“You’ve changed a lot this month.” The only thinking being I hadn’t seen yesterday was the most important of all. I came to a dungeon to find her; she’s been locked inside this place for a few days to improve. I don’t know who she got that gene of working all the time to get stronger from—probably her mother.

  “You took longer than expected.” Glia, who had just finished off a group of feline-type monsters like herself, comes running and jumps onto me.

  She’s changed a lot during this time. She’s a bit larger than a tiger from my previous world. She looks very agile for her massive size and has a silky, beautiful coat.

  “Yeah, it’s a long story.” She starts rubbing her body and head against me, walks around me a bit, and in the end we sit down. Glia lets her head fall onto my legs; I can feel her affection through our bond.

  “Didn’t you miss me? It was a little sad not seeing you when I got home.” I tease her a bit; obviously I know she missed me.

  “At first I was a little worried about your disappearance. I can’t communicate, but I can understand you. After a few days of anxiety, I finally understood something—our connection lets me understand how you feel or if something happens to you. During all that time I didn’t feel any imbalance or discomfort; it was simply you being yourself.” I can feel that same connection too; it’s part of why I kept my composure in that dungeon for so many months.

  I can feel a vibrant joy in her mood. “And well… it’s you. You’re as hard to kill as a cockroach and ridiculously strong for your age. I trusted you all this time; I knew you could overcome any obstacle and come back.” A half-human, feline smile makes me smile back. “Now tell me everything.”

  I explain everything to her, from when I entered the Hero’s dungeon to when I flew for several hours to return. I even mention that mysterious cave that filled me with fear. I didn’t tell anyone else about it—when I was on the verge of mentioning it, my instincts warned me of possible danger if I did. With Glia, it was different.

  “Tell me how things have been for you. I was surprised to learn you now spend several days locked inside this dungeon.” I can feel a bit of pride in our channel.

  Glia tells me how she’s improved noticeably these days. At first she came to this Grade 3 dungeon accompanied by Brendu, Shawu, or Areci. After eating many cores and strengthening her power, she lost her fear of coming alone to fight.

  She hadn’t noticed it at the time; she only realized it after ingesting a ridiculous amount of cores. Glia’s core had been internally damaged—she doesn’t know the cause—but there were tiny, minuscule cracks. That had been draining her growth and power. Thanks to excessive consumption, she was able to heal every part of her body and experience an enormous surge of power all at once. She’s very strong now, almost on the level of the yeti or that electric tiger from the corrupted dungeon.

  “The problem is… I feel like I still have a long way to go to evolve. I don’t know if it’s because my species starts at Grade 3 or because we’re very intelligent. I only know I need much more effort to get closer to Grade 4. At that point I could fight a monster one grade above me, but that’s my limit.” She’s clearly very happy and proud not to feel like a burden or anything like that.

  Another important point is that Glia needs to sleep much more. When she consumes so many cores, her body becomes overloaded with energy, and her cube takes care of distributing it evenly to fortify her entire body. She enters a kind of hibernation to strengthen herself as much as possible; otherwise, she’d have to consume twice as much to achieve the same results.

  “Now that you’re back, it’s time to take a well-deserved nap. I’ve spent a week hunting and killing, sleeping only the bare minimum. I’ve never felt as comfortable sleeping as I do inside your cube.” Somehow, thanks to her magic, she shrinks down to her tiny size as she enters the cube. Before sleeping, she sends me another mental message. “Make sure you have a better hairstyle when I come back. I don’t like long hair on a man.” Glia immediately cuts the connection.

  “So shameless…” I can only laugh at her words.

  I focus everything within me to sense her a little more as she sleeps peacefully. She hasn’t only grown in size, but in strength and power as well. I can clearly feel the strength of her core right now—it no longer feels inconsistent and fragile like before; now it feels robust and brimming with energy. I’m very happy to see her grow stronger.

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  I take Glia’s advice seriously; even Brendu insisted on the same thing. I certainly look good with long hair, but my face looks a bit better with short hair. Or so I think…

  When I arrive at the beauty salon, everything happens very fast—I don’t understand anything. One moment I’m standing at the door; the next, a girl is already sitting me in the chair for my new haircut. I only ask for a normal cut, maybe a little longer than usual. They put a mask on my face; I close my eyes and let her do her work. Since I want to be surprised, even my Personal World avoids sensing everything within about two meters around me.

