Author's note: Update schedule switched to 2 chapters per week, every Monday and Friday. I hope I get my writing mood back soon 😅.

Cecil flipped in the air, landing safely on the ground again. She sighed, knowing that lost once again and jumped back onto the pillar. Now, with or without the blindfold, she knew which and every pillar stood at.

She could even differentiate their heights in an instant

The teachers had also left them to their own training, since firstly, they knew what to do without any guidance. Secondly, Eri wanted to give the couple their own private time.

It was still late in the afternoon, and they were planning to train until night once again.

"You could have dodged that." Xue stated, his blindfold still on as well.

"Really?"

"You are distracted."

Cecil tapped her fingers on her chin, sighing again. "I am worried about Hana."

"Why?"

"You know her, Xue. What if she meets beast and disturbs them? What if she encounters some trouble while trying to find her soul weapon? What if she gets injured?"

"I see."

"Are you not worried, Xue?" Cecil questioned Xue, surprised.

"If it was the past Hana I knew, I would be," Xue answered, a smile in his voice. "But the Hana now is completely different, and she will be able to handle herself just fine."

"Hana has grown stronger, in ways I could never imagine. I always thought she needed my protection, before I knew it, she had started to walk on her own," Xue started to swing the spear around his hands, still talking. "So, believe in Hana, she will do just fine."

Cecil couldn't retort. After all, what she knew about Hana was reading the novel. Whereas, Xue knew her personally and has been with her the entire time, from whether she was an angel, and to now when she has been reborn as a mix between human and angel, though majority of her was still human.

Cecil smiled, nodding. "Mhmm."

She inhaled deeply, shaking off her worries. Today was the last day for her to complete the mission, and also, the last day for her to try and land a hit on Xue.

If she could land a hit, that was already a huge win for her.

"Whenever you are ready."

Cecil narrowed her eyes in concentration, charging towards Xue with her vine daggers.

***

Hana had already descended the hill, her legs feeling tired from walking in circles. She sat on the ground, sighing with a pout.

She knew she was lost.

No matter where she walked, she would always find herself back here at the sword mound. Moreover, she was really unlucky this time. She couldn't find any student around, even when she walked around.

For this trip to the sword mound, Hana's thick clothes were robes that had two layers. They were the thickest clothes she possessed. In order to keep herself even more warm, she didn't style her hair, keeping it down to protect her ears and neck from the cold.

She made the right choice, as she was starting to feel the chill for staying her too long.

She retrieved the flare from her knapsack, staring at it, beaming.

"If I remember, Mr. Gom said to activate the flare, it was something like this..."

***

Cecil glided through the air, her vine daggers reaching for Xue's legs. Her aim was more precise and swift compared to before, but Xue avoided it by leaping into the air.

He pushed himself off from a taller pillar, aiming the blunt part of his spear at her.

Cecil had long grown accustomed to the blindness, and one could even say that it made no difference to her. It was as if she could still see, gyrating her body and Xue's spear went past her face.

She could feel the air rushing past her, but she was unfazed, landing safely on a pillar.

Xue flipped himself over in midair, landing safely on a pillar as well.

Cecil took out her stone, spinning it around her. Xue charged in, jabbing at Cecil with his spear.

She dodged every attack, hopping from pillar to pillar as Xue followed after her. She proceeded to hurl the stone behind him, planning on striking his knee.

Compared to before, her speed at multitasking had tremendously improved as well. Defending and attacking at the same time was like breathing to her now.

Xue predicted that she would already aim for his back, he simply blocked the stone with his spear by placing it behind him. He then used his leg, kicking it adeptly in front of him.

Cecil avoided it, shooting out her vine from her dagger, trying to grasp at Xue's outstretched leg. Xue's speed was unbelievable, immediately cutting the vine away with his spear and defending his back again.

Cecil gasped, once again amazed by his insane reflexes.

"Stopping already?"

Cecil made a face. "No, not until I land a hit on you!"

Cecil rushed in, spinning her stone at an even faster pace. She tossed it towards Xue and he blocked it with his spear, a ringing sound piercing the air. Cecil took that opportunity of the noise and misdirection to leap high up into the air, aiming the vine daggers at his legs again.

Suddenly, she felt Xue disappearing from the spot and she panicked.

She was still in the air, and to her surprise, Xue appeared in the air in front of her.

Without her stone to defend her, and having not enough time to recoil back her arms to defend herself, Xue gave her a light push with his spear.

She was now out of range of the pillars, and she could only land on the ground.

