Gacha Leveling

The week passed in a blur for Matthew. Classes, training, dungeon crawling. Everything passed so ordinarily and fast that he didn't even have time to process his feelings when Erin texted him where to meet her that Sunday. A mall, a different one than last time.

This time, it was different. It was going to be just the two of them. It was undeniable that that was a date. But Erin have never shown any interest on him like that before. She was always very friendly, but she was very friendly with everybody. What happened for her to call him on a date like that? Was she secretly in love with him?

Matthew took a while picking his outfit. He didn't want to do too much in case he was misreading the situation, but also doing too little could hurt Erin's feelings. He was staring at his closet listening to Ffyr laugh at him mocking his indecision.

"Your sister is right. You really are a man-whore." The fairy ridiculed him.

Matthew ignored his familiar's comments trying to focus on the choice in front of him.

That was when his sister barged in the room without knocking.

"Hey, jerk, I have a question." Sarah said as soon as she walked in and then went silent upon seeing him on his boxers.

"Sarah! Can you knock first?" Matthew protested.

"Like there's something here I haven't already seen." Sarah clicked her tongue. "Going out on a date?" She asked upon looking around and noticing he was having trouble choosing his clothes.

"Yeah… I think?" Matthew was still not sure.

"Oh! Tell me it's with Lynn." Sarah smiled widely.

"It's not…" Matthew was uncomfortable to admit. "It's with Erin."

"Erin?!!!" Sarah screamed at him. "Are you fucking serious?"

"She asked me out. I'm not even sure if it's a real date or she just wants to hang out." He defended himself.

"Oh fuck, Matt… You're going to destroy their friendship." Sarah exclaimed bringing her hand to her head.

"What was I supposed to do? Say no to Erin?" Matthew asked.

"Yes!" Sarah screamed at him pointing the obvious. "If you like Lynn you don't go out with her best friend, you jerk!"

Matthew kept silent after been called out like that.

"Unless the one you really like is Rin, then you should stop leading Lynn on." Sarah said sitting down on his bed with a more sisterly tone.

Matthew pressed his lips together, still not saying anything.

"What is it, Matt?" Sarah looked at him with a serious look. "What's going on?"

He sighed and took a deep breath before saying:

"I don't know. I really like Lynn. But I also like Vanessa and Mia. And now that Erin asked me out, I can't say I don't feel something for her too."

Sarah put both her elbows on her knees curving forward and covering her face with both hands not believing what he was saying.

"You're such a fucking man-whore. You unbelievable jerk." She mumbled in anger muffling her words with her hands. "Is there a woman in this world you don't want?" Sarah said looking at him with wide eyes.

Matthew couldn't correct her. He could see himself even dating Professor Lydia who was in her late 30s.

Sarah stood still looking at him. She didn't know what to say. Matthew was clearly not ready for a serious commitment if his heart fluttered like that for any woman that showed him a little bit of affection. She sighed and got up picking a pair of dark gray jeans, a black T-shirt and a red dress shirt.

"Wear this. And don't break her heart." Sarah warned him. "Until you can decide who you really like, do not do anything." She added pointing at his face. "And wear that perfume I got you last Christmas."

Matthew nodded getting up from his chair and starting to get dressed.

When he noticed that Sarah made no movement to leave the room, he remembered:

"Oh yeah. You wanted to ask something?"

"Yes… I leveled up again this morning." Sarah said while playing with her hair.

"You want to pick a new class?" Matthew asked while he put on some perfume.

"Yeah. I know you said I need only the Warrior, Healer, Mage and Scout classes for the Bard class. But which do I pick now?" She asked.

"Depends. Is there something you want right now? Like, you want more strength for the sports festival or you want to be more calm for a test?"

"I want to be faster." She said after thinking for a while. "I could have saved her if I was faster." Sarah lamented.

"Her?" Matthew asked looking at her.

"A girl at the party. I didn't know her, but she was running from those things. If I was faster… I could have been able to bring her with me." Sarah said hugging herself.

"You want the Warrior or the Scout class." Matthew said patting her head. "They give the most Agility."

"Thank you, bro." Sarah thanked him for the comfort more than the tip.

"Do you want to talk about that night?" He offered sitting by her side and hugging her with one arm.

