Soon, night came, and the group headed back to the inn. This time around, Harton had a separate room, while Fay and Nobina shared one this time. It wasn’t something Nobina was unfamiliar with. Back in their world, the two had shared a room a few times when they went out to other locations for conventions. Fay changed into her own nightgown while Nobina kept her own outfit on.


    “I guess your clothes also keep themselves clean,” chuckled Fay.


    “Ah… is it the same for you?” asked Nobina.


    Fay gave a nod.


    “My outfits are always clean or can be repaired with energy. Of course, I shouldn’t let them get shredded too often if at all, but they are basically armor in my case.”


    Fay began explaining how, despite her clothes being tied to her power, they were more durable than most armors. It was the only reason she could get aggressive with her attacks as if they were more fragile, she’d avoid direct conflict and use more range-based skills.


    “Fascinating,” said Nobina.


    “You’ve never talked about your skills either, right?” said Fay. “Mind… sharing them?”


    “Of course,” said Nobina, shocking herself with that reality. “I should have shared what they did with you sooner.”


    Nobina started out with her first skill, summoning and recalling books and paper. When she did that, Fay was amazed. She slowly approached one of the books Nobina summoned, picking it up and examining it all over.


    “This feels… so real,” said Fay. “It’s magic though, right?”


    Nobina gave a nod.


    “I’m not sure if these books will disappear with me, but I’m in no rush to figure that out. Next…”


    Taking a deep breath, Nobina held out her hand, preparing to use her other skill.


    “Pen,” she said, summoning a pen.


    Fay was surprised, but soon Nobina used the next part of the skill to shock her even more.


    “Blade!”


    From the tip of the pen came the ink blade that Nobina hadn’t used in a while. She could tell as well since she felt her energy slowly drain. Fay took the time to immediately examine the blade, asking a barrage of questions regarding it. Before answering any of them though, Nobina recalled her blade, panting a bit afterwards.


    “Are you alright?” asked Fay.


    “I’m… not able to keep the blade out for long, but that’s part of my second skill. It can also form a golden blade that increases it power but takes my money as it slashes. There is also a blade where I could use my memories as a cost to increase its power, but…”


    Fay immediately grabbed Nobina, scaring her for a second as she noticed the serious look in Fay’s eyes.


    “Tell me you never paid that cost,” said Fay, staring her directly in the eyes.


    “Never,” smiled Nobina gently, causing Fay to release her.


    “Sorry about that,” sighed Fay. “I… Can you make me a promise Nobina? Can you promise me to never… ever… use that skill.”


    Nobina opened her mouth, but closed it, asking a question of her own.


    “Fay… If that skill could save a life, are you asking me… to let someone die for the sake of never losing a moment?”


    Fay gave a sigh, shaking her head.


    “You know what the answer is already,” she sighed. “Sorry for asking you the impossible.”


    Nobina gave Fay a hug, patting her on the back.


    “I will do my best to avoid using this skill is all I can promise you Fay. Until I’m strong enough to never need it, then it will remain a possibility.”


    “Then when the time comes, I shall train you to the bone to never need it. That or protect you till the very end,” nodded Fay.


    “That’s so like you as well,” chuckled Nobina.


    Both of them looked at each other before giggling. Moments like this highlighted the strong bond the two had together. Nobina knew that she’d never want anything to get in the way of how close they were. After all, Nobina cared deeply about Fay.


    “Hey Fay,” said Nobina as the two still hugged.


    “What is it?” asked Fay, her eyes looking softly at Nobina’s.


    The two stared at each other for a moment, their eyes locked.


    “Oh, I meant to share my diary with you,” said Nobina, breaking the eye lock.


    Nobina quickly summoned her diary, opening and beginning to talk about her journey. She began acting as a narrator, talking about her journey so far and the things that had happened. Soon, both of them were lying down in bed, Nobina reading the diary to Fay as she lay in bed and got comfortable. As she was reading though, Nobina didn’t notice Fay falling asleep with a smile on her face.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    “I guess I can finish telling my story another time,” said Nobina as she recalled her diary. Part of her wanted to continue it, but she knew they had a long day ahead of them.


    “Well… I guess I’ll call it a night as well,” said Nobina as she blew out the room’s candles. Once again, Nobina found herself falling asleep looking at the moonlight, feeling excited for what tomorrow held in store for them.


    The following day, Nobina found herself waking up to an empty bed. She gave a bit of a stretch, looking out the window to see that it was approaching lunch hour.


    “Guess we stayed up too late,” she chuckled, heading out of her room and down the stairs. Once she was there, she didn’t see Fay, prompting her to ask Jerina if she saw Fay.


    “Right,” said Jerina. “She headed to the guild to speak with someone there and told me to relay that to you.”


    “Thank you,” Nobina replied back.


    She headed out of the inn and headed straight to the guild. Once she was there, Nobina saw that Fay was talking with Tia before turning to her.


    “Hey Nobina,” said Fay.


    “Hi Fay. What’s going on?” asked Nobina, curious about what the two were talking about.


    “Oh,” said Tia. “Fay told me you were looking for assistance training a bit while she left for the quest. We’d be honored to help a fellow guild officer develop, so I’ll relay the request to the guild master.”


    “That isn’t necessary,” said Nobina, waving her hand. “I mean, I have my other companion Harton who was planning to train me, so…”


    “It’s good to have a variety of training partners,” replied Fay. “Plus, I’m sure that someone here might be more suited.”


    “I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” chuckled Harton as he stepped into the guild. “I might not be the most suitable teacher, but I do understand a bit of sword combat and Paths.”


    Nobina didn’t know what to say, but Tia came to the rescue.


