Aereth

Why couldn't they just throw their doubts out of the window. Why couldn't they just accept the other and be happy again. Aereth felt the squeeze of Teions hand and did the same.

"Can you protect her?" 

"Will the past repeat itself?" 

"Will you loose her?"

"Can you stand loosing another woman?"

These were the four questions that tried to push him away from her. That tried to keep her alive and him from loosing another loved person. But if he was being honest... He already pulled her into his problems. He couldn't be sure that the three players he killed that day were the only ones to know about her. He couldn't abandon her now. He would need to make sure she lives...

His free hand moved over to take hold of her body and he gently moved her on top of him. "Seems like we're pretty f*cked up, huh?" he asked with a smirk as he took a strand of her curly purple hair and put it behind her ear. "You don't want to be alone anymore. I don't want to be alone anymore. Would you accept a life of me trying to escape my demons while protecting you from them?"

"Let's be alone... together."

@Teion

"Aaaaaah. An emotional one." Aereth mused to himself mentally, as Endilix started to explode in his face and Teion tried to stop them.

"How should I have know about what he was going to do when not even his girlfriend knew it, tell me." the brunette answered in a cold tone. "And tell me, how far would you go to save another person. Would you risk you own live for doing so? And if yes, would you even go so far as to take a life to save another? And how many nights have you spent out in the fields, training to be able to protect, to fight for the ones you want to protect?" he paused as he saw Teions grip tightening around Endilix' fingers. "This is what makes me sick. You may know and understand the pain and the suffering of this world, but what have you done in order to justify saying that it is too hard, to risky, too stupid that you don't want to be a hero anymore? I really wanna know." he said as he pushed himself away from the wall. If Endilix would tell him, Aereth would stop and listen, before equipping his armor again. 

"And for f*cks sake. Stop talking about that 'real friends' bullsh*t. Beat died over a month ago. Where were her 'real friends' there?" Then he realized. What the actual f*ck was he doing here. Did hearing that the redhead was a shining knight that failed trigger him so much? Or was it... "Damn it..." he cursed inwardly, as he looked at Teion and Endilix.

"I apologize. I shouldn't have said all these things, and I'll take them back. If you can't forgive me for that, I understand." Aereth said to Endilix and bowed his upper body. "I know nothing about you, just as you know nothing about me. So I shouldn't have said the things I have..." He then turned back to Teion. "You too. I'm sorry. I behaved like an idiot." 

With that he put on the helmet and started to head to the door. "Take care of Purple. And when you two are done, make sure she gets home safely."

@Endilix @Teion

Aereth got rocked back by the backhand of Domarus. Red damage markers were visible where Dom's backhand made contact with his cheek, but the damage he had done was only minor. "Ok, ok. I deserved this." Aereth thought as he wordlessly got back up again, just to feel the armored finger of Domarus trying to bury itself into his armor. 

The unique light armor slowly started to radiate heat and Aereth looked at him with the same wicked grin he gave the guard. "I'd like to see you try... My friend..." he said as his fists started to glow, indicating that he was charging up a sword art. As the tension grew, Aereth dismissed his sword art and dropped his stupid grin. "Just kidding. I know that I was stupid. Heros are fated to die in this cruel world." He put a hand on Domarus' shoulder guard. "I needed and earned that." he said turning his head to the side, showing him the damage marks on his face. "Thanks for saving me. A little bit longer and I would have lost it completely. You too, Girlie. I know that you put your lives on the line for getting me out. I'll pay you back one day, promise."

"Yeah, lets take him down together. I want my phase sword back. I'll follow your lead."

@Domarus

"Satisfied?" Aereth asked in a low voice. He didn't understand why Domarus wanted to watch how Dazia would react to this. And Aereth could have told him that she wouldn't be happy about being sexually harassed by a little teenage idiot that was borderline crazy...

"So that little f*ck knows where we are... But that was to be expected." Aereth sighed and turned to Domarus. "Do you have a plan?" he then asked as Dazia started to stir under him. "I could activate my Disguise and turn into one of his little idiots to get a good shot at him. You would need to distract him though..." Aereth thought out loud. To be honest this was his plan to begin with. He hadn't used his Disguise skill even once when they captured him and when he got freed by Domarus and Hidden so they wouldn't expect him to pull of such a move. "The only problem with that is, that I can pull that trick off only once. After that the will notice and my skill has a cooldown...."

