The next day.

"Phew, looks like this is the last of it."

I took a moment to admire the view from my brand-new apartment while I wiped the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead.

'I guess moving out was the right call.'

From where I was standing, I could see the city in all its glory, and the view was simply stunning. There was nothing to complain about.

After returning from the assembly and discussing it with Amanda, I decided to vacate my previous apartment and move into a new one.

This was a must as I was about to perform a dangerous operation on myself.

With that being said, when I said "move out," I simply relocated to the vacant apartment next door.

There was no problem because Amanda owned the entire building.

"Alright, I guess I should get started."

I flapped my tank top, creating a small wind that pushed up my chin and refreshed me.

After that, I went to the beige couch that was perched atop a grey furry carpet in the centre of the room.

I sat down on the couch and took a pair of glasses from my dimensional space and put them on.

It had to be noted that these were special glasses and weren't normal glasses. My eyes were perfect, and I didn't need to have glasses in order to see.

There was a glass table directly across from me, and I swiped my hand over it.

Three books materialized on top of the table the moment I swiped my hand. The books were of three different colours: red, blue, and green.

Engraved on the front covers of each book were two words.

[Keiki style]

[Gravar style]

[Levisha style]

"Who would've thought that I would one day take my time to learn all three of the techniques."

I bitterly thought while I opened the first page of the Levisha style and tapped my glasses, which immediately scanned and copied the information that was displayed in front of me, highlighting the key points in front of me at the same time.

Getting my hands on the Levisha style wasn't actually that hard for me. All I did was exchange the poison flask I found in Immorra for it.

Kevin didn't seem to mind anyway.

The Gravar style, on the other hand, was a bit easier. As part of the contract, I was to be given a copy of the Gravar style, and that was how I had access to it.

Under the terms of the contract, I was not permitted to teach the method to anyone else; that said, I had no intention of teaching it to anyone else in the first place, so everything turned out fine.

"Now... how do I go about this?"

As I had previously mentioned, the Keiki style was no longer useful for me to the same extent it was in the past.

I had already long surpassed its predecessor, and the same could be said for the Levisha and Gravar style.

But that was beside the point.

Developing my very own signature sword style was at the top of my to-do list right now.

I wanted one that was exclusive to me and no one else... and the first step for me to take to accomplish that was to conduct an accurate analysis of the three strongest sword manuals known to mankind.

I intended to combine the various aspects of each sword stylespeed, power, and styleinto one and create the most powerful and complete sword style out there.

'For that to happen, I need to completely memorize every single detail of these books.'

I tapped on my glasses again, and with a serious expression, I began to examine and break down every single thing that was written in the manuals.

*

"They say that time flies when one is deeply immersed in something. I guess they weren't exactly lying."

I stood up to look at the clock that hung on the right side of my new apartment, 8 P.M.

Seven hours had passed before I knew it and it was already time for dinner. Rubbing my stomach a couple of times, I leaned back on the couch and blankly stared at the white ceiling of the room.

"What should I have for dinner?"

The one drawback of moving away from my parents was that I was no longer able to rely on my mother to provide me with warm meals, instead, I was responsible for preparing my own food.

I wasn't a bad cook, but cleaning was a big hassle.

'Actually, I suppose I could stop by their place and get something to eat from there.'

I shook my head after deliberating over the matter for the next couple of seconds.

It would not be a wise decision to show up unannounced and demand food.

"Whatever, I'll just order something."

I pulled out my phone and began browsing the delivery app in the app's menu. My finger scrolled down the page a few times before stopping, and my brows knitted together in a frown as I was suddenly brought to remember something.

A miniature tube that was filled with a dark liquid materialized in front of my eyes when I tapped my bracelet once.

"I almost forgot about this..."

'Suriol's blood.'

I analyzed the liquid in front of me with seriousness.

It had been some time since I had received his blood, and I recalled how he had described the process involving the gradual incorporation of demon blood into my blood.

I knew the steps by heart.

Incorporating demon blood into my body would not only make me more powerful, but it would also give me access to a skill known as "Demon Transformation," which would give me power beyond anything I could have imagined.

...however, this did not come without a cost, as there was a very real possibility that I could lose my mind as a consequence of my actions.

My hands shook a little when I stared at the tube in front of me.

'Should I, or should I not?'

I was desperate.

Desperate to not be involved with the schemes of the other me, Kevin, Jezebeth, the Akashic Records, or whomever it may be...