    “It wouldn’t hurt having Nobina train under someone who’s suited to teach,” said Tia. “At the same time, Mr. Harton here can observe and add his input. Does that work for everyone?”


    They all turned to Nobina, causing her to sigh.


    “Yeah… we can give it a shot,” she said.


    “Excellent,” said Tia. “Wait here one moment while I speak with the guild master.”


    As Tia headed out, Nobina turned to Fay, giving her a hug.


    “It’s also time I head out Nobina,” said Fay. “I’ll try to get everything done as soon as possible, but no promises.”


    “Just be safe Fay,” said Nobina, returning the hug.


    Harton couldn’t help but smile as he saw the moment the two were having. It didn’t last long though, as Fay separated moments later, grabbing the bag of supplies she had on the ground.


    “Well then… I will see you two later,” she said, heading out immediately.


    It wasn’t until she was out of the door that Fay boosted herself off, leaving another gust of dust in her wake.


    “She still is quite fast,” said Harton, giving a nod.


    “Yeah,” replied Nobina, merely hoping that Fay would be safe on her trip.


    After waiting for a few minutes, Tia came back downstairs to speak with them.


    “Ina wants to speak with you alone Nobina,” said Tia, who glanced at Harton to see his response.


    Nobina turned to Harton, who merely gave a nod.


    “Alright. That’s fine with me,” said Nobina, following Tia upstairs. Once Nobina was in the room, Tia closed the door right behind her.


    “Please have a seat Nobina,” said Ina, motioning for her to sit in the chair in front of her desk. When she did so, Ina’s eyes moved to where the Gaze was once again occupying. As Ina’s attention was on the Gaze, Nobina merely tilted her head in curiosity.


    “Tell me,” said Ina, keeping her attention on the Gaze. “Are you aware of what you have following you Nobina?”


    Nobina, realizing Ina likely sensed the Gaze, merely nodded.


    “Yes… Does the Gaze bother you, guild master?” asked Nobina, studying Ina back.


    Ina gave a sigh, shaking her head.


    “No. If you recognize what this is, then it likely isn’t something to be too concerned about. I do want to clarify though which god is looking at us right now,” she replied back.


    “I… Don’t believe it’s a single god. I believe its multiple divine entities using that Gaze to observe me and my journey,” she replied back.


    “For what purpose?” asked Ina, who was trying to recall her knowledge on the topic of gods.


    “I… do not know,” she replied. “Are you perhaps knowledgeable on divine entities?”


    Ina gave a nod, standing up and going to one of the nearby shelves. She then walked over to Nobina and placed a book in front of her titled “The Divine.” Opening it up, she could instantly tell it was a book meant to provide information on the various divine entities of this world. Besides the three major gods, it also mentioned what were titled classical gods and minor gods, each governing their own aspects of the world.


    “It’s a fascinating read, but the book doesn’t explicitly mention any case where multiple divine beings observe anyone’s life through a visible object. Well, I use visible lightly since I believe only a few would be able to fully notice this Gaze and its origin,” said Ina, taking a seat back behind her desk.


    “I’m currently trying to look more into this Gaze, but I haven’t had the time to,” said Nobina.


    “Perhaps that’s for the best,” replied Ina, drawing a confused look from Nobina. “If you look too deeply into the Gaze, it might react to stop you. In the worst case, these divine entities might want you dead.”


    Nobina froze for a second, knowing full well that there were times when the Gaze sent out hostile creatures that could have very well killed her. It was hard to believe it wouldn’t do so again in the future at this point.


    “Perhaps your right, but if I leave this Gaze as a mystery, then I can only blame myself when more and more unexpected things happened. Shouldn’t I have at least some idea of the capabilities of the divine beings watching me?” asked Nobina.


    “If you can figure that out, yes. However, do you think you’d be able to?” said Ina. “Those entities feel particularly powerful.”


    Nobina couldn’t answer that question. So far, the Gaze and its bag have continued to up the ante in terms of what it could give her. She even had a powerful Alpha Death Hare that could take on ancient dragons. If it was capable of that, what’s to say it couldn’t send a nuke one day and end it all.


    “I… can’t say,” said Nobina, feeling disappointed by how much she couldn’t answer.


    “And that’s perfectly reasonable when it comes to the divine,” nodded Ina. “These are beings that are supposed to be above us mortals. As someone who has the ability to sense it easily, I can tell you that we are lucky that there aren’t tons of hostile divine entities out there. Who knows what would happen to the world if one of them send their followers against us,” said Ina.


    “I don’t even want to imagine,” she replied back. “So… Are you saying it''s best I just get stronger and live life?”


    “That’s what most people do,” smiled Ina. “Speaking of which, Tia has informed me you are seeking training. As a fellow guild officer, I’d be happy to assist with your development as a combat guild officer. Being able to execute the guilds orders is valuable, especially since guilds usually depend on the guild master themselves for strength. As you might know, many guild officers are former S-Ranks or active S-Rank adventurers. It’s ideal to keep at this power in a guild at a minimum to prevent chaos.”


    Nobina gave a nod. She was aware that guilds were set up to be entities capable of preventing disasters. It was why Agora having both an S-Rank and A-Rank was valuable. It meant there were always two capable individuals able to deal with incidents like the Goblin Invasions.


    “Thank you for your support,” bowed Nobina. “If there’s anything you need from me, please let me know.”


    Ina gave a laugh, shaking her head.


    “Your friend Fay is already doing enough as is,” responded back Ina. “Please. Go ahead and let Tia know to gather a few of our capable adventurers to help you out.”


    Nobina gave a nod, heading off. As she did, Ina gave a chuckle, shaking her head.


    “Hopefully you truly become strong enough to understand the Gaze Nobina,” she said as she went to put away the book about the divine.