Greg returned with a passed-out Yvonne and a strange black box. I didn't notice anything flashy, so I wondered if everything is solved.

  I at least got to know Noelle a bit better, she isn't as bad as I thought, as Agnis said, she is just stressed.

  Hmm? Where is Agnis? And Giana?

  Noelle looked from Yvonne to the edgy box. “What happened out there? Where are lil’ bro and lil’ sis?”

  Greg sat down and sighed.

  You might not like this but let's start at the beginning.

  He looked over at the family who had been arguing since they went to check out the village.

  He told us that a teenager had charmed the whole village, forcing them to act as her brother and sister. How Yvonne had disappeared, and he went looking for her.

  She was concealed masterfully, ambushed me and attempted to turn me into that teenager’s ‘big brother’. I used [Blackout] and knocked her out with my hammer before she could do anything ...

  “That was quite a rough solution… couldn't you restrain her more gently.”

  I am not well versed in restraining or control so this is the best I could do. I’m sure you would understand.

  Noelle stomped. “And that's an excuse, why exactly? Did you even try?”

  There are things that I can and cannot do, attempting the unknown in dire situations could cause injury or death.

  I understand Greg’s point, but I'm starting to realize that he might be playing things too safe. I'm sure Agnis had noticed too as he isn't trying anything new, like hooking up with Yvonne.

  Wait that doesn't explain where Agnis and Giana are!

  Greg fidgeted and seemed uncomfortable.

  Giana is right here… He said as he pointed at the edgy box. The situation was dire when I returned. Giana’s charm magic went berserk and she incapacitated Agnis. I don't know what he did or if it was a consequence of fighting a strong charm user, but Giana seemed ready to ‘devour’ Agnis. Nilah encased him, and I smacked them away to distract her and temporarily seal Giana.

  My intuition went wild, and I jumped away from Noelle.

  She stomped and it felt like an earthquake. “You what!? You smacked my brother away and you sealed my sister?! I surely hope this is a poorly worded joke!” Noelle stomped again.

  I made the best of the situation, Agnis is like a brother to me too!

  “I would never smack my brother away unless I had exhausted any other option. I am also not part of a race that would do that, and neither are you. It would be expected if you were a 9t. He might have rubbed off on you, but it didn't seem as if you tried!”

  Noelle got scary, Greg's edgy aura responded, and he got scary too.

  “Moreover, what I'm most pissed about is that you sealed Giana! You see Agnis as your brother, how do you see Giana? Would you truly seal away people you care for?!”

  Crystals started to grow in Noelle's hair. Even I haven't managed to get her this angry.

  Hey guys maybe we should calm…

  “I'm sorry Raishin but not now…” Noelle said with a calm, serene voice.

  It was scary as she was still angry, but not at me. Maybe I should put in more effort to keep her from being angry.

  Why does it matter how I feel about Agnis or Giana? I made the most effective and efficient choices to deal with the situation. There is no need to nitpick on the situation as the problem has been solved, and the aftermath is completely reversible.

  “And this is the problem! You're a 3t, you're supposed to feel things! But if it's about people, you don't feel anything at all!”

  A stomp cracked the ground, which started to open up. When did this place get unswampyfied? I didn't notice, but we were standing on solid ground. Not for long if Noelle keeps stomping like this.

  What would you know? And how much did Agnis tell you?

  Greg's edgy aura got thicker and resembled the black fog that surrounded the demon we had encountered with Elliana. Agnis and I joke that he might be a demon cat, but it was a joke… we didn't think it would be real… My intuition told me that this situation was dangerous, but it had been saying this since Agnis gave us the ‘ good and bad news’.

  “What did he tell me? He didn't tell me anything. Anyone with eyes can see this, Gregory! Yv has been trying to get close to you since we formed a team! 0 response from your end!”

  I still don't understand what Yvonne has to do with this…

  “Thank you for proving my point…”

  They were still angry at each other, but I got interested in something else.

  Hey guys shouldn't we get Agnis back and unseal Giana?

  I pointed into the distance, as it seems that area had a suspicious amount of ice.

  “I will get lil’ bro, you better make sure Giana is unsealed when I come back, else we have a problem.” Noelle stomped off in slow motion. Is she cursed? Or does she have [Slow] on her.

  Wait for me! I can teleport you!

  I ran after Noelle.

  Can…can I touch you?

  Noelle looked at me with her golden-brown eyes. Damn she's hot.

  “I'm not angry at you, of course you can. Be careful, the mana around Agnis is inconsistent, it could throw off your teleport.

  Oh, like in Boshi town, I should be able to handle this!

  I brute forced my teleport ping, grabbed the angry hottie and teleported toward the big ball of cold.

  Ugh this was a mistake! It's so cold!

  Noelle stomped and loosened the ball, which had frozen to the ground. She got all her tails out and went 7t mode. This was the first time I saw it. There were grids and strange shards everywhere.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  She stomped again, and the shards gathered and turned into some vehicle, carrying the ball. The shards disappeared and a truck appeared.

  Whoa that's so cool!

  Noelle got in the driver seat and patted on the seat next to her.

