Asher and Samantha waited until Brian was asleep, tucked up within a bedroll out under the high up canopies before sneaking away. They didn't have to go too far to prevent him from hearing their conversation thanks to his Spatial Lock, and after making sure sound wouldn't escape the barrier, Asher quickly explained everything that had happened since they'd last spoken. It took him a good while, but Samantha waited patiently until he'd finished before chiming in.

"I think hiding in the forest for now was a good call," she nodded, squeezing his hand reassuringly and giving him a small smile. "And I feel a lot safer with these bracelets. I appreciate you thinking of us when you looted the Assassin's Guild hideout."

"Of course," Asher snorted, wondering if those words had ever been spoken in that order before.

At first, he'd been concerned that the Awareness skill granted by the bracelets would make having regular conversations difficult, as Asher didn't need a sixth sense telling him he was being observed when he was staring right at someone. But it seemed the skill was intelligent enough to factor in things like that. Once he discovered and actively acknowledged who it was that was watching him, their presence faded from his mind.

It was strangely similar to Eternal Mark in that regard, and Asher figured he'd probably have an easier time growing used to the bracelets than Samantha or Brian would because of it.

"So, what's the plan?" Samantha asked, raising an eyebrow as she fished for details. "Wait for that junior assassin to bring her superior's corpse back to headquarters and jump Eight when he shows up?"

"Unfortunately, she doesn't know where headquarters is," Asher admitted. "I'm hoping another cell leader will show up to bring Eight the corpse. Though for all I know they might have some way of detecting my Eternal Mark, in which case that plan's a bust. Right now, I think Jennifer is still hiding out inside that bunker of theirs. At the very least, she hasn't left the building."

"Or maybe Eight will assume you've marked the corpse somehow and try to use it to lure you into a trap," Samantha ventured, plucking at her bowstring as she thought. "I don't know, Asher, after hearing how close your battle was against the wolf-man, I'm not sure if I like the thought of you going up against the big boss so soon."

"It's that or let you guys live in a forest for the next few months," he shrugged. "I mean, as much fun as I think Brian would find the idea right now, I bet he'd get rather tired of all the trees after a while."

"I'll be impressed if he lasts the week," Samantha giggled. "He loves archery, that much is obvious. But I'm pretty certain he's not nearly as big a fan of the forest as I am. I don't think he even realized it himself until we spent those couple of days trekking back from the wizard's tower."

"Maybe this 'training camp' will help him realize what his true calling is," Asher said, thinking out loud.

It was crazy to him that a person's origin element was gifted to the citizens of this world as young as sixteen. He certainly hadn't had any idea what he wanted to do with his life at that age, and while a person didn't necessarily have to follow their origin element, it obviously had a huge impact on the rest of their lives.

For example, perhaps Jennifer would have been a markedly harder assassin to defeat if she hadn't been carrying around the Wheat element of all things.

The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder for a few minutes, just enjoying the other's company. Not for the first time, Asher wondered what his new life would have turned out like in this world if he hadn't stumbled upon Samantha and Brian inside that wizard tower, and he reached an arm around her, pulling her closer.

"I know I've said this before… But thanks for being so understanding. It means the world to me that I have you guys by my side. I honestly don't know what I'd do without the two of you."

"You'd probably get captured by truthseekers doing something stupid like trying to challenge the High Prince to a one-on-one duel," Samantha giggled, leaning into his chest and letting out a satisfied sigh. "You know, my dad always told me I'd learn just as much about myself when I finally got into a relationship with someone as I would about them. I never knew what he meant, but I think I'm starting to understand."

"Oh?" Asher asked, poking her in the cheek as he grinned down at her. "What deep secrets are you uncovering thanks to me?"

"For one, I am far more relaxed and understanding than I ever would have expected," she smirked, reaching up to return the poke on his own cheek. "I always considered myself rather high-strung, but I guess that was more so just because of all the pressure I was under due to Trellis' loan."

"Samantha, you risked losing your entire house at the end of every month if you didn't work hard enough. For eight years," Asher drawled. "I think that would make anyone turn a bit 'high-strung.'"

"It's still hard to believe that's all actually behind me," Samantha muttered, snuggling even further into him. "Now I can start saving up shards to help Brian unlock his skills when he finally comes of age and gets his origin element. Maybe even do a little work on the house and repair some of the older portions."

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"Don't forget about saving up to unlock the rest of your own skills," Asher frowned, gently squeezing her. "Not to mention evolving your capped-out skills to the second tier. If you're going to continue to refuse to take my shards, at the very least you have to save up some of your own."