"Not yet." Sarah said resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm here for you." He said patting her shoulder.

"I know. Thanks for saving me back there."

"Always."

Erin was wearing a green summer dress that matched her eyes. Over the dress, she wore an open thin white wool crop jacket with gold buttons. She had ballet flats on her feet as white as her jacket. Finishing the look, she wore a white Havana hat with a green sash around it fitting loosely on her head.

Matthew was speechless when he saw her waiting for him. She looked so cute that made his heart skip a bit when she smiled and waved at him.

"You're late." She pouted playfully when he got closer.

"Sorry. Sarah was not feeling well." He said bringing a hand behind his head.

"Is she alright?" Erin asked worried stopping her playful behavior.

"She is. She's just a bit down because of what she saw during the Gnole Invasion." Matthew explained. "But she'll get over it. She's stronger than I am."

"Tell her that I'm here if she wants to talk." Erin said passing her arm around his.

"I'll tell her." Matthew said slowly not knowing how to react to that sudden intimacy.

"You said you wanted a magical trinket?" Erin asked walking with him through the mall.

"Yeah. Something simple. Something that a spirit would want to possess." He explained.

"There's a great shop there." She said pointing to a small store almost hid in a corner of the shopping mall close to the bathrooms.

Matthew tried to make Ffyr chose something, but she refused which made Erin giggle when she saw him bickering with her. Even though she could not hear what Ffyr was saying, it was pretty obvious what was going on.

Matthew gave up trying to convince his familiar and picked a silver necklace enchanted with a Vitality Up spell that would give a small boost to his Vitality. The price of the jewelry was so big that he caught himself counting on his head if he would still have enough money for the next month.

"I'll take care of that for you." Erin said while giving her credit card to the clerk. "I'll take this Magic Up necklace as well. For myself."

"You don't need to do that." Matthew tried to protest, but Erin just smiled at him.

"I want to." She said while picking the gold necklace she picked for herself and handing it over to Matthew. "Help me put it on."

"You don't need to buy things for me, Erin." Matthew repeated himself putting the necklace on her with care while she held her hair to give access to her neck.

"It's just a thank you gift for everything you've done for me." Erin said turning around with a smile. "So, how does it look on me?"

"You look beautiful." Matthew said with a resigned smile making her blush.

After that, they walked a bit more around the mall and ate some ice cream. They talked about the school, adventuring and their friends. Whoever looked at them on that moment would surely assume they were a couple.

Erin looked at her watch and gave Matthew a sad smile.

"I need to go home."

"Already?" Matthew protested.

"Yes. Sorry. But this was fun." She said getting up from the bench they were sitting.

"It was." Matthew said getting up himself.

Erin then placed a kiss on his cheek and blushed looking at him.

"Thank you for today. I needed this." She said shifting on her feet.

"Can I ask you something?" Matthew asked looking her in the eyes.

"Of course."

"Why did you ask me on this date? You like me?"

"I do. A little bit." She giggled showing him how much with her fingers. "But not like that." She added without conviction.

Matthew looked puzzled at her.

"My family picks our husbands for us." She said seemly changing subjects. "They chose a husband for me recently. But… But I've never been on date before. Never even kissed a boy before. And when I learned that I had to get married as soon as I graduate the adventurer school… I felt like I was missing my youth." Erin explained.

"Then you wanted to have a date?" Matthew asked her still not understanding her.

"Yes. Something normal. With a man I trust. A close friend." Erin explained. "I didn't want to get married without knowing what it is like to have a date."

Matthew stayed silent.

"Thanks for making today great. I think I can accept my marriage now." She said giving Matthew a gentle and slow peck on his mouth. "You were great. Sorry for using you like this." Erin added quickly walking away while Matthew was stunned by her kiss.

He tried to ask her to wait, but she just looked at him over her shoulder and said bringing a finger over her mouth as if asking for silence.

"Don't tell the others about this."

Before Matthew could say anything, Erin was already going down the escalator towards a black sedan that was parked in front of the mall with her driver holding the door open for her.

Matthew sat back down on the bench with a huge sigh. As if he was not already confused about who he liked before…

He felt a tingle on his lips when he remembered her kiss.

What was he to do?