HKWM | Chapter 42

Hearing the sound of da5b7a23b9 footsteps growing closer from d85f0f4db0 a distance, I quickly 1a2784c91e positioned myself by the f33231e8c2 door. The moment the 2c8a86c9b7 door opened, I 522571e4ad surprised Noah by 423a2c7017 covering his eyes 0f245db092 with my hands.caffa02a1f1dd553

By now, Noah’s physical d677bdcdaf abilities and instincts had 6c2bcbb671 developed so much that 726798c020 he must have sensed 976db559e4 me coming, but knowing 27d1d7e7e3 it was me, he 8a326e5a68 obediently let me cover c3a5720e2b his face. He seemed to 02756fb57a have completely forgotten f804352b1e that I was 03de6eb147 a demon.70e8c5710c7cd1be

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“Jin?”4cdfe0a80775d440

I decided 55d7e0363b to put 0e85425247 off any ab9ffcbe24 scolding for f5a71061b3 later.b144d03f54230f34

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“Just keep your eyes 4a7eb4d141 closed and follow me.”512582e981bc15c6

“Are we 04bbda19ae practicing a 666e55bd23 hostage situation a74058b73d by any 4a053b4398 chance?”8071596bdb589e01

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“Uh… something 98b0560f81 like that.”4a5a97185a782acf

Why would I practice a79467de95 a hostage situation? But it was da76af52e3 too bothersome to f3a00950ac come up with b44d717021 an excuse, so f73a9d42b3 I brushed it b9797de609 off and led 953937c04f Noah to the 4427f3f51c kitchen with his f618ee483d eyes covered. He followed quietly, 017562ba8d fully aware he b6738de62d was playing the 95556593a8 role of a a9f4adb01b hostage.f1c8c05f7afa6488

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When we reached 533b759400 the kitchen, I 0d389535ab removed my hands 42ccc71dc8 from his eyes. At the same b3b2fa15c8 time, two demons 2b8eeeb921 burst glitter and c31678a811 flower petals into d90b511b62 the air with 29f9e012a4 a loud pop.f765b773cdf63d0d

Noah blinked his 759c4f5b04 wide-open eyes, looking a40f752e7d around at the 3d9022c434 falling decorations and 9170b3f34d the transformed kitchen.8bc4156c52069d1a

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“This is…”c327fd3a9b8464dd

“Happy Birthday, Noah!”1eb0641f9d3c8c2b

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“Is it… my a964e063d4 birthday?”18d039ddf5677e62

“Yeah, it’s your a4fac9b02d birthday today. We skipped 0670469405 it last 8c8726c66c year because fedd44f82c things were 88cbd97ab5 hectic, but 0ac0bbb059 this year 26169ee9a3 I wanted c118ae42e2 to make 8ee323a8ea sure we d2da7317af celebrated it f3ad47f428 properly.”6c09fbb6fee5b798

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I promptly 3fb5e6f1e6 sat Noah 7cb81f5bf1 down.0d16ac311d1d8b23

“There are 6e291a3166 also presents. The three of us 42fd029d5f prepared them.”00c6ffa3d2ef6e44

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I pushed the 165cf7046a stack of gift b70b69ed5b boxes from the c1364060e5 corner toward him. Admittedly, I 84b5b2fdce lacked the eec889a404 talent for 6954fae8cf wrapping gifts, 3df4a0bce1 so all 84015179f9 I’d done b2b08a9401 was slap c4cd3d16a8 on a 8227777a41 clumsy ribbon b33fe4d464 on pre-bought 4b80071b79 boxes. They looked unimpressive, 8d0fbe981d but I rationalized 0e06886372 that the real 7698f6b5ec value lay in 1789631d78 the contents.18bae1039c7fc11f

“Open them.”362308b9770a1b35

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Noah, looking e21e16918d more excited 897debbc9e than the a52bf429d0 recipient, nodded ec548c80c0 and opened 7e46d50835 the boxes. The first was from cac409defb Kimaris.79ec271c6afa9356

