Chapter 219: Chapter 196 : Close And Closer

"That is me, yes. I am Lane." the former assassin responded without missing a beat, even nodding slightly. "You should be Ray, right?"

"That I am," the Transmigrator affirmed with a listless tone as he shifted his focus to the rippling lake.

"Excellent." Lane's voice jumped ever so slightly at the confirmation, a detail Ray didn't fail to catch. The Transmigrator felt a shiver run through his entirety, one that threatened to unseat him. "I've been wanting to meet you for a while now. I didn't expect it to happen so soon. I'm glad."

"Mm, I see."

The Transmigrator's lacklustre response didn't dim the starry skies that were the former assassin's eyes.

"Ray, want to play some Psi games?"

"...Sure, why not," Ray said, summoning two Psi Controllers. "Psi Fighters?"

"Of course," Lane said, the corners of his lips curling up to form a subtle smile. First his name now his favourite game, Ray clearly knew him.

Psi Fighters was selected and the two began gaming. The pair fell into silence, letting their controllers do the talking. Said conversation spoke of victory and defeat, mostly Ray's. Lane stomached the defeats well - more than well, actually, on account of one fact.

'This pattern and that...I see I see, it seems Ray's done more than just observe from afar.'

Having the thought, Lane's prodigious mind swept through his memories and within seconds, reached the obvious truth. His eyes flickered. 'Way more than that. He's been gaming with us the whole time.' Concluding this, the former assassin's face welcomed a jubilant smile.

While Lane revelled in delight, Ray...did the same.

The Transmigrator felt the ice walls around his heart melt away. He recognized the happening but was too paralyzed by his current comfort to stop it. Gaming with Lane like this was comfortable, pleasant...enjoyable even.

The former assassin's abnormality worked in his favour. Humans were often too complicated and messy in Ray's books, so Lane's simplistic nature did well in endearing him to the Transmigrator. The former assassin was an open book to Ray, one that he couldn't seem to put down at this very moment.

Time raced by as the pair enjoyed every second. The golden silence that blanketed the opening five minutes of gaming was torn apart, by Ray, who asked Lane why he had passed through this area.

"I pass by here every morning on my way to do my daily fitness training. I sensed the mental signal and couldn't help myself. Why were you here, Ray? Just walking around?"

"Yep. On a whim, I decided to walk around and see where the winds of fate take me. They took me here."

"I see," Lane said, sporting a shadow of a smile.

Silence overcame the pair again but not for long. Lane broke the silence next, followed by Ray, and then Ray again...

The lake wasn't the only thing rippling, so too were the pair's hearts - nay, their souls. Growing more comfortable in their seats and with each other, the conversation between them picked up and words began flowing from the pair's lips. The standard question-answer setup fell away as jokey banter and trash talk entered the fray, and before long, smiles and even laughter sounded from the southern bench.

'Ah...damn, this is fun,' Ray thought with a wry smile, accepting his feelings for what they were. 'Hm?'

"Done?" he asked as he saw Lane place the Psi Controller beside him, Ray's voice echoing with the note of disappointment.

Lane nodded. "Yeah. I'd rather stay and play all day but I can't - or rather, I shouldn't. I've already grown too lax as is. I must keep my discipline up and my skills sharp. And for that, training is a must. So, I'll be off." The former assassin got to his feet and took a breath.

Exhaling that which would keep him rooted in place, the young man took a few steps forward while adjusting his scarf amidst the passing gust. Waiting for the nippy winds to die down, Lane parted his lips.

"Chatting and playing games; this was fun. Ray, let's continue this another time. I'll see more of you, right?" he asked, glancing toward the Transmigrator and staring deeply into his eyes.

"Who knows, maybe...sure, yeah, definitely," Ray's cool facade quickly faltered, crumbling before the other's expectant stare.

Lane smiled. "Excellent. I look forward to our next meeting. Goodbye for now, Ray."

"Mmm, goodbye."

The former assassin nodded in acknowledgement and then turned and walked off, his steps carrying more energy than usual. He would go on to do as stated previously, train.

'Well, that was something. Now...time to go.'

Ray was quick to leave the bench. Dawn's first light had visited the Academy and awakened it from its slumber. Students and staff became more frequent - too frequent for Ray's liking, and so, he quickly vacated the area and returned to Prime, making sure to dye his hair vanta black beforehand to prevent any further run-ins. Lane had been a pleasant surprise but most others wouldn't be.

Entering his dorm room without incident, Ray collapsed onto the bed and shifted to the Mental Space, only to be greeted by a dreadful sight, Ralf's smug face.

***

10 am.

Locked or unlocked?

In the corridor, just outside his penthouse suite room, Ralf contemplated. After a few seconds, he chose the former. There was no real difference between the two; the most unskilled Telekinetic could break in within seconds, whether locked or unlocked. Still, there was some psychological comfort to be had from locking the door, which Ralf gladly took.

Moving on, he directed his thoughts to more interesting topics.

