NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 333: Where Aina Came From?
For some reason, Aina didn't like talking about the distant land she had come from. It was as if something terrible had happened there, and she wanted to forget about it.
Even though she didn't like to talk about this place, Nox had been curious. Visiting this place was among his bucket list goals as he wanted to learn more about his mother's heritage.
Most importantly, he wanted to discover what had happened in this place that made her cut ties with the people here. If not for his grandfather, Nox would have never even learned about his mother's true heritage.
'Although I want to learn more about this place, for now, the main reason I'm here is to increase my strength and that of my beasts... also, I need to test this Sprite Tamer subclass on beasts,' Nox thought as he got up from his position.
He knew he couldn't hide forever, and if he wanted to achieve his goals, he would need to show himself sooner or later.
"At 15, I'm quite tall, standing at 6ft. Since almost all of them are within this range, I doubt they'll notice anything strange. Should I put clothes on my chest, though, to look like a girl?" Nox mumbled to himself with a thoughtful expression, but then he shook his head. "That would be too silly."
'How should I approach them, then?' he wondered as he slowly made his way out of the bush.
In the distance, he could see the powerfully built women rounding up the creatures one after the other. From the beginning, the magical beasts hadn't displayed much strength and appeared more like stepping stones for them.
It seemed as if they were testing their skills, which made Nox wonder what level of dimension he had appeared in. This was one of the downsides of the dimensional key—he wouldn't know the level of dimension he entered.
At that moment, one of the women leaped up, and a radiant white energy the size of a soccer ball conjured in her hand.
FWOOSH!
The energy ball shot out from her grasp, moving through the air with incredible speed before engulfing the beast amidst its painful shrieks.
"Good job, Akira," one of the women said as she approached the one who had just killed the magical beast.
Akira took off her helmet, revealing lush silver hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her big eyes were vivid violet orbs, framed by thick eyelashes.
The sweat that glistened on her forehead only made her appear even more striking and pleasing to look at. Although she appeared to be around 15-16, Akira had a body that would put most girls in the Vermilion Kingdom to shame. Her armor basically hugged her figure, accentuating her curves and toned physique. The metal plating, though scratched from battle, still gleamed faintly in the sunlight, giving her an imposing yet alluring presence.
She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, letting out a small breath of relief before turning to the woman who had spoken. "It wasn't that hard," Akira said, her voice calm but with a hint of pride.
The woman who approached her smiled slightly, folding her arms as she surveyed the scene. "You make it look easy, but don't get too cocky. Overconfidence will get you killed out here."
Akira rolled her eyes but nodded, her expression shifting to something more serious as she looked down at the remains of the magical beast. "Yeah, yeah. I know."
The other woman sighed before shifting her attention to the rest of their group, who were gathering nearby. "Alright, let's keep moving. This area isn't safe, and more beasts could show up at any moment."
Akira took a final glance at the destroyed beast before securing her helmet back on. Her lush hair was hidden once again, but before she could move, she caught a faint ripple in the bushes nearby.
Akira narrowed her eyes and pondered to herself, Could it be another beast again?
After staring for some time, there was no longer any sound, which made the beautiful silver-haired girl doubt her eyes.
"Akira, don't lag behind!" the woman, who seemed to be the leader of the group, shouted, her powerful voice snapping the teenager from her daze. Akira rushed to catch up with them.
"She's beautiful," Nox thought. Lately, he had been coming across more and more beautiful girls. At first, Nox hadn't noticed them because he was focused on his goal, but these days, it was becoming more distracting.
"Anyways, she'll be my guide now. How do I approach her?" Nox pondered for a while, his mind racing as he formulated a plan. The reason he wanted to approach her was simple—Akira was much younger compared to the others. Naturally, she should be easier to swindle.
"Hopefully." Nox wasn't too sure if his plan would work out, but there was only one way to find out.
Some time later, Nox was trailing the group of five women through a valley. Apart from small talk from time to time, the group practically traveled in silence. Then they came to a stop, setting up a makeshift camp.
When the others were preparing to rest, Akira sneaked—I mean, excused herself quietly—from the camp, her sword slung loosely at her side. The other women were too busy setting up to notice her leave.
On their way here, she had caught a glimpse of a beautiful lake with crystal-clear water. Because of the dirt and blood she had accumulated, Akira decided to clean herself up before joining the others.
Some time later, she arrived at the spot.
Unknown to her, a figure had been following her all this while.
"The perfect opportunity." Nox grinned as he got ready to approach the beautiful girl whose gaze was transfixed on the lake as if it was the most beautiful thing she had seen.
But before he could strike up a conversation with her, something shocking happened.