NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 10: Chapter 10
The campfire flickered in the darkness as Himmel and Sophia sat across from each other. Sophia, who was eating, glanced at Himmel with curiosity.
"By the way, you never introduced yourself," she said, her eyes filled with interest.
Himmel looked at the girl and figured it was only proper to introduce himself. "I'm Himmel," he said nonchalantly, tossing a stick into the fire.
"Himmel!?" Sophia's eyes lit up at the familiar name. "Are you the hero who killed the Demon King?" she asked, excitement clear on her face.
Himmel hesitated for a moment, debating whether to reveal the truth. In the end, he decided to be honest.
"Yes, I am," he said, watching her reaction.
"Pfft! You think I'll believe that? I heard he's old!" she scoffed, laughing.
Himmel's ears twitched with irritation, but he quickly calmed himself.
"Whatever. It's not the first time someone mistook me for Himmel, the hero," he muttered, playing along.
"Haha, you must've gotten a lot of free stuff using his name, right?" Sophia teased.
"By the way, what dungeon are you heading to?" Himmel asked, changing the subject.
Sophia, who had been expecting a reaction to her teasing, cursed him inwardly. This damn bastard… is he made of stone?
"I don't know much about it," she admitted, "but I heard an old saint who reached Grandmaster tier created it as his tomb."
Himmel's interest was piqued at the mention of a Grandmaster-tier mage. That meant there would be a lot of advanced magic inside. If he went, he could gain some powerful spells.
He looked at Sophia like a predator eyeing its prey.
"I'm coming with you," he said.
"W-What!?" Sophia stammered, disbelief written all over her face.
"It's not what you think," Himmel said, placing one hand on his chest and raising the other in the air. "As a warrior, it's my duty to protect a beautiful girl traveling alone."
Sophia's face turned red at his words.
"I-I don't need a protector!" she shouted, quickly turning away with a pout.
Himmel watched her reaction, dazed for a moment. Did she actually believe that nonsense? he thought to himself with a smirk on his face.
Realizing they had talked for a long time, Himmel decided to sleep.
"So, will you keep watch first, or should I?" he asked, glancing at Sophia's bandaged body that tightened with his robe.
Sophia looked back at him proudly and pulled out her staff from her space bag. Now that her mana had recovered, thanks to the robe Himmel had given her, she cast a spell. Suddenly a large barrier formed around them.
"This…" Himmel stared at the massive barrier. I think she's a higher tier than me… what a big fish, he thought, imagining how much he could learn from her.
"Come forward and pay your respects to this beautiful and powerful sister!" Sophia declared, closing her eyes and puffing out her chest proudly.
Himmel gave her a quick glance—then immediately lay down near the fire and closed his eyes.
Sophia, expecting praise, opened her eyes and saw Himmel already sleeping.
Irritation flashed across her face as she clenched the robe in frustration before lying down on the opposite side of the campfire.
---
The morning sun bathed the land in warm light, and birds chirped in the forest.
Himmel, lost in a dream, slowly opened his eyes as sunlight hit his face.
He looked around and saw the ashes of the campfire—and Sophia, still sleeping peacefully.
The morning light revealed her elegant figure. Her jade-white skin glowed in the sunlight, her long legs stretched out, and her chest rose and fell with each breath.
"...."
The robe had loosened, exposing more of her chest.
Screw this.
Knowing she would definitely blame him if she woke up and saw him staring, he quickly got up and slipped into the forest.
As his figure disappeared, Sophia opened her eyes, watching the direction he left.
With a flick of her staff, she cast a small spell, that tightening her robe.
She had actually woken up before Himmel and had cast an illusion spell on herself to test his reaction. But instead of anything interesting happening, she ended up embarrassing herself.
Her face turned red like a tomato.
Meanwhile, Himmel, having barely escaped the temptation, was now chasing two small rabbits.
His food supply was running low, so he decided to hunt.
---
Half an hour later, Himmel returned to camp, two rabbits in hand. He saw Sophia was awake—but she was avoiding his gaze.
Does she think I did something to her? he thought, placing the rabbits near the ashes of the campfire before gathering firewood.
Sophia, still distracted, also started gathering wood, lost in thought.
Suddenly, she felt a cold chill run down her spine.
She jumped to the side, reaching for her staff—
But it wasn't there.
She had left it near the campfire.
Her eyes widened in horror as she turned toward the source of the killing intent.
A goblin stood before her.
No, not just a goblin.
It was taller, more muscular, and wielded a massive mace.
"A… hobgoblin," Sophia muttered, her voice trembling.
She had no combat training outside of magic, and without her staff, she couldn't take the risk.
I have to run!
Ring!
Himmel, who had been gathering wood, suddenly heard the mini-map's warning.
He quickly opened it—
A small blue dot.
A large red dot.
His eyes narrowed.
Sophia was in danger.
"Fuck—my big fish!" he cursed, sprinting toward her location.
To be continued…
Enjoying the chapter send some stones on my way.
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A/N:
I used the first 8 chapters on ChatGPT so it became hard to use it, so I decided to write it myself and was improving my English over the last 2 months, from now on I'll be writing it myself I already write chapter 9 and 10, so stay tuned and English isn't my native language and there will be a lot of grammar error, be patient. Thank you, and what do you think of these last chapters?