Chapter 34: Real first kiss
Staring at Laura, who currently had her eyes clenched tight and was spilling her heart without any reservations, I felt... unworthy.
I had only relied on her from the very beginning till now, and I wasn’t foolish enough to believe I could somehow catch up and surpass her in a thousand years, but I had at least hoped I could be less... burdensome.
Ridding my head of the useless thoughts, I hesitated slightly before placing my hands on her shoulders and stared directly into her watery eyes.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke softly, "I don’t deserve you."
Laura shook her head vehemently, the tears welling at the corner of her eyes spraying around as a result.
I placed one of my fingers on her soft lips to stop her from speaking. Lightly shaking my head, I continued, "I’ve been a burden to you all this while. I’ve made you break so many rules, heck, we’re in this situation because of my weakness. And although I’ve never said this, I want to say thank you. Thank you for literally being there for me from the beginning, for making sure there was never a dull moment, and... for loving someone like me."
Laura finally burst into tears, and I held her in my arms the same way she did for me when I had my panic attack. Except this time, we were both crying like babies.
After a long while of sobbing and reassurances, we finally let go of each other with puffed-up eyes and tear-streaked faces as we stared at each other with a gaze that held unspoken love.
Something far more special than lust, far more authentic than longing, higher than a crush—it was an undaunting love for each other that didn’t need to be spoken in words.
Yet I—for the first time in my life—chose to say the words I never thought I would in my past or present life. I was sure these were the words that always settled in the back of my mind whenever I saw Miriam or Laura, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them due to the fact that I’d basically be cheating with another girl, and I wasn’t a fan of harems.
But I had no choice. I knew I had to tell Laura, who was looking at me with hidden expectance, about my feelings—even if we couldn’t explore them, I owed her this much.
"Laura," I spoke.
"Yes?" Laura feigned confusion, but the tightened grip on my hands told me otherwise.
"I’m not really good at doing this. I’m not as fluent as you are and can’t express my emotions as fluidly as you. But..."
Laura nodded her head at every word in anticipation, her excitement becoming more apparent on her face.
I took a deep breath and said, in a voice barely above a whisper, "I care about—you. I love you, Laura."
Staring deep into her eyes with a confident expression, my heart beating wildly, I confessed a little louder, "I love you, Laura."
And that was all it took.
All the already loosened emotional chains that had bound my heart completely disappeared, and I felt like a new person.
Before I could enjoy that feeling, a far more pleasant and familiar sensation graced my lips.
My hands instinctively wrapped themselves around Laura’s lithe waist as she crossed her arms around my neck, our breaths intermingling.
My lips moved of their own volition and captured the red lips so close to mine.
They were soft.
Unbearably soft.
I couldn’t get enough of her lips as our kiss deepened and our tongues intertwined, engaging in a tango of love.
Moving my hands upwards to her back, I attempted to loosen the string that held her blue dress together before Laura held my hand lightly.
"W–what happened?". I asked breathlessly.
"Someone’s coming". She spoke, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Are you–"
Knock Knock
It turned out she was correct as I was interrupted by the heavy knocking on the door.
Hearing the knock on the door, we finally let each other go and straightened our crooked clothes with heavy blushes on our faces before I turned to open the door.
"Wait," Laura whispered.
I turned in confusion. "What is it?"
Laura merely extended her thumb and cleaned the corner of my lips with a heavy blush on her face. She muttered softly as she averted her gaze, "There was something there..."
Nodding flusteredly, I walked close to the mahogany door and asked carefully, "Who’s there?"
A deep gruff voice replied, "It’s me, kid! Open up the door!"
My eyebrows raised in surprise as I heard Kurt’s voice, and I opened the door for the man.
Walking towards a table with a packaged black cloth in his hands and his hearty laugh, I noticed something different. "You braided your beard!"
"Bwahahaha, you noticed! I knew you were different from other youngsters!" he laughed happily.
Sitting down on a chair close to the window, Kurt stared outside for a while before turning back to me.
Tossing the black cloth to me, he spoke, "It’s enhanced with the cores you gave me before you left. The durability isn’t something you can find fault in, and I’m sure there are some other features, but I didn’t implant them, so I won’t know."
I nodded, my eyes glistening with excitement, and spoke telepathically to Laura, How about we go hunting before you leave?
Thanking Kurt sincerely, I sat on the edge of the bed as Laura answered, Going hunting for your first date? I knew you were some kind of barbarian, tsk.
My eyebrows twitched, but before I could respond, Kurt butted in. "Say, kid, hasn’t the academy reached out to you?"
I knew it! I screamed internally.
"Yes, actually, they sent me a letter asking me to enroll in their school on a scholarship."
Kurt’s eyes visibly brightened as he leaned forward slightly and asked, "And what do you want to do?"
I shrugged and answered, "I’m rejecting it."
Kurt banged the table in surprise. "What?!"
I gestured for him to calm down as I explained, "I have a tournament coming up months after the enrollment program, and there are numerous other things that won’t let me go at the moment."
Kurt calmed down visibly as he heard my reasons and sat on the chair with his body leaned forward in deep contemplation.
Staring at him for a while, I asked, "Were you the one that told them about me?"
Kurt’s body shook a little as he slowly raised his head to face me. "Yeah, kid, and I’m sorry. I should’ve asked ya first."
I sighed and sat in front of him after placing the cloak on the bed. "I’m not angry. You’re basically my uncle at this point, so how can I be angry at family, eh?"
Kurt’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected gesture, and a wide smile formed on his face.
