I was experimenting with my new flame magic, as I willed the flames to take the shape of an arrow, then to a sword, and then to a spear, and myriad others.
"If you want to play with your magic, then go somewhere else; I am busy here." It seems Asfi's patience has reached its limit. I extinguished the flames and turned to look at her.
She was sitting on her usual chair on the desk lay a pair of sandals that she had been working on for some time now.
"I am sorry, I was just a little too excited about getting a magic that is something flashy." I apologized, walking over to her side.
"Apology accepted, though I already know you are like a child. So I expected that behaviour." She said as she inscribed a magic sequence on the sole of the sandal.
"It's about to be completed, huh?" I said as I analyzed the Sandals, it seems mostly completed, just needs some final touches.
"Yeah, once it is completed, I will be able to fly." Asfi's voice was full of hope and dreams. Seeing that I could not help myself. I took a seat beside her, put the other sandal in front of me.
"Let me help you out as well." She looked up at me, her eyes widening a little.
"Huh? Weren't you going to experiment with your magic anymore? You even specifically asked me to relieve you from our work for today."
Asfi's voice carried genuine confusion, which was understandable—as she said, I had indeed asked for the day off.
But that was only because I hadn't known she'd be working on the sandals today, and I'd been helping her craft them for some time now.
"Yeah, but this is your dream project, right?" I said, carefully inscribing a sequence on the sandal in my hands.
"That makes it more important than my experiments."
I was not able to see her expressions as the magic sequences required precise attention, each line and curve needing to be perfect for the flight magic to function properly.
"You don't have to—" she began."I want to," I interrupted gently.
"Besides, my flame magic will still be there tomorrow. But seeing you finally complete these? That's something I don't want to miss." I said, completing the sequence, finally looked up to meet her eyes.
But she looked away at that exact moment. Weird. I thought for a brief moment, then got back to work.
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There was silence between us for a few seconds.
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"Thank you." Asfi finally said. Out of the corner of my eyes, I was able to see her expressions this time. Her face was red.
Redder than I've ever seen. I could feel my heart thumping so hard I feared it would tear my chest open.
I quickly focused back on the sandals. "Don't worry about it," I said, trying to focus again. Finally, after taking a few breaths, I was able to calm down and continue my work.
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As it got darker outside, I packed up to leave.
"Then see you tomorrow, Asfi," I told her.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Arin." Asfi said, still looking down at the sandals. But what I find even weirder is that I made more progress than her which is something that should not be possible
"Do you want me to stay? Seems like the one you were working on needs a little work." I suggested that, as I can see, there are at least a few tweaks that need to be made.
"No!" Her voice was loud enough to startle me. And it seems she noticed it as well. As she quickly continued. "I mean, I can handle that much myself. So you can go back home. You must still be tired from the battle earlier."
I mean, yeah, I was tired, especially after playing around with my magic too much. "Okay, you are right. I am a little tired, so I will get going now. Sorry about not being there when you complete it." I wanted to be there, but my exhaustion was catching up to me now.
"Don't worry, we will test it tomorrow. So you will be the first one to see it in practice. Now go ahead and rest." I gave a nod and started walking to leave the traveler's inn.
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Getting back home, I found Raul and Anakitty in the dining hall. I walked up to them.
"Hi, Raul, Anakitty. It's been a while, huh? Also, congratulations on your level-up." Raul and Anakitty looked at me as I took a seat in front of them.
"Arin, yeah, we were resting since yesterday, so we were not able to meet you. Also, thanks and congratulations to you as well on your level up." Raul said as he gulped down his food.
"Thank you and many congratulations to you for leveling up Arin. And it seems a lot of things happened when we were on the expedition." Anakitty said.
"Yeah, and I think a lot of things will happen from now on as well. So you won't miss out on too many things." I told them since they are level 3 now. Finn will start including them in important missions from now on. And I want them to be prepared for it.
"Ugh… I don't know what to feel about that." Raul does not seem to like the fact that we have a lot of trouble incoming, and that is my thought as well.
"But still, you became a level 2 in under a week. And that makes you the fastest person ever to level up. It is an amazing thing." Anakitty stated.
"Yeah, that is for sure," Raul added.
"Thanks." I accepted their compliments. "But enough about me. Tell me about your own adventure, how it was, and the level up as well."
"Hmmm…. For the level up even we don't know, from what we estimated, it seemed that we would need to go on another expedition to level up, but our growth was a little faster this time. So level at least twice the usual speed." Raul explained, putting his chin on his palm. I'm certain it's because of my skill. Since I consider them both my friends.
"Maybe because this time we actively took part in the battle. Why?" Anakitty told her own guess.
"Maybe, but it still seems weird. But we level up, and that is all that matters." Raul seems to doubt Anakitty's observation, but still folded.
"As for the expedition itself. Then we did not go that deep, just going until the 41st floor and back on the surface again. This time Finn-san wanted the new adventurers to gain some fighting experience, which took longer than expected." Anakitty's explained.
After that, we just had a little chat. As I was already tired, and I am pretty sure they were as well.
"I see. Anyway, you guys must still be tired from the expedition. Let's call it a day and rest up for now."
"Yeah, that would be better. Then see you later, Arin." Raul said as he got up from his seat.
"See you soon, Arin. Good night." Anakitty hot up as well to leave.
"Yup, Good night and see you soon." I also got up as I was getting sleepy at this point.
Reaching my room, I jumped on the bed and fell asleep.