“Are we going to start now?” 

Looking towards the source of the voice, Juviel saw Fu Hua in sports wear. This made him sweat a bit as the clothing looked tight to say the least. So it displayed her bodily proportions just perfect. 

Deciding to utilise the emotion mastery in his Assassination skill, he calmed down and chuckled. 

“Don't be so nervous, follow me.”

Fu Hua nodded and went over next to him, then she asked with curiosity in her eyes. 

“Not going to change your clothing?” 

Juviel smiled and ruffled up her hair, 

“Think of it as one of the handicaps I'll give you. Let's make things interesting, if you win, I'll do any one thing you want. If I win, you'll do whatever I want.”

Hearing that, her eyes lit up. It seemed she was motivated now, which was a good thing. But at the same time she was curious as to what Juviel would make her do if she lost. 

“We are here, get into your fighting stance.”

Juviel’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she nodded after looking around. She took a deep breath in and spoke with determination evident on her face, 

“I'm ready!” 

Juviel nodded in satisfaction, 

“As I'm stronger than you and have more experience. I won't use my right arm and I'll stand in the same spot.”

Fu Hua was stunned for a moment but she felt relieved. Afterall, he was indeed more experienced than her. With this handicap, she was sure to win this! 

Grinning, she spoke up, 

“What about the winning conditions? Knockout?” 

He chuckled at that, 

“If you can knock me out, I'll do anything you want for a whole week! But touching even a fragment of my clothing can be considered as your win. As for me, my win can be considered when I grab your arm. How about it?” 

Fu Hua didn't look provoked, in fact she looked happy because she knew Juviel was very strong. Although he never got into the details of his achievements, to be managing a successful Assassination Organisation, one must have a certain degree of strength. 

“Sounds good!” 

Seeing that, Juviel was satisfied. She wasn't easily provoked, that was a good trait to have. 

“It's good that she's become more confident.”

“Hm.. Start!” 

Despite hearing that, Fu Hua didn't immediately lunge at him. She circled around and went to his back. Although she felt it was a bit shameless, she felt that Juviel would have taken this kind of situation into account as well. So it was fine. 

Making up her mind, she got closer and closer until she was just an arm's distance away. Juviel did not say anything and just patiently waited, akin to a hunter waiting for his prey. 

Normally people wouldn't be so calm with that many handicaps and the opponent is right behind them. But she didn't notice the strangeness of the matter since she didn't have any actual combat experience. Furthermore Juviel was always calm, so she simply attributed his silence to how he usually was. 

“Now!” 

Thinking so, she unleashed a full power strike at Juviel's back. Attempting to grab his collar. 

Then she heard him speak, 

“That's not good, Hua. If you want to grab my clothing, you'll need to aim for my vitals.”

She couldn't even comprehend what happened before her attempt missed and her hand was grabbed. Then the world suddenly flipped. 

*Thud*

Before hitting the floor, she was enveloped in a warm embrace. Quickly she looked up and saw Juviel smiling.

“One more?”

Fu Hua was a bit embarrassed at how easy she lost so she stuffed her face into his chest to not stare into his eyes. 

“.. No.” 

Juviel chuckled, 

“Silly girl, you have improved. You didn't slack off in the training, right?”

Fu Hua panicked a bit upon hearing that and replied anxiously, 

“I didn't!”

Juviel was a bit speechless, why was she so on the edge? 

“Calm down. Good job, you have done well. I'm sorry for not being able to reply to your messages.”

Raising her head, Fu Hua glanced at Juviel and noticed his guilty expression. It made her panic once more since she wasn't really aware of how to handle such situations. 

“Ah, it's alright. It's ok.”

Feeling that much to be insufficient, she continued, 

“Ah, Juviel, could you tell me about the adventure you had?”

Feeling a bit surprised, Juviel was silent for a bit. Fu Hua thought the silence meant a refusal or that she was putting him in a tough spot, so she started panicking once more. 

“I-It's ok if you don't want to!” 

Seeing her panic was cute too, almost like a little chick flailing about after finding out that it had no food, so Juviel chuckled and ruffled her hair, 

“Hua, it'll be quite a long story. So let's go to your room first.”

He helped her get up and held her hand. Then he lead her all the way to her room, as for what Fu Hua thought about letting him into her room? She was too busy being happy over holding his hand. 

A while later the two of them were sitting on the side of her bed. 

Thinking that she was ready for the story telling, he cleared his throat and started narrating it. Fu Hua clearly started focusing more on the story instead of the weird feelings she was having inside her stomach. 

As the story progressed, Fu Hua's expression turned from joy to fear to shock to sad to joy  and the cycle repeated in different combinations. 

Fu Hua wanted to interrupt so many times as she had quite a lot of doubts as some parts were quite weird. For example, why didn't he mention the name of his travelling companion? It can't be that despite fighting thick and thin together they didn't know each other's names right? 

But she decided to wait until he finished the narration. Thankfully for Juviel, the rest of his adventure was still enough to grab back her attention. 

An hour or two later, 

Having exclaimed a tad bit too much, Fu Hua's throat felt a bit dry. Thankfully Juviel's story time was over. 

He looked at her and passed her a water bottle. Though she was confused as to how he got one, she still drank it to quench her thirst. Then it struck her, 

“Wait! He's the one that's been speaking non-stop for more than a hour! He should be more thirsty than I am!”

Though she felt happy at how he gave her water first, she still gave back the bottle. 

“Y-You should drink too!”

Juviel didn't actually feel thirsty, maybe it was due to the stamina buff from the Garuda+ genes. So ultimately he wasn't in need of water at that moment. But how could he disappoint Fu Hua's kind intentions?

“Thanks~.” 

He took it and simply downed the entire bottle. Fu Hua didn't find it strange as this was simply how he drank water even when he was considered human. After hearing that he wasn't really human, she wasn't really sure what to feel. But memories of the past flashed back, the moments they spent laughing and at other times melancholic, they were all true. They were very real, and so are his feelings for her.

Feeling a bit more sure of herself, she mustered up her courage. 

“J-Juviel, don't w-worry. Even if you're not a h-human anymore, I will stay by your side!”

Juviel was surprised and then immediately afterwards felt a bit emotional. He didn't really care about whether he was human or not, he would be a human in his heart.. Plus the System said he could still have children with humans and the like, so he could still be considered human. 

However, the concern Fu Hua showed touched his heart. It made him realise that not all his close ones would be able to accept the fact that their friend is a monster. So he should cherish those that do accept it. 

Smiling, he pushed Fu Hua down on the bed. Which elicited a yelp from her, but she was blushing more than being shocked since she was right now underneath him, completely vulnerable. She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes out of embarrassment at how much her face was currently flushed. 

“Hua~, thank you..” 

Hearing his gentle tone, she couldn't help but look up at him. At which he took the opportunity to capture her lips, which made her eyes widen in surprise and subconsciously resisted a bit. But very quickly her struggles died down and her eyes turned hazy as she let out a muffled moan.. 

To be continued..