Xue prepared to leap back to pillars, and to his surprise, Cecil managed to remain calm under the panic. She continued to pull back her arm, aiming the vine for his legs.

He cut one of the vine, but the other grasped his ankle, pulling him. She then gave him a light punch on the chest.

It was a hit.

She finally landed a hit.

"I did it! I finally landed a hit--"

There was a sudden flash of red in the sky. Even with their blindfold on, they could see the flash of red, and it distracted Cecil and Xue as they glanced away, and the grip on Xue's ankle loosened.

They were still falling through the air, close to the ground now.

However, Cecil showed no signs of preparing to land safely. Xue was the first to recover from the distraction.

Without thinking, Xue reached out, pulling her body close to his as he switched their positions. In this way, he would absorb the impact and Cecil would be completely safe.

Cecil inhaled sharply, she realised it too late.

They landed harshly on the ground and Xue groaned slightly, feeling a twinge of pain on his back. Cecil slowly opened her eyes, making a noise and she shifted slightly.

At that moment, Xue also felt a slight sting on his lips.

The blindfold slid off their faces at that moment, covering their noses. The sky around them still appeared rather red, bathing the courtyard in a orange red hue.

The two of them stiffened, staring wide-eyed at one another.

It was clear as day.

They had somehow ended up in an accidental kiss.

Now, Xue understood why his lips were stinging slightly.

Neither dared to move, still blinking wide-eyed at one another, still in disbelief at what just occurred.

[ Mission #8 : Get Stronger!
Objective completed!
Reward : 6000 points
Remaining points : 25,000 points ]

[ Congratulations! You have completed an achievement "Fruitful Training with Xue"! You have twenty-four achievements remaining. ]

Cecil gasped, hastily sitting up, the blindfold sliding off from her nose to her neck, and dropping onto the floor. She blinked rapidly, her expression one of pure bewilderment as she stared into empty space.

Xue was just as nonplussed.

Even the soul fragments in his head were completely quiet.

Xue wanted to sit up until he realised Cecil was still sitting on him.

"...Cecil..."

"...huh?"

"I can't...get up."

Cecil gasped again, clumsily standing up as she glanced away. "So-sorry."

Xue sat up, grimacing and grunting when he felt a dull pain on his back. That sound attracted Cecil's attention, and she glanced back, noticing his hand on his back.

"Oh god, Xue, I'm so sorry! Because you were trying to protect me from the fall, you--"

Xue turned his head at that moment, his grey eyes meeting her onyx ones.

Cecil widened her eyes, choking on her words as she saw the obvious cut on Xue's lower lip.

Her finger automatically went to her lips, touching it. Xue caught that movement, moving his lips when he felt the sting again, wincing and he darted his tongue out, licking his lower lip.

He could taste blood.

Xue glanced up at that moment, licking his bloodied lip again. "You were saying?"

He looked almost seductive.

"...yo-you were injured, because of m-me..." Cecil stuttered out, growing flustered. "Are you...okay?"

"What would you do if I'm not okay?" Xue questioned, blood leaking out from his cut again.

There was something imperceptible swirling within his grey eyes, and there was an ambiguous atmosphere around them.

An ambiguous atmosphere that Cecil had never felt before.

Cecil swallowed nervously.

"...ge-get help?"

"What kind of help?" Xue asked, staring at Cecil.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It was the same feverish stare she had been receiving, more and more often.

This time, it seemed even more intense.

"I'll go get help now, for your back!" Cecil spoke hurriedly, picking up the daggers that fell from her hands.

She sheathed one dagger, until she felt the other dagger tugging at something.

Cecil glanced back, seeing the vine of the dagger still attached to someone's ankle. Horrified, she looked at Xue.

Xue raised his eyebrows at her. "Not planning to let go?"

Her face went red in an instant, and she recalled back her vine in a hurry. Without another word, Cecil escaped from the courtyard.

Xue stood up slowly, disregarding the dull pain on his back. He watched as Cecil leave, his finger brushing away the blood on his lip.

He stared at the blood on his thumb, smiling softly. Xue rubbed away the blood on his thumb, his gaze affectionate.

The souls in his head still hasn't recovered from their shock.

Whereas, Cecil herself was having some other thoughts.

...as expected, Xue's lips were soft--

No, no no no, what am I thinking?!

Cecil shook herself awake, wanting to scream out the turbulence she was feeling inside of her.

***

A group of people revealed themselves from within the mist, brandishing their weapons.

"The flare leads here!"

"Which student shot the flare?"

