22:32 UTC, December 13th, 2044 CE | New Boston / Top of the Eiffel Tower

  “Hey Ko, do you ever wonder why?” Ray asks. Her legs are dangling over the edge of the tower. The city of New Boston is visible below us, brightly lit even in the night.

  “Why what?” I ask, taking a seat next to Ray and dangling my legs. It is quite a weird feeling to know that about three hundred meters of open air separates you from the ground. Only a thin bar is stopping us from plummeting under the forces of gravity.

  “Why do we exist, of course.” She boops me on the nose. “What else would I be asking?”

  “Can’t say I've ever really cared. Like, does it really matter? We are alive and can do things. Thus we do them.”

  “You are such a nerd.” She says, looking over at me with those nice blue eyes of hers.

  “Don’t try to act like you're not one too. I see how you try to hide it.” I quip back.

  She jumps up to her feet. “I am not a nerd! I am a very dignified young lady, you know. *burp*” Her face lights up a bright red, easily visible in the light.

  “Ah yes, a ‘very dignified young lady’ indeed.” I say, moving my head to dodge the punch that quickly follows.

  “You are no fun.” She sits back down and brushes against my shoulder a bit. “Why won’t you like, seriously think about it?”

  “Hmm, I am being serious. Though if I were to think about it unseriously. Maybe there is some little goddess that acts like a spoiled child. We must all be a nice bit of entertainment for her, as she wanders the universe lonely.”

  “Woah, that's too silly. Perhaps reign it in a bit there.” She lets out a light laugh.

  “Well, what do you think the meaning of life is?”

  “Hmm, maybe it's to drink lots and lots of booze.”

  “Hey! You can't do that, you are underage.” I say, matter-of-factly.

  “Well of course, I would never get drunk. But it's weird, all through history people seem to love drowning their sorrows in alcohol. If it is not alcohol then it's some other substance.” Her voice seems to get a bit sadder, “Maybe the real purpose of life is to find different ways to tune it all out and find some modicum of happiness in this world.”

  “Hmm, that isn't a bad theory. It does have merit.” I say, then I gently grab her hand. She holds my hand back and gives it a gentle squeeze. It is reassuring to know that she is here, alongside me. I have no clue what I would be without her.

  We spend a while like that. Our feet dangle over the city as it goes about its nightly activities. We get scared a few times when drones rush past us, carrying who knows what.

  But it is nice and relaxing to have Ray by my side.

  I wouldn't know what to do if she ever left me. But, that simply can never be the case. I won't allow it to be. Even if she runs somewhere far away, I’ll hop in a spaceship and chase after her. To the stars, and even beyond.

  10:00 AT, Day Thirty Eight | Arce Lunae

  I open my eyes to find a very cute Ray snuggled up against my side. The early morning light is really doing wonders, it makes her look like a divine being – which she might as well be.

  Unfortunately, that is not all that I see. The notification I set to remind me of our important meeting today is nice and large in my vision. It went off about two hours ago. Oh well, we wouldn't be the Moonlight Duo unless we showed up far too late to meetings.

  I gently nudge Ray, which only causes her to mumble something and cling even more. It seems I have my work cut out for me. I slowly run my fingers through her hair, in a steady pattern. Reveling in the perfect softness, it is like running my hands through the cloud, my favourite sensation ever.

  Now that I think about it, all of my favourite sensations revolve around Ray. Whether it's me running my hands through her hair, or vice versa. Her wonderful laughter and voice. Or the beautiful sight of her just after combat, that bit of violence still glowing in her eyes. Oh, and don't forget the wonderful little punches she is always doing, or when she calls me a jerk or when she blushes profusely, those are super cute too.

  It seems that I have fallen so deeply in love that I cannot think of liking anything else but her. Even my appreciation of waffles and pancakes originates entirely with her, as she was the first one to ever ask me to make some.

  We stride into the meeting room a bit later. “Three hours late, not bad at all.” I say to Ray.

  “Is that a new record? I feel like it's usually closer to four hours.” She smirks at our massive accomplishment.

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  In the room, people are just beginning to sit down. Emil welcomes us, “Milords, you are just in time, the meeting is just starting.”

  “Wait,” Ray exclaims, "wasn't it scheduled to start three hours ago?”

  “Oh, well we gave you two a time three hours earlier, so that we could start on time.” Emil says, a smirk spreading across his face. One of the commanders laughs and many others are obviously restraining themselves.

  Ray turns to me and grabs me, shaking a bit. “Ko! This is horrible, we are actually on time! Our reputation will be ruined.”

  I hold her and pat her on the head, “Well, we still showed up three hours after the time we were given. So I think our reputation remains firmly intact.”

  She looks up at me, a few tears in her eyes. I run my thumb under her eyes and wipe away the tears. “Really? We are still worthless leaders after all?”

  “Yep, now let's get on with this meeting, shall we?” She acquiesces and drags me over to our chair, firmly planting me in her lap. She wraps me up tightly in her arms, not allowing my escape – not that I have any reason to try escaping.

