Utopian System

When Selene returned, they began working together to place the armor over Elio's Summoner's Robe.

"Lift his arm," Selene instructed. "Carefully, we don't want to wake him."

Zara obeyed, taking Elio's arm as if it were made of crystal. "It's bigger than before," she murmured, feeling the weight of his limb.

"The arm or your heart?" Selene teased, her eyes twinkling with mischief.

Zara shot her a death glare, but couldn't suppress a small smile. "Very funny."

As Zara activated the magical core on the chest piece, Elio rolled towards Zara in his sleep, mumbling something unintelligible.

Zara froze, her face mere inches from Elio's. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Don't move," Selene whispered, a spark of amusement in her eyes. "Unless you want to give him a good morning kiss."

"Selene!" Zara hissed, feeling her face grow hotter than her salamander's fire.

Just then, Elio moved again, his hand accidentally brushing against Zara's thigh. The young warrior jumped as if stung, losing her balance and falling onto Selene.

Both women ended up on the ground in a tangle of limbs, desperately trying not to make noise as they struggled to free themselves. The cool stone beneath them did little to soothe their embarrassment.

"Well," Selene whispered, stifling a laugh, "if you wanted hugs, you could have just asked."

Zara playfully elbowed her as she got to her feet, grateful that at least Elio was still asleep. If Fathoran knew Elio was such a heavy sleeper, he would have attacked here and now.

♢♢♢♢

They continued working in silence for a moment, Zara desperately trying to control the blush on her cheeks. As she adjusted one of the shoulder pads, her hand slipped, accidentally hitting Elio's nose.

"Ouch!" Elio exclaimed, half-waking.

Zara panicked. Without thinking, she did the first thing that came to mind: she imitated Kriz's voice. "Shh, go back to sleep, boss. Just making sure you didn't steal my nose while you were sleeping."

To her surprise and relief, Elio mumbled something incoherent and went back to sleep. Zara let out a sigh of relief, only to find Selene staring at her in amazement.

"That... was an impressive imitation," Selene commented. "I didn't know you had that talent. Is there anything you can't do?"

Zara shrugged, trying to appear casual. "You learn things when you spend so much time with that clown... And well... Apparently, I can't control my heart around a certain sleeping leader."

Selene smiled, appreciating the honesty. "No one can, Zara. Love is the only battle that can't be won with brute force... But I have a feeling you'll do well."

Zara felt her face ignite. "W-what? No, no, not at all. We're just friends. Battle companions I couldn't... I mean we are nothing more."

Selene looked at her for a long moment, her expression softening. "It's okay to want something more, you know. It's not something to be ashamed of."

♢♢♢♢

They finally finished activating the highest level armor. They stepped back to observe their work, Elio now sleeping peacefully in his new armor over the Summoner's Robe.

"You know, there aren't many women like us so I'm rooting for you," Selene said after a moment, "And I think you make a good couple. You keep him grounded, and he... well, he makes you smile in a way I've never seen before."

Zara felt a wave of warmth in her chest at those words. "Thanks. I... I guess I'll have to figure out what to do with these feelings eventually."

"There's no rush," Selene replied, giving her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "For now, let's focus on keeping him alive so you can tell him when you're ready."

Zara nodded, grateful for Selene's support and understanding. As they walked away to let Elio rest, Zara cast one last glance at the young leader.

"Well," Selene said with a smile. "Now, you should get some rest too. And next time you want to 'check the fabric', maybe you could try when Elio's awake."

Zara felt her face heat up again, but this time, a small smile formed on her lips. "I'll keep that in mind..."

♢♢♢♢

Elio woke slowly, blinking to adjust his eyes to the dim light of the barrier covering the city. His mind was still clouded by sleep, but something felt... different.

He sat up, immediately noticing the additional weight on his body.

"What the hell...?" he murmured, looking down to find himself wearing armor he definitely didn't have on when he fell asleep. "How...?"

He shook his head, deciding that mystery could wait. His attention was caught by his book, floating in front of him, emitting a soft glow. He took it, opening it with curiosity.

His eyes widened as he saw a new page. It was similar to the mana balance page, but this one had a space to add mana with the inscription:

Mana (0/1,000,000).

"What does this mean?" he wondered aloud, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

As his mind cleared, he began to connect the dots. The armor someone had put on him over the robe, the new page in his book...

"Fathoran's armor," he murmured, remembering the impressive protection the Patriarch had used during their battle. "He was level 5 like me, so he should have the Summoner's Robe too. But his armor was different..."

"If Fathoran could improve his armor," Elio reasoned, "there must be a way to do it. And this new page... could it be the key?"

He looked at the book again, specifically the figure of 1,000,000. It was an astronomical amount of mana, much more than he had handled so far.

"Do you really need that much mana to improve the armor?" he wondered. "But where am I supposed to get so much?"

Elio stood up, deciding he needed to discuss this with someone more experienced. He headed towards where Lucien was.

"Lucien," Elio called. "I need your advice."

"What is it, Elio?"

Elio showed him the new page in his book and shared his suspicions about Fathoran's armor. Lucien listened attentively, his frown deepening with each passing moment.