@Domarus

The redhead was right. It was reckless and stupid to challenge someone as dangerous as the leader of the Horsemen. Maybe just as stupid as trying to fight a war against the biggest and PK guild in the game? He sighed as he returned to his spot at the wall. It wasn't the time to get angry at the blonde frontliner for trying to fight f*cking Death Adder alone...

So he was just listening again. Observing the two and learning. He was gently pating her head while talking to her and then took her hand. Something inside of him suddenly wanted to punch him through the counter, but he just sighed in order to calm himself down again.

"What level are you?" Aereth asked bluntly as he implied that he wanted to be a hero but gave up on it. "There can be heros inside of this hell. Just the definition is the thing that matters." he took another sip from his water. "I agree. Solo players that think they can play heros are fated to die. We are weak as long as we are alone. I played the number game of SAO long enough and failed too many times to know this. It doesn't matter how strong you are, as long as you act alone you can't do anything. But together we can archive that goal of becoming a group of heros. I had to learn that the hard way..." Aereth added in an angry tone. "And if you think you saw everything, just because you saw some people die I'll take you with me for one night and show you the REAL Aincrad."

@Endilix

Finally. The boss changed its form and Landed a solid hit on Jon. Well... It would have if it wasn't for Jonathans iron defense. "Man, you sure picked some mitigation since we last fought together." Aereth said as he prepared to charge at the field boss. 

Then he sped forward with the help of the <<Charge>> skill and buried his fist into the armor of Tagas. The angel grunted and got thrown back a couple of meters, and took some good damage from the attack.  

"He has some decent mitigation as well, but after a couple of hits we should be able to take him down rather easily. Let's just pray we are able to hit him often enough." He said, remembering some past grinding sessions, as he darted back behind the safety that Jonathan provided. Man it felt good to work with one of the best f*cking tanks in the whole game. 

 ID# 90532 results:

 Battle: 5+3 Hit
Damage: (14+3)*15 = 255 - 65 = 190

@Morgenstern 1197/1261 <> 89/106
Aereth 900/900 <> 80/90

<<Tagas- The Corrupted>>   460/650

He could almost feel how Teion seemed to draw strength from their connection. It was amazing how such simple things like a touch could say so many things. I'm here for you. I won't let go of you. I want to be close to you. 

Then she started to speak again. Trying her best to answer all the questions Aereth had thrown at her. She was struggling, but she was pushing herself through it. 

When she told him about her fear of the dark, a small chuckle escaped Aereth. "I remember that from our time in the dungeon. Ever thought about getting the Night Vision mod?" Aereth said in a joking manner.

He then fell silent again as she started to talk about basically her fear of losing him. Be it either suicide or one of his many enemies. This caused a knot to form in his stomach. If he was being honest, he could never provide her with the safety and security he promised her. Just look at today. She only got attacked because of the Laughing Coffin wanted to get to him. He really shouldn't have come to her in the first place. He should at least have tried to resist the gravitating force that pulled him towards her...

"Back in the dungeon I had given up. I had nothing to fight or survive for any longer. And I didn't want to continue fighting just because of my never ending thirst of revenge... But then you came. Pulled me out of there and made sure I wouldn't try it again. And you are right... If I really would have cared more about you I shouldn't have come to your shop some days ago. The thing is just like you said... Many players want to see me dead, which puts the persons I care about in constant danger..."

After she told him that she was feeling like she was falling apart and that she worried about not deserving their relationship Aereth sighed.

"You've been through enough suffering, so why do you feel like you don't deserve to be happy? To be honest... It's exactly the other way around. I don't deserve this. I can never provide you with a normal relationship. As long as you are together with me, you are in danger. My head keeps screaming to just go and never turn back if I really care about you, but my heart keeps pushing me always towards you..."

@Teion

A chuckle almost escaped him as Endilix mentioned how nothing irrational happened. Almost. "Is that boy living in a dream?" Aereth mentally asked himself, but remained as quiet as he could. Only a low grunt escaped him. Irrational and crazy things are happening on a daily basis in this sh*thole called Aincrad. He moved his glass to his mouth and took a sip.

