I slowly opened my eyes and propped myself up against a wood frame.
"W... where am I?"
Ouch. Ouch. Ouch.
A sharp stinging pain hit my head, I put my hand on it.
"What even happened?"
I looked around.
A bed in a somewhat run down room?
It's even worse than the room at the inn...
I looked down and checked my whole body.
No wounds? None? B... but I remember getting impaled by that claymore?
Another strong wave of pain hit my head.
"Right... I need to find her..."
I threw the blanket to the side and propped myself up as the door opened.
A girl wearing a faded sage-green linen dress with long black hair and orange eyes entered the room.
KYAAAAAAH!
"Pervert!" She slammed the door shut.
"Huh?" I looked down... and realized... I'M NAKED?!
Shizori burst through the door, holding her staff like a sword. "Where is he?!"
Our eyes locked, her gaze drifted down.
Oh no...
"P... PERVERT!" She threw her staff right into my groin.
THWACK.
I made a sound only dogs could hear.
My knees buckled instantly.
I dropped like a felled tree, curling into a ball, hands flying between my legs.
She covered her mouth with both her hands.
Her face flushed.
"Oh no... I didn't...!"
The other girl peeked from behind her, blinking.
"... Did you get him?"
Shizori covered her eyes.
I quickly hid under the blanket.
Ahem.
"So... how about you tell me what's going on here?"
They both walked over and sat on chairs beside the bed.
The other girl hid behind Shizori, peeking over her shoulder.
Is that other girl... her...?
"How are you feeling, Alex?" Shizori blushed lightly.
"Well, besides that incident just now." My eyes narrowed. "I'd say surprisingly good."
"I'm glad... you were out for almost 48 hours. I was worried you might not wake up."
My jaw dropped. "48 HOURS?! So what happened? Where are we? And who's that hiding behind you?"
The other girl glared at me. "Better question, who are YOU to my sister?!"
Shizori's cheeks turned pink. "A... Akari, it's not like that..."
"So that's Akari? Nice to meet you too, I'm Alex. The guy who randomly saved your sister and has been her bodyguard since then." I chuckled.
"What's so funny?!"
She flicked Akari's forehead. "Calm down!"
"Sorry, sis..."
"Good." She turned her head, her eyes dark, glaring at me.
A shiver ran down my spine.
"And you, Alex, stop teasing her or..."
I didn't know she had a side like that... scary... just like Hilde.
"Sorry." I bowed forward.
"Back to the main topic, how much do you remember from that night?"
"Everything up to the point where that weird huge g... guy..." A sharp stabbing pain hit my head.
"Alex?! What's wrong?" She asked, leaning forward and grabbing my hand.
A few snippets from that fight flooded my mind.
"N... nothing, just a little headache."
She sat back down and sighed.
"What was that weird thing you did? It looked like he pierced your heart and killed you."
"I wish I could tell you."
"Keeping secrets?" Akari said.
"N... no, it's just... that wasn't me."
"What do you mean by that?" Shizori raised an eyebrow.
"All I know is that from my perspective, he did kill me... at least... I think."
"B... but your body moved and that voice."
It might have something to do with what 'it' was talking about.
"Did I say anything?"
"The one thing I remember is aegi..."
"A.E.G.I.S.?"
She nodded. "Yeah that, what does that mean?"
Should I really tell them? I don't want to drag them into this whole mess...
"Alex?" She glared right at me with a wide grin, our eyes locked. "I know you aren't telling us everything."
For just a split second I saw crosses appear in her eyes.
"How do you know?!"
"I just had this weird feeling... and you have the same look on your face as you had before, when you told me that we'd just hold you back."
"Saying we should just run and leave you behind. I know why you said that."
"But it's too late! We're in this together now."
Akari's head tilted forward, her brows furrowed, and jaw clenched.
It hasn't even been that long, yet so much happened...
A warm smile crept onto my face. "You understand, once I tell you there is no going back?"
"There's already no going back, dummy." She chuckled.
"Fine."
I told them everything about that conversation I had with that being.
"It really didn't want to tell you much, huh?"
"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes. "Though, according to what you said, A.E.G.I.S. seems to be quite useful."
