Pov Kira:
After talking until nightfall about the information we got about the mansion, Diana and I got ready with some clothes we bought today to meet her friend Mari at a restaurant.
“Are you sure you want to tell her about me?” (I)
“I already said she won’t care about you.” (Diana)
“We don’t even need to tell her who you are, we can just say you’re a Gray Elf, she doesn’t need to know you’re the Storm Killer.” (Diana)
“We can do this.” (I)
“What if she asks who else is in our group?” (I)
“I wanted to tell her and Carlos about the master, but I wanted to wait until we moved to town.” (Diana)
“Then just say you’ll introduce the other group members when we move in, if she asks about them be vague.” (I)
“Alright, thanks for agreeing to meet her.” (Diana)
“If you trust her that much, then I’ll try to trust her too.” (I)
The two of us enter the restaurant, go sit at the farthest and most discreet table, order some appetizers and a few pitchers of beer while we wait for Diana’s friend to arrive.
After about ten minutes she arrived, she was wearing her Guild of Adventurers uniform and she looked tired, even in that state she was one of the most beautiful White Elves I’ve ever seen, she looks around and Diana waves to her when she sees Diana and me she comes towards us and sits across from me and next to Diana.
“It arrived fast, I thought it would be late.” (Diana)
“I finished all my work this afternoon, I was helping Carlos organize the documents I needed to sign.” (Mari)
“You look tired.” (Diana)
“Since before the special mission I and other Guild employees have been working at a fast pace, but almost everything is over now, so I came to try to drown my tiredness in the drink along with a friend.” (Mari)
“I brought someone for you to meet, this is my new friend and member of the group I’m in now, her name is Kira.” (Diana)
“Good night, my name is Kira.” (I)
“Good night, nice to meet you, I’m sorry I didn’t say hello to you earlier.” (Mari)
“I’ve been so tired lately that I’ve been a little distracted.” (Mari)
“Do not worry about it.” (I)
“I must admit it’s been a few years since I’ve seen a Gray Elf, I’m surprised to see one in this town.” (Mari)
“…” (Diana/I)
“(How did she manage to see through my disguise?)” (I)
“Why are you looking at me like that?” (Mari)
“I wasn’t supposed to know that, was it?” (Mari)
“Actually we were going to tell you at the end of the night, but I didn’t expect you to be able to find out with just one look.” (Diana)
“Could you tell me how you found out?” (I)
“Looking better, your disguise is pretty good, but this illusion you wear isn’t changing your appearance, it’s forming a thin layer of illusion around you.” (Mari)
“It may not seem like it but I’m a mage and also a former Grade A adventurer, as soon as I noticed the Mana layer around it I acted out of habit and activated an ability called seeing the truth, this ability helps me see through all the illusions and increases my awareness for Mana.” (Mari)
“I see, so you saw my true appearance with this ability.” (I)
“This is a unique skill, so you don’t have to worry if you want I can help you get a better disguise item.” (Mari)
“I appreciate it, that would be a great help.” (I)
“Now that you two have introduced yourselves let’s have a drink, no one leaves here sober today!” (Diana)
“That’s why I came here.” (Mari)
“I must say that I have resistance to poison, so I have a lot of tolerance for drunkenness.” (I)
We spent two hours drinking and talking, Diana and Mari talked about how they met, talked about how they had a relationship in the past, they also said that the breakup was amicable.
After two hours of drinking, neither of us got drunk, but we became more relaxed, I got used to Mari and I think she got used to me too.
I told her I met Diana in the forest, I also told her that I helped hunt the monsters from her last missions, Mari didn’t mind that she seemed relieved that Diana wasn’t alone.
She asked about the rest of the group as we imagined, but I said we would introduce the others when we move into the mansion.
When I asked her if she didn’t think it was suspicious of me hiding my race, she told me she understood, Gray Elves usually hide when they’re outside the Elf Realms, that’s because they’re always treated like spies or assassins when found in other Realms, even when that’s not the case.
