The next day.

 

“Grandpa, we’re going off,”  

 

“Mhm,”

 

Waving at Grandpa, I left the store with Little Fish. We were going to the supermarket again today to stock up on food, as well as prepare for the trip.

 

As the weather was getting hotter, we walked along the shades of the tall building. Luckily it wasn’t noon, or else there would’ve been nowhere to hide.

 

Passing by us were pedestrians and normal civilians that lived in the outer edges of the city. Without the assistance of technology, there were people sweeping the streets while others were off towards work.

 

Whether it be for a restaurant, a clothing store, or perhaps even construction work.

 

After walking down the usual path towards the grocery, we scanned our cart to bind it before pushing it inside.

 

Choosing everything but pork this time, as well as vegetables, I went off towards the snack section.

 

“Hehe,” I chose a box of fish chips before wagging it in front of Little Fish, “if Little Fish eats this would it be considered cannibalism?”

 

She pouted, “I won’t eat it, I prefer pork.” afterwards she looked at me before licking her lips.

 

Blushing, I pinched her arm hard before continuing to shop. Throwing a bunch of snacks and drinks inside.

 

“Xi, we need to go.” Little Fish suddenly anxiously grabbed my shirt when the lights began to flicker.

 

Seeing her reaction, I grabbed her hand before abandoning our cart. We ran past the shelves as well as the other civilians shopping.

 

However we were too late.

 

Everything flashed black as the space in front of the entrance began to twist, the unsuspecting civilians caught inside it turned into distorted before turning into a swirl of blood.

 

Along with people screaming and panicking, everyone including us ran towards the deeper part of the supermarket. Peeking backwards, the distortion continued to spread, when suddenly he sounds of screaming, footsteps, and even the items dropping off the shelf from people bumping into it had disappeared. All except for a sound similar to that of glass shattering.

 

She dragged me behind the nearest shelf to hide.

 

Curious, I peeked through the gaps to find a figure that had appeared in the location of the quake. It was clad in jetblack scales while its eyes were red. On its head were two sharp horns while a severed tail waved behind him.

 

What kind of dimension monster is this?!

 

“Jfjry kvcr reyks retykjkljrtu….” It began to mutter in an unknown language before looking sideways, when he suddenly disappeared.

 

“Ahh! Mercy!” the scream of a man followed. Looking over, he was lifted up by his head as he kicked his feet and waved his hands.

 

However the creature didn’t grant him salvation.

 

With a light squeeze, his head exploded when all of the blood began to flow towards the Imp’s mouth. 

 

“Mertiuc!” it grimaced while his eyes eyes in disgust, however he continued drinking the blood as red lines began to form on his figure.

 

Little Fish pulled me before placing her hand over my mouth, not daring to look anymore, I huddled up along with her.

 

The creature's footsteps gradually drew closer while me and Little Fish silently hid as if the countdown towards our demise.

 

While praying he wouldn’t target us, and Mom to appear sooner, the imp eventually passed us. His footsteps slowly fading away.

 

Are we safe? 

 

“EKjyrd!” 

 

Clang

 

Followed by his voice, there was the sound of metal colliding. All I saw was a slender sword blocking a fist when Little Fish started to fight against the Dimension Imp, both her hands holding a sword as they turned into blurs.

 

The seconds that flew by seemed almost infinite as I nervously waited. I wanted to help, but I couldn’t even keep track of their movements, however I could tell that Little Fish was clearly on the losing end.

 

Mom, please hurry and notice…. 

 

Maybe I should run away? If it's after me then I can lure it away from Little Fish….

 

“Xi! Don’t leave my side, it’s after you!” Little FIsh screamed at me. 

 

Isn’t that more of a reason to run away? 

 

While hesitating, I suddenly heard a large explosive sound.

 

“Little Fish!” she had disappeared.

 

Taking out Grandpa’s sword I was about to send a stab when I felt something hit my waist. A painful feeling paralyzed my mind as I flew through a shelf, knocking over whatever was stored on it.

 

In a daze, I heard the creature say in a rage when a slender hand suddenly clutched the back of its neck.

 

Right as I lost consciousness, I saw him burst into flames.

 

***

 

The next time I awoke, I was met with a familiar ceiling. It was the ceiling to my room.

 

“Little Fish!” Screaming, I tried to get up, however my entire body was wracked with pain, causing me to be unable to move.

 

“She’s fine,” Mom’s voice sounded. Turning around, I found that she was sitting on a chair next to my bed, “she’s more durable than you think.”

