While Lili and Tesilim were spending their date day together, two other friends were also spending time together.

  Rose began her day with her usual routine of getting up and struggling with her hair before getting a simple but hearty breakfast. Then, after breakfast, she helped around the temple with some basic cleaning and running a few errands for the higher-ups. After her errands, she met up with a few other initiates who were sent to Wildwood with her. As they often did, the small group gathered and began working on their armor while telling stories about their outings. Naturally, Rose had to hide a few of the many things she had done, mainly involving Tesilim and Jasmine, but for the most part, her stories were kept to how they happened.

  “So, Drex was able to deal a lot of damage with the acid, and that’s basically what brought the thinman down, though, of course, Lili helped a lot.”

  “Wow! That’s some crazy stuff! Working with the guard, we get some action, but it's usually safer,” One of her fellow associates commented. She was a fellow human with dark hair and a pretty face.

  “Yeah, even we haven’t fought anything that high rank, heck, we are keeping to the immediate area of the city. You guys are crazy!” Another of her friends said he was bald at a very young age and had joined the Adventurers Guild with another initiate currently out in the city.

  “Huh, I guess that’s true, maybe that’s why I am making such good progress to High D Rank,” Rose stated, still surprised she had advanced so much.

  “Good for you, but just be careful. I myself would rather keep things slow and steady,” The dark-haired girl said with concern, and Rose smiled reassuringly.

  Finishing their story and gear maintenance time, Rose decided to finally head to Jasmine's place around noon. She threw on some clean shorts with a few pockets on them, along with a dagger-strapped belt and a small pouch of coins. Finally, she put on a tan shirt that matched her shorts and left the temple.

  After waking up and making herself a simple breakfast, Jasmine spent most of the morning meditating. Her goal was to have a better state of mind and not lose herself while healing, like she had done in the cave. Luckily, with her brother's help, she made some good progress. This progress came mainly from using her Presence, which helped her focus on two senses at a time. Not only did she have to see with her eyes and hear with her ears and so on, but her Presence and the sensing that went with it added an extra layer to everything. Using this increase in senses allowed her to train her mind better, so she didn't fully focus on healing and kept some of herself aware of her surroundings.

  Their training ended at noon, not only because her belly was rumbling, but because someone was at the door. Answering the door, Jasmine found her best friend smiling at her, but Jasmine’s brain did not function properly. Instead, she stared at the redhead, taking in her beauty—gorgeous blue eyes, the beautiful fair skin, and striking crimson hair. Jasmine’s eyes lingered on her friend's thighs and other assets, at least until Rose coughed.

  “If you keep staring like that, I'm going to blush,” The redhead said, already partially blushing.

  “Sorry! I-I didn’t mean to, I don’t know why… Just come in,” Jasmine answered, her face no doubt flushing red. She didn’t know what had taken her over, but ever since she came to the city, she had been noticing other ladies more. And Arelion swore it wasn’t his influence.

  Heading inside, Rose made herself comfortable as thoughts swirled in her head. The way Jasmine had stared at her gave her a tingling sensation in her stomach. What was happening? Did she actually like Jasmine like that? No, they were best friends, and she was a girl, not that that was a bad thing. Of course, then she found herself staring at her friend as the twin finally closed the door, having stayed there for longer than was needed.

  Rose found that Jasmine was pretty —well, she had always been pretty—but now Rose was noticing it in a way that was more than a simple friendly compliment. Anyways, Rose forced herself to look away after their gazes met.

  It took a few minutes of awkward silence after Jasmine sat across from Rose before they finally broke the ice when Jasmine’s belly rumbled.

  “You hungry? Wanna go grab a bite to eat?” Rose said, giving her a teasing smile.

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  “Yeah, let me change,” Jasmine answered quietly, still feeling rather embarrassed.

  Jasmine had been wearing comfortable, silky silver sleeping clothes, and her hair was messy. On her return, however, her hair had been done in her usual ponytail, and she had on a beautiful light blue flowing skirt with a blouse that showed off her assets a little less than Rose’s own shirt, but still enough for Rose to appreciate it. Though again, Rose forced her mind away from such things, and both friends awkwardly left the house.

