Chapter 12: Why can't I just get to places normally?!

Ra-"

"Uh... don't tell me."

"Rael!"

Selene's soft but firm voice was the first thing to hit me as I woke up. I was starting to get pissed off with this blacking-out nonsense. I opened my eyes slowly and was greeted by her blue eyes staring down at me, her black hair flowing down and brushing against my face. Her face, which was normally full of smiles, had a grim expression that clearly showed she was worried.

"You know, Selene, why is it that I can't just get to places while being awake? Haha~"

Her frowning face immediately shifted into a grin. "Hahaha~! That's the first thing you say? But you're right, you really do love blacking out, huh?"

Seeing her smile back on her face, I took a look around, noticing that we were no longer in that pit. We were in some kind of forest clearing, but not like any I'd ever seen. The trees were tall and thick, with little sunlight managing to pierce through the leaves. The leaves themselves weren't the normal green but a yellowish color, making it a little hard to distinguish them from the sunlight shining through.

And then there was the ground...

'Why is the ground so soft?' I turned my head to see what kind of surface I was lying on since it was unbelievably soft but somehow sturdy as well. What I saw was an interesting and very welcome sight!

"Selene." I cast an upward glance at her. Still looking down at me, she tilted her head curiously.

"Thank you for this opportunity of a lifetime," I said seriously, wearing the most non-joking face I could muster.

"PFFT! HAHAHAHA~!" Her laughter sounded like a melody, but my focus wasn't on that. It was on her thighs — the very thing my head was resting on. An opportunity that every man dreams of experiencing... the almighty lap pillow!

I regretfully lifted my head from the wonderful pillow as we couldn't lie around all day. We had a lot to figure out, especially since I, for one, had no clue where we were.

"Selene, do you know where we are?" I asked while dusting myself off and getting a feel for my body. There was a searing pain coming from my back, and I was absolutely starving. I warded off the hunger with mana, but the pain I couldn't. The pain was coming from the exact spot where I had used mana to heal. It felt like someone was twisting already bruised skin at a 90-degree angle.

Looking around, Selene didn't answer me immediately. A few moments passed, and she nodded her head, saying, "We are most likely in an inheritance zone!"

"I'm sure you know what I'm going to ask."

She sighed. "Hah~, I guess you don't know about those either. It's basically a special space created by someone of at least the Cyan rank."

"How does the difficulty scale?"

Selene put a finger to the side of her mouth. "Uh, it depends since it matters on who makes it. A Violet-gold inheritance might be easier than a Cyan inheritance! We have to find clues on what type of inheritance it is and the rules of it."

"In these situations, plus what we just came from, I'm betting it's a battle-oriented or battle-trial type, if those exist at all." I just went ahead and assumed the worst. If it happened to be something easier, then wonderful! But I wasn't going to get my hopes up.

"I agree! Typically, if it were a magic or job-based inheritance, then we wouldn't have had to fight those wolves. We would've been immediately sent to the trial zone."

'It's so nice having someone with knowledge in situations like these! I'm glad I didn't get stuck with Kyoko... no hate, but I definitely would have woken up face-first in grass.'

"Hey, random question, but does Kyoko have a thing for Kyle?"

She jumped in surprise. "Eh? Yes, but why do you want to know that?"

I put my hands behind my head, keeping my gaze on her. "Curious. She doesn't really hide it, and I wanted to see if I was right."

"You don't know my pain! Those two always have those diabetic interactions! It's so painful for a single person like me!"

"Bhahaha! You're single?"

"W-What?" Her brows twitched upon hearing my laughter.

"Wait, you were serious?"

"Yeah! Why would I joke about that?!"

"It's just... I mean... have you seen yourself? Plus, you are fun to talk to, so I was sure someone was going out with you."

"...well, it's actually..." Selene's face flushed a little while mumbling her words.

"It's what?" I asked.

"I have a pretty specific type, and the me you see right now isn't normally how I act."

"Ohhhhhh. How about telling me about it while we look around?" I didn't want to stop her, but we were getting sidetracked.

"Sure!"

.

.

.

So, that's pretty much it!" Selene said, finishing her hour-long rant about her 'type.' Honestly, it wasn't anything wild — just normal stuff most guys should have. Somehow, though, nobody had caught her attention. 'Tragic,' I thought, but I wasn't about to say that out loud.

'I really hope I don't have to deal with any Young Masters or idiots in general...' I hoped Izanami could bless me one more time, but I wasn't expecting anything. She'd already given me plenty.

In the last hour, we'd run into animals that did nothing but avoid us. Birds sang in the yellow-leafed trees, squirrels darted about, and insects crawled around. Everything seemed peaceful. However, I wasn't one to be fooled — something was definitely amiss, but I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Selene kept talking while I observed every detail I could. The sun was normal, the ground felt normal, and even the slight breeze hitting me felt normal. If there was one thing that kept irking me...

"Do you feel that, Selene?" It felt like someone was watching us. I've never been one to notice gazes or have some supernatural sixth sense, but whoever — or whatever — it was, they were making it obvious.

She paused and focused. "Yeah. We're being watched."

"Think you can use space affinity to check?"

"I definitely could, but we might alert it."

"I'm not good at this kind of thing. Do you have a direction?" I stopped walking, waiting for her answer while trying to stealthily prepare a simple wind spell. She didn't reply, so I turned to meet her eyes, and they said it all.

'To the left!' I swept my palm to our left, and a strong wind blasted the area. I kept the spell simple for two reasons: one, I didn't have much energy since I'd only recovered a little, and two, it was just a glorified fan — but a much stronger one.

"ECK?!" Something squealed as it got hit with the unexpected wind. I looked in the direction but couldn't see it, so I left it to Selene. She pushed forward, and I followed. After a few cautious steps, we saw what had been stalking us!

"A squirrel? I guess it looks bigger than the others..." I analyzed the brown-furred squirrel, but it didn't look all that special.

"It's not just a squirrel! It's our guide to the trial!" Selene exclaimed with excitement, but something clicked in my head.

I paused and gave her a deadpan look. "Seriously, you could have told me there were guides."

"H-Hey! Like I said earlier, each trial is different, so I had no clue!" She tried defending herself, and while she made sense, I didn't want to believe her. It was just too convenient of an excuse!

"How do you know this thing is a guide, then?" I needed answers.

"Because it hasn't run away yet!"

"...I don't buy it." I crouched down, getting on the same level as the squirrel. "So... are you actually a guide?"

"Pfft~!"

'Why is she laughing?' I glanced up at Selene, and she was covering her mouth, but her body was clearly shaking with laughter.

"W-W-HAHA, why are you trying to talk to a squirrel?"

"I...hah~" I sighed in defeat. I wasn't going to win today, clearly.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You should see your face right now!"

'You know what...'

"H-Hey, what are you doing?!"

I channeled a little mana into my hand with the idea of a light taser and zapped the back of her left knee. She dropped to one knee in surprise.

"Ow! You shouldn't do that to a girl!" I jabbed her side like she'd done to me before. Total victory.

"And you shouldn't do it to an injured person."

"Hmph! Meanie, I'm telling Kyoko after we finish this!" She pouted, but I wasn't fooled.

After what she had just explained to me over the past hour, I knew she wouldn't let me mess with her if she wasn't comfortable, which begs the question of why she's so comfortable with me. But I'll save it for another time.