Hours later they arrived at the stream where they had rested days ago.

  It was wider than Naro remembered, it curved lazily through the moss-glow field, steam lifting from its surface in thin, wavering threads. The water caught the lightt of the stars and scattered them to it's surface. Leaving an unworldly glow on it.

  'How pretty...'

  It was prettier than he remembered, which was weird since he had a very keen eye for those kind of things.

  'Hard to pay attention to detail when you're staring at your fiancée I guess.'

  Rami walked in front of him, then set her satchel down, removed the spell on the arm and crouched by the edge, dipping her fingers in again just like last time.

  "It's colder than before... Looks like the Warm Cycle was just Paro's influence."

  She sighed.

  Naro raised an eyebrow. "Too cold, or just colder than before?"

  She glanced back at him. "I kinda want a warm bath, you see?"

  He gave her a snarky smile. "Like you have any choice."

  Rami huffed, then chuckled. "It's still warm. Just not that warm."

  She stood back up and started unfastening parts of her lighter armor, setting the plates carefully on a flat stone nearby. The metal was scorched and scratched, but mostly intact. She stretched her shoulders once it was off, clearly relieved.

  Her onyx-black skin caught the starlight softly, the glow tracing the lean lines of her arms and shoulders. Rami's figure was slender and athletic, with a flat stomach and perfectly defined muscles, as expected from a person who's second option was close quarter combat when her magic didn't work. The scars left by the magma-knights were still visible against her skin.

  Proof of her battle against those wretches.

  Her short twin braids brushed against her neck as she moved, white strands stark against the dark of her skin, still dusted faintly with ash. Even exhausted, even dirty and battered, she carried herself like she always did.

  Steady. Grounded. Strong.

  Naro swallowed once.

  'Yeah... She's still the most beautiful person I know.'

  He watched her for a moment before realizing he was staring again.

  Before Rami said anything, he had already turned away.

  Out of respect of course. Simple as.

  He started removing his own armor instead, movements slower than usual with only one arm. The vambrace came off first, then the chest plate. His spiky white hair, finally free from the restraining helmet, stuck out behind his head, uneven bangs falling into his eyes as sweat and ash finally had time to settle on him.

  "Need help?" Rami asked, already stepping closer.

  "I've got it," he said quickly. Then paused. "...Okay maybe just the strap."

  She smiled and helped him undo it, her fingers warm against his skin. Close up, the scars along her arms and side were easy to see where the armor had covered them before. Pale lines against her onyx skin. Naro glanced at them openly.

  "You know," he said casually, "I still think they look cool."

  Rami froze for half a second.

  "...You're unbelievable," she muttered, but there was no bite to it. Her ears darkened slightly.

  Naro shrugged with his good shoulder. "What? I mean it."

  Back in the cave it had slipped out, but he truly believed it.

  She finished helping him and stepped back, shaking her head. "Only you would say that like it's nothing."

  She slipped out of the rest of her armor and set it aside, then tied her short twin braids up so they wouldn't trail in the water. Naro followed suit, placing his armor neatly next to his sword and pack.

  The stream lapped gently at the mossy bank.

  Rami stepped in first.

  The water reached her calves and she sucked in a breath. "Mhm, yeah. Still warm enough!"

  She waded in a little deeper, then turned back toward him. "You coming or are you just going to stand there and overthink it ?"

  He smirked. "I'm allowed to be cautious, aren't I ?"

  Hours before, when hunting for food, a courageous and big Dusk-bird had pecked his head multiple times so its family could fly away.

  It didn't hurt but...

  'It still feels humiliating !'

  Rami gave him a deadpan look. "Uh huh. There's no fishes here y'know. Atleast none that can bite, so c'me here !"

  He stepped in carefully. The warmth soaked into his feet, then his legs, easing tension he hadn't even noticed building up. He let out a breath he'd been holding for days.

  "Aaaah... this is heaven..."

