Chapter 618: Who’s the Girlfriend? |
Selmarines were attacking the group. They were moving through a stretch of forest. Three days had passed since they left the Citadel. Eleanor fired arrows at the distant selmarines spitting jets of water. Charlie dealt with the larger ones trying to close in. Jack supported them with a few spells. Luke fought with his kukri, and once it was over, they collected two Marine Artifacts and looked around.
“We’ve got less than half an hour to find high ground, or the wave will take all of us,” Eleanor said, and they started moving again.
“And me? What exactly is my role here?” Layla asked.
“Keep protecting Katarina,” Luke said.
“You have a damn greenhouse dimension. Just put her in there,” Layla shot back.
“Katarina gets lonely.”
As they walked, Luke kept an eye on the notification floating beside Charlie.
[Charlotte Vespertilio has reached Level 80! Vampire (Rank E)] (+2 to all stats, +7 free points.)
[Charlotte Vespertilio has unlocked a new Race Skill]
“Are we even close yet? We’ve been walking for days,” Jack said.
Eleanor led from the front. “There are three days left before Phase 2 ends. If we miss the Beacon, that’s the end of the event for us. And there’s no guarantee the Beacons will still allow ten people. It could be fewer. Who knows what extra penalties show up.”
“In that case... we should split up... balancing useful people... with useless ones,” Anne said as they walked.
They had to think about that possibility too. There were seven of them. If they had to split into teams, they needed to be ready.
“Since there are seven of us, one group would have fewer people,” Evangeline said.
“One healer per team would be best,” Jack said. “In that case, I’ll go with the smaller group.”
“No... you’re... weak...” the doll maid said.
“Wow. You really didn’t have to say it like that.”
“I’m... a better... healer,” she replied.
“One healer per team is a good idea. But we don’t even know if we’ll have to split,” Luke said. “Still, I get it. We need to prepare for different scenarios. Even something like a maximum of two people per Beacon. In that case, one of us would have to clear one alone.”
They kept walking.
“Feeling better, Luke?” Jack asked.
“Better?”
“You said your bones were aching, and you wouldn’t let me heal you.”
“That’s because the way I hurt my bones was incredible.”
Jack did not get it. Charlie nearly stumbled and glanced back, embarrassed.
“How many people do you think are in this region? A million? Less? More?” Evangeline asked.
“There’s no way to calculate the population by region. We don’t even know the planet’s actual size, and you’re terrible at math,” Eleanor said.
They had half an hour before the tide came in.
When they reached a huge pile of rocks, they started climbing. Creatures crawled out from the cracks between the stones, and they killed them as they went. The tide rose when the sun went down. Then the giant wave came.
When the waters finally calmed, they pulled their rafts out of storage item. Each raft had a rope and a small anchor attached. Luke’s shark bit down on the lines and started swimming, towing the rafts behind it.
“Take off the heavy gear. We’ll move faster that way.”
At night, Luke’s Spectral Beast handled the work. At first, he had considered hiding his hand from Anne because of Erza, but there was no real point. If she was going to spend the next few months traveling with him, sooner or later she would see what he could do. Still, there were some things he intended to keep to himself, especially anything involving his left eye.
Charlie was in the boat beside his, and she opened her interface to show Luke the two skill options.
[Vampiric Satiety I (Ancient)]: The Vampire is a starving beast, but now its fullness is rewarded. Whenever the Blood Core is completely filled, a passive Vampiric Satiety bonus activates, reducing the consumption rate of Vampiric Hunger by 20%. However, this bonus can only activate again after the Blood Core naturally falls to 50% or less of its capacity before being filled once more.
[Vampiric Aura II (Ancient)]: In addition to the effects of [Vampiric Aura I], when released, the aura unleashes a brief psychic shock of fear, heightens the vampire’s senses, and grants a subtle increase in speed and reflexes. Within the aura’s range, the vampire becomes sharply aware of disturbances and living presences it touches.
Both options were indirectly tied to hunting.
Charlie spends 10 Blood Energy a day because of Vampiric Hunger. With Vampiric Satiety, that would drop to 8.
Instead of her Blood Core keeping her alive for ten days, it would now last twelve. And the Vampiric Aura upgrade improves her combat performance. Luke noticed something else.
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It’s Vampiric Aura II. Which means named-skill upgrades like this really can appear. I get it now. It’s like a specific gain, but more focused on a particular skill branch.
That meant passing up [Vampiric Satiety I] might completely cut off the entire path connected to that branch of the vampire skill tree.
There’s no way I should let that go. But I also don’t want to influence her choices too much.
Luke gave a small shrug. Charlie shook her head and pointed firmly at the screen, as if to say, 'No. I want you to choose'. He shook his head too. She pointed again.
Luke pointed back at her. Charlie shook her head, pointed at herself, then at the ring on her left ring finger.
The engagement ring... the one I accidentally asked for. I think she’s saying this isn’t a master-and-servant decision anymore. It’s a husband-and-wife one.
Luke pointed to the first option. Charlie gave him a thumbs-up, smiled, and made her choice.
[Charlotte Vespertilio acquired the Race Skill: Vampiric Satiety I]
“What’s with you two pointing at each other like that?” Evangeline asked.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Luke said.
“By the way, your talking necklace has been very quiet lately,” the ninja woman said.
