It was a refreshing morning for Seele after what happened yesterday.

She stepped out of her bed and stretches her body. Though, she could feel numb around her abdomen probably the healing effect she got from the mage yesterday. Despite not feeling any pain, Asterias warned her not to make any excessive activities including using her powers. It was probably the most irritating warning she ever received but considering her current situation, she had no choice but to abide her words and refrain from using her powers.

If Martha didn’t crush her internal organs, none of this would have happened. Imagining her face just irritates Seele even further.

Seele wanted her body to be healed immediately. After all, the battle against orc can happen at any time.

After a final stretch, she heads towards the desk where her attire was neatly folded. Seele assumed that it was Villi who fold it since she always threw her outfit all over the place. She checked every single one of them and found that none of her items are missing. Once she’s satisfied, she knew what was next on her list – getting a bath.

She didn’t take a bath since she fainted due to her injury and by the night time falls, the bath is already closed. As a hygienic person, she prefers to get clean before starting the day. After all, staying the whole night without a bath would’ve made her smelly. She hates being compared to a trash or even a rotting corpse.

As she prepares to put on her white shirt and her black skirt, Seele took noticed of the mirror placed nearby the desk. She looked deeply into the reflection of herself, the same old everyday look she bears – a rustled hair while wearing an unmotivated look on her face and her skin was pale like a vampire. All the details of her self didn’t matter at all. What matters the most was the scars.

Last night, she asked his temporary partner for his opinion since this was the first time a man saw her deformed body in 3 years and she couldn’t forget his words.

“Go back to sleep, Seele.”

He just walked away like he wasn’t bothered by it but it bothers her. She wondered why the man didn’t say any words other than telling her to go back to sleep. Disturbed by his response, she determined to find out his answer. She wanted to know what he thinks of her body. After all, the last time a boy saw her body, he was disgusted.

"Except for them..." She thought as their faces flashed within her mind. "No, they're gone..." she shook her head trying to get the image out of her head and continues with her activity. 

Seele puts on her shirt and skirt along with thigh high socks to cover her scarred body. Taking her toothbrush and towel, she exited her room. As she prepared to leave for the bath, she took notice of a single plate on the round placed near the door. Instead of food, there is a single piece of paper on it scribble with something.

“What the?” She knelt down, picked up the paper and read it.

NO BREAKFAST FOR YOU TODAY, MISSY!

And at the bottom right, an emoji of Villi pouting was drawn at the bottom right of the paper.

“Oh yeah, I did say I’m fine without breakfast to her though…” She simply sighed, knowing that she’s the one who brought it on herself. “Well, doesn’t matter…”

She crushed the paper and throws it onto the plate once again before heading downstairs into the bath. It didn’t take that long for her to wash herself. It took around 15 minutes for her to do so. After she had done bathing, Seele returns to her room but not until she encounters Villi who was operating the counter. The moment their eyes met, Villi simply looked away in annoyance.

“Really?” Seele narrowed her eyes. Well Villi is currently in bad mood, so it’s best to not bother her.

The girl climbs up the stairs to return to her room until she saw Tryx who had just about to enter his room. Seele felt lucky that she encountered him at the right time but she contemplates whether she should ask the question right away. After what happened last night, it would be too awkward for both of them. So she decided to play it the right way and decided to take it slow.

“Newbie.” She called out.

Tryx stopped before he could enter and turned towards her, “Huh, still popping out of nowhere as usual…”

“And you’re still letting your guard down as usual, newbie.” Seele shot back. “Maybe I should try attacking you with a fork while you let your guard down?”

“Hahaha, very funny! You’d get shot with my piece here!” Tryx patted his right waist proudly but then, he froze. His prideful face disappeared. “What the…” he panicked for a moment and checked his waist only to realize that he didn’t carry his ‘piece’. “Where did the…”

“What’s wrong? Didn’t carry your weapon, newbie?” Seele crossed her arms looking at him with a mocking gaze.

“I… swear, I…” then, reality struck his mind. “Oh… Yeah…” Tryx slapped his forehead, he felt like a fool for a moment. “I left it in my room.”