  "Told you," Rami said, already kneeling to splash water over her arms and neck. "You've been walking around like you're made of stone."

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  Naro raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean ?"

  She snorted.

  "Hey ! Answer me !"

  They washed quietly for a while. Dirt, ash, dried blood finally coming off. The water clouded slightly, then cleared again as the stream carried everything away.

  Naro used his one arm awkwardly, grumbling under his breath.

  "This would be so much easier with two."

  Rami glanced at him. "Don't push it."

  "I'm just stating facts ! It's clumbersome !"

  She moved closer without another word and helped him rinse his shoulder properly. Her touch was gentle and firm.

  This time Naro didn't look away.

  At the white hair clinging to her skin, the healed scars catching starlight, the way her expression softened when she focused on helping him.

  "... Thank you," he said quietly.

  She paused, then met his gaze with a chuckle. "You don't have to thank me for that."

  "Still. Thank you for everything." He said with a loving smile.

  She smiled, smaller this time, then flicked water at his face. "You're impossible."

  He laughed, genuine and light, and splashed her back with what little reach he had.

  "HEY !"

  They both laughed, the sound echoing softly across the moss-glow field. For a moment, there were no Guardians, no Authority, no broken world pressing down on them.

  It was just them, the warm water, and the stars illuminating the sky along with the Scar.

  They sat by the edge afterward, letting their clothes dry on nearby stones, feet still in the stream. Rami leaned back on her hands, eyes closed.

  "...I missed feeling normal," she said.

  Naro nodded. "Me too."

  Kresha had changed them forever, it was subtle but the impact remained.

  They knew they could die at any moment, at least Naro thought so.

  'These times are limited. So- I'm going to do everything I want to do.'

  Their shoulders touched.

  Suddenly Naro pointed towards one of Gaon's constellations.

  "Rami, look there's another star on the Creation constellation !"

  Her eyes opened up immediately to look up at the sky. "Wait, really ?? Where ?!"

  "Here."

  When she turned, a one armed well-built young man with onyx skin and spiky white hair with a loving expression was next to her, his warm and soft lips gently touched hers and his remaining hand cupped her cheek.

  Rami's surprise lasted only for a milisecond before she responded to the kiss and eventually dominated it.

  It was easier to do it with two hands after all.

  Not that Naro minded.

  The stream hummed softly as it flowed past them, carrying the worst of the journey downstream, at least for tonight.

  ——————————————————————————————————————

  After enough hours passed, Naro woke up first with Rami sleeping on him, her head rested against his chest. He did not move her away though or tried to get up, having learned his lesson some days ago.

  'I need to see what I can possibly do though...'

  A later time of course.

  'Bu-'

  A later time !

  Naro breathed in and exhaled in exasparation at his inner voice.

  'Let's just get over some things I know right now.'

  His constitution didn't change that much, but havng now an increased in authority, his body had become much sturdier. Not by much, but after his fight with Paro, Rami described that his Authority clung to him like an exoskeleton... Whatever that was.

  He carressed the top of her hair. '"It's like being reinforced by a magic spell that increased your physical attributes," or so she said.'

  Walking, running and fighting felt a bit easier but not too much. He theorized it was not only because the sword had taken a part of Paro's Authority, but also because that Authority was shrunk to a smaller domain.

  "I think I'm much weaker than I thought... Well relatively at least, I killed a demigod after all !"

  Saying it out loud filled him with a bit of pride, still-

  Physically and pure Authority-wise he was much weaker than the average demigod candidate, the runes on the sword elavated his power level by quite a bit but that was all.

  Talking about the runes...

  He looked at the obsidian-like sword that rested near his soon-to-be left arm.

  The double-edged blade was once silver-white, almost reflecting all the stars above as it was swung. Now it was as black as Naro's skin, no even blacker than that. When he holds it, he felt like he could make the blade grow hotter, so hot it could melt almost anything.

