UFF: Chapter 26 (Patreon)

Chapter 26

“Come on, try it.” I state as I eat my own portion of the paste like multi plant paste like substance that oddly enough tastes like flavored chicken crackers. Despite the fact that I am almost certain that there are no chickens in this world.

It is my willingness to demonstrate the odd paste like substance that caused Rydel to be the first to try the new source of food.

Picking up a spork, he tentatively reached out, grimaced, and then asked.

“You sure this is safe to eat, even after all this time?”

Hearing him ask, I just sigh.

“Yes, I lived off of this for over three months.” I reply.

That is enough for Rydel, who appears to be the hungrier of the two to glance at Marie. Then slowly nod to himself before placing the morsel in his mouth.

“Hey, this isn’t that bad at all.” Rydel said, taking his food tray from me as he began greedily digging into the pile of sustenance.

Marie was apparently hungry enough to only give the food the ricin test. Basically, she looked at it, looked at Rydel, saw that Rydel wasn’t instantly choking or dying of his own organs being vaporized instantly and ate.

While Rydel was a clear fan of the faux chicken flavor, Marie had her own issues with the food as she placed it in her mouth, chewed once and then asked with a mouthful of food. “What is this?”

“I don’t really know. I do know it is the premium food supply that you unlock after proving certain competencies. That or, I finally made the right food selections. Either way, trust me when I say this is the best combination available.”

With that Marie just stared at me for a moment, then decided to casually eat. Trying to slow herself down, with regal bearing despite the fact that she was clearly starving. Rydel too had been, but Marie was far too prim and proper to actually display her own pains. That or she truly didn’t know what to make of the odd protein paste of the Ancients.

Finally, after the two had finished their portions, there came a lull as both Marie and Rydel stared at each other for a moment.

Once again, it was clear that while I was doing my training, which I passed mind you, they had apparently been conspiring. Conspiring and starving simultaneously.

“So, we have to talk.” Rydel began.

Hearing this I got excited, “is this about the new prophecy?”

At that Rydel and Marie just stared quizzically at each other.

“Actually no, that was a coma brought on by Marie apparently depleting her mana reserves after casting so many high-level spells to save you.” Rydel responded.

“Oh,” was all I could say, then realizing what had just been said, I turned to Marie and said, “thank you again for that.”

Blush.

Hearing that Marie looking somewhat flustered just blushed at the comment and then nodded.

“Not, not a problem,” Marie eventually stammered out.

Hearing her I couldn’t help but wonder what she was blushing at. It wasn’t until a moment later, when she turned to lock gazes with Rydel that it became clear.

Oh, that poor girl, doesn’t know what is going to hit her, I thought to myself as I could only wish a fellow sister luck with that boat. Also, if she had any notes of success I would gladly take them from her. Who knows, maybe has a secret thing for healers, in which case Marie and I both might have a chance. Well mostly Marie, but that is because she is super cute, especially while blushing and staring at Rydel. Also, humble too with the way she has downplayed her effort in healing me and all but saving me from having internal organ damage from that last fight.

“So, we meant to ask.” Rydel began, and then from out of nowhere one of the corniest pick-up lines of this world came to me and I had to go with it.

“Normally, I’d give such a request a hard no, when asked such a question. But if it’s the two of you, then it is a definite maybe,” I say with a quick wink. I even try to pull out the persona of the overly gregarious Prince Galvis.

Awkward silence.

Now both Rydel and Marie are blushing.

Which is odd, as I didn’t think someone with such bronze skin and a godlike complexion could blush, but there it is, clear as day.

We stay in that state for a good ten count, as I wonder if I somehow broke the script.

Realizing that this is all on me, I attempt to fix the confusion almost immediately.

“I’m so sorry,” I state.

“No, no. That…” Rydel begins to stammer out, but has his words seemingly caught in his throat. At which time he turns to lock gazes with Marie.

Marie for her part had been looking at Rydel, the speaker that moment, then seeing the confusion in his face just pauses, before she too begins to speak in short replies.

“That’s right, it’s fine. You just caught me off guard with your comments.” Marie said, as she raised her hand up and quickly began tapping the top part of her chest, revealing that her line of embarrassment had passed down her face, to her neck, and was now beginning to form just below her collarbones.

“No, I’m sorry. You both likely had real questions to ask, and I went and made it all awkward.” I say, as if I have never used any of the real pickup lines from this world, ever. That said, seeing these two, the only two that I would consider friends at this point look so uncomfortable from my comment, I had to bring it back.

Then looking around, I realized that they likely wanted to ask me about this place. Realizing this might be my chance to salvage this whole situation, I offer them both the lifeline and chance to hopefully save our friendships.

“I take it you had many questions about this place, and likely what I was doing when you got here?” I state.

There was another minor pause, before they both looked at each other again, and then seemed to desperately cling to this new line of inquiry.

“Yes, that’s it exactly,” Marie said, a bit too forcefully with her reproach.

You know, I get it, she’s a Saint and even hinting at such a thing would be bad.

“Okay, so what would you like to know?” I ask.

With that the two just stare at each other for a moment. And it is at this point that I definitely think there is some type of forbidden fruit attraction between the two.

