After that episode with her panicking about the System Notifications appearing in front of her, Nysia happily pulled me in her embrace.
Once I was locked in her arms, I could feel that her body was trembling slightly. It wouldn't be noticeable if I was not this close to her. With my head leaning on her chest, I could hear the rapid beating of her heart that was slowly settling down at this moment. She was this nervous since earlier, though it didn't show on her face, she was probably afraid that I would reject her.
"I know this is way too fast for you but I am already waiting for 10 years, Daisuke. Waiting for this day where you will appear before me. I don't know it myself but upon seeing you it's like I already know that my long wait was finally over."
Nysia said in a gentle and shaky voice, trying to explain her side. This destiny thing is really absurd but for her to force herself to explain like this…
"You don't need to reciprocate what I'm showing you instantly, it's already enough for me that you accepted me. I'm going to prove to you why I believed that you really are the one for me. I still don't know how to do that but trust me."
After finishing her sentence, Nysia released me while showing me her most beautiful smile to date. It accentuated her mature aura, coupled it with her light-pink hair that was freely flowing down her head as well as that reddish-pink eyes that were staring at me with unmasked affection.
"You said, you received something from me, right? I also felt that you became connected to me. A connection that will only be severed through death. I now buried this memory inside me but for you, I want to tell you my story. Are you willing to lend me your ears for a bit?"
"Go on. I'll listen to anything about you. In fact, I'm curious how you reached this height without being tied down by the three factions."
Her orb most probably became one of her trump cards. Concealment helped Zerina escape, Avelin also saved her from being rammed by the beast.
Err… let's not talk about Jayna using it for pranking someone so that she could slip away.
For sure Nysia has been constantly using it even until now. I won't ask the orb from her unless I could give her something that could replace it. She's my Companion now, I could still borrow it from her if ever.
Upon hearing my answer, she fixed her sitting posture and leaned on the backrest of her sofa. She then pulled me to also sit next to her before starting her story.
"I'm an orphan. I started to tread this path when I was still a young girl living in poverty. I lived in an orphanage in one of the poorest countries that ever existed which is, as you can guess, already part of the forgotten history. In there, we only get to have one meal per day while we were being exploited by having us work excessively at an Outsourced Regenium Purifying Factory."
Kids as factory workers? That's harsh and regenium of all things.
"I got really lucky when on the pile of regenium ores allocated to me, this stone was stuck inside one of the softer ores. Due to this stone, my somewhat mediocre meta energy absorption rate was ignored due to the effect of this stone when I activated it using my minuscule energy. None of the children in the same orphanage can break past my defence."
Nysia was really like a main protagonist in a novel. From an orphanage to the lucky encounter using the orb that helped propel her growth.
However, she probably has a misconception about her absorption rate.
How can she reach this stage with only relying on the orb? She's probably too young back then or her Brain Capacity hasn't expanded yet.
If that's the case, how can one develop their Intelligence or Brain Capacity? Is this pathway just like the System Pathway where one can receive Intelligence points? However, Yuko was only receiving Strength and Endurance.
Does it depend on person to person? The denizens here have that kind of talent? Probably.
"Once they determined that I am the Top Pick among the kids, I was sent to an Academy that nurtures young Pilots and Operators. The orphanage thought they would earn more if I became employed by the country as a Pilot, I was 7 at that time. Spending the 3 years of maximum time anyone could spend in the Academy, I graduated with an average score of Bronze-rank Tier 4 and Rank E in terms of Brain Capacity. The orphanage was disappointed but they couldn't do anything about it anymore."
This girl suffered hardships and she said she already buried this history but now she's retelling me her life story.
"To repay them, I applied to become an Operator in the country as well as numerous companies. Becoming an Operator was still somewhat a decent job that gives a higher pay than normal. However, before I could even join one. A war that ravaged the land and destroyed numerous countries happened. Our country was one of those who fell. I became a refugee to a nearby country. And that made it harder for me to find a decent company who would hire an inexperienced war refugee like me."
I looked at Nysia's face which was full of seriousness as she told me her story in detail. I reached for her hand to hold it on parts where she suffered untold hardships.
