Stepping into the Unknown

Nox was now walking on the street, wandering where he should start, or more like, who he should start with but soon enough, the choice was made for him as someone approached him.

"Hello Nox-san!" Syr greeted with enthusiasm but Nox could sense something underneath it it wasn't that standard Freya nefariousness.

"Hey Syr, how is it going? Was this one of your free days?" Nox greeted back. Over time, he had gotten on a first name basis with most of his friends with suffixes.

"No, no. I asked Mamma Mia to give leave to do something. In fact I was just looking for you." Syr replied.

"Oh! What for?" Nox inquired.

"Come with me to the orphanage please, I need you for something." Syr said

"That wording was not vague at all." Nox sarcastically commented, filled with suspicion.

Syr on the other hand just kept her, "I'm not giving up but still won't tell you anything." smile, plastered on her face.

*sigh*

"I hate it when you that you know." Nox complained.

Syr just giggled in response.

"I promise it's nothing nefarious." She claimed.

"Fine, fine. Lead the way." Nox relented.

As the two headed to the orphanage, Nox tried to see if he could coax out some info on what he was getting into from Syr's cute lips but trying to outplay the witch herself at her own game was far easier said than done.

That being the case, even by the time the pair had nearly arrived at their destination, Nox had been wholly unsuccessful at getting anything out of the little minx, much to her delight.

Left with no other option, Nox just resigned himself to walk into the situation blind while steeling himself to deal with whatever awaited him inside the orphanage. As dor what that was, it truly surprised him.

As soon as he entered the building, Nox was greeted with most of his friends and a lot of party poppers.

"!?"

They approached him, all smiles with greetings and pats on the back but Nox still had to ask the question.

"Thanks for the surprise but . . . What's the occasion?" He tentatively asked.

Loki came forward and decided to explain it for everyone.

"Well, we all noticed ya stopped going to the Dungeon for a while now so we surmised somethin' must have happened so we thought to cheer ya up with a surprise party!" She explained.

*chuckle*

'Didn't think they would not only take note but even set something like this up . . . Even Airmid and EIna who should be at work right now are here. Hell, even Rose who I haven't gotten to know that well is around.' Nox thought to himself

"Well thank you but there was really no need." Nox responded.

"We'll have none of that! Fess up what's goin' on! For ya to even refuse Ais-tan's invites to Dungeon dates, it must be really significant ." Loki demanded, earning shout of approval from everyone.

"Alright, alright!" Nox relented and everyone calmed down.

"It's really not that big of a deal to be honest." He started.

"To keep it simple, I encountered a problem I did not forsee while diving in the dungeon and realized my then way of doing things could lead to some serious trouble. As such, I elected not to dive back into the Dungeon until said problem was fixed." Nox vaguely explained the situation.

Most people realized he didn't want to give details and respected that much but some airheads had no such considerations.

"So what's the problem?" Tiona asked without any sort consideration, leaving some people, her ister included, facepalming.

"That's something I'd like to keep private but, at the very least, it won't bother me again for the foreseeable future. I already knew how to mitigate the problem it just took time to implement the solution that's all." Nox clarified his current situation.

"In other words . . . Yer returnin' to the Dungeon?" Loki inquired.

"Yep! In a couple of days at most my routine will be back to how it was before." Nox affirmed.

"Then this party just lost half its meanin' but oh well . . . Let's drink 'till we drop anyway!" Loki announced and the party restarted with fervor as everyone fooled around together in the joys of heavy drinking.

To be honest, Nox felt more satisfied with his new life in this world than ever. So far, he was the one going to people, meeting, horsing around with the guys at Hermes's place, flirting with the stunning girls of this world . . .

This time though, his friends noticed something different about him, got worried and threw him a party to cheer him up! It truly felt great.

There was another person feeling good right now in the sense that they also got a new view on life and their decisions, Rose Fannett.

Truth be told, it had been Eina who insisted she come today. The redhead werewolf had a personal policy of never getting to close with an adventurer, especially romantically but she tended to keep relationships professional at all times, even to those that were not under her supervision.

She knew the grim probabilities after all. Many under her charge had died before becoming someone in the world and Rose felt that she would not be able to handle the heartbreak if she ever got too close but now, Nox gave her a new perspective.

Still, she was far from romantically interested even though she did find him attractive enough. No, for now, it was just a willingness to be closer, friends perhaps.

Nox had been the first adventurer Rose knew that stayed out of the Dungeon for two straight months just because he saw a problem with his dungeoneering methods.

Most would either dive anyway in spite of the danger, simply out of a lack of patience and optimism, while others would not even notice problems until they were far too late.

Seeing an adventurer with such introspection and the patience and ability to take advantage of it fully was truly a treat for the weathered Guild employee.

Rose was about the only one having such deep introspection, only Nox also having that kind of thought too, even if more fleeting. as for the others, they were just relieved nothing was wrong with their friend and/or crush, as well as enjoying the party that had been organized.

Being as good a time as any with all of the people he had gifts for here, Nox decided to give his gifts here. A decision made rather thoughtlessly, mostly due to drunkenness but he was too happily drunk to care.

"You know everybody . . ." He started.

"Most of my time was spent crafting gear for me to use in order to cover the inadequacies with my methods until I could properly take care of them but, in the meantime, I also made a few things on the side." Nox declared.

"The gifts I had promised to the fair ladies of the Hostess and this is an apology to Ais for having refused yor invitations so many times and as thanks for keeping to try."

And thus, Nox presented the pendants to the girls from the Hostess of Fertility and gave Ais the ring he had made for her.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

The guys started whistling and cheering, spouting all kinds of comments that got some of the girls riled up and ready to beat the crap out of them. In other words, they were boys being boys.

The recipients of the gifts were of course enamored and making eyes at Nox, even if some were just fooling around, partly due to the alcohol in their system.

Ais in particular was gently caressing her new ring with a simple and small smile, the dazzled anyone that that happened to look at her in that moment. She seemed entirely like a different person, it was a side of her that Nox had only glimpsed when he show her his spirit magic.

It left the boy drunk on something other than alcohol that was for sure . . .

The girls that were not involved and didn't have the hots for Nox started giggling and gossiping with each other but, most damningly, the one that actually did have a crush on him were burning in jealousy and glaring at the playboy in front of them.

Nox's inebriation, cleared up by half almost instantly as newfound clarity emerged in his mind, enough for him to start sweating.

Yes, it was at this moment Nox knew . . . He fucked up.

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba  without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR weeks ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Kage of Kages, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.