124 Almos (2/2)

Yawm did the same. I walked up to him. He crossed his arms,

“If there is something I miss about Schema’s system, it’s an obelisk. If I can regain access to his system, then that will be the first thing I acquire.”

I nodded, “It’s a really nice device to have.”

I took a step back from Yawm, opening my obelisk. The clicking of cicadas and running water flowed into my ears with a pleasant hum. I smiled before opening Torix’s library. In it, there was a section marked as forbidden books. I selected every other book and sent Amara a friend request.

Seconds later, Amara appeared on my friends list. I sent her the file, thousands of books being sent in seconds. I closed my obelisk. Yawm’s viewing room reappeared, the same aquatic giants floating in the water above. Yawm tapped his chin,

“I hope this question doesn’t probe to deeply, but how did you acquire such an extensive library so quickly? Your planet hasn’t even been in Schema’s system for a year.”

I shrugged, “It was from Torix, the lich that came with me when we first met.”

Yawm nodded,

“Ah, now I feel even worse about my misunderstanding when we first met. After all, if there exists one aspect I respect about another person, it’s a love for books. I simply must apologize next time we meet and invite him for a discussion about stories.

I glanced up, looking at the phosphorescent shimmer of a passing jellyfish, “Who knows, maybe he knows a few fairy tales you haven’t heard yet.”

Yawm clapped his hands once, “An excellent suggestion! Fairy tales hide the wisdom of the cultures that created them. There’s much we may learn from one another.”

I frowned. If Yawm and Torix talked for more than a few minutes, Torix may give away our secrets on accident. In my head at least, it seemed like they would get along too well.

Before I continued along that train of thought, the white sphere around Amara dissipated. She walked up to me, inspecting my armor,

“You are more than you appear to be. Here I imagined you were merely in a guise.”

Yawm turned towards me, “A guise?” He turned back towards her, “What do you mean by the word guise?”

Amara turned towards me. As much as I was hiding it, there was an inkling of fear on my face. It was obvious now. Amara could see my level and Yawm’s. Anyone with half a brain cell could tell there was a massive gap between us. It looked like she was about to reveal me.

My brain entered overdrive. It was now or never. If she exposed me, all hell could break loose. Would I be able to bullshit to Yawm about my strength again? I didn’t know. If he hit me twice in a row, then I’d be dead. That was a risk I didn’t want to take.

An idea popped into my head. Was it a good one? I didn’t know at the time because the pressure was on. I just went with it. I opened a hand towards her,

“Since you don’t think much of me, how about we have a little test?”

Amara grinned at me, “What kind of test?”

I would use her biggest strength against her. I weighed my hands back and forth,

“A test of wills. We’ll see who has higher mana generation rates.”

The grin on Amara’s mouth grew. A bit of drool leaked from her, “What will I receive if I win this contest?”

I waved my hand like I didn’t care, “I don’t know, you can eat me or some shit. If I win, stop questioning my abilities, eh?”

Yawm observed with an expressionless face. I’d been around him enough to know that if he had lips, he’d have an amused grin on his face. Amara seemed giddy at the prospect,

“You are a warrior. Why are you comparing our mana generation? We could have a simple fight if you’d prefer that. Even though I may lack the brute force of many eldritch, I have magic and what I’ve learned from the cipher. It would be a fairer test.”

I shook my head, “There’s no need for all that. Let’s just keep it simple, short, and sweet. What do you say?”

Amara’s hair bristled up, goosebumps appearing over her skin as saliva flowed from her maw. She grinded her teeth together, the sound of gears turning echoing out. She hissed,

“I accept.”

I grinned at her confidence. It was nice to see, but I unlike her, I had something she didn’t have. I’d seen her status screen in full. All she knew for certain about me was my level. I couldn’t blame her for her certainty either. She was 1,000 levels over me, a mage, and mana generation was her specialty.

The thing was, she didn’t know just how stupid high my mana was.