Another Life In The New World

Flames

Now, we are back to the present. Kun and Vampire came running to us with… Girly? Wait a second, how could there be two of them? Are my eyes deceiving me? How can this be? My head split from the midsection.

“I have been here the whole time with Keith waiting for you guys,” said the Girly next to me.

“I am the real one! Don’t listen to her lies,” said the other.

“Hey, how can you be sure that any of you are real?” Replied the one next to me.

“Keith, is that really you?” Kun asked.

“Who else could it be? Are you doubting my existence, too?” I raised an eyebrow.

Kun gave me a determined look, then he approached me. He circled his index finger on my palm, then slid it across my arm. A surge of electricity rushed through my veins. It hurt, so I punched his arm upon impulse.

“Ow, that hurts!” Kun nursed his arm.

“I should be the one saying that,” I retorted.

“You want to beef with me, huh? I saved your girl a bunch of times from a doctor called Doom.”

“We are not even sure if that’s really her. I know that I was with her the entire time. I protected her with all I have on my own.”

“Hey, Girly should be the one counting her blessings. Instead of bickering like two old ladies, why not focus on identifying the fake?” Vampire suggested.

“Nobody asked for your opinion, Vampire,” Kun growled at him.

“Yeah,” I seconded.

“You’re ganging up on me now?” Vampire raised his voice.

“You want a piece of me? You cannot even defend yourself back there, you wimp,” Kun taunted him.

“At least I stopped that solid old man from catching us.”

“Correction, it was Grumpy who did all work. He drilled us out to safety.”

“What are saying?”

“I’m saying that you are useless. You were useless ever since I met you.”

“Why you little brat!”

“I’m not little, you useless prick!”

“Hey, guys? Guys? Guys!!!” Girly shouted.

“What?” We all stared at her.

“While you old ladies talked trash with each other, it has been settled already,” she explained.

“What did you two decide on?” I composed myself.

“We decided that we must fight until one of us gives up. The winner stays while the loser gets lost,” her eyes were miles away.

“What’s wrong?”

“If I lose, you have to forget about me.”

“What are you saying? I know that you can win this. I believe in you,” I touched her chin.

“W-well, I-I, Uhm… I have to get going,” she stuttered then pulled herself away.

What did I say? She took off again without saying anything. I wish I could read her mind like that famous character from the book I read. Then, I looked at Vampire who was inches away from me. He looked at Girly with meaningful eyes. What happened back there?

“Hey Vampire, can I ask you something?” I inched closer to him.

“What?”

“Is there something going on between you and Girly?”

“What makes you say that?” His eyes were suddenly on me.

“It’s okay man, I will understand.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he inched away.

“What do you like about her?”

“Where did that come from?”

“Come on, just answer the question.”

He hesitated for a bit before answering, “She is your girl, you should know what to like about her.”

“Hmm… okay,” I sighed and moved away.

“Shut up girls, it’s about to start,” Kun sat between us.

My blood flowed hot as lava as it coursed through my veins. Steam blew out from my ears like a train charging on its track. I wanted to run or crash into something. I felt that the veins in my eyes might pop out at any moment.

“Hey man, you look like a bull ready to charge. Is there something wrong?” Kun asked.

“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, I feel fine. I’m feeling sick, that’s all,” I tried to brush him off.

“Okay. If you need anything, just tell me.”

I sunk deep beneath my arms. Knives stabbed a few inches from my heart, but I didn’t care. I guess it was better this way. Breathing hurt my lungs as if the air had needles. My mind bathed in the ocean of doubt and treachery.

The other side of me folds whenever I’m touched. I’m afraid that I might snap in front of her like the last string of cloth. I looked up at Girly, she had no grace or finesse whatsoever but I felt drawn to her somehow. As she dealt the final blow to her copy, our eyes met. Like the plant, I folded again.

“Hey Girly, marvellous job finishing her off,” Vampire greeted her.

“Uhm, thanks. Did I do well?”

“You were great!”

“Thank you.”

“Shall we get going?”

“Sure.”

Liquid lava flowed out of my eyes. It burned my clothes and skin.

“Dude, what is happening? Your life bar is slowly moving left,” Kun asked.

“Is it now?” I dried my eyes.

“Are you crying? What’s wrong?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Look, as your best friend and the only one who truly knows you, you have to talk to me, man.”

“Fine..” I exhaled as we walked. “How do you talk to a girl?”

“Oh, is this what this is all about? You should have told me sooner.”

“Are going to help me or not?”

“Alright, alright… The first step is to be confident. Stand straight and release all the negativity. Shake away every nerve in your body. Then we go to step two.”

“What is step two?”

“I will tell you after you finish step one.”

“Okay. Stand straight, release and shake, got it,” I did the instructions.

“Step two is quite tricky. This depends on the girl, but you can try it, anyway. You can try the direct approach. Start by having small conversations until you are confident enough to tell her how you feel.”