  He never tested it though, way too dangerous.

  'The runes on it have changed also, it's not the symbols Rami knew about anymore.'

  They looked like a language that was either lost or simply not from Gaon.

  For some reason, Naro could read a little bit of it and somewhat understand them.

  'It's like at that time when I was fighting the Shell-Gleam slimes, the word "Sword Strike" appeared in my mind, just like the dash skill."

  He didn't let the implications of this knowledge weigh on his mind. As he grabbed the sword and studied it more.

  'Hmm... there's not a lot of writing, but somehow it's like each "letter" carries more than a sentence.'

  Most of it was elaborating more on his existant runes, Storm Strike actually doubled the impact and cutting power of his strikes on top of its initial use of giving more reach to Naro by extending the blade. The Dash could also be used in mid-air, something he had done on instinct against Paro... And also how he managed to hunt that damned Dusk-Bird.

  'Annoying little wretch !' He could've asked Rami at the time to just shoot it with a spell, but it was more fitting to go against it one on one.

  As he continued reading, he saw something quite interesting.

  [Dash>: Increases overall speed by a small amount after using it.]

  'Ah, that explains a little bit... though it really is a small amount, I never noticed that when killing that wretch.'

  As he read the additional Runes on Storm Strike, his eyes widened.

  [Storm Strike\|/: Secondary function of Storm Strike is active at all times.]

  "... Huh ?"

  He blinked, he wanted to use his left arm to wipe his eyes, bu that was useless.

  "..."

  "WHAAAAAAAAAAT"

  Rami jolted out of her sleep in a panic and stood up immediately, "WHAT ? Monsters ? Danger ? Where ?!"

  As he realized he yelled loudly, he immediately calmed down and settled his expression.

  "Nowhere ! Sorry..." He said while rubbing the back of his head with his sword still in hand.

  She looked very angry now... Uh oh.

  "I'm really sorry, there was something written on the blade that really surprised me."

  Rami frowned and then sighed. "Whatever, what was it ?"

  Naro put the blade down gently then inhaled... then exhaled.

  "I can do Storm Strikes every time I swing my sword now," he said in even tone.

  Rami raised an eyebrow. "You mean the thing you always seem to be doing ?"

  "No, not that !... There's a secondary fucntion of Storm Strike, it doubles my attack potency or something like that."

  Rami nodded with a hint of skepticism. "I figured that out some time ago, but what do you mean by- Oh."

  'She figured it out it seems.'

  Naro smiled brightly. "Yeah."

  Rami's expression turned pensive and as her eyes widened, Naro was sure she thought about all implications.

  "Oh my."

  "Mhm." He nodded.

  "You have the right to scream," he said whith his teeths flashed and his eyes closed.

  She shook her head, her twin braids following her movement "No... No, I've thought too much to do that."

  "Shame," Naro said as he stood up and began to put his his vambrace and chestplate on. "In any case, the village is in a day'ss of travel if we don't stop. We should hurry."

  Rami sighed, put her own armor parts on faster than him, then helped him with his straps.

  "I wanted to have more time alone with you but I agree it's been pretty long since we've been gone. They should be worried to death..."

  His gaze went downward 'Astor...'

  A demigod candidate that carried a part of Paro's... no, the Gentle giant of Kresha's Authority.

  He wasn't suited for combat, but his help would've been still appreciated.

  'He told me that what Rami and I was doing, was complete suicide. He wasn't totally wrong but...'

  No. He'd talk about this with him when they met.

  With a determined expression Naro spoke "Let's go," he picked up the blade back in the scabbard on his back and raised a fist, "Back to our home, back to everyone !"

  Rami chuckled. "You're supposed to say that when there's more than one person, you idiot."

  "Hush !" He said as he took the lead.

  Rami walked alongside him as they left the moss-lit valley.

  One Halo-flower with a small red glow bloomed as they left, shining almost as brightly as the stars in the sky.