Chương 89: R&R2 Ch. 28 — Two Years From Now

Nicholas was running on empty. That felt like the state he had been in more often than not recently. But it was all for practice so he could get this ingrained into his skull. Belief flowed through his spirit like syrup as he focused on filling the next working. There were several ways people used this technique, but Nicholas was really only considering the one, as an ace in the hole, a full-power working that wouldn't detract from anything else."

Finisher" Explosions ripped through the training room, the dummies meant for E-Ranks shattering against the force, though Nicholas wasn't surprised. He had fought D-Rank enemies before, so it made sense that he could break these dummies if he used his entire reserves or the equivalent at least on his strongest word. Finisher was balanced around the fact he couldn't just throw it out to end the fight; he needed to build it up.

Once he had recovered enough that he could breathe properly, Nicholas returned to his room to shower. He had another three hours before they would have to be on the clock again, and he would use that to recover as much power as possible. All in an effort to avoid what he should have been working on. In a few months, he and Jasmine would be ready to rank up again, which meant he should have been hard at work figuring out how he wanted that to go.

But he didn't know how he wanted to move; it was a completely meaningless idea to him internally. He walked towards his goals and took the steps he felt necessary to succeed. That was all there was to it; there wasn't anything complicated about that. Though he sincerely doubted that walking would be a proper development. Nicholas got dressed back in regular clothes and hopped onto his bed, pulling out a handheld device to distract himself while he recovered his energy.

He was long past the need to meditate to do it, though meditation could make it faster. He didn't care that much. A knock on his door distracted him, but after a quick extension of his senses, Nicholas sighed in relief; it wasn't anyone he wanted to avoid right now.

"Come in."

"You would think you would know before I come over that I want to visit," Jasmine said, entering the room and shutting the door behind her before flopping face-first onto the edge of his bed.

"You seem to be doing great," Nicholas commented.

"I'm fine, just trying to figure out when I'm supposed to try the search and rescue armor," Jasmine complained.

"You can wear it today. I'm sure there will be tons of our peers that need to be rescued?" Nicholas suggested. It was hard to use that armor on the train, especially when everyone's a hero that's outside it, but rescue had to be done before.

"Yeah, but that's like daring the world to try and get at the civilians."

"I'm pretty sure you just jinxed yourself."

"You always tell me that stuff doesn't actually work."

"You're going to wear it cause you're paranoid?"

"Yes, yes, I am."

"We can ask Eva to hang with us today since you're tying it out." Nicholas said. This would be the first proper field test with the new armor. They had done some sparring with it, but this would be the first chance to really push it.

"Good idea, so what's got you so pensive?" Jasmine asked, voice still muffled by the quilt.

"Pensive?"

"Yeah, you got a pensive vibe about you today. And for a while now, but at this point, I am too nosy, so I'm asking."

"Still thinking about what Rend said about thinking about how I want to move towards my goals, I'm just. Stuck."

"The talk about our next level from last week?" Jasmine asked. Nicholas nodded before remembering that Jasmine couldn't see him nod at the moment with her face in the blankets.

"Yeah, that's the one." Jasmine laughed, and Nicholas tried to fathom what was so funny to her.

"Sorry, it's just so hilarious to me. You've been doing this all on your own, and the easiest one is the one you're struggling with?"

"Easiest one?"

"Yeah, you've been zeroed in on this goal for your entire existence practically; you should be the one that's most aware of how you move towards them," Jasmine said, turning her head to give him an encouraging look. Nicholas didn't feel all that encouraged.

"I don't know, I find the goal, search for the problems with it. And then I just move towards it, there's nothing complicated about it." Nicholas explained. Maybe he was having a disconnect with what everyone else thought, but he didn't get it. He just moved towards his goals. There was nothing special about his method; there was nothing unique. He just moved forward. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I'm pretty sure mine is going to develop as flight," Jasmine commented.

"Really?"

"Yeah cause I aim to be a better version of my grandma. I'm desperately chasing to try and prove that I'm different, that I'm worth it all. So I'll just be a copy of her again." Jasmine said voice hollow. Nicholas wasn't sure what to say. Jasmine had told him who her family was after the choking incident, but they hadn't found the chance to talk about it more. There just hadn't been a good reason to. Maybe he should have made one earlier.

"So what? I am best friends with Jasmine; I am partners with Retribution. I don't see Brynhild doing any of that. And last I checked, you cause substantially less damage than her, too."

"Yeah, but how much of that is only possible because I am her creation?"

"Didn't you say the lump of rock mentioned you would have gotten there on your own if your grandma hadn't meddled?"

"My whole goal exists to be different from her, and to prove it wasn't a waste to have the resources poured into me!" Jasmine said, forcing herself to sit up and glare at him. Anger hadn't been the emotion Nichola was going for, but it might be better than her moping. He would have to see.

