Songs in the Void

ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo. 

About an hour after Tatsuo finished his experiment with [Enchanting], Sumire arrived in the lobby of his apartment building. And as soon as she did, she took out her smartphone and sent him a text, letting Tatsuo know that she had arrived. 

"And... Sent..." Sumire muttered as she put her smartphone away. "I hope he doesn't think I'm weird for running away like I did last time." 

After speaking to herself, Sumire took a deep breath. Then, surprising everyone else in the lobby, she slapped herself on her cheeks to pump herself up. 

"No, Tatsuo-Kun isn't like that." Sumire said . "All I have to do is apologize for my actions last time. Then, we'll be able to act like we normally do. No problem..." 

Reaching that point, Sumire nodded in approval at her own words. However, after a few seconds, an apprehensive expression appeared on her face. 

'But will I really be able to act like everything is normal?' Sumire asked herself internally. 'I mean, I did acknowledge that I've come to like him before I ran away to the Dungeon.' 

Before Sumire could think any further, the elevator opened. And as she expected, Tatsuo was standing inside. And he was smiling at her as if he did not mind what happened almost two weeks ago. 

"Sumire-San." Tatsuo said in a friendly tone. "Come on, let's head upstairs." 

Nodding her head, Sumire tightened the grip on her bad before she entered the elevator. Then, Tatsuo pressed the close door button. 

"So, did you wanna spar first?" Tatsuo asked. "Or do you wanna hang out for a while first?" 

"Let's spar first." Sumire replied, though she was unable to make eye contact as she did so. 

'Oh my God!' Sumire exclaimed. 'He's even better looking than before. Am I only thinking this way because I acknowledged my feelings?' 

Though Sumire's thoughts were partially correct, the fact that Tatsuo's [Charm] had been upgraded from B- to B had something to do with it as well. Of course, she would have no way of knowing that, though. 

Nodding in response to Sumire's reply, Tatsuo then punched in the code for the Dojo. Then, he pressed the button corresponding to the correct floor. After that, the two stood in silence as the elevator ascended. 

'Minami Violet Sumire, what are you doing?' Sumire asked herself internally. 'You said all you had to do was apologize, right? Then, why haven't you done it yet?' 

Once again having hyped herself up, as soon as the elevator doors opened on the second highest floor, Sumire turned towards Tatsuo with a resolute expression on her face. Naturally, this surprised Tatsuo slightly. Despite that, he looked into her eyes without averting his gaze even slightly. 

However, it surprised Tatsuo even more when Sumire bowed at the waist. 

"I'm sorry for the way I acted last time, Tatsuo-Kun." Sumire said in a solemn, yet apologetic, tone. "I… Even if I was embarrassed by what I said, I shouldn't have run away like that." 

Naturally, when Sumire ran away last time, Tatsuo knew she was embarrassed. Hell, he was embarrassed, too. So, he did not hold it against her. But to think she was feeling so guilty for it, Tatsuo never expected that. Still, after hearing her apology, he could not help but smile. 

"You know, it's really not that serious, Sumire-San." Tatsuo said casually. "In fact, your embarrassed face was really cute back then. So, I think I benefitted by quite a bit." 

As soon as Tatsuo's words left his mouth, both he and Sumire froze. While Sumire froze from embarrassment with a fierce blush coloring her cheeks, Tatsuo froze in surprise. 

'What the hell?' Tatsuo asked himself. 'Where the hell did that come from? I've never said anything like that to anyone before. But it came out so naturally just now.' 

Little did Tatsuo know, ever since his [Energy] was awakened and he started circulating it around his body, his draconic traits were awakening little by little. And although there have yet to be any physical changes, his mentality was slowly changing to match a dragon's. In other words, his pride, lust, and possessiveness have been increasing. 

'C-C-C-C-Cute!' Sumire exclaimed in her head. 'Did Tatsuo-Kun just call me cute? Hehehe! He did. Tatsuo-Kun thinks I'm cute.' 

"*cough* Anyway, you wanna get to sparring now?" Tatsuo asked in an awkward tone. "After that, I'll play a few songs for you and we can just chill and talk." 

"Okay!" Sumire replied in a more energetic tone than intended. 

With that, Tatsuo and Sumire spent a few hours training. Then, after getting cleaned up, they went up to Tatsuo's room, where Tatsuo played the piano for about an hour. After that, Sumire made dinner for the two and they had a nice chat over dinner. 

After that, time flew by quickly. And Tatsuo had a pretty fixed schedule for the next fifteen days. First thing in the morning, Tatsuo would get himself cleaned up. Then, he would enter the Dungeon and raid the Dark Ratman three times, with at least one of those raids being with Kang Shin. 

During the raids with Shin, Tatsuo and Shin had even started competing to see who would get the first place on the contribution list. And so far, the score was even. On top of that, they had both been smoothly obtaining [Thunder Crystals] and the pieces of the [Dark Ratman Set]. In fact, Tatsuo had already finished collecting the Floor Master Set, since he had already raided the Dark Ratman alone. 

