Gleam - Chapter 140 (Patreon)

“God, how long were you standing there?” Chance asked, nearly jumping out of his skin. “Were you just waiting for a moment to speak?”

“I will choose not to comment on that,” Yeo replied, walking over to flop down in the chair across from the couch. He leaned back in it, crossing one of his legs over the other and sticking his hands behind his head. “It was a pretty good entrance though, wasn’t it?”

“You already did this bit when we got back to Gleam,” Bella said. “You can’t reuse it.”

“Why not? A good joke should keep getting used until it’s been run into the ground so badly that it has to be taken out back and put down.”

“I think you and I have very different ideas on what makes up a good joke,” Bella said, shaking her head and trying to hide the grin before Yeo could see it. It was too late, though. He’d spotted the mild amusement, and that was equivalent to complete and utter defeat.

“Ha! You laughed.”

“I did not laugh. It was a pity smile.”

“Let’s call it a draw,” Chance suggested. “But Yeo, now that you’re here, what do you think?”

“About what? Ranking up? I was serious. It would be a good move and it would get us a bit more respect as well. And with respect comes better jobs and access to more… well, everything. It can’t hurt, and I don’t think the test is going to be anything we can’t handle.”

“After leaving Gleam? Probably not,” Chance agreed. His thoughts drifted back to the Essence Eater and he shuddered. Nothing a Shikari could do could come anywhere near the primal fear and terror that creature bore with it. “Do you know how early they show up? I’d rather not spend all day waiting for it.”

“I’m not sure any part of Gleam sleeps,” Bella said. “I’m sure someone will be there, but it’s a different question as to if they’ll be willing to give us an exam right now. It can’t hurt to ask, though.”

“Am I remiss in assuming we won’t be getting breakfast first?” Yeo asked.

“Do you really want to fight on a full stomach? I’d throw up,” Chance scrunched his nose. “We can get food after unless you’re starving.”

“Nah, that’s fine. I’m sure there’s something around here.” Yeo pushed himself out of his chair, having only sat in it for a minute at most, and then entered the kitchen and started digging around the ice box. He found an apple and plucked it free with a victorious flourish before taking a bite out of it.

“What do we do after we’re officially Knights, though?” Yeo asked through a mouthful of apple. “I mean, I get the feeling Chance doesn’t want to drop the Acen job. And, now that I know Jake is on it, I don’t want to drop it either. I want to beat him to the punch.”

“I think the Acen job is important,” Chance said, his brow furrowing. “It’s more than what it seems, that’s for certain. At a bare minimum, I need to make sure that marble gets destroyed. And, if the marble is linked to something more than just Acen, we’ll have to brin git to the attention of the higher-ups.”

Bella snorted from beside him. “As if they’d do anything. I don’t think the Shikari care about anything other than maintaining the status quo. They’d probably sit around and do nothing until the city was just inches away from disaster.”

“Something tells me you don’t like the Shikari as much as you used to,” Yeo said as he bit his apple again, his words muffled. He chewed for a moment and swallowed, pointing the apple at Bella. “I can’t imagine why.”

“Says the one that actually killed the people that came after him. Not like I wouldn’t have killed to defend myself, but I’d imagine you’ve got more reason to dislike the Shikari than I do. They made you murder.”

Yeo’s features darkened and he lowered the remains of his apple. He sent it one more glance, then tossed the remains into the trash and let out a sigh. “You aren’t wrong. I don’t feel bad about killing them, and they ended up serving as good training, but I wish I’d killed people that actually had it coming.”

Chance’s stomach twisted. He didn’t blame Yeo for defending himself, but he was far from a fan of killing other Shikari. It wasn’t his place to lecture Yeo, though. It wasn’t like he hadn’t killed anyone since leaving Gleam. When someone tried to kill you, the only response was to defend yourself.

Doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.

“Why don’t we go check out the training grounds and see if we can take that test,” Chance suggested. “I’d rather not sour the day with thoughts of killing unless we really need to.”

Bella and Yeo clearly felt the same, because they both nodded. The trio set out, leaving the Whiteheart house and setting off toward the training grounds down Shikari Lane. Faint rays of sunlight poked through the tall buildings in the distance and filtered over the ground, illuminating their steps and casting long shadows.

By the time they made it to the training grounds, the sun still hung low in the sky, but it was starting to make its trek up and the city was clad in a dull orange hue.

The sounds of clashing metal and magic rang out from the training arenas in use. There weren’t as many Shikari around as Chance had expected to find, but there were still a fair number of people training.

As he scanned the area for Derren or Jorgin, the Shikari that had given them their previous rank up exam, his eyes landed on a different familiar figure. Joe, the hulking man from the Shikari Base that had helped them save a child after running into a Greater Imp, sat on one of the benches, watching two people training in one of the arenas.

