The Outlaw [2]

"So, tell me, what has happened that you aren't somber?" She asked, her expression curious, her eyes eager.

He paused, considering his words carefully.

"Hmm... I'm not exactly sure what she meant by 'region meeting,' but his mood didn't seem good, so maybe it didn't go well... I need to act natural, unlike my usual straightforward self."

"Nothing special. Just because I don't seem down doesn't mean I'm happy," he replied.

Her eyes widened in surprise. "I know something must have happened! You could never say such a thing until yesterday," she said, locking eyes with him.

"Don't tell me! You've fallen in love with someone!" she exclaimed, leaning forward, her body almost horizontal in her excitement.

"How did you come up with that?!" he exclaimed, leaning back to maintain some distance.

"Oh, come on! Tell me! You have to tell your dearest, best big sis in the world who has captured the heart of her most adored and stern brother?" she teased, leaning even closer.

"I have not fallen in love with anyone. You're just imagining things!" he protested.

"I know for a fact that's not true," she said, pinching his cheeks playfully. "Your big sis will finally get it out of you, just wait!"

She settled back in her chair, crossing her legs, signaling a shift to more serious topics.

"Ahem! Anyway, let's move on to work talks," she said.

"It didn't exactly go well. Things got complicated, and I can't really describe it in words," he explained.

She fell silent for a moment, then spoke with furrowed brows, "Did they bully you? I swear I will teach them a lesson they won't forget if they've done anything of that sort to you!"

"I can't tell you if they did or not, but we should probably have another meeting with you present," he suggested.

"No need. The 'Cross-Regional Battle Tournament' is starting in two weeks. We'll have a 'talk' there," she said, locking eyes with him intently.

"I'll have to train you too so you can participate. I know we've already seen your low potential, but trying never hurts, right?"

'Damn, my luck! Why do you like messing with my plan so much!' Aisam thought, his expression unintentionally showing a hint of frustration.

Seeing his sudden change of emotions, she asked, "Are you angry with me? I won't force you to participate if you don't want to," her tone filled with concern.

"Sorry for that," Aisam said, softening his expression. "I'm not angry at you... I was angry at myself for not being a better, more capable brother," he explained, clenching his fists.

Her face lit up with a cheerful smile. "Awwww, I never imagined the day would come when my brother would openly admit how much he loves his big sis again."

"... I'm sorry if what she said is true, Valtor, but I'll protect your sister 'if I can'," he thought, a sense of 'compassion' rising within him as he observed her.

"You know, those words hurt me deeply!" Valtor remarked.

"Hehehe, you're so cute! I'll find that special someone for you no matter what."

"Please, don't!"

"You know I won't give up until I achieve my goal," she chuckled.

"Alright, so what's the plan now?" Valtor asked.

"We're going to have breakfast. I haven't eaten anything and waited for you."

"Umm... I already ate something on my way here," Valtor said.

"What?! I made a special recipe I found from Noble just for the two of us! Now, my appetite is ruined..." she said, looking down with a melodramatic expression.

"I-" Valtor started, but she interrupted him, looking up again with her previous cheerful demeanor.

"Just kidding! Of course, you should eat whenever you're hungry. I don't want my little brother to go hungry."

"I don't know if that's sarcastic or genuine," Valtor remarked.

"Hehe, you can interpret it however you like."

After finishing their talk, she uncrossed her legs and stood up from her chair. "You can wait in your room until I call you, or go to the training room and wait for me. Then, we'll start training," she said.

'Training room? Is it the one with the 'cat and dog fighting' symbol?' he thought, then quickly exited the room.

Turning toward the direction of the symbol, he soon reached an iron door.

It wasn't locked like the previous room and opened easily.

Entering the room, he saw a fighting ring in a cage, surrounded from all sides.

An iron door was the only entrance or exit.

There were concrete seating places made on the top corners of the room for spectators.

Outside the fighting ring and around it, there were floor mats, although not modern, they provided some form of cushioning.

Many training pads and shields were scattered around, but surprisingly, there were no weapons.

"Well, that's to be expected," Aisam muttered, a bit dissatisfied with the equipment they had.

'I suppose they only do melee, which is better for me, as my life isn't in much danger compared to fighting with cold weapons,' he said, then started walking down the stairs passing the spectators' seats.

As he reached the bottom and stood in front of the fighting ring, he glanced at it briefly, then quickly turned around and walked toward the training shields and pads.

Sitting down on the ground, leaning back on the training pads, he took a heavy sigh. 'I didn't get her name,' he muttered. 'I have to ask her if she knows anything about when the academy is gonna start, who's the boss, and where are their other members.'

'If the Academy has already started, then I will have to go with plan B," he thought. "If I can find the boss sooner and complete the mission, I'd prefer to get out of here and not engage in fights that aren't mine.'

He was lost in thought when he suddenly remembered a question. 'Hey Nova, how much does it cost to improve my luck?'

[Increasing all 'Inherent Stats' costs 10 times more than 'Variable Stats', so increasing your luck by 1 costs 5,000 TPs.]

'What the heck? I'd rather buy the 'Childcare' skill!'

[Do you want to buy the 'Childcare' skill?]

'No, it was a joke!'

[Nova was joking too, hehe...]

'Sigh, I see you're developing a sense of humor...'

'Oh, by the way, Nova, when are these 'Random' missions going to show up? If it's like this, I have to generate every mission myself.'

[It's not in Nova's control; the FT System calculates the danger of situations and many other factors, then gives out a mission, and probably at least 1 random mission can happen every week.]

'Hmm... that's fine by me then for now.'

Aisam ran out of topics to talk about so he started staring at the door of the training room, waiting for Valtor's sister.

"... I wonder when-" Aisam muttered as he suddenly saw the door open and she entered.

Seeing Valtor leaning back, looking bored and only staring at the door she entered, she chuckled.

"I see you're extremely bored," she said, then arched her back, pressed her feet backward, and...

Leaped into the air, skipping around 35 to 40 stairs from the entrance up to the last seat on the ground level.

She leaped over the fighting ring too while she was 6 meters above the ground, almost reaching the ceiling.

Then, she landed on the ground on her feet, 1 meter away from Aisam. Afterward, she stood straight like it was nothing to her.

Walking over to him, she held out her hand. "Let's start some exciting training!"

"... I'm fucked!"