Actually, looking at the two my inner nerd lights up with slight joy at the fact that I am seeing the two people least likely to get along, doing just that.

Yes, the church has a thing against people like Rydel, which is sadly both cliché and oddly true in a lot of cases. This is a theme that is touched upon in the series, but often dismissed entirely due to not wanting to detract too much from the overall enjoyment of the story.

That said, part of Marie’s issues is the fact that the stronger she becomes in the church, the more rigid her beliefs are on what constitutes a proper relationship.

Oh, this is good, as I might be able to sway Marie away from such rigid conformity to the rules of the church. Maybe this is about helping her express herself as an individual, rather than a generic plot device. One that either helps a monogamous relationship with religious fervor, or mentally snaps at the constraints of sin.

Actually, this might be a good thing, as I think she can maintain her Saint status, even if she doesn’t follow all of the doctrine of the church. At least I hope she can, as most of the Saint’s duties seem to be a mentality more than anything.

With that, this might be my way of molding her into a third but different path, one where she is not bound by church doctrine, and is allowed to live a fairly normal life.

“Well, first I need to ask if you can remove your mask once more.” Marie asks, suddenly staring right into my eyes, almost seeming like she could see right through me.

“Okay?” I reply, as I take off the mask.

GASPS.

Both Rydel and Marie let out gasps in near synchronous union.

Awe, they are even making the same cute cooing sounds together now. Yeah, I definitely need to encourage this side of both of them, as they seem to make a very cute power couple. You have Rydel the ultimate caster of offensive magic, paired with Marie the number one healer and it is just the cutest thing to see them both together.

Flinch.

Apparently, something in my gaze caused the two to back up for a moment as they both looked on at me with apprehension for a moment.

I pause and wonder if I let my internal thoughts loose somehow on my face.

“Ww, what?” I ask.

“No, it’s just your eyes.” Rydel began.

Hearing Rydel I turn my attention to him, only for him to stop and Marie to pick up right where he left off.

“They are just so much more vibrant than before.” Marie says, staring at my eyes, but then her gaze quickly shifts away when I turn to lock gazes with her.

Again, she looks embarrassed, but she once again seems to find comfort by looking at Rydel.

“Yeah, have they always been such a vibrant electric color?” Rydel asks.

Hearing that I smile slightly, knowing that I have already gone through yet another evolution with my eye shade. Apparently skyrocketing through silver into the electric silver color. This is good, as it means that the old wise Ancient guru might start randomly appearing now. That is assuming we can go out west by the last mountain range before the great open wastes.

Also, hopefully I won’t be seen as a threat to the guru, and instead I might be able to finally get more lore about the Ancients.

“Maybe?” Is all I can say about the process. There should still be a few other shades like platinum and then electric platinum, and possibly a deeper shade after that, but for now the intense electric silver eyes are a nice update.

“Okay,” is what they both say in unison.

Again, just hearing them seem to get on the same page with each other is so cute. Honestly, this is great as I didn’t even know Marie was interested in guys. In fact many said part of her issue was the fact that she could only understand marriage as a way to bring two nations together, and she almost felt that being with more than one person was too much of a burden to place on others.

At least that is one of the crazy theories that people pieced together based on her mad rants as a dying dark saint character. Yes, after you kill her, you then get to watch her slowly die away, as her demonic body begins to quiver and seemingly melt away.

Shock.

Remembering that final death scene, while originally spawned by her odd comments about the strain and punishment of having to endure being with more than one male. I remembered a second deeper part of that dark saint route, namely the way she turned evil.

Of course, you assume with the church that there would be some form of inherent evil. Particularly if you have a Saint candidate in your party. But the part that is now tingling my Spidey sense is the dark portal that we were set to stop Marie from creating.

Just remembering the dark portal with its odd magical fluctuations and dark setting made the entire Dark Saint story arc one that many people violently turned against. But I just read about not one but three different Ancient magical Affinities that all but seemed to be created with the idea of countering such demonic forces.

What were those specializations again? Arcane <Unknown>, <Unknown> <Unknown>, and <Unknown> Ender.

Yeah, of course what I was able to translate of the titles was off, or was definitely lacking. But one definitely seemed to be related to closing portals or void tears, something. While another was meant to purify the area, and the last was the ultimate double-edged sword, something that would kill both the caster and any creatures that were targeted by the caster.

Bright flash.

“Everything okay?” Marie asks, a note of concern clear in her eyes.

Blinking.

I blink my eyes for a second, trying to get rid of the bright flash of light that just happened due to my own eyes apparently reacting to my inner thoughts. As the flash from a moment ago was sparked by my eyes, as I desperately tried to figure out if there was anything more to the potential darker undertones that are now being made apparent in this otherwise bright and bubbly world.

“Yeah, just thinking about something.” I state.

With that Rydel and Marie both share a quick glance with each other, before turning back to me.

“What about?” Marie asked, though as she asked, I could see her eyes glowing eerily white.

Seeing her eyes glowing in such a way, I remember the cut scene of her dying and her once pristine soul being ripped apart by demons.