"You couldn't control any of that, but at every opportunity you've had to control your path, you've picked the one I find inspiring. Impact was my first offensive word because I tried to imagine just copying a hero's attack. You're the one I picked." Nicholas said, voice calm. He didn't send his emotions through the bond. That felt like a cheap way to deal with their problems.

"Well…"

"She's the reason you don't use other people's souls, isn't she?" Jasmine looked down.

"To be one of her Valkyries is supposed to be an honor. All of her fallen friends are there. To fight eternally, even after death." Nicholas had honestly expected Jasmine to start choking. They couldn't test it; it would be too dangerous for him to even suggest it, but he had suspected the problem had been trying to tell Eva. If Jasmine was prohibited from telling other people, there was a chance he wouldn't count.

"So she's fighting with a legion of the damned?" Nicholas asked. His estimation for Brynhild went up and down. She was often guessed to be the weakest individual Pinnacle due to her specialization in the army, but Nicholas was now guessing that was just the illusion she liked. Not that there was a difference between being the weakest solo Pinnacle and the strongest. Still above everyone else.

"I could hear their screams. I'm more sensitive to souls than you are, even before level two I could feel them," Jasmine whispered. That was also about what Nicholas expected. Jasmine's staunch refusal made a lot more sense.

"You said she's going to mess with us more, right? Is there a way we can shake loose?" Nicholas asked. It wasn't a healthy way to deal with problems. He was proof of that himself, but it would get Jasmine thinking about something else, which he hoped would provide a beneficial effect.

"Yeah, at C-Rank, there's the tournament for supers; it's mostly a dick-measuring contest between the Pinnacles. To prove your supers are the strongest because they can't settle it amongst themselves anymore."

"And if we fight under her banner and win?"

"That will probably be worth more to her than my entire life. Even if I win the tournament, it's not like that makes me likely to be the next Pinnacle. Ben didn't win it and became one."

"You said maybe, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then we'll do one better. We'll guarantee top two, or if it's randomized, the only person who can knock one of us out is each other." Nicholas said an idea taking shape. If it meant getting that sword away from Jasmine's head, he was pretty sure he could fight in a tournament. They would be fighting the best of the best, but that was fine.

"Really?"

"Yeah really, so when's the next tournament?"

"Two years from now," Jasmine said sullenly.

"That's plenty of time, so what's got you twisted?" Nicholas asked. It was more than a little concerning that she was acting in such a way, but Nicholas was pretty sure it was fine. At least mostly.

"Anyone younger than one hundred twenty and C can participate." Nicholas was good; he wasn't so sure he was that good, and presuming this was a tournament for the pinnacles to compete with, the prizes had to be amazing.

"People stay at C for it?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what Rend is waiting for. His power specializes in one-on-one combat, and he's good enough to get through the preliminaries." Nicholas had fought Rend to a standstill when Rend lowered himself down to peak F-rank. The problem with that is Rend had admitted he hadn't started to hit his stride till later in his career. Even if tomorrow Nicholas had jumped two ranks and was Rend's on paper equal again, he doubted he could copy the feat.

"Well, so what? You want to be out from under her thumb and free, right?" Nicholas asked. It was the only thing that mattered, so the other details would fall away. Entry and subsequent victory of the tournament were what they were aiming for, so he could ignore everything else.

"Yeah, I would make a deal of like, if we win, we're done. She doesn't get to pull my strings anymore, and I want the family resources gone. I want to earn my privileges." Jasmine nodded.

"How many people are each pinnacle sponsoring?"

"Groups of four, plus a few others." Jasmine confirmed.

"Well, that leaves you, me, and Eva as three of them. So we'll take those three spots and at least go the distance." Nicholas said confidently.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Now come on, there's only one thing left to do." Nicholas said, standing up and pulling Jasmine to her feet. This time she was kind enough to not pull him down instead.

"And what's that?"

"Get suited up. We're going to head out early. We need to go as fast as possible and push ourselves as hard as possible if we're going to make it." Nicholas said, squeezing Jasmine's hand one time before letting go.

"Isn't it a bad thing to go look for trouble?" Jasmine joked.

"Sure, but we're going to have to if we want to push ourselves. Do you want me to read Eva in on the plan, or do you want to?" Nicholas asked. He had a guess which one Jasmine would pick, but it wouldn't do well for him to make that assumption.

"Can you do it? I need to mentally prepare myself," Jasmine asked quietly.

"On it."

Darlene sipped from her wine glass. Their little soul bond was more irritating than she had originally assumed. The two were improving one another's souls rapidly, and that meant degrading the implants she had put into Jasmine. Their plan was a good one, and she would almost certainly have agreed normally; it just pissed her off that she was playing into the hands of brats who weren't even a century old yet. They wouldn't fail the ascent to D, nor would they fail the ascent to C.

Her only solace was that they would almost certainly not win. But she needed to prepare. Especially if they did succeed. If Jasmine did succeed, she would be losing her perfect successor, and she had spent far too long trying to make her to lose it from a bet.