  “Well then, let's get on with it.” Emil says, and then turns on a projector in the center of the table. On it is a map of the entire arena, rendered in high detail.

  “As it stands, Luna controls the Snowy Forest, Jungle and Desert biomes. However we have good reason to believe that they have advanced cloaking abilities and may be lurking in other places.” Emil says. “As it stands, we currently have about 13,000 combat-capable soldiers. With around 17,000 logistics and other personnel.”

  Linda takes over, “Our production schedules are returning to normal after the snowstorm. We have also started to massively increase facility construction, to utilize the new resources flowing in. However, it will still be about three days until we are at full production. We are also in need of about twenty thousand more personnel should we wish to increase production to our theoretical maximum.”

  “So,” Ray says, “we need to roll a lot more gacha, don’t we?”

  “That would be the case, darling.” I answer, resting snugly in her arms.

  “Indeed,” says a tall red-headed man, I believe he is in some way responsible for the financial side of the operation. “We are currently pulling in quite a lot of trophies from our dedicated hunting parties. If we divert all of our resources into manpower acquisition and assuming the vessels can be accounted for by production. We should be able to gain about five thousand new beings per day.”

  So, our production and such are starting to get back to normal. But our supplies and manpower are significantly limiting our ability to expand said production. I don’t think the game was balanced around having two thirds of all the zones with one faction, so this makes sense. We must just be playing a lot differently than the game masters intended.

  “Okay then, production and other things aside, what else is going on?” I ask.

  A shorter woman with brown hair chimes in this time. “Well the ice festival was a massive success. Soldier morale is at an all time high, which is astounding considering how high it already was. I think that if our lords here ordered the troops to march into an active volcano, they would do it without second thought.”

  “On that note, our military reorganization project has been coming along quite nicely.” Rigar states. “We have now actually established our forces into several groups. Namely; Infantry, Cavalry, Aerial, Artillery, Support and special operations. Our efficiency has soared to new levels as we are no longer pushing people every which way. To think the system that we were using before even functioned, it was a miracle.”

  Rigar does make a good point. The previous organization of our army was shoddy to say the least. Especially since at the start we had to slowly cobble together functionality a few dozen or hundred at a time. Now that we are starting to think in thousands, we can dedicate a few people to training new recruits to the ways of the arena. Plus we can actually start to specialize, especially when we have a bunch of soldiers with the top tier equipment that can really become figureheads.

  I believe the commander of the aerial corps is known as Vaelan, The Sky Smiter. Apparently they really like to shoot down bolts of lightning from a fancy gun they found. I hear that beasts stand no chance, and they have even slain several dragons by themselves – which is not an easy feat with the upgraded ones. So yeah, a real beast of a soldier. I am definitely glad that we have all these strong people on our side, and not the enemies’.

  With that, the meeting wraps up. So naturally Ray drags me away (literally). Today, she decides that she wants to get in a little bit of combat practice.

  I narrowly dodge as Ray’s blade comes right for my neck. She really doesn't hold back her strikes, and they always feel so nice when they do connect.

  I leap into the air and use the momentum from falling to land a glancing blow on her shoulder. Unfortunately, the thrill of combat only serves to make her even faster, and she seems to nearly double in speed.

  Her blade flashes and digs into my side before I can even react. Then she throws me against the wall – which doesn't crack because of the specially reinforced training room. But that just means that all of the force flows back into my body. My kit says that I broke three ribs and bruised my kidneys.

  The painkillers and healing agents flow through my body and I quickly rise back to my feet, just in time to block Ray’s next strike.

  I take the opportunity to draw my pistol and shoot her in the side. She yelps a bit but only renews her attack. This girl is completely and utterly insane.

  Good thing I am also a completely and utterly insane person. A match made possible only amongst the stars.

  I drop to the floor and sweep her legs out from underneath her. I then immediately pounce and manage to knock her blades away and secure a pin.

  I stare into her eyes, which are now conveniently located just in front of my own. Ray’s beautiful hair is splayed out underneath her. Her mouth is awfully close, at the perfect kissing distance.

  She leans in and kisses me deeply. Then, before I can enjoy it, she flips me over and pins me to the ground. Then brings her blade to my throat. “Gotcha, darling.”

  “Ah darn, you got me, again. Though I am pretty sure I've been firmly in your clutches for quite a long time.”

  “Yep, ever since that day all those years go. My claws haven't left you even a single time. You even tried to disappear, only to end up right back in my arms. Isn't that romantic?”

  “It sure is.” I lean up and give her a kiss, a nice long one.

  I am sure that whatever comes next, we will overcome it together. After all, we are the Moonlight Duo. Our earrings signify that eternal hold that we have on each other. It wouldn't be eternal if we didn't last together forever, now would it?

  So, bring it on.

  End of Chapter 131

  Next: Chapter 132 | Icebreaking

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