After another hour of talking and drinking, Mari was the first to start to be affected by alcohol, so she started talking about how she wanted to quit this exploratory job, started complaining about ahead of muscle that is always throwing more work at her, after talking to Diana I found out it was her husband.
We stayed until dawn drinking, Mari was completely drunk and slept on the table with a smile on her face, I’m starting to get drunk too, so I decided to stop drinking, Diana finished all the beer that was left on the table before stopping, she drank almost twice as much as me and doesn’t even seem close to getting drunk, what a monster.
“So what are we going to do with your friend here?” (I)
“I’ll take her home, you can go to the inn up front, I’ll meet you there later.” (Diana)
“Alright then I’m leaving, you can pay the bill.” (I)
I got up from the table and realized I was a little dizzy from the amount of beer I drank, but that’s not enough to affect me.
Even though I’m a little dizzy I walk through the restaurant as if I haven’t had a drink and walk out the door, I go straight to the inn to wait for Diana in the room.
————
After a while Diana returns to the bedroom, I had already recovered a little from my drunkenness and changed clothes for something more comfortable to sleep in, Diana also changes clothes and throws herself on the bed.
“Did you leave her at home?” (I)
“Yes.” (Diana)
“As soon as I arrived I found Carlos at home still wearing the clothes with the Guild symbol, just as he was going to take Mari out of my arms he was punched in the face and Mari started yelling at him.” (Diana)
“Looks like she was really mad at him.” (I)
“Actually, she kept screaming when she’s going to get pregnant and when are they going to be able to go out and have fun together.” (Diana)
“They love each other a lot then.” (I)
“They’ve always been like that, they always fight over unimportant things, but in the end, they’re always thinking about each other.” (Diana)
“Did you have fun?” (Diana)
“It was the most fun night I’ve ever had, especially when Mari was going to start undressing in the restaurant and we had to stop her.” (I)
“I thought I would never experience moments like this in my life, I’m glad I was wrong about that.” (I)
“I said you and Mari would get along well.” (Diana)
“You don’t have to worry, she won’t ask about her past, all she needs to know is her character and that she saw today.” (Diana)
“Thank you for a fun evening Diana.” (I)
“Forget it, I’m tired and it’s late.” (Diana)
“Let’s go to sleep.” (Diana)
We both lie down on the bed, and soon I start to hear Diana’s snoring that I’ve gotten used to.
As soon as sleep starts to take over me I close my eyes and when I start to fall asleep I suddenly find myself inside the cabin that my mother used to live with when I was a child.
The cabin was exactly the way I remember it, but there was no one here, just me sitting in a chair, I get up and go outside, look around and I don’t see any other cabins, there was no trace of the rest of the village, all that was around was a forest.
Roar!
Soon I hear a Roar, then I see a beautiful White Tiger with black stripes coming out of the forest and heading towards me.
For some reason I don’t feel scared, I feel a kind of connection to him, a kind of familiarity like I’ve always known him my entire life.
He approaches me and stops a few steps away from me.
“Say my name!?” (White Tiger)
“…” (me)
Suddenly he talks to me asking if I know your name, I wanted to say I don’t know your name, but before I could say it, a name popped into my mind, that name popped up like it was always there, as soon as that name popped into my mind. In my mind, I spoke it out loud without realizing it.
“Byakko!” (I)
ROAR!!!!
The White Tiger roars to the heavens and then runs towards me, for some reason I don’t feel the need to dodge him as if I know he wouldn’t hurt me.
He runs to me and as he gets closer he jumps and enters me, soon my body starts to glow, this glow grows to overshadow everything around, then I lose consciousness.
“Now our souls are synchronized, may my power be your power.” (Byakko)
The last thing I remember is hearing his voice speaking inside my head before I lost consciousness.
Ding!
<[ You have acquired the following skills:
• [ Spiritual Elemental Affinity of Thunder: 1 ]
• [ Spiritual elemental affinity of metal: 1 ]
• [ Spiritual Invocation: 1 ] ]>