I didn't want to be a piece in whatever grand game of chess they were playing.

I...just wanted to be free, you know?

"Heh, who knows, me taking the demon blood might just as well be something that one of them has planned."

I covered my mouth with my hand and bit my palm.

Fuck...

I removed the cap from the test tube, and then carefully transferred the liquid into a cup that was sitting on the table nearby.

Click!

"Hu?"

I was startled to see Amanda enter my apartment after a sudden clicking sound and I quickly retrieved my hand away and stored the test tube in my dimensional space.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hm?"

Amanda cocked her head when she spotted me and place her thin brown jacket on the hanger at the entrance of the room.

She then took off her boots.

"Weren't you the one who told me to come?"

"I did?"

"...Don't tell me you forgot."

Amanda covered her forehead with her hand. Her face was filled with helplessness, and I lowered my head in embarrassment.

'Now that I think about it, I do recall telling her yesterday something of the sort.'

I rubbed my palms together and leaned back on my sofa.

"I didn't forget. My thoughts were somewhat jumbled because of all the studying that I was doing."

"Is that so?"

Amanda approached me as she tied her hair into a ponytail.

Her slender neck became exposed the moment she attempted to tie her ponytail behind her head, giving me a sight to behold.

Accentuating the curves of her body was her outfit, which was composed of a black turtleneck that was neatly tucked inside of her blue jeans.

With her legs on the side of the couch, she sat next to me. A thin purple hairband hung in between her lips.

Amanda suddenly smiled seductively upon noticing that I was looking at her.

"Like what you're seeing?"

She asked, removing the hairband from her mouth and tying the hair behind her back.

I nodded my head.

"Yes...Yes, I do."

It would be a lie if I said no.

Amanda's expression froze when she heard me agree.

"Eh?"

"What is it?"

I asked, curious about the sudden shift in her expression.

To my shock, I watched as Amanda placed her hand over my head and looked at me with a worried expression.

***

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not sick."

"What? What makes you think that I'm sick?"

Amanda ignored Ren and continued to check the temperature of his head.

She sighed in relief when she saw that the temperature was normal.

"It looks like you really don't have a fever."

"What got into you?"

Amanda locked eyes with Ren, and she deeply stared into his eyes. She didn't hear it wrong, right?

Did the stone hearted idiot actually fall for her charms for once?

Two years.

She had been trying for two years to become more intimate with him, only to see Ren erect a barrier and keep their relationship the way that it always was.

At times, she wondered if they really were in a relationship or if Ren truly did like her.

Was she not attractive in her eyes? Does he prefer girls that are like Melissa? More mature ones?

Her mind raced with all kinds of strange ideas over the course of the two years they were together.

It was embarrassing to think about, but she couldn't help but doubt herself in front of Ren, who didn't seem to be moved at all despite her efforts to advance their relationship.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Ah, nothing."

When Amanda saw Ren wave his hand in front of her face, she instinctively jerked her head backwards.

Her reaction caused Ren to be even more confused.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing..."

Amanda's eyes darted around in panic, pausing on a small cup on the table that contained a strange black liquid. It look like coffee at first, but that was only at first...

In the instant her eyes paused on the blood, her face changed.

"Ah, that."

Ren's face also changed when he noticed what Amanda was looking at, and before he could say anything, Amanda had already stood up.

"Enough."

She could tell at a glance that the object in her hands was dangerous as she detected faint demonic vibrations emanating from the liquid within the cup.

"You're planning on doing something dangerous again, aren't you?"

Amanda didn't need to look at Ren to come to this conclusion.

She knew him like the back of her hand, and it was obvious to her that he was planning on ingesting whatever this liquid was.

When Amanda stared at the cup, she experienced a wide range of emotions, including resentment and sadness.

She had a momentary urge to throw it and destroy it, but she restrained herself because she knew that Ren was very important to Ren.

Biting her lower lip, she sat the cup back down on the table and stared at Ren.

"Ahh! What are you doing?"

Her mind emptied of all thoughts, and the next thing she knew, she was on top of Ren. She was looking down at him.

Amanda found it particularly amusing to see the shocked expression on his face, and her heart started racing.

"What are you doing?"

Ren asked, his eyes slowly recovering from the shock, and he supported his upper part of his body up.

Ignoring Ren, Amanda slowly took off her turtle neck, exposing her body, and softly responded.

"Something that I should've done a long time ago."

Her lips and his lips met.