CHAPTER 63: THE CAUSE

"Go!" I told Bob.

We started walking slowly, me in one direction, Bob in the other.

Evelyn and the others looked at us strangely. Even the bisons in the distance stopped grazing and turned to stare.

After about twenty meters, I shouted, "Stop, Bob!"

I summoned my gunblade.

"Indra!"

It appeared in my right hand, majestic as always.

Then I released it, making it vanish into thin air.

"Okay, Bob. Walk again!" I called out.

We continued. At around forty meters, I repeated the process. I was still able to summon Indra without issue.

Then we reset and did it again. Sixty meters. Eighty meters. Each time, I tested the summon.

"How far do you want us to keep walking, Alan?!" Bob shouted. His voice was faint at this distance.

"Just keep going!" I yelled back.

We reached around a hundred meters.

"Okay, stop!" I shouted again.

Bob halted.

I was now standing at the same spot where I had been practicing spellcasting earlier. The bison Evelyn had shot lay nearby, a gaping hole in its side.

Alright. This is it. If my hunch is right... something should happen here.

I raised my hand.

"Indra!"

But nothing happened. No gunblade appeared.

"Yes! I knew it! My hunch was right!" I jumped with excitement.

Wait a minute.

This is not something to be happy about. This is bad news.

Everyone looked confused as I celebrated alone.

I tried to open my status screen, but nothing came up. Not even a flicker.

"Bob! Check your status now!" I cupped my hands and shouted toward him. He looked tiny from this distance.

"Okay!" Bob shouted back.

He opened his status, and froze in shock. What he saw was not the current version he had with me... it was his original one. The version from when he first arrived in this world.

"What... is this?" he mumbled.

Even from where I stood, I could see the confusion on his face. I sprinted toward him, calling for Indra again.

This time, it returned, elegantly forming in my right hand once more.

That confirmed it.

Bob flinched when his status returned to normal. He scratched his head, puzzled.

"What’s happening, dude?" he asked as I finally reached him.

"Huff... huff... damn, that was tiring," I panted, catching my breath.

"Anyway, I figured it out, Bob. Why we suddenly lost our powers," I said.

"What is it? Tell me!"

"It’s the distance. When we’re too far apart, the bond weakens. From my tests, the range is about 100 meters. That’s why we lost power back in Lily Town, because you were too far away from me."

Bob frowned.

"Why is there such a weird weakness? Wait... does that mean you and I are stuck together forever?!"

"It seems so..." I muttered.

As Bob looked disheartened, I recalled the old man in the Realm In-Between.

So that’s what he meant. The bond... was literal.

Damn it, old man. I hope you hear me cursing you right now..

"Whatever it is, Bob, the conclusion is clear, we can’t go far from each other anymore. It’s for our safety... and our future."

Bob still looked dejected. "If it was a beautiful woman, I wouldn’t mind. But with you... uweekk." He made a dramatic vomiting gesture.

This guy really knows how to get on my nerves.

"Let’s go back to the group. They’ve waited too long."

I started walking. Bob followed slowly behind.

As we approached the others, their faces were a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"What were you two doing just now?" Maya asked, eyes narrowing.

"Nothing. We finally figured out why we lost our powers. It really was because of hunger. Right, Bob?" I glanced sideways at him.

Bob returned the glance with a deadpan stare. "Yeah, he’s right. I’m starving. Please... I need meat," he groaned and dragged himself back to the tree, Yui and Mina following.

"Then why were you celebrating?" Evelyn asked, tilting her head. "You jumped like you found some treasure."

"It was just a... method of confirming things. I thought it might be something like distance or magic interference, but nope, just hunger."

At that very moment, my stomach growled loudly. Nice timing, body!

"See? Super hungry. Let’s eat." I ran toward the tree, hoping to dodge any more questions.

It seemed they had not figured out the real cause behind the skill loss. Good. I wanted to keep it that way. Not because I did not trust them, they were genuinely good people, but the fewer who knew our weakness, the better. If someone eventually let it slip, at least I know who did it.

I glanced at Bob. He was sitting comfortably while Yui fed him meat with a smile.

