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Oli stored his freshly slain corpse in his void ring and smiled at the fox.

“Okay, but make sure you’re ready to jump in just in case,” replied Netra. “Let’s go that way.”

It was the third day of the hunt and the second day of Oli and Netra working together on the hunt. With the suns rising in the sky, they knew it was time for lunch soon, so they wanted to hurry up and find a beast for Netra before they went back.

After another half an hour, the duo slowed their pace and stared at a tree in the distance.

There, fully wrapped around the tree’s massive trunk, was a giant hornets’ nest. Buzzing could be heard from all around, warding off most intruders.

“Oli, give me and hand with these. There are too many for just me.”

.....

“Fine, but you’ll face the queen while I handle the followers.”

With a nod, both of them sprung into action. As they dashed toward the nest and saw a hornet the size of Oli’s hands coming at them, Netra vanished while Oli coated himself in essence.

“There may be a lot of you, but you’re all high or peak novices. You’re perfect fodder to help me perfect my essence armor.” Just like Oli had mentioned, he was using their attacks to help him readjust his essence armor with the Infinite Compression art.

And since the Infinite Compression art was applied to all the essence around him, Oli could also use the same essence offensively with his punches.

Over and over, Oli would swap and mutilate the hornets that gathered around him. It proved a little difficult, but Oli’s full attention was on the Infinite Compression art and he managed to maintain it.

Netra only reappeared as the largest of the hornets exited the hive. She pounced on the queen hornet, which was as big as one of her tails.

It’s speed proved to make things hard, but Netra landed a strike on the hornet queen’s wing. With a crippled wing, it was only a matter of time until Netra snuffed out the early adept queen’s life.

After finishing the queen, she and Oli cleaned up the rest of the hornets.

Taking a breather, Netra laid on the ground. “Thanks for the help, Oli.”

“No problem, it’s what partners do,” stated Oli, joining her for a rest.

“Still, thank you. I’m very glad that you chose to be my partner and Yeter’s or Karos’. Why did you choose me, anyway?” asked the fox.

“I... I don’t know. I just felt like we would work well together, plus I enjoy spending time with you. In a way, you’re an even closer friend to me than Yeter,” answered Oli.

“Yeah...” Netra sighed. “Is it really that weird for a fox and a gorilla to be friends? I’d rather be with you than any of the other foxes.”

“If you say it like that, it sounds like something more than...” Oli didn’t let himself finish that statement. He realized how crazy that sounded only after saying it, but it was still awkward.

The young gorilla glanced back at Netra while scratching his head, only getting more surprised.

She was too shy to look Oli in the eye. It was clear to him, that she didn’t mean to say it like that but there might have been some unconscious truth in her statement.

The two of them laid in silence for a bit longer before Oli stood up. “Come on, let’s head back and roast that python I fought earlier. I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

“...Okay, let’s go.”

Returning to camp, Oli and Netra arrived later than most. Yeter and Karos were already gone. The other students said something about them quickly eating and hurrying back out to try and beat Oli.

They laughed as Oli brought out the remains of the early adept jungle python he recently killed, giving half of it to Netra.

With a smile, they both roasted their portions with some added salt thanks to Ania.

While Netra took her time with the cook, Oli tried to rush it and placed the python over the strongest parts of the fire. He succeeded in cooking it faster, but Oli also succeeded in burning his portion.

Nibbling on his burnt meat, Oli frowned and spit it out. Oli did his best to rub the overwhelming bitterness off of his tongue but found no success.

“Do you want some?”

He looked back to see Netra holding half of her portion with her mouth, but she extending it to him in place of eating it.

“... I guess, since you’re offering...” He gratefully took the meat and smiled. “Thank, Netra. It’s moments like these that I’m glad you’re my partner.”

“J-Just enjoy it. I hope it alright... Just don’t compare my cooking with your moms, not yet,” stated Netra, looking away to hide her shaky gaze and nervousness from Oli’s kind words.

That was enough proof to Oli that Netra meant what she said earlier about being with him.

