The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 62

TESSIA ERALITH’S POV:

Arriving at my room, I jumped into bed, my hands covering my burning face.

I couldn’t help but let out soft shrieks of delight as I rolled back and forth across my sheets.

"Hehehehehe..." Oh no. I was laughing like a pervert.

But...but Art finally kissed me. He kissed me!

"Heehee..." Not being able to calm down, I wrapped myself in my blanket as I rolled around. The image of him leaning forward to kiss me filled my head, forcing my lips to curve up. It felt different from when I’d kissed him. I couldn’t quite explain it but it was definitely a better feeling.

"I could get used to this..." I accidentally muttered aloud as I softly rubbed my lips. I rolled across my bed again in embarrassment as I recalled the event again.

I began to imagine what our marriage would be like. I wanted it to be super pretty. I wondered how our kids would look? Arthur was good-looking and I wasn’t ugly either. It should be fine, right? But in order to get kids, we needed to...

I could almost feel steam coming out my ears as I imagined it. I mean, I learned about how babies were born from my home tutor but...

Nonononono it’s too early! And besides... Arthur wanted me to give him some time. I wondered what he meant by that? Did he mean we were going to act like tonight never happened?

I didn’t want that!

But was I allowed to get mad at him for that? Was I being too hard on him? I knew he had my best interest at heart but I couldn’t be so wishy-washy about this, right?

What if another girl really did end up liking him too and he chose her? I was just a violent, spoiled girl after all; why would he choose me?

The more I thought about it, the more disheartened I became. It’s, okay Tess. We’re both still really young. Even if it does take time, I’m sure it’ll work out eventually, right?

Gah! Stop discouraging yourself and let’s just sleep, Tess!

ARTHUR LEYWIN’S POV:

I’d been getting used to having Sylvie wake me up. Usually a loud mental shout was enough to wake me up but today, I was woken up by a sharp bite on my nose.

"Kyu!"

I groaned as I woke up, rubbing my throbbing nose as Sylvie went back to sleep after doing her job. Sylvie seemed to be a lot more active at night as she took frequent naps throughout the day.

After washing up, I watched Elijah, still breathing loudly in his sleep while I had to wake up this early. We couldn’t have that now, could we?

"Good morning!" I slapped my sleeping roommate on his behind.

"Ah! What? Huh?! What’s going on?" Apparently, the sudden impact made him panic, because he got into a defensive position with his right hand straight out, ready to fire at his attacker.

"Nothing! Just saying good morning." I shrugged, strapping on the knife to my disciplinary committee uniform.

"Ugh... I have another two hours before class starts. You woke me up just to say good morning?" Elijah groaned as he wrapped himself with his blanket into a makeshift cocoon.

"Yup! I’m off to my first disciplinary committee meeting!" I took one last look to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything when Elijah popped his head out from underneath his blanket.

"Did something good happen? You’re a little bit too happy. It’s unsettling." Whether it was because he was studying me or just trying to focus his vision on me since he wasn’t wearing his glasses, Elijah squinted his slightly puffy eyes.

"You’re just imagining things, Elijah," I said with a light chuckle, quickly lacing my boots before heading towards the door.

"Suspicious..." he mumbled before succumbing to his body’s demands to go back to sleep.

Making sure no one was around, I jumped off the building and used wind augmentation to cushion my landing. Sylvie just floated down, which looked really silly to me with her oversized ears flopping against the wind.

Landing on top of my head with a soft plop, I took some time to test my body out with some stretches. I couldn’t say I was in great condition, but the improvement since yesterday made me nod in satisfaction. It was times like these that I really felt the effects of going through the assimilation of Sylvia’s dragon will.

Which reminded me...I’d have to help Tess with her assimilation. How was I supposed to act around her anyways? I couldn’t believe I kissed her yesterday.

Thinking back, I realized that even in my past life, I’d never gone past the point of kissing and it was always the other party that initiated. I’d never had an interest in falling in love. Rather, I feared love. I even avoided the aspect of unattached sexual relationships because I feared that the start of a physical relationship could lead to emotional attachments. I secluded myself in training aside from public appearances and fights, making sure I didn’t have anyone I held in importance, anyone that could be used as a tool against me.

What I’d learned most from this world wasn’t the magic or the fighting. No, what I’d realized was that this life has forced me to open up my calloused heart and allow people to hold significance to me. What this also meant was that I had to be stronger than my past self since I had people to protect this time.