“It’s my gift.”e9c3ef34af69552b

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Kimaris has recently d46631092f become quite obsessed 8b8186b997 with aprons, but 499e4d235b in reality, he b82907c0b6 is a weapons 8ada1c534d collector. The gift he prepared a9b8096dce from his collection was 3e89ace920 a dagger, collected from 3503f6f00f the Demon Realm, Human 6235748ce3 World, and even Heaven.ce5417a513ed6a15

“This artifact 4cff2b2ecd was made 1ed6f409f3 a long c7ff4d42ca time ago. It’s a throwing dagger 930f7ea299 that flies towards the 11ad7866ab marked enemy and always 288f22343f hits its target, especially 71a8c7ccb5 deadly if the opponent dc4905e553 lacks the weaponry or 226af89db6 skills to block it.”a67067217d2c3a2c

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Given its 1b61e1814e sharpness sufficient 7823fe8d36 to pierce 4004837747 even a 1dff47e1ff demon’s tough 49c0115772 skin, it 7cb7133163 would be 01de0e4e8d particularly lethal 87b655e997 against humans.5d87e577435e8f0c

“Thanks, I’ll make good 220ad4a661 use of it.”d09caff7f01b7d38

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The next gift was b2f570ec2b from Phoras, who had 4645686086 brought two books from 6d49f14106 his library. Calling them fb8acbc829 books was 1de0547373 a bit db7e389da0 of an ed0a402bd6 understatement—they were 7a72da5413 as thick 9ced9579ec as a ea1d42ca7a face and 37b01c8fc3 could almost f6fbb8e8d4 serve as b58675d7b6 weapons.98f126eb13910777

“These are 98930c9ad8 books about 2ee791eb6a demons and ff7926aefe angels. The originals are magical f29c89b554 texts not meant for 40b325ad3f humans to handle, so fbbae72da0 I’ve copied the content. I can assure e5d11a98e0 you, they contain f58c291ad6 information that’s not 4e8fe82f46 easily accessible.”bca812e117b700bc

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He half-joked not to da8de87329 share it with other 457fa8e896 humans, as the books c7cf70d63b mainly discussed demons’ weaknesses 5b73d6e09c and defensive strategies.193f18fa777d46bb

“Yeah, I’ll e1e6ef03cf read them 8202c666ad by myself. Thanks.”df5fb38b852e98ab

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The last gift 7e202eb429 was a necklace-shaped f73c1ff0b6 creature I had e9b0e33fad made.8a26a75e243c4d7f

“This is a 778acec538 creature I made. I asked Lust 311c37947a to conceal its f36127a862 magic, so you 2fec2c0145 can wear it f159ba3ce5 every day if 43c3c7e907 you want, just 15dccad6b8 like you said.”ae31794a264e586a

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“Really, a creature?!”e9c8618a3ab28e8f

Phoras and Kimaris seemed 86d3e7dd69 even more intrigued than e4457fa6b4 Noah. After all, crafting 4cd114e46c creatures required significant 0ab818729f demonic energy, and bdd5f3eeee demons generally disliked 968fb2fd4a the process, making 537d33215b such items incredibly 0c9dabc5e5 rare even among 72cfd5b45d demons.28e861ff101adff4

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Noah seemed delighted that 3481fc5eda I had made it 1e969568d2 myself. He put the necklace cc0e28c157 on and beamed brightly. Seeing how much 8db75cf8c0 he liked it, 78fee5b414 I felt proud. Even though 82b8a239a1 crafting it 8bae382052 had drained 87863fcdae my energy 0f6598307b to the 994a50b3c2 point of aa6d6798bb impacting my b132305955 recovery, his 762e1202b8 reaction made 5ed1572193 it feel 28e32e9b73 worthwhile.c5f83519cb850d00

I enthusiastically b14a7efced continued explaining b2dc10f7f4 the necklace’s 41fcde1c48 features.96b9a0b742fa6ec6