  My new haircut is fine… or so the reactions of all the women in the salon tell me. They’re all looking at me like prey they want to capture. I don’t like feeling those wolfish gazes on me—if Brendu were here, she’d already be breathing fire. I pay and even leave a good tip; no one has ever shaken my hand so firmly on the way out.

  I stroll around the city looking for something different. I’ve already decided to give Brendu some jewelry. I’m not looking for something ridiculously expensive, but something more special. I can’t compete with her in price; I want something that isn’t cheap and has added sentimental value.

  After searching all over the city, I find a shop where you can make your own jewelry, from rings to luxurious necklaces. They have a special machine you can use with mana—the better your mana control, the closer you are to a professional.

  I select some expensive materials and keep testing and testing. The first attempts don’t convince me at all. The pieces are well joined, but the problem is the proportions—they’re terribly uneven. Even using expensive materials, it looks like a third-hand trinket.

  It takes me several hours of effort to create a simple, decent necklace. The proportions look appropriate and well joined. I progressed quickly thanks to my excellent mana control; otherwise, it would have taken me forever to create something passable. The pure white material looks immaculate and gives it an added touch of elegance.

  Attaching the small pink gemstones is a total ordeal. I only manage to place five of them in decent positions. It’s not my best possible work, but it’s the best I can do right now. I can’t stay any longer—it’s time to go back for lunch with Brendu.

  When I get home, I see Brendu lying on the sofa with a mask similar to the ones in beauty salons. She’s eating small, sweet orange fruits while checking her tablet for everything that’s happened in the last few days.

  “Did you miss me? This time I didn’t have to fight people a rank above me or very dangerous monsters.” I ask. Her response is to roll her eyes. “Only with the looks of some women at the beauty salon.” I make the comment to see her a little annoyed.

  She looks at me with the intention of hitting me. “You look much better with that haircut. To be honest, I’m more afraid of women when it comes to you. There must be some way to show all of them that you’re dating a princess… although they might not care.” I see her mind wandering; I imagine she’s looking for solutions. I just stand there like a stone.

  “I also brought something for you.” I take out the small white leather case. Brendu’s eyes widen with excitement; I see her jump off the sofa and run toward me at an impressive speed.

  I open the box to show her the necklace. “It looks a bit simple, but I made it myself.” My words don’t come out as strongly as I expected; honestly, I doubted a lot whether I should buy something more expensive along the way. I see no reaction in the first few seconds and start sweating a bit from nerves.

  “Didn’t you like it?” As I ask, I feel a knot in my stomach. I move my hands slightly to close the box and think of a better gift. At that very moment, she moves her hands like lightning, snatching the necklace from me.

  “Didn’t I like it? I love it, Maki. It’s the best gift I could have received for this birthday.” She unscrews the tiny clasp and turns around, placing the necklace around her neck. I understand her intention and take both ends, fastening it.

  She turns back to me. “Thank you, Maki. I love this gift. I love you.” She throws herself into my arms; I catch her as gently as possible and hear small sobbing sounds. I softly stroke her back to calm her.

  A sense of relief blooms from the place in my stomach where that knot had formed. Seeing her happy makes me happy. I keep comforting her for several seconds and promise myself to make a few more to give to Arisa, Sol, and Marga when I return in a few weeks.

  These months at the school have passed incredibly fast. Although I lost a few weeks being trapped in two dungeons, the rest flowed smoothly. I met precious people, made several friends, earned respect as a professor, and even took on a disciple. I haven’t seen Dand in a long time; I should go look for him in the coming days.

  These months have been much more than I expected. I never thought I’d start the school year in such a pleasant way. It’s true that many unexpected things happened along the way—some surprise attacks by Ruby ranks, unknown dungeons, and dangerous moments where the easiest thing was to lose an arm.

  Now, sitting next to Brendu and about to have lunch, I keep thinking about so many situations that occurred at the school in such a short time. If someone had told me before coming that my life would be this hectic, I wouldn’t have believed it. Now there are only a couple of weeks left before finishing just the first semester.

  Soon I’ll go to Brendu’s kingdom to meet the royal family for a few days. Good luck, future Maki.