Lost in my thoughts, I almost passed by the Disciplinary Committee Room. The DC had access to one of the bigger rooms in the academy so that it could double as a training room as well. I was a bit late since I woke up a little later than expected but it wasn’t too loud so I hoped I wasn’t the last one there.

As I opened the door, Curtis flew and crashed into the wall next to me with a thud!

"Still too weak!" I saw Theodore Maxwell’s disappointed face, his right fist raised.

"Ah, Arthur! You’re here!" Claire Bladeheart, who was spectating the duel from the side, waved her hands.

"Ugh... I can’t believe I still can’t land even a single hit on you, Theodore. Oh, hey Arthur." Curtis turned his head towards me while rubbing his back.

"Do you need help?" I put my hand out while Sylvie wagged her tail but Curtis just shook his head.

"No, I’m okay. Besides, the duel isn’t over yet." Curtis grimaced as he got back to his feet and picked up his sword.

Taking a seat next Claire on one of the couches, I watched as the duel between Curtis and Theodore resumed.

"HAH!" Curtis charged forward after augmenting his sword in a blazing fire but just as he was about to get into Theodore’s range, Curtis sidestepped instantly, leaving a charred footstep behind before appearing to Theodore’s right.

Theodore’s reaction was almost immediate as he lifted his brawny right arm at an uncanny speed.

"Fall!" Curtis’ assault failed as he crumbled to his knees, his sword landing heavily on the ground in front of Theodore.

Theodore had a smirk on his face but it soon turned serious as he realized Curtis’ plan.

"Explode!" Curtis shouted in a strained voice.

The sword that wasn’t burning but glowing a dim red shined brighter until flames exploded in all directions.

Claire focused on the smoke, assuming both the sword and Theodore was covered inside, but I tapped her shoulder and gestured for her to look up.

Theodore was in the air with his arms a bit burned and steaming but otherwise unharmed. Using gravity magic on himself, Theodore slowly floated down as he concentrated on his next spell.

Curtis was back to his feet with his sword in hand, already preparing another spell. I noticed Grawder restlessly swinging his tail from the other side of the room.

"All right! I think it’s time to stop!" Claire stood up and clapped her hand but it didn’t seem like either one of them heard her even speak. She sighed exasperatedly. "Kai, care to help me?" Claire glanced back at the narrow-eyed, smiling man.

"Got it, Boss." Kai’s sleeves covered his arms so I didn’t know what he had hidden but with a swing of his arms, thin metal strings shot out towards Theodore and Curtis, forming a makeshift metal fence between them.

Even after augmenting my eyes, I couldn’t make out any specific elemental attribute in his skill, making me wonder exactly what he could do.

Both Curtis and Theodore stopped their spells and turned their heads towards Kai in confusion.

"Boss’ orders. Let’s stop the duel now, shall we gentlemen?" Kai’s smiling face remained unchanged as he retracted the numerous strings back into his sleeves.

"What did Kai do just there?" I asked Claire who was shaking her head at Curtis and Theodore.

"No one really knows. He keeps it a secret and from what I can tell, there isn’t any specific elemental attribute in his mana whenever he uses his skills," she responded while shrugging.

"Have you taken an interest in me, Arthur?" Kai came behind me, leaning his head forward past my shoulder so his smiling face was right next to mine.

"Hardly. Just a bit curious as to what you just did there. It didn’t seem like you were manipulating metal, or using sound to control the metal strings," I responded while pushing his face away from mine.

"So cold. I’d tell you but unfortunately, if I did, I’d have to kill you," he replied nonchalantly, making me lift a brow.

"Oh? Is that a threat?" I challenged.

Noticing that the conversation was taking a turn for the worse, Claire butted in.

"Looks like we’re still missing quite a few people! Feyrith, Kathyln and Doradrea still aren’t here—ah, there they are!" she said as she pushed the both of us towards the door.

Feyrith was having a little quarrel with Doradrea about something while Kathyln came in behind them. I raised my hand to wave at Kathyln but as soon as our eyes made contact, she immediately turned her head away before walking off in another direction.

"Ah Arthur, my rival! Have you healed? I believe we still need to duel but I think it would be better to hold that off until after I finish working on a spell I’ve been practicing! It’s not because I’m scared to lose to you or anything. Just giving you more time to recover." Feyrith came up beside me, putting his arm on my shoulder as he let out a hearty laugh.