Blind Box World - SSS-Rank Eye of Truth

That afternoon, Ethan left the village alone.

He didn’t go far, only following the dirt path behind a few houses and climbing the low hillside overlooking Spring Village.

From here he could see nearly the entire village.

Cookfire smoke rose from a few rooftops. The children were still running around the central yard. Ruo Yan’s Necromancer stood beside the food storage, the straw hat the children absolutely refused to let it remove still perched on its head.

In another corner, Laira was helping several Partners prop up a section of tilted roofing. At nearly two meters twenty, she stood among the crowd like a tall tree. Everyone else had to climb a ladder, while she only needed to stand straight and reach up to touch the timbers above.

Ethan watched the scene for a while, then sat down.

The left arm encased in the Primordial Armor rested on his knee. The dark purple lines hidden beneath the metal were no longer as vivid as two days ago, but the warmth still hadn’t fully disappeared.

He knew he couldn’t stay here forever.

Ryan was still alive.

The Void was still watching him.

Owin had said it plainly: the world he had known was nothing more than a cage.

Beyond it lay things far greater.

Ethan looked down at his left arm.

’Enough rest.’

It was just that this time, the thought of leaving Spring Village wasn’t as simple as before.

Footsteps came from behind.

Ethan didn’t turn around.

"You’re here."

Vesna stopped a few paces away.

The two thin structures at her temples trembled softly in the breeze. She looked down at the village below, then sat beside Ethan, keeping a comfortable distance between them.

"You knew I’d come?"

"No." Ethan looked ahead. "But you tend to show up whenever you hear something troublesome."

Vesna laughed.

"Then this time it’s probably very troublesome."

Ethan turned to her.

The smile on Vesna’s face slowly faded. The thin wings at her temples trembled harder than usual, as though she were straining to catch a sound from very far away.

"Since you came back, the sounds around you have been much clearer than before. I still don’t know if what I hear is truly the future, but this time... I heard a path."

Ethan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"A path?"

"Yes." Vesna looked toward the horizon. "There’s thunder. Fire. Something like an enormous gate. And behind it is a place I’ve never heard before."

Ethan fell silent.

Those words were far too familiar.

Thunder.

Fire.

A gate.

The Thunder Wings, Laira, the Cataclysmic Thunder Gate, even the things Owin had spoken of could all be connected.

Vesna continued. "I can’t tell you where to go. I can’t see what’s waiting at the end of that path either. But the feeling is very clear, as though fate is pushing you forward."

Ethan gave a quiet laugh.

"I don’t like the word fate."

"I know."

"It sounds like no matter what I do, someone’s already arranged it."

Vesna tilted her head. "I see it differently. A path appearing before you doesn’t mean you’re forced to walk it. It only means that if you want to keep moving forward, you’ll probably have to pass through that place."

Ethan didn’t argue.

Wind swept across the hillside, stirring the hems of their clothes.

After a while, Vesna spoke again.

"You won’t go alone."

Ethan turned to look at her.

"In the things I hear, Laira is beside you. Ruo Yan is there too. Sometimes very far, sometimes so close I can barely tell the three of you apart."

Vesna smiled faintly.

"But Ethan, don’t make them wait too long."

Ethan went still.

He understood immediately that the line had nothing to do with setting out on a journey.

Vesna looked straight at him.

"Some people are left behind because someone walks away. But there are also people standing right beside you who feel no different from being abandoned, only because the person they’re waiting for won’t say what’s on his mind."

Ethan frowned.

"You’re quite talkative today."

"I just don’t want you coming back later and blaming me for hearing something and not saying it." Vesna braced a hand on the ground and stood, brushing the grass from her skirt. Before leaving, she looked down at the village one more time and said softly, "If you want to go, then go. Your road was never meant to end here. But before you leave, at least let the people who want to follow you know where they stand in your heart."

Ethan watched Vesna’s back descend the hill.

He didn’t call her back.

Only after she disappeared around the narrow path did he let out a breath.

’Don’t make them wait too long?’

Ethan tilted his head back slightly and looked at the sky.

A sound came from behind.

This time he didn’t need to guess.

"Laira."

"Yeah."

Her voice came from above.

Ethan turned.

Laira was standing right behind him.

Her frame of nearly two meters twenty blocked part of the afternoon light. Her long red hair was blown to one side by the wind, the black horns standing out sharply against the sky. She looked down at Ethan, then sat beside him.

Even seated, the difference in build was obvious.