"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled into his chest, twisting her body around to wrap her arms around him. "You know if you're still offering… maybe I will take just a few more shards. I mean if a master assassin is coming after us after all…"

Before the words were even out of her mouth Asher had summoned a small glowing sphere of 20,000 shards, causing Samantha to blink as he pushed it against her forehead.

"Take them before you change your mind," he chuckled, happy she was finally letting him help her.

"Fine," she grumbled, grabbing the sphere and absorbing it into her body. Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she focused on her interface, and then she frowned.

"What?" Asher asked, his heart dropping at her uncertain expression. "Bad skill?"

"Not bad, just… I don't know, weird?"

"Well come on, what is it?" he asked, unable to stop himself from laughing at her expression. "You look like you just swallowed a bug or something!"

"...Wet Warrior. My new skill is called Wet Warrior." She stared up at him, as if daring him to make a single sound. Asher briefly thought about cracking a joke, but he could tell she was truly a bit put off about her new skill.

Unlocking a new skill was like discovering a new limb you hadn't known you had up until you spent the shards. Not only was it all of a sudden a part of you, but one's skills could come to define a person. The last thing he wanted was for Samantha to feel unhappy with a part of herself, so rather than laugh at her, he stifled his smile and pulled her closer.

"It sounds strange, but I think it's actually a pretty useful skill based on what I can remember from all my research," he admitted, pulling up the Big Book of Elements: Volume Six in his mind with Incorporate. Thinking quickly, he activated his tier-two aspect of Comprehend, slowing down time for the rest of the world as he mentally sifted through the book for the passage he'd recalled reading. Thankfully, he managed to find it after only a handful of seconds of speed reading while Samantha was frozen, and when he let the world return to normal speed, he was ready. "Wet Warrior falls under the blanket of 'elemental enhancement' skills, not to be confused with 'elemental body' skills. Elemental enhancement skills drastically increase certain aspects of a person so long as they're in contact with their element. For example, Hot Tempered is a semi-common elemental enhancement skill for Fire element holders, and it increases a person's strength so long as they are near a source of heat. What does your new skill say it enhances?"

Samantha was silent for a moment as she reread her skill, her voice sounding a bit less embarrassed and a bit more excited after his explanation. "It sounds like so long as my skin is wet, the skill will grant me a passive speed boost."

"That's not bad at all!" Asher grinned, happy to hear she'd gotten such a useful skill. "As a hunter, you probably know better than anyone just how important moving quickly is."

"Yeah," she grumbled, snuggling back against him and taking a deep breath. "Thanks, Asher. For the shards, and for making me feel better. I know getting embarrassed about the name of a skill is childlike, but come on, Wet Warrior?"

Making a mental note to see if he could find any records of famous Water element users that possessed the skill the next time he was in Whikoga's library, Asher simply smiled, running his fingers through her hair and feeling her sigh happily against him.

The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes, and Asher busied himself with playing with her hair as he watched the fireflies drifting by overhead. While they reminded him of home, the glowing insects were a little different than they were back on Earth. Not only did they glow a continuous, gentle green rather than bright, flashing yellow, they appeared to be blind based on how frequently he watched them drift into trees or each other before bouncing off and continuing on in a different direction.

Asher felt a subtle tugging in the back of his mind, and he chuckled as he realized it was his enchanted bracelet warning him that Samantha was watching him without trying to make it obvious. It seemed the bracelets reset the acknowledgement of who they were speaking with after enough time had passed.

"What is it?" he asked, catching her off guard with his question.

"Damn bracelets," she muttered, frowning at her own. "What a weird sensation. I felt you glance at me, but I didn't understand what the sensation meant before you spoke."

"It will probably take you some time to get used to the feeling, but you'll get there," Asher reassured her. "I think I might have gotten a head start because it feels a little similar to Eternal Mark. Now what's up?"

"What, I'm not allowed to look at my boyfriend?" she teased, looking up at him with a challenge in her eyes.

"I didn't say that," Asher laughed, leaning down and planting a kiss on the tip of her nose. "But if you do you have to be ready to suffer the consequences."

"I don't know if you've heard, but I'm pretty tough," Samantha giggled, grabbing his head and pulling his lips down to meet hers.

Asher felt the tension bleed out of his muscles, and he enjoyed the warmth of Samantha's soft lips against his own as the hunter wrapped her arms around the back of his head, hungrily pulling him against her. When the two of them finally came gasping up for air, her face was flushed, and she gave him a coy look.

"You said this barrier of yours can block all sound, right?"

"I think it would probably be best to test it. Just to be safe," he grinned.

"That makes sense," she purred, reaching down and grabbing the bottom of his shirt before shimmying it up over his head and throwing it over a nearby branch. Running her fingers along his bare chest, her touch sent a shiver of anticipation down his spine as she leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

"Let's get in some late night skill practice, shall we?"

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