"Come on, fight me, young man!" Rock challenged.
Balance stood silent for that moment, holding a spear.
Balance began to position himself. He lowered his body and held the spear forward.
"I'm ready, Senior." Balance said with a serious look.
"This training will end when you can touch my face with that wooden sword. Don't worry, my DEF is high." Rock boasted about his durability.
Then Balance quickly attacked from Rock's side.
Hiyaaaaa
Instantly, Rock parried the spear and Balance's attack, causing him to bounce back slightly.
"Agh."
Despite that, Balance continued to launch attacks that seemed erratic, with differing spear focuses.
Rock began to smirk.
"Kid, it looks like you really need to learn a lot!"
Rock pushed Balance away to stop him.
"That's enough, kid, let's take a short break."
Rock said as he extended his hand.
"Am I really..."
Rock cut off Balance.
"That's understandable. Considering how skinny you are, it's no surprise your energy is low. You must have been shocked when you got an attacker-type class, weren't you?"
Balance nodded his head.
Whatever was on Rock's mind, he suddenly stroked my head.
I felt strange looking at him; my thought at that moment was like, "What the heck?!"
"Hehe, you remind me a little of my younger brother." Rock chuckled slightly.
"Huh?! You have a brother?"
Rock looked up at the sky with a wistful gaze.
"Well, more accurately, my late younger brother. He entered his first fissure and disappeared inside it. I fight in the fissures to find my brother."
"Ah, I'm sorry for asking about that."
Rock smiled.
"It's okay, let this be a lesson. You, young man, must learn to become stronger so you don't easily disappear inside a fissure."
Balance agreed to this.
Shifting to Nicolle and Areta, who were on their way to buy meat.
Nicolle and Areta walked on the sidewalk with colorful shops all around them. Several luxury cars were also seen passing by, which distracted Areta a little.
"Areta, be careful, don't space out."
Areta responded to Nicolle's advice very lightly.
"Hehehe, I'm not a little kid anymore, Sis Nicolle."
She said this without realizing she was right in the middle of the road for cars. One car then almost hit Areta.
Screeeech
The sound of the car tires forcefully braking.
The driver stuck his head out of the car window with a very angry face.
"HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING! STOP GOSSIPING!!!"
Nicolle immediately apologized, but the driver kept ranting.
"DON'T YOUNG PEOPLE THESE DAYS VALUE THEIR LIVES?! WATCH THE ROAD, WHY DON'T YOU?! WHAT IF MY CAR GETS DAMAGED, YOU A BITCH###."
The driver kept hurling obscenities at Nicolle and Areta.
With an increasingly tired face, Nicolle kept apologizing.
Then, in the middle of the commotion, footsteps of someone were seen approaching them.
Tap. . . Tap. . . Tap
"Excuse me, sir, can you please continue driving? Because you are causing traffic congestion behind you."
The driver turned around with an annoyed look.
"Ha?! Who are you to order me around?! Don't you know who I am?!"
The person started taking a card out of his jacket, then quickly showed the card to the driver.
The driver, who was angry before, instantly changed his expression to one of fear while spelling out the person's name.
"O..RI...ON... JAEGER?!"
The driver looked at Orion's furious face, trembling.
"What? Hurry up and continue your journey!"
The driver then quickly drove off to continue his journey.
Orion looked towards Nicolle and Areta, who were trying to escape.
"Do you think I'm letting you off?"
Nicolle and Areta tried to divert his attention.
"Hahah, no, we were just... heheh."
Orion stared sharply.
"Sorry~ /u"
Orion forgave them with one question that needed to be answered.
"Do you know this person?"
Orion took a rolled-up drawing from his jacket.
Areta looked at the picture carefully.
"Hmm, is this your girlfriend?"
Nicolle glared at Areta as if saying, "You rude child!"
Orion then rolled up the drawing he made.
"No! He is my childhood friend, and he's a man. Well, his face is pretty, though."
Nicolle and Areta thought of Nox, as the features in the drawing were slightly similar.
"We are sorry, young master, we haven't seen him."
Orion let them go, but afterwards, Orion went into a narrow alley and called one of his family's spies.
Someone emerged from the shadows and knelt before Orion.
"Zambrud, follow them!"
Zambrud was surprised, as if asking what was going on.
Orion looked at Zambrud with a sharp gaze.
"They seem to have a connection to the prince's disappearance."
Zambrud peered at the two girls as if in disbelief.
"Are you sure, young master?"
Orion said that he could smell a faint trace of Balance's magic on the two girls' clothes.
"Alright."
Zambrud immediately went to carry out his task.
Orion frowned.
"Hah, troublesome."
Nicolle began to grumble and scold Areta.
"Be careful next time."
"Sorry <<."
Areta became sullen for the rest of the trip.
Returning to Nox's ongoing training.
Rock began to project his voice.
"FIRST, WE START WITH RUNNING!"
Nox was surprised.
"Wait a minute, so that earlier wasn't training?!"
Rock laughed at Nox's reaction.
"That was just the warm-up, buddy."
Nox was speechless after hearing that.
Rock, seeing this, started shaking Nox's body.
"Hey buddy, wake up!"
Rock clenched his fist with a serious face.
"Noxy, young man, you've tried hard, so I'm going to punch you if you don't get up, so you don't become soft."
Rock said it with a sad and disappointed look.
Nox, hearing this, finally woke up with a clenched fist right in front of his face.
Whoosh
The wind from the speed of Rock's hand blew into Nox's eyes.
The wind made Nox's eyes sting.
"Ugh!"
"Finally, you're awake!"
Then Rock pushed Nox to run.
"Go! Go! Noxy!"
Gasping for breath, Nox ran around the headquarters field.
Pheeeww (whistle sound)
"Keep going, Noxy!!"
Nox looked back with a tired expression.
"Ye-ah... thank... you."
With a weary look, Nox fainted with a heavy nosebleed.
"NOXXXXX!!!!!!!!"
Rock ran towards the unconscious Nox.
Nox realized he was somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
An echoing sound enveloped him.
Is this a dream?Is this a memory?Is this the future?Is this the past?
Nox was confused by what he saw; everything seemed black around him.
In the deep confusion, listening to the echoing voice, the voice kept getting closer until it finally pulled Balance away into a light, which was the sign of him waking up.
"Hah... Hah."
His sweat kept pouring, along with an incredible headache.
"Ugh?!"
Balance then held his forehead, then began to walk downstairs with his body and head aching.
Tap....Tap.....
Ung?!
Balance was puzzled by the dark room, which suddenly lit up when he reached the end of the stairs.
Balance was slightly startled.
TassTass
The sound of confetti.
Behind the light, the voices of the party members could be heard.
"Congratulations on becoming a member, Nox!" the Sunflower party members said.
Balance felt a joy and warmth he hadn't received for a long time.
"Thank you, everyone."
He walked towards the smiles and enjoyed the party before the storm finally arrived.
"How is it, Nox, does the meat taste good?" Nicolle asked.
Nox then ate a piece of the steak.
The atmosphere became tense during the first bite.
"How is it?" Riel asked.
Nox then smiled.
"Um, it's delicious, thank you."
Immediately, the atmosphere became cheerful with Nox's words.
YATTA! WE SUCCEEDED!
With all the joyful cheers bringing spirit to another day, no matter what happens in the future, the spirit must be maintained.
To be continued ~
The images and story are not fanart/fanfic; the images and story are the author's own work. Ig = Nexusvenus Facebook= Nexus venus YouTube= Nexus venus Reposting without including the source is not permitted. Your cooperation is appreciated :)
NEW CHARA UNLOCK: ORION JAEGER