“Guess you’re a blockhead too, huh?”

“Hey, don’t lump me together with you!” Tryx unlocks the door and steps into the room. “Anyways, you’re coming in? Assuming that you have a business that is…”

“He’s inviting me in? This might be the good chance!”  Seele nodded, “Yeah, I need to ask you about something.”

“Then, come in.”

Once she entered his room, Seele scanned the surroundings. Similar layout to her room with exception of a strong masculine smell lingering in the room and some of his armors were stashed on the bed for some reason and the desk was full of something. Just as she imagine, her temporary partner didn’t organized his room properly. Needless to say, she didn’t see his firearm around the room. Perhaps he left it in the carriage? Seeing that the bed is occupied with his stuff, she decided to sit on the chair nearby the table.

As for Tryx, well, he pushed his PPEs all the way to the other corner of his bed so he can sit on the remaining space. 

“So, are you doing fine?” Tryx was the first to ask. “Especially with your organs still under recovery...”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure? Don’t want Villi to be spooked again. You remember what Asterias said yesterday?”

“Yeah, yeah… Don’t use magic for a while, I get that.” She was annoyed by that warning. It’s not like she’ll try and challenge Martha again.

“That’s not convincing.”

Seele narrowed her eyes, “Huh, so what do you want me to do? Cry like a little girl and promise not to do it again to you?”

“You know, that sounds good but coming from you that would be considered unnatural.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you don’t look that cute considering all that messy hair and terrible sense of grooming. Even your hair is still wet.” Tryx joked but he was being honest.

Seele couldn’t fight back, after all what he said was truth. Her hair is still dripping wet from the bath if it weren’t for her long hair. She cursed herself for not wrapping up her hair in a towel.

“Are you just trying to get my nerve or something?” Seele said coldly.

“Nope, I’m just telling you to stop using magic for a few days. Because an edgy girl like you have a really high ego and that means you hardly listen to people at all.”

There he goes again, babbling like a concerned big brother and it annoys the hell out of her.

Seele scratches her hair, she had enough of this lecture. “Geez, I get it. I won’t use magic for the sake of my own safety for a few days! Happy now?”

“Good, you shouldn’t do that or you’ll end up worrying Villi again.”

Seele felt a little down hearing his words. “Villi, she still looking out for me?” she thought as Villi’s emotions and expressions from last night was fresh in her memories. She just couldn’t believe it herself despite the whole commotion surrounding her. Out of disappointment, she muttered under her breath. “She should’ve stopped looking out for me.”

“What did you just said?” Tryx couldn’t hear it properly.

“No, nothing.” Taking her breath, she relaxed herself trying to stop thinking over the small details.

“Putting aside your well being, what’s your business for coming to see me?”

Finally, the time has come. She needed to ask the appropriate question. She has been holding out about it for a while and she needed the answer now.

What was his thought when seeing the scars on her body? She was eager to know.

“You see, I…” She stood up from the chair in a fast motion causing her to accidentally push the chair behind her slamming against the desk. “Ah?!” she turned around wondering if she accidentally damaged any of the inn’s precious furniture.

Before she could check on it, her eyes were caught on the items scattered across the desk. Something familiar but it was all disassembled and what catches her eyes were a single shiny object in a straight box. She picked it up and inspects it, it was no doubt. The shiny object was the same thing that she picked up back at the fort and in Tryx’s carriage, it was a brass. She then eyes on the other item on the desk, several disassembled parts of something. She recognized the shape; it was the same weapon that he used to kill the bandit leader that night but it looked different. Feeling curious, she asked the man.

“Hey, newbie… Isn’t this…” As she flaunts the magazine to Tryx, the gamer quickly jumped out of his seat.

“Woah woah, gimme that magazine!” Tryx snatched the magazine out of her hand and inspects it just to make sure not a single round was plucked out. “You should’ve at least asked my permission first before touching this thing.”

“I know… Dangerous stuff, you told me. But that ‘firearm’ of yours… What happened to it?” Seele points at the G18 that was scattered in multiple parts.

“Oh, I was running a… er… maintenance on it! Yeah, maintenance!” Tryx replied with anxiousness.

