Chapter 330 (2/2)

Ace looked in awe as Randidly drank down another beer, seemingly heedless of the amount of alcohol that he was imbibing. And this was the hard stuff! The most cringey, nail polish removing, vicious swill they could find! They had to to make drinks like this, sense the System arrived. Anything else would dissipate harmlessly when it hit somebody’s system.

Randidly lowered the glass and burped, a dumb smile on his face, a slight flush to his features. Not even drunk then, just tipsy…?

Ace studied his friend. They were sitting in a bar area of the nicest restaurant in town, where there were a dozen or so men and women who had came back from monster hunting, looking for some time to relax. In fact, everyone was watching Randidly now. His ability to drink that fucking rot gut without any outward reaction was so impressive that everyone noticed it.

Ace couldn’t believe that Randidly looked this… capable. His body, which used to be gangly and innocent, now was tightly wound, filled with corded muscle. He was nowhere near a bodybuilder, but definitely a…. Swimmer, or a gymnast, or something stretchy and athletic.

Almost instinctively, Ace scanned the crowd, noticing the way that some of the female’s eyes were studying Randidly. It wasn’t jealousy he felt, necessarily, but possessiveness over those eyes. But Ace shook that feeling off.

His best friend was back. And almost instantly, they clicked again. Well, not the same, but…

The fear in Randidly’s eyes, the lack of confidence, that was gone. Now, he continued to follow Ace’s lead, but that might just be out of habit-

Ace shook his head, doing his best to clear away his thoughts. Now wasn’t the time for threat assessment. Better to just enjoy the moment.

“So how did you survive?” Ace asked, moving to a subject that he was curious about, but unwilling to bring up easily. After all, if Randidly would explain his story, Ace might need to explain his…

“Uh…” Randidly seemed to think about it very hard for a few seconds. Then he shrugged. “...it was weird, by some twist, I was in the underground walkway, right? And so I spawned directly in a dungeon. Trained next to a safe zone for a month, a person from another world came and taught me to use the spear, and then together, we beat the dungeon boss. What was really difficult was that we were stuck in the dungeon until then, so I didn’t have a class.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Ace said with a laugh. “What level are you now?”

“I still don’t have a class,” Randidly said, his face that peculiar brand of serious that he always got.

“Hahahahahaha! Stop fucking with me! What’s your class man? Mine’s super cool, its-” But then Ace trailed off, because Randidly continued to give him that solemn look.

Oh shit. He was being serious.

“You…. don’t have a Class?” Ace said slowly. “Then… how did you get into the Refuge? I mean non-Classers can be strong, but…”

Randidly just shrugged, gesturing for another drink. The bartender looked between the two of them, and then at the dozens of empty shot glasses on the table between them. Ace could see the waiter doing some calculations about the amount of liquor both of them had imbibed, and how high that made their Physical stats.

Apparently everyone else was doing the same thing, because they gave the two of them a wide berth. Ace leaned back, enjoying it, the edge of fear. The confusion in their eyes, as the people wondered how strong they were. It was clear they were both super powerful, but… the fact they couldn’t see how much just made that gap between them and the crowd seem so much larger…

Ace’s happy thoughts were abruptly cut short, as he leaned forward. Randidly had drank more than him. Without a Class…?

“Oh thank god, I found you.” Ace turned, happy for the distraction, but a little less happy that Rose was pushing her way through the crowd. Not only because she would undoubtedly say something extremely boring about running a city, but also because she possessed NONE of the bearing of a super villain. How was their powerful mystique supposed to survive if she insisted on looking like a librarian all of the time, but…

Ace supposed he couldn’t be too annoyed. He, after all, hadn’t worn his armor of helmet out, but…

“Earlier today, someone came into the Refuge. Powerful enough to defeat Brute in a physical contest. Within seconds.” Rose eyes were serious, locked onto Ace.

Ace leaned back, his fun, old persona falling away, the implacable will of Dauntless rising to the surface. “Interesting.”

Not that the strength was the interesting thing, although it was curious that this stranger was so strong, but was really most interesting to Ace was that Rose would tell him. Because she must know that he would then immediately seek that person out. Why would she tell him…?

Ah, Ace saw it, and a deep, buried fear and pain reared its ugly head. She doubted him. Doubted him as their leader. Doubted that he would be able to find and overcome this threat, like he had all other before it. Which made Ace wonder how exactly a single person could intimidate her like this. With her skill, shouldn’t seeing through that be easy…? Or at least seeing through enough to know whether victory was impossible.

After all, she never would have come if victory was out of reach. This ambiguity was… disturbing.

“Well, after I finish here, let’s pay this individual a visit, shall we?” Ace said slowly, leaning back to the bar.

“Ah, no need.” Randidly said, turning to them both from where he had been finishing his shot. “It’s me, she’s talking about me.”

Rose opened her mouth. Opened her eyes wider. Then she shut her mouth.