09:00 AT, Day Twenty One | Camp in Mesa

  The early morning light filters through the thin canvas of our tent. I try to roll over, but Ray’s arms are wrapped tightly around my waist in her sleep. With some very precise movements, I manage to turn around without disturbing her.

  I watch her calm face as she sleeps. A single strand of her beautiful hair has fallen out of place, so I gently brush it aside. After all, not even her hair can stop me from observing her super duper cute face.

  I wrap my arms around her and I drift off into a light sleep, though I swear before I nod off she mumbles, “I love you, jerk.”

  I wake up to find that she has moved to nuzzle up against me. Her legs completely tangled in mine. I gently brush my fingers through her hair, trying to straighten it out from the messy bedhead. Which is very cute, by the way.

  After a few minutes, she lets out a sleepy yawn and wraps her arms tighter around me. “Daarling” she mumbles sleepily.

  “Good morning, super duper cute darling of mine.” I whisper into her ear.

  “Ahg, why must you be so cute this early, it's far too much. You're gonna make me die of happiness or something."

  I place my hand on her head, lightly patting. I place my other hand on her back and gently trace small circles. “Well, you better not. After all, you've still gotta drag me into the thousands alongside you.”

  “Darling, don't be silly. I'm gonna drag you into the millions, actually, the billions. After all, I've got you wrapped tightly, and I'm not letting you go.” She says, nuzzling my chest and tightening her grip.

  I lean down and kiss the top of her head, “I wouldn't have it any other way. After all, you are super duper cute, and cool and awesome and great and the bestest ever. Like seriously, how did I get this lucky?”

  She turns her head to look at me, a fierce energy sparkling in her eyes. “Well, it wasn't luck. After all, who wouldn't want such a super awesome, amazing and cool boyfriend. Though you are a jerk, at least you are super cute.”

  I lean down and this time, I kiss her. When I pull away, we are almost breathless. Which is crazy, considering we don't need to breathe.

  “Ko, you're such a jerk.” she says, before nuzzling up against me. “Now, gimme headrubs.” She demands.

  Who am I to refuse a demand from my cute girlfriend? Anyone that would do so is a true monster.

  Many, many, many headrubs ensue.

  18:00 AT, Day Twenty One | Near Fort Stone Ridge

  I fire my fancy new pistol in lance mode, watching as the projectile streaks through the air and connects with the plasma shield.

  It does absolutely nothing to the shield.

  “For klacks’ sake, couldn't it at least make a cool explosion or something?” I say to Ray, who floats next to me. Looking very cute in her brand new armor.

  “Ha, lemme show you how it's done, noob.” Ray says, aligning her railgun. The familiar charging sound can be heard for just a brief moment before the projectile goes streaking through the air.

  It impacts the plasma shield. Or rather, it goes right through, landing on the battlement with a massive explosion of fiery goodness.

  “No fair, how come you get the super fun weapon?”

  “I'm sure your little thing is super fun too! In fact, I guarantee it has many good uses. It just so happens that mine is more well suited to this particular task. Don't worry darling, I'm sure you'll get your chance to explode soon!” she says, patting me on the head gently. My girlfriend is so super cool and cute, it's unbelievable.

  “Well then, let's get in there, I wanna blow things up!” I say, charging into battle, with Ray quickly following behind.

  Our objective is what we are calling Fort Stone Ridge. It's a quite large fort, nestled right at the very edge of a tall cliff. Perfect for our first foothold in the mesa.

  Flak bursts around me, plinking off my and Ray’s shields, a few fragments manage to bypass the shields, only to harmlessly bounce off our fancy new armor.

  Especially me, since I picked up the Geoff commendation. My armor is now thick enough to survive a railgun projectile with only a few dents. Ray wasn't happy about us conducting that test though, I had to give her extra headrubs before she would let me go.

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  Thankfully, I managed to convince her not to try the same test. With more headrubs of course.

  I test out a new shield breaking technique. First, I activate {Rock Crush}, then {Rock Summon}. I grab the rock and accelerate myself forward with a burst of inae, and throw the rock as hard as I can at the shield.

  The rock quickly passes mach 3, shattering the sound barrier.

  It impacts the plasma shield with a resounding crash, the bubble tries to bend to absorb the impact, but shatters with a great cracking sound. Inside the fort, a massive explosion signals the detonation of the shield array.

  I turn to look at Ray and we charge in. Her face is alight with a sense of happiness, the happiness that can only be gained by blowing things up.

  I land on the battlements while Ray charges into the center. Quickly, dozens of our soldiers also pour over the walls, equipped with the fancy new flight suits.

  It is necessary, after all, there are almost 400 high-level defensive soldiers. Ray and I could do it alone, but that would require effort. Best to let the underlings do most of the work while we have some fun, after all, we are the leaders.

  I quickly take out the drones all along the eastern battlements. In perfect sync, I hear explosions in the distance and head to check it out. Of course, it's Ray, laughing manically as she throws grenades at groups of the drones.

