Ais and Bell climbed back up onto the track after a while. The rope binding their ankles was still intact, though barely—one more tumble and it would tear apart completely.
They didn't look down at it. Instead, they placed their hands on each other's shoulders like before, walking together instead of running this time.
Bell looked back at the stream they had nearly rolled into and brought his gaze back to her.
"Ais... I heard from someone that you have a trauma of deep water?" He asked, reminded of it being implied and shown in the anime, where she only ever stepped in shallow waters.
She glanced at him with her trademark blank expression. After looking at him like that for more than five seconds, she nodded slightly, bringing a finger up to poke his cheek again, this time with more force.
"Do you have a thing for poking cheeks? This is what, your third poke?" Bell asked, the race all but forgotten from their minds now.
He didn't wait for her reply and brought his own finger to her cheek, poking it just like she had his.
Ais twitched as if electrocuted. She turned her face away with blinding speed, nearly stopping mid-movement, forcing Bell to slow his pace as well to match hers.
"Don't tell me... are you shy? Really? Should I proclaim myself the strongest now, since I defeated the Sword Princess by a poke?"
Ais sped up her steps at those words, dragging his ankle ahead with her.
Her face remained turned away from him, though a look at her red ears told him she was more affected than her actions suggested.
"Alright, don't take my words seriously. I was just pulling your leg." Bell said, toning down his teasing, not wanting to fluster her too much.
She turned her face back toward him, gazing at him with a single golden eye. This time, it was Bell's turn to look away, whistling like a clueless idiot.
He had not even taken three more steps when he felt Ais jerk her bound foot, making him nearly slip and lose his balance, putting his whole weight on her to keep from falling.
"Ais!? What are you doing?" Bell asked, his act cracking.
"...Pulling your leg." She said with a straight face.
His lips twitched. Since when did Ais become like this?
Bell had learned his lesson from this: don't tease her too much, or she'll bite back.
Both of them went silent from there, only the sound of their synchronized footfalls and leaves crushed underfoot resounding in their surroundings.
He broke the silence after some time.
"Do you have a favorite food? I know you like Jagamarukuns, but anything other than them? Like desserts?" Bell asked, leaning a little closer to her, waiting for an answer.
Ais looked up at the sky. It took her a whole minute to bring her gaze back down. Her words, when they came, sounded unsure.
"I like... sweet buns and... crepes."
Those words made Bell nod unconsciously. Sweet tooth, huh? Good to know.
He didn't wait for her to go quiet again and spoke.
"Do you want to hear a heroic story?"
His words made Ais's ears perk up, her eyes darting between him and the path ahead.
Bell understood from her reaction that it was most probably a yes.
So, after taking a deep breath, he opened up for the second time since waking up as Bell.
"This is a story about Asta—a magicless kid born in a world where magic knights were everything, and how, despite countless obstacles, he still strived to become the Wizard King... Not for himself, but to inspire hope in others like him, end discrimination, and make sure no one has to cry because they were born without privilege."
Ais was soon absorbed in his story, forgetting about her surroundings entirely, leaving Bell to navigate the path for both of them, narrating all the while.
...
..
.
When they reached the finish line, everyone else was already on their last lap. Bell didn't mind and led Ais to sit under the canopy of a tree nearby, continuing to narrate Black Clover to her, making her eyes shine like a child's.
"So... then Yuno used his wind magic to cover his body in a very thin layer of mana. This technique was called Mana Skin—coating your skin with a layer of mana to strengthen your physique."
Ais nodded enthusiastically.
"My wind magic can also be used like this..." She spoke, feeling like someone had opened a door leading to a new world for her.
"You can, though you'll need your wind magic under perfect control for it to work." That didn't deter her in the slightest; rather, she took his hand in both of hers.
"Yuno... I want to know more about him." Ais said, tightening her hold on his hand.
Bell was about to continue when—
"Cough."
A cough interrupted them. That thin elf from before was looking at them, with every other pair who had participated in the race standing behind him, their expressions ranging from confusion, to bafflement, to outright envy.
"I'm here to inform you both that the three-legged race has just concluded."
"Oh... What place did we come in?" Bell snapped his gaze up and asked casually.
The elf's eyebrows rose and his lips twitched. He replied nonetheless.
"...Last."
