Chương 87: The Gift

Luna watched as Stella disappeared from sight. She stared at the now-empty spot for a moment before turning around and heading to the kitchen. Though it's gotten better, every time Stella entered the tower, a small worry found itself into a corner of Luna's heart. Even if she knew that Stella would forfeit if she couldn't find the materials in time, a part of her thought 'what if' every time. What if she couldn't forfeit for some reason? What if she pushes herself too hard and collapses in the tower?

Stella is a production class. She has no combat skills or capabilities; If, and God forbid, if for some reason she couldn't forfeit… Luna shook her head, she hated these thoughts that crept into her mind every time Stella entered the tower. She couldn't help but worry, what if one day… She never comes back? Every morning she woke up, there'd be an empty spot beside her… Breakfast, lunch, and dinner would regress to the same ordered food every day…

Gaming and watching movies would revert to just her alone in an empty room… If she lost her friend… Friend… Luna rolled that word on her tongue a few times. Do friends sleep together, eat together, and live together?

'Yeah…They do…we're friends…I'm just worried about losing a friend…' Unknowingly her fists had closed and a slight red painted her cheeks. Shaking her head, Luna retrieved the box spaghetti and a pot from the cabinet.

"Let's see…Four quarts of water." She mumbled. After searching for a bit, she found a measuring glass.

"…This is in cups and milliliters…" She paused, "How much cups are in a quart again?" Scratching the back of her head, she just couldn't remember. After a few moments, she ended up just searching online.

"Wait, why does this article say I should only use two quarts of water?"

"Huh? And this one says I should use three?"

"This one just tells me to fill the pot halfway! That doesn't help! Haah…" Eventually, she ended up just not filling the pot at all. Better to leave that to someone who knows how to cook. After she finally got everything prepared(?), Luna glanced at the clock on the wall. It had taken her 4 minutes to set everything up. Knowing that Stella would return soon, Luna filled a glass with water and headed back to the spot where Stella entered the tower. She took a seat on the couch and picked up her phone.

After a few scrolls, she would glance up at the spot where Stella would be. This repeated itself quite a few times. Time had felt like it was moving so slowly. It got to the point where she pulled up the clock app on her phone and started a stopwatch to make sure it was actually moving. As time ticked by, a bad feeling exploded in Luna's mind. She should be back by now? Where is she? Did something happen? The thoughts fired off like a machine gun. No, she's fine…

Just a little longer, it hasn't been five minutes yet. As time slowly reached that five minute mark, Luna put down her phone and anxiously tapped the floor with her foot.

'You're safe, right? You'd forfeit if you couldn't find the materials in time…Then…Did you find them? Are you going to finally clear the floor?' Anticipation, hope, and fear started to fill Luna's mind. Stella must've found the materials. Else she'd have returned by now… So…All that's left is…

"To clear the floor." Luna bit her lip and clenched her fists. Can she do it? No…She will…She's trained and practiced so hard for this.

"So… When she returns, I need to congratulate her…" Taking a deep breath, Luna glanced at the stopwatch on her phone. Officially, Stella's time in the tower had passed 5 minutes. Clasping her hands together, she waited for any sign of Stella's return. [An Awakener you follow has cleared a floor!] [An Awakener you follow has set a new record!] [An Awakener you follow has ranked on the leaderboard!] Luna's eyes widened as the notifications appeared.

Her heart rate was already through the roof; It sounded as if someone was banging on drums in her chest. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"S-She…did it…" She finally let out. She immediately purchased the clear video, she didn't know when Stella would return, but, she wanted to know what happened. The clear video started off with a silhouetted figure still in the process of making the potion. Luna grasped her knees hard, her body tensing up.

'She didn't finish the potion by the time the floor started?' The silhouetted figure remained focused on concocting the potion even as the hobgoblin ran towards her.

'Stella! What're you doing!?' Luna's toes curled and her breathing came to a halt. Her fists were clenched so tight that her knuckles were turning red. 5 seconds passed, she's still making the potion. 8 seconds, the hobgoblin is approaching. 10 seconds, the potion is finally finished.

"No!" Luna screamed as the hobgoblin swung its weapon towards Stella. She practically jumped off the couch, her anxiety reaching new heights. Thankfully, Stella barely dodged the attack, diving out of the way. Then, she jumped onto the hobgoblin's stomach and stabbed it repeatedly. Luna finally let the breath escape her. Her heart was pounding. After the worry, fear, and angst, came relief, happiness, and peace.

