Dragon Lagoon Beach

[Bloodedge]

Though she had her own additional reason for doing so, Hikari went along with Kou's go-ahead and charged forward. In doing so, she showcased her first Skill: Illusion Sword. To her credit, she chose an Alpha Skill that would prove very useful in most direct combat situations she could be found in, and in this case, she managed to use it to the effect of handling two Golems. Still, she seemed surprised by the status effect triggered by her technique. "Well, now you do get Confusion! Don't be confused about it!" he said in a lighthearted fashion. While the pair of Kou and Miki stood behind, the latter proved herself privy to the stat alteration of Hikari, and even attributed it to her position as Holy Knight Apprentice to Kou. "Ou. If I rank up as a Holy Knight, it'll get even better... and permanent. I spent a day or so in-game as an Apprentice to a Sapphire Holy Knight, and my stats were insane even when I wasn't doing missions for her."

[Apollymi]

"Urusai, Baka-nii," she snapped a tad, wondering how he managed to be so relaxed in such a situation. Still the lass seemed to be having a bit of fun. With two of the Lava Golems fighting each other, she was given ample time to use her actual blade to finish the job of taking them out. It took her a few moments, but her skill as a Saber was very obvious in this moment. Several slashes seemed to force themselves first through the Golem being attacked and then through its attacker. After a moment both seemed to dissipate into rock formations that fell back into the lava. She landed soon after and took a couple more tentative steps forward, willing to scope out the area a bit more for the pair of them. She found a few yards further up, a trio of Golems popped up. "Oi oi! I was just trying to have a nice day. Damn! Stay down will ya'!" the girl yelled at the creatures as she aimed to make the next assault.

"Sou ka, that's a mutually beneficial. Gives her a reason to choose to partner with someone strong and who will get stronger. And gives the Knight of choice the reason to keep aiming higher. Positive permanent stats boosts are also good for the general party. Very nice..." the blonde lass said. She had to admit above a lot of things, it was nice having another girl around, and Hikari was full of fun little quips and kept things interesting. At the very least, these five creatures would be an easy EXP grind for the lesser leveled lass. Who was pretty close to her next level at the start. This time, Hikari aimed a slash horizontally across the fore of these creatures, in doing so she created haloing affect with her Illusion blade technique so that even as they tried to dodge each of them was hit by something. One immediately began flailing around as if it didn't know where it was. The one in the center immediately attacked the other two one with each hand. And the one on the very end was frozen in place unable to do anything, as Hikari pounced once more aiming to finish each individual with a trio of slashes starting at their heads. AS she'd noticed they were hardening from there and thus it would be easier to damage with her legitimate weapon. At the end she landed and sighed as the group at large crumbled and fell away. "Alright... it's fine guys. Don't need to worry yourselves about me..." she said exhaling a bit winded, only to be enveloped in a flash of golden light as her level increased and this area marked itself as clear.

[Bloodedge]

Kou watched intently as Hikari battled the Golems. He was prepared to step in if it ever became necessary, though he had faith that she would be fine on her own. In the meantime, he continued speaking with Miki about the demi-human's status, and the mutual benefits of the situation. "Yep. It's actually pretty broken in this situation," he said as he viewed the stats and experience of the entire party nearby. "Since we're sharing EXP, we all benefit from each other's gains. She gets bonus EXP, so basically... we all got a leveling cheat the second she joined the Party." If this clause of Kou's needed any confirmation, it would come the moment Hikari completed the area by slaying the final Golem. Her experience shot up even more than what should be expected of a player in this world, and that was spread even to Karna. "Just about Level 13. Nice!" he said to Hikari while moving forward, holding his right hand high.

