Fantasy Realm – Infinite Worlds Adventure

Alex steps into his room, quickly cleans himself with a few cleaning supplies he always carries in his inventory, and lies down. He extinguishes the small oil lamp he brought with him and stares at the ceiling.

His heart is still beating fast and violently, a lingering effect of the fight that happened merely a few hours ago. He briefly closes his eyes, only to feel Jewel climbing onto his chest. When he opens them again, he sees numerous red eyes glowing in the dark, staring at him.

Despite the eerie scene—a giant spider directly in front of his face—Alex feels no fear or discomfort. His connection to his so-called ‘pet,’ who calls him her Soulmate, is too strong and deep for even a hint of fear to surface.

Alex even hallucinates for a second that there are heart-shaped objects in Jewel’s eyes before quickly trying to erase that thought.

I can’t sleep, Jewel… Feel free to sleep already. I may need a few hours to finally calm down.

Dearest Soulmate, your heart is beating so fast and so strong. Princess Jewel is impressed but recommends that her Soulmate calms down.

I wish I could…

Shall Princess Jewel help her Soulmate calm down?

Sure… How are you gonna do that?

Princess Jewel could tell her Soulmate something calming.

Alex can’t help but laugh, his chest vibrating and causing Jewel to shake a little as she lies on top of him.

I’m sorry. I just don’t know what you could do, and I’m not blaming you. To be honest… ever since I’ve met you, I feel a lot calmer. It’s great to have someone to talk to without having to hide anything. I have a tiny request, though…

Anything, Dearest Soulmate. ❤️

Can you call me by my name?

Princess Jewel understands the concept of names but is reluctant to call her Dearest Soulmate by his name. There is only one Soulmate for Jewel… it is the deepest bond possible. Without her Soulmate, Jewel can’t survive.

Princess Jewel will try her best if it pleases her Soulmate.

Alex stares deep into Jewel’s eyes and sees a hint of embarrassment, as far as he can tell. Thanks to their connection, Alex can somewhat feel how Jewel is currently feeling, even without her expressing it.

Suddenly, Alex twitches slightly as he hears an extremely cute, shy, and embarrassed voice in his mind.

A… Alex ❤️

Embarrassed, Jewel quickly climbs from his chest toward his head.

Alex, slightly blushing, feels like he’s back in high school, receiving a real confession from a cute girl for the first time, something which he obviously never experienced. He has one last thought before finally falling asleep.

Why is the cutest girl in our group a spider? This makes no sense… Jewel reminds me of a typical heroine from an Eroge! Part Ojousama, part Deredere. She’s almost too cute and perfect—only her looks are… slightly nightmare-inducing and inappropriate. I’m not sure I want to go down that route… but you never know.

— [Scene Break] —

As Alex wakes up, the first thing he sees are Jewel’s multiple eyes staring at him.

Good Morning, Dearest Soulmate ❤️

“Good morning, Jewel,” Alex responds, still feeling sleepy and yawning.

Since Alex is used to this ‘greeting’ by now, he doesn’t panic. Months of spending every single hour of his day with Jewel and building a deep connection with her have almost completely eradicated his arachnophobia. He still thinks normal spiders are icky, but Jewel is obviously the exception.

Alex gets up, and despite getting a good amount of sleep, he feels kinda sluggish. He quickly cleans up, moves downstairs, and sees everyone else already awake—in fact, Menchi, Rishi, and Tereza are all ready to leave right away.

“Why the hurry? Classes don’t start yet! You’ve got at least two hours left,” he notes.

“I have things to do! I had a nightmare that I’d forgotten something and regretted it. I need to quickly go to the library! Maybe copy down a few more things!” Tereza explains, looking stressed and obviously not well-rested.

“Same for me. After that, I’ll be meeting Sev early and saying my goodbyes… despite his character, he taught me a lot. I’m genuinely thankful!” Menchi states, her expression serious.

“I’ll have to get rid of several… issues I caused,” Rishi says with a tiny but sinister smile.

Brainwashing is bad… I don’t know what he did—I’ll ask him when we are back.

“This does not bode well… Neither Tereza nor I feel good. I hope the others are feeling better. Well, you can go ahead. Should I talk to the others about the time?” Alex asks.