Laira’s long legs stretched down the grassy slope. Her shoulder sat slightly higher than Ethan’s, so when she shifted close, she had to tilt her head to rest her temple against his hair.

One long arm wrapped around Ethan’s back.

"What did Vesna say?"

Ethan looked down at the village.

"Fate is guiding my path."

Laira was quiet for two seconds.

"Sounds like a hassle."

Ethan laughed. "I thought the same."

"So you’re thinking about leaving?"

This time Ethan truly turned to her.

"You knew?"

Laira raised an eyebrow, her orange-red eyes looking at him as though the question were remarkably stupid.

"I know you. Every time there’s too much going on in your head, you go find a place with nobody around and sit there staring into the distance like an old man."

"I’m only twenty."

"Your expression says sixty."

Ethan laughed.

Laira also let the corner of her mouth curve. She leaned down a little more, her chin nearly touching the top of his head.

"If you want to go, go. I’ll follow."

Ethan looked at her.

"That’s it?"

"What do you want me to do?" Laira frowned slightly. "Grab your legs, cry, and beg you not to leave?"

Ethan imagined a Red Dragon nearly two meters twenty sitting on the ground clutching his legs.

"No need."

"Good." Laira tightened the arm around his back. "Wherever you go, I go. This was never something that needed thinking over."

Ethan didn’t answer right away.

Vesna’s words echoed in his head again.

Don’t make them wait too long.

He looked at Laira’s hand resting beside him, then reached over with his right and took it.

Laira tilted her head slightly.

"Laira."

"Hm?"

"There’s something I’ve never told you."

The smile on Laira’s face slowly faded.

Not from worry.

She had simply noticed that Ethan’s tone had changed.

He didn’t look away from her eyes.

"At the start, I chose your Blind Box because the Eye of Truth told me it was special. Back then I only thought I was lucky to find a Partner strong enough to help me walk the Awakened path."

Laira said nothing.

Ethan continued. "Then you appeared, kissed me in the middle of the great hall, and said you’d take care of me."

The corner of Laira’s mouth curved faintly.

"I remember."

"So do I."

Ethan squeezed her hand a little tighter.

"After that, too much happened. The Abyss, the Void, the Anomaly Coordinate, the people hunting me. You were beside me through almost every one of the worst moments."

He looked straight into her orange-red eyes.

"At some point, I stopped thinking of you as just a Partner."

Laira went slightly still.

The hand resting inside Ethan’s also stopped moving.

"I think of you as Laira." Ethan spoke very slowly but without a trace of hesitation. "The woman I want by my side. The person I want to see when I wake up. If one day I truly have a place to call home, I want you there."

Laira’s eyes widened.

Ethan looked at the reaction, then finally said the words he had held back for far too long.

"I love you."

The wind still blew.

Below, the children’s voices still carried.

But Laira didn’t move.

Ethan rarely saw her like this.

A Red Dragon who could face an entire crowd of Gold-ranks without flinching was now sitting perfectly still, as though she didn’t understand what she had just heard.

The corners of her eyes reddened slightly.

Ethan saw it.

"Are you going to cry?"

Laira frowned immediately.

"No."

Her voice was a touch hoarse.

Ethan laughed.

"Clearly you..."

He didn’t get to finish.

Laira had already lunged.

With the sheer difference in their builds, Ethan had virtually no chance of keeping his balance. She pushed him down onto the grass, and the instant his back hit the ground, Laira had already braced both hands on either side of his head.

Her long red hair cascaded down, blocking out nearly all the afternoon light around them.

Her towering body nearly covered Ethan entirely beneath her.

Laira leaned down, her orange-red eyes fixed on him.

"Say it again."

Ethan looked at the face right before his eyes.

"I love you."

Laira kissed him.

Nothing like the playful kisses from before.

She came down hard, her hand immediately sliding behind Ethan’s neck to pull him closer. Ethan wrapped his arm around her waist in return, holding the soft body pressing down against him.

The kiss lasted until both their breaths fell out of rhythm.

Laira pulled back first.

But only far enough to speak.

"I’ve been waiting for that for a very long time."

Ethan brushed the tangled hair from her cheek.

"I know."

Laira immediately narrowed her eyes.

"You knew and still made me wait?"

"My fault."

"Then you owe me."

Ethan let the corner of his mouth curve.

"Compensation again?"

Laira leaned in until her lips were barely a breath from his.

"This time, a lot more."