Raze looked at the hand extended to her by Lakshman and then looked up at him. He could not read the expression on her face due to the mask, but he guessed that she was both surprised and confused by his offer.

“Eh?” She said slowly, coming to the realization that everything happening in front of her was real. “M-Me…? Fly…? W-With you…? A-A-Are you… sure…?”

She sounded extremely nervous and it was no wonder because she did not believe it would be easy for anyone to fly and allow others to fly at the same time. It was a singular minded thinking that made it that she solely believed only those with the ability to fly can fly while those without it are stuck permanently on the ground. Due to this misconception, she was nervous about his offer and was moving towards rejecting it as she believed her being there would cause him trouble.

“We won’t know until we try,” he replied coolly with a pleasant smile on his face.

He knew full well that they would be able to fly together, and he understood a little bit of the thought that was chaining her down. Her world was based solely around technology and being someone with a rigid belief on what is standard, he guessed that she was reluctant to fly with him because of the fear of becoming a burden. This made him inwardly smile at the recognition of the extreme kindness and concern for others that Erza always had.

She appeared to be hesitant despite his reassuring words as she said, “I… don’t think it’s advisable… to try something like that so suddenly. I mean,” and she paused for a moment, thinking about what it was she had been trying to say, “this isn’t like in your world, where you can freely use your powers. You are limited to the amount that your Hero Weapon as it only responds to its chosen warrior.”

This did not come as a surprise to him because he had surmised the exact same thing more than a week ago when he was lying in the hospital bed, recovering from the injuries of his battle against the alien. Without nothing to do but lie there, he continuously thought about the world knowledge that he had learnt up to that point and wondered about the advantages and the disadvantages of the Hero Weapon, which was when he identified that singular user restriction.

“Well, I kind of figured that one out already,” he said with a grin on his face, and was pleased to feel that it surprised her. “I had been trying to figure out the problems that I may face in this world, so I had been digging into the knowledge that I’m learning unlike the others, although, Gram, Ward, and Natsu are quite the quick learners so I’m sure they’re pretty close to discovering what you just told me along with many more that are unsolved.”

His words left her feeling stunned, and he smiled at her before asking again, “So, it’s worth trying something new even if it involves risks because we won’t move forward if we don’t try.” When she continued to hesitate, his smile widened a little as he asked, “Raze, don’t you believe in me?”

“No! That’s not it!” She replied automatically, shocked by his abrupt question.

“Then, there is no need for hesitation,” he said quickly in a cheerful voice. He extended his hand closer to her and said, “Come, Raze. The beautiful starry night awaits us.”

His words made her blush behind her mask, but she coughed a little and straightened up before saying, “Very well, Lucky. I have faith in you, and I do hope to enjoy this night.”

With that, she placed her hand in his, and he gripped it with a delightful expression on his face.

“I won’t disappoint,” he said and activated his powers.

In an instant, Raze felt something surround her and, in the next moment, felt her feet slowly leave the ground behind.

“Don’t look down,” advised Lakshman.

Unfortunately, his advice came a little late because she had reflexively looked down at the ground and felt something get stuck in her throat. She desperately swallowed it, but she soon started to feel dizzy from the overwhelming fear of heights.

At that moment, she was hoisted upward by Lakshman, and he grabbed her around the waist much to her surprise.

“Raze!” He said firmly to her, looking worried by the bad complexation on her face. “Do you want to descend? Maybe it was a bad idea to try this.”

As he was half in mind of returning her to her room, she clutched his shirt and said, “N-No! It’s… fine! Really! I’m fine!” She hurriedly fixed her posture and looked at him before saying, “I’m only getting used to this… feeling.”

He sensed that she was trying her hardest to appear strong, but he knew she was feeling a little dizzy. This made him wonder how she was able to become accustomed to flying around back in his home world, with the only answer being that she had somehow gotten used to flying in this world to be perfectly fine while flying in his home world.

Focusing his attention back on her and not wanting to disappoint her, he said softly, “Relax, Raze. Focus only on me, okay?”

She nodded her head in assent, and he continued to soar higher into the air while slowly increasing his speed. The wind began to blow quicker and smoothly against them as the two soared higher and higher into the night sky. Upon reaching a certain height, he turned and spoke softly to her as she had been fixedly looking only at him like his previously instructed.

“You can look around now, Raze.”

Upon being freed from looking constantly at him, she sighed and glanced around at her surroundings and instantly became surprised. They were at a height where she felt she could touch the clouds if she just reached out with her arm. Quickly looking down, she saw everything was very small from the height, making her feel surprised by the distance covering them and the ground.