"Without it... we might not have survived."
"But what saved me? It wasn't A.E.G.I.S., right?"
"I saved you!" A smug grin on her face.
"You? You managed to heal such crazy wounds? How?" My jaw dropped.
"Thanks to some weird god!"
"Tell me more." I squinted my eyes.
She told me about their conversation and how that god helped her.
"Just a drop of blood?" Chin resting on my hand.
"Yeah, it makes no sense."
Akari clenched her fist.
"I... if gods exist, then why didn't they help us before?!"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Shizori pulled her into a tight hug and petted her head.
"I know right?"
"The divine ones are not what they seem..." I scratched my chin.
"That's so vague though..." Shizori sighed.
"There has to be something to it. How exactly did he help you?"
"I'm not entirely sure, the moment I offered my blood, it vanished, and then I felt a big wave of mana surging through my body."
"Then the god told me to use the spell 'Divine Heal', it felt like a small miracle."
"Did something else change?"
"I don't think so, at least I haven't noticed anything."
"No changes to your body either?"
Her eyes narrowed instantly. "Pervert." She muttered.
"I didn't mean it like that!"
Staaaaare
Shizori just stared, and Akari looked at me like I'm subhuman.
"I meant as in no weird marks or signs appeared anywhere on your body?!"
She shook her head.
None of this makes any sense...
"Wait a second, did it increase your mana, or was it just temporary?"
"Now that you mention it... I haven't tested that yet."
Two days have passed, and she hasn't tried it? I chuckled.
Akari shot me a glare.
Am I like the common enemy?!
"Test it out then."
"How can I test it?" She tilted her head.
"You could try using divine heal again, no?"
"Not really, healing skills only use mana when they are affecting something."
"Just like buffing skills, huh?"
She nodded.
Maybe 'that' could work...
"Well, there is one thing we could try, BUT I don't know if it'll work."
"What is it?"
"We could try creating a mana circuit."
"A mana circuit?"
"Yeah, we both hold hands, then concentrate on our mana, making it flow between us, and keep increasing the amount until we hit the limit."
Staaaaare
They both stared at me.
"STOP it already!"
"Your own fault..." Shizori mumbled.
"Is that mana circuit thing safe?" Akari asked, looking worried.
"As long as we stick to increasing the mana flow slowly, it should be fine."
"Okay, let's try it!"
Shizori got onto the bed, we sat down cross legged across from one another.
I held out my hands.
"Put your hands on mine."
She gave me a nod and then put her hands on mine.
"Now close your eyes, and start concentrating on your mana flow."
We closed our eyes, focusing our minds on the internal mana flow.
A faint glow appeared around us, mine a light green and Shizori's a light yellow.
Technically, we should be able to just create a steady mana flow like a river... technically...
"Now start to slowly transfer your mana with your right hand into me while accepting my mana with your left hand."
"Like this?"
Her mana slowly entered me, it felt warm and soothing.
"Yeah."
I let my mana flow into her.
The glowing aura followed the flow along our arms, fusing when reaching our torsos.
It feels weird, sweet but with a bitter aftertaste... She thought.
"Can you feel my mana entering you?"
"I do, and now we just gradually increase the amount, right?"
"Exactly, let's begin."
The more mana we let flow, the stronger our auras started to radiate.
"You are doing good."
"... I think this is about as much mana as I used to have."
So it wasn't a temporary buff?
"Can you still keep going?"
"I think so..."
Her hair started to turn yellow as she concentrated more on her mana.
"Keep going."
She gripped my hands tight.
How much more mana does she have now?!
I started sweating a little.
Her hair turned more yellow, and her aura radiated even stronger.
It slowly began to overpower mine.
Seriously?! I'm about to reach my limit!
"Shizori?"
Her aura turned into a barrier, sparks coming off of it, and it began enveloping me.
This pressure! It's devouring my mana, as if it's cleansing me.
"I don't think I can handle much more than this."
I looked at her while trying to keep the flow steady.
Her hands gripped mine even tighter, like she was trying to pull me in.
"Shizori! This is getting out of hand!"
"SIS!" Akari tried to grab her, but the barrier pushed her back.
It burned and cut her hand.