Thanks to the competition with Shin during the Dark Ratman raids, many of Tatsuo's skills increased in level, which was a welcomed improvement. 

Then, after his three raids, he would head up to the 16th Floor to hunt lizardmen, the monsters he knew he would be facing all the way up to the 20th Floor. After that, he would continue experimenting with [Enchanting] until dinner time. If Sumire did not come over to spar and/or hang out, that is. 

Finally, after dinner, Tatsuo would focus on circulating his [Energy] increasing the amount of [Energy] in his reserves with every circulation. Not only that, but the strength of his body was also increasing little by little. 

However, today, things would change. 

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 15th Floor. 

Standing outside the Floor Master Room for his second Dark Ratman raid, Tatsuo chose to join a party. And just as he expected, he found the party that Shin created without issue. So, he naturally joined it. 

A moment later, after feeling as if he had been copied and pasted into another, identical, space, Tatsuo smiled when he looked at the three other people he appeared in front of. However, when his eyes fell on Shin, he froze momentarily. 

"Wow!" A female Explorer with a sword strapped to her waist exclaimed in excitement. "The Solitary Assassin joined our party, too!" 

Although not as excited as the female Explorer, the male Explorer standing next to her was also excited. Rather, he seemed to be relieved to see another famous Explorer had joined their small party. 

Shin, on the other hand, was confused by the expression on Tatsuo's face. A moment later, he realized that although Tatsuo was looking in his direction, he was not looking directly at him. 

So, after following Tatsuo's line of sight, Shin's line of sight landed on his new partner, a small girl, standing at less than 8" tall, floating over his shoulder with waist-length black hair that curled at its ends, snow-white skin, eyes that shone in a noble golden color, and a face like a porcelain doll wearing a delicate black, silk dress with matching silk gloves and holding a black folding fan. 

"Can he see Peika?" Shin whispered to himself. "But how is that possible?" 

That's right, the small girl Tatsuo was staring at was Peika, the Lightning Elemental Tatsuo saw in his Awakening dream. 

'I guess he finally Awakened.' Tatsuo thought to himself while holding eye contact with the Lightning Elemental, Peika. 'And the description in the novel was right. If she was a normal-sized girl, she would be a top-class beauty.' 

Meanwhile, the man and the woman who joined the party were looking on in confusion. Since they were unable to see Peika, they could not understand what Tatsuo was staring at. 

To clarify, only Elementalists and those with Elemental Eyes should be able to see Elementals. On top of that, even Elementalists can't see Elementals who they are not connected to clearly. 

The fact that Tatsuo could see Peika was a wonder that neither Tatsuo, Shin, or the two Explorers could understand. However, Peika, as an Ancient Elemental, could see through Tatsuo, to some extent. So, she understood exactly why he could see her. However, before she could speak about her understanding, she heard a voice in her head. 

["Little Lightning Dragon Elemental, now is not the time for him to know."] An authoritative female voice said in Peika's head. ["There for, you must keep this information to yourself. You are forbidden to even divulge it to your contractor. Understood?"] 

Though she did not know the origin of that voice, Peika felt compelled to obey. And that made perfect sense. Even though she was an Elemental, she was also a dragon. And the one who spoke to her, the Void Empress, was the absolute leader of all dragon species in this multiverse. 

'I understand.' Peika replied in her head. 

"Peika, I think he can see you." Shin said in a whisper quiet enough that only Peika could hear. 

"I think so, too, Master." Peika replied. "He must have Elemental Eyes. But I've never seen a human with Elemental Eyes before." 

Because Peika did not lower her voice when she spoke, Tatsuo naturally heard what she said. And the fact that he had Elemental Eyes, although he expected after experiencing his Awakening dream, he had no idea why would be possible. 

'Now I'm even more curious to know what this other bloodline I have is.' Tatsuo muttered internally. 'First, I get a [Racial Ability] like [Mana Reactor], and now there's Elemental Eyes. Plus, there's the [Ability] I can't even see in my [Status]. This is getting more and more confusing.' 

Meanwhile, as Tatsuo was lost in thought, Shin approached and patted him on his shoulder while whispering into his ear. 

"We can talk about it after the raid." Shin said quietly. "For now, let's just get the raid over with. This may be the last time we party together for a while, after all." 

Shin's whispers were enough to pull Tatsuo out of his thoughts. Then, he looked at Shin with a skeptical gaze while raising an eyebrow. 

"Are you trying to hide the fact that you're an Elementalist?" Tatsuo asked curiously in a similarly quiet tone. "'Cause if you're not, why are you whispering about this?" 

Hearing that, Shin wore an expression that showed he was taken aback. Then, he started scratching the back of his head sheepishly. 

"Actually, now that you mention it, I don't know why I'm whispering." Shin said in a slightly embarrassed tone. "Anyway, let's go kill the Dark Ratman. If I'm lucky, I'll get the last piece of the set I need. Then, I can challenge him solo." 

