"Come sit."
Claire said, pulling a seat next to herself.
"Good afternoon," I greeted awkwardly as I walked closer and sat beside her.
Her smell hit me instantly—
The faint metallic scent of blood, the cold aftertaste of battle, and underneath it, her usual strong and sexy scent that I smelled just this morning.
It was unusually attractive.
Especially with that tiny splatter of dried blood on her neck. It made her look even sexier.
Like a cold, battle-hardened valkyrie.
"Why did you come?" She turned to look at me, her gorgeous blue eyes staring deep into my soul.
From the corner of my vision, I noticed her friend sitting still like a porcelain doll.
Slender, slim, curves at all the right places—
I wasn't able to look too properly, but I was sure that she was even more curvier and bustier than Claire.
Her dark, raven black hair was fluttering in the wind as she calmly sipped her coffee.
Though, this wasn't the time to get such thoughts.
I shifted my eyes back at Claire, who was patiently waiting for my reply.
"I wanted to level up." I said.
She took a deep breath at my words, as if trying her best to be polite and calm, "Then I could've taken you with me."
"I did ask you, but you said no."
"..." She glared at me, "Are you serious, Aaron?"
I coughed, "Claire, I just wanted to level up to 5. I am really sorry I did it without telling you first."
She sighed, maybe feeling the genuineness in my apology.
And indeed, the apology was genuine as I really felt that taking Claire would've been better.
At least she won't have judged me based on my class.
"Wait–"
Her hand suddenly blurred, shooting towards my shoulder in an instant as I felt her soft fingers pressing onto my healed wound.
"You were injured too?"
She pressed her finger inside the small tear of my clothes, rubbing the dried blood that had leaked from my wounds.
I could see the anger in her eyes.
Holy shit.
Was this the real feeling of dark romance? I can understand the hype for real.
"It was just a small stinger–"
She cut in, "So it was the red Anthro." she looked up at my eyes in worry, "The venom must have been painful, are you okay now?"
"Should I get a pain relief potion?"
Claire's friend spoke up suddenly.
Her voice was smooth and airy, soft like something out of a fairytale.
"No—no no," I looked between the two women.
Wow.
I never knew anyone could care this much about me.
"I'm fine. I bought a small healing potion on the way," I clarified, glancing at Claire's friend.
"There can be some internal venom remaining." Claire said.
"My stamina is at 30 now, it's cleared." I smirked, but then I remembered something else as well, "You said I can smoke if I reach 30 stamina."
She looked at me blankly, blinking speechlessly, while her friend laughed melodiously.
Her laugh was sweet.
Sweet enough to make the labyrinth gloom evaporate off my mind.
"Sure, go ahead."
Claire pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered it to me, along with a lighter.
I pulled out one cigarette and the lighter, before looking around and noticing a // SMOKING AREA // sign on the rooftop.
I am glad.
"So, tell me everything that happened in the labyrinth." Claire pulled one cig of her own, leaning back on the chair and sipping on her coffee.
But then she noticed that I didn't have anything to eat or drink, so she called a waiter and let me order.
I was in the mood for something sweet, so I asked for an iced latte.
Once that was out of the way, I began.
I left out no details– except for my real level and my buffed magic stats.
There was nothing else that was worth hiding anyway.
"How much did you owe in total again?" When I mentioned my lack of money, Claire interrupted calmly.
"35."
She pulled out a few 500 Sol notes from her wallet and kept it on the table like an absolute baddie.
"I don't want you being in debt to random women." She said, "Pay it back."
Yep.
I love her already.
I was feeling jealous of Greg and Lina, but it seems I forgot I had someone even better.
And after listening to my entire run, she hummed as she smoked and sipped coffee.
"Do you want to level up more?" She questioned, shooting me an amused look.
I was surprised, to say the least.
I was expecting her to be mad, to drag me back home and beat me up or something. Or tie me up to bed. Or fuck me to tears–
I don't know.
I didn't expect her to be this chill, at least.
"Yes!" I nod to her question, there was no way I would refuse this heaven sent opportunity.
"Good. This time, I and Eva will protect you along the way. But don't get me wrong."
Her voice stayed calm, but her words tightened my spine.
"It will be harder this time. I won't babysit you. I'll just make sure you don't die. No matter what."
She continued,
"Floor 2 will have level 5-6 monsters. We'll grind there until you reach level 6.
Then we'll head to Floor 3—monsters at level 6-7—until you reach level 7.
And so on, until Floor 5. You'll reach level 10."
I swallowed hard.
The fuck?
This sounded far more dangerous than anything I'd gone through.
Ruby's group barely managed the first floor, and I still got injured in the end.
But Claire wanted me to go all the way to Floor 5?
It looked like her friend, Eva, had the same concern.
"Are you sure he can handle it?" she asked softly.
"Of course."
Claire's gorgeous blue eyes met mine with unwavering confidence.
"I am here." She said.