[Apollymi]

As Kou spoke to Miki he explained the brokeness of the leveling system in the situation they'd created by adding Hikari to the party. Given the way EXP was shared and spread among the party, by virtue of the lass getting a boost they all got a boost. This meant that when they started leveling again it would be possible for all of them to get a major boost to the area. "Sou ka. That's pretty janky. I like it though..." she said. Soon after the light cleared Hikari would be standing in front of Kou a little bit taller with her features slightly more mature. "Yeah yeah... I'm super excited and all..." she said raising her hand to meet his high five. "You didn't seem like you needed any help. Nice job out there, Hikari-chan!~" Miki said congratulating the girl. "I forgive you because you're carrying the egg and all, can't have you doing anything risky, but him... he's just being mean to me!~" the girl exaggerated. And with this she smiled stuck her tongue out at her brother and moved right along.

Such an adventure and getting up to the top of the mountain would take them straight through to twilight. But upon getting to the top they reached an empty basin of a place, which as the moon rose up above them filled from below with steaming magically enhanced water. The whole of the place began to look like the best hidden hotspring that Miki or Hikari had ever seen. "Sugoi! This place is gonna be awesome after all that work," Hikari said, sounding a bit more mature having raised quite a few levels and having her body grow to accompany that a bit, so she was closer to her natural age.

[Bloodedge]

"Right? So do I." This was the last thing Kou said to Miki before approaching Hikari, at which point his high-five was met by a slightly older version of the demi-human. He'd nearly forgotten that demi-humans and the like determined age by their power, but he supposed he would be made very familiar with that over time spent grinding. Eventually, the 'treacherous' journey uphill led the group to a magical hot spring-like plateau under the rising moon. It was yet another incredible sight to behold for Kou, but what Kou found most interesting was the tone of Hikari's voice when she spoke. "Right, so... I'm gonna need you to max out your level so you can stop getting older after every fight."

[Apollymi]

At the end of the journey Kou had something very interesting to say to his younger sister, who now appeared to be not quite so young anymore. She turned to him and frowned, the look being most similar to what her face had looked like in life. "Urusai, Baka-nii. Demi-humans age like Saiyans. I'm level 15 and I've stopped aging, so now you get to deal with me at my normal age," she said squinting with a bit of annoyance in her face. This whole exchange made Miki chuckle just a little but she managed to look off in the distance when Hikari's eyes shifted towards her. It seemed the girl had worked pretty hard today and developed a level of crankiness at her brother that would have made Karna proud. "Now, I'm changing into my bathing suit and I'm getting into the hot spring..." She said taking her clothing and slipping further back into the woods line. Miki decided to be a bit more helpful and took the pillow which was her weapon and extended its size to make something of a privacy curtain for that space. "Arigatou, Miki-nee~" she chimed as she changed. Soon after she emerged from behind the tree in her swimsuit with the rest of the beach gear and spread it out for them. "There ya' go. I'm getting in." she said showing off this flowing swimsuit which left her mostly covered but allowed her to feel as mature as she now felt. "Really nice job on the swimsuit by the way, it's great!~" she said. As she jumped into the hot water with reckless abandon.

That little exchange out of the way, Miki looked to Kou. "If you wanted to change first you could, unless you want to hold the egg for a couple of minutes?" she said, given the exchange of the day it would mean that Miki would need to separate from the egg just to change into the swimwear she'd procured and it could happen now or later it really didn't matter much to her.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, until you decide to turn 21 and get stuck there until level 50!" Kou replied without hesitation. With that, Hikari was off to change behind a makeshift curtain created by Miki's pillow. Not long after, she emerged in her new swimsuit and made her way directly into the water. In spite of their most recent exchange, deep within, Kou was elated that the girl could enjoy something like a hot spring, even if she did have to do so in another world filled with potential strife. His attention was taken from this line of thought by the query of Miki. He didn't really mind waiting to enter the hot springs, figuring the girls were more into the activity than he could ever be. As such, he shook his head to the blonde. "I can wait. Besides, you've been holding that egg this whole time. Take a load off already," he said, reaching out to grab the Filolial egg while gesturing for Miki to carry on.

