We see an unconscious Vania, chained inside a dungeon cell, when she suddenly woke up. Angry, she breaks the chains with ease and smashed out of her dungeon. She then starts walking, throwing the door at a group of guards, as well as using the chains cuffed to her as weapons, defeating the guards with ease as she continues on her way threw the castle. Vania then walks up a set of stairs, continuing do defeat any enemies in her way, even a flying skeletal snake creature. Eventually, Vania reaches the throne room, where a young, teenage, Gwain is sitting on the throne.
Vania: "Where's the Queen?"
Gwain: "I am the Queen."
Vania: "Don't make me laugh, kid. I know you're one of her daughters. Now tell me where that damned woman who locked me away is."
Gwain: "She died a few years ago, fighting at Lawren's Cataclysm."
Gwain then stands up from her throne.
Gwain: "So, any issue you still have pending, you'll have to sort it out with me."
Vania: "Hmm! You have guts, kid. But I'm not interested in kicking your face."
Gwain then teleports a few feet away from Vania, preparing to fight the Vampire.
Gwain: "You have no choice."
With that, the two charge at one another.
Time Skip….
We see Ami, as she wakes up from a bizarre dream. She sits up on her bed, as we see a picture of a younger Ami standing next to Vania, as Ami checks her phone as she gets texts from the group text chat. She then sees Nick send a text, as she suddenly goes into a love struck state, while remembering her dream, she tries to snap out of it, but is unable to forget the dream, as she screams in confusion. Ami then gets dressed, grabs some cash, and puts on her EXE-ARC from it's charger. She then goes down stairs, walks through the kitchen, not realizing she's bumping her forehead into a BUNCH of hanging frying pans, kisses a Gwain, who is sleeping on her throne, on the cheek before leaving, as Gwain wakes up, swallows drool hanging from her mouth, and falls back asleep. Ami then runs through a grassy field, a bridge, and then down a pathway leading to the Watchtower.
At the Watchtower….
We then see Lanney in the kitchen, cooking packed lunches, while Marlow is on the coach playing a video game, with her right leg in an ice cast. Ami then exits the elevator and into the main room.
Lanney: "Good morning, Princess, everything's set up for the trip."
Savien: "That's right, milady, we didn't forget anything….As always."
We then see that Savien is standing in front of a beaten up, tied up, Jea. Ami then looks around the room.
Lanney: "If you're looking for Master Geo, he went to fetch some last things. And Miss Marlow is still playing that game you lent her."
Ami then holds the box for the mentioned game, revealing it to be some Gwain Saga version of Animal Crossing. We then see that Marlow's avatar, who looks a lot like her, is shaking a tree, with a squirrel, which looks like Lanney, hanging on top of the tree crying in fear.
Marlow: "Get down here and say you're leaving my island again."
Lanney: (while she and Ami are watching Marlow) "She's been on that for 745 hours."
Marlow: "It's really fun."
Ami:
Marlow: "How's my leg?"
Marlow lifts up her right leg, showing it in the ice cast. A thud is then heard, when Ami looked she started blushing like crazy.
Lanney: "Oh, right on time, Master Geo."
We see Nick walk in threw the window while wearing a new suit, as he spots Ami.
Nick: (warmly smiles) "Hey, Ami. It's good to see ya."
Ami froze for a second before going into a total love struck state, before snapping out of it.
Lanney: "Wow! Is that a Wind Suit? Where did you find it!?"
Nick: "Oh, this? It was another gift from Gwain's sister."
Lanney: "It looks really refreshing, can I see it?"
Nick: "Yeah, sure."
Ami then turns away and tries to calm herself down, while Lanney pokes the top of her head under Nick's bandana, feeling the soft breeze coming out of it. Much to her comfort.
Savien: "Alright, time to go. Agni and Deva are waiting for us. Alright, Marlow, get ready. We're going for the Regenerative Ivy that we need to heal your leg."
Marlow: "What are you saying?"
Savien: "We already decided it, we're going to the South Coast of Gwain Kingdom."
