Author's note: This arc is definitely full of fluff. You guys are going to eat fluff until you become a fluffy cloud going "fuwa fuwa", LOLOL. No, actually I'm kidding, cough--

The four of them slept for an entire day, except K’xug.

It just showed how exhausted they were. K’xug, on the other hand, was the last one to awaken, sleeping for almost two entire days. 

Cecil and Hana were back to Plik after a long time, they were relieved to know that this place has never changed from the start to the end. The drinks were still exceptional and top-notch, along with the food. 

“What?” Cecil stood up from her seat in shock, staring wide-eyed at Hana. “That was the memory you got this time?! Your first meeting with K’xug?!” 

“Ye-yes…” Hana nodded slowly, confused at Cecil’s sudden outburst. 

Cecil attracted the attention of a few customers, and she quickly sat down. She inhaled deeply, sipping at her drink, the sweet and refreshing taste lingering on her tongue as she swallowed the cool liquid down her throat. 

“What’s wrong, Cecil?” 

“Nothing, just...I am thinking.” 

“Thinking?” 

Once again, there was a change in the story. 

This time, it was Hana’s memory, and Hana was the heroine of the story, it was a huge change that Cecil did not expect. In the original novel, Hana did not have any memories to do with K’xug, it was only because the author described  events to do with K’xug, hence, the readers came to know about him. 

It seems like...K’xug’s reappearance in the world has completely changed everything. 

[ You are completely correct, Cecil Lan.
K’xug has caused a huge ripple in the timeline, along with your presence, the timeline you will be experiencing now will be completely different from the novel~]

“I wonder if this timeline is for the better or for the worse…” 

[ Only you will live to see it.
Well, that is if you really live to see it~] 

“...are you trying to jinx me? To my own death?” 

[ I am merely stating the truth~ ]

“Of course you are~” 

[ … ]

AI500 did not actually expect Cecil to reply in such a manner. 

Cecil turned to look at Hana enjoying her drink, smiling to herself as the red-haired woman hummed happily to herself. 

“...well, it doesn’t matter, my goals still remain the same. I want nothing more than to help Xue and Hana achieve their own happy ending.”

[ I wish you all the best, Cecil Lan. ]

Cecil was expecting the system to speak to her in the sarcastic manner earlier, to her surprise, the sentence typed out by AI500 seemed...sincere. 

She blinked in shock. 

“Cecil? Why do you look so shocked?” 

“...it’s nothing, so, was that all to the dream?” 

“Mhmm....” Hana hummed to herself, biting at her straw distractedly, before she nodded as she sipped at her drink. “Mhmm!” 

Hana released the straw from her mouth that had been squashed completely under her teeth. She then leaned forward, a spark in her eyes as she began to gesture animatedly. 

“But inside the dream, K’xug was really cool...and strong! One time, these bad men tried to attack me and K’xug came in and went “bam!” and “bam!”. Before I knew it, they were all down on the ground and K’xug saved me, bringing me away.” 

“Even at your first meeting, you were a trouble magnet.” 

“I...I didn’t know they were bad guys,” Hana pouted. “They said they had good items to sell.” 

“That’s alright, Hana,” Cecil chuckled, reaching forward and patting her head. “At least you learnt from that experience, right?” 

Hana nodded vehemently.

After recovering that dream--or memory, she knew that it wasn’t so good to trust people easily anymore. Moreover, now that she had the experience of having real friends, unlike the ones in her memory, she told herself she would properly appreciate these people around her. 

“Speaking of which, didn’t want to learn about using your bow from Xue?” Cecil questioned. 

“Ah! I forgot!” Hana stood up from her seat this time, earning the same amount of attention Cecil did. “We have been so busy the past few days!” 

Cecil nodded in agreement, the past few days had been a hectic mess. Cecil gestured for Hana to sit back down, calming her. 

“Relax, Hana, after this, we can go back and you can find Xue to teach you.” 

“Bu-but I also want to try cooking today.” 

“Cooking?” 

“I found out about this new dish from a recipe book mother showed me!” 

“Can’t wait to cook it and eat it?” 

“Mhmm!” 

“Then which one do you want to do first? Training or cooking?” 

“Mmmm…” Hana furrowed her eyebrows, it was as if she was making a decision between life and death. “Mmmmmmm…”

Cecil laughed. “Is it that hard of a decision?” 

“I...I want to do both…” 

“Such a thing is only possible if you split yourself up, Hana.” 

Halfway through their conversation, a certain ash blonde-haired man entered Plik and climbed the stairs, watching the two ladies seated in their usual spot at the balcony.

The sight of the two women sitting together was captivating, thus, there were many straying eyes that couldn’t help but steal glances at them. 