'A video game based on the Tower of Lebal...now, that would be interesting. Who knows, it might even awaken their memories -wait, that could be a disaster, actually. What if Yuki and Violet try to take each other's heads off after remembering...or worse? Nope, let's not. Tower of Lebal is off the table, at least for the group. Ray and I can play that ourselves...and speaking of him, hehe..."

As Ralf was having such thoughts, danger crept closer. Said danger noted his absent-mindednesses and quickly pounced. Turning the corner, the person darted in with quick limps before crashing into Ralf's backside.

"-Ah..."

Catching himself after a stumble, The Transmigrator turned his attention to his assailant, who had wrapped themselves around him like a backpack. The brazen nature of the attack, the sizeable assets pressing into his backside and the pleasant scent tickling his nose made clear who he was up against. He glanced back for confirmation and lo and behold, he met with Charlotte's smirking face.

"...Charl, what's up?"

“Me, of course,” she said smugly. “Got you good, didn't I? You were completely unaware. That’s no good. Don’t they say, that receiving a blow to the back is a warrior’s greatest shame? Ralf, you might have to retire that Combat Master title.”

"Not at all," Ralf said, before focusing forward and continuing his stride through the corridor. "Unaware? Hardly. I knew you were close the whole time, the cracking of the floor made that obvious,” he said, Charlotte’s face scrunching up. “As for a warrior's shame? That saying is true, but it doesn't apply here. For, what’s wrong with letting a friend have your back?”

“Mmm…we’re friends?”

Ralf's eyes narrowed at the insinuation. “At this point, we can only be friends or enemies. Pick your poison, Charlotte.”

The Onic Master chuckled. “Well, if it's like that well-known saying, then... I’d rather us be enemies,” she whispered into his ear seductively, while applying a firm squeeze.

Ralf's body tensed up at the devastating combo, causing his steps to briefly falter. Charlotte noted this and broke into a fit of delighted giggles from atop his backside.

"Ahaha, you're so cute," she commented, spotting his now reddened ears, before continuing to giggle away. It wasn't often she gained victory over Ralf, so she made sure to savour it.

A crimson-faced Ralf stayed silent, accepting his loss as gracefully as he could. ‘Keep laughing vixen, your ass is grass…and trees and fire and lightning and…’

As his mind conjured up vista after vista, his footsteps landed him outside.

“Where you headed to?” Charlotte asked, her giggles contained and her calm reinstated.

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“The communication centre. My afternoon is packed so I’m going to surprise my mom with a meeting. She should be up around now.”

Saying this, Ralf materialised his Psi Bike and prepared to get on. However, Charlotte wasn’t having it. Her oppressive Psi exploded out, disintegrating Ralf's Psi.

“It’s not even a kilometre away, use your limbs.”

Ralf didn’t fight the suggestion and moved toward the building. “What about you, where you headed, Charl?”

“Same place as you, actually.”

“Another meeting with the clan Head?”

“Yep, that old fogey can’t get enough of me it seems. He's a long-winded old geezer that one. Hopefully, he can get to his point quicker than last time. I've had more than enough of his tangents and his attempts at setting me up with his nephew."

The old fogey in question was none other than the Bai clan Head. Charlotte had made good on her promise to Yuki, making clear to him the new allies Yuki and her sister had gathered to their side, and delivering not-so-subtle messages about what they wanted.

The Bai clan Head read these intentions perfectly and agreed to them. He was all smiles about the powerful new connections that had fallen onto his lap.

Of course, he didn’t do it out of the goodness of his heart. He made sure to profit from the situation. Charlotte and the others didn’t mind, for Yuki's peace of mind, it was a small price to pay.

And so, the Bai clan would be getting some business from the Pillar factions in exchange for an assurance that nothing untoward would happen to Yuri and her faction.

“Sounds tough. Want me to join you?” Ralf offered.

“Thanks for the offer, but I'm fine. I can manage by myself. Instead of that, put those hands to use and carry me properly. This is awkward."

Ralf obliged her request. His free-swinging hands moved to her legs. With the weather on the sunny side, Charlotte had dressed lightly, wearing ripped denim shorts, a white tank top and stylish brown sandals.

The Transmigrator applauded her decision, though not literally, for that would interrupt the stream of pleasant sensations he was currently beset with. Hands curling around her thighs, his fingers all but sunk into her soft plump flesh and melted before its subtle heat. When combined with the sensation of her ample chest pressing against his back, Ralf was rendered mute as bliss overwhelmed him.

Charlotte fell silent as well. In his hold, she allowed herself to fall, resting her entirety on Ralf. A similar bliss found her as her eyelids sunk. Everything about him was pleasant to her senses; his sturdy frame, his subtle warmth and smell….smell?

‘Hm?’

Sniffing, Charlotte’s eyes swung open before narrowing. Ralf smelled nice; this wasn’t saying much. He generally smelled pleasant. Learning from his mother’s habits, he always tried to be clean whenever possible. What set the Onic Master off was that his current smell was different from usual, way different. Reasoning the why behind this happening, she couldn’t help but squint.