"Bwahahaha, uncle eh? I like the sound of that!"
I laughed alongside him for a while before I asked him, "You said your disciple was there, right?"
Kurt’s eyes dimmed slightly as he replied, "Yeah. Those bastards won’t let him leave, no matter how much he pleads with them for a break!" he explained angrily.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and I asked again, "Then why did you want to send me there?"
Kurt smiled wryly and explained, "The academy agreed that if I managed to bring in one more battle mage, then they’d release Adenca for a while, and you’d be placed under a more lax administration."
I could see the guilt in his eyes for basically selling me out, but I wasn’t vengeful enough to sever all ties with him or even be angry. If anything, I was glad that he cared about his disciple to this extent and, at the same time, wasn’t heartless enough to send me there without prior negotiations.
"I’m sure you’re pretty angry, and I don’t blame ya. I broke the trust you gave me for my selfish reasons, and I don’t give any excuses when I make mistakes," Kurt spoke solemnly.
With a chuckle, I extended my pinkie finger towards him.
He frowned in confusion as he saw my extended finger and asked, "What is this for?"
I replied with a smile, "It’s a solemn oath ritual that can’t be broken no matter what."
Kurt’s face became even more serious as he awkwardly extended his large pinkie finger without hesitation.
’I knew I was right in trusting him’ I reflected.
Hooking our pinkies together, I told Kurt we would both say, "Pinkie swear," together.
Although he was slightly confused at the lack of magic circles or anything like that, he still obliged, probably taking it as a much more advanced technique.
"On my count. 3, 2, 1."
"Pinkie swear."
"Pinkie swear."
A few minutes passed with Kurt’s eyes closed as he waited for blinding lights or strange energy to course through his body, but obviously nothing happened.
Opening his eyes slowly, he spoke, "That was it?"
I nodded in response.
"But nothing happened?" he asked confusedly.
I shrugged and answered, "It’s in your heart now, so you can’t betray me."
Kurt turned silent for a while before bursting into laughter. "Bwahahahahaha, kid, you’re as pure as they come!"
I didn’t know if that was a compliment or a jab at me, but I ignored it and picked up the package, unfurling the cloak inside it.
Scanning the lightly shimmering cloak, I put it on to make sure it was my size and to see how badass it looked.
"How do I look?" I asked Laura.
"Like the Grim Reaper’s lost kid" Laura replied.
"Is that a compliment?" I asked confusedly.
"Maybe, maybe not", she replied in her trademark tone.
"Tsk, go fall down some stairs" I replied.
"I can’t fall, and even if I did, I’m sure you’d be there to catch me~" she rebutted.
I chose to exercise my freedom of speech and remained silent.
"It fits you perfectly! Bwahaha, I’m still as amazing as ever!" With a hearty laugh, Kurt walked to the door. "Come by once in a while to see this uncle of yours, ya hear?!"
I nodded.
As he opened the door to leave, a thought crossed my mind, and I decided to try it out.
"Uncle Kurt!" I called out.
"What is it, kiddo?" he replied cheerfully as he turned to face me.
"Could you show me how to use the features of the cloak properly?" I asked.
"You want me to train you? What about your master?" he asked as he re-entered the room.
"Let’s just say they’re not going to be available for a while," I replied, averting my gaze.
Kurt fell into thought for a short while before answering, "Alright then, come with me. I know the best training ground in Brindlebrook!"
I nodded in response and asked Laura, Did you know the name of this town was Brindlebrook?
No, I assumed you already knew the name since you were the one who brought us here, Laura answered.
It wasn’t convenient for the plot, okay?! I retorted.
Bullshit, she responded.
It’s true! Ask the readers if you don’t believe me.
I’m not going to stoop to the level of asking those beautiful people.
Gritting my teeth, I decided to focus on the place we were heading to.
We walked for a while as I listened to Kurt’s blacksmith stories and boisterous laughter, which drowned out the harmonious chirping of the birds perched on the tall trees lining either side of the path.
This place is really beautiful, I observed.
I caught a glimpse of the nearby streams and the animals drinking from them, amidst a few children—each of different species—playing around.
"We’re here!" Kurt announced.
Examining our surroundings, I nodded in approval. The field wasn’t just a wide expanse of grassland—it was torn up from countless fights. The ground was uneven, full of deep potholes and cracks where powerful strikes had landed. Burn marks blackened large patches of earth, and some areas still looked like they’d been blasted apart by explosions. This place had clearly seen battle after battle, and it was exactly the kind of environment I needed to train in.
"So, which one do you want to check out first?" Kurt asked.
Thinking for a bit, I replied, "How about I use my scythe with the cloak equipped and see how compatible they are first?"
Kurt shrugged in response. "Alright, let’s see it."
Bringing out my new scythe that glowed in the sunlight, I saw Kurt’s eyes widen in surprise after he evaluated its rank with a glance.
"Is that a Blood Bound level scythe?" he asked carefully, his eyes shining—not with greed, but with curiosity and amazement.
"Yup. I got it from a good friend of mine after helping him out in a mission," I answered with a smile as I handed him the weapon to examine.
I took that opportunity to stretch my joints and talk to Laura as Kurt looked like he was in a world of his own.
Throwing the scythe back to me, Kurt spoke excitedly, "Oh, this is a specimen alright!. Now show me how well you can use this baby!"
Nodding, I took the tiger stance as the wind blew the ends of my cloak, making me look extremely badass.
"Let’s see how far I’ve come."
Gimme powerstones and I give you bonus Chapter (haven’t slept in a day 🥹)