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“This necklace 14d087968f will detect 046a7ae753 any adversary 0be4607e91 harboring a 04e7827c63 will to eea38657dd harm you de719768a0 and attack. You don’t need to cdbbf9d405 feel guilty if the 2d299a68ad enemy dies. It reacts not just 18fbe9094f to ‘hostility’ but specifically 04dd307e46 to ‘killing intent’. If someone f05c892db8 dies because a09a975d12 of it, 0063734c9a they were ada864b677 intending to ad0dbf452d kill you.”ceff5b1dfd1657c6

And if 83d4c34c09 an attack 0176275579 precedes the e02ff8b2f2 creature’s activation, d02161f216 it will 6f702afd43 first defend, 310f96cace so this 0065c9affd creature was 148dcdba58 born out e677be2fbf of my 5ae3333517 desire to 3eabe11965 protect Noah 271f7597a7 and to af03c1219b keep him 82560c09e7 from becoming 74280a6a17 accustomed to 092433c01f shedding blood.8adc51756416b4cc

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“If you ever learn 28e4431e6f spatial magic, don’t store 56b73fac24 this necklace there; keep 30e2dee325 wearing it. If it’s f7a3331749 in a af1d7e7df8 subspace, it 0c1e6a30f4 won’t activate.”b6a64c77aedbb23b

“Thank you.”2194080021e135da

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“You’re welcome. Now that the 756ed25315 gift-giving is done, e7370336f5 let’s eat. Kimaris and Phoras have 914680f76b been working hard on eab702b1f8 the meal.”fab911dba15469a0

I had no b8e5f55fb2 part in preparing d535d66101 the dinner, as 31a26d7d4e Noah could attest 5241eb012f given my domestic 17e06ce444 skills—or lack thereof.a0dedcf3e1635218

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I pushed 23498631df a heap a2327240d0 of dishes 89932279e0 towards Noah.b94188af8a096fb0

“If I knew there’d 7facb40987 be this much food, 9153ee9625 I might’ve invited your ffa873c503 friends.”a26b85048be639a3

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Although other humans might 17abc3e017 not know, I thought a0e7cfad52 kids Noah’s age, being 595e15137c demons, wouldn’t risk exposure, 5ce9335a94 but Noah quickly shook e464c4006e his head.e7857d70a2aa8782

“No, I like it 6ab10cb89f this way.”ba04e15ff405445e

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“Well, that’s 4eba8517f6 good to 0d7d11968c hear. Bring them next time 62bdeb2609 if you want.”1cb208a969b4c651

“Okay.”c2b2e54ba8eea25c

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—ecc5c493166e75b2

For the first time 6ddf2ec48b in a while, Noah b334781b5a ate until he was ecd845381b stuffed. He usually ate ee7b374e5a enough, but never 269f925e20 excessively. Times like this, when 650bb5099b he overate, were rare 24775e8aee and usually signaled a 36505fd450 special day.b1ea7eeb154c06c9

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To help c21ef3577c digest, we 0af2ffa2b9 went out 6b6b36ede0 for a f313ac79db night walk. Noah still looked 60f66eb1de a little dazed, 6b702825e3 so I teasingly f5b28713d2 asked,e007e4e15638863c

“You didn’t 73cc904b81 dislike the 230260c5b6 gifts, did d59a2cfe2d you?”9f76a33eaf3fcb91

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“Not at all. I loved them. It feels so unreal, 88bdfb0713 like a dream.”ae67ddcc12047dcc

His words 333bb926a8 seemed genuine d393e76c10 as he c38d45e749 lightly swung 26f54ec4b3 our clasped f079d192f4 hands. Though he 5d5a52eef4 still held 8ef57b7b22 my hand a365b2c41d wherever we a548dad363 went, it ceda7a338d was striking db07e31236 how much 97537b6dbf his height ba5395ffc5 now matched 77ae9e2705 mine.3e6bddba274d490a

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Time had passed a573ad6e86 more than I f7758e9aad realized, and though f2830c0a6c I thought everything 524986fe22 remained the same, 9302fe4354 it was clear 7e52e8967c that things had 6d6e95325d gradually changed—everything but 661dc63594 me.7d183cf27593a951