Marlow: "But I already told you there's no need, my leg will be healed in a few more weeks. Besides, I can't take my wheelchair to the beach."
Savien: "No worries, Sir Geo already took care of that."
Savien then points Marlow's wheelchair.
Marlow: "It looks the same. What exactly did you do to it, Geo?"
Nick: "Not much. I just made it Elemental proof, Magic proof, and the cushions are softer now too. And, sense it's Elemental proof, you can take it to the beach."
Marlow: (impressed by Nick's upgrades on her wheelchair) "You got to be kidding. Thanks, Geo."
Nick: "No prob. Now, let's get you on it."
Nick then scoops Marlow into his arms and places her on the wheelchair.
Time Skip….
Nick, Ami, Marlow, Lanney, and Savien are now walking across a bridge.
Savien: "Well, here we are, the Magic Street Market. You won't find a better place to buy your trinkets."
Soon, Agni and Deva walk up to them.
Deva: "Wow, look what the tide washed ashore. Well, enough small talk. We need to leave ASAP, ok?"
Agni: "Alright, you sons of a gun, synchronizing watches….Now!"
With that, everyone synched their watches and went to get their supplies. Ami walks up next to Nick, and looks down to his left hand. She then starts remembering her dream from last night.
Voice inside Ami's head: (Hold his hand? Come on, you've done it before.)
Ami slowly moves her right hand towards Nick's left hand, while her face is EXTREMELY red. She then grabs a hand and becomes embarrassed, only to realize she's holding hands with Lanney, with Nick nowhere to be seen.
Lanney: "He-he, Princess. We haven't been out shopping together in a long time, right?"
Lanney gives a cute excited look, while Ami just chuckles, before looking upset that she's not holding Nick's hand, with Deva noticing.
Agni: (puts down a cooler) "Give me three packs."
Lanney: "Beer? But, Agni, we're on the street, you're not supposed to consume…."
Agni: "Don't play the "Good Girl" with me, Lanney. We both know what a blast you had at Deva's birthday."
A flashback shows the gang at the Watchtower drinking beer, except for Nick, Marlow, Savien, who chose to drink root beer, and Ami, who is drinking apple juice (Ami gets drunk easily after one sip, and Nick, Marlow, and Savien don't drink beer by choice, and Nick also doesn't like the smell of alcohol), as they are all celebrating Deva's birthday. However, Lanney got drunk after only a few sips.
Lanney: (drunk) "How the heck did you all not noticed? Brown eyes, brown hair….Duh!!! What Element did you think it was? The S*** Element!?"
Lanney then takes more sips from her beer, before passing out on the table.
Nick: "I honestly thought her Element had something to do with bread."
This makes the rest of the gang all nod, agreeing with Nick about how they also thought Lanney had an Element related to bread.
Deva's birthday was sometime between Chapter 7 and Chapter 8.
Back in the present….
Lanney: (embarrassed about what happened that time) "Can we forget that even happened?"
Later….
The gang is now in a swimsuit store as they are buying their own swimsuits. Deva picks a "Level 10 Water Swimsuit", but is shocked when she saw Marlow pick a "Level 18 Leaf Swimsuit", while Ami picked a "Level 20 Orca Swimsuit". But, Deva ends up completely dumbstruck when she saw Lanney, nervously, pick out a "Level ??? Maid Swimsuit". This made Deva horrified, furious, and most of all, jealous, as she rushes over to Lanney.
Deva: "You think you're better then me, don't you, you show off!?"
Lanney: "Eh?! What are you talking about, Miss Deva?! Wait! What are you doing?!"
Deva: "Those things are not your!"
Lanney: "No, please!"
Meanwhile, Nick is looking at the accessories, and spots a pink, heart-shaped, hairpin.
Ami: (shyly hands Nick a "Scuba Diving Suit")
Nick: (smiles and takes the scuba suit) "Thanks, Ami."
What the two don't know, is that Deva is watching them while, um, touching a distressed Lanney. Meanwhile, Savien is looking threw the fishing rods. Later, the gang all change into their swimsuits.
