Hey sorry for the late upload work has been insane. Hope yall enjoy
Chapter 74: Departure and meeting
A week passed.
On the surface, little changed. Varion still trained with the kids in the mornings. He still fought and played with them like normal. To anyone watching casually, he seemed the same.
But the difference was there if you looked closely.
He laughed a little less. His smiles were a fraction smaller. There was a faint tension in his shoulders that never fully left. But there was a quiet distance in the way he carried himself around them now.
Chloe noticed and didn't like it one bit.
She started sticking to him even closer than before. When they sat together she leaned against him more deliberately. During breaks she would tug lightly on his sleeve and ask if she had done something correctly, watching his face carefully waiting for him to praise her. She would try anything she could to get him to get his attention.
But It only made the feeling in his chest worse.
Later that afternoon, Varion found Rimuri alone near the edge of the training grounds.
He was quiet for a moment before speaking.
"I've decided to head out for a while," he said. "I want to explore a bit… and get a proper handle on the changes the Hero's Egg made. I haven't really had the time to test them the way I should."
Rimuri looked at him for a long second. She understood the part he wasn't saying. The conversation from the other night still weighed on him, and being around the kids every day made it worse for him.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him without a word.
Varion let out a slow breath and returned the hug, resting his chin lightly against her hair.
"I know," she murmured. "Just… don't stay away too long."
"I won't, promise."
The next morning, he told the kids he was leaving.
Most of them handled it better than expected. Kenya tried to act tough about it, though his usual energy was a little muted. Gale gave a nod and told him to be careful. Alice and Ryota waved and made him promise to bring back souvenirs.
Chloe did not handle it well.
The moment it became clear he was actually leaving, she latched onto his leg with both arms, face pressed against him. Tears rolled down her cheeks in a steady stream as she sniffled, shoulders trembling.
"You can't go," she mumbled against his leg. "Something bad might happen… Please don't go. I-I don't want you to leave ni-."
Varion's expression softened. He rested a hand on her head while Rimuri crouched beside her, gently rubbing her back.
"Hey," Varion said quietly. "I'll come see you again soon. I promise, I'll be back before you know it. Nothing bad is going to happen and if something does then im strong enough to protect you all." he said smiling at her trying to cheer her up
It took a little longer, but the promise eventually eased her grip. She still looked miserable, eyes red and watery, but she let go and stepped back with the others.
Varion turned to Rimuri.
He pulled her into a tight hug, holding her for a few seconds longer than usual before leaning down to kiss her. When he drew back and turned to walk away, she caught his wrist.
"Wait."
She pulled out a sword from her storage and pressed it into his hands.
Varion raised an eyebrow and drew it partway from the scabbard.
The blade was a bastard sword in length, longer than a standard longsword but still manageable in one hand if needed. The metal was a deep, shiny black, marked by three distinct veins of energy running through it: one bluish-white, one bluish-purple, and one intense gold. The three colors met at the base of the blade in a single jewel, where they swirled together in a slow, constant motion.
"I noticed how you felt when you used a sword the other day," Rimuri said, looking down as a faint flush crept into her cheeks. "So Great Sage and I made this. We used some of my energy, some of Veldora's, and a bit of your stardust." She blushed then continued "B-but you don't have to use it if you don't want to. I just thought—"
Varion cut her off by tilting her chin up and kissing her again, slower this time.
When he pulled back, he rested his head against hers and gave her a small, genuine smile.
"I love it," he said. "I'll put it to good use."
Rimuri's face became warmer. She managed a small nod as she looked down, clearly trying not to smile too hard.
Varion slid the sword home into its sheath, secured it at his side, and turned. A clean silver portal opened in front of him. He stepped through without looking back.
The portal closed behind him, leaving only the quiet morning air.
-A week later-
Varion had set his exit location closer to the harsher regions near the Badlands and began working his way toward the empire of Lubelius. The settlements along the border were rougher with plenty of jobs to take and the monsters stronger than what most people in the central nations ever saw. This suited his goals nicely as he wanted to train a bit anyway.
Days blurred together in an almost familiar way. He took requests, cleared out a bandit or a monster that was causing issues then went and collected payment, moved on, rinse and repeat. The only new aspect to this was his sword, after using it for a few days the last bit of unfamiliarity, he faded away. The balance, the weight, the way it responded when he fed even a little bit of his energy into it made it settle into something natural like it had always been there.
He just finished up a job and was now heading back to the town to collect his reward. It was a simple extermination mission for a group of monsters that had been hitting the farms and trade routes in the area. He tracked them, dealt with them, and made sure nothing was left that would come crawling back.
When he returned to town, the local official paid him without complaint and offered the usual thanks. Varion collected his payment, thanked them and left at a casual pace.
The sun was starting to dip. He was starting to get hungry out of habit by this point. He walked down a side street intending to find a nice and quiet place to eat, when a soft sound caught his attention.
A muffled scream.
It was faint, so faint in fact that he was sure no one around him heard. His extremely sharp sense picked it up clearly even through all the noise of the small town.
