女神归来的夏天

~~~(Location: Criminal Hideout in Gradule, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 8:15 AM)~~~

Helda walks calmly towards the door leading downstairs and leaves the room. The only ones left in the room are Terox, Sally, and myself. Terox looks towards us, and I can see her nervous look. "Look, I\'m indeed Slayer Zern, but please treat me as a normal person. I don\'t like the whole elevated existence. It gets in the way." She grins and nods her head, relaxing her posture.

We\'ll want to get out of Gradule as soon as possible, and now we\'ve added a new member to our group. Terox is an important person to know and have help. "It\'ll be an honor to help you in your quest, Slayer Zern. Helda has already informed me of everything before the whole show just now." That saves me time, but there is one thing I want to clear up.

She can\'t be calling me Slayer Zern. That\'ll cause problems, far more than any of us are prepared for. "You\'ll have to stop calling me Slayer Zern, though. My real name is Cera Adamo, and that\'s what you\'re going to call me." Terox is an intelligent person and understands why I do this. She nods her head with slight enthusiasm.

Sally turns back to me and tilts her head towards the door. We do need to get a move on. "We\'re leaving right now, so get whatever you need, and let\'s get out of here." Her eyes dart towards a specific chest, and she\'s quick to start rummaging through it. Sally and I take this time to leave her to her business and head back downstairs.

My immediate concerns are with Helda and Terox, they\'ve got some bitter resentment between the two of them, but Terox agreed to help regardless of the newly formed issues. Speaking of Helda, she\'s at the bar counter and talking with Melimora. I don\'t like interrupting conversations, but this is necessary. Melimora sees me coming up behind Helda and points me out.

Helda turns and looks up at me, and while my features are covered and so are hers. I can tell she\'s very displeased with me in particular. "I\'d like to make sure Terox, and you won\'t have any problems. Now that we have a way into the capital, the most critical part of our quest here is almost here." She folds her arms and leans against the counter.

Melimora and Sally decide to leave us. There are no objections from me, and Helda doesn\'t care either. "Don\'t worry. I\'ll keep my new issues with Terox in check, make sure she does the same. I\'m not going to be the only one keeping my issues buried." Naturally, but who knows what might happen. I don\'t know much about Helda and Terox\'s relationship.

This event about Manni and his sickness could lead to a catastrophic meltdown of our group. We have enough people to do what we need to do. Leila and Freskra, not to mention Ashburn. Now that Terox has joined, that makes four new people to the group. We can divide tasks even more, when we reach the capital. Getting more done.

It doesn\'t take much longer for Terox to finish getting the things she wants to bring with her, and she meets us by the bar. Helda and Terox share a gaze, and there is a lot of tension. "Let\'s get this over with." Helda stands up with charged movements and heads towards the front door of the hideout. Terox looks at me and shrugs her shoulders.

Melimora and Terox follow Helda out, and I go around the massive room and grab the rest of my friends. Sally and Jasmine walk in front of Hailey and me. Once outside, the carriage parked in the alley across from us is being brought out by Helda. It\'ll be cramped in that carriage now. "Mind riding on the top with me?" I step up next to Sally as I ask my question.

She smiles and nods her head with anticipation at the prospect of riding on the top of the carriage. As the carriage is brought out of the alley, I grab Sally and leap on top of the carriage. She takes a seat, and I join her. Helda knows where we\'re going, and I don\'t have to be in that tense, tightly compacted space with people who are mad at one another.

~~~(POV: Saliandra Orvello)~~~

~~~(Location: Road to The Capital, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 9:25 AM)~~~

Cera and I are looking at the passing clouds as the carriage slowly moves along the road... The only beautiful parts of the Elven Kingdom are the places that are influenced by the royal family or the nobility. "What do you think the capital looks like?" Asking Cera this isn\'t ideal since he wouldn\'t know himself... It\'s a strange feeling... Heading where my family and the royal family are...

Getting revenge on my family is one of the goals we\'re going to the capital for, and I\'m forever grateful to Cera for doing this... Without him, none of this in my life would\'ve occurred. "That nervous, huh... Don\'t worry... We\'ll succeed. I\'ll make sure of it." My hand squeezes his harder, and a warm feeling spreads through me...

I tilt my head, and I look at him. His elven features are bare to the world. No longer hidden with his hood. The white hair and the wonderful light shade of his skin halt my breathing. His sharp blue eyes and pointy ears heat my body up. "You\'re always so sure... Has there ever been a moment in your life when you weren\'t?" He closes his eyes as I say that.

His chest is rising and falling with easy breaths, and I don\'t know if he\'ll answer or not. "There was a point where I didn\'t know anything... That I lost everything that was valuable to me... I decided to change all that, and that\'s why I\'m here now..." I don\'t see Cera as someone who goes through something like that, but from his nightmares, I can guess...

When he talks in his sleep, I\'ve learned a lot about him... Mainly some of the worst moments of his life... The one he dreams about more than the others is when his mother was killed... The one from the place he comes from... Earth... "You want to talk about it?" He\'s told me about Earth and the difference between Players and us...

I know there are some things he\'s keeping from me... He\'s afraid of whatever truth he\'s holding to get out. "When we\'re done with the elven royal family and your family... I\'ll tell you everything..." My heart flutters... I didn\'t think he\'d agree to tell me anything, but he\'s going to... "Until then, let\'s focus on the current problem..." That tells me he sees the truth he\'s hiding as a problem...

~~~(POV: Helda Vora)~~~

~~~(Location: Road to The Capital, Elven Kingdom)~~~

~~~(Time: 9:50 AM)~~~

Terox and I haven\'t stopped looking at one another since we got moving... Not speaking a word to one another... "Would you two knock it off! You\'re making it so awkward in here!! I feel like walking outside next to the carriage!!" We\'re both stunned at the sudden angry outburst from Hailey... We break out of the deadlock and look towards Hailey.

She folds her arms and looks at us angrily. "Look, you two are mad at each other, but handling it like this is so stupid. When Cera and I get into a fight, we talk and get over it. Sometimes it\'s more complicated than that, but in the end, we always get over it." She doesn\'t get it. We\'re not her and Cera. We\'ll never be them, and Terox would agree.

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A/N: Below this line, I\'ll be keeping Cera\'s player information. That way, I won\'t have to place it into the story above anymore. It takes about 180 words up.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.196]

[Exp: 40/100%]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden)]

[Stats] [Strength - 7095][Endurance - 7045][Dexterity - 7215][Speed - 8240][Focus - 19,660]

[Mana aura control: 6/100%]

[Health: 76,560,000,000/76,560,000,000] [Mana: 216,600,000,000/216,600,000,000]

[Stat Points: 50] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory] [Dice of Wayland (Divine)] [Hardened Tree sap Armor (Very Rare)] [The Witness (Legendary Sword)] [Fenrir\'s Whistle (Divine)] [Sally\'s Dresses 5x] [Camping gear] [Food Rations 3x] [Dried meat 4x] [Fishing poles 2x] [Fish 8x] [Festival Garbs 2x]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.59 325/5900] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.59 225/5900] [Slash Lvl..77 4600/130000] [Parry Lvl.53 80/5300] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controled Fun]