“Wow!” She exclaimed loudly, unable to hide her shock. “We’re so high! Is it okay?”

“It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about. Rather, I think this is a better position to be in,” he said cheerfully and hoisted her up into his arms, performing a neat princess carry while floating in mid-air.

“Eh?!” She exclaimed, shocked by his sudden movement and finding herself being carried by him with both hands. “Princess carry?! Seriously?!”

“Does it displease you?”

“N-No! Of course not! I’m… just… I’m just… so… happy…! No one has ever done this to me…!” She muttered in a sad voice.

He remained silent for a moment, then he acted by suddenly flying forward with a grin on his face. She cried out in surprise and felt sudden fear that something bad might happen and instantly shut her eyes. However, as seconds went by and they continued flying under the clouds, she slowly opened them to witness them flying through the air, with the wind blowing past them.

“Wow…!” She murmured with a look of awe on her face, which was hidden by the mask on her face. She looked up at the stars visible through the clouds and said in a joyous voice, “This is… amazing…! The cold air, the smooth travel, and beautiful scenery… Ah…! It feels so… free… just like I dreamed it would be.”

“You dreamed about it?” He asked out of curiosity.

“Yes. This is what I dreamed of… of what freedom felt like…” she muttered in a quiet voice.

She was shaking a little, and he understood that she was silently crying behind her mask covering her face. He understood that some tight restrictions had been placed on her that she was unable to break free from for unknown reasons. It made him feel sad, however, he decided to calm her saddened heart in a different way.

He pulled her towards him and hugged her much to her surprised and whispered softly in her ear, “It’s okay. It’s alright.”

There were a few seconds of silence between them, in which she gripped his clothes tightly as her whole body shook from her silent crying. Several seconds later, she pulled away from him and appeared to have calmed down as he sensed her mood to have become brighter.

“Thank you, Lucky. I feel much better now,” she said gratefully.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know,” he said with a smile and a wink.

She looked up at him, and for a moment she had opened her mouth with a request to make from him. However, she felt it was an unreasonable request and fell silent while muttering, “It’s alright.”

“If there’s no proper communication, it’s hard to understand what the other person is thinking,” he said, sensing that she was hesitant to confide in him the request she has. “If you want to see the stars, here!”

With that, he waved his hand up at the clouds and created a wild blowing wind that cleared the clouds in an instant. She was amazed by his skill, and stared up at the numerous stars flittering in the night sky high above them. It was a pretty sight that her voice was caught by it, and she continued to stare at it in silence.

Lakshman turned to her and said, “The night is dark, but the lights from the stars make it a very beautiful thing to see. So, please let me know, and I promise on this starlit night and the gods watching us that I will grant any wish of yours as long as it is within my power to do so!”

This resolve of his made its way into her, and she finally felt confident to make the request to him.

“Lucky, I want to be free,” she said in a low voice.

He blinked in surprise, not sure whether he heard it correctly or not, so he asked, “Sorry? I didn’t catch that.”

She took a deep breath and looked firmly at him while saying, “I want to be free! Can you set me free, Lucky?”

It was a vague request that would confuse anyone on the depth of its reason, but Lakshman had no doubt. For him, it was the request that he had been expecting for quite some time and was glad to hear it come directly from her. He already had a slight understanding of her situation, but he decided to pursue the matter with Alestor.

“I understand, and I promise that, in due time, you will be free, Raze,” he said with a confident smile on his face.

She smiled behind her mask, half believing that he was only saying it to please her as she understood the vague request that she made. Even she did not understand what it was that she truly wanted, but deep down she knew she wanted to be free from the shackles that were placed on her from childhood. And so, even if he were to fail in his request, she decided to not feel bad and only feel happy that there was at least one person who understood her pain and had attempted to comfort her.

“Thank you,” she said, not voicing her doubts and deciding to have some hope for the first time in a very long time.

***

After spending a few more minutes flying around, they slowly flew back towards her room, and he gently let her down through the window. She breathed a sight in happiness and turned to see him hover down a little to meet her face to face.

“I don’t think flying is an easy technique to learn?” She asked curiously, to which he nodded with a chuckle. When she saw that, she smiled wryly and said, “That’s a shame. The others heroes make it look so easy.”

“It’s not easy actually,” he said with a smile as he began his explanation. “They’re able to easily fly because they are envisioning themselves flying, and their Hero Weapons provide the necessary action for them. For example, take me for instance. I was around the age of thirteen when I first mastered flight, but it wasn’t a magic; it’s pure energy control.”

