Chapter 247 (2/2)

“It was her secret, Ace,” Randidly pointed out. “I couldn’t just tell you. Shouldn’t you be more mad about her failure to disclose? You aren’t being very reasonable.”

“Being unreasonable is my prerogative!” Ace announced, recovering from his injury and pointing towards the ceiling. Then he lowered his hand and extended towards Randidly. “...Because we are best friends.”

“...Yea.” Randidly said, and he felt choked up for a second as he took Ace’s hand and squeezed it lightly. Randidly hadn’t realized how much of a weight that he carried, because his last interaction with Ace had been so laden with resentment and anger that he didn't even understand. But now, now that he understood… it all fell away.

Ace winced. “Holy shit man, maybe you haven’t gotten any sleep cuz you’ve been slamming weights in the gym. How fucking strong are you? I mean you look good, but… and fucking how didn’t you know that I suspected it? I’ve been giving you stink eyes for weeks!”

Randidly shrugged awkwardly. “I thought… well Tessa made me think you both assumed we were… errr... “

“Cheating?” Ace said, his face twisted in a disgusted expression. “Like, I get she has a nice ass, but I really don’t know why you put up with Tessa’s jealousy. Plus, there’s no way in hell that Sydney has a chance with you-”

Randidly burst out laughing. “No way she has a chance with me? The girl you said was ‘beautiful as sin’? I’m parking ticket beautiful, at best.”

“Ha! You always were so dumb with the things you say. That’s why I keep you around, to make my phrases look smart.” Ace said, throwing his arm around Randidly. “You see, friend, those things you think you will never have? Generally, those are simply the things you don’t reach for…”

Blink.

Randidly stood in a small room, where a woman lay slumped against the wall, her hands bound up to the ceiling by chains.

Blinking, his eyes focused on her the same time she looked at him. She lifted her head up, suddenly animated.

“Lyra?” Randidly said, rather uncomprehending at the whole conversation.

She gave him a sardonic smile. “Look, I’m doing my best damsel impression. Now you just need to get off your ass and be the hero. Got it?”

Blink.

Drak Wyrd stood in front of Randidly, raising his spear. Then he began to move, swinging slowly through what Randidly knew was just a training progression. But it was at such a level that it had Randidly rooted to the floor. His spear danced and spun, moving so quickly and so fluidly that it seemed to bend and twist, writhing mid air like a living creature.

Then Drak switched gears, moving from flowing strikes, to rapid, brutal ones. The air hummed with the passage of his spear. The rare power contained in the strikes… even his basic skills were trained to a level that left Randidly in awe.

Was this a current vision? Because otherwise… and even then, he could slow him down with spells, but Randidly would eventually be forced into a close confrontation with him. And at that time, his current spear skills weren’t going to be able to stop Drak for long.

Then Drak’s spear blurred, moving with pure speed as the goal. Randidly narrowed his eyes. Even with his skill level, and his high Perception.... This was beyond him. It was barely even registerable with his senses. So this… this was the strength that made even Aethon Thai unshakably sure that Drak Wyrd would win the tournament. This level of perfection.

But after the training, Drak dropped the spear, his hand trembling. Falling to one knee, Drak shouted “Liam!”

A door opened, and another man ran into the room. “Master, you know you can’t train now. Your skills are already pushed to the limit. This is the result of keeping your level so low for so long. If you gain anymore skill levels, the Aether Starvation-”

“Liam, quiet. It is necessary.” Drak looked up at the ceiling, his eyes narrowed. “Everything is necessary, to open a path for my family to return to its former glory.”