Chapter 141: Trust
Time moves fast as the two enjoys the company of each other, to the point that even they themselves only realized it way too late as they finished their duel.
"Haah... haah... Aren’t you growing stronger way too fast??"
Feeling the difference between his current strength and his strength the day before, Medea couldn’t help but ask with a hint of shock in her voice, taking a good, scanning look on the young man who appears to be quite fine despite the intensity of their spar.
"It’s not like you’re not the same."
Meeting her gaze, Novus replies with a faint, wry smile on his face, the fact that each hit from her attack causes his bone to tremble while it cracks bit by bit being a proof to her growing physical strength, something made possible through her continuous absorption of the Evolution Crystal he had been supplying her with.
Sitting down beside her as he waits for her to recover, Medea couldn’t help but take a good, long look at this young man once more, the bruises, wounds and injuries he received from their battle already gone as his terrifying regenerative abilities kicked in.
This then allows her to take a good, long look at his physique exposed here and there through cuts and tears on his clothes.
The peeks of well-defined, muscular physique cause her heart to skip some beats as her face starts getting warm, prompting her to tear her gaze away from the sight as she starts regulating her breath in an attempt to control her racing heart.
While the Sword Princess battles with the delightful, yet ever-so-complicated feeling she is experiencing right now, the young man this feeling is directed to already started letting his mind roam around, observing their surroundings with quite the interest.
And before long, a realization dawns upon his mind.
’This... might be the perfect place for me to breakthrough...’
An empty field completely cut from the outside, large enough that he won’t feel constrained by the surrounding during his promotion to the D Tier, and most of all, free of any surveillance that might leak the news of his absurd growth rate to the outside.
As he scans the battleground once again, this observation just reinforced itself even more, making him quite favorable on the idea of spending the time during his promotion inside this room.
’The problem is...’
Recalling how expensive it is to use this place for just a single hour, he couldn’t help but feel his student points is going to take quite a dive, especially when he knows that his promotion this time might take several times longer than his promotion to the E Tier.
"Novus? Is there a problem?" snapping him out of his mulling, he heard that familiar melodious voice, a clear trace of concern lacing her tone as he met her gaze.
’Should I tell her?’ freezing for a bit as he couldn’t think of anyone else that can help with his problem but the lady in front of him, he hesitated for a while, before eventually heaving a sigh as he starts telling her bits and pieces for her to understand his current predicament.
"Heh~~ Fufufu~~" hearing his situation, Medea couldn’t stop the faint giggling from escaping her lips, her eyes turning a bit crescent as she looks at the young man with amusement in her eyes.
"What?" seeing that familiar look, Novus asked with a flat tone as he stood up, reaching his hand out to help her stand as well, all while she continues to giggle at his situation.
"Nothing really~~~ This big sister just finds it quite unexpected that the man providing for me is this poor, hehehe~~~"
Medea continues to laugh as she proudly takes out a white card from her spatial ring, a card revealing a number quite high that made Novus wonder whether he will even reach that amount of student points during his entire time inside the academy.
"One hundred and forty-four thousand, eight hundred!" she declared with such pride in her tone and her head tilted upwards, as if there’s no one in the world that is her rival
That look, along with her charming expressions making the young man feel like laughing instead of being provoked by her clearly taunting gaze.
"I’ll pay for it when I have enough." he said with the faint smile never leaving his face as he looks at her gratefully, his gaze, along with the smile making Medea feel quite warm, prompting her to giggle once more.
"It’s fine, it’s fine, some student points are incomparable to the things you’ve been doing for me up to this point, you know?" she pointed out as she walks near the entrance of the large room, inserting the white card in a dent there, allowing them to extend their stay.
"Still, I’ll pay it, possibly with interest."
"Wow, what a gentleman, then to make the trade fair, should I also repay all those Evolution Crystals you have given me with interest?"
To his insistence to pay, Medea pointed out, intending to shut the conversation down with this alone, as she knew that he has no intention of making her repay all those things that he had been giving her for quite some time now.
As much as that is the truth however, she was still caught off guard as the young man proceeds to hit her with a joking tone of consideration to her offer.
"Hmm, that’s a good idea, maybe I should take you up on that." He said in a dry tone as he looks at her with a clearly teasing smile on his face, her expression, frozen from hearing the fact that he is considering making her pay, loosening to sheer annoyance as she saw his expression.
"If you dare do that, I will—" her words were cut, not because he started speaking but rather, she cannot anything to threaten him with, his strength already growing ahead of hers bit by bit, hell, even her sustenance to continue growing stronger come from him.
"You will what?" Novus continues to smile waiting for her threat, the confident, calm look on his face crumbling as the lady’s expression lit up, finally thinking of something to threaten him with.
"I will pay with myself!!" she said in a raised voice, moment later making her realize that it doesn’t seem to be all too much of a threat but more of a temptation, causing her cheeks to redden as she averts her gaze.
"F-forget that I said that..." she said as she swung her head away from him, not wanting the young man to see her current embarrassed expression.
As much as her heart races, Novus heart beats just as fast, just as loud, making him speechless as he uncontrollably moves his body, getting closer to the lady averting her gaze.
He is unaware of why he does so, but he reaches his hand out, placing it on the Sword Princess’ head, taking in the soft, smooth sensation of her hair for a moment before gently caressing said hair as if to comfort her.
And feeling his touch, she just seems to become embarrassed all the more, her heart racing even harder and her face feeling warmer than ever before, yet amidst all that, she can also feel it, the warm, calm and comfort as the two of them indulges on the sensation.
"I-I’ll start with my promotion now, Medea, you can watch if you want..." after a while, Novus finally finds it in himself to stop caressing her smooth hair, his body now moving as he sits in a lotus position as he starts calming himself down.
"Wait, no, I think you have to, Medea, since there’s a chance that your promotion will be similar to mine from now on..."
Realizing the fact that the same way Evolution Energy changes his progression might changes hers as well, Novus tone changes into a commanding from a suggesting one, intending to let her be around him while he proceeds with his promotion to the D Tier.
’You idiot, you really do care about me after all~~~’
As she moves a bit away from his figure to give him some space for his promotion, Medea thought to herself with a sweet, charming smile on her face, her heart continues to race as she observes Novus from the distance with warm, caring gaze.