Even Xue had stopped to admire the sight, but his sight was focused on the raven-haired woman laughing heartily at Hana. 

Her smile was beautiful, along with her melodious laughter. 

Seeing Cecil laughing and smiling in a carefree manner, Xue felt his heart fluttering. Though, some part of him wished it was him that made Cecil laugh and smile in such a manner. 

K’xug stepped in behind Xue.  

The two of them, along with Cecil and Hana’s parents, had cooperated and decided to put a temporary seal on Hana’s parents to disguise their looks back to their previous appearances. Though, it was mostly done by K’xug. 

They were afraid if Hana were to see their original appearance, it might send Hana into an unintentional shock. No one knew if it would affect Hana, and how badly it would affect her. It wasn’t like they needed her to recover her memories. 

She was fine the way she is. 

K’xug looked down at his fist, knowing that he was recovering faster under the careful care of Cecil and her family. Just then, he realised Xue was staring at something with a dazzled look on his face. 

He blinked in confusion, following Xue’s line of sight and he noticed Cecil and Hana sitting at the table, chatting cheerily with one another. Cecil rested her chin on her palm, her mouth moving and Hana started to pout. 

The moment he saw the sight, K’xug couldn’t help but think of an adorable hamster again, holding back his smile. He stretched his hand forward, waving it in front of Xue’s face.

The hand broke Xue from his daze, and he turned to look at K’xug with a lost expression. K’xug raised his eyebrows, nudging his head at the two women. 

“Xue! And K’xug!” Hana called them. 

The two men started making their way over to the table, and Cecil only greeted them with a soft smile. 

“So, Hana, have you decided?” Cecil looked back at Hana, still smiling. 

“I did!” Hana nodded, looking at Xue. “Xue, this time, teach me how to shoot an arrow! With my bow! And how to use the second form of my element!” 

Xue only nodded dumbly, his eyes moving back to Cecil. 

K’xug was intrigued. 

He had never seen her handle a weapon before, and she wasn’t even remotely close touching any form of combat in the past. 

The glint in his eyes showed how eager he was to watch Hana in action, and the excited look on his face did not go unnoticed by three of them. 

“I guess, we can all watch Hana.” Cecil shrugged. 

***

Unlike the teacher back in the academy, Hana was not used to how Xue taught her. He was particularly stern, and insisted that Hana gets her form completely perfect. The previous time that Xue taught her, she realised it was just the start. 

He just simply taught her how to hold the bow properly, but this time, she wanted to know how to form ice and create ice arrows, and shoot them.

This was the real training session with Xue. 

“Wrong!” 

Hana squeezed her eyes close as she made a noise. 

“You have to attune yourself with your element, and not focus on it being water, but ice. Don’t think of any shapes to make with it, just bring out your water element and turn it into ice.”

“...mmm.” 

Cecil and K’xug watched from the sidelines. They were in the courtyard of the mansion, and the entire courtyard was completely empty except for the four of them. The only decoration in the courtyard was a few potted plants, and a small fountain. The tables and chairs had been moved away by the servants to provide space for Hana and Xue.

“I didn’t expect Xue to be such a stern teacher,” Cecil blinked, looking at K’xug. “Was he like that in the past too?” 

K’xug nodded at Cecil. 

“Really? He was? It didn’t matter who it was?” 

K’xug nodded again. 

“...I didn’t expect that. I guess, there are some things that never change about, Xue?” 

K’xug showed Cecil a smile, nodding once again. 

Cecil glanced back at Xue and Hana, and Hana was getting lectured once again as she squeezed her eyes close. 

Sometimes, I wonder...how the previous Xue was actually like. 

If I could, I want to see it in person...or at least, hear about it. 

Cecil turned back to K’xug once again.

“Hey K’xug, can I ask you something?” 

K’xug gestured for Cecil to go ahead.

“This Xue here, and the Xue you know from the past,” Cecil questioned hesitantly. “Did he...change a lot?” 

K’xug seemed contemplative for a moment, and he gave Cecil a look of frustration, scratching his head. 

“Ah, it must be hard to explain with just gestures,” she responded in understanding, lifting her hand. “How about this, thumbs up means he changed for the better, and thumbs down means he changed for the...worse.” 

A frown creased his forehead, and K’xug switched between showing his thumb up and down, sighing. In the end, he settled for showing his thumb pointing towards the side. 

Cecil couldn’t help but laugh a little. “I guess that means, he changed neither for the worse or the better?” 

K’xug nodded slowly, as if that was the closest answer he could give. He looked at Xue, a smile adorning his handsome face and he looked back at Cecil, a determined and proud look in his different-coloured eyes. 