Agni: "Alright, team, ready to hit the South Coast of Gwain?"
Lanney: (in a deep, manly voice while acting serious) "Let's rock."
This makes the rest all nod and impressed by Lanney's deep voice, which makes her embarrassed.
Time Skip….
The team then arrives at the South Coast of Gwain.
Savien: "Wow, there's a lot of people here, mostly girls. I'm surprised to see you this calm, Agni."
Nick: "No kidding, this place is right up your alley, so you'd think you'd be more psyched, dude."
Suddenly, Agni basically went Super Saiyan due to the amount of girls in the area.
Nick: "Ah, there we go."
Later, the gang goes to a beach bungalow, as Lanney starts unpacking the food.
Marlow: "The Regenerative Ivy is on Bride's Island?"
Deva: "That's right, Geo and Ami will look for the Regenerative Ivy. I'll take them there."
Nick: "Hold on, you want to bring Ami with us to look for this Ivy? I don't think that's a good idea."
Ami looks at Nick while slightly insulted.
Marlow: "Yeah, I guess it makes sense you wouldn't want to bring Ami to any unknown place, Geo."
Deva: "Yeah, Ami does have a history of being clueless."
A mini flashback shows Nick stopping a moving truck with one hand, before it could hit Ami.
Marlow: "Mmm….True, she's always getting into trouble."
Another mini flashback shows Nick saving Ami from delinquents.
Savien: "And Sir Geo is always ending up saving her, right?"
Ami then tosses the packed food away, only for Nick to use his Telekinesis to levitate the food to Lanney, and places her left arm on the table, challenging Nick to an arm wrestle. This makes everyone else shocked, and look over to Nick, to see what he will do.
Nick: "Ami, I'm NOT going to arm wrestle you. Did you forget I have superhu-ah-teoran strength? I could accidentally rip your arm right off or something."
But, Ami doesn't budge.
Nick: "You're not gonna drop it until I agree, aren't you?"
Ami just nods. Nick just sighs and puts his left on the table. As they are about to begin, Deva cooks popcorn on top of Agni's head. Nick and Ami then begin arm wrestling, though Nick's arm doesn't even budge while Ami is struggling to move. Nick feels bad, knowing he has an unfair advantage with superior strength compared to Ami's, he was about to push Ami's arm down, but the others watch, as they also don't know what he should. Suddenly, Ami starts using her Magic to drain Nick's life force to gain an advantage.
Marlow, Deva, Agni and Savien: (shocked, thought) 'She's draining Geo's life force?!'
Nick: "Um, Ami? Did you forget that I'm immune to Status Effects again? Also, I'm half-Vampire, meaning my lifespan is several times longer then a pure-blooded Teoran's."
This makes Ami shocked, as she did in fact forget about Nick's Status Effect Immunity, and him basically being immortal as a half-Vampire, making her strategy useless on him. With her plan ruined, Nick slowly, and gently, pushes Ami's arm down onto the table, winning the match. Ami ends up crouching down and pouting as she didn't stand a chance against Nick, who just feels bad for her.
Nick: (sighs) "Alright, Ami. You can come with me to get the Ivy."
This makes Ami slightly smile, as she gets to go with Nick after all. Later, Nick, Ami and Deva are standing on a dock.
Deva: "Hey, are you sure that little boat can go the distance?"
The boatman salutes her, confirming that the boat can make the trip.
Nick: "So, Deva, why's it called "Bride's Island" anyways?"
Deva: "Umm….There's a story that tells that a woman died while waiting for her lover at that place, but he never showed up. And now her soul wanders around the island looking for victems and blah, blah, blah…."
This makes Ami nervous, as she is now starting to regret coming.
Deva: "You know, classic drunk sailor tales. (does a finger frame pose to show Bride's Island, revealing it to be a floating island) Ok, moving on. I'll help you up the island and you'll go for the Regenerative Ivy."
With that, Deva dives underwater, Nick flies through the air, and Ami gets on the boat, with the boatman rowing towards the island.
Time Skip….