Soon after, William grilled the bison meat. And as people say, it was incredible. I, who rarely ate so much in one sitting, ended up devouring three full plates. Bob, being Bob, ate seven. His already round belly somehow got even rounder.

After the feast, we resumed training until dusk. The focus was on reflexes. Evelyn shot at us with her white bow, and we tried to dodge. The result? She hit us almost every time. Only a few shots were narrowly avoided. This cause Mina worked overtime healing us, leveling up to 3 in the process. Not a bad way to grind, honestly.

Later, I decided to try equipping the Archer class, and to my surprise, it fit me perfectly. Not only did it improve bow usage, but it also enhanced all shooting weapons, gunblade included. The first skill, Aim, was a passive that increased accuracy by 50%. A huge boost. Half my shots were basically guaranteed hits now. Using that, I took down about 20 bisons with just my gunblade. Evelyn looked a little jealous, it was unfair that my weapon used mana instead of ammo while she used arrows.

Bob trained under William, focusing on timing and control. As a Vanguard, he was destined to be a fighter-tank hybrid. At first, he resisted as he wanted the spotlight from getting kills. But William convinced him once he mastered the basics, he’d be a killing machine and a tank.

By the time the sun began to set, casting orange hues over the clouds, the city lights began to glow. People returned to their homes as we made our way back to the guild.

William led the way, carrying a huge wrapped bundle filled with trihorn bison tails as proof of the quest. We had taken down nearly 50 bisons. Not bad for a day’s work.

Maya and Evelyn walked beside me. I was sandwiched between them. Bob and Yui trailed behind, and I could hear Yui giggling.

I leaned toward Evelyn and whispered, "Since when did those two get so close? I thought they just met yesterday?"

Evelyn sighed. "They spent last night at the Grand Restaurant. Bob asked me to introduce him to Yui. I’ve known her for years, even before we joined the same guild."

"Ohh... that explains why he got back so late. But wait, Grand Restaurant? Like, a fancy three-star michelin place? How the hell did he afford that?" I did not like the sound of this.

"He didn’t. He borrowed money from me. Promised to pay me back."

"How much?"

"Thirty."

"Silver?"

Evelyn shake her head.

"...Gold!?"

She nodded.

I blinked.

That fat idiot. We have not even been in this world for a month, and he already racked up debt. He seriously needs financial counseling.

After a few more minutes of walking, we reached the guild entrance.

"Thank you all for inviting me today. Hope we can do this again. Hehe. Bye bye, Bob~" Yui waved, then winked at him.

We waved back. Bob sent her a flying kiss. He was deep in lover mode.

"Alright, everyone," Evelyn clapped her hands, "we’re going to report the quest. You two should get some rest. Tomorrow’s a big day. We’ll hand out part of the reward then."

"Yes. Rest well, and eat something good. Here’s some leftover bison meat." William handed us a portion wrapped in leaves. It still smelled amazing.

"All the best for tomorrow," Maya said.

"Wait, you’re not coming to the ceremony?" I asked.

"No. I promised to accompany a friend on a quest. She needs a mage in her team."

"Why’d you accept that, sis? You could’ve just said no," Evelyn said, pouting.

"She’s joining the tournament, and helping her is like helping the guild. Still, I hope you two don’t disappoint," Maya said, giving us a pointed look.

"Just wait and see. Don’t be shocked when I make S-rank," I grinned.

"Yeah! We’re gonna rock this guild with another S-rank!" Bob chimed in.

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." But she gave us a small smile. "Good luck." Then she turned and headed into the guild with Evelyn and William.

They ascend the stairs and enter the door.

"She’s actually kind of cute when she smiles, isn’t she, Alan?" Bob said as he watched them disappear.

"Yeah. You’re right," I replied, still staring at the doors.

"But Yui’s cuter~ hehe." He smirked and walked ahead.

I caught up and asked, "Hey, serious question. Did you borrow money from Evelyn?"

"Ugh... That girl and her big mouth. She promised to keep it a secret."

"So it’s true? How many times do I have to tell you, no debts! Did you forget what happened in our old world?"

And thus began my lecture on finance and economics as we made our way back to our rented room. Bob sighed deeply, already regretting every coin spent.