Next was the suicide note. He slowly started to understand things. Why she had stopped him from ending his life. As blunt and direct the redhead was, he was right. This really sounded like he knew exactly that he was doing. But that didn't make sense. He had many strong allies that would have helped him if he asked them. Hikoru, Itzal, hell even the Knights of the Bloodoath would probably have helped him. But then something clicked. Horsemen.... "No way..." he thought as he pushed himself away from the wall.

"Don't tell me he fought Death Adder!" He said in a slightly angry voice. On the list of ex Laughing Coffin members he had received from their leader some months back were one or two players that were currently associated with the Horsemen. "He can't have been serious, even the Laughing Coffin is afraid of Death Adder. I have no confirmed information about this, but it is rumored that he wields an unique skill. Probably the strongest unique yet discovered... And an army of players that fight for him." 

@Teion

Aereth was stunned. By the smile that seemed to was away all of his pain, by her explanation of her past relationship with Beat, by he fears and insecurities. So he was just sitting in silence and listened to every word she said. And many different emotions started to quell as she told him everything. Relief that her feelings for him were different from those she had for Beat, guilt that he was even thinking such things, nostalgia as she said that she was carrying worries, fears and insecurities with her, just like Alice, it was just.... Overwhelming. 

He was so grateful that she was opening up to her, when just some moments ago it seemed like she wouldn't want... He sighed. "I really don't know where to start...." he thought as he gathered the things he wanted to say in his mind. 

"Beat was always like this... Always there for everybody to help. Risking his live on the front lines to get us all out of here. His own happiness always came second, but maybe you were the one thing where he wanted to be selfish. His one weakness.... Which must mean that the reason for his death must have been something unbelievably dangerous..." Aereth answered thinking about the blonde front liner that put his trust into him. "But in the end, his sense of duty was stronger..." he added mentally.

Aereth slowly moved his left hand closer to Teion and opened it in an invitation to help her, to support her. Or was he simply wanting to hold hands with her? Who knows, but he hoped she would simply accept the offer.

Hidden event if Teion would grab his hand:

When Teion would have taken his hand he would continue. "I'm glad to hear that this..." he rose their connected hands. "... is something different. You have to know... I'm different from Beat. I'm a very selfish person. I fight just for the things I love and hold dear. The things I want to protect at all costs. I don't give a damn about the problems of others if that would mean that I would have to neglect the ones I love..."

Hidden event END

"You know... You remember me of Alice. My...." his voice faltered for a moment and he paused for some seconds. "She was also so unsure of herself, and carried worries with her all the time. Took me a long time to understand her. So tell me about yours. What do you fear? Why are you so insecure?"

@Teion

He didn't know what to do. Should he leave? Should he stay? He was so confused. But suddenly Purple told him to wait. Her voice sounded desperate and conflicted. Aereth turned around and looked at her. He could clearly see how she was struggling to come up with something to say. Aereth had some good ears so he was able to hear some of the curses that came out of the mouth of Teion, which caused an almost non existent smile to grow on his face. Somehow he was relieved. She didn't want him to go, she wants him to stay. This caused some of the fear and bad feelings to leave his mind, and he simply replied with a nod as she asked him if they could talk. The brunette stored away the cloak and unequipped his armor, leaving him in only his casual clothes. He wasn't going anywhere today. So he walked over to her and took the seat to her right, she offered him some moments ago.

"I'm glad." he simply answered as she told him that she meant everything she said and did earlier. "But are you really sure that it doesn't have something to do with Beat... I mean it's only been a month since he passed away...." he heard himself say. "And I don't care if you're not great with people. I meant everything I said and did regardless of you being great with people or not. And I can understand you. We only know each other for like... A week and some days? I know that isn't much time to get to know each other. But that changes nothing. I WANT to know everything about you. Every little detail. And if it takes me months or years to get you to tell me, I can wait. I just don't want to be alone anymore..."

"You make me want to live..." he then added in a low voice.

@Teion

Nothing seemed to work lately. He crafted like a berserker, but couldn't get one perfect piece together. It was like he forgot how to craft properly. So many materials had already gone to waste, and he would need to contact his customers to inform them that the prices might become higher than they assumed. "Maybe they are also happy with two enhancement slots...." he thought as he tossed another piece of armor away. Damn it. Crafting was such a pain in the a** lately and there was nothing he could do about it. Just trying again and again until he would succeed...