It got him thinking. “I never thought about having my own family... I guess I’ll have to do that at some point. But there’s no other gorilla’s my age... Netra’s sweet and we get along great, but she’s a fox. Could that even work? Is that even possible?”

While Oli was caught up in his own thoughts, Netra looked back to find him spacing out. “Is it not any good? If not, you don’t have to eat it...”

“No, no, it’s great!” replied Oli, coming back to reality. “I just... got caught up in thought.”

“About what?”

“Aaahh... About my future, I guess.”

“So, what about it? You were thinking pretty hard about it, so there must be something up.”

Unsure of how to respond, Oli decided to be honest. “I... only just realized that I’ll have to start a family at some point. I’ve only ever cultivated and never had any interaction with others my age growing up, so I never thought about it...”

Shrugging, Netra sighed, “Yeah, that’s something we’ve all got to face. At least you don’t have a different person coming to your mom about proposing marriage every moon.”

“It happens that often?”

“Yeah... But I don’t like any of the other foxes...”

“Then what are you going to do?” Oli asked out of reflex, not paying attention to the awkward tension building until the words had already left his mouth.

“Well... I’m not sure...” said Netra nervously as she fidgeted with the last of her roasted python. “What about you? There aren’t any gorillas your age, boy or girl. How are you going to deal with that?”

“Umm... I’m not sure,” answered Oli.

Netra mumbled, “Too bad you’re not a fox...”

He looked and saw her meaningfully staring into her meat, still avoiding his gaze but not hiding at the moment.

“Too bad you’re not a gorilla,” muttered Oli.

“Really?” Netra’s ears perked up and her big eyes looked into his the moment Oli replied. “You... really mean that?”

“Yeah, I guess,” sighed Oli.

“Hmm... I wonder.”

“What is it?”

“I wonder... if it’s still possible...”

Her blush almost shown through her dark fur, but she couldn’t hide the embarrassment in her eyes.

Netra never had to deal with suitors thanks to her mom, at least not until she proved to have perfect dark affinity. From that moment on, Puula was trying to get her a cultivation partner to help her progress even further, which meant introducing different suitors in hopes of convincing her daughter to hurry up and choose a partner.

What she really wanted was to keep partnering with Oli, but that would be impossible the moment another fox would become her partner.

As those few words reached Oli’s ears, he also blushed and wondered if such a thing would be possible. Though he was a gorilla, he was originally a human, shut-in neet. There was still a part of him that liked the thought of marrying a cute fox girl, though he never imagined it to be quite like this.

“Who knows...” mumbled Oli.

“If there was, would you really want to be my partner?” Netra suddenly asked Oli. A slight tone of disparity could be felt in her voice.

“I... Umm...”

“I’m serious, Oli. If it were possible, would you want to?” repeated Netra, summoning all the courage she could muster. “My mom has always been bringing suitors to give me away, but I’d rather stay as your partner.”

He swallowed some saliva and took a deep breath. “I mean, I don’t think I’d be against it. But how would that even be possible? That–”

“But if it were possible, would you really be my partner...?” Her voice was getting shakier every time she repeated herself, losing come confidence each time. It was her desperation that kept her from backing down without an answer.

“I know I always annoyed you about proving you had dark essence, but I was only doing that to prove to my mom you might be the best partner available...”

“So that’s why...”

“So, if it were really possible for us to be together, would you please be my partner?”

Only then did Oli realized that Netra had officially proposed to him. With that in mind, Oli felt extreme guilt for forcing Netra to do so and recognized just how desperate she was, even though she never admitted it before.

And a part of him was actually glad. Even in his previous life, Oli hadn’t had much interaction with the opposite sex. Netra was easily the closest female friend he ever had, and he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed being with her more than almost anyone.

“I... If it were really possible, I’d be willing...” stammered Oli.

Netra, the cool and collected fox, dropped her cool persona and teared up. “You... Do you mean that?”

“Yeah... If you were a gorilla, I would’ve already proposed. So, if such a relationship were really possible in the end, I don’t see why not.

Struggling to say more, Netra froze up in emotion.

Oli got closer and patted her on the back to help her calm down. It was the first step of a very complex relationship.