Nick, Ami and Deva eventually make it to Bride's Island.
Deva: "Remember, it may be levitating in the sky, but it's a maritime cave. These suits will help you breath underwater as well as walk over it, Ready? (pulls out a card with a Water symbol on it, and switches her Element to Water) Geyser-Forget it, I'm not saying the name of the attack before doing it, it looks stupid."
Deva then slams her hands on the water surface and summons a water pillar, which takes Nick and Ami into a cave inside Bride's Island, before turning into ice. Ami then gets a call from her EXE-Arc.
Deva: (via Ami's EXE-Arc, staticky)
However, Ami couldn't hear Deva clear enough through the static, with her Arc loosing connection. Nick and Ami then procced though the cave, as they drop down a small hole in the water. Once Ami makes it to the bottom, she falls into Nick's arms, which they both blush about.
Ami: (blushes)
Nick: (blushes) "Yeah, sure, no prob."
Nick then puts her down and continues walking.
Voice in Nick's head: (Dude, seriously? How long are you gonna be like this? Common.)
Nick: (thought) 'I don't know what you're talking about.'
Voice in Nick's head: (I mean, you acting like you potentially might NOT see Ami MORE then "Just a friend".)
Nick: (thought) 'Don't be stupid, Ami and I ARE just friends. Nothing MORE, nothing LESS. Like what I told Gwain. Besides, Ami doesn't see me like that.'
Voice in Nick's head: (sighs) (Look, dude, I know why you think Ami doesn't look at you like that, and you probably think it's the same with Deva, Marlow, and Lanney. You're afraid you might end up like that sorry excuse for a "Biological Father" of yours, and/or your mom's "Biological Father". But, common man, you gotta get over it, you're NOTHING like them. You've got NOTHING to worry about.)
Nick: (thought) 'I don't think it's worth the risk. Besides, Ami's a princess, and I'm just her bodyguard. It wouldn't workout anyways.'
Voice in Nick's head: (But, Gwain said she's okay with you two dating. Meaning, you already have Ami's mom's approval.)
Nick: (thought) 'I'm just not going to bother trying. I made my self asexual anyways because of it.'
Asexual means a person is NOT attracted to either Females, OR Males in ANY way. It's basically the opposite of being Bisexual.
Voice in Nick's head: (I don't think just because you mentally blocked yourself from developing feelings for anyone makes you "asexual". Seriously, Nick, you're 19, and almost 20 soon. You can't keep avoiding from being in a relationship just because you're afraid and insecure about this stuff.)
I'm making it that it's currently almost been a year since Nick got transported to Teora.
Nick: (thought) 'Just watch me. I haven't fallen in love, or even been CLOSE to being in a relationship, once for 19 years, and I can keep it like that for ETERNATY if I want.'
Voice in Nick's head: (sighs) (Fine, whatever floats your boat, bud.)
With that, Nick stops talking to the voice in his head. Meanwhile, Ami is having a conversation of her own, as a tiny "Pirate Ami" appears on her left shoulder.
Ami's Shoulder Pirate: "Arrrgh! Atta girl, you got him. Now take what's yours."
Ami: (thought) 'Umm…."
Shoulder Pirate Ami: "Don't look at me like that, he's where he is now thanks to you. He belongs to you and you know it. Go on, hold his hand."
???: "No…."
We then see a "Nun Ami" on her right shoulder.
Shoulder Nun Ami: "Grab that booty."
Ami: (shocked) 'HUH????!!!!'
Shoulder Pirate Ami: (also shocked) "Hey! Whoa! Calm down! Hold on! It was just holding hands."
Back at the Coast….
We see Savien sitting at the docks fishing, when a sky-blue fin poked out of the water before diving back under, catching Savien's attention. He then gets a bite on his line and reals it in, revealing the "Shark" to actually be Deva.
Savien: "You look bummed. I thought you were going with Sir Geo and Lady Ami, anything bad happen?"
Deva: (spits out the hook, and sits next to Savien on the dock) "Nah, it's better to leave them alone."