Though her heart was still pounding, knowing that Stella hadn't suffered any injuries except the minor scrapes from the dive, put her mind at an inexplicable ease. She closed the screen, resting her hand over her heart and tried to calm her breathing. But, only a few seconds later did that empty spot in front of her become filled. Stella appeared in the room. She looked in a daze, after only a moment, she fell to her knees and sat in an M position.

"Stella!" Luna immediately rushed over and wrapped her arms around Stella, "You did it! You really did it!" Before she knew it, tears were actually falling from Luna's eyes. She was just so happy.

"I knew you could do it! You did it!!!" Luna shouted again, her arms tightening around Stella's back.

"I…" Stella finally started to speak, "No…We…We did it…We did it…" Her eyes started to blur and tears started to fall from her eyes as well. Stella returned the embrace, hugging Luna tightly.

"We did it, Luna…" Stella said with a sniffle, "Together… We really did this together." She sucked in a deep breath as she continued, "If… If you weren't here with me… I don't think I could have done this… So… Thank you. Thank you so much, Luna." The two cried in each other's arms for an unknown amount of time. … When they finally separated, they were both sitting facing each other only an arm's length apart. Their emotions had finally somewhat calmed. At least, they could speak without crying now.

Taking a deep breath, Stella spoke first,"Really, thank you so much." Her voice was slightly nasally.

"You're the one who did it…You're the one who did all the hard work. There's no need to thank me." Luna replied, her voice also nasally.

"No," Stella shook her head, "I really couldn't have done this without you here…Emotionally, physically, and morally, without you, I may have given up already." Luna stared at her in silence for a moment, her thoughts going in all sorts of directions. Eventually, she coughed,"W-well, then…Okay…We did it together…" She said, slightly embarrassed, "Ahem!" She cleared her throat, "So…What're your plans now?"

"Plans…Well, for one, I want to relax." Stella laughed, "I've been at full focus for way too long, I need to sit back and chill out a bit."

"Pfft, yeah," Luna chuckled, "You were always doing something every day. Whether it was knitting or alchemy training."

"Mm," Stella nodded, "I'm gonna take a nice break…I'd like to play more games with you, or go out shopping or something…"

"…" Luna stayed silent for a moment then nodded, "Mm…Games sound fun…I haven't bought clothes in a while too."

"I also have to start selling potions again. Directly speaking, now, I'm a debtor and you're my creditor. Hehe."

"Hah, that's right. You better pay me back with interest." Luna chuckled.

"Don't worry! I have never skimped out on a payment!" Stella said, puffing out her chest, "Probably." Stella mumbled.

"Probably!?"

"Pfft, I'm kidding. I always pay back what I owe." Stella smiled.

"Ah, good. Oh and the interest can't be more money. Make it something else."

"What?!"

"I'll be waiting." Luna smiled.

"Tsk, fine…" Stella shook her head. A short silence lingered before Stella continued,"Ah, right, now that I've cleared the floor, you don't have to sleep with me anymore…"

"Oh, right…"

"Yeah…" Stella scratched the back of her head, "Thankfully, I probably won't get nightmares anymore…But, I'll have to sleep to find out for sure."

"Mm…" Luna nodded, there was a slightly weird feeling in her that she just couldn't describe, so, she pushed it down and continued, "I hope they're gone. Trauma sucks."

"For real…"

"Are you going to find a party?" Luna asked, "I really hope you aren't planning on going solo."

"Oh, heck no." Stella shook her head, "There's no reason for me to anymore. I'll have to find a party…Right…How's that process go? Is it hard?"

"Hm…hard? No, not really. There's tons of apps out there that help you. Or, you could even check some forum. The easiest and most reliable way though would be with the awakener's association…" Luna froze, "Ah…Wait a minute, you're unregistered."

"Huh? Yeah?" Stella tilted her head.

"The safest way that everyone uses to find a party is with the association…I don't trust other methods…Stella, are you really not going to register?"

"…Registration…" Stella sighed, "I've thought about it, but…" She didn't continue.

"Well, we can think about it later." Luna chimed in.

"Thanks." Stella nodded, "Right, speaking of future floors,""Huh? I thought you said you were going to relax?" Luna cut in.

"Pfft, I am. I'm just thinking about it now." Stella chuckled.

"Ah, okay, go ahead."

"So, floors 6-10 aren't outrageous or anything like that, right? I've checked online, and it's just goblins. For real this time. There's no special modifier or anything that doesn't allow me to forfeit or bring in items or anything, right?"

"…" Luna paused, "Stella…"

"No! Hear me out. First, tell me, what're the major differences between the first four floors and the last five floors?"

