Chapter 308 (2/2)

Thea Glasshammer, for her part, sat on the cushions, almost slumped over, leaning down, her head between her knees. In her hand she held a small crystal, about the size of a walnut, but glittering with rainbow light, the soft glow illuminating the lines of her hand.

Honestly, none of that was even what had Simon stopped dead. What really stopped Simon was that Thea was out of her furs, and she-

“You’re my age!” Simon blurted out, his eyes widening. Thea straightened, her thin face at first blank, and then pursed in annoyance.

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Thea snapped. “And I’m NOT your age, I’m almost 16. What are you, like 12?”

“I’m 14!” Simon said, clenching his fist. “And almost 15, I think. Maybe even 15. I sorta… lost track of counting, when…”

Suddenly, the fight went out of both of them, and they looked awkwardly at the ground. The System’s arrival had done a lot of things, and one of them was warp people’s sense of time. It was hard to tell how many weeks had passed towards the beginning there, as everyone scrambled for food and shelter from the newly arrived monsters.

Combined with the fact that the increased Endurance and Vitality allowed people to stay up for 24 hours without blinking an eye… days quickly lost their meaning, and it was only recently, after their contact with Donnyton, who had instituted a uniform calendar already, that they once more kept track of the days.

The new calender put them in early November, and they tentatively thought that the System arrived at the end of February, based on what they remembered. Still, they lived in a mild climate, but not THIS mild. The temperature should have lowered to at least the 50s, but it remained constant right under 70.

But based on the announcement when Thea killed the Raid Boss, perhaps that would change soon…

Abruptly realizing that they had been silent for almost a minute, Simon floundered, and then finally said. “...is the skill good?”

After a brief hesitation, Thea stood, and held out her palm that wasn’t holding the crystal. A strange, white at the edges, black at the center flame emerged, flickering in the dim tent, barely producing any light.

“Ghost Fire,” Thea whispered. “Will burn and cause extreme pain on the victim, while being completely invisible to all others. I can throw it, but… much easier to press it up by hand, to be sure on who it touches. I haven’t really used it on anything, but… it seems strong. It is a skill taken from a Raid Boss, after all. Uncommon Rarity.”

Then Thea sighed, letting the fire disappear. “The problem is I’m a physical fighter. My Mana can only support using it once every several hours… So I have to decide whether to invest more stats into Intelligence and Wisdom, or…”

Her expression was helpless. Simon blushed. He had been listening, but…

...Thea was…. really really cute…

Inwardly, Simon was somewhat aghast that he had originally taken her to be rather husky. She just wore several layers of bushy fur, that made her body look slightly tubby looking. It wasn’t that she actually weighed any more than him-

THAT thought made him flush. Honestly, with his belly, he was definitely a good deal heavier than she was…?

“Are you sick? You keep making faces.” Thea asked, her expression concerned. She took the crystal and put it into a pouch on her belt, and stepped closer to him.

Which of course, made Simon flush even more. “Uh, I-”

“Your friend is awake.” The Wild RIder interrupted, pointing to an ever deeper entrance, shrouded by a thin, gauze blanket. Glad for the distraction, Simon hurried over, joined by the sheep.