His eyes were calm. A strange happiness had enveloped him, he felt as if he was on top of the world. Humming a tune, he walled out of the room with his hands in his pockets.
It seemed as if he didn't have any tension for anything. As if his life was finally sorted. This was the effect love had and right now, Ray was enjoying every bit of it.
Even the thought of other women was gone from his mind. He just had the recurring thought about Aella and how great she was. He thought of ways to open the news to his mother.
He wanted to marry her as soon as possible. He wished a lot of things but he has to be realistic. The foolish smile on his face still remained but his eyes turned calm.
As if an ocean filled with serenity, his eyes turned mysterious. A fog enveloped his eyes as it hid his real thoughts. He glanced around him and walked with a skip in his step. He hopped occasionally. Even after calming himself down this much, his emotions were still overflowing. He just was so happy.
He had the urge to turn around and hug Aella for just once more but he had responsibilities and right now, Ray was on his way to fulfill his duties. He had wasted enough time and it was time to speed things up.
"Hey Rayy!!" Hearing a cheery voice, he looked up and saw Kashish waving at him with a smile on her face.
Her previous unfamiliar and cold expression was gone. It seemed as if she had come out of her shell and left behind that cold self. Her eyes were also humble, though they had a different sharpness in them. Looking at her, Ray felt meeting a new person over all.
"Hey Kashish," He waved back, "You seemed to have opened up. Hope everything and everyone here is being good to you," He asked.
"Well, to be completely honest. At start, I felt weirded out but slowly I found my way. Everyone shared things and with the world ending, I managed to find happiness in moments and I thank you for all this. If not for your support and your team's help, I would have been left in that depressed state that I was after fighting with that devil," She answered.
While speaking to Ray, her body language told a lot. She was filled with emotions, her fingers twirled around hair as she showed a bit of nervousness. Even her fear was evident when she spoke of the past events that she went through.
Seeing her like this, Ray felt at ease. He would be lying if he said that he wasn't worrying over her. He was every worried about her as not only was she a good fighter but also a very good human with a pure heart.
However, Ray felt something fishy about her form the start and even did so right now but what could he do? It was the freaking apocalypse and there were even more broken people roaming around without any issue. For survival, one would even work with their enemies and all Ray had was a doubt.
Therefore, as long as she stayed good and didn't betray him, he would be the same to her as he had always been but the moment she betrays his trust, Ray was sure that he would send her to the deepest levels of hell and let her experience the fiercest levels of agony.
"It's good that you have mingled with the others and gotten settled here. By the way, how is your progress going? Any new skills learned or reached a higher tier yet?" He asked. Diverting the topic to strength, abilities and powers. It was a good way to judge her powers and potentials.
Also, this way; he would be able to know about her drive to get stronger.
"Well, I advanced a tier and am now bordering around the initial stages of the Magical Realm. Just a bit more energy to be stored, and I will advance to the Magical Realm completely and evolve," She answered.
While doing so, her eyes glimmered with hope and excitement. For someone in the Mortal Realm, it was their first step to Godhood if they reached the Magical Realm as that was the point where they really started to understand mana and learn it's uses.
"Good, let's spar sometime and see how strong you have gotten," Ray said. Rubbing his chin, an idea came to him as his lights lit up and he spoke, "You know what, lets go. I want you to join my team in the next clearing adventure. I have a plan," Saying that, he started walking as Kashish followed behind him.
All this while, Ray failed to notice the slight blush on her cheeks as she happily followed behind him.
Last time, when they were retreating away from that huge troll around the Calamity Realm, she was there. She had seen how Ray risked his life for all of them and even injured himself greatly. Not only that but he did not rest much after that and kept on working towards solving the issues at the infirmary.
This changed her view a lot. She starred to look at things from another prospective and started to be kinder as she developed affection for Ray.
So when she met Ray right now, she just gathered her courage and initiated the conversation with Ray. Then, when Ray asked her to follow him, she felt like never before. Her stomach had butterflies flying in it as she felt thousands of emotions that she had never felt before in her life.
"I guess I have fallen for him," She thought and rubbed her cheeks shyly.
They walked for sometime as she made some small talk with Ray. With Ray being in a good mood, he answered her questions with a smile and was very easy going as well.
They reached the main hall. A few people were still frolicking around in the hall. They went on with their lives and had adjusted to life in infirmary quite well.
They all and heir chores and for their chores, they got a few points in their bracelets which they alter exchanged for food and supplies.
In short, a whole economical system had been set up that kept everyone in check. As for those who caused troubles, they were given three warnings and if they caused any more trouble, they were asked to leave the infirmary.
At start, a few didn't take it seriously and acted like they owned the place. Later, those people served as a lesson for everyone as they were beaten black and blue and then left alone outside on their own.
As for those who didn't do chores. They were also asked to leave as freeloaders weren't welcome at the infirmary.
Walking to the food station set up at the corner, Ray showed his bracelet and exchanged some of his points for a portion of food. Even though he had a lot of food in his spatial storage, he saved it for later when there might not be my food available. Also, he was the leader here and the point system was controlled by him, so using a few points didn't matter much to him.
Taking the food plate consisting of rice, stew and stir fried vegetables, he sat down on benches and looked at Kashish. His plan was ready as he asked,
"I want you to form a team of your own," He spoke.
"Huh?" Kashish had also exchanged a few points for a tray, her mouth was full with food when Ray spoke. Finishing the food in her mouth, she looked at Ray and asked, "I don't understand. Could you explain it a bit more? Though, I am up for it. It's just that some more information would be very helpful,"
"So it's like this. The last team I traveled with has good potential but I don't have enough time to train everyone in the team. So I have decided to send the most of the members to your team and pick a few more for your team. Then, you go on missions, refine your skills and train the team as well," Ray told her.
Taking a bite, he chewed his food and looked at her for her answer.
"Well, the idea isn't bad but I got to ask. What is the reason for this? Don't you already have a team and a strong one too? So why are you going for another team and one that is lead by someone other than you? Aren't you afraid that I would betray you," She spoke and showed her previous cautious and careful nature.
It showed that deep down, she was the same clever girl and had changed on the upper part. Her heart still stayed true to her views and this made her even more dangerous. It made her mysterious and difficult to read. Also, it made her charm extremely alluring.
"Good question. Well, lets say it like this. I trust you and I am sure that you wouldn't betray me. You could also say that by doing this, I am gambling that my judgement about you is right and that you are as I think of you," Ray answered. Her looked deep into her eyes as Kashish nodded with her head down.
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