Cecil and Hana observed the ash blonde-haired man closely, and the man slowly opened his eyes. Upon seeing the two ladies in front of him, the man recoiled back in surprise.

The two ladies did the same as well.

The man only glanced around his body and his surroundings. "Why am I out here again? What..."

Cecil narrowed her eyes slightly, before widening them in recognition.

"Kai?" Cecil gasped, her eyes glinting happily.

"Cecil, good to see you again!" Kai showed his trademark toothy grin. "Though, I'm not sure why--"

Cecil couldn't resist it, throwing herself onto him as she wrapped her slim arms around him.

Kai widened his eyes, blinking in shock. He never expected such a warm greeting from her, and he could feel his face heating up.

"Long time no see!" Cecil smiled widely, looking up at Kai.

"O-oh..."

"Kai! I missed you!" Hana squealed, joining in the hug.

"Yo-you too, Hana?!"

Suddenly, there were two beautiful women embracing Kai. The man himself rubbed at his neck awkwardly, chuckling nervously.

"Th-thank you, for such a...warm greeting--"

Xue: "Let Cecil go."

Leonaut whistled lowly, envious of Kai receiving such a loving hug from both ladies.

Zasiok rolled his eyes at Xue again.

Kai: "What do you mean let Cecil go? She hugged me by herself!"

Xue: "Tell her to let you go."

Kai: "..."

Alric: "How nice...to get hugged by them..."

Kai stared at the two ladies, patting them on their backs. "I got it, I got it so...can you guys release me now?"

"Ah, apologies, I got too excited." Cecil stepped back from the hug.

Hana giggled, stepping back from the hug as well.

"Are you holding up alright?" Cecil questioned, still smiling. "How is it like in there?"

"I'm completely fine!" Kai grinned with an "okay" sign, and he started to think about Cecil's second question.

"In there? Hmmm, it's somewhat...strange but fun in there."

"As long as you are doing fine."

"Mhmm!" Hana nodded along.

Kai continued grinning, before wincing at a certain someone telling him to give back control.

"Ah, I gotta go back now, Xue is becoming unhappy."

"Awww..." Hana pouted sadly.

Kai closed his eyes, preparing to switch until he remembered something. He grinned cheekily, switching off the link between the fragments and Xue, gesturing for the ladies to come closer.

They leaned in closer, curious.

"I'll be calling Alric out, and do me a favour."

"What is it?"

"Give him the hugs like you did just now."

The ladies nodded, it was a simple task.

Kai closed his eyes this time, switching the souls. His eyes opened a second later, and there was a hint of caution in the man's eyes this time.

***

Once again, Xue still found himself stuck inside the same space. He turned to look at the person beside him, his gaze cold.

Kai shrugged.

"I'm human, I make mistakes."

"..."

"You can ask Alric to switch, but you gotta do it nicely," Kai commented, walking to the couch and sitting down. "Or he might faint again and it might go back to me or someone else."

"..."

Xue sighed, pinching the space between his eyebrows.

***

"Hello Alric!" Hana greeted cheerily.

Alric blinked, his eyes growing wide in surprise as he looked down at himself.

"Wh-why is it me?"

Hana glanced at Cecil, lowering her voice. "And...go!"

The two ladies immediately hugged Alric.

The poor cowardly merchant entered a panicking state with a fluttering heart. Nevertheless, he was extremely happy on the inside.

"Wh-wh-why are you su-suddenly hugging m-me?" Alric stuttered out, his face on fire.

"Because we want to!" Hana giggled.

Cecil laughed along softly.

Alric then stuttered out for them to let him go, since his heart couldn't take anymore.

He stumbled back, clearing his throat as he smoothed his clothes.

"Are you okay, Alric?" Cecil looked up at Alric. "Your face is so red."

Cecil reached out, touching his cheek gently. "You feel really hot too."

"Really?" Hana gasped, copying Cecil's actions. "It's true, it's like he's on fire!"

Alric felt his head spinning, his eyes wandering everywhere. He couldn't even find the words to speak.

Xue: "Hey."

Alric flinched.

Xue: "Switch properly this--"

Alric closed his eyes, fainting again.

Xue: "..."

Due to his agitated state from the ladies' hugs and concern, his heart was almost bursting out from his chest. Along with Xue's voice that held underlying threat, it sent Alric's mind into a wild ride and he shut down.

The ladies panicked, stabilising the unsteady man by holding his shoulders. The man opened his eyes later, and he was no longer Alric.

