It had been a few months since Sriya and Virin started living together.

They were happy and comfortable in each other's presence, but all good things come to an end.

On one fateful day, the duo that a few months back was molesting Sriya, found her again while she was out grocery shopping alone.

The day they were molesting Sriya, their office colleague had seen them.

They lost their jobs and their marriage was broken and both of them held Sriya accountable for it, if only she hadn't rejected them and just done her job as a prostitute, everything would have been fine.

After sexually assaulting her, they killed her and chopped her body in order to dispose of the evidence.

Although they both were sentenced to life imprisonment, Virin's life had once again crumbled.

He would always curse and hold himself responsible for not pressing charges against that duo.

He would follow his daily routine like a robot, wake up, work, eat, sleep, and repeat.

For months he followed this routine aimlessly until he became a complete shut-in, he would watch anime to reminisce about his days with Sriya.

Until one day he was summoned by the Gods and came to Aarna.

 _______________________________________________

Virin woke up after an annoying bird that was sitting in his room's window pain was chirping like she was paid to wake him up.

When he opened his eyes and looked to his side, Sriya was sitting on the chair next to the bed.

She looked at him and with a smile muttered, "Good morning, Master!"

With one phrase he knew his relationship with Sr iya was not the same as before. He could see the disappointment in her eyes, she was looking at him with a plastered smile.

"Good morning, Sriya!" he said with a fake smile, that didn't reach his eyes.

"Sriya, I have come up with a plan for the next few days," said Virin.

He was still sitting on the bed, with his back resting on the headrest. 

Meanwhile, Sriya didn't say anything and just nodded.

"As you've already decided to join me on my adventures, it's about time we start working on our basics."

"Currently we have two issues to tackle."

"The first one being, our low levels. I've heard from some adventurers at the tavern that there was a dungeon in a nearby city."

"It's very popular among newbies like us and rewards are good as well. But I always prefer to be well prepared."

"My level is pretty average but yours is below average. So it's my priority to help you level up," he said with a serious tone.

Sriya again nodded while thinking. What he was saying made sense.

"The second problem is regarding knowledge."

"Well, you've to deal with this as I can't read and write. So I can only rely upon your wisdom."

"So we need concrete knowledge to survive out there. It might be regarding Monsters, different races, herbs, and food. The more the better."

"Well of course you can teach me slowly but surely and I will catch up quickly," he said while yawning.

"So I've formulated the most effective plan!"

"From tomorrow today, I'll start hunting small monsters and grinding in nearby areas. We can share XP through soul rings, so it might help in your leveling."

"Meanwhile, I would appreciate it if you visit the Guild Library and soak all the knowledge you can, like a sponge," he said and after getting up performed some simple stretching exercises.

After having their breakfast, he took Sriya to the Guild Library. For this whole duration, Virin didn't say anything to her other than necessary things.

He also paid a few extra coins for the reserved study room, so no one could disturb her.

Virin then went to Klem, who wasn't pleased to see him.

"I thought you didn't like old men?" questioned Klem even without looking at Virin.

"Well I don't have any other choice do I?" said Virin while cleaning his ears with his pinky.

"So 'Old Man,' tell me which is the easiest and safest monster to hunt? I want to make some decent money while gaining a little bit of XP," said Virin.

Klem looked at him with a dead expression and muttered, "Go and hunt two-horned rabbits or wild turkey. You can find them near the safety of the city walls."

He then showed a rough sketch of both monsters drawn by hand.

"They usually range from level 3-6 and would be easy to handle with your status. They sell for good too, just don't hack their meat too much or they might lose their value," said Klem with a shrug.

"Okay!" said Virin and started walking towards the gate.

"And remember! Whenever you see a monster in a pack....just run away. It's always troublesome to deal with numbers and the same goes for bandits," yelled Klem while waving at Virin.

                      -----------------------------------------

In the forest near the city walls, Virin was chasing after a two-horned rabbit.

He has killed a few of them already and he discovered that the biggest issue while dealing with them was their abysmal agility.

He was already twice their level, but they were giving him a run for his money.

They would give around 30-60 XP a pop, usually depending upon their levels.

He had planned to solo-carry Sriya to level 10 for at least a week. So, he needed to hunt tonnes of them.

While he was chasing after the rabbit he came face to face with another monster.

'Rimur....no!' he mumbled.

In front of him was a grey-colored slime. The slime was feeding on the excretions of some random monster.

Hence Virin concluded that the slime in front of him was far from being sentient.

He sat down next to the slime and started observing.

Grey body like jelly and a red-colored bead-like core. Virin poked his sword at the slime's core and it lost its luster and red color and the monster became still.

{13 XP Gained}

"Hmmmm.....easy to kill. No wonder kids love to hunt these. They're weak and can give a good headstart to a kid who wishes to have a strong base by the time they become adults," he mumbled while wiping his sword clean.

He continued hunting rabbits and slimes and returned to the city before sundown.

After exchanging the rabbit meat at the Guild building, he earned a silver coin plus some extra change.

Then he took Sriya back to the Inn after having dinner at the nearest tavern.

Then he received a personal lesson from Sriya in how to read and write the 'Aranese,' which was the most known language of the world.

 

After his brief lesson, Virin wished her 'Good Night!' and went to sleep near the corner of her bed.

Meanwhile, Sriya just sat on her side while hugging her knees. Even though she reacted like nothing has happened and played her role as a slave, her heart was being squeezed inside her body.

She didn't know anymore, what she should do and after a while fell asleep.

                        __________________

A woman with turquoise and dark purple dual-tone hair was being held by chains and was kneeling on her knees.

Tears marks were visible on her fair cheeks, and her turquoise eyes had lost the light in them.

"Avis!" someone yelped.

"Hahaha...I.....curse all....," her voice wasn't clear.

Then a huge fireball was launched at her, that engulfed her silhouette.

Then an inhuman silhouette with several limbs rose from the ashes, that were left.

"I'll.....Kill..you....all!" an ominous voice was heard.

                        __________________

Virin sat up on the bed, after waking up due to the nightmare, with sweat covering his whole body.

'What the F**k was that?' he questioned himself.

After calming his breath, he looked at his side to make sure he didn't wake up Sriya.

Then he walked towards the window and looked at the moon. He hadn't realized it yet, but there were two moons of this world.

One of them was smaller, compared to the other. A serene smile came to his face as he looked at the moons.

"Sriya, I wish you would have seen this," he muttered to himself.

He remembered how excited she would turn, when the topic of anime or manga would come up.

Then he climbed out of the window and sat on the terracotta roofing, with his back resting on the wall behind him and just watching the moon.

"Every woman isn't as amazing as you, Sriya!" he mumbled again and fell asleep after a few moments.

While he was sleeping outside, Sriya's eyes were open as she had been awake and heard everything.