Chapter 26: Provocation

The sun rose as it always did, lighting up the tower with a rosy light. Stretching, Fang got up, washed, and then headed down the stairs. Surprisingly, Valeria