With a sassy way about her, Bella reworded what she just said a second ago. "With the death of the Branch Master, you have been weird. Stop being weird, for God's sake!"
"What were you going to show me—"
"I'm showing you some sense, you dum dum! Look all around you! And I mean really look! You basically have a harem of both young and mature women acting head over heels for you!" 'I'll kill them all, anyway, but just acquiring this many admirers shows how much you're worth, hoho~'
Adding more to her point, Bella said, "You also have a nice big house and plenty of money that you obtained from luck and more lotto tickets!" 'Sure, buddy. Did those bimbos really fall for this?'
"You also have me, your wif— willy, really~ g-good friend, so why are you always overthinking things!? Like really, how much could you possibly be worrying about??" 'After we get married the day after tomorrow, you won't have to worry about anything else for the rest of your life…'
Cassius calmly observed the passionate girl berating him as such. He wondered exactly when she had become toward him. When did their dynamic change? He couldn't recall.
Softly shaking his head, he stole Bella's gaze and said, "I think you are mistaken about something. I'm not worried; I'm thinking—"
"Same thing, same thing!" Bella's voice cut through his, her emotions flaring. "If you're pointlessly thinking about something you can't control, then what is the difference between thinking and worrying??"
Although Bella didn't put much thought behind her words, hearing her say that made something click inside Cassius. His pupils shook a little until they refocused.
He warmly smiled. "Thanks, Bella. I'll keep that in mind."
She was right. There was nothing he could do to change the past. The only thing he could do now was keep moving forward. If nothing else, he would carry on the aspirations of the old man who yearned for the extermination of all Monsters. That was the least he could do to repay the old man for letting him grow unimpeded, effectively avoiding all the usual protagonist road blocks.
Bella was briefly stunned, then she snapped back to reality. A smug force pulled upon her cute red lips as she said, "You're welcome! Now let's get back to those floozi— friends of yours!"
Cassius smiled and let Bella tug him back into the brightly lit arcade, where he then received a lengthy lecture about not abruptly leaving, and especially not leaving with a singular girl!
The rest of the day passed in a blissful manner. However, when the setting sun blended in with the far-off landscape, Cassius noticed Grace working extra hard to hide her sickly-sounding coughs from the group.
But how could she hide them from him?
Concerned about her worsening condition, he telepathically told her to meet him by the bathrooms. She was confused as to how he was talking to her through her mind, but after a short period of him explaining it to be his unique ability, she excused herself and maneuvered through the lavish interior of the high-end restaurant they were in.
Cassius, realizing that he couldn't up and head out suspiciously behind Grace, used a Skill that he didn't use very often due to its limited effectiveness.
|One Becomes Two (S+ / High Ruby Rank)|
The Skill was obtained through a round of Skill Box openings and it was a relatively simple Skill. It enabled the User to split both their body and mind into two. This would also mean that the User would temporarily have two split consciousnesses.
The only apparent downsides would be that the User would have everything, from his power to the effectiveness of his Skills and Items, cut in half and distributed to both halves. Furthermore, the Skill could only stay active for around an hour, making it pretty useless in most combat scenarios. If Cassius wanted to spread out and efficiently clear Gates, then it was better to make use of his ever-growing Evomon Army. There was no need to halve his combat power for minimal returns.
This time, however, the Skill was perfect for what he needed it for.
—A couple moments later—
By the time Grace made it to the classy bathroom area, Cassius had already materialized and was coolly leaning up against a marble pillar. However, as soon as he saw Grace's unnaturally pale complexion, worry filled his heart. This worry further multiplied when she began to say, "What is it that you wanted to—" yet began to stagger halfway through what she was saying.
Cassius's split-half flashed forward and held Grace up just before she collapsed. Feeling the rhythm of her heartbeats and seeing her breathing turn unusually haggard made a deep frown form on his face.
"C-Cassius… I… I'm fine… You can let go now—"
"You are not fine," he firmly denied. "And for how long has it been since it progressed to this stage??"
Biting her lip, she pushed away from him and said with her face covered by her hair, "...I'm really f-fine— *Cough!*" Blood suddenly came up from her throat and spilled out onto her hands. Her eyes erratically flickered as her lip-biting worsened.
Before Grace had the chance to flee, Cassius grabbed her wrist and pulled her close enough that their breath mingled with one another. Her slow heartbeat quickened as she stared into his focused bluish-red eyes. Even if she wanted to say something, she couldn't find the words.
Grace was at the complete whim of the man who knew not when to give up.
While Cassius seemed to be doing or looking into something within the shell-shocked Grace, two happily chattering girls walked toward the outside bathroom area. But when they saw a tall handsome man pushing a meek-looking girl against a wall, their cheeks reddened.
"Kya! We didn't know anyone was here d-doing something like… this…"
They quickly got on out of there, yet found it extremely difficult to erase that sexy spectacle from their minds.
Grace was too absorbed in the sight of the man before her to even realize that someone saw them, whereas Cassius simply… did not care. He was also very focused on scanning the complicated internal system of the short doe-eyed girl he had cornered against a wall.
What he saw, though, left him shocked.