Chapter : 18 : Wow ! This Was Really Unexpected And Sweet :
Location : Kingdom Of Valerion Valerion Academy Gate :
Time Skip : 7 Days Later :
" Oh yeah ! Valerion Academy I am back . "
Cian who had just returned from his adventure and training journey in the forest looked at the gates of the Academy with pleasant eyes .
While fighting the magical beasts for his training and looking for different kinds of treasures was quite good however still he missed his soft bed .
But still the training period was quite fruitful .
" And the rewards were quite sweet . "
After resting for a night Cian continued his journey towards the area where the magical beast had fallen .
It was because he wanted to take the magic beast core of the creature .
A magic beast core is a powerful magical core within a magical beast that contains it's beast essense .
The beast core is seen as a treasure as it's valuable for various kinds of Alchemist elixirs , armours , weapons , etc .
Moreover beast core from high tier magical beasts can have various kinds of special powers that one can inherit.
So in a short note the beast core is valuable .
Especially when it belongs to a powerful beast like the tiger beast .
Although the tiger magical beast Cian faced was not something too strong but still the value of it's magical beast core would be very good .
So there was no question of leaving it behind .
However after he went down the hill Cian found that the tiger beast had actually been dragged away by the moving water to quite the distance .
So it took him a lot of effort to find it following the water flow and by the time it had already been 4 hours .
Fortunately Cian did not have to fight the beast anymore as the fall from that waterfall had already done the job for him .
Then he quickly took the magic beast core and other materials from the tiger beast and then quickly left the area .
After that there was not much for him to do so he started roaming around the Jungle for the next 7 days for other hunts and medicinal plants in the area .
And after checking that he had only 2 days left Cian suddenly decided that he should go inside the middle region for a little exploration .
At first his plan was only to go in a few kilometres and then return back .
Which even Cian would admit was a stupid decision on his part .
And it seems that the bad luck that comes with being reincarnated in another world was always active .
Because just half an hour of entering the middle region he faced a huge magical beast that look like a how sized boar with two huge tusks that seemed ready to end his journey permanently .
The beast was naturally much stronger than the previous tiger beast and there was no way he could defeat that monster .
So Cian wisely decided to retreat .
The beast on the other hand was quite ferocious as it chased him very deep within the outer region and it was only after 6 long hours that the chase finally came to an end .
Well if he wanted to Cian could have used in the level of card the day before and waited 24 hours and then go to fight the beast at which point he would have won .
But he did not do that .
The reason is quite simple .
Cian intends to go to the dungeon that was mention before and over there he intense to fight the Boss monster .
The Boss monster is actually a spider magical beast with power equal to an early stage Aura user .
So after Cian reaches the early or middle stage of the veteran realm he will use the level of card to reach the aura user realm .
This will make him strong enough to stand against that boss monster .
And fortunately in this trip after all the battles Cian had reached the peak stage of the novice realm.
But right now he need rest and some time with his sweet Liora .
" Alright let's go in . "
After checking in At The gates with the guard he finally entered The Academy .
At first he wanted to go to the adventurer's guild to sell his items including the magical beast core before coming to the academy .
However the exhaustion of these past few days was catching up to him and right now he desperately wanted to go and sleep in a comfortable bed.
" So first I will rest and look for Liora and then tomorrow I will go to the guild . "
However just as Cian was entering the Academy he felt that something was wrong .
The atmosphere in the Academy was tense and everyone looked a little more stiff .
Let alone the students from commoner background even the noble students who always looked carefree had a look of tension on their faces .
' What's going on ? Did someone else once again slap the second prince while I was away or did the hero did something out of the context again . '
Cian who just now had the intentions of going back to sleep suddenly felt that he would have to put that on hold .
It was then that he suddenly notice a girl coming towards him .
" Cian !!!! You are finally back . "
It was of course Liora who was just returning from the library when she saw Cian coming through The Academy gates .
" Hey Liora ! how have you been . "
" Did you miss me . "
Looking at her cute face Cian quickly forgot his earlier exhaustion .
Pulling the girl in a deep hug Cian couldn't help but admire the beauty in front of him .
If it had been before he wouldn't have been able to hug her like this .
But now it seems she was getting more comfortable with in such actions.
" Of course ! I missed you . "
" I had no to talk to in this past few days . " - Liora said with a puffed up cheeks .
Just like in the story due to her sweet , innocent and somewhat awkward nature she was not quite good at socializing especially with the children's of the noble families .
So only the hero and his sister were her first friends and it was through them that she managed to get close to other characters of the story .
' Well ! It seems the situation is still the same this time as well . '
To be honest Cian felt it was purely ridiculous .
' I mean one of the most beautiful and kindest girl in the series is there and she does not have friends . '
' How is that possible ? '
Cian really couldn't understand the logic behind it .
" Cian were you hurt in the magical beast forest ? You didn't do anything reckless did you ? " - Liora asked .