  “Hop in, I can't eliminate the cold, but I can mitigate it as this vehicle is insulated.”

  I didn't know what that meant, but I'd gladly hop in this cool truck with a hot chick.

  The seat was comfy, and she drove toward our temporary camp. All trees and obstacles in front of us turned into shards and made way for us, they pieced them back together after we've passed.

  So, this is your 7t mode? It looks difficult.

  “It's not that bad, I'm nearly invincible in this as long as I know the exact composition of whatever I'm dealing with, you see that tree there? It seems to be rare. I don't know its composition, so I need to steer around it. Some of these obstacles don't get fully deconstructed as they might have unique features that cause them to deviate enough from the norm to partially resist.”

  I still didn't get it. I'm glad that I was born a 6t because I would be screwed and super weak if I was born a 7t.

  The ride was comfortable. Noelle had made a crystal that created a relaxing sound, but it changed when we arrived and Greg was still unsealing the box.

  “Ugh, I will stay here as I feel that he will just piss me off more, can you go out and see what's going on? I will see what I can do about lil’ bro.”

  I got out and Greg was in a bad mood.

  How is it going?

  I had never considered ‘unsealing’ when I created these seals, as the intent was to seal deities. I'm having a difficult time unsealing Giana…

  How would Agnis react to this? You sealed his girlfriend away…

  I had no choice, I'm sure he'll understand.

  Greg continued messing with the edge box. I'm not sure if Agnis would understand. Noelle doesn't seem to understand, and I don't either. I wouldn't be happy if someone sealed my girlfriend away.

  Several stomps shook the area and Gregory sighed.

  It would be great if she could solve her problems without stomping. I'm trying to focus here… Can you tell her to keep it down?

  I didn't want to, but I had no better ideas. I just want everyone to get along. It started out so well and now everything turned into a mess.

  Yvonne sure has it hard dealing with Greg. Speaking of Yvonne…

  Hey, where is Yvonne?

  She woke up shortly after you 2 left and went to make sure that the issue with the village is resolved.

  I nodded and followed the stomping. How do I solve this? Can I solve this?

  The family approached me.

  “Is everything alright? You guys seem to be fighting.”

  We have been through worse! We will be fine!

  I said with fake confidence.

  What I said wasn't wrong, this just feels different. I feel more confident in escaping a god than solving this situation…

  I went through the unswampyfied swamp when the stomping suddenly stopped.

  Noelle appeared shortly after, carrying a passed out Agnis and Nilah. Ice crystals were growing on her, as Agnis seemed to be still quite cold. “Raishin, what do I do? He’s so cold and isn't warming up…”

  I wanted to tell her that this was normal, but Agnis was shivering. That's not normal!

  I got this!

  I blasted Agnis with a [Flare] but I forgot that Noelle was still holding him, and she got hit too.

  Oh sorry!

  “Don't mind it, I can take it, keep going.”

  I kept blasting Agnis with [Flares] but he didn't seem to warm up enough.

  “This is bad, we need Giana to check on him!” Noelle said as she headed toward Greg.

  Should I tell her that Greg has difficulties unsealing Giana and that we might need Agnis to unseal her?

  I couldn't decide, and we reached Greg before I could do anything.

  “Where is Yv? And why is Giana still sealed?!”

  It's impossible to focus when you continue creating tremors at every stomp!

  “And whose fault is it that she got sealed in the first place?!”

  They started to argue again and I sat down next to the unconscious Agnis.

  Is this how you feel every time I piss off Noelle? I can see how it becomes annoying. This isn't another prank, right?

  Agnis didn't respond. This didn't feel like an illusion to me. He wouldn't create an illusion to cause our team to fight like this…

  I continued to heat up Agnis, but it was going too slow.

  How does he always know what to do when we get in deep shit, but we never know what to do when he gets in deep shit.

  The only one who could help him is sealed in that [Edgebox] and the only one who can break Giana out is an unconscious ice cube…

  Yvonne returned to this mess. The family had decided to stay out of this, as we had stayed out of their family problems.

  “W…what's going on?!”

  She tried to calm Greg and Noelle but failed. She then noticed Agnis, gasped and hopped over to me.

  “W…we need Agnis to un…unseal Giana, i…is he ok?”

  I shook my head. I don't know what's going on with him. We need Giana to check on him…

  “Oh…” Yvonne sat down and realized the problem we were dealing with.

  Her aura changed and she sat Agnis up.

  “I will test if nature energy works. I might have to get a bit rough with it as I need to wake him up.”

  I backed off as Yvonne blasted nature energy at him. It seemed to work better than fire magic as it didn't feel cold anymore.

  “Agnis, wakey wakey! Giana needs you!”

  Agnis groaned but seemed still asleep. Give me 4 more hours…

  “This isn't the time to sleep!” Yvonne said as she started shaking him.

  Huh? What? Yv? Where is Giana? She didn't finish what she started!

  Agnis rubbed his eyes.

  “I’m interested in what you dreamed about, but the real Giana needs you!”

  Agnis face got red and fell over.

  Ouch.

  follow if the story is interesting enough.

  Ayaru Mistflower