“I’m upset,” Artemis said irritably. “I got banned from seeing something incredible again. It’s like some masterpiece hidden behind a paywall. And I would have paid.”
They kept sailing through the nighttime ocean. The water was calm.
“By the way, Jack, you’re really fine traveling with us instead of with the people from your church?” Eleanor asked.
“My role is missionary,” he said, brightening immediately. “I’m supposed to spread the word of the Goddess of Kindness wherever I go.”
“All I want to know is how I’m supposed to get my damn money back from the bank,” Evangeline said. “I was poor my whole life. I’m not about to go back to that now. I’m going to be around for a long time.”
“I found gold on some islands,” Luke said, showing them.
“Gold on islands?” Even Eleanor looked surprised.
“Yeah. I came across a few and found chests.”
“You lucky bastard. So there really are islands out there with gold?” the ninja woman said. “Maybe we should be rowing toward those instead of toward a Beacon. Actually, why are we risking our lives for a Beacon at all?”
“I-I want to find my father. I need the Beacon’s locator power,” Layla said.
“To kill... and... level up,” the doll maid said.
“The Beacons give items, like we already saw, Evangeline,” Eleanor said when everyone looked at her for her reason. “It’s a good way for you to make money after the event ends. By selling them.”
As the early hours of the morning wore on, they talked about the things they had seen over the past few months.
“A ghost pirate ship?” Eleanor asked. “I didn’t know about that.”
“I saw one twice,” Luke replied.
“And he accidentally fell into the Abyssal Zone and almost got both of us killed,” Artemis added.
“Tell them about Zoe,” Eleanor said.
“Zoe?” Jack asked.
Artemis immediately launched into the story with obvious enthusiasm. Charlie looked at Luke with narrowed eyes, though she remained calm.
“It was cold, that’s all. That’s why she and I were huddled together,” he said, but the explanation still earned him a deadly look from Charlie.
She is terrifying sometimes.
“And you really didn’t do anything?” Evangeline asked.
“You’re supposed to be the practical one here, Anne. Wasn’t what I did just survival?” he asked.
“I do not... feel cold...” Anne said. “But... a man should only hold close... the woman he loves.”
I handed you the chance to help me, not throw me into the fire.
“I didn’t do anything with Zoe. I’m a loyal guy,” he said.
“Loyal?” Jack asked, confused.
“Yes. I have a girlfriend,” Luke said.
Silence followed, broken only by the sound of the sea.
“Wait, you’re serious?” Evangeline asked. “I thought that was a joke.”
“Yes. I’m serious.”
“Eleanor, why didn’t you tell me?” Evangeline asked.
“What?!” Eleanor shot upright in the raft so fast she nearly tipped into the water. “N-no, I didn’t, I didn’t know. A-and it’s not me, right?”
She looked genuinely confused.
Eleanor turned to Luke. “Is that true?”
“Yes. I tried to tell you, but we got pulled into other topics,” Luke said. He had taken the opportunity to get every piece of information he could from her about the heroes.
“Is it Layla?” Eleanor asked.
“What?!” Layla blurted. “Me? Dating this jerk?” She burst out laughing. “Not even if the world ended in an apocalypse.”
“Isn’t that basically what’s happening right now?” Evangeline asked.
“B-but I’m not dating this guy. Ever. I’m not the girlfriend, okay? Not me.” Layla sounded flustered now. “Professor, why would you even think it was me?”
“Well... you did talk about him a lot after you got back from the trip to Sirius,” Eleanor said.
“I talked bad about him. There’s a difference.”
Eleanor turned to Anne. “No way... is it the doll girl?”
“No...” Anne said. “It’s... my friend.”
Everyone’s eyes shifted to Charlie. Her face turned bright red.
“Yes. I am Master Luke’s... wif— girlfriend...”
“You’re dating your familiar?” Jack asked.
“That is not what this looks like,” Luke said.
"It is absolutely what they think it looks like, Luke." Artemis said.
What exactly do they think it looks like?
"No idea. You’re the one who said it." She replied.
“Wait,” Evangeline said. “Jerry isn’t here with me in the event, even though he’s my familiar, and neither is that pet snake of yours. Which means Charlie...”
“Isn’t a familiar,” Eleanor finished.
“Charlie... is... a monster person... like me,” Anne said. “We don’t like... people... digging into... those things.”
“Fair enough,” Evangeline said.
Luke thanked Anne silently. She had saved him on purpose, and he knew it. The conversation that followed drifted into memories of the day the event began.
“I get it now,” Evangeline said. “That’s why Charlie showed up there. You were going to introduce her to your family that day. But honestly, Luke, that was kind of stupid. You could’ve introduced her way earlier.”
For some reason, Eleanor had gone quiet. Then, after a while, she finally spoke.
“Congratulations, Luke and Charlie,” she said.
Her voice did not sound entirely natural.
“Thank you,” Charlie said.
“Hey, Luke, I’m really happy for you,” Jack said. “You finally found someone. Back when I met you in the tutorial, you were completely lost, getting tangled up with all kinds of wo—”
Jack was cut off by a violent jolt in the boat, caused by the Spectral Beast.
“I think we hit something,” Luke said, getting to his feet. “I’m going to check.”
He jumped into the water.
Is Jack insane? Does he want me dead at the hands of scary-Charlie?
"There may be more than one person in that boat who wants to kill you right now."
What do you mean by that?
“Nothing,” Artemis said.