Chapter 420 (2/2)
Ace blew a bubble of blood out of his nose as he snorted with laughter. Then he winced. With a wave of his hand, Ptolemy cast Healing Circle. Then, for good measure, he cast Invigorate on both Ace and Thea, restoring some portion of their Stamina. It wasn’t much now, but it was a recent Skill acquisition, his Level 40, and hopefully, it would grow to be an invaluable asset.
Very quickly, the bones of Ace’s jaw snapped back into place, and after a thankful smile towards Ptolemy, his gaze turned surly and towards Thea.
After ascertaining his patient was fine, Ptolemy began to move away but was waved back by Alana. “Things will be easier if you are here. Stay a bit, will you?”
Ptolemy nodded and wandered over. Although staying here wasn’t ideal, it was much, much better than being caught alone by Clarissa. That woman…
Shivering, Ptolemy closed his eyes and did his best to let the grunts and hisses of the spar flow past him. Every few minutes, he would be shaken awake by Alana, and Ptolemy healed the participants, mostly Ace. Almost primarily Ace, and Ace was becoming increasingly incensed due to his repeated losses.
“What the fuck!” He finally bellowed, after the 5th such healing. “How can you… how come I’m not-”
“You rely on that Skill of yours too much,” Alana said coolly, giving him a cold look. “And you insist on this pointless use of your hands-”
“My knuckles grow strong on the blood of my enemies,” Ace said simply as if he had practiced saying just that 1000 times in front of the mirror. Ptolemy barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was easy to see why Alana would become frustrated with the guy.
But also, it was easy to see why she would do nothing about it. Because although he was an idiot, it was just part of his code of conduct. There was something to respect about adhering to that. So instead of continuing to harp on him, Alana switched tactics. “The reason she continues to suppress you is that her Skill is better at fighting than yours. And she started at a lower Level to begin with. It is easier for her to grow and catch up with you because you have a higher Level.”
“BUT,” Alana said, her eyes narrowing now, “You are also extremely foolish about what battles you pick. In your hands, you hold a wooden rod, which can be used in thousands of ways to great effect. She has a meat cleaver. Stop trying to overpower the meat cleaver.”
“I’m not here for a philosophy lesson,” Ace complained, and turned away, heading over towards the water barrel. As he did so, Rose and Drake arrived, speaking quietly to each other. Seeing the bloodied face of Ace, Rose wrinkled her nose and shook her head, but said nothing.
“Good, you are here,” Alana said, walking into the circle of dirt they used as an arena. “Let’s talk about form, Drake, get over here. Thea, call the match if he can’t concede?”
Ptolemy snuck away, not really annoyed by the fighting, but also not interested in it. And besides, if everyone else was here, he might have a chance-
-a body only hinted at through the steam, alluring and ripe-
Ptolemy gulped and began to trot around the side of the church towards the front entrance. From the corner of his eyes, Ptolemy saw a few of the strange locals, loitering around nearby buildings, peeking out of windows to look at the training individuals, and at Ptolemy. At first, Ptolemy felt an urge to go back and urge the training people to stop, but then he realized they were probably visibly training on purpose.
But why? Was it to show the locals they were strong… or that they were weak enough to be underestimated? Not even Ace was going at full speed in the spar. Perhaps-
Ptolemy rounded the corner and ran into someone, knocking them over. And as he realized who it was, all of the blood drained from his face.
“A...a-ar…. Ar….” He mumbled.
The dusky-skinned alien woman brushed herself off and smiled up at him. “Aratta, haha. Are you alright? Your name…. was Ptolemy….?”
It was like an invisible, magical noose tightened around his lungs, and he couldn’t breathe, looking at her. But he didn’t want to, either, lest the moment pass.