***

Kai fanned the unconscious Alric, he and Leonaut tossed him onto the couch when he arrived back inside.

"Poor guy," Kai shook his head sadly. "I let him out on purpose and this happened again."

"Who knew we had such a cowardly soul fragment here?" Leonaut smirked at the black-haired merchant on the couch, amused. "Am I right, Xue?"

Xue was seated on the couch opposite them, his palm on his forehead.

Truthfully, in Xue's eyes, he was talking normally to Alric without any malicious intent.

...and the guy just fainted as he was speaking.

Xue was speechless.

"I didn't intend to make him faint." Xue sighed, still facepalming himself.

"Do you hear how you talk sometimes, Xue?" Kai stood up, clearing his throat, combing his hair to mimick Xue's hairstyle.

Xue looked up, annoyed.

Kai then impersonated Xue, even making sure to put on Xue's trademark indifferent mask.

"Hey."

"Shut up."

"Shut the hell up."

"Oi."

"I'll kill you."

Kai shrugged. "Just like that."

Leonaut applauded Kai, giving Kai a thumbs-up.

Xue gritted his teeth, his face twitching in anger. "Someday, I swear, I'll kill you all."

Kai made a "see what I mean" look.

"You'll be killing yourself then, Xue." Leonaut smirked.

Kai applauded Leonaut this time, giving him a thumbs-up back.

Xue sighed in frustration, facepalming himself again.

***

Zasiok was the next out to come out.

"...Zasiok, is that you?"

He was the most composed out of all the soul fragments, only glancing down at himself before nodding.

"Alric fainted, and he unconsciously chose between me and Xue."

"Awww, poor Alric," Hana sighed sadly. "And poor Xue, Zasiok was better in Alric's eyes."

Cecil almost choked on her saliva when she heard Hana's words.

She was indirectly speeding up Alric's death.

Fortunately, Xue was beyond frustrated to even care about anything like this.

"I'm switching with Xue now."

"So quick?" Cecil furrowed her eyebrows.

"If I don't switch now," Zasiok sighed. "The owner of this body won't be happy."

Cecil smiled helplessly.

"Zasiok..." Hana pouted sadly, opening her arms wide. "You want a hug before you go?"

Zasiok let out a short chuckle, patting Hana's head. "Don't need one."

Hana made a noise, putting her arms down.

Zasiok then turned to Cecil, lifting his hand and patting her on the head as well.

"You sure you don't need one?" Cecil smiled.

Zasiok shook his head, his calm gaze softening as he eyed Cecil tenderly. He proceeded to slide his hand down her head, all the way to the ends of her hair.

Cecil realised his gaze resembled Xue when Xue ooked at her these days. Of course, Cecil know Zasiok likes her, and with Zasiok gazing at her in the same manner at Xue, Cecil looked away in a hurry.

Zasiok is Xue.

Xue is Zasiok.

Does this mean that Xue likes me too?

Cecil stiffened, the thought frightening her to the point where she swore she could feel sweat lining her back.

No, no no no, such a thing can't happen.

No way.

If...if the main soul likes me...

No no no.

"See you, Cecil." Zasiok said softly.

Cecil recovered from her shock, smiling at Zasiok. "See you, Zasiok."

Zasiok brought back his hand, closing his eyes and a moment later, the man's grey eyes slowly opened.

Without a doubt, this time, it was Xue.

"Welcome back, Xue!"

Xue nodded, he was still feeling moody, and he glanced towards Cecil.

"Back to training."

"Then I'll go back to cooking!"

"Ah, wait, before you do that," Cecil stopped them. "Hana, we still need to talk about your sword mound expedition."

"Oh, right!" Hana nodded.

Cecil slowly pulled Hana to the table, and Xue watched them as they started chatting.

"Listen carefully, Hana..."

***

The day of the sword mound expedition was here.

Hana inhaled deeply, staring at the large gate that led to into a forest. The afternoon sun shone down on the misty forest, even though it was still bright out, it only made the forest appear more haunting.

"Begin!"

The large gate was pushed open, and the students moved at a different pace from one another. Some walking, some rushing, some sticking to their friends in fear and others taking a leisure stroll as if they were in the park.

Just like Cecil had described to her, the trees seemed abnormal, and there would a fog that would hinder one's eyesight. However, the fog made the forest give off an ethereal feeling, especially with its abnormal trees.

Hana clutched onto her flare as she recalled Cecil's advices and warnings. She repeatedly drilled it into Hana's mind that she should not disturb any beasts or animals in the forest, be it sleeping or not.

Even Gom had emphasized that.