  Thankfully, their awkwardness did not last long. There were plenty of things to talk about in the city, and even more so once they made it to the restaurant. They wanted to spend the day together and simply have some fun, so they made plans as they ate some delicious food.

  Following their plans, the two friends spent the day visiting various clothing shops throughout the city. The idea was to reconnect and do some girly things, including getting their hair and nails done. Of course, they naturally took these opportunities to ask what the other had come to like and, more importantly, pick some clothing for each other. Specifically, the clothes picking was meant for later that night, when the two decided to go out again and see another play.

  One thing they didn't do while they were out in the city was discuss any topics that might bring them back to their earlier awkward stage. No talks about boys, girls, or their looks; they were both somewhat aware of what their stares meant, but neither was sure if they wanted that relationship. They weren’t even sure how something like that would begin between them, considering their past, future, and present. So, for the time being, it was best they just kept being friends—good friends, even best friends—but just friends.

  Finally, the two split late in the afternoon, knowing they had to prepare for their friendly date later.

  The two friends met up once again early in the night, when Rose picked up Jasmine via carriage. After all, the dresses they had picked for each other were not the best for a walk through the city. That being said, they had each picked their dress for a reason, which caused another moment of awkwardness when they saw each other again at Jasmine’s door. So, this meant they spent their ride to the theater avoiding each other’s gazes.

  Both dresses were tight, long, and silky-looking, highlighting the other's curves and generally making them look incredible. The only real difference was that Rose’s dress was crimson to match her hair, while Jasmine's was a beautiful sparkling silver. At the time of their purchases, they had each known what was bound to happen when they met wearing their chosen dresses, but at the same time, it was a daring and exciting affair to tiptoe around a tense subject.

  Thankfully, their awkward silence was broken once again when they arrived at the play. This particular play was new to both of them, and one they were bound to enjoy. It was a play about a romance between a fey lord and a human enchantress kept apart by a war-torn world.

  “You know, it's nice that the play has him conquering the world so they can be together, but that better not happen in real life,” Rose said, referencing the play's ending.

  “Yeah, some things are better kept to plays. However, I have to admit having someone conquer the world for you is pretty romantic,” Jasmine answered.

  “I guess so, yeah. They are literally giving you the world,” Rose added.

  The two friends continued their chat as they rode another carriage until finally, they arrived at Jasmine's treehouse.

  “Alright, have a good night, I will see you soon,” Rose said, going in for a tight hug.

  “Don’t worry, I will be back before you know it, just try and be nice to my brother,” Jasmine replied, returning the hug while trying to pacify Rose, knowing that tonight at midnight, she would be gone for a few days.

  “I will try,” Rose replied as they pulled away.

  It was time for Alyx to take a break. A break that would last one to two days, probably two days. He wouldn't think about research or worry about too many things for at least two days while on his break. What he would do was make a lot of love to a beautiful lady he met a while back. They had met while he had been exploring the city, and she was just his type.

  See, Alyx liked tall women, very tall women. It was a trait he probably got from his dad. Of course, something that he liked more than tall women was women who were not in it for his family and money. And he had met Allyer or Ally, as he now called her, when he was exploring under a different name. Thus, he knew that she liked him for who he was, not for anything else. She now knew about him, but that hadn’t changed things. After all, she was a good one, even more so for liking shorter guys. Either way, they were now something—not a couple just yet, but still exclusive—which she also liked because it meant they could keep things fun and casual.

  Anyways, Alyx had sent a message telling her he would be visiting soon. In fact, arriving at her seaside shop, Alyx found it closed. Of course, he had a key and quickly headed inside, finding her in the back, where her room was.

  Allyer was seven feet tall, which, to Alyx’s delight, let her tower over his four-foot-four-inch frame. She had perfect light-blue skin as a sea elf, along with dark blue hair and blue-green eyes. Of course, she was also gorgeous, with a frame that made his mouth water. She was wearing see-through lingerie, exposing her two big friends to him, and giving him a beautiful bottom-up view of her lower body.

  Noticing him staring, she began to pose for him, and Alyx happily enjoyed the show as his magical door came into existence, both passing through soon after.