Seele gave a disapproving look to him as she felt mad at him. His words were not convincing at all. Plus, her powers are telling her that he was lying. He definitely thought of that excuse just now. So much for not convincing enough… As for Tryx, he was playing assembling the gun less than 60 seconds after remembering one of Jackie Chong’s ‘New Police Tale'¹New Police Story strring Jackie Chan. He thought he should imitate the scene and tries to do it himself but it proves to be quite difficult. It ended up scattered on the desk when he went for breakfast.

Unaware of Seele’s hostile glaring, Tryx proceeds to reassemble the G18 back into its original shape. She witnesses him combining every single piece of metal before inserting in to the rectangular slide cover and locks it at the frame. Lastly, he inserted the magazine into the gun before cocking the slide and flicked it to safety.

“There, all back in one shape.” Tryx declared proudly in front of the girl.

“Huh, that was quite… Complex.” Seele commented.

“Eh, it’s not that complex.” Tryx rebuked as he doesn’t see the problem with G18 since it was quite easy to assemble.

But for Seele, from her point of view it looked pretty hard to put it back into its original shape. After all, the weapon itself was complex for the native of this world. The use of chemical to discharge a small projectile to target at a high speed was definitely a game changing weapon in the future war. But the use of complex mechanisms hinders her from understanding the firearms itself. That’s why she can’t let anyone take advantage of him. Only herself, she can take advantage of his exquisite weaponry. She needed him for a bigger plan.

Talking about the weapon, she thought of something.

“Newbie… About your firearm…”

“What?”

“Your weapons… Do you have more of these?”

Tryx blinked, nodding his head. “Yeah, I got them. Why?”

“Can you show me? All of them, I want to see you use them.” Seele ordered.

Tryx chuckled, “That’s pretty funny coming from the girl who ordered me not to use this weapon in the middle of the public.”

Seele was speechless, he was right. Yesterday, she told him to lay low and avoid being the center of attention as oppose to her who is notorious for her status. And she even reminded him if any person gets the gist of his weapons, anyone would want to get it from his hands. Thus, she orders him to lay low and such. It might be ironic but she needed to see his weapons. This could be useful for her to devise a tactic for both of them in the next battle.

Though, with the state of town in high alert and the fact that the plains are also useless since the orcs are coming from that direction, she has too think of a place that is isolated and lack of any populations nearby the town. Seele thought for a while until she remembers a place.

“Say, newbie. How about if I bring you to a secluded place? Would you show me your weapon there?” Seele suggested.

“Okay, just what are you planning?” Tryx questioned. He eyed on her doubtfully as she’s been asking a weird request. “You asked me to go incognito and now, you want me to show my arsenal? That’s quite weird.”

Seele knew this would come. He would question her weird actions that would contradict her previous ones. But good thing she has her own reasons. That is if he can find it logical.

“Considering the way I fight, it seems that I need to see how you fight as well.”

”Excuse me?” Tryx didn’t get the gist of it.

“I’m trying to devise a tactic for both of us to fight together considering that both of us use different weapons.” She explained. “Seeing that you don’t use or even harness magical powers and uses a weapon that can shoot a projectile from afar, it’s obvious that you don’t excel at close combat.”

Tryx didn’t need to retort, she was saying the truth. He had a limited training in hand to hand combat moreover, close combat with a gun. Not even the ‘Gunkatas’ or ‘Gun Fu’ would be useful for him since the movies only exaggerate it and the last time he used it in a match, he got wasted pretty quick.

“Thus, that is why I wanted you to show me your firearm collections. We might be able to devise a plan and tactics against any type of enemies in the next two months. You said it yourself - if we want to fight as a team we need to cooperate. Don’t you think this is the right time?”

Seele just hoped that the reasoning sounds convincing to him. After all, she needed him to achieve her goal. Using this man’s knowledge and weaponry, no one can stop them. And being able to work together for the next to months with new tactics is a plus too. That is if they don’t argue throughout the two months.

“Why do you want to team up suddenly?” Tryx’s doubt didn’t waver. “You hated me so much and now you want to team up with me? Just why?”