“I’m not sure if I can do that. Can you pass me a message instead?”

“No can do, man. Middle men are the worst ones to have in the first steps. Your girl might fall for him instead of you.”

“Then, what should I do?”

“I already told you what I know.”

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

“I only came across this book called First Steps to Relationships while browsing for some manga. Anyway, you should make your move. Don’t make me do it for you.”

I saw Girly talking casually to Vampire. My head’s temperature rose to a hundred degrees. I sucked the air in, then slowly let it out. When I was a few inches from her, my knees buckled. My feet stuck to the ground.

Vampire looked at me then placed his arm around her. The temperature doubled and spread across my body. Girly gripped his arm tightly. I cannot take this anymore! I gathered all the heat from my body and focused it to my palms. A new skill was unlocked, Devil’s Finger.

The heat intensity flushed out of my face. Lava dispelled from my palms, which blew away Vampire from Girly. She shrieked after seeing Vampire fly away to another area. She ran away and hid behind Grumpy and Kun. At least that’s how I wanted it.

“Dude, what happened back there?” Kun joined my side.

“I-I don’t know. My foot got stuck.”

“Let me hit that lousy foot of yours.”

“Ouch!”

“New skill unlocked, Claw Swipes,” a message surfaced.

“Nice,” Kun pumped his fist in the air.

I exhaled. We walked behind Girly and Vampire. I wrestled with Grumpy a couple of times to help sort out my mind. Suddenly, they stopped on their tracks.

“Why did you stop?” I asked.

“I forgot to ask, where are we headed again?” Girly asked.

“Oh… uh… I think Kun knows where to go,” I pulled Kun in front of me.

“Uhm, I think there’s a town nearby. Let go of me, man.”

“Girly, what will you do when we reach town?” How dare Vampire ask her? I wanted to rip his head off.

“Me? Maybe I’ll go hunting for some monsters. What about you, Keith?”

Wait, is she talking to me? I wasn’t sure. I stood there looking like a brainwashed zombie. What should I say? Move your mouth, you dimwit! It’s your chance.

“Oh, uh… I think hunting for monsters sounds fun. Can I go with?”

“I would love that. Uh, I mean, it would be nice to have company.”

“Sure,” I smiled. Then, I felt sharp icy stares on both sides of my head. 

“I hope they have lots of food there. All the action made me hungry. Wouldn’t you agree, Vampire?” Kun eyed him meaningfully.

“Sure, yeah, whatever,” he replied.

The walk went awkwardly all the way. Finally, we have reached a town called Venenatus. The place glittered and glistened as if bathed in perpetual sunlight. Koi fish swam in the pond that was placed at the heart of town. The residents gave us suspicious glares as we looked for an inn.

“The place looks beautiful, but it gives me the creeps,” Kun commented.

“Why are they looking at us like this? I thought NPCs are not supposed to do that,” Vampire added.

“Keep your heads down and continue looking for a place to rest,” I whispered.

“I don’t think we should stay here,” Girly hugged my arm.

“Girly, you’re squeezing me too tight,” I groaned.

“Oops, sorry,” she let go.

“You can grab my arm just not too hard.”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Thanks.”

We reached the farthest end of town. Only a handful of people roamed the place, and they seemed to care less about us. This side of town had substandard structures. The inn was in shambles. It could collapse at any moment.

We went in there and no furniture filled it. We had no choice but to sleep on the floor. I approached an eagle statue and saved our progress before going out again. As promised, I went with Girly to the nearby forest. Monsters as tall as a building swarmed the area.

Girly wanted to test out her newly bought weapon, Leviathan Tongue. It was slightly bigger than her previous weapon and had cobras as missiles. She blasted some of them. They vaporized in an instant upon hit.

“Be careful where you point that thing,” I cautioned as I watched her.

“I’m only trying it out. I won’t harm you,” her smile restarted my heart.

I stood up and had my own fun. I slashed some of these Roving Roaches. They had long antennae that stretched as long as my sword. Then I heard Girly scream.

“Why? What happened?” I rushed to her side.

“C-c-c-c-cockroach!” She pointed at one of them.

“You were acing these things before. Don’t let their appearance scare you.”

“You don’t understand. They fly and move their legs and wave their antennae. I-I think we should head back,” her body froze.

“Fine… Want me to carry you, princess?”

She did not answer as she stood up. She walked away, rushing to the inn with her face aimed at the goal. I followed after her, but the same sharp icy stare bore behind my head. I looked around to see where it was coming from.

I gripped my sword tightly. The chilly feeling became more and more intense the closer I got to town. I didn’t remember walking this far when we got into the forest. Then I lost sight of Girly. It seemed like the forest was catching up to me.

“Girly! Where are you?” I called out to her, but my voice echoed back to me.

Suddenly, branches and leaves shook violently. I couldn’t see what hit me and I fell down to the ground. When I woke up, I was back at the inn.