Critical Fail[+1 EXP]: 1
Fail [+1 EXP]: 1
Salvage [+2 EXP]: 1
Uncommon [+3 EXP]: 3
Rare [+5 EXP]: 3
Perfect [+8 EXP]: 0

Losses: 9 Materials

Gains: 1+1+2+9+15+9(Bonus) = 37 EXP

And suddenly he woke up. Teion stirred and stiffened under him, breaking the kiss and retreating her hands to put it between them. Her beautiful cobalt colored eyes stared in shock at him and he suddenly felt the weight that had been lifted from his shoulders for just those couple of moments, crushing down on him again.

Teion was afraid. She didn't know what to do, how to act. And what was he doing anyways? Confessing to a girl that just lost her boyfriend over a month ago, kissing and telling her that he would keep her save and that he would get her out of this hell? Of course she was confused, frightened or whatever. 

"No... It's not your fault. I... I shouldn't." he stopped and began rise to his feet again. To be honest, now he was also afraid. And maybe hurt by the sudden rejection. She was the one to confess to him first. She kissed him first... He didn't understand...

Well. He did understand but.... But why did it hurt so much. "Aaaaargh." His head was about to explode when he just gave up. "I'm sorry. You should go to bed.... It's been a long day. Much happened." The brunette said as he slowly walked through the moonlit house to pick up the coat he had thrown away while turning off the light and closing the door...

@Teion

Peace. That was the word that would describe Max's current state of mind the best. He could just close his eyes and forget everything around him. It was as if Aincrad shrinkend down to just the one room of the smithy. Everything outside of hit didn't matter. They were safe, protected. Nobody could touch them at this moment. Nobody could take it away. It felt so good.

Especially when he suddenly felt the unmistakable sensation from the soft lips of Thea making contact with his own. It felt so f*cking amazing. His heart was starting to pick up in speed, his brain felt numb and he felt like he would explode. Aereth shifted his body and allowed them gently lie down flat on the floor, Thea on top, and as Thea broke the kiss, telling he she would give it at least a try, it was over. He simply made them switch positions in one swift movement catching her head with his left so it wouldn't hit the floor, and answered. "You are already the perfect princess. You are MY princess." And with that it was his turn to return the favor. His eyes closed and his head slowly closed the still short distance between them. Again their lips touched and the two of them shared their second kiss.

@Teion

It was magical. The small joke about her hitting him even harder than usually managed to wash his sadness away and a small smirk formed on the brunettes face. "Then I really should shut up, since such a strong hit would surely finish me of in my current state." Aereth... No. Max said and also tightened the hold on the purple haired female. There was no Aereth and no Teion anymore just two young people, Thea and Max, appreciating the moment they had with each other. And Max was almost going crazy.

And it wasn't just the touch of the female that did this to him. The smell, the closeness, the connection they shared. It was everything so overwhelming. All those feelings he wasn't allowed to feel for so long. And when Thea finally told him that she also liked him, the small smirk from before transformed into a genuine smile. 

Max moved his head and upper body up into a straight position, also helping Thea to do the same. Once again, cobalt met brown and the two of the just looked into each others eyes. His left hand slowly wandered up from her back, gently over her neck before he carefully cupped her face with it. The time of lonely suffering was over. He too had earned some happiness in this virtual hell.

He closed his eyes and gently brought his and her forehead to meet each other. "If this is really so, then I will protect you with everything I have. If you are my princess then I shall become your knight.  I will make sure you make it out of here alive. And when this nightmare finally ends, I will look for you until I find you again." With that Max slowly opened his eyes. "So, Thea. Will you accept becoming my princess or will you decline." Their foreheads were still touching each other and their faces were just a couple of centimeters apart while Max asked her this question.

God damn it. He shouldn't have read so many romance novels in his free time.

Still having his eyes closed, he thought about how much he f*cked Purple over. Laughing Coffin knew that she has connections with him. Damn it. He pulled her into his war. And what for? Because it was giving him at least some piece while he was with her? Selfish... 