When she felt that, this mature lady acted like a teen again as she used my shoulder to lean her head on. It's not even a day since she met me but she's already this attached. It's not that I'm complaining, when I really felt something when I saw her lying lazily on this sofa bed.
According to her, that useless war refugee status of hers was cast off when she reached the Silver-rank at age 12. It was the line which sets off normal soldiers to elite soldiers for countries that's slightly ahead of her destroyed homeland. And by reaching it, she awakened an ability, Armor Manipulation. A control-type ability which complimented the Orb of Reinforcement a lot. Also, her Brain Capacity has leveled up to Rank D.
She joined a small security company as an Operator escort to Merchant Traders. Being young and beautiful, she often became a target for perverts and maniacs. None of them managed to do anything to her though, her Armor Manipulation and Orb of Reinforcement rendered them unable to penetrate her defense while she could freely attack them.
Due to that incident, she quit the company after only one month. She also cut her hair and started to disguise herself as a boy despite the growing bulge on her chest.
From an Operator of a small security company, she became an independent Bounty Hunter with the alias Aegis to hunt the scums like those who tried to attack her.
Aegis became a known name in the World of Meta for at least four years before Aegis seemingly disappeared from history.
That was because she couldn't continue to hide her identity as a woman anymore. Also at the same time, she reached the Gold-rank and leveled up her Brain Capacity to Rank B. Her Armor Manipulation has evolved to Advanced Armor Manipulation which gave her the ability to not only manipulate her own armor but also her target's armor to a certain extent.
"According to your story, you don't seem mediocre at all. Age 16 to reach Gold-rank? Also without any help except an Orb which only boosts your defense."
I couldn't help but comment when she paused for a bit. She sounded like me when I was still starting, Adaptability is mediocre? Look at where it leads me in less than 4 months.
"This world is harsh back then and even now, I couldn't imagine living up to this present with you if I did not persevere."
Nysia clasped my hand tightly while she tried to reposition herself and stuck closer to me.
"With your beauty, there should've been many men who want to take you as their wife, how did you end up relying on a fortune-teller 10 years ago?"
She mentioned something about suiting her taste. How did I suit her taste then? Young and naive? No, there's a lot of that here.
In response to my question, Nysia shook her head lightly before giving her answer.
"They don't want a woman stronger than them. And I also don't want someone who only looks at me because I'm stronger than him."
"Eh? That sounds confusing."
"It's too simple, really. I want someone who will look at me as I am. A woman. Just like how you are looking at me right now. It doesn't matter to you whether I'm stronger than you or not, right?"
Using her free hand, she reached for my cheeks to turn my head towards her and have our gazes meet.
I let her do that and while staring at her eyes, I answered her.
"Un. It doesn't matter. However, you're the head of this organization, Nysia. As the new recruit, I have to give you the proper respect you deserved."
If I suddenly become this close to her, won't her followers be disappointed? She couldn't build this place by herself, for sure there's a lot of helpers from her organization. She's my Companion now but I have to lay low for the meantime. It is to not shake this organization where she's the center because of who she took as her man.
The phrase 'Everything will succumb to absolute power' could be used by her here but if she did that, the years of effort in building this place will crumble and will be a waste.
"It's fine to do that when there are other people but when we're alone like this, I don't need that from you. The fact that you didn't really care that I'm a Mythic-rank and I am this close to you proved that you're really the one I was waiting for."
I see. She wanted to prove to me that what she saw in me as her destiny was genuine by telling me all of this. Truthfully, I stopped doubting it anymore as soon as she was listed as my Companion.
"You are already connected to me. You saw it, right? Of course, I won't care about your strength anymore."
"I intentionally tripped earlier to see how you will react. You're nowhere near my current strength that's why you haven't noticed."
Nysia gently shook her head as she revealed what happened earlier.
"If it was any other people they would think first of my current identity before deciding whether to catch me or not. But you, you immediately decided to catch me. Now, tell me if what I saw was a man who suited my taste or not?"
Ending it with that question, it's obvious that Nysia already gave the answer to that.
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