Ch24. Understanding
Evellyn didn't take too long to show up, but she seemed a bit off, after the couple minutes she spent alone above ground.
Rodrick told me to live her a bit on her own, because she always acted like that when she had visions outside her dreams. That she just needed some time to adjust to reality again, so I let her be.
We ate, talked, and Evellyn even laughed a little bit, looking a bit better than before.
Then we went to sleep, and I was even accommodated in one of the full-fledged guild members' rooms.
After I showered, I threw my clothes away, and wore the new ones that Rodrick told me I could use from the wardrobe.
A black shirt that matched my black shorts.
And I knew that tomorrow my look would match my class, because wherever I looked through the wardrobe, all I could see was black.
So I went to bed, and reviewed everything that happened the last few days.
"Am I dreaming...?"
I couldn't believe how strong I felt.
It all felt so surreal, that if I woke up tomorrow in the abandoned building where the black market operated, I wouldn't be surprised.
So I opened the system window to check everything.
NAME: KURT BLAKE
LVL: 15
AGE: 16
CLASS: Rogue
STAMINA: 500/500
HP: 600/600
MP: 500/500
BASIC STATS
Undistributed stat points: 5
Strength: 130 (+10)
Dexterity: 200 (+20)
Agility: 200 (+20)
Perception: 300
Intelligence: 250
Vigor: 200
SKILLS
Steal LVL 10
Invisible hand LVL 10
Prying eyes LVL 10
Shadow walk LVL 10
INVENTORY
***
CONSUMABLES
Full recovery x2
Hidden Nest Key A-rank – Blake's library
EQUIPMENT
Midnight Ballad
Midnight Sisters
Midnight's embrace
***
"Damn... I really am stronger than I was before..."
*knock knock
"Come in, I'm not naked!"
The door opened, and my jaw dropped a little when I saw Evellyn's face inside.
"Still awake?"
"I thought it was Roderick, what're you doing here?"
I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, so I cleared my throat and was ready to correct myself, when she entered, sat down beside me, and smiled awkwardly.
"It's okay, I know you're not that kind of person."
I raised my brow.
"So you know some things about me, yes? Care to share?"
She smiled, but her cheeks reddened.
"I'd have to tell you a few secrets about me first, but today's not the day I do so. However, I'm not here to talk about it tonight."
"What did you come here to talk to me about, then?" I felt like a jerk, but I wanted to sleep.
And something in her felt... Off.
"I want to talk to you about the New Dawn."
"The purist guild that chief Leblanc told us that was nothing but an urban legend?"
"They're real." Evellyn's tone was ominous.
"I know, and I'm pretty sure that the chief is a part of it, too. If not the whole Wielders Association." She widened her eyes at me. "Come on, it's not that hard to catch. Quintus always hated regulars, the chief was trying to arrest, and he 'clearly' tried to use Quintus' death as an excuse."
Evellyn looked at me like I was some interesting piece of an amusement park.
I leaned closer to her, and looked deep in her eyes.
"Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit... Off."
Evellyn's cheeks got burning red for some reason, and then she backed away from me like I was a bomb or something like that.
"No! I mean... Yes, I'm fine. It's just that... You seem to know many things, but still, you know too little about things..."
"Should I feel offended?" I raised my brow.
It surely wasn't a compliment.
She sighed and got closer again.
"You grasped the basic shape of a bigger conflict, even though I'm not the one who will show you its full picture, yet." She whispered, looking lie a completely different person. "However, even if you became stronger than before, now, you still haven't understood the most basic fundament of real life with this... Ability of yours."
"And what is it?"
I was getting a bit annoyed by her. She appeared to know everything better than me, and even knowing that she would become the Red Oracle, someday, I felt odd when I was... That close to her.
But when I thought she was going to answer me, right when I blinked, she got even closer.
And she kissed me.
Not a french kiss, but her lips touched mine.
And I felt her voice in my head.
More than that.
I felt as if she was reading my memories, like a book.
And she was inviting me to read it with her.
It felt like turning pages, and every page I turned with the help of her hand, I would recall something of my last few days.
But it felt like I was seeing it through her eyes.
"Look at it, and understand what you're lacking." I heard her voice in my mind, as I watched the scenes of me fighting Tarhuk and his Lizard Men, then the fight with Kotur'Ah, the vulture beast.
As I recalled every situation in the past few days, I felt my body getting heavier, and my eyelids wanting to close.
And everything I could remember, before dreaming with all that happened, was Evellyn's strangely sweet embrace around me, as I fell asleep.
***
"Good morning, sleeping beauty!" I heard Rodrick's voice at the door.
My head felt heavy, but I, myself, felt a bit lighter.
But since I didn't know what it meant, yet, I decided to throw it in the back of my mind, and get up.
"Morning, old man. Are we going to finally talk business today?"
Rodrick laughed heartily.
"Yeah, today's the big day for you, rookie. Let's go grab some breakfast and take a walk, shall we?"
So that was it.
I was finally going to join a guild.
"Oh, Eve told me some things about you last night."
I raised my brow in suspicion.
"Oh, did she?"
"She did. And despite you being powerful enough to... Unalive Quintus, it doesn't change the fact that you lack some real combat experience, so, I'm going to train you."