Seeing this Cian who was about to make a joke stopped for a moment .
For someone who lacked people who would ask him a simple ' Are you alright' in his previous life this care .... It was really good .
" Well .... ! Now that you ask I am a little hurt . " - Cian said with an pained expression.
" What !!!! Where !!!! "
" We should go to the healers . "
Liora suddenly became worried and started to look over him for injuries.
However Cian quickly pulled her hands and placed it on his chest.
The contact was light and gentle and she could feel his heartbeat beating against her hand .
This suddenly brought a deep blush on her face .
" Cian !!!! What ... "
" Well you see ... my injury cannot be healed by a healer . "
Then he looked around and since there was no one there he closed the gap between them .
Then he slowly spoke to her .
" It's emotional ! " - as he said that he looked at her eyes with a playful look in his face .
" Maybe a little reunion kiss would help me . '
" My Dear . "
These words were like magical arrows that quickly struck the innocent girl like a storm .
At this moment metaphorical steam was coming out of her ears as her face turned red like a tomato .
' D .... Dear .... Ki....kiss .... '
At this moment Liora's brain was completely shutting down .
' How could he say something like this so casually . '
Just thinking about this the first thing that came to her mind was the incident of that day and how they shared their first kiss .
' Wait a second !!!! that was my first kiss but what about him . '
Liora looked at Cian suspiciously .
' And saying such words so easily for someone of my age with no experience in romance . '
Suddenly a thought came to her mind .
' Is he some kind of a playboy . '
After all such smooth words didn't seem could belong to someone who had not tried using them multiple times .
So she couldn't help but glare at him .
On the other hand Cian couldn't understand why was she looking at him like that .
' What is she thinking ? And why does it feel like it is something bad about me ? '
' Isn't this what one supposed to say when they are trying to be romantic . '
' At least that's what I learned from all those romcom webnovels . '
Right now Cian didn't know that his efforts of finding and thinking of all those cheesy words actually landed him in a position as a seasoned playboy .
" Hello miss Liora are you listening to me . "
" Huh ! Sorry I was just distracted . "
" Well if you are free now so could you tell me the answer - am I getting a kiss or not . "
" Bamm ! "
Suddenly Liora hit Cian with a soft punch.
" Hey ! What was that for ? " - Cian looked at her in confusion .
But she did not answer him and quickly turned around and left .
Seeing this Cian understood that he was not going to get that reunion kiss anymore and quickly followed behind .
For 5 minutes she did not talk to him and every time he look at her she would make a small I contact before turning her head away .
So he decided to take the initiative .
" By the way what is going on in the Academy ? Why is everyone so tense . "
Wanting to change the topic Cian quickly asked .
And this seems to work perfectly .
" Oh ! Right I meant to tell you before . "
" In the days you were not here some things have happened . "
Liora started saying as her expression begin to turn into worry .
And after listening to what she had to say Cian finally understood what happened .
While he was away from the Academy the relationship between the second prince and Jenny Cloudseaker had started to grow .
This happened with the prince taking the initiative to talk to her .
Obviously this was not taken in very good by Elera Ros Thalric , the second prince's fiancee .
However it was not her who started the incident this time .
But instead it was some other noble girls who apparently talked badly about Jenny .
And went as far as to secretly tear her books and notes .
This was obviously an act of jealousy as they could not take the fact that the second prince was ignoring them for an commoner .
The real problem came when rumour started to spread that it was actually done by the followers of Elera under her orders .
This led to the prince and Elera having a heated argument which turned the entire situation to this tense atmosphere .
' This was a small incident within the story that would be the starting point of the future conflict . '
Obviously Cian knew about this .
It's just that he forgot about it while he was busy with the forest hunting .
Moreover this was an important event that with push towards the apex battle and he had no intentions of changing it .
' Well at least there is some more time before the situation truly starts to get out of hand . '
And that meant that he could still grind his strength for now .
" Bump ! "
However just as Cian was thinking of the future , Liora who was walking infront of him suddenly came to a stop making him accidentally bumping into her .
" Liora is there ..... "
Cian couldn't get the time to finish his sentence as suddenly Liora looked at him with a blushing face .
And without giving him anymore time she quickly pulled him down and soon her lips was softly pressed against his lips in a gentle kiss .
This was a quick event and within seconds she moved away .
And without saying anything she turned around and ran away in a blinding speed leaving the confused boy .
As he looked at her retreating figure Cian finally came out of the shock.
" Wow ! This was really unexpected and sweet . "
( Author's Note : Hello guys I hope you all are doing well and before ending this chapter , I would like to thank you all for reading the story so far .
And if you have liked today's chapter then do consider supporting my work by saving it in your library as much as possible , which I will highly appreciate .
And you can also give your reviews and power stones .
So that's all I had to say today and see you soon in the next chapter .
Thank you for reading . )
To Be Continued .