"Haah…" Luna sighed, "Well, honestly, not much." She said, "The big difference is that the monsters will have intelligence. So, they won't blindly run into you anymore, instead, they'll actually try to live and use their brain to take you out."

"Exactly, that matches what I read." Stella nodded, "They also spawn in the same location every time—50 meters away, right?"

"That's right. It's like that until the 11th floor, where they'll spawn in random locations."

"Also! I'm able to forfeit at any time, right? Even after the floor has started?"

"…Right."

"So! I've been thinking, why can't I just throw my dynokali potion at the monster's spawn location as they're about to spawn in? If they survive, I just forfeit!"

".. Stella."

"Hey! I got this idea from watching Flame Queen's floor 4 clear! She also fired her spell before the goblins spawned in! As soon as the goblins spawned in, they didn't even have the chance to react before they were incinerated!"

"Haah…Theoretically, yes. But, why? Didn't you just say you were going to find a party?"

"Well…For a few reasons: For one, it'd probably be easier to find a proper party at floor 11."

"Debatable." Luna pointedly remarked.

"Two, well…I just think I can do it? I mean, after these first 10 floors, there will never be another chance for me to solo a floor. The spawns will be random, the monsters will be stronger, the floors will be more complex. This is the last chance I'll have to be on the solo leaderboards."

"That is true." Luna nodded, "But, do you care about the leaderboards that much?"

"No…I just think it'd be funny."

"…"

"…"

"Haah, that's just so like you." Luna sighed, "Okay. We'll talk more about this later."

"Mm." Stella nodded, "Oh, right, I wonder what everyone is saying." She said, glancing at Luna's phone.

"Pfft, alright," Luna stood up and sat on the couch. Stella followed, sitting right next to her. They were close, their legs almost touching.

"Let's see…"

"Wow…" Stella mumbled, it was literally armageddon online. Thousands of posts were uploaded by the second, each of them having some form of 'Little Bomber' or 'Raccoon' in the title.

"You're famous…Extremely famous." Luna said.

"Yeah…Hehe, the world's finally recognizing my greatness(cuteness)."

"Are you going to post anything on your Tawer?"

"Later. I'm not going to check my profile or anything until tomorrow. I want to be surprised when I wake up." Luna nodded and the two of them scrolled for a little bit before they stopped.

"Right, so, we probably don't have to live together anymore, do we…" Luna said, that weird feeling from earlier reappearing.

"Mm…" Stella nodded with a bit of reluctance, "Yeah…After dinner, I'll probably head home…"

"I see…" There was a strange feeling in the air.

"Oh, right," Luna suddenly said to break the silence and strange atmosphere.

"Mm?" Stella perked up, tilting her head.

"Didn't you say you had a gift for me when you clear the floor? I vaguely remember you saying something about that."

"A-Ah…Gift…" Stella flinched, her body tensing up.

"Is it at your place?"

"Mm…" Stella shook her head, "I…I can give it now…"

"Huh?" Luna looked surprised, "You just have it on you? Do you keep it in your pocket or something?" She chuckled. What she didn't notice was the nervous expression on Stella's face.

"Should I close my eyes?" Luna asked. Stella took a deep breath,"…If you want, it doesn't matter."

"Okay, then, I'll close them." Luna closed her eyes. She was quite excited about this gift. It was something she was curious about since Stella first mentioned it. And, it turns out that Stella happens to have the gift on her? With a bit of anticipation, she waited. A few moments passed by and there was only the sounds of Stella moving. Luna could tell that she had stood up.

'It's probably something small enough to fit in her pocket, right?' Luna curiously thought, making some guesses in her head.

'Huh?' Luna's brow furrowed slightly as the scent of strawberries hit her.

'Is Stella getting closer?' With her senses, she could feel Stella was close to her—extremely close. Although Luna was confused, she patiently waited until Stella said she could open her eyes. Then, A slightly wet warmth pressed against her cheek.

"Huh?" Luna opened her eyes and saw Stella's reddened face right up close to hers. Then, her eyes drifted from Stella's cheeks to her lips. Luna froze as she connected the dots.

"I-I'm gonna go! S-See you later! The plants need watering!" Stella quickly left Luna's apartment. What remained is Luna sitting on the couch frozen in silence. Only after a dozen or two seconds passed did Luna unfreeze. Her face started to heat up and turned redder than a tomato.

"D-D-D-Did she…"

"W-W-What does s-she mean…?"

"Was…Was that s-something f-friends d-do?" Luna thought back, remembering Stella's completely reddened face.

"I…I don't know…" Luna mumbled, her mind replaying the feeling over and over again.