Alcor POV

I’m finally back. After a long journey, I have finally mastered the art of forging swords. When the first-generation arrived, I was merely a kid who couldn’t help Players in any way. I was but the child of the Weapon Shop owner. Now, my masterpiece swords would be rewarded to the winners of the tournament I would be hosting. I was contributing to Reality in my own way.

“Beautiful.”

In the middle of running through Naut City Alley Ways, I could not help but gasp in awe after watching a Player fight monsters.

The girl was from the Party Azure Rain Forces. The girl slew monster after monster with ease. From movement to movement, the girl’s fighting resembled a perfectly coordinated dance. She transitioned from movement to movement without pause, perfectly evading and attacking the monsters.

After killing all the monsters and noticing my presence, the girl turned to face. Now that I got a better look, she was cute. While her body was petite, I could still make out the slight curves of a girl from her. She had wavy black hair tied into a ponytail that reached her nape. Her face was my type—an above average clean look.

“Who’s there?” asked the girl.

“Sorry. I was just amazed by how beautiful your fighting was.” I said honestly, “I’m Alcor, son of Aldrich from the Equipment Shop. I’m the one who will host the Swordmaster Tournament and forged the prizes.”

After hearing that, the girl’s eyes lit up in excitement. As she moved closer to me, I could smell a slight fragrance from her. She said, “I’m Dove. Thanks for the tournament. I’m actually on my way to applying for the tournament.”

“Is that so? I’m going back to the Equipment Shop as well. Let’s go together.” I proposed.

I was quite infatuated by Dove. It’s probably love at first sight. Of course, since I was a Character, there’s no way we could work out, so I approached her without any hidden motives.

“Sure.” replied Dove.

We headed towards the Equipment Shop. I enjoyed every last second of walking beside her and indulged myself in happiness.

“Can you create Artifact Rarity Swords at will?” asked Dove.

“Given the necessary materials, I can, but the materials are extremely rare and costly.”

“Amazing! Did you leave the city to learn how to make them?”

“Yes. After the first-generation completed Reality, I went for a journey. I travelled to many cities to be taught by the blacksmiths there. Now, I have returned and will put what I’ve learned into practice.”

“Characters have their own journeys as well.”

“So what about you?” I asked, wanting to know more about Dove.

Dove told me her story after she came to Reality.

While I was in no position to ask, the thought bothered me quite a bit, so I gave in and asked “Is this Hawk… your boyfriend?”

“No.” Dove replied immediately and concisely. However, I felt something. I knew that feeling. It was when a person did not want to talk about a topic with you. While her answer was the truth, there was likely something more complicated about their relationship that what she wanted me to know.

We arrived outside the Equipment Shop. A boy leaned on beside the door seemingly waiting for someone.

“The meeting is finished?” asked Dove. I concluded that the boy was Hawk.

Hawk looked at me. No, he looked through me. I felt my entire existence laid bare before him to read, like my personality was only covered by glass.

Hawk sighed and asked, “You are?”

“I’m Alcor. I’m Aldrich’s son and host of the Swordmaster Tournament.”

“I met him on my way here, so we decided to come here together.”

Hawk sighed again and said, “I’m Hawk. Nice to meet you, I guess.”

Dove and Hawk applied for the Swordmaster Tournament. They simply had our fingerprints scanned, and the system automatically processed all the information. The bracketing would only be announced on the day of the tournament to prevent any sabotage.

“Good luck in the Swordmaster Tournament.” I cheered for the two as they left the Equipment Shop. I probably only meant it for Dove, but I included Hawk as well to not seem.

“Thank you.” said Dove.

Yet again, Hawk sighed and said, “Should the tournament host be cheering for a participant?”

Hawk seemed to… not like me? Rather, he didn’t like my presence. It didn’t feel like he hated me but more like he didn’t want to deal with me.

Dove POV

Hawk seemed to be in a bad mood seeing as he was sighing a lot. Did the meeting go wrong? No, he would immediately mention it if that was the case. So may be Alcor? What did he see? There’s nothing lost by asking, so might as well.

“You seem to be in a bad mood after you analyzed Alcor.” I pointed out to Hawk.

He sighed again and said, “Is it that obvious? I really should practice on hiding my thoughts.”

“So? What’s wrong with Alcor?” I asked.

Hawk thought for a bit before replying. “Nothing. He’s a good persevering person with great potential.”

“So why are you in such a bad mood then?” I inquired further.

“I don’t like dealing with him.” answered Hawk vaguely.

“Personality clash?” I guessed.

“No. I think we’d get along.”

“Then why?”

“It’s illogical, so I don’t know how to explain it.”

While Hawk frequently gave vague answers, he never lied to me or anyone I knew. If he himself thought that being in a bad mood was illogical, then it probably was. As much of a logical person Hawk was, even he had times where he was illogical.

We arrived at the city gates where Canary and Sylvie waited for us. Canary joined us and Sylvie went back to the house after bringing Canary here.

“I don’t need Sylvie escorting me to get here. Since Sylvie can’t enter the alleys, it takes longer to come here with her.” complained Canary in a cute pouting face.

Hawk’s mood lightened up a bit after he saw this. He petted Canary’s head and explained, “If you arrived here quickly, then you would have waited a long time right?

“But if I didn’t come with Sylvie, then I could have left the house later.”

“Canary, the world is vast. Spending time outside gives you more opportunities to learn. Sylvie, who knows more about Reality, is there to explain anything you don’t understand.”

“But I didn’t learn anything…”

“What did you do while waiting for us?”

“I counted the number of cats jumping around the roofs?”

Hawk smiled and asked, “Why can cats jump across the roofs of building when they were no-jump areas?”

Canary’s eyes brightened and she exclaimed, “Wow! I never thought of that. So, do you know why?”

“No. It is the question not the answer that is important. After all, if the question is never asked, then you wouldn’t know if the question was answered.”

“Thank you! Hawk, I’m sorry for complaining.”

Hawk smiled at Canary and said, “It’s alright to complain, just remember to let others have a chance to explain.”

“Yes!”

“Learn more about the world? Isn’t that hypocritical coming from someone who stayed at home unless he wanted to do something outside?” I joked to better Hawk’s mood.

“Ouch… I guess so. While being a hypocrite made for a bad example, it didn’t change good to bad. A killer preaching not to kill is hypocritical, but it didn’t change the fact that what he was teaching is morally correct. If you look at it from a purely logical perspective, only a killer could actually understand why not to kill because he has experienced killing.”

I laughed and replied, “That was just a joke. You don’t have to give such a long explanation.”

Despite my words, I was quite glad that Hawk’s mood was completely gone now. As we left Naut City to train some more, Hawk seemingly realized something and said, “So that’s why you teased me… Thank you.”

Hawk realized my attempt to better his mood. He really was too smart for his own good. While girls preferred boys being oblivious or pretending to be oblivious to the cunning of girls, it wouldn’t be Hawk if he didn’t figure out my intents. This was what made Hawk, Hawk. Hawk’s ability to read intents and showing others his knowledge of other’s intents was cute in its own little way.