Savien could tell that something is bothering his Ice/Water-user friend and smiles, knowing what it is.
Savien: (pats Deva's head) "You're a really good girl, you know? Do you want some ice cream?"
Deva: (looks heartbroken trying not to cry) "I want two."
This just makes Savien sigh, seeing that she's going to have a hard time getting over giving up on Nick.
Back with Nick and Ami….
The two are in defensive positions, as the boatman suddenly vanished into thin air. Suddenly, a jellyfish-like monster appeared and tried to attack them, with Nick getting himself and Ami out of the way.
Nick: "Guess we found the "Bride" from Deva's story. Too bad this thing decided to attack us while we're in a dark cave. Cause that gives ME a HUGE advantage. Ami, you stay safe, I'll deal with this "Bride"."
With that, Nick starts fighting the Bride, and he immediately gained the upper hand, as the fact there's barely any light in the cave seems to be making Nick's Darkness Magic more powerful, as he even summons SEVERAL MASSIVE Dragon Heads from the walls, as well as pushing both his Ki and Enhancement Magic past the limits, tapping into MORE power then he every had before and causing him to be covered in a bright crimson aura, entering his own Energized Form (imagine it looking like Super Saiyan 3, but with red hair, combined with Ultimate State, Kao-ken x100,000, Ultra Instinct, AND Ultra Ego), overwhelming the Bride with ease, as the Bride's Barriers, Mental Attacks, and other abilities only end up being useless on Nick. Meanwhile, Ami is hiding behind some large rocks, as the battle between Nick, and the Bride is so intense that causes the cave to start becoming unstable, when the boatman suddenly appeared and took Ami out of the cave. The Bride then tries to escape while Nick is hot on her trail, soon, Nick ends up summoning the voice inside his head, revealing it to be some type of Draconic/Vampiric Demon, as it helps him fight the Bride. Eventually, the battle ends up outside, and the Demon returns into Nick's body. Weakened, the Bride lifts an old sailboat out of the water, intending to crush her enemy with, only for "Super Nick", who isn't even CLOSE to tired, to obliterate it with a single Air Blast from his Kiai, which makes the Bride furious as she charges at him. Suddenly, the boatman, and Ami, appeared on the boat, as the Boatman, who takes off his hat, stops the Bride, who seems shocked, and also happy, to see him, as the two embrace one another.
Ami:
Nick: (returns to normal) "I get it, the boatman is actually the Bride's lover, he's the Groom."
The Bride then tosses the Regenerative Ivy, which was given to her by the Groom, to Ami, while Nick puts the pink heart hairpin in her hair. As the Bride and Groom giggle from watching the interaction between Nick and Ami, much to their embarrassment, as they watch the Bride and Groom move on to the After Life.
Mini Time Skip….
Deva, Agni, Marlow, Lanney, and Savien are grilling kabobs and hamburgers over a fire, as they spot Nick and Ami, who is riding on his back, finally return. Deva yells at the two for taking so long, checking if Ami is okay, before seeing the heart hairpin Ami is now wearing, which the Ice/Water-user grins about, seeing that Ami DIDN'T disappoint her, thought Ami waves this off. Lanney then hands Nick and Ami mugs of hot chocolate. While sipping from her hot chocolate, Ami notices Nick looking at her, she then winks at him, causing him to blush and look away, which she smiles at the reaction.
Nick's Inner Demon: (So, NOT more the "Just a friend", huh?)
Nick: (thought) 'Okay, fine, maybe I DO like Ami MORE then that.'
Nick's Inner Demon: (Called it. So, you ever going to tell her?)
Nick: (thought) 'Maybe one day. Seeing as how long I mentally blocked myself from developing these kinds of feelings, it may take some time for me take that wall down.'
Nick's Inner Demon: (Well, I get the feeling Ami won't mind waiting.)
Time Skip….
We see the living room at the Watchtower, as the TV suddenly turns on, showing Luna.
Luna: (thought the TV) "To all residents of the Kingdom of Gwain. I have a very important announcement to deliver. Especially to my….favorite Human."