"Dead last, huh? Not surprising, I guess." Bell concluded out loud, getting up from his sitting position. That movement, however, made the rope tying his and Ais' ankles finally give out with a snap.
Ais looked down at the fallen rope. Her finger twitched toward it before she reluctantly pulled it back.
He didn't comment, offering her a hand and pulling her up.
Then, both of them watched as the elf walked over to a pair of elf sisters who had come in first place, presenting each of them with a beautifully crafted rapier, making them beam with happiness.
Bell was just about to look away when he noticed Ais in his peripheral vision. She was staring at those sisters—or rather, at the swords in their hands—with a dazed expression.
"Do you want one too?" He asked, glancing between those swords and her.
Ais shook her head.
"Desperate was sent for repair. It fractured during my last fight," She pulled her gaze away from those swords. "I was just reminded of it."
Bell heard her words and processed them, a slight furrow appearing between his brows.
"Come with me."
He turned on his heel and started walking away. Ais followed behind with a tilted head.
Soon, they left the forest behind and reached an open area some distance away from Orario. A wind blew through that clearing, ruffling both of their hair.
Bell had Ais stop some distance away and stood in a spot where the wind's current was strongest, even tugging at his clothes.
"Haah..."
He took a deep breath and... let go.
Clunk
An eight-handled wheel rotated into existence above him, like a decree of adaptation crowning his head.
[Gresde] awoke.
Dual flames of black and red began to ignite across his body. His hair flew upward, defying gravity on its own.
His face caught fire, an eerie reddish-black flame that wound down from his features to his chest, along his back, and over his limbs, blazing with abandon.
A domain of intersecting flames began to expand from his heels, encompassing his surroundings—melting the ground, scorching the air, reducing everything nearby to ash.
Then, that domain of flames started to pull back, compressing onto itself like waves upon waves of water being forced to flow in reverse.
Sparks ignited in the air, floating upward of their own accord. His flames began to change, red and black mixing, their color intensifying with each passing moment.
A blinding white light began to radiate outward, turning him into a silhouette of glacial white.
Bell raised his hand and clenched his open fingers into a fist.
Clunk
Flames became him. He became flames.
Ais heard the sound of a turning wheel followed by collapsing waves—and then everything went blank in a flash of searing white.
When she opened her eyes after a while, all the heat from before had vanished like an illusion.
Some distance away stood Bell.
He was not alone. A ring of pure white oscillated up and down around his form.
Just looking at it made her adventurer instincts blare warnings—that thing could threaten her.
Ais already knew Bell was dangerous. She had known from hearing all about how he had gone alone against the Rakian army. But knowing it and watching him in action were two different things.
Her instincts urged her to step back. But her feet stayed planted.
She watched breathlessly as Bell opened his hand and that ring began to contract, its shape collapsing into a staff of white that settled into his grip.
From there, a thin edge stretched out from that staff. A guard followed. A handle came next. A pommel formed last.
It was a rapier. And it looked eerily similar to Desperate.
A rapier made of liquified flame.
He walked up to Ais with the sword in hand and presented it to her.
She could hear her heartbeat in her ears.
Thump.
"Take it. It will continue to feed on my mana and exist as long as I live."
Thump.
"You needed one, so I made one."
Thump.
"What should we name it?" Bell asked.
Ais looked down at it.
With a trembling hand, her fingers reached out, wrapping around its handle.
Thump.
Holding it made her feel the same warmth she had felt from that golden flake on her cheek.
Her gaze went to its color—White. Like snow. Like Bell.
Then, her gaze went to Bell. His hair had returned to its natural shade from the earlier red.
Bell's hair. Like snow.
Snow. Snow. Flake.
"Snowflake."
She brought Snowflake to her chest, wrapping her arms around it, to feel more of that warmth. More of him.
Bell looked at her, clutching a weapon that could cut through the dungeon floors like a child holds a new stuffed toy.
Cute.
Thump.
The beat this time... Was of Bell's heart.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
I thought for a long time about what to give Ais and what would work. I had two ideas, giving her something cute like a teddy or a sword, but in the end, sword won out because anything else would've made her feel less like the Sword Princess we know. Then my mind thought, why not both? Let's give her a sword she considers precious enough to hold like a child holds a teddy. Done, both ideas utilised, and the result was more devastating than anything would've been alone.
Anyway... Have a marvellous weekend, everyone!