Seele smirked, “I’m your senior and my job was supposed to guide you, aren’t I? Let’s just say it’s my first step in guiding you. Don’t get me wrong, I still hate you and I don’t want to be your partner. But its best we cooperate if we want to achieve the promotion, don’t you think so?”

Tryx laughed, “Yeah… Maybe you do have a point.” Whether he likes it or not, that doesn’t like a bad idea either. Devising plans based on the weapons type and threat level sounds like a good idea. Perhaps he can bring his old tactics from the previous world and applied it here. After giving it a thought, Tryx agrees to it. “Well then, if you say this could increase the chance of our success in future battle… Then, I’m in.”

“Good, we’ll be leaving this afternoon.” Seele head towards the door and ready to leave until Tryx called her.

“Before or after lunch?”

“After lunch. Though, I bet Villi have prepared something bad for me…” Seele grumbled imagining the worst lunch Villi would bring to her as a form of revenge.

“So where do we go?”

“A ranch, not far from the town. It was abandoned. I’ll show you the way.”

“Okay… Take care then.”

Seele closes the door and returns to her room. She wipes the rest of her hair that was still wet and head to her bag that was stashed in the closet to bring out her new dress. Instead of the red blouse she wore yesterday, she has a white dress with long sleeve and red frills at the bottom. She has been keeping it for a while but never had the chance to wear it. It was meant for casual wear but since she’s busy fighting 24/7 she stuck into the two fighting attire she usually wore. But this is a nice change of pace. After prepares the dress, she strips off her current clothing.

Once again, her toned body was shown as she looked into the mirror. Looking onto her reflections, she felt depressed seeing her scars all over her body once again.

And at that time, she remembered something when she looked onto her scars. It was like a wake up call to her, she finally remembers it.

She forgot about the most important task.

“Fuck.” She cursed herself. “I forgot to ask him about my scars…”

---

2:30 p.m

The duo made their way deeper into Fecta’s inland once they finished their lunch. As expected, Villi made a badly roasted lunch for Seele. Perhaps she was still expecting that apology from Seele. Even so, Seele ate it without any complaints. As they planned, they rode the Hilux and head south –east of the town. It wasn’t hard to tell the guard entrance that they were heading to another town to meet their ‘imaginary relatives’ before the battle starts. Good thing they didn’t ask them further and let them through.

Their location is an old ranch abandoned 5 years ago during the war against the Haresha Empire Located 10 km south-east of Bulgen Town itself.

“So, this ranch…” Tryx glanced at Seele who was sitting at the passenger seat next to him. “Why didn’t anyone return to claim it? I mean, there’s gotta be someone who wants to get it back, right?”

“During the last war, the owner had to leave the ranch after the Hareshians invaded the border. All the cattle were given to the Kingdom’s troop to use it as their supplies and they moved somewhere else. After the war ended, the owner returned to the ranch but the soil is no longer fertile and it’s no longer to suitable to grow the crops or raising cattle in the area. In the end, they opened up the ranch at the eastern of Fecta. The ranch was left abandoned just like that. There was a plan by the army to turn it into a fort but there are several camps close to the town already, so the plan didn’t get anywhere.”

“Damn, you know your stuff pretty well.”

“I’m a mercenary. Of course, I know my stuff. I’ve traveled a lot.” Seele declared.

“Of course you are.” Tryx chuckled, “Though, I just hope that there’s no wild life around the area. Don’t wanna get mauled by any creature…”

“Don’t worry, there are no wild beasts were sighted in the area. Only bunch of birds and docile animals crossing the area… It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“If you say so…” 

The cabin fell into silence once again.

As soonest they passed the old sign raised by the side of the road, she knew it was coming close. The girl knew she needed to ask the question. She wanted the answer so bad but will he answers it or he simply tells her to stay quiet? Even so, she needs to know what he thinks.

And so, she takes her first step.

“Hey, newbie.”

“Yeah, what is it?” Tryx glanced at her while keeping his eyes on the road.

“You see, I was…” she paused.

Tryx waited but she didn’t finish her sentence, “You were…?”

