Chapter 32. Carrying On
Outside, Rhys stretched, relishing the sunlight on his face. After so long in the musty classroom, the scent of fresh air was like ambrosia to him. He yawned and stretched some more, then turned to face Ev’s nook. From here, heuldn’t tell if she’d returned or not, but he figured he might as well stop by.
Meow.
Rhys startled. His whole body tensed, and he leaped back. A long-haired white cat walked by. It looked up at him in mildnfusion, then kept walking.
He sighed and rubbed his face. He’d spent too long as a rat, to react that way to cats. It had only been a week or two in real time, but in his dream, it had been years. Almost an entire rat lifetime. To the rat him, it might as well have been an eternity. I’d better get over this before I see Az again.
He jogged off toward Ev’s usual training nook. At the entrance, he sensed her aura, but also two other figures’ auras. Rhys narrowed his eyes. He slowed his speed and pulled his mana in, moving quietly toward the gap. Sliding inside, he drew to a halt at the far end of the entry crawl. He peered out, silently searching through the trees for Ev and the other two.
The familiar field spread before him. Trees scattered around, the bark hammered off their surfaces. Well-beaten earth marked the spots where he and Ev most often sparred. He saw nothing.
No, the signal’s a bit… higher? He looked up.
At the top of the crevasse’s steep wall, Ev faced two muscular men. Her back was to the cliff’s edge. The two brutes loomed over her, both of them almost as muscular as Cynog. So muscular that they seemed to be bulging with it. They were both Tier 2, but low Tier 2. Lower than Ev, for certain… but low enough that sheuld handle two at once?
Rhys wrinkled his nose. He ran toward the cliff and hopped up it, pushing off narrow nooks in the stone and pulling himself up on small juts. As he climbed, he heard the men talking.
“…took in that kid who disrespected your master?”
Ev ffed. “Who, Cynog? He’s no master.”
“You disrespect him, too? The one who took you in and taught you everything you know?”