Chapter 282 - Day CMLXXVI, Part II

We both rushed at each other at the same time, and our weapons clashed, sending sparks everywhere. We didn't retract and pushed stronger, to the point we got very close to each other. We stared down, smiling.

Then I gave up and turned to the side. Will got caught by that move and stumbled maybe half of a step forward before jumping back, but I kicked him in the leg.

- Au!

- Got ya!

- You didn't get shit! - he shouted, and charged back, kiping his blade lower, to stab.

I avoided easily, moving to the side, but that's what he actually wanted, attempting a low kick, which I blocked but the handle of my weapon. I would actually got hit if I wasn't faster than him. but I did. He stepped back again.

- Stop kicking each other! You are not in kindergarten anymore! - Yelled Boris.

I peaked at our audience, they were having fun.

Will used this opportunity to charge again and forced me to dodge few heavy, and swift swings. He was pretty precise. I had to party the last ones, as I couldn't keep up with the dodges. Another shower of sparkles burst out of our clashing blades. He was definitely getting serious.

We exchanged few more swings. I noticed that he is getting more and more comfortable in this duel. His tempo was increasing.

I still had plenty to give in both terms of speed and strength, so I increased the pace by a notch. This caught him off guard, and for a moment he was struggling to keep up. There were few openings I normally would use in a real fight, but here there was no need. I wanted to push him to test his limits, not kill.

I kept going faster and faster to the point our hands became just a blur, and sparks were constantly raining over us.

He couldn't go faster than that, so I decided to end the duel, by suddenly closing the distance, while pushing his blade, with a heavy blow, to the side, and rammed him with my shoulder. The blade fell out of his hand and slid on the plates a few meters away. Will landed on his ass.

- I win.

He extended his hand towards me, and with dramatic expression said:

- There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you.

He was changing his way of speaking, which was kinda funny.

- What?

- Peter, you don't yet realize your importance. You've only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training.

- What the fuck are you talking about?

- Peter, I am your mother.

Then it all clicked. I couldn't help but smile.

- No. Nooooo! - I yelled in a completely theatrical manner, doing my best to make it sound as artificial as possible.

Our audience just laughed.

- Happy? - I asked him.

- Yep - he said with a big smile.

- Nice guys, very nice! - shouted Boris, while clapping. - We need a theater here. You two will be our stars. We will call it Shitwood. Perfect name for your levels of acting

He laughed at his own joke, just like a bunch of other people.

- Fuck you - replied William.

- Or a comedy club! - suddenly shouted Nil with eyes wide open, like he just discovered something amazing.

- That's a great idea - Hailwic followed. - Maybe we can have a comedy night at Velvet Lotus.

- I'll work on that - said Hatta. - I'm sure Aisha will agree.

Will picked himself up, with a little of my help.

- Oh, yes. I'm gonna perform for sure - he said.

I punched him in the shoulder, he did the same in revenge. Then we slowly made our way to the rest of the people.

- I thought that you really wanted to spar.

- I did, but I also knew I'm gonna lose, so I decided to make a little performance out of it.

- Well, you put up a decent fight for what it's worth.

- Yeah, you both are fast as hell - said Sanders. - At the end, I couldn't even see your hands. The sparkles were everywhere.

I peaked at my weapon. Unlike Will, I just had the one, and actually cared about it, but fortunately for me, there were no signs of it being damaged at all. Rishi really did an incredible job.

We had a short conversation about the fight, and then Nobuo invited us all for a dinner. We had some Japanese food. Bunch of different types of fish with rice and miso soup. I enjoyed it greatly as it was very different from what I was used to, or the glorified, by me, food served in the cafeteria. 

Then we kinda parted our ways, and I started thinking more about the upcoming hunt, and my need for more class points. My yesterday's plan was to start with lizardmen and live one of my anchors there, but now I started thinking that maybe I should start bu acquiring more of those anchors first by upgrading the skill.

The ogre cave seemed to be perfect for this, as the crystals were pricy, and I could get quite a lot with some effort. Besides I also wanted to explore the damn thing.

Then my thoughts shifted to the device and the problem of upgrading it. Right now I was in the position to do it by myself, but part of me was completely against is, because why the hell should I work for everybody else? Other pert didn't really care, as the access to new things looked way more attractive. Then also thoughts about the whole mess with Xuvi and the deal with them came to the equation.

The fact of me needing to get stronger was pretty obvious, I was just unsure on what to focus on first, as the time seemed kinda limited, and every decision had some benefits to it. I didn't even notice when I got to my room in the barracks.

My dilemma continued but now shifted more towards the problem with Ki'rai. She was their soldier but also was willing to betray them in some sense. I was unsure if I can truly trust her, and what her motives were. If I only could have a proper conversation with her, which probably was impossible, since even she avoided speaking when passing the information about wiretapping in my stuff. This indicated she had the same problem with her equipment.

That was a vital problem for me since I really liked that creature. She felt like an adopted daughter to me. I couldn't just ignore her.

I explored those thoughts for hours, and also went through the whole history of this place and The Great One's machinations. I wanted to know who was telling the truth, and who was lying, even if we already decided to ignore Xuvi, and focus on the one who could actually hurt us on a whim. Even with the promise of never invading us again, there was still a lot they could actually do to us, and that's only considering the promise was not a lie.

Still confused, I went to eat in the cafeteria, and then back to bed.

The day came to an end with 82 566 130 points remaining on my account.