“Oh…! So, you did it the natural way instead of relying on a magic to make you fly,” she said, and he nodded in assent. This made her ponder for a moment before asking, “In that case, wouldn’t it be really difficult for me to achieve the same thing? I don’t know how efficient I would be in using powers like you do back in your home world as I constantly rely on my M.E.D.”

She unconsciously rubbed the metallic device wrapped around her wrist while saying that.

He chuckled as he remembered her being able to perform magic smoothly back in his home world and said, “Well, I can only say that practice makes it perfect. True, you might not be as good as me or anyone that came from my world, but I think you have the potential to be better than what you currently are.”

“Really? Y-You really think so?” She asked him, feeling amazed and enthralled by his confidence in her.

He nodded wordlessly in reply and thought, “Of course because I’ve seen you do it.”

“If you hadn’t seen her do it, you wouldn’t have confidence in her?” Asura asked him in a shrewd voice.

“I… I might still have confidence in her since, you know, she was able to get used to flying around rather quickly,” replied Lakshman in a flat voice. “It all depends on her keenness to improve, so there’s nothing much I can do there.”

“I see. I’m glad to hear it,” she said, feeling happy at the prospect of her being able to improve from where she was. “In that case, can you come here tomorrow at the same time so that we can really begin my lessons?”

“Not from tonight?” He asked, looking surprised by her decision to start a day later.

She shook her head and said, “No. I’m feeling tired, and I just remembered that I have duties to attend to tomorrow. I got carried away with the excitement of being able to learn something new. It’s my fault, so please accept my sincerest apology for needlessly asking you to come today.”

“Oh no! Not at all! There’s nothing to apologize for,” he replied quickly, waving his hand in a gesture to stop as she bowed to him. “Rather, I think it was good that I came today since I now know what you’re capable of. I’m impressed.”

She straightened up and said, “I’m glad to hear it. So then, have a good night and see you tomorrow morning.”

“Yes. Goodnight and…” he paused as she made to close the window, “sweet dreams.”

Those two words were like an attack that targeted her heart and caused it to skip a beat in surprise. She looked at him through the mask, blushing brighter than ever before upon hearing such unexpected words.

“L-L-Likewise!” She stammered, and she quickly shut her window.

He smiled as he sensed the surprise she felt from hearing his unexpected words, and he heard Asura say inside his mind, “Aren’t you the playboy now?”

“Shut it,” Lakshman thought as he heard his past-self burst into laughter.

Since there was nothing holding him there, he shifted his focus to something more important and flew off, not towards his room, but towards the central tower where Alestor resided in.

“It’s late. Don’t you think it’s rude to disturb him at this hour of the day?” Asura asked curiously.

“It’s an urgent matter that I must discuss with him,” replied Lakshman in a low voice as he soared over the castle rooftop until he reached the top of the building. Upon seeing the light streaming out from the open windows, Lakshman smiled and said, “He’s awake.”

He descended towards the balcony of the building and gently pushed the glass door open, being alert as the minister may attack him thinking he was a trespasser. However, nothing of the sort happened, and he slowly walked through the building trying to find where the man he was seeking was currently in.

Lakshman was just about to invoke his magic when he suddenly heard a familiar voice same from the side, “Don’t you think it’s rude to trespass in someone’s private property?”

He jumped in surprise, and turned to the left to see a large desk that had a lit candle near the edge of the desk. On the seat behind it sat Alestor wearing half-moon spectacles and a serene expression on his face. Lakshman was astonished that his Elemental Sense completely missed Alestor’s presence even though he was very close to him.

“Alestor! I’m glad you’re awake,” said Lakshman in greeting, recovering from his momentary surprise and walked over towards the desk, and his hand extended out towards him.

Alestor shook it firmly and gestured for him to take a seat, which Lakshman did by sitting on other side of the desk facing him.

“What brings you to my humble workplace at this late hour?” He asked the Solaris Hero with a mild look on his face. “I assume it’s urgent.”

Lakshman nodded and said, “Yes. It’s something that I wanted to report to you quickly since no one else would believe me, and you’re probably the only one who can handle this.”

This made Alestor raise an eyebrow in reaction, but he remained silent as he gestured for Lakshman to go on.

“Do you know about Mike Druken? The recent addition to the Hero Academy that the second prince seemed to be on friendly terms with and has been raking up good deeds with his incredible talent?”

“Yes. I met him today, and I’m aware of who he is. He’s an alien disguised as a human being,” said Alestor coolly.