Varion walked to the alley up ahead and looked in, deeper down he saw four rough-looking men were dragging a girl farther in and around a corner. One had a hand clamped over her mouth. The others had hold of her arms and waist as they roughly handled her, their intentions written plainly across their faces.
Varion's eyes narrowed.
He instantly decided that these guys weren't walking out of here alive and walked toward them at a quick pace.
-Alt pov-
Luminous was already bored.
'Stupid Chloe,' she thought irritatedly, while she allowed the thugs to drag her a little deeper into the alley. 'Why was she so insistent on me doing something this boring, at this exact time? I should just kill these insects and be done with it. I could be back home relaxing in the hot spring drinking a fine vintage of blood.'
She was exactly one moment away from dropping this act entirely and doing just that. When a new presence entered the alley.
Luminous's thoughts ground to an abrupt halt.
The man who stepped into view was tall, had crimson hair, that was not too dissimilar to Guy's but carried a slightly different hue, that for some reason caught her eye more than normal. His eyes were deep emerald eyes that were slightly slitted and had a look of distaste while looking at the men around her. His features were sharp and defined in a way that immediately caught her attention, she had always liked beautiful things, and he was certainly very much that. But it wasn't just his appearance that caught her attention.
It was also his presence, it was… strange.
It felt close to things she had sensed before in the true dragon, yet completely different at the same time, younger maybe more pure. His passive aure was domineering but in a strange way that was also… protective? Alongside it she sensed thay he had a Demon Lord seed and a Hero's Egg existing in the same being. The contradiction alone was enough to make her focus sharpen.
'So this is the one she kept going on about…'
Chloe's endless talking about him suddenly made a lot more sense now.
Luminous felt a flicker of genuine interest cut through her previous irritation. 'Fine I should at least look into this man, if only because Chloe wouldn't shut up about him' She told herself. 'Yes, it's only because Chloe insisted he would be interesting. That was all. Nothing else, hmph'
When the man started walking toward her and the thugs with narrowed eyes, she made a decision without really thinking about it.
She let her body go appropriately limp in the men's grip, eyes widening just enough, and fully going into the role she had prepared.
-Normal pov-
Varion didn't waste time.
The first man barely had time to turn before a sharp strike to the side of his neck dropped him with a sharp crack. The second reached for a knife and caught a boot to the front of his knee hard enough to bend it inward, sending him to the ground with a disturbing breaking sound and a sharp scream that was silenced by Varion not even a second later.
The remaining two tried to back up and use the girl as a shield. Varion just opened 2 portals and thrust his hands through gripping the back of their necks and breaking them. Then he dropped all the bodies through portals into the bad lands.
It only took maybe 10 seconds.
The four men were gone and never going to do this type of thing again.
Varion turned toward the girl.
[Image]
She was still pressed against the wall, breathing rapidly. Her silver hair was a mess, the light blue dress she wore was a little disheveled and messy from being grabbed, and her heterochromatic eyes were wide as she looked up at him. Even in the dim light of the alley, she was breathtakingly beautiful. She was as beautiful as Rimuri and Prinz if he were honest with himself. Just looking at her made his heart beat slightly faster.
'Wow she's gorgeous. Oh crap she's still on the ground. Snap out of it Varion you still need to help her up'
Varion quickly controlled himself, knowing he needed to check on her. "Are you hurt?" Varion asked, keeping his voice softer as he offered a hand.
She stared at him in awe for a second longer than necessary, then reached out and gently took it. Her fingers were cool against his.
"I… I think I'm alright," she said, voice soft and a little shaky. She let him pull her to her feet. Then she almost immediately stumbled falling into his chest. She looked up at his face and a bright blush grew on her cheeks as her hands pressed against his chest. She pushed herself back a little to stand on her own, but she was still closer than strictly necessary.
She reached out and took one of his hands and clasped it in-between her own looking up at him and pressed it to her chest right above her heart. "You saved me. Those men… I don't know what they would have done if you hadn't come, thank you so much."
As she looked up at him through her lashes, the blush on her cheek made her look even more beautiful as he looked down at her. which also just so happened to give him a nice view into her very ample cleavage, making him stare for a few seconds before catching himself and avert his gaze.
'Humph. As expected… even someone like him isn't immune to my looks,' she started trying to subtly scan him with [Lust].
"I really mean it," she continued, voice soft. "If you hadn't shown up when you did…" She trailed off and actually lost her train of thought, as the blush on her face spread further across her cheeks.
This was due to her properly taking him in with how close they were and the strong feeling she was receiving from [Lust]. The longer she stayed close to him, the warmer her face became. As more of her genuine emotions bled through.
'Mmm… his soul feels really nice. Wait, no, no, no! Snap out of it, Luminous, you just met him!' she thought, panicking internally.
"I have to thank you properly," she said, a little more quickly now. "Would you… like to get lunch with me? It's the least I can do."
Then she blinked, as if suddenly realizing something, and let out a small, awkward laugh.
"Oh—wait. I haven't even introduced myself yet." She gave a slightly embarrassed smile and touched a hand lightly to her chest. "My name is Lumni Valen."