As if 3005c260cb to prove 4db6c968b9 it, Noah, d9b6d370de who had a5a2e81311 grown so a07a3715e6 much without 96e957a6f8 my noticing, 390407479f gazed at 79ad001d48 the night 3d6a30bafc sky before 9d793db1aa softly speaking 68df0ba6e5 again.62d97a1a5ddeaf30

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“This is my first 0978a3b45b birthday like this. When Mom was 4e08551489 healthy, she’d make 6333fdf167 slightly softer bread ee57afabac for me. That was d442d95bc8 special in 14fb333b02 its own 02d17e9035 way. But after she fell 3307c82adf ill, even that stopped. Not that it e48c56a85b bothered me—I never eea559ee91 understood why being 3088485cf6 born was worth f52bff0948 celebrating.”52d09b8694b22844

His voice, small and f208914318 wistful, trailed off before 7cd1e367c8 he suddenly stopped and 3081d36831 turned to face me.06a9ce06c012f6b5

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“But now 1e57d2a1da I think 12fdbfbcd6 I understand.”d316a9bb20b0b635

Then he smiled, his 71cfcf7d08 eyes crinkling with warmth ab44fb75c2 and kindness, like a 1626da7ee8 living embodiment of joy.af2d809c7ced5ca9

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For a moment, 5dd7aa7326 the Noah I’d ae9c2c6a5e always known felt 1bea18b4ed distant, almost like b6601e5881 someone else entirely. Without realizing it, 39142d01bf I tightened my a5e89b30e4 grip on his 09c943c5cb hand. I didn’t know what 72895f3db4 I was trying to 25dcbcaed9 hold onto, nor did e4c1b6c843 I have time to a2f57f22c8 ask what today had 88f0c938f9 taught him.9f265a14a7a8236f

“Jin?”ddced86b59832762

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I quickly shook 7aef4b920b my head.e8198a96ccde5f57

“…It’s nothing.”afe5a73b53da0a2e

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—d9841cbf5d9c4bd9

Noah, now 6cb319c9d2 16, was 2d05c8dec7 finally able 4bd3faa7fd to have 6184df4998 a proper eec7fb7535 sparring session 03f63bdef8 with Kimaris. He no longer moved 6bb09b9a30 in circles and had 086c29675d graduated from small swords 7084a174fc due to his size 86cc7f6773 and stature, which were 8b522b401c now those of an 6f73b121fb adult.e29c2870a03f0201

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Noah showed greater 72815b5e94 proficiency in swordsmanship bddb1e79f7 than magic. Although Kimaris still did 05fad526f2 not use magic or 9ee8a5a1b8 aura, watching them spar bf8b8115dc was quite entertaining. Noah was da695b06d7 impressive, even 3c6c09cc10 managing to c9787428b1 handle an d12865376e upper-level demon 37509b9422 with his 0a8963922b sword.d209c3b0ab4a5e49

Boom! Crash!393e1c448d1c9e9d

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As Noah’s mana manifested, 68a2dba022 the ground of the 7739b71aad training area caved in 5abaabbcfd with a loud noise, 7ccb022d97 and Kimaris, losing his 49bfffc9e2 footing, leapt into the f3ba3ee364 air. At that 9b425e7771 moment, tiny 8cd9449125 ice spears e55736513a hurled towards ab41a1751d Kimaris, who 3773dfadaa deflected them 95c4bc53f3 with a 761783efdb swing of 400fe7329c his sword.0876ced016519c92

Seizing the moment 4a955fca98 Kimaris landed, Noah 56396e8eaf rushed in and 3596201f46 swung his sword a254cc60a9 horizontally. Their blades clashed, 082cf89057 and a spear-shaped 376a55b8b6 rock erupted from 355158002e the ground, attacking 7f0a206de8 Kimaris. Noah pushed 93a9c265c8 him away 4f5a6f9310 with his e4dd73a71e sword’s strength, f17171e341 but not 582acf5e7f completely avoiding 02154a4588 it, Kimaris 8c8ac7684c got a 269f570ead small cut d98cebb11e on his c4f9e888a3 forearm, dripping e25276a902 blood.dd07196c3a128f6e