“Already did that—today at 4 PM!” Tereza responds with a grin.

“It’s kinda cutting it close. We need a while to get to the Heart,” Alex begins to say.

“But the Heart, Aragog’s lair, isn’t very large. At least according to the books and movies. We should be fine!” Tereza responds, cutting him off.

“Anyway, I need to go… What do you want to do, Alex?” she asks him.

“Well… I’ll have time to think about that. See you later!” he says as the others quickly leave, and he and Jewel begin to eat their food.

Royal Head-Chef Menchi always prepares a special dish for Princess Jewel. She is very grateful!

I’m happy you feel that way, Jewel. Anything you want to do?

Princess Jewel deems it necessary to say goodbye to her students!

Good idea. That’s the only real thing I wanted to do as well.

— [Scene Break] —

Alex finds himself in the Great Hall, Hermione casting the Muffliato Charm.

“I love this spell. Good job, Hermione,” Harry comments.

“This isn’t something I’d approve of using casually—the book we found by the mysterious Half-Blood Prince is quite special. You are mean for refusing to tell us who it is, but you said you have something important to tell us, Alex,” Hermione says, looking quite serious.

Alex begins to speak: “First of all, me and Jewel wanted to wish you goodbye. There’s a high likelihood we won’t return. However, I wanted to say some things to you that I deem important.”

This world isn’t really in a state where a return would seem likely or make sense, balance-wise. This is perhaps the only shot we’ve got. You never know, but… let’s assume it is.

“Rishi, Tereza, and Menchi will probably also say goodbye to you two later. Anyway, I hope you believe the things I’ve told you… Rishi said he wants to give you some advice about what you should do with the Horcruxes. We haven’t told you all the details, but now that we are leaving, you have a right to know. I’d be lying if I said I had better advice than Rishi, so I’ll leave it up to him. On the other hand there are a few things I need to tell you as well. First of all, any remaining questions about Nen?” Alex continues, addressing his students.

“No, your training and the guidance from Menchi and, of course, Jewel, were perfect. Also, we’ve got all those notes and countless possible Hatsus. I already have an idea for mine!” Harry says enthusiastically.

Hermione shakes her head but reluctantly agrees: “Nen is almost as special as magic. In fact, it’s quite suitable for me. I’ve also thought of a Hatsu. It’s incredible. I’ll call it Exam! I’ll use Conjuration and Manipulation to create a room where my enemy and I have to take a quiz with random questions! The loser gets detention and is forced to stay inside another conjured room for 90 minutes!”

Alex sighs. “Hermione… this isn’t possible. It’s way too advantageous for you. I hope it wasn’t a mistake to teach you this stuff. You need to add conditions to balance out this strong effect, like giving your opponent the ability to use a cheat, at least once, to even the odds. Anyway, I’m happy that you’re working on it. Please be careful with that knowledge. It has the potential to cause you great harm. I won’t tell you who to teach, but please be careful. Regarding… Voldemort and the Horcruxes, we just grazed over it. Rishi will tell you the rest. Please listen to him.” 

Hermione’s face looks enlightened, and she nods enthusiastically, meanwhile, Harry looks quite sad.

“Anyway,” Alex stands up. “I’ll miss you two. You were awesome. I’m sure your future is bright!”

Jewel also uses her web to spell ‘Goodbye ❤️’

Hermione begins to cry a little, and she and Harry both hug Alex while petting Jewel on her head.

“Sigh… you kids. I’ll miss you!” Alex turns around coolly and waves at them, a tear rolling down his face.

Thankfully I wasn’t seen—that would have been uncool!

“We won’t forget you, Master!!” they shout as he leaves The Great Hall.

Alex uses his remaining time to have fun with Jewel. They visit the castle one last time, checking out the various buildings and hallways, they check out the lake, and say goodbye to every teacher, including Dumbledore, McGonagall, Hagrid, and even Snape, who just grunts at him.

Finally, they make their way to Hogsmeade, where they sit down at one of the outdoor cafés and enjoy the summer feeling. Alex drinks cold pumpkin juice.

At first, I thought it was disgusting, but you get used to it. I had fun, Jewel. Let’s get ready for the fight!

Princess Jewel will protect her Dearest Soulmate and then enjoy her trip to the Zoo! 

❤️