Suddenly he heard Teions steps drawing closer to him, and before he could open his eyes he felt her body pressing against his. He felt her palm against his shoulder and her fingers caressing the hair on the back of his head. Instinctively the brunette also wrapped his arms around her.

How good that felt. It was like all of his problems were just washed away with one touch. The tension in his body started to vanish and their hearts were beating as one. They just stayed like this for some long minutes. No words spoken, no movements done. For these few moments it was just Thea and Max, no problems no anything.

"You know.... I like you, Thea. I like you very very much, more than anybody else in this or the other world... And therefor you can't imagine how endlessly sorry I am for what happened to you. Because I came to you, they wanted to harm you. I can never forgive myself for that..." Aereth said as he gently buried his face into the crook of Teions neck. God why did it feel so good when she ran her fingers through his hair...

@Teion

The safe zone was already in sight as he finally caught up to his broker. Once again the charge skill activated, and Aereth crashed into the mans frame, effectively tackling him to the ground. 

"Tell me who you are working for and I'm gonna spare you life." Aereth spat at the man under him as he pinned him to the ground with his right and prepared the <<All Might>> sword art on his left. The player was frightened beyond everything, and his smug and cocky attitude from when he was playing with Teion. He told Aereth everything. That the Laughing Coffin offered him a good amount of money and equipment if he would give them information about Aereth. 

Still driven by the adrenaline and hate that ran through his veins, Aereth spat. "You made one mistake. One little mistake that cost you. If it would have only been about me I might have spared you, but you stupid piece of trash had to drag her into it. I'm not going to let anything happen to her. Ever... In this world you can only trust yourself." with that Aereth brought back his fist, ignoring the pleas and insults his prey was throwing at him. "This is a cruel world..." the brunette added and his fist shot down...

Some minutes later in front of Teions shop:
"Purple, are you there? Let me in, its me." Aereth said as he knocked against the front door of her shop. And as soon as she would let him in, Aereth closed the door immediately. "Change the privacy settings of the shop so that nobody can enter, then switch off the light. Nobody needs to know we're here." the brunette ordered as he started to help her do so.

After they were done, Aereth sank to the ground and finally started to catch his breath. His wounds were slowly healing and he closed his eyes... "Seventeen..."

@Teion

"Damn it Teion, stay with me." he mentally cursed. She was withdrawing. Paralyzed by fear and terror. He was outnumbered by 3:1 and if this wasn't enough of an uphill battle already he would also need to protect the purple haired blacksmith. 

The flames on his armor flicked to life and he took a defensive position in front of Teion. The two players that held Teion were fast to recover and charged at him. He dodged the first attack, let the second hit him, and retaliated with a stun sword art, to temporarily disable at least one of his foes. Now Aereth started to focus on the other one. He was wielding an assault spear, high damage and high energy consumption.... The two engaged in a heavy fight trading blows, dodging attacks and somewhere in between the second one also joined the fray again. 

In the meantime the info broker also managed to get over the initial shock from Aereth's first attack. He wasn't weraring stury armor and after Aereth's first hit, already 50% of his health points were missing. He thought about his possibilities. Join them and try to take Aereth? Oh hell no. He got up and started to flee...

"PURPLE! SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU NEED TO LEAVE!" The brunette screamed as he panted heavily. One of his opponents was already dead, and the other was also on his way to hell. Unfortunately he also was down to 30% at this point. 

Two attacks later and Aereth was alone with Teion. "I need to get the other one as well, before he reaches the safe zone. Please, Teion. Go. I promise you to come when I'm done." He said and charged after his backstabbing info broker.

Aereth felt the virtual exhaustion catching up to him as he perma-sprinted to the place. But he couldn't waste any more time. So much time had already passed since he saw him in town, and if his worst fears would become reality he already found Teion. 

Some minutes of sprinting later, Aereth rounded the last corner, and was finally able to hear something. One player was talking and as he finally saw what was going on his charge skill almost activated itself on its own...

The man gripped his dagger with the one hand and gently cupped the face of the purple haired beauty. "Just because I can't kill you, doesn't mean that we can't have some fun with you." His free hand moved to the back of her head and he forcefully grabbed her beautiful purple hair.

