After the evolution into Grade Two, once a Dominant hit level fifteen, they were able to unlock their regalia.

A Dominant's regalia was a specialized set of armor unique to each individual that could be summoned instantly during combat. It acted as a physical manifestation of their power, providing protection and a massive edge in a fight.

Each regalia also had a unique property that complemented the Dominant's specific fighting style and abilities.

…Up until now, I had been going into fights without any physical protection. Just my clothes. Even a small clash always left me covered in bruises.

This wasn't a huge problem before, but now that we were going to be raiding the Home of the Sculpted Ones, I couldn't afford to be that vulnerable anymore.

I also had to make sure that my party members were properly equipped. So far, the only people in the party currently with a regalia were Celeste and Leon. Luckily, the rest of the party was already at level 14, so getting them to unlock a regalia shouldn't take much.

I pointed to a map. "We will begin by raiding the Saurian Outskirts. Although the monsters here are straight out of Jurassic Park, they don't have any special abilities, so we should be able to handle them. They are also good food, so that's a huge plus."

I traced a line toward the north. "Then we will continue upwards past the Shattered Peaks. The party won't stop or return until the others are all level 15. After that, we'll have the others return to the grove with Leon in charge of them."

I looked to Aika, who was staring back at me. "As for us, we'll stay back and grind."

Aika gave a small smile.

I then looked back to the map and continued. "We'll make our way to the Babies' Cradle, then wipe that entire horrendous territory clean."

"Understood." Aika nodded in agreement. She paused for a moment, then looked back to me and asked, "When do you want us to leave?"

"As soon as we can, actually," I replied. "I'll discuss it with the party in the morning. They'll have the whole day to get ready, and we'll head out at dawn the day after."

"Sounds good to me," Aika chimed in a low, sultry voice.

I turned my head slightly, and with the plan and the stress of the maps out of the way, my focus immediately shifted to her face, which was only inches from mine. Up close, the flickering glow of the holographic maps reflected in her tired eyes, making them look even deeper; and under the dim light from the oil lamps, she seemed to soften, the sharp edges of her usual guarded persona giving way to something much more vulnerable.

As I studied her face, I couldn't help but notice how the quiet of the night seemed to change her.

Calling her beautiful would be an understatement. She was breathtaking in a way that made everything else in the room fade into the background.

For some reason, my eyes drifted down to her lips. They were slightly parted and looked incredibly soft under the warm glow of the lamps.

The room grew quieter until I could hear both our heartbeats, which were thumping in a heavy, synchronized rhythm that made it impossible to look away.

I didn't want to look away… and at that moment, I slowly began to feel like I wanted to do more than just look.

Suddenly, the distance between our lips, felt almost non-existent.

I swallowed and made up my mind to close the gap.

In the next second, I…

"What do you mean he doesn't like to be disturbed?!" An annoyed voice outside suddenly snapped me back to reality.

I immediately looked away from Aika, my heart racing for a completely different reason now.

'What was that?'

This thought wasn't for whoever the hell had just yelled outside, but rather for myself and what I had been about to do.

'Did I almost… kiss Aika?'

The heat was still crawling up my neck, but there was no time to process it.

At that moment, I could hear Evelyn's irritated voice: "I meant what I said. He doesn't like to be disturbed. So please turn around and leave!"

Then…

I heard a sharp slap, followed by the sound of someone falling to the ground, and then, Julius' voice booming: "How dare you?!"

Instantly, Arlo, my raven who was now in the general area began to call for me mentally. I could hear his frantic voice repeating in my head:

"Master! Master!"

I immediately shared my vision with the little bird, and that was when I could see a proud-looking boy with swept-back auburn hair standing in front of the entrance to the shelter.

It was Xavier Von Caprio.

'What is he doing here?'

The members of my party were all in the general area. They all had furious looks on their faces, and I could see that on the floor some meters in front of Xavier was Evelyn clutching her cheek.

She had been slapped.

When I fully assessed the situation, I could guess exactly what had transpired.

"Arlo," I clenched my fist and commanded through our mental link. "Go and get that protagonist over here!"

"Protagonist! Protagonist!"

The little birdie flapped its wings and flew out of the shelter toward the back where Leon's tent was pitched.

Meanwhile, I immediately stood up with Aika and we made our way to the area where the commotion was taking place.

All my party members looked like they were just seconds away from beginning a fight with Xavier and his party members, who were stationed behind him. The ones affected the most were Evelyn and Julius, who was currently holding her in his arms.

Knowing Evelyn's personality, she was not the type to let things like this slide. Under any other circumstances, she might have snapped long ago, and heaven knows what she would have done. But at the moment, I could see she was using all her willpower to stop herself.

Of course, she knew that if she fought Xavier, she would definitely lose. Not only was he a very strong dominant, but he was one of the top members of Princess Aurora's party. Still, Evelyn wasn't the type to care about winning or losing; she usually just dived in head-first, consequences be damned.

The only reason she was trying so hard to keep from lashing out was because if she lost her cool, she wouldn't be the only one on the losing end. She would be making our entire party enemies with Princess Aurora's group.

So, she held herself back from doing something that would put the rest of us in a tight spot.

Meanwhile, Xavier stood there with his chin tilted up, looking down at Evelyn as if she were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

The moment he heard Aika and I approach, he looked up, and a smile bloomed across his face.

"There you are, Cedric," he said, his voice dripping with a casual friendliness that felt entirely forced. "I heard that you are the leader of this wonderful party."

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.