NOVEL WEB Chapter 177: Hugs
Atlan opened the door and a smile crept on his face. He thought he'd be greeted with a visit from Pterina and start his day with an interrogation, but imagine his surprise when he saw a curly-haired woman instead.
Lizzie stood in front of his house with a relieved expression on her face.
She couldn't hold back her emotions as she hugged Atlan.
"Thank the gods you're fine. I heard about the anomaly and quickly rushed here."
Atlan reciprocated her gesture of affection and hugged her tightly.
In the Unclaimed Lands, everyone kept to themselves and avoided close contact with each other. It increased a person's internal body temperature and caused them to sweat. In a place desolate of any large water source, they needed every drop of liquid inside their bodies.
Atlan felt awkward during their first hug, but as things progressed, he slowly got used to it. He slowly yearned for it.
Lizzie felt warm. Even when warmth was equivalent to death in the Unclaimed Lands, somehow, whenever he felt Lizzie's soft arms around his neck and her body close to his, he felt more alive than he was before. Explore new worlds at empire
He even thought that hugging her gave him SoulTime, but that was just an illusion.
"I can't believe those guys. What are they thinking of letting you go on a 6th stage Student mission? And just as I feared, an anomaly occurred during your second unofficial mission. Urgh!"
Lizzie, in her anger, moved away from Atlan and stomped the ground.
Her words didn't even register in Atlan's mind because he was still focused on the fact that he wanted the hug to last just a little bit longer.
"And you!" Lizzie pointed at his face. "Just because you're the Star Porter doesn't mean you should go on missions higher than your level. It's dangerous!"
Atlan shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"If I weren't so busy, I would stay by your side and make sure you don't put yourself in such dangerous situations ever again."
For some reason, Atlan didn't mind that.
"Haaaa…" Lizzie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What's done is done. I'm just thankful you didn't lose your SoulTime."
She looked up at him with a curious look. "By the way, did you really advance to the 3rd stage Student yesterday?"
Atlan smiled and proudly said, "Yes."
Lizzie couldn't hide the smile on her face. Even though she wanted to reprimand him for his dangerous stunts, she couldn't help but be proud of what he'd become in such a short amount of time.
"Are you happy for me?"
"No! I'm still mad at you for joining a mission 4 stages above your own!" Lizzie moved her head away from him in embarrassment.
If she had her cat mutation manifested in reality, her tail would wag left and right, while her whiskered cheeks would be bright red.
Lizzie took out something from her tool belt and forcefully pushed it into Atlan's chest. "Here. You should wear this."
Atlan took the blow and acted like it hurt him.
In his hands were a pair of epaulets made from the same material as his battle suits. The symbol 'III - S' was inscribed onto the very material itself.
"What's this?"
"It's official. HeadQuarters acknowledges your advancement to the third stage. Even if other people won't believe the rumors, they'll believe the epaulet on your shoulders."
Atlan looked at the epaulet in his hands.
"They're giving it to me just like that? I thought they needed to confirm my power realm first."
"That's the protocol, but you're a special case. For some reason, HeadQuarters quickly approved your epaulets as soon as they heard what happened."
Atlan looked at the epaulets on his hands. He didn't even know how to put it on.
"Here," Lizzie said as she took the epaulet in his hands. "It's hard to put it on by yourself."
Lizzie stretched and reached for his tall shoulders. They were near enough to feel each other's breath.
Atlan stood still as he observed her face. Even when he was so close to her, he never felt any discomfort.
He didn't even know it, but he found himself moving his head closer to hers.
"There. It looks good on you."
Lizzie walked back to look at Atlan's new attire. The green epaulets snuggly fit on his shoulders. It didn't take long before they were quickly dyed black as his Stealth Tunic recognized it as part of his battle suit.
"Yes. Fits me just right," commented Atlan, with his gaze not on his epaulets.
Atlan and Lizzie stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before;
DING
A notification rang on Lizzie's watch and reminded her of why she visited Atlan so early in the morning.
"I forgot. Pterina wants to talk to you."
The mention of the Inquisitor made Atlan immediately focus and rid himself of silly thoughts.
"I'm guessing she wants to hear my side of the story."
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'll be there with you."
Atlan wasn't worried that Pterina's Operator LifeSkill figured out his lies. He was more worried that he would contradict himself.
He needed to be careful with his words. If he told a lie, which Pterina knew was false, and it didn't trigger her LifeSkill, then she would figure out that he had some way to circumvent her lie detection skill.
I just need to give vague answers. The shorter the better.
"Come on. She's waiting for us at the Genesis Church. We'll take my truck."
Atlan followed her back to her vehicle and they quickly went on their way to the only place of worship in the entire City.
"Why the church?"
"I don't know. From what I heard, you were eligible to get some kind of SoulTime compensation, am I right?"
Atlan remembered. Along with the golden ticket that allowed him a visit to the Vineyard, Pterina also gave him 600 years of SoulTime. He only needed to visit the Church to claim his gift, but he never found the time to do so.
Just then, their smooth ride on the truck was suddenly interrupted when it stopped in the middle of the road out of nowhere.