While the man and the woman looked at Shin with admiration and fear after hearing that he would challenge the Dark Ratman alone, Tatsuo looked at him smugly. And that look made Shin feel a bit uncomfortable. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Shin asked. 

"Because I've already soloed the Dark Ratman." Tatsuo said in a tone filled with pride. "So, in this regard, I've surpassed you, Kang-San. In fact, the first raid I did was solo. I did that with the Orc Lord and the Wraith Queen, too. And I won both times." 

Hearing that, at first, Shin was stupefied. A moment later, however, his competitive nature took over. Then, he vowed to challenge each Floor Master solo before starting his grind. Just like Tatsuo, he was proud of the strength he cultivated with years of training. So, he refused to let anyone surpass him. At the same time, he also vowed to not bite off more than he could chew. He could never let his pride affect his judgement, after all. 

With that, all the small talk before the raid came to an end. Then, with Shin in the lead, the group of four entered the Floor Master Room. And with Shin's Elemental, Peika taking care of keeping the Dark Ratman occupied by shooting bolts of lightning, the raid ended even faster than usual. 

Because although the Dark Ratman used lightning in his ultimate attack, he was in no way immune to the element, unlike Peika, who, as an Elemental, was completely immune to her attribute. She even absorbed the majority of the [Dark Thunder Explosion] and used it to empower herself. 

"Good." Shin said with a smile after the raid ended. "I got the first place this time. Even better, the piece of the [Dark Ratman Set] I needed finally dropped." 

"Of course you got the first place." Tatsuo said while pouting visibly. "There are basically two of you working as one." 

"Oh, come on, don't be a sore loser." Shin said with a smile. "Peika is part of my power. So, it's not like I'm cheating or anything." 

"Yeah, whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night." Tatsuo grumbled. 

Seeing Tatsuo's displeased expression, Peika, who had been floating next to Shin, floated over to Tatsuo. Then, using her little hand, she started patting him on the head. 

Naturally, these actions dumbfounded both Tatsuo and Shin. However, what Peika said next raised their level of confusion to a whole new level. 

"I'm sorry I made your competition with Master seem unfair." Peika said in a gentle tone. "But I promise that was not my intention. Like master said, I'm a part of his power, so it couldn't be helped." 

"Huh?" x 2 

Both Tatsuo and Shin exclaimed in confusion upon seeing and hearing Peika consoling Tatsuo. While Tatsuo was confused because Peika never showed such consideration to anyone other than Shin in the novel, Shin was confused because he did not know Peika all that well yet. 

"Oh… Um… Don't worry about it." Tatsuo said while looking away awkwardly. "I don't' really blame you. I was just venting because I lost. Sorry if it seemed that way, though.." 

Tatsuo then raised his right hand and rubbed the top of Peika's head with his index finger as he continued. 

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, though." Tatsuo said with gentle smile. 

In response, Peika smiled brightly. She did not even try to brush away Tatsuo's finger, something she did every time Shin tried to rub her head with his finger. 

That reaction made Shin gawk in surprise. He even felt a little jealous at the difference in treatment. Peika was supposed to be his Elemental, wasn't she? 

Finally, after Tatsuo lowered his hand, Peika patted his head once more before she returned to Shin's side, who was looking at her questioningly. Yet Peika only smiled, as she knew a little something about Tatsuo's true identity. 

Meanwhile, the man and woman in the party looked on in confusion. Especially since it seemed like Tatsuo was talking to someone. Yet, there was no one there. 

"Wait! I think I get it." The woman shouted in an excited tone. Then, she turned her gaze towards Shin. "Crowned Prince must be an Elementalist. I mean, the lightning that seemed to come from nowhere, and the strange conversation make sense if you connect the two together." 

Hearing that, the man also wore an enlightened expression. 

"Yeah, that makes perfect sense." The man said while swinging his right fist down on his left palm. "But this is the first time I've ever heard of the Crowned Prince being an Elementalist." 

"He probably didn't feel that he needed to use those powers." The woman replied. "I mean, you've heard how strong he is before, right? He probably only started using them because he was competing with the Solitary Assassin in who could get first place in contribution. And to cement his victory, he pulled out the big guns." 

"Ah! That makes perfect sense." The man said while nodding his head vigorously. Then, he looked towards Tatsuo and asked another question. "Does that mean the Solitary Assassin is an Elementalist, too? I mean, only Elementalists can see Elementals, right?" 

Meanwhile, Tatsuo and Shin could only watch the two-man show those two were putting on with awkward expressions on their faces. Then, they exchanged glances and nodded at each other. After that, they picked their rewards, the [Dark Ratman's Boots] for Shin and a [Thunder Crystal] for Tatsuo, before leaving the party. 

As soon as both left the party, both Tatsuo and Shin went to the 15th Floor Shop. Then, Shin invited Tatsuo to join his party again so they could talk, just like Shin suggested before the rid. And Tatsuo naturally accepted the invitation.