Is she losing control?!
She slowly opened her eyes, irises turned yellow, and crosses around them.
"S... Shizori?"
No, who is that...?
Her gaze surprised me, my mind stuttered, and my concentration faltered.
F... Fuck!
That split second was enough for the barrier to start to rapidly envelop me.
«Host in danger, initiating emergency protocol.»
"A.E.G.I.S.?!"
"What's happening? STOP this!" Akari teared up, holding her hurt hand.
My veins, starting from my arms up to my fingertips, turned a dark black.
«Convert excessive mana, stabilize flow.»
The aura around me turned black, I could feel my body absorbing her mana and redirecting it into the circuit.
The barrier fully enveloped us, the flow steadied, and the sparks stopped.
«Mana density reaching critical levels, intervention required.»
No shit! But what am I supposed to do?! I can't just break off!
«Sever connection immediately.»
HOW?! If you can do it safely, then go ahead!
«Command accepted, severing connection.»
I felt my mana stopped flowing, instead, it pooled up inside me, my chest hurt, and a strong pressure built up.
«1%...10%...28%...46%...79%»
Her aura radiated even stronger, her gaze sharper, piercing.
«89%...98%...100%, MMP deployed.»
All the pooled up mana exploded between us.
A big bright shockwave erupted, disrupting all mana and blinding us.
I covered my eyes with my hand, then slowly opened them.
I sighed. "Thank god nothing happened."
"Nothing happened?! YOU said it'll be safe!" Akari glared at me with teary eyes as she held Shizori.
"Who is Inori?" Shizori asked as a tear ran down her face.
I went pale, my eyes widened, and my heart dropped.
"H... How..." I muttered.
"I... saw some of your memories just now."
"You, together with her, smiling, laughing, in a bustling weird city, then her saying something to you in a park, and after you responded, she started crying."
"Stop." My head tilted forward, my hair covered my eyes, and I bit my lip.
"And then later..."
"STOP!"
"B... but." She said with a worried expression.
"Don't you dare say it." I glared at her, blood ran down from my lip.
"Don't be mean to sis! This is your fault to begin with, and it's your memories!" Akari hugged her tighter.
"It's none of your business." My voice cracked.
"I'm sorry." She noticed Akari's injured hand. "How did that happen?! Did I do that...?"
I looked down, to the side, at the ground.
"Don't worry about it, sis, it doesn't hurt at all." She said, looking up at her with a smug grin.
How much did she see?!
Shizori wiped away her tears. "Let me heal it."
How much does she know?!
She took her hand and casted light heal, the wounds disappeared.
She saw too much...
"I'm glad you're okay sis!"
"So you aren't from this world, are you?" She looked up at me.
I clenched my jaw.
"WHAT?! So he's not human?" Akari's eyes widened and mouth gaped.
"No, Akari, he is human just like us." She chuckled. "But I don't think he's from this world."
I clenched my fist tight.
"You really don't trust me at all, huh?"
She tilted her head to the side.
"Am I that indifferent to you?"
She closed her eyes.
"You hate me this much...?"
"I d..." I looked up at her.
She's really just like her... why does this keep happening?
In front of me, Shizori, head tilted to the side, eyes closed, tears streamed down her face... just like Inori that evening... they both act the same way, look the same, and impact me the same way...
I scratched my head, then sighed deeply.
"I don't hate you." My voice low.
"Then... prove it?"
I leaned forward and reached out towards her face.
Akari slapped my hand away and hissed at me.
"I'm not going to hurt her, Akari."
"It's okay, Akari."
I reached out again and wiped away her tears.
"I can't tell you everything yet."
"Because... I remind you so much of her?"
"You really saw too much..." I whispered.
"Then, at least promise to tell me one day!"
"I promise."
"So what are you?" Akari's eyes narrowed.
"I'm human, but as Shizori said, I'm not from this world, or at least my soul isn't."
"Why keep that a secret?"
"Because I've read and seen plenty of stories about worlds like this one, and keeping that a secret usually works out better for the MCs."
"How so?"
"Well..."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
A sudden knock at the door? More enemies? I don't even have clothes on right now, let alone a weapon on me.