Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 602: Can I Take Him Home With Me?

"Have you calmed down?" Alex asked softly, looking at Fran in his embrace.

"Mmm..." Fran hummed. "Thank you."

"Okay." Alex planted a kiss on her forehead before pulling back to let her stand up.

Fran wiped the tears on her face with the back of her hands before taking another look at the five graves before her.

Once upon a time, the people lying here had been part of her family. They had protected her, laughed with her, and showed her the world.

These precious people had made the life of the Fairy Fran a truly memorable experience. If she hadn’t met him, perhaps she might have lived a different life.

Her and Alex’s sole reason for heading to the Shadow Forest was to confirm if their graves were still there. They needed confirmation that everything they had seen in the dungeon was real. And they also needed closure before they could move on from their past.

Fran then clasped her hands together and prayed silently. She hoped that, just like her, the people who had loved her as a family were also somewhere out there, living a life of happiness.

Francesca felt her chest ache as she stared at Fran. Truth be told, she had wanted to hold the dwarf when she had seen her crying. It simply felt like she was meant to do so.

Like there had been a time when she had done the same to someone very important to her.

But before she could do anything, Alex had already moved and wrapped Fran in his arms.

Francesca could only stay put. However, an inexplicable feeling made her long to hug both Alex and Fran at once.

Before she could even think, she already found herself standing behind Fran, her hands stretched out to hold her.

Had Francesca wanted it, she could have stopped herself. But she didn’t.

She hugged the dwarf she had only met today.

At best, they were acquaintances. Yet holding her like this made her tear up.

Like the final piece of the puzzle falling into place, Francesca felt like she had been waiting all this time to hold Fran.

Suddenly, she summoned a few vines and wrapped them around Alex’s body, pulling him closer to her.

Everything happened so fast that Alex failed to react in time.

Before he understood what had just happened, Francesca was already hugging both of them at the same time, tears streaming down her face.

"I-I’m sorry," Francesca said. "I don’t know why, but my body moved on its own."

Just like earlier, she knew she could have stopped herself.

Her self-control could’ve stopped her from hugging the two teenagers tightly.

She simply chose not to because this felt right.

Like something always meant to happen.

Like Francesca had been born for this very moment.

After recovering from their initial confusion, Alex and Fran glanced at each other before hugging Francesca back.

This time, it was the two of them trying to calm her down. They comforted her until her tears stopped falling.

Finn watched from the side, unsure of what to make of the scene or what to do with himself. Even so, he thought that Alex, Fran, and Francesca looked like old friends who had finally reunited after a very long time.

He didn’t have the heart to interfere or stop them from doing so. He had no reason to either.

"Wuwuwuwuwu!" Dim Dim couldn’t stop itself from crying. Poppy and Dewdrop came to the little bun’s side to calm it down.

They patted its head and wiped the tears on Dim Dim’s face, but the Dim Sum God kept on crying, making them feel helpless.

A few minutes later, Dim Dim suddenly sensed someone picking him up from the ground.

"I didn’t know you were a crybaby, Dim Dim," Alex said, his cheeks still wet with tears. "You’re supposed to be a Deity, you know? How can you cry like this in public?"

"Dim Dim!" Dim Dim replied while giving Alex a look that told him even Gods could cry if they were sad.

Alex smiled faintly and patted the little bun’s head. Fran even moved closer to kiss Dim Dim’s cheek and tell it not to cry anymore.

"These are happy tears, Dim Dim," Fran said with a smile. "So don’t be sad anymore, okay?"

"Un!" Dim Dim wiped the tears on its face and tried to look strong. But this only lasted for a few seconds before it once again teared up.

Alex left the Dim Sum God to Fran before moving to talk to the Dryads that were protecting their surroundings.

He asked if he and his companions could stay the night. The Dryads readily agreed.

An hour later, Dim Dim was once again all smiles as it helped Fran prepare their dinner.

It had foraged through the forest with the Fairies to look for edible mushrooms they could add to their dinner.

"You see, the real reason we chased out the Fairies from the graveyard is to protect you," Francesca told Dewdrop and Poppy after they returned from their foraging trip with Dim Dim. "You girls are simply not strong enough to contend with Gorath and his minions.

"You may hate us, but we only did what we believed would give you a better chance at survival. The outskirts of the forest is safe, isn’t it? Now that the threats are all gone, you are more than welcome to return here to the graveyard of the Lonely Fairy."

"Really?" Poppy asked, still half in doubt. "You won’t chase us away like last time?"

"We won’t," one of the Dryads on the branch of a tree replied. "Our Matriarch only ordered us to do that to keep you safe. Although we look different, all of us are Nature Spirits. We have no reason to be hostile to the Fairies."

Dewdrop also found it strange for the Dryads to chase them away, only to bring berries over from time to time.

Poppy had thought like some kind of apology, but the Dryads had never said anything. They had simply left the berries at the new home of the fairies and left without a word.

With the misunderstanding finally cleared up, Poppy and Dewdrop asked the Dryads to escort them back to the outskirts so that they could tell their sisters what had really happened.

Naturally, the Dyrads agreed. Since the forest was now technically under their control, no beasts would dare to harm the Fairies, who were now under their protection.

’This trip is worth it,’ Alex thought as he observed his girlfriend. Fran was tasting the mushroom soup before nodding in satisfaction.

The young man then shifted his attention to Finn, who suddenly found himself surrounded by beautiful dryads.

The dwarf didn’t know how to react. He had never been a social person, only interacting with others when necessary.

Before now, he thought his social skills were okay, more than capable of answering questions when asked. But surrounded by dryads, he started to feel like he wasn’t as eloquent as he had originally believed.

In the midst of all this, Francesca also happened to be hugging him from behind, as if glued to his body.

For some reason, Finn didn’t feel the urge to push her away or tell her to scram. Francesca truly looked like Medina, who had been a mother figure to Fran and Alex.

Finn and Fran were both orphans, so he really didn’t understand what it felt like to have a mother. Still, being hugged like this by a familiar face didn’t feel uncomfortable for him.

"Awww! He’s so cute!" one of the Dryads teased. "Can I take him home with me?"

"No," Francesca replied flatly. "Look, but don’t touch."

"Then why are you hugging him?" one of the Dryads complained.

"It’s because it is first come, first serve," Francesca answered.

"Booooo!"

"Cheater!"

"Share him with us!"

"No way!" Francesca firmly said. "Finn is mine—err, I mean, my friend!"

"We want to be friends too!"

"That’s right!"

"Stop being stingy!"

"No means no!"

Alex chuckled internally. His future brother-in-law was proving himself quite popular with the Dryads. Although this relationship was very new and would surely need more work, the young man believed that Finn had mellowed a bit on this trip.

He truly hoped that Finn would soon accept him as his future brother-in-law. That would definitely make Fran the happiest dwarf in the world.