[Apollymi]

"As if!" was the reply of Hikari as she moved to enjoy the water. While Kou and Miki had their conversation, she emerged from the depths of the hot spring with a huge grin on her face. "Whew! The water's great by the way. Hurry it up already don't make me enjoy it by myself!~" she called to the pair. This was while, Kou and Miki were talking over the current holding of the egg to decide who would be the one to go change first. "I mean it's pretty fun holding on to it and all. Thanks..." she managed. Stopping by the bag of outlayed clothing she picked up her swimsuit she planned to wear and headed over to her makeshift privacy area. She found herself changing pretty easily and with a swiftness generally unknown to most, and when she emerged she had the pile of clothing she'd been wearing before which she dropped at the back where she'd picked up her swimsuit from. On her form the white swim suit was open from just under her breasts to around her belly button. it had large openings up the sides and bikini bottoms which showed off the girl's physical form. She even had a gap between her thighs right at the top, and she walked back out as if she hadn't a clue in the world that anyone would be watching her. To be honest she didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed by her current level of partial nudity, almost like she was prone to wearing this sort of thing all the time. She moved past Kou towards the water content to sink into the edge, exhaling a sigh of total relief. "Sugoi! This is amazing!~ Best extra tip ever..." she mentioned about the price of the information that led here. "And also, I really like this swimsuit, thanks so much, Hikari-chan!~" she mentioned. "Hai hai, don't mention it." said the lass with a happy smile though her eyes were trained on her brother.

[Bloodedge]

Kou nodded, and proceeded to cradle the Filolial egg while Miki changed into her swimsuit. In the surprisingly short amount of time it took for this change, Kou stared at the egg and opened his magical senses to it. Doing so while being in physical contact with the egg provided an entirely different experience for the lad. He was quite interested in what he was feeling from the unborn Filolial; it seemed to hold a hidden strength that he'd yet to familiarize himself with, and he was quite exited to see it develop. Soon enough, Miki emerged from the other side of her privacy curtain, clad in her one-piece. Kou hadn't looked up to notice, but his periphery allowed him to see the blonde walking past him, at which point his sights rose and followed her. He took pause as his gaze briefly became one unwavering, but he was eventually able to recover and look away.

[Apollymi]

The amount of excitement both of these people showed for the Filolial egg was something which Hikari could only understanding in passing. She knew her brother to be a big enough nerd to completely immerse in the mini-game aspect, it was confusing for someone else to do so, but she decided Miki was enough like her brother that this wasn't unusual. That being said the amount of focus he showed to the egg was deviated ever so slightly once the blonde returned from the privacy curtain, mostly it became obvious that he was watching her, and for a moment however brief, his gaze didn't waver. This confirmed everything in Hikari's mind and caused a decent amount of irritation within the lass as it was now more solid than it could ever be. 'Yep, he definitely likes her... no doubt about it. And for some reason unknown to the rest of the world she likes him... ugh.' thought the lass. Even so, she'd keep this show moving along, even if it killed her. "Nii-san, hand her back the egg so we can all enjoy the hot spring. It probably won't last all night!~" the girl said as she moved a bit closer to have a look at the pair of them and to be able to have a whispered conversation with the lass when her brother went to change. "She's right you know. I'm all settled now. I'll give it back once you're in here if you want to keep holding it for a while. I think it's really cool in there~" she said of the Filolial which she'd gotten to know a bit more intimately with her abilities since she was constantly in physical contact with it.

[Bloodedge]

"... Hai," he replied to Hikari, still not completely having himself together. Regardless, Kou moved to the water's edge to hand off the Filolial egg to Miki before he went off to grab his own clothes. Once behind the privacy curtain, he began to disrobe. Kou had quite a few intricate layers to discard, so he took much longer than the others. In addition to that, he stopped completely halfway through the act of changing. 'I've got so many problems with all these setup attempts already, but... damn,' he thought. Whenever he managed to snap back to reality, Kou would continue ridding himself of his existing articles.