 

Hearing what Mom said, I sighed in relief when I felt a cool energy spread over my body, easing the pain I was feeling, it was especially concentrated on the left side of my waist.

 

“You should probably check your symbol.” hearing Mom’s reminder, I sunk my consciousness inside. It was currently releasing both silver and red energy out, with the storage of silver energy decreasing at an increased rate.

 

“Mom, what was that creature?” 

 

“It’s an imp, it’s not in the archive I sent you. They are a race that belongs under the banner of the Black Dragon. Similar to how we grow stronger by contracting Spirit Weapons and slaughtering dimension monsters, they grow stronger by absorbing the concept of ‘Blood’ to create an extra heart.”

 

“Black Dragon?” 

 

“Nn,” she pointed a finger upwards, although Mom hid it well, there was also a slight look of yearning in her eyes. “a being passed tier 10, in other words, it is a god. His followers all gain an ability similar to the imp you saw.” 

 

Afterwards she frowned as if lost in thought.

 

Seeing that her explanation was over I closed my eyes again to rest.

 

Hearing a familiar set of footsteps, I turned around, it was Little Fish. Seeing her, the final bits of unrest completely faded away..

 

She came over before sitting down next to Mom while showing me a worried look, causing me to chuckle, “It’s not like I’m going to die…”

 

Closing my eyes, I waited for myself to recover.

 

“I’m going to make some food,” Mom got up before leaving me and Little Fish alone in the room. She held my hand with both of hers, as if praying I’ll be safe. 

 

Feeling her reaction a little over exaggerated I blushed before turning to ask, “Little Fish, are you okay?”

 

She was kicked so hard, that she had bulleted away.

 

“Nn!” 

 

Getting up, she started to move about showing that she was fine, afterwards she blushed.

 

“Does Xi want to check?” seeing her bashful appearance, my heart began to beat faster.

 

“But I won’t show you~” 

 

“...” 

 

Sighing, I closed my eyes to look at my symbol, when I heard a bang sound. Turning around to look, I found that Little Fish had locked the door with her cheeks dyed red causing my heart to quicken again.

 

Walking over, with a flash of light, suddenly all of her clothing had dropped off. While covering her important spots, she started to show me the rest of her body.

 

Seeing everything was fine, I let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Little Fish, oh~, how will you place on your clothing?” deciding to tease her, as if realizing something, she turned red again.

 

Suddenly Mom knocked on the door, causing her to become flustered.

 

I closed my eyes to save her from the situation. After awhile, I heard the sound of the door opening again, Mom had come inside with a bowl of soup while Little Fish was done dressing up.

 

Although her face was still slightly red.

 

Mom came into the room while looking at the two of us, seeing both of us blushing, she gave us a weird look before handing the porridge to Little Fish.

 

“I’ll leave it to you,” throwing such a line, she exited the room. The door slammed shut again, leaving just the two of us.

 

“...”

 

I had actually already recovered enough to do it myself…

 

Although I wanted to say that, seeing Little Fish’s eager look, I didn’t resist as she propped me up before blowing on a spoonful of porridge.

 

“Ahh…” When it was cooled enough, she carefully brought it towards my mouth.

 

Blushing, I opened up when, she stuck the spoon inside along with everything 

 

The rich flavor of the soup spread throughout my mouth.

 

“...” it tasted like the honey roasted boar from yesterday, or at least I think it was yesterday.

 

“Ahh…” hearing her command, I opened up. Afterwards while feeling slightly embarrassed, I continued to drink the soup she fed me.

 

“I’m going to wash the bowls,” after throwing me such a line, she briskly left the room along with the empty bowl.

 

Being left alone in the empty room, I took a boar out from my dimension necklace before absorbing it. The energy in the symbol had run dry during the time Little Fish was feeding me.

 

Seeing as I had pretty much recovered, I got up to find the lower left half of my shirt destroyed. Doing a few stretches and movements, I found that I had grown visibly lighter. 

 

After throwing a few punches in the air and jumps, I went off towards the side. Leaning on the closet was Grandpa’s sword. Picking it up, I did a few swings with it before storing it inside my necklace.

 

Seeing everything was in order, I left the room before heading towards the bathroom. I needed to change and bathe.

 

Customarily taking off everything and entering inside, I looked to find that my hair floating in front of me had grown more silver than normal.

 

Just as I was about to close my eyes to enjoy myself, I heard a knock on the door.

 

“Xi, we’re leaving in an hour!” It was Mom’s voice.

 

“...” so I had been unconscious for more than a day? Unknowingly, I had skipped Big Brother’s 3rd elimination match and it was already time for the trip.