Second Genesis

The rapier came for his ribs, but Grey wasn’t there anymore.

He went up over the counter backwards, one palm on the frozen bar top, and the blade took a strip off the wood where his spine had been. Frost sprayed along with the wood chips. Grey landed on the other side laughing, and a shadow-wrapped arm came through the gap after him.

He might have spared a thought toward why the system was allowing Amunet to attack in a safe room, but he had already confirmed the thing was sexist as fuck. Definitely a woman. He wondered if the Genesis System was hot.

He’d definitely have to harass her a time or two for all the bullshit she had put him through, then. That’d teach her.

Amunet was fast; he didn’t get to spend long thinking about useless things before she attacked again.

A day ago, she would have needed three steps to close that distance, and now she needed one, and the shadows moved half a beat ahead of her body, so it was hard to gauge exactly where and how her attack was coming.

It still wasn’t enough, though. Grey was on another level.

Grey hopped the counter again on the return, caught a hanging rack with two fingers, swung, and let go.

"You’re telegraphing with the wrist!"

"I’ll telegraph your throat with my fucking blade!"

"Damn, you really can’t tell just by looking these days, huh? You have a blade down there?"

"I’ll fucking kill you!"

She came in low, and Grey went straight up. Her rapier passed under his heels, and he flipped over the top of her head with his hands clasped behind his back and a smile on his face. He came down at her back and landed without a sound.

Amunet stopped.

She turned around slowly. Grey couldn’t see her face at all through the shadows layered over it, but he didn’t have to. She was practically radiating fury.

"Alright, alright." He put both hands up. "I yield. You win. I’m sorry, I went a little too far."

She didn’t move.

"Look, if it makes you feel any better," Grey grinned, "I wasn’t joking—wait, don’t stab! I am only half talking about your chest; the other half I’m talking about is the whole forgiving you thing. It really was enough, consider yourself forgiven."

Grey just casually decided on a whim because he felt like it. He had always been like that.

Amunet said nothing.

She huffed once, and it was a lot shorter and sharper than a huff should have been. The rapier went back into the dark and disappeared.

Grey watched her, and he felt something odd.

Amunet had a mouth on her that was only just short of his own. She would have normally had a million quippy replies by now, but she had just chosen to attack out of frustration instead.

The shadows over her face even seemed thicker than usual, too. It was subtle, but Grey could pick up on it.

’Huh,’ Grey thought. It seemed that she wasn’t very used to stuff like this, otherwise she wouldn’t act like that.

Thi Lan, though, was a different animal entirely.

She stood by the doorway with her hands folded in front of her, and she was angry, that much was obvious. But it was contained and more controlled.

Whether that was experience or just the difference between however old Amunet was and however old Thi Lan was, Grey couldn’t tell. He also still couldn’t tell whether she was 20 or 30. Either way, she was hot.

’Fuck me, my balls feel 10 times heavier.’

Grey sighed and dropped down onto a stool that looked like it might shatter any moment now.

"So how does it feel?" he asked.

Thi Lan’s head came up. "How does what feel?"

"The new strength. Both of you."

"I’m... not certain." Thi Lan raised her hand and turned it over, watching her own fingers with a small frown. She seemed quite happy by the topic change, though. "It’s difficult to describe. I’ll have to actively test it out to find out, honestly. I feel a lot stronger, but I don’t know how easily I can apply that strength yet."

She stopped and looked over at something. Grey followed her eyes and found them fixed on Amunet’s leg.

"Your leg," Thi Lan breathed out, "it’s back?"

Amunet nodded, clearly happier to reply to Thi Lan than Grey.

She shifted her weight onto it as though testing it. "Everything moves easier now. I don’t feel like I ever lost it at all."

Grey nodded along, but didn’t say much. The only odd thing was that both of them were still Proving Class. They didn’t get the same boost he had.

He’d gone from nothing to Vector in a single jump, and some part of his brain had assumed a drop of rebirth water plus twelve hours in that loop would fling them forward the same.

Granted, logically speaking, it wasn’t quite right for the rebirth waters to boost his Class by that much. Improving Classes meant improving Abilities. And improving Abilities wasn’t something improving your potential alone could do.

The only explanation was that Grey had reached the adequate level of comprehension for the Vector Class a long time ago, but other factors were holding him back. That said...

’Give them a month,’ Grey thought. ’Maybe less. With their new compatibility, they’ll be able to take the leap forward a lot faster now.’

"Fine. Good enough." He slapped his knees and stood. "Then here’s where we are. The second Volthari still hasn’t shown its face."

Thi Lan’s expression became serious. "It hasn’t."

"Which means you’re stuck here, but you’ll be fine. I put up the spatial barrier for good now, so no one comes in unless the treasure is destroyed." Grey grinned. "Plus, you’re a lot stronger now. I have a feeling you can handle yourself even without it."

Amunet’s shadows tilted. "And us?"

"We’ll go back to the Holy City. I’ve got the Mech Soul. We finish the arc and put an end to this."

"Are you returning to the Holy City?"

Grey’s head turned toward the sudden voice.

Barkeep Ji stood behind the counter with his hands folded. It was like he had always been there, but Grey had no idea when he showed up.

Grey’s eyes narrowed.

Ji didn’t ask questions without reason. The only reason he would was if he was pushing Grey toward a certain conclusion. And right now...

"The second arc is that much more dangerous?" Grey asked.

Ji was trying to tell him not to finish the first arc.

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