“Narujia shampoo, quite fancy. What’s the occasion?” she asked in a low tone.

Ralf shrugged. “No occasion. Just thought I’d try it, and then did.”

“Mmm,” Charlotte didn’t buy it and instead smirked. “Methinks you’re trying to impress a certain princess, no? I heard about your date yesterday. That must have been quite fun, no?”

“Hmm, is that jealousy I’m sensing?”

“Of course it is,” Charlotte said forcefully, jolting Ralf. “Going on a date with Violet, I’d kill to be in your place...matter of fact, I’ll start with you…” Eyes flashing with deadly intent, Charlotte moved with her stated intention. Turning into a constrictor, her arms coiled around his neck and started choking while her legs tightened their hold around his waist. “With you out of the picture, Violet will be all mine. Now die for the sake of my happy-ever-after, die die die die…”

Ralf tapped her arms in a desperate plea for mercy but the Onic Master showed none. Luckily for him, she found reason a few seconds later.

“...Ah!” Following the exclamation, she let up and loosened her hold. “No good, I can’t kill him yet. Until I squeeze out all his value, I must keep him alive...dammit,” she said, voicing her inner thoughts out loud. “Ralf, count yourself lucky, you’ve not outlived your usefulness.”

Ralf sighed. “With friends like you, I don't need enemies. Spoken like a true sociopath- I mean, merchant.”

Charlotte's lips tugged up, taking his words as compliments.“You say some nice things from time to time, Ralf. Keep it up and I might reward you with a date.”

Ralf replied with silence. Charlotte didn’t mind though. Implanting the idea, the intention was her aim. As long as there was no obvious rejection, which there wasn’t, she was content...at least for now. She didn’t let the silence linger too long and continued.

“And speaking of dates, we should line up our dates for the Stranded Event.”

Stranded.

It was different from the previous Events and most upcoming events, in that there was no fixed date. Rather, it was something that could take place at any time within the first year. Simply put, Stranded was an Event where students in groups of three were sent to remote Monster Islands/Zone.

There, the students would have to survive for a week. Importantly, there was no supervision. Stranded was the second-oldest Event, having existed since the first Hunter Academy. It had a mixed reputation. Despite being very easy to complete due to the fact that students could their Psi, it was also the Event that claimed the most student lives.

The monsters weren't the issue, but rather, one's fellow students. Some saw the Event as an opportunity to kill and did so. The Hunter Academies wisened up after a handful of incidents and had taken measures to combat foul play.

For one, if your companion/companions died during the Event, regardless of whether it was intentional or not, all other team members would be expelled and barred from the Hunter Academies. Another measure to combat student deaths was the initial groupings. They weren’t random but instead made from gathered data, mostly consisting of observations made by Assistants and staff. And finally, teams weren’t set in stone. One could change teams with others, not just from one’s class either. One could also do the Event with people from different years and even Assistants if it came to that.

The grouping list had arrived last night and Ralf's group were split up into two trios consisting of boys and girls.

The date for this event was decided by the input of the trios. It could be any week within the first six months of the year. Following that though, they would be assigned a time by their PAs. Most students chose to knock out this Event early.

“Sure,” Ralf agreed, sharing a similar desire.

“Great. I’d rather not spend more than a week apart…from Babel, that is."

The Combat Master shrugged. “Of course of course.”

“And speaking of that week, hehehe, I’ll have the princess and Yuki all to myself. We’ll surely have a lot of fun, really bond you know. Ah, I can’t wait, what to do first, hehehe…”

Ralf sighed again as devious giggles tickled his ear. His friend’s imagination was clearly running wild.

“What's with the sighing and dropping shoulders...don’t tell me you’re jealous?” Charlotte questioned with a smile after coming to.

“That my friends are getting along, of course not,” Ralf shook his head. ”Do just that. Enjoy yourselves to the fullest. The boys and I will be doing the same, in our own way.”

“Mm, I see. Then, let’s meet up afterwards and compare stories.”

“Sure.”

Exchange coming to an end, the pair fell back into a lull and would remain so until they parted ways at the communication centre. Without planning to, the pair would finish up at the same time.

Ralf summoned his Psi Bike to ride back to the hotel but again, Charlotte destroyed his Psi. However, instead of having him carry her like last time, she offered to be the carrier this time, saying, "I give as good as I get, now hop on."

The Transmigrator accepted her offer and climbed aboard her backside, unbothered by the plethora of venomous gazes striking him.

Before leaving, Charlotte flashed a cheeky smile and said, “Oh, and Ralf, since we’re friends, try not to stab me in the back, okay.”

“Don’t worry, I would never.”

Ralf’s swift reply turned Charlotte's smile upside down. She took it as a challenge; her wiles were never to be underestimated. On the way back, she made various attempts to draw Ralf’s blade out of the scabbard. But alas, it was futile. Ralf’s self-control was literally perfect. In the end, she had to be satisfied with his scabbard - and she definitely was.

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