“Just bad thoughts about the past,” I say honestly. Once again, my own eyes are glowing slightly brighter at this admission, but I am mostly able to keep those bad thoughts away. At least I thought I had, but Rydel suddenly looked flustered and became super sketchy with his reaction.

“Okay, so this is an Ancient facility, and I take it you need to be with us, if we want to come back here?” Rydel asks, a note of nervousness to his voice.

Hearing that, I pause and turn my head at his clear knowledge of the world.

“Yes, but how do you know that?” I ask.

With that Rydel and Marie again share a glance, this time I realize something.

“Wait, she did have another vision, one where you learned about this facility?” I press.

There is a moment of apprehension on both their faces, then finally Marie is the one to let out an angry huff first.

“Yes, though we can’t tell you what our prophecy was about.” Marie said, then all but glared at Rydel during the last part.

Rydel for his part just looked sheepish.

“What, I was trying to come up with the next thing so we could eventually get out of here.” Rydel stated.

Hearing that, I pause not quite knowing what exactly has happened.

“Okay, I take it we need to do this quickly?” I ask.

With that both just lower their heads and nod, not wanting to look me in the eyes.

“Okay,” I say, but then look back at the room where I took my training to unlock my Arcane Repair Crafter specialization. “You don’t want to know about what I did in the chamber?”

Again, they both just shook their heads while keeping their eyes downcast.

“We can’t,” Rydel said.

Hearing that response I pause, trying to make sense of the words. Then I almost wonder if their understanding of my gaining the Ancient Crafter specialization now has somehow altered the timeline, where my telling what I did here would forever corrupt their thoughts? Or maybe this was the game trying to keep its logical patterns and decision trees fairly accurate, even though I have probably broken a fundamental wall for the first act?

“Okay, and I take it you need to get back to campus quickly? At least that is what it sounded like?” I ask, trying to make sure I understand their sudden motivations.

“Yeah.” Rydel says.

Hearing that I can only nod my head as both only make minor glances upwards at me.

This is so creepy.

At first the two seemed like they were having some type of synchronized lover’s moment that I ended somehow. But for the life of me, I can’t quite understand what I said to make them pause. Then I remember my exact words.

“Is this because I spoke about remembering my past?” I ask.

With that both Rydel and Marie both tremble slightly and stare at me with pure abject fear in their eyes.

“The last three and a half months are fine, but we cannot hear anything further then that.” Marie states, apparently giving guidelines.

Hearing that, it sort of makes sense that I can’t talk about my knowledge and time from the real world as that would likely break the immersion, but I can’t help but feel that there is something deeper to this.

I pause, realizing that they lied to me about not having a prophecy, though apparently they were able to tell me about the prophecy if I called them out on it? I don’t know. In fact, the more I sit here, the more I realize my purpose for grouping up with these two is now over.

By coming here, I have unlocked the fast travel spot with my Spatial Magic, meaning I can come back here.

That’s when I have a thought come to my mind.

“You two want to get back to campus quickly?” I ask, grabbing my mask and once again securing it in place.

Marie and Rydel both nod at this suggestion.

“Okay, follow me.” I state, as I take the two to the newly recharged fast travel circles.

Looking at the coordinates and systems, I find that the entire device is relatively simple to set up. The grouping on the left, is the markers for here and they are permanent, while the markings on the right can change. Moving them slightly will get us to the University.

By now the workings of the teleportation system are like second nature to me. I can even see that this teleportation system is probably far more robust than the one I broke into a few weeks ago.

That said, this one just like the other takes everyone that is on the power circle and moves them in space to the desired location, before letting them go.

POoof.

All three of us appear outside the University in the grounds that are strangely nostalgic for me as this was exactly where I met my instructor Lady Von’Graysing.

Being here is both bittersweet as it means that my impromptu party is now ended, and I likely won’t be able to group with the all powerful Rydel again. Though I guess I should have seen this coming.

Both Marie and Rydel look completely shocked, having gone from the inside of the nearby Ancient outpost to the university square.

“Well, thank you both for your time and I guess I will see you both later.” I state with a wave of my hand as I begin to walk away from the duo. Then when I am a few steps away, I begin casting a myriad of spells to allow me to escape the awkward moment that much faster.

Perfect Intermediate Dexterity Boost

Perfect Intermediate Stamina Boost

I speed walk until I round a corner, then I instantly begin sprinting the moment I know the two have lost eye contact with me.

It is sadly too painful to once again know that I am forever to be the outcast here. Was it the fact that I made them wait while I solved the puzzle?

Honestly, I don’t know what I did to cause their sudden shift, or their clear lying about first not having a vision. Then completely admitting to it later and all but demanding that they get away from me as quickly as possible.

Gah!

The worst part is, I was actually looking forward to working with the two of them again. I’m so stupid.

But it is better to learn that lesson now, than later.

***

“Are you sure we had to deny the prophecy until she caught us?” Rydel found himself asking Marie.

For their part the two of them had just stood still upon their arrival outside the university’s grand entrance.

“You heard it, just as I did. And you know that once you hear the words, you can’t unhear them.” Marie said, a faint note of sadness to her voice.

“Do you think she will want to go with us again?”

“I certainly hope so.”