  I try to sneak up on her, just to be tacked and thrown to the floor. “Darling, don't you know it's not safe to wander around battlefields? Perhaps I should wrap you up in my arms so you can be super safe.” she whispers into my ear, her hair falling in a screen around us. She then proceeds to sheathe her blades and wraps her arms tightly around me.

  “Hmm, I don't think I can really argue with this arrangement. Perhaps I should wander out onto battlefields more frequently if it means I get extra hugs from my super duper cute girlfriend.” I say, kissing her on the cheek.

  It is at this moment, that a lone enemy soldier pops out from behind a building. I quickly draw my pistol and obliterate them, and half the wall. After all, no one is allowed to interrupt mid-battle hugs. Especially not with my super duper cute girlfriend.

  After a brief distraction, we head into the center of the fort. As our reports stated, there are three great-level defenders waiting to stop us. These second zone forts have really picked up the challenge significantly.

  Ray’s blades clash with the first defender, entering into a pattern of attacks that most would perceive as a blur. The other two focus on me, identifying me as a larger threat for some reason. I cannot imagine why, I am just a worthless NEET after all.

  I quickly take out one with a combo of {Rock Crush} and {Rock Shell}. The crush allows me to destroy them with one punch, while the shell protects me. Though, it does take a lot of inae to overcome the agility penalty from {Rock Shell}, so I cannot use it too much.

  I face the other defender, my spear at the ready. They have a simple shortsword, which they quickly use to move in, aiming right for my neck.

  I manage to dodge out of the way, only to feel a sharp pain in my side. They pulled a knife out of their pocket and stabbed me. How rude of them, don't they know it's rude to bring knives to spear and sword fights?

  I quickly retreat and inject a health pack/ It hurts, but not nearly as much as Initae’s punishments when we failed to meet our quota. My side quickly stitches itself together and the armor covers up the weak spot.

  I wonder if I can use this injury to get extra headrubs from Ray. That might just work, which makes this injury worth all of the pain and suffering. After all, Ray’s headrubs can probably cure a lost head. Though, she might require the head in the first place, after all, you cannot give headrubs to a person without a head.

  I pull out my pistol and shoot it in lance mode. The high-energy projectile impacts the defender, removing their arm and giving their hair a good singe.

  Unfortunately, they are not alive. Thus, they simply continue on and charge at me with their other hand. I quickly dodge around them and run my spear through them.

  When they fall to the ground, I hear a round of applause from Ray, who is watching from nearby her own defeated defender.

  “Ko, you're so cool! You got two of them at the same time! I'm definitely going to have to give you more headrubs, after all, that wound looked like it hurt.” She says, running over to hug me tight.

  “It would be impossible for me to complain about more headrubs. Anyone who would refuse headrubs from their super cute girlfriend is a monster.” I say, hugging her back and giving her a kiss on the forehead.

  “So darling, whaddya say we finish up this fort and get to those headrubs?” she asks, with a devilish smirk on her face.

  Seven Hours Later

  After our successful capture of Fort Stone Ridge, we proceeded to engage in a prolonged headrubs session. There was even a bit of bonus cuddling, for good measure.

  “Daring, are we winning this game?” Ray asks, wrapping her arm around me as we sit on the cliffside, our legs dangling over the massive drop.

  “Of course we are! We are the Moonlight Duo, the only thing we can do is win. This trial, all of the trials in fact, can only end in our ultimate victory. Then, we can promptly take a vacation and let Emil and Initae and such deal with running a galactic empire.” I say, leaning my head on her shoulder and holding her hand.

  “Hmm, that does sound nice. A vacation with my darling Ko. No one to stop us, or to tell us that we should go blow things up. Of course, it would still be nice to blow things up every now and then. For funsies of course.”

  “I am sure we can work some explosions into our vacation plans. After all, it wouldn't be a good vacation without some style points. In my opinion, explosions and hot springs are the best way to earn style points on vacations.”

  “Oooh yeah, lots of hot springs, they are perfect for the maximum quality of headrubs. After all, it's super hard for you to run away when we are submerged in water.”

  I look out over the vast expanse of rocky terrain in front and below us. The blue sky seems to go on forever. Which is crazy, considering we are inside some sort of space station and this is basically a giant biodome.

  “I am sure with this crazy alien tech we can seamlessly switch from fun explosions to hot spring time. After all, what good would it be without such capabilities?” I say.

  She leans into me and whispers, “as long as we are together, anything is fine with me.”

  Naturally, for such a statement, I end up giving her lots of bonus headrubs and headpats. She is simply too cute not to do so.

  I am sure that whatever comes next, be it dragons, or a giant duck, Ray and I will conquer it together. After all, we are the Moonlight Duo, and luce lunae per aspera ad astra et ultra. So, bring it on.

  End of Chapter 115

  Next: Chapter 116 | Slippery Footing

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