No matter how Xue has changed, he is still my friend. 

I won’t abandon him. 

Cecil tapped her fingers on her chin, before smiling helplessly. “Sorry, K’xug, but I really can’t understand what you are saying.” 

K’xug shook his head, waving it off. 

“Then Xue, you show me how to do it!” Hana exclaimed, huffing. 

Hana rarely raised her voice in such an indignant manner, especially at Xue, shocking all three of them. 

However, everyone has their limits, even the cheerful and simple-minded Hana. 

After getting lectured by Xue again and again, as if she was someone who could not understand something so simple...it left her feeling very bitter. It was even worse since this was Xue that had never raised his voice at her and always spoiled her.

Of course, the difference in treatment now was because Xue viewed Hana like a sister. Teaching someone who you viewed as family, especially when Xue has known this “sister” of his for over a hundred years, Xue lacked patience. 

He blinked in surprise after Hana raised her voice at him, a frustrated look on her face. 

Xue was someone who had never once cared about flaunting his position and powers, but he knew the past Hana was always careful around him due to his position and powers. Thus, she had never raised her voice like that at Xue.

It was probably because Hana had lost her memories, and feeling bitter from all the lecturing, she dared to retort at him in such a manner. 

In the end, Xue simply shrugged. “Sure, I'll show you.” 

Since he absorbed back two souls that were of the water element, he could easily use the second form of the water element. 

“So, it’s like this…” 

He retrieved a small stream of water from the small fountain, turning it into a tiny globe. The next second, he waved his hand over the tiny globe of water and it turned into a ball made of ice in an instant. 

“And like that.” 

“...?” 

Hana wore the most bewildered look on her face, tilting her head to the side. 

Meanwhile, the two onlookers at the side smacked themselves on their forehead. 

Even the soul fragments inside had the same reaction.

Xue was someone who underwent harsh training ever since he was young, and that led to him having high comprehension skills for combat. Anything type of fighting style that was thrown at him, he could learn them easily. 

Moreover, just like K’xug, he was a “battle junkie”, someone addicted to the thrill of fighting good opponents. However, that had somewhat died down, but the previous experiences of being a “battle junkie” was what led to him to become the strongest warrior in the heavenly realm, and someone that had accumulated a lot of knowledge about fighting. 

“Xue, that is...completely wrong.” Cecil interrupted their training. 

Xue turned to look at Cecil, blinking in confusion. 

K’xug shook his head. Xue clearly wasn’t treating Hana as someone who was first learning how to fight. 

“You have to tell Hana about the feeling when you are utilising the second form of the water element.” 

“Feeling? What feeling?” 

Now, it was Xue’s turn to tilt his head in confusion. It all came naturally to him since he was a genius at fighting. 

“I...I really don’t understand…” Hana muttered to herself, following what Xue had shown her, but the ball of water still remained as water.

Cecil supported her forehead with her hand. 

“Forget it, let me try.” 

“But you are--” 

K’xug stepped in, dragging Xue away. 

“Cecil--” 

She replaced Xue, and she started teaching Hana patiently. 

“Listen carefully, Hana. You cannot just look at it and hope for it to turn into ice, it is not simply about your eyes and your thoughts, it is more than that. Here, let me show you an example with my element…” 

***

After an hour of trying, and following Cecil’s method, Hana finally made a breakthrough. 

The tiny water globe in her hand partially turned into ice. 

“I--I did it!”

“Congratulations, Hana.” 

“Cecil!” Hana squealed, tossing the water in her hand away as she hugged Cecil, jumping for joy. “I really did it!” 

Cecil grinned, raising her hand up as she gave Xue and K’xug a thumbs-up. 

K’xug gave a thumbs-up in return. 

Xue furrowed his eyebrows, muttering to himself. “Am I really that bad of a teacher?” 

K’xug overheard Xue, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Now, Hana, just keep practicing until you can turn it entirely into ice effortlessly,” Cecil said in an encouraging manner. “The first step is always the hardest, just remember the feeling you had just now!”

Hana nodded, her blue eyes gleaming in excitement. 

***

Pt. 1

《 start 》

Am I…

Am I really that horrible at teaching? 

Even Cecil, who is a different element, can actually teach Hana…

Well, since it is Cecil, I don’t feel bad about it. 

《 stop 》

***

Pt. 2

《 start 》

Idiot. 

A true idiot.

Ah, if Xue actually could hear me calling him that, he will punch me. 

...not that he can do anything against me now, he hasn’t gained back all his powers yet. 

Hah.

I call him poop god for the entire time, and he wouldn't know.

《 stop 》