[Apollymi]

While Kou got changed, which seemed to be taking a ridiculously long amount of time Miki held on to the egg. Hikari crept up behind Miki and did what a young girl would always do. She grabbed both her boobs while her hands were full to make some odd commentary. "Aww, I'm jealous. I grew all the way to 15 and yours are still a bit bigger!~" she claimed. This exchange made Miki squeal a bit but she laughed it off. "Eep!~ I mean... I am a bit older than 15 and well, I'm just thin. I'm sure you'll be fine the next time you decide to age up. Don't sweat it really..." she said as the girl's head came to Miki's left side, she cradled the egg with one hand and patted her head with the other. "Sugoi! Miki-nee is so nice!~" she hugged the lass and Miki shrugged. "Not really, but I think you're pretty cool. And it's nice having another girl along... thanks for being nice to me," she offered as a counter. Hikari's eyes widened slightly. 'Is she friendless... is that why she's like this. A school idol, overachiever, rich girl who just doesn't interact with other people much. That's such a contradiction and a bit sad.' Hikari thought. Thoroughly behind the other lass Hikari began rubbing her shoulders. "Iie, you're definitely the nice one... you're even nice to that nerd over there... so I'd say you're the nicest." Hikari mentioned. Miki looked towards the privacy curtain and even as the other girl rubbed her shoulders while she held the egg she sighed and began to speak. "Iie. He was nice to me and I am probably a pretty big nerd, just not on the surface. I respect anyone who can just be themselves in front of everyone. And he... well... He gave me a fair shake at this whole partnership thing, when I woke up in a world I only dreamed about in a video game. He didn't think I was super weird and and didn't question my resting bitch face. Just let me hang out with him and work with him... so in that case he was nice to me. I am happy he's the first person I found in a place like this..." she said to the lass. This made Hikari's hand movements pause, but then she kept going. "From what I've seen you're definitely a big nerd, but that is cool. And... It's good to hear he's nice from someone else... and I'm happy I found him again too." Hikari mentioned.

[Bloodedge]

Once he'd finally gotten rid of his normal clothes, Kou slipped into his swim trunks. He could obviously forego the jacket this time, but there was one other thing he needed to take care of. In his home world, he often kept his hair tied, hence the additional string he'd asked the seamstress for before this recent journey. Kou took this string and tied back only his excess hairs, leaving him with a small ponytail and fringe. With that done and his trunks in place, Kou gathered the rest of his things and emerged, dropping off his normal outfit on the way back to the waters. He then witnessed the odd sight of what seemed to be Hikari massaging Miki's shoulders, for whatever reason, as they conversed among themselves. As random as this was, he had nothing to actually say about it.

[Apollymi]

Miki was content to converse with Hikari, and eventually Kou emerged. He was wearing just his trunks and had made one minor change to his general appearance. For Hikari this was normal, she was used to seeing her brother with this ponytail, so this just made the white haired verison of him look more normal. Miki on the other hand was left looking at the lad for a moment and her gaze didn't waver for quite a few seconds. The quiet from Miki gave Hikari a chance to make devious eye contact with her brother and when she did she lifted the thumb on her right hand, giving him the universal sign for good job. Meanwhile Miki noticed she'd not been speaking and blushed just a tad breaking her own gaze and feeling a bit strangely having so recently spoken so highly of the lad. Adding to that the visual of him wearing something she had in mind for him and she almost had an issue expressing herself. "That pony tail suits you..." she mentioned softly still cuddling the egg of choice. All of this done, Hikari finished up. "Hai hai. Nice to see you looking normal for a change. Come on in... grab your mini-game egg. Enjoy the water... all that jazz!~" she said breaking the tension of the moment.

[Bloodedge]

Upon his return from the change, Kou was met by Miki's appraisal of his ponytail, to which Hikari also chimed in with approval of his more normal appearance. When he spoke, he did so in a general manner, though his reaction was just the slightest bit bashful. "Uh... arigatou," he said. It was then that Kou took the time to step into the hot spring waters about a meter or so away from the others, doing so carefully enough to avoid entering too much heat too quickly. He didn't have any real issues, and as such, he sank into the water over the course of a few seconds, and seemed to become quite relaxed as a result.