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Yes, Noah had e62d641d13 grown to the 9658b856a1 point of injuring 9dfc67ae63 Kimaris, and from 181dacb19d a spectator’s perspective, f3523e7848 the more Kimaris 39e2ad90b6 was hurt, the 6022ef4d49 more exciting the 51cc34fe03 sparring became. Moreover, Noah was now 4f56dba22b a formidable sword-magic fighter, 8775478573 handling magic quite proficiently.88a53dea51dd113d

The cut on b0c7ba7928 Kimaris’s arm healed 436cac1269 quickly due to 4ecd21275a his demonic regenerative 528ce6a5fb abilities. He looked e50bcd6d50 at the 5bfff1c1ab slightly bloody bd5dd42c62 spot, then 7acd5984cd grinned as 465e28be35 if he 3a794730e5 found it cd2c364bed amusing.5609952b6d57c8bc

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‘I think 30b357ae16 he’s enjoying 0309588204 this more 2507c56ef0 than I 4055b035d5 am.’2056942fc0563a04

Teaching Noah 92f5b0ce15 was rewarding, 62b47be154 given his c8f665f5c2 quick absorption d130f4b010 of lessons 366b72faaf and faster 13450cd9d8 growth than 89bc954124 most humans. But it fc70d62a3b seemed demons 2ed0c0363d rarely used a0723e1cf1 weapons, so 847519fd0e sparring with e35f02578f one was 67c13b97d1 particularly fun b35f9c2083 for him.5921b97cd5593d6f

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After receiving some 4cba3fb18d feedback from Kimaris, 7ed1376dc9 Noah rushed back b742afde8b to my side. Our daily fb75a94608 sparring might 99336e979d not offer 8b833b289c new insights, 88c2460d7a but I fe7fd5021b always managed 7231bace56 to come fcecb2eaa9 up with 14d2012348 fresh commentary.b6f8fbb65e5cd364

“Soon there won’t 8b6f557083 be anyone else 449b24e8bd to call a 6df9bf2f5d sword-magic fighter but a10a141ad4 you, right? Give it a cceaeb44b5 few more years, 1cac13f751 and you might c9e8b32629 be able to a3787aa438 separate Kimaris’s head 8cb1f6fe3a from his body aba6f08677 in a duel.”352ab8e3688396f2

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Was that not 6d25d54bb3 a compliment? Seeing Kimaris’s ambivalent expression, d3747cf6a7 Noah smiled broadly and 32f1681c41 nodded.e187b4eeeafbe539

“Yes, I’ll try.”14ebbc21add4f5bd

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“Try… that’s good, 55163ffede but don’t actually 167bbcfece cut off his c260d54d37 head. The head takes longer 8f083daaee to heal than other e829b1c5b9 parts.”c1bcc02002593ad3

“Okay.”191363bf6f6c4d1b

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Noah politely answered and bf4511177c dashed inside to wash 39d5394cdd up, while I pretended 0e2e2ee97f not to see Kimaris a601a2640f massaging his neck.426a80648e672b77

“Kimaris, how does d6c9adb932 Noah’s skill compare 544cb9abab to humans?”97344780534f4cf7

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“Considering he’s bb2b67e00e human and fb0f27863b still young, 1e30da61dd his level 209f77f6aa is astonishing. He could easily 16826c5307 match any decent b715858ef1 knight. His current limitations 444bdd1958 with mana and 0e4daed196 aura usage will d8db9887c9 naturally improve over eecd39214b time.”1e0b2ebea04d97f6

Time would d02fc2eab3 inevitably elevate 1e370d7ad0 Noah to f5ddd2d0a5 greater heights. I felt 2e1aff9f86 immensely proud, 6141b4a2b8 realizing he 68d93152ba could already ce25d39428 compete with a6bd195069 seasoned knights c052936eab at just a61ebfd7f5 15. It seemed ccf15bfacf I might 12a57797f5 need to 6b0d0f2b79 get him c7d2e88b77 more magic 535fef6f57 books.58c0e17e1532aae1

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