"Three targets. Plan: Hitting the assumed leader hard and free Teion." his calculative side told him, but his emotional side was only seeing red at this point. Within the blink of an eye he had covered the distance between him and the group and buried his glowing fist into the side of the info brokers face. His body got carried away by the force behind Aereth's attack.

Immediately he continued and hit the player to Teions left into the stomach before turning around and kicking the other into the side, effectively freeing the purple haired blacksmith. "Shop. Now! You don't wanna see what is going to happen now." Aereth said with a voice full of fire and hatred.

@Teion

Some hours had already passed since the brunette had left the fifth floor. He was still browsing through his messages and just as he was about to dismiss his menu he decided to read over the most recent message. The warning from his info broker. Looking at the name of the sender made him freeze. The info broker on the fifth floor was not the person who sent him the warning. "Sh*t." Immediately he swiped over to his friends list and searched for the broker he saw back then. "Still floor five, sh*t." And he wasn't in a settlement. That didn't fit. His info brokers were inside of cities most of the time, well... Gathering information... He immediately deleted his whole friend list. 

He had a bad feeling about the whole deal. It just seemed to be too odd to be just a coincidence. Aereth grabbed the instant teleport crystal to Teions shop and vanished from floor 13. Arriving at Teions shop he immediately started to head over to the place that stood next to the name of the player before he deleted the friend list at his at his maximum speed.  

@Teion

Aereth just had no luck. As much as he wanted to stay for another few days, weeks, months, the brunette had to leave. After the first couple of days went pretty smoothly in regard of his little Laughing Coffin problem, now sh*t started to hit the fan again. He got, yet another, message from one of his info brokers. He immediately took all of his stuff, thanked Teion and left her shop. But not before receiving an instant teleport crystal to her shop, in case he would quickly need a place to stay.

Currently walking towards the teleport gate of the main settlement, with the hood of his black cloak cast a dark shadow over his face, he noticed somebody passing by. Somehow he had a feeling that he knew that face, but didn't let that stop him from leaving this floor as fast as he could.

Some time later on the 13th floor:

It was bugging the brunette. He recognized the face of that one player he passed as he left the fifth. For f*cks sake, he couldn't remember who that player was. When he causally went over his messages it finally came to him. "One of my brokers..." he mumbled, satisfied that he finally was able to put a name to that face... 

@Teion

Why the actual hell was he the one being uncomfortable with this situation. He had picked up girls on multiple occasions and carried them somewhere without a heart that was almost jumping out of his virtual body. "Floor 21 by the hand of monsters, or just plain and simple jumping off the edge on floor 1..." the thought as he walked towards the exit of the shop.

Then he stopped. No. He was stopped. Once again by the purple haired woman, and once again by her grabbing his hand. Aereth turned around and brown met cobalt. Some long seconds passed and Aereth felt like he would get lost into those cobalt blue eyes of hers for ever. 

He felt his heart drop as Teion broke the gaze and walked past him. God how stupid he was. This wouldn't work. He sighed.... "T-Then I'll just head back in my room and act like this never happened." Aereth said in a low voice and hushed back into his own room, quickly closing the door behind him. 

"What the f*ck Aereth.... What the f*ck...."

Aereth had almost reached the door to Teions room when he felt something. The sleeping woman in his hands started to move. "Oh f*ck, f*ck, f*ck...." he cursed mentally and for a moment even considered dropping her and using his charge skill to get inside of his room before she would notice something. Thankfully he dismissed the thought rather quickly again. He was just being a good person, trying to get the woman who saved his life, allowed him to hide at her place into her bed. 

"And here I thought I was able to get rid of my permanent urge to kill myself...." he thought as he stopped in his tracks and looked directly into the cobalt colored eyes of the girl he was carrying. "Good morning, I guess?" Aereth said with an awkward smile on his face.

"I-I just saw you sleeping at the table, and thought this would be really uncomfortable s-so I-I wanted to get you into your bed." the brunette mumbled in an attempt to explain himself. 

Then there was some silence and Aereth gently let her down, but stopped her before she would have been able to formulate an answer. "Before you say anything, can I ask you for a favor?" He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Take care of my armor and sword. Give them to anybody you think could use it. I'm going to kill myself now." The brunette said and started to head for the exit...