“Is that Joe?” Bella asked, following Chance’s gaze.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is. I’m not sure why, but I just thought he never left the Shikari Base,” Chance said with a sheepish laugh. “Does anyone see Jorgin or Derren?”

Yeo and Bella shook their heads.

“I’d bet Joe could give us the exam,” Yeo said. “He’s obviously a highly ranked Shikari. Why don’t we ask him?”

“Can’t hurt to try,” Chance agreed, and the three of them approached him.

As they grew closer, Joe glanced away from the training ground and over to them. His brow furrowed for a moment. His features brightened and he gave them a small nod. “Ah! I was wondering why I recognized you three. I flew you around a little while ago.”

“That was us,” Chance said. “We still appreciate your help on that, by the way.”

“Any time,” Joe said. He paused for a moment, tilting his head to the side. “I honestly thought it was quite odd when I put up the job on all of your heads. I was glad to hear it was a misunderstanding.”

“We were too,” Bella said. “It was a tragedy, and we’re lucky to still be alive. But I can’t say the time outside Gleam didn’t push us to get stronger.”

A small smile pulled at Joe’s lips. “Ranked up, did you?”

“Unofficially,” Chance confirmed. “Do you think you’d be able to either give us the test so we could become Knights in proper? Or, if not, could you point us in the direction of someone that could?”

Joe rubbed his chin, thinking for a few seconds. Finally, he inclined his head. “I suppose I could. It’s within my duties, though I don’t often execute on them. I don’t generally spend a lot of time in the training fields, but my daughter is practicing right now.”

Chance followed Joe’s gaze to one of the arenas, where a young teen was sparring against a boy his age. The girl was probably around fifteen, and her features were strikingly similar to Joe’s. She had a stocky build and had mercifully been spared Joe’s baldness by a bed of long black hair. She wielded a glaive while her opponent was using an axe, and the two looked to be roughly evenly matched.

“She’s good,” Yeo said. “Way better than I was at her age.”

“Been training her for her whole life,” Joe said with a proud smile. “But she’s starting to outgrow her old man. Doesn’t want me fiddling around as much anymore, so sometimes all I can do is just watch. Maybe showing off a bit for her wouldn’t be remiss, eh? She’s just a Foundling after all. I wouldn’t have to hold back against you lot as much as I do against her.”

Not exactly what I want my proctor to be saying, but I can’t really blame him either. I wish I had more time to spend with my parents before–

Chance pressed his lips together, cutting his line of thought off. There was a possibility that they were somewhere on Centurion. It wasn’t a big one, sure, but it was still a possibility. But, before he could properly entertain it, he had to make sure he was strong enough. He didn’t have the money to spend trying to find them yet – but every step he took to get stronger brought him closer.

“Let’s do it,” Chance said. “How is the exam going to go for Knight rank? Is there another group portion?”

“Not this time around. That’s unique to the Squire exam,” Joe said, beckoning for them to follow him and stepping onto the arena beside the one his daughter was sparring on. “Knight ranked Shikari aren’t always expected to work in teams, though teams are encouraged. I’ll instead be testing your personal combat abilities as well as how you react to a few different things.”

“That sounds ominous,” Yeo said. “I volunteer Chance to go first.”

“Hey! Why me?” Chance protested.

“Because you’re lucky,” Yeo replied with a smirk. “And it’s generally better to let you make first contact with stuff. About half the time, that ends the fight before it begins. Even if we aren’t taking the exam as a team, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t play to our advantages.”

Yeo made a fair point, although Chance doubted he was going to make friends with Joe to avoid the exam. He sent the large man a questioning look and received a shrug in response.

“Order doesn’t matter to me. It won’t change anything,” Joe said. He stretched his arms above his head and rolled his neck. He lowered into a squat, then stuck a leg out and started to stretch.

Chance mirrored Joe. There wasn’t any reason to fight stiff, after all. He drew on a sliver of his Essence, letting it flow through his body and relax his muscles. Bella joined in, while Yeo just shook his head.

“How are you stretching when there’s fighting to do? I’m not even going first and the anticipation is killing me.”

“I am waiting for my daughter’s match to end,” Joe said, not even looking slightly ashamed about his claim. “And being able to handle your nerves is important.”

Yeo let out a huff and started to stretch as well.

Luckily, they didn’t have to wait for too long. After a few minutes, Joe’s daughter lowered her glaive and her opponent stepped back, giving her a respectful nod. They both looked over to where Joe had been sitting, then looked around until they found him in the arena beside Chance.

“Ah. Looks like it’s about time,” Joe said. He straightened up, brushing his clothes off, and Chance stood as well.

“Ready?” Joe asked.

“Aside from the fact that I don’t know what we’re doing yet, yes.”

“Splendid,” Joe said with a smile. “Let’s make this entertaining, shall we?”