Advice

After leaving Hope and Rose I went back to the workshop to work with G in the crossbows. This time we didn't start by building them straight away.

G took out the blueprints of the light crossbow and spread it on the table.

"Yesterday you said that you didn't understand the blueprint, now that you got that new skill can you understand it?".

I started to watch and analyze carefully the blueprints. Yesterday the blueprints had a bunch of weird symbols and besides understating forms, I don't get the meaning of them.

Now I was surprised to discover that in just one day, it was like the blueprint was translated. Not literally but all the symbols that before were weird now I could understand all of them, now the materials, the size, and characteristics, how to assemble and a bunch of other details were clear.

"Yeah, I understand everything now". I was nodding my head every time I saw a different blueprint.

"You were really lucky with that cheat like power, well that makes everything easier, help me with this". We started to move a couple of boxes that were already sorted and left them on the table. "First we are going to check and modify the pieces we got, leave in this box the pieces that aren't from this blueprints, those are for the medium crossbow".

He showed one by one a different part that was either similar to or the same as the ones in the blueprints. The parts that weren't for the light crossbow were left in a different box. We were making a compound crossbow, even if making this type was more complex than other types of crossbows there were two reasons why I choose this.

First, the strength needed to reload was not as much as the needed on recurve bows, which make it easier to use for all of us. Second, we had more parts available near us. At least that was the filter I set up in the system shop for blueprints.

After checking all the pieces he started to explain how should I work on some of the ones that he told me to modify. He was working on the limbs and riser, while I was working on the arrow track.

Al the mechanism and important parts we were working now would be from an alloy which according to G was durable and flexible, most of the crossbow was made of this.

It took us a couple of hours to have the pieces ready, we have enough to make 2 crossbows for now. But since we have been working almost all afternoon, G was tired. The rain had a second effect on his body, because of the lack of sun he had no way to recharge himself and his battery was almost depleted. If it wasn't for the battery perk he probably would be sleeping since hours ago.

When we went into our apartment we heard a metallic ball rolling on the floor. We come and saw that Rose was looking at Hope while she was in the middle of the room making a bunch of balls orbit around her. The door made her lose her focus and al the balls rolled away from her at a slow speed.

Rose indeed understood what my plans were. I saw on the table the same two lamps that I left here a couple of hours before.

"How was the training?"

"I can make metallic things orbit around me!" Hope didn't expect this, she was always bad and hated math and physics, and her memory worked from later the meteor storm.

Rose was at her side smiling.

G excused himself and went straight to his room.

"Is he ok?" Hope asked.

"Yeah, since there is no sun he is in a weakened state right now. Keep practicing for a while if you want. I'm going to check how the water collector in the roof is working, Rose try to do it differently each time and made her follow the trajectories of the balls, so she can remember the differences".

"Don't worry we have been doing that since the beginning". Rose answered, it was amazing made a good training method without me even saying the objective, she probably already knows and have thought about all what I have planned.

"Don't try too hard, if you got tired just go to sleep".

I went to the room and got a raincoat and a lamp before heading to the roof, I found a towel on the railing on my way.

I stood at the roof door and observed carefully the structure, there wasn't much wind and the bathtubs were all halfway filled. On the corner of my eye, I saw I color difference so I peeked and found Hayley in her diving suit training.

I was going to tell her to get inside and that she could get a cold, but I doubt that the cold can affect her that way.

Since it was dark I went out to check the parts of the structure that I couldn't see from the roof door, and to verify with the lamplight a second time that everything was working well.

While checking that I noticed that there were some frost spots in the roof. It was obviously Hayley's doing.

I focused on her training method. From the colors I could see, I was pretty sure that she had changed what she was doing before and was trying to freeze the water before it fell to the floor

The temperature didn't go down fast enough to freeze the rain before falling, so it wasn't working as she expected. The frost parts on the floor were done before during the first part of her training. I decide to help her a little and got closer.

"Go back to the water pools but try to freeze a smaller area". She wasn't surprised to hear me and I could see that she was doing what I told her. It took her around 10 seconds to freeze a circle of 10 cm in diameter.

"Maintain that same area but try to freeze it faster each time, tell me when you get tired" she followed my instructions, of course, she focused her power each time in a different area. I could see changes of colors, and after an hour, breaks included, I could see in her face that she was tired, the time was faster by 3 seconds though.

Hayley didn't seem that happy about it since it was the night the environmental temperature was lower so it's not like she improved really by 3 seconds.

"Thanks for your help". She said while breathing heavily.

"You should go rest, now that we found a more effective method you can continue tomorrow".

She seemed reluctant to stop training but with all that happened, she was really tired. Before she said that she wanted to continue training I told her.

"Let's go". She doubted for a second but followed me anyway. We left the roof and she took the towel that was on the railing and used to dry herself. I waited for her a little and she surprised me with a question.

"So…What's going on between you and Rose?" she suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I came to the group I noticed the way you look at each other and thought that you were together".

The way I look Rose?

She was drying her hair and after seeing my surprised face she giggled and continued talking.

"It's been pretty obvious that she liked you from a long time ago, she is a sweet nice girl, and you clearly care for her, it wasn't weird to think that".

I was going to laugh it off as if it was a good joke, but I couldn't. I never thought about me and Rose in that way, but after the meteor shower, it became clear how Rose felt. Because of everything else that was happening around us I didn't think about it. I was deep in thoughts when Hayley interrupted me.

"And?". I was motionless on top of the stairs.

"And what?".

"What's going on between you two?".

"We are just friends, nothing else". There was a weird feeling inside me when I said the words "just friends".

"Do you like her?".

"I don't know" it was weird to have this conversation with my ex-girlfriend, but when I thought about my other options… the overprotective big brother, my gossip lover sister/Rose's BFF … Would Dante even understand if I talk about it with him? Hayley was the best human option.

"You have to figure out that then, but let me give you an advice, don't take too much time" there was a hint of sadness on her voice at this point… "Remember that any of us can be dead tomorrow, you don't know when you will get eaten by a giant cow".

She added the last part with a little smile to cheer me and herself up.

After that when I went to the apartment it was already empty, so I went straight to sleep. But with my mind was elsewhere.