That evening Aereth was able to learn much about the purple haired blacksmith, even though he once again stayed more in the background of the conversation. He was a good listener, and every cruel detail he managed to pick up pained him. Yeah, sure he also had and still has it hard, but there are some times where he would just want to hug her like on the first day when she completely cried everything from her soul. But he refrained from doing so. Back then it was necessary in order to help her. Every time he felt like this in recent times, he felt as if it would do more for him than for her if he would hug or even touch her for that matter. 

With a sigh the brunette got up to his borrowed bed. "Seems like no sleep for me again...." he mumbled. Just then he saw light from underneath his door. "At least I'm not the only one..." 

Aereth slowly opened the door, and started to talk. "Also not able to sl..." When he saw the passed out figure of Teion over her notes Aereth stopped mid sentence. Recently Teion started to work on her sketches non stop. No wonder she would just pass out at some point from exhaustion. 

His gaze stayed on the beautiful mop of purple hair that was covering almost every sketch under her, and inside of him a war started. "Should I or should I not? She must be uncomfortable as f*ck in this position. No, just go back into your room and act as if you didn't see her. Just do it. She wouldn't notice anyways." Just before he snapped, he took a deep breath and banished all thoughts from his mind. "F*ck it..." the brunette thought and opened the door to the room where Teion usually slept.

He then silently walked over to the sleeping Teion and slowly picked her up, careful not to make any sudden moves or loud noises. And after he made sure that he had a secure grip on her he started to move towards the open door...

Aereth sweat dropped. Yeah, he was being really weird and acting strange. Aereth sighed. "Yeah. I think I'm going to call it a day. It really seems that I need some sleep in an actual bed for once..." Aereth said and slowly walked towards the room. "Thanks again for letting me stay here for some time." He added before he opened the door and left for the night. 

As soon as he closed the door behind him, his left hand curled into a fist and started to glow. The <<All Might>> sword art charged up and he was just about to release it against the wall, before he stopped himself and let the attack die down. How f*cking stupid, awkward and strange was he acting around that woman? It drove him crazy. His armor and normal clothes went into his inventory and got replaced by a black tank top and some loose trousers, before letting his body drop in the bed and closing his eyes.

"What a beautiful day...."

Immediately after Pooh left the room, the figure in the shadow dashed forward and paralyzed Piglet with one move of her blade. Aereth grinned. Or at least he would have grinned if the cloth in his mouth didn't prevent him from it. Piglets body hit the floor, and Hidden finally cut the ropes that were holding him in place.

Finally. He could move again. He dropped to the floor on one knee and removed the cloth that kept him from talking. He listened to what Hidden was saying, but at first he didn't respond. His gaze slowly wandered towards the paralyzed guard on the floor, and as soon as he heard the words "If you want to kill him, go ahead." the brunette got back up to his feet, walked past Hidden. "This will take just a few moments." he said, for now ignoring his armor and weapon. 

When he finally reached Piglet, he grabbed the player by the collar of his light armor, and pulled him up. "I told you that the last thing you are going to see will be me smiling when I'm going to end your life." The grin on Aereth's face was wicked and within the blink of an eye Aereth buried his other fist into the torso of the man. As Piglets upper body went down from the hit, Aereth met his face with a knee which caused the body to rise again. To finish his combo The brunette delivered a roundhouse kick to the body and let him crash into the wall behind Hidden. 

Immediately he activated his charge skill in combination with his strongest attack. The body hit the wall, and just moments later Aereth also had reached it hitting the player right into the chest. His fist went through the virtual body like a hot knife through butter, only got stopped by the solid wall behind them in combination with the purple <<Immortal Object>> pop up sign. Seconds later the body vanished into thousand little polygons and the deed was done. 

"Thank you." Aereth said as he finally equipped his unique armor and weapon. "Agreed. Let's meet up with him. Judging from the noise next to us he isn't far away, right?" 

They quickly made their way over to the next room and as they entered, Pooh was standing with his back towards the entrance. He was already pretty low from fighting Domarus and it would only take one more hit before he would die. Aereth cracked a smile and said. "What did Pooh say to Piglet?" His left fist was already shining, indicating that he had charged up a sword art, and moved forward as soon as the second guard turned around. The attack connected and Pooh was also gone from this world. 

"Need a hand?"

@Domarus @Hidden