Chapter 100: Home Visit
"I’ll ask questions first," Victoria said with a smirk tugging at her lips, a spark of mischief dancing in her crimson eyes.
"Sure, why not? Not like we’re racing against time anymore," Marcus replied with a matching grin, the edge in his voice carrying that familiar tone of sarcasm.
His gaze swept over the battlefield—or what was left of it. Crumpled stone, shattered lamp posts, and the unconscious bodies of their enemies scattered like broken dolls. Even the overseer remained half-buried under a collapsed wall, still breathing... barely.
"But let’s move somewhere less conspicuous," Marcus added, jerking a thumb toward the carnage. "We’re standing in a pile of unconscious criminals, after all."
"Nice thinking," Victoria nodded, brushing her bangs aside with a flick. Her boots clicked lightly against the cracked pavement as they turned away, leaving the bloodstained ruins behind. The morning sun hadn’t risen yet, but it wouldn’t be long before someone stumbled upon the scene and alerted the guards.
As they moved through the winding streets, Victoria’s fingers flicked and tapped at something only she could see—translucent screens flaring faintly with ethereal light before vanishing again.
Marcus glanced at her sidelong, curious.
"You have a system too, right?" he asked, weaving through a shadowed alleyway.
"Duh. If you have one, why wouldn’t I?" she answered, barely glancing his way as she continued interacting with the invisible interface. "Honestly, that question was kind of insulting."
"Okay, fair. Let me rephrase—how the hell did you get so strong so fast?" Marcus shot her a side-eye as they rounded another corner. "Like, I knew you were powerful, but what you pulled off earlier? That was ridiculous."
"Trial of Pairs," she said simply, still tapping. "Tons of loot drops, truckloads of EXP... and I used the rune combinations straight from the novel."