Chapter 7: COMPATIBILITY: 94%

Vael spent the first hour of the journey attempting to dispute the System’s compatibility calculation.

Silently.

Mostly.

"Explain the ninety-four percent."

[Shared traits detected.]

"What traits?"

[Stubbornness. Combat proficiency. Emotional repression. Poor communication. Abnormal tolerance for danger.]

"That describes half the people I have killed."

[Perhaps you should have dated more of them.]

Vael almost walked into a tree.

Lyria glanced back.

"You all right?"

"Perfectly."

The merchant’s repaired cart creaked behind them. Vael had eventually fixed the axle after destroying the first replacement by accident.

His returning strength was becoming troublesome.

Lyria walked beside him.

"You said you’ve seen a sword like mine."

"Yes."

"Where?"

"A long time ago."

"My ancestor carried it during the Demon War."

"I know."

She stopped.

Vael cursed internally.

"You know?"

"It is famous."

"Oh."

She brightened.

"Most people recognize the name Valcrest, not the sword."

Vael remembered Arthas screaming as demon fire swallowed half a hillside.

"I have an interest in history."

Technically true.

He had caused much of it.

Lyria unsheathed the blade while walking.

"My family says Arthas used this to wound the Demon King at Valcrest Pass."

"Under the fourth rib."

She stopped again.

Vael closed his eyes.

"Books," he said.

"That detail isn’t in books."

"Rare books."

[Deception Skill +4]

Lyria stared at him for several seconds.

Then shrugged.

"You’re strange."

"I have been told."

The System chimed.

[Side Quest: Ask Lyria one personal question.]

[Reward: Biological Age -1 Year]

Vael ignored it.

[Failure Penalty: Hair Color — Pink, 24 Hours.]

Vael immediately turned to Lyria.

"Why are you an adventurer?"

She blinked.

"That was abrupt."

"Answer."

"Now it sounds like an interrogation."

Vael took a breath.

The System helpfully displayed:

[Try smiling.]

Vael smiled.

Lyria reached for her sword.

"Stop doing that."

He stopped.

Eventually she answered.

"Everyone in my family joins the Royal Guard or the church. Hero blood and all that." She made a face. "I didn’t want my entire life chosen by a dead man I never met."

Vael looked at the Valcrest sword.

"And yet you carry his weapon."

"It’s a very good sword."

That answer surprised a laugh out of the merchant behind them.

Lyria continued.

"I respect Arthas. But being descended from someone famous is exhausting. Every bad decision becomes ’What would your ancestor think?’ Every good decision becomes ’Of course, she’s a Valcrest.’"

Vael understood that more than he expected.

Names became cages surprisingly easily.

"Then stop being a Valcrest," he said.

Lyria looked at him.

Vael shrugged.

"Be Lyria."

The System went strangely quiet.

Then:

[Side Quest Complete.]

[Reward: Biological Age -1 Year]

[Affection +8]

Warmth flickered through Vael’s bones.

He glared at the second line.

"Do not quantify that."

"What?" Lyria asked.

"Nothing."

Later, near dusk, they stopped beside a stream.

The merchant prepared a fire.

Lyria sat on a rock sharpening the sword that had once pierced Vael’s chest.

The sound scraped against his memories.

She glanced at him.

"You really hate this sword."

"I dislike being reminded of old injuries."

"You said it stabbed you."

Vael looked at her.

She grinned.

"Similar unique blade. Rare books. I remember."

Vael almost respected her too much.

Then the System appeared.

[New Main Quest]

[Earn Lyria’s trust.]

[Current Trust: 17%]

Vael frowned.

"How?"

[Suggestion: Stop lying every thirty seconds.]

Vael stared at the campfire.

That seemed unreasonable.

A moment later Lyria tossed him a strip of dried meat.

"You’ve got the face of someone planning a murder."

"I am planning nothing."

"That’s worse."

She sat beside him anyway.

For several minutes, neither spoke.

It should have been uncomfortable.

It was not.

Vael found that more dangerous than the sword.