Go in.

Take my weapon.

Then go out.

Hana repeated to herself mentally, glancing around nervously.

The mist grew thicker as Hana traversed deeper into the woods, and the occasional rustling from the animals startled her as well. However, she pushed onwards, putting on a brave front and eventually, a mound came into view.

Alas, her focus was distracted by the trees that has started to sprout flowers. Cecil had warned her of the trees changing, but to see it for herself, it was mystifying. The stigma of the flowers were glowing yellowish-white, and along with the broad, white petals.

Hana approached it, wanting to touch it.

"Don't get distracted!"

Hana winced, imagining Cecil in front of her, lecturing her.

"Almost got distracted..." Hana murmured to herself, pouting.

She shook herself awake, heading back to the path to the mound.

Hana soon spotted a shadow of a jagged hill in the distance, and thankfully, Cecil had warned her of the cold. Hence, Hana wore thicker clothes, not feeling the chill that Cecil did, but a small part of her breath could be seen as she exhaled.

The shadow of the jagged hill were due to the weapons impaled into the ground.

Hana picked up her pace, not liking the scary environment here. At that moment, she felt something tugging at her, within the depths of her body.

Is this what Cecil is talking about?

Hana followed the sensation, allowing it to lead her.

Ah, it's telling me to turn now.

Hana turned to the left, her weapon was almost at the top of the hill.

The climb up the hill was nothing compared to the training the academy provided in classes. Thus, Hana wasn't even panting.

She gradually heard whispering, digging into her mind. The closer she was to the tugging sensation, the more discordant the whisper grew.

Cecil was right...it is very uncomfortable.

Hana bit on her lower lip, knowing the only way to end this was to find her soul weapon and take it.

They grew louder and louder, and Hana made a noise, clutching her head. She struggled to keep her eyes open, and there was an azure glow in the distance, beckoning her.

Hana whined, staggering back as she panted, still clutching her head. She persisted, reaching towards the glow with her hand.

Something hard and smooth brushed against the tips of her fingers, and the moment she did that, the whispering in her head dispersed. Hana instantly gripped onto the object, pulling it with all her might.

"Wahhh!"

She stumbled back, waving her arms wildly as she balanced herself. She felt that her right arm weighed heavier than usual, gasping in shock when she saw the object in her right hand.

It was a bow.

"My weapon is a bow?" Hana voiced out loud, astonished as her blue eyes sparkled in delight.

She brought the bow closer to her, inspecting it closely.

The colour of the bow was a mixture of light green and blue, though it leaned closer to blue. At the ends of the bow, it flared out like mini wings, and the string of the bow was stark white.

Hana tugged at the string, relishing in the way it vibrated as she did so.

The body of the bow was crafted in an intricate manner, with carvings on it that only seemed gorgeous in Hana's eyes along the jewels embedded inside the bow. It wasn't a typical curved body, it twisted and turned, adding on to the exquisite design of the bow.

Moreover, despite its size and its elegant design, the bow was a lightweight. It was light enough for Hana to carry it with one arm.

"So prettyyyyy!" Hana exclaimed, beaming with excitement.

In the academy, she saw a few students equipping their bows and practising for their archery. Hana immediately started to imitate them, pulling back the bowstring.

...only to find out it was harder than she thought.

Her hands started to tremble and her expression twisted. She could feel the strain everywhere on her upper body.

She released the bowstring, and it slapped her arm, making her cry out in pain. She pouted, staring at the red mark on her arm.

Using the bow...is not as easy as it looks.

...but they make it look so easy...

Suddenly, Hana grew determined, she stared the bow in her hands, nodding to herself. Other than cooking, she had to dedicate her time to archery as well.

I will prove to everyone, and to Leonaut, that I can be strong!

I...I may not be as strong as Cecil and Xue, but I can be strong!

Hana huffed, nodding to herself once again and she lifted her head up. She found herself surrounded by a thick mist, despite being bright out, the thick mist obscured one's vision.

Everywhere she looked, it was the same. She couldn't see anyone nearby either, though she could hear the soft chattering of the other students.

However, the chattering was gone as soon as it came.

Hana tilted her head, blinking rapidly.

"Which way did I come from?"

***

《 start 》

Was it here?

Was it there?

Or maybe there?

Hmmm...I...I think I am lost.

I am very lost!

Even when I call out to people, they are not coming to help me!

...maybe because they think I am a ghost?

Hmm...

Oh, the flare!

Cecil said I could use the flare if it was an emergency, and I needed help!

《 stop 》