hey, do you feel what I feel?" The young lady asked softly, almost in a whisper. "When I met the people here, I felt that they were so real, so different from the NPCs I usually met in other games. They were so human-like... Even the villagers who behaved strangely looked very real."

"Yeah, I feel that way too."

"Maybe because they're so real, I feel like I'm actually killing them... Well, even if they're dead, though."

Alan was silent for a few seconds. "Let's hope we don't have to actually kill the people of this world."