Hana was fiddling with her bow, her face lighting up when she saw the group. The group of people, consisting of students and teacher, looking at Hana sitting on the ground, smiling up at them.

"Hana?"

"Were you the one who shot the flare?"

"Where's the beast?!"

Hana blinked innocently, tilting her head. "Beast? There is no beast here, and yes, I shot the flare! Because I was lost!"

The group of people was silent, staring at Hana.

"...so you shot the flare, because you were lost?"

"Mhmm!"

"You couldn't find your way back?"

"Mhmm!"

"That was your emergency?"

"Mhmm!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

They were rendered speechless by the red-haired woman's actions.

Hana only continued smiling at them, as she bowed. "Thank you for coming to help me!"

***

Xue sat under the courtyard tree, shielding him from the late afternoon sun. One of his leg propped up, and he rested on the tree trunk.

The blood on his lips had already been dried up, and there was an obvious cut there. His eyes were closed, and there was a hint of smile on his lips.

Kai: "...did we really kiss Cecil?"

Kai touched his lips, a smile present in his voice.

Alric was dead on the couch, covering his face with his hands. The cowardly merchant was red up to the tip of his ears. Leonaut crouched down beside him, fanning him with a random fan he found from Alric's belongings in the room.

Leonaut: "Oiiii, I think Alric is going to die from overheating."

Zasiok: "It was accidental anyway."

Kai narrowed his eyes at Zasiok, a toothy grin on his face. There was a tinge of red lining Zasiok's cheeks.

Kai: "You say that, but you are blushing!"

Leonaut: "That serious guy can get shy?"

Leonaut smirked, still fanning Alric.

Zasiok: "...shut up."

Nevertheless, with them making so much noise without restrain, surprisingly Xue didn't speak. Neither did he put up a mind wall to block them.

Kai: "For once, you are quiet, Xue."

Leonaut: "I thought you would tell us to shut up too or something."

Zasiok: "...or get jealous."

Xue opened his eyes, his face unusually relaxed.

Xue: "Not gonna bother."

Someone entered the courtyard at that moment, and Xue glanced towards them.

It was Eri, and she was panting slightly. "Xue? Cecil? Are you here?"

Xue stood up, approaching Eri and once Eri spotted him, she rushed over.

"Xue, thank god! You have to go over to the sword moving expedition area now! Someone shot the flare!"

"...Hana is there."

Eri nodded.

A concerned look appeared on Xue's face, and the two of them swiftly left the courtyard.

***

Cecil rushed into the clinic, and the healer glanced to the door, raising her eyebrows as she observed the panting Cecil. Her delicate face was completely flushed.

"Why are you in such a hurry?"

Cecil was still panting, staring blankly into space. She hasn't recovered from the shocking accidental kiss.

"Cecil?"

No response.

The healer clapped loudly, jolting Cecil from her daze.

"Wh-what?"

"Why have you come running here with your face like that?"

"Oh...that..." Cecil swallowed, shaking her head. "I need an ointment for bruises or cuts..."

The healer furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't the ointment with you now? Did...did you run out again?"

Cecil blinked rapidly, before gasping in realisation.

The healer sighed in frustration, hands on her hips.

"That boy came in here borrowing two of them, and he doesn't seem to be the type to get injured," the healer pointed at Cecil. "So the ointment would only be for you."

"Oh, I--"

The healer shoved the ointment onto Cecil, making her stumble back.

"Here. Using three bottles of it is more than enough. You still haven't given the two empty bottles back to me as well," she raised her eyebrows. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but don't bring my precious ointments into your flirting games."

The last two words resonated within Cecil's mind, repeating over and over again.

At that moment, Cecil replayed the accidental kiss in her mind and her eyes grew wide.

We are not flirting!

Cecil made a flustered noise, crouching down and burying her face into her hands.

"Hmm, what's this?" The healer smiled wryly, bending down slightly. "Did it already get through your thick skull?"

"...huh?" Cecil lifted her head, her face completely red.

"I thought it would take longer, but I guess not."

Cecil tilted her head in confusion.

"The healer? Is the healer here?!" Someone burst into the room.

"What's the big fuss about now?"

"Someone shot a flare during the expedition! We might require medical assistance!"

Cecil shot up to her feet.

A flare?

...that means all the students are in danger! And Hana is there too!

The two of them rushed out of the clinic, along with the messenger.

***

《 start 》

What I felt at that point of time was...indescribable.

I only knew...her lips were soft.

So soft.

...and that I want to feel them again.

《 stop 》