Chương 97: Surprise Visitor II

"What freak draws their weapon on a guest?"

"Guest?" Evel's heart was still racing.

"I don't remember inviting you." Diana groaned.

"Stop sweating the details. I came into your house, and you attacked me. Apologize."

"Apologize?" Evel reeled back.

"What?" Diana placed her knife back in the holster and placed her hand on her chest, releasing a deep breath. Evel continued watching her, unsure how he was supposed to react. Slowly, a smile grew on her face as she jumped onto Evel's bed.

"I thought you didn't like killing people, and now you're after my throat the moment we meet?" His face darkened.

"What are you doing here?"

"Let's think through this together." Diana shook her head with a smile.

"Why would a talented young woman from Acies, a Banner that focuses on makin' weapons and tools, come all the way to this small city?" Evel's eyes widened.

"They're here?" Diana grinned and tossed him a small item.

"All the enchantments you wanted and everything." In his hands, he held a small metal box with a sleek black design. The top was an intricate gold engraving of the sun, and the bottom a silver moon. Along the sides and ridges were lined with a luxurious gold and silver.

"Press the sun." Diana bounced her brows. Evel looked up at her carefully, then back at the box. Click. The ace of spades slid out of a small gap near the front. Evel pressed the moon on the opposite side. The Joker. The Joker? His request had only involved the regular fifty-two playing cards.

"The sun gives you the top card, and the moon gives the bottom. Pretty cool, huh?"

"It only dispenses one at a time?"

"If you really insist on not using the cool design, you can press both at once and get the whole deck."

"And all the effects?"

"Just as you asked." Evel tossed over the metal cards he'd previously been using. He probably wouldn't get the full discount, but most of the cards were there. He wanted to go out and test them, but there was a bigger mystery lying on his bed. Returning the deck to the intricate case, he placed it in his pocket.

"What are you doing here?" He asked again.

"You made the cards?" So far, everything he'd bought had been transported straight to Albert's house and done so quickly, usually by a summoner from Eminus. There really was no reason for Diana to come personally.

"Some of it, but I mostly only helped. I did make that cool ass case, though. Pretty good, huh?"

"So why are you here?" Evel repeated a third time. Diana looked at him for a second before rummaging in her pouch.

"You saw the jokers?"

"Those weren't part of my specifications."

"I know," she grinned.

"They aren't even supposed to be here, but I pulled a small favour. Now we're even again." Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"Even? I thought we were already even?"

"You and your questions," Diana groaned.

"Anyways, that's all I wanted to do. I'll let you experiment with the jokers yourself; they seem perfect for someone like you." Someone like me? She jumped back to her feet and shook her head, allowing her hair to fall naturally.

"I'll see ya around, Revel." Evel tilted his head.

"Wha— Revel? What?" Diana snuck into his house, personally delivered his weapon with a few extras for seemingly no reason, and now she was ready to leave after calling him the wrong name?

"You're leaving just like that?"

"Is there a reason for me to stay?" Was there a reason for you to come in the first place? As she turned to leave, the words just spilled out.

"Wait." She turned around, her lips slightly puckered.

"I was… I was about to make dinner. You can stay for the meal if you'd like." Diana blinked and stared at him for a while. Finally, a wide grin crept up on her face.

"Sure."

"And my name is Evel."

"Sure." The two walked together in silence as Evel grabbed the food he'd left outside. With the lack of crime in general in Upper-Ichoris, everything was still there just as he'd left it. He brought all the items to the kitchen and began cooking, using the skills he'd gained from helping Albert here and there. Diana leaned against the kitchen doorframe, watching his back.

"Not gonna help?"

"Do you need help?" Diana awkwardly chuckled.

"... No."

"Then?"

"Hm." He continued cooking, and she continued watching him. For the next while, the only sounds were the chopping of food and the It all felt… extremely strange. Evel peeked behind his shoulder. Diana was awkwardly standing by the doorframe.

"You can take a seat if you'd like." He pointed to the small round table beside him. It only had one chair, but he was cooking anyway and didn't really need it.

"You must be pretty lonely if you only ever need one chair."

"I eat most of my meals at Albert's."

"Poor 'Revel's' only friend is his teacher." She teased, sitting down.

"You hear about Bremin?" Ignoring the taunt, he continued cutting the tomatoes with his poor technique.

"Something new?"

"He's advancing to Weaver in about a month." Evel paused, knife suspended in the air. Diana continued, "They're probably stuffing him to the brim with Ichors to speed up the process. Regulus is just something else."

"Last I heard, it was the end of the year. He just keeps breaking expectations." Evel sighed.

"You're welcome for making him your ally, by the way."

"We're all allies since we passed the trial." Diana snorted. Evel gave her a look.

"Fine, he's not a bad ally to have." Then, back to the sizzling and crackling of the flame. Eventually, Diana broke the silence between them.

"Not like I really need to rely on allies." She smirked.

"I'm pretty much ready to advance, too." Evel winced, "What?"

"I didn't really need the training they provided, so I went straight into completing a bunch of tasks. Killed a few beasts, took out some gangs, helped with a few weapons here and there. With my rewards from the trial and how much Acies wants to invest in me, I'm pretty much set." He took a sharp breath.

"How long?" Based on Evel's progress, it would take him many years to be ready to advance. And that was assuming he would always have Elixirs to push him forward. Bremin was advancing in a month, now Diana too?

"A year, maybe shorter if Acies invests more than I expect."

"That fast?"

"Yup!" She puffed her chest out.

"When you're this gorgeous, talented, skilled and humble, people just throw stuff at you." Evel turned to her with a raised brow, "Gorgeous?"

"Tch." A subtle smile encroaching on his face, Evel turned back to turn off the heat. With everything ready, he placed the soup into two bowls and placed them on the table.

"If I'm being honest, I'm pretty impressed." Diana said, resting her head on her arms.

"Bremin can't be measured with normal standards."

"No, I meant with you." Evel glanced at her sideways.

"Me?" He was, by far, the least impressive person of the three. Bremin had an affinity of 96, and would soon advance with the help of Regulus. Diana wasn't far behind him, despite having a lower affinity and far fewer resources thrown at her. He, on the other hand, was basically slogging through.

"That's a hell of a weapon you bought there," She sipped on the broth.

"You're either stupid and bought the weapon before anything else, or you've been raking in quite the credits yourself." Pulling in a chair from another room, he slouched down across her.

"I got lucky a few times; I'm still far behind."

"Well, duh. Your affinity is 60; you'll never be able to keep up." Evel tightened his grip on his spoon.

"In practice, it's higher now."

"Hm?"

"I got a moonlight drop as the reward for the trial." Diana's eyes opened wide.

"Wait, for real? That's way better than my contact lenses!" Evel looked at her dual coloured eyes once more. So that's why her left eye is silver… He'd just figured it was something she brought later down the line or some sort of fashion choice. It looked a little strange, but he didn't hate it.

"Stop staring at me, creep."

"You're the one who broke into my house." He sighed.

"Monique used her own personal finances to help me out."

"Damn," Diana exhaled.

"So your affinity must be…" She pursed her lips. Evel gave her a long look. He'd already experienced this once and wasn't particularly excited about going through it again. She held eye contact with him for a few seconds, but in the end she broke into laughter.

"Oh man, Ultor better hide! Evel is coming for you, and his affinity is now 73!" Evel sighed and focused back on his meal. After she finished reliving the joy of making fun of his affinity, he shook his head.

"It's quite pathetic, isn't it?" Diana's laughter slowly ceased.

"The truth is," Evel took a deep breath, staring straight into his bowl.

"I'm considering giving up on advancement altogether."