I felt my brows twitch as I heard my alter ego's sarcastic remarks. Sure, I might not be the most accurate tool in the shed, but did she really just say that to me? "What do you mean took you long enough?""It's exactly what I mean, Master," Ica smirked at me from her fiery chair as she floated in the air all menacing-like. Totally not jealous about it though, "At the very least, you managed to do so as soon as you put your mind to it.""Haha, very funny."Ignoring the blatant show of power and elegance by Ica's admittedly awesome way of being seated, I found myself looking around at the oh-so-familiar library that was apparently my mindscape. Not much of a difference from last time, at least; same bookshelves, same wooden floors that somehow won't combust despite the literal fire that Ica was emitting, even the same damn chair and table combo with
Were my ears deceiving me? Did I hear her correctly? "I thought you're not supposed to lie to me?"I was supposed to be that normal Denominator isekai chick. At least, if the cosmic being that put me here had the idea of entertaining itself with my own misery. I didn't show Numerator powers back when I wanted it to appear, and Mother flat out told me that being a Den or a Num were mutually exclusive from each other. And then here came little old me just suddenly being capable of doing both? It felt like a massive cop-out, not to mention the fact of why did it not appear earlier? If I had Numerator powers, surely I would've noticed it years ago. I find this shit highly suspect."And yet here we are," I heard Ica answer my thoughts with a sigh. "I, myself, do not know how or why this is the case, only that I am the manifestation of your power."'Mani
"Focus, you idiot."Now, where had I heard that before...Flicking my right wrist, I did my damn best to pretend that I was throwing out my so-called 'other Essence' as I threw out my arm like a fucking weeb on steroids. And as predicted, nothing came out of my palms except some of my dignity as I grimaced at what I was doing. It was demeaning, humiliating; probably the most cringe-worthy action I had ever done in my life."Even worse than posing awkwardly trying to do your best approximation of an Iaido?""Oh shut up." Of course, she'd respond to my thoughts like this. "Now tell me if I'm doing this right."It might have been a slow start in terms of actual learning, but I would at least like to think that I was doing pretty well despite being only at it for about an hour or so.
What in the actual fuck?!"Ica-"I couldn't even finish my sentence before I was smothered once again by a veritable sea of fire and cuddles as the phoenix woman just never seemed to let me go despite her earlier wishes of doing so. It was far from her dignified self, but who the fuck am I to judge on another person's mental being when I'm seriously considering jumping what was essentially my own alter ego? Shit... I have to get her off me before my inhibitions completely erode themselves against my will."PLEASE, MASTER! USE ME! USE ME TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!"Ignoring the borderline lust-filled ravings of the woman keeping me captive in her arms, I steeled myself with a sigh before doing my damn best to pry myself off of Ica's clingy grip. My arms snaked their way through her... voluptuous defenses; my hands bracing
How many days has it been, perhaps?Granted, we had stayed in this failed village for far longer than what was planned due to my discovery of my Elemental Essence and subsequent training, but still. Would it have been better if we had actually left as soon as we had done our business of resupplying? The original plan did call for us to leave for the capital as soon as we finally got our bearings back, not to mention the fact that I had already regained my memories. Olivia was out there, as well as the rest of our fellow Dens scattered across the Empire. I still had a sense of obligation to them, and doing jack shit just made me feel worse as the guilt of enjoying this life sank into me like an anchor on muddy ground. Was I obligated, however? Surely, no. But that didn't mean it didn't felt like it, especially if you're constantly staring at the proof of your failures every day of every week.&n
As a sleep-oriented person, I valued my time in the waking world pretty badly despite my own preferences suggesting otherwise. I'd prefer eternal sleep if it meant no longer having to interact with anything and... basically dying to everyone's eyes, including myself, but I was still partly responsible enough to not just go and do absolutely nothing with my time without cringing at myself for wasting a day away. Basically, I just missed being able to completely turn my brain off instead of constantly being awake twenty-four seven."Didn't you say that time is the most precious thing in the world?"Rolling my eyes at Ica's smug retort, I turned to face the woman that was the cause of this situation in the first place, "I never said that once in my life.""Maybe not in this life, but certainly in the one before."Fuck off.
My ears perked at the distant explosion that echoed between us. It sounded rather violent, like a crack on the ground suddenly erupted in an earthquake-like intensity. But... That's impossible, right?"Did you hear that?" my voice cut through the tense atmosphere that quickly descended upon us. "Something you did, maybe?""No. I'm not working on something that could produce explosions. And even then the workshop's just over there," Lace quickly clarified, her eyes looking out towards the forest beyond us. "Plus, Love's here with us, so that was definitely not our doing.""Huh..."With a wordless agreement, the two of us inched towards our respective weapons; with Lace brandishing her katana and myself reaching for my sword as Love aimed her bow at the ready just behind us.The tense silence
That's our cue, then.Running away in a fashion that was totally not like a scared criminal running from the police, each step of the giant bear behind me reverberated through my feet as I felt its presence loom ever so closer to me. The night was pretty fucking dark, but with Love providing some much-needed light in the form of her scattering arrows all throughout the area, I could at least see through the darkness of the abandoned village as I rounded yet another corner.*ROROORAAGHGHH!!!*Fuck me to hell with this...Not even bothering to look back as its growls and huffs were more than enough for me to know where the damn thing was, I continued to follow Love's improvised tarmac as I held my sword at the ready just in case this thing suddenly got the drop on me. It wouldn't be a surprise seeing as this thing w