“I was…” Seele tried to say it but somehow she felt her hands trembling. She felt anxious out of sudden. She couldn’t say it. Fear had over taken her as she wasn’t ready to hear his answer. “Nothing.”

Tryx didn’t utter a single word as he watches the girl looked away from him. He didn’t have any powers like Seele but from the way she talks and how she reacted, he knew something was bothering her. If he tries to push her further, she would tell him to shut up. The best course of action was to leave her alone and wait until she’s ready. What ever she wanted to ask must be important.

After a long silence, Seele quickly spoke again.

“Here, turn around this corner.” She pointed at the rotting wooden fence.

“This one?”

“Yeah.”

The Hilux made a sharp turn into the corner as they pass the broken fence and into the ranch.

It was a long road all the way to the main house… or whatever left of it. As Tryx scans the abandoned property, he was impressed by the size of the land surrounding the house. There was a plot of land used to grow some crops but the land is no longer fertile. Instead, it turned hard soil and there was barely any plants growing in the sight. The barn met the same fate as the house, it crumbled to the ground and the only thing left was the front side of the building still standing.  The haystacks and straws are still around but some of them have started to wither and rot due being left out in the extreme weather. There was barely any vegetation in sight, it was all barren land. There are no water sources around the ranch either. It seems to be dried up as well.

He can see why the owner decided to leave the land after the war.

“So, where do I park the car?” He asked.

“Just stop behind the remains of that house. There’s plenty of space for the carriage.”

“Alright.” Tryx does as he instructed. He drove the Hilux around the ruins and stopped the vehicle. He turned off the engine and dismounts as he checks the area.

The area behind the house is quite spacious, he presumed that it used to be either a playground or at the very least a gathering area. The land behind the house was also a desolate land and there was a large stable at the backyard but like the rest of the buildings in the ranch, there’s only a few boards standing at the site.

He whistled, admiring the view. “Quite sad it ended like this.” He thought that this place can be a good parking lot or even a good theme park.

“This field is where two thousand Fecta soldiers defend their position against the incoming hordes of eight thousand Hareshian troops.” Seele stood by his side and witness the desolate land. “The Kingdom’s Army managed to stand their ground with the help of adventurers and mercenaries and pushed them back. Both sides had a lot of casualties but Fecta got much worse in return.”

“Worse? What did Fecta got? Losing Bulgen?”

“No.” she shook her head. “Fecta lost a great hero, General Forraine Douqan. He’s a legendary general of the Fecta that has been fighting for thirty years. If it weren’t for him, Bulgen would’ve been under Haresha Empire’s domain right now.”

“Wow…” Tryx was impressed. It was like listening to history class. He has watched ‘Lord of the Band’ on how the large scale battles were fought.

2000 against 8000, straight on and armed with primitive weapons with the help of magic powers, he couldn’t imagine but if history ever taught him something it would be bloody and dirty. Just when he thought of this battle, another question came to his mind.

“Hey, this battle… When did it take place? Like, how many years since?” He turned to Villi. He expected her to answer like thousands or hundreds of years ago.

But instead, she calmly answered…

“Five years ago.”

Tryx blinked, he was surprised by that answer. “Five years ago?”

“Yes, Sixth Ramies of the year 337 C. That is the date where the battle took place.” She replied monotonously.

Tryx had to calculate the timeframe based on the year she given. If the battle happened 5 years ago, then the current year would be 341 and what’s with the ‘C’ at the end? Sixth Ramies? Do they stand for ‘day’ and ‘month’? The auto translation was perfect but his status window didn’t help much as it only shows time. Though, when he thought about it, he could see any of the establishments barely placed the calendar to be seen. Is it costly? He needs to figure out today’s date, not that it’s essential but its better to know the date at some point.

He sighed deeply as he expressed his disappointment on himself for not realizing date and year of this world. He wondered how many battles have took place in these five years or even when did the war ended.

“Five years ago, huh?”  he thought, “I wouldn’t say its that long but its not that recent either. War on Terror has the longest conflict and even others have it long as well…” He thought of the conflict back in his world. The never ending war that drags on almost every year with new terrorists and new faces making come back just show power while everyone goes on with their usual life. What a sad world he lived in. As he thought of the battle that took place, something rings his bell. “Seele!”

“What?” The Crimson Demon turned to him.

“You said that you’re in the mercenary guild for five years, right?” Seele didn’t answer. He then looked into her purple eyes and said, “Then… You were here when that happened, right?” With her young look, he added another question. “How old are you back then?”

As he waited her answer, she finally responded.

“Enough about me, time to get to work.” Seele walked away from the scene.

Tryx couldn’t help but feel that she’s avoiding the question. Is this a payback for last night? He couldn’t tell. After all, she always keeps everything to herself. That’s what introverts and anti-social usually do. Eventually, the two went back into their usual banter.

“Hey, newbie. Get moving already!” Seele barked. “I need to see your weapons!”

Tryx laughed, “OK, just give me a minute.”

“I don’t have a minute.” Seele crossed her arms, she’s starting to get annoyed of waiting. “Bring out your weapons!”

“Okay… Okay, jeez. Calm down. Sure, I’ll bring it out but you gotta do something for me first.” Tryx hoped that she won’t get angry this time.

“DO WHAT?!”

“Aaaannnnd there’s the limit. Seriously, this girl has a short fuse.” Tryx snorted trying to hold back his laughter.

“What?!” Seele barked again. “What so funny?!”

“I need you to get me some stuffs. Something that can be used as a targets." 

"For what?" 

"Isn't it obvious, I need to shoot something! Can't waste my bullets like that!" 

Seele was disbelieved, "You want me to carry dirty things in this dress and make them into a target?! Can't you see what I'm wearing?!" she was fuming after hearing such requests. "I just injured myself yesterday and you want me to do all the labor?!" 

Seeing that she was pissed, Tryx quickly jumps into action. "Relax, calm down."

"What do you mean calm down?!" Seele stomped her feet, there goes the tremors again. 

"Listen!" Seele went silent, "Look, I'm sorry. Okay? But I need some targets to shoot. I need to practice as well, haven't got to train in these few days." he could feel that his skill have started to deteriorate after not shooting for a while. He decided to make train himself while he's here. "All I ask is for you to find some materials to make as a target. I'll help you make one when you found all the necessary items. Is that okay?" 

Seele's face remained unchanged, she sighed and said "Fine... I'll find something for your stupid target." she walks off heading to the fallen barn. As she walks away mumbling something, Tryx added more lines to annoy her. 

"Make sure you found a lot of stuff, okay?" he yells from distance. 

"FUCK. YOU!" Seele yelled back and continues to walk off into distance. 

"You're welcome!" Tryx was glad that she returns to her usual self. She's been moody since this morning. He could feel that it has something to do with yesterday and she's been holding back for a while now. All he can do is wait until she brings it up again. 

For now, everything is according to his plan. He made the right choice by sending Seele away to look for materials to build for targets. Seele doesn't realize of his 'status window power'. He doubts that she knows anything about it considering Yuwen exhibits weird behavior when he pointed it out. God knows if Seele can detect the status window using her powers but until the time comes, the existence of this 'power' remains a secret. 

After opening up his status window, he chose 'Gears' and tapped on the load out selection screens where all 5 slots are shown with each different weapons are place in the slots. During his free time in these couple of days, he’s been setting up his load outs that he might need to use in a certain situation during the quest. Each load outs were fitted according to their class roles by default – rifleman, sniper, support, engineer and spec ops.

But since those default classes sounds too bland, Tryx decided to customize his slots with his own tactics and a new name for each slots. Thanks to his knowledge from previous world, he customized his load out to his own preference.

The names were cringy but that's what most Boogaloo bois would do if they have a walking arsenal. 

There are extra 5 slots that can be bought with C-points but since its still not enough, he decided to used whatever he has right now. And since he wants to make a demonstration for Seele, he thought it needs a big bang at the end. He intend to test out the newly unlocked weapon and develop a tactic out of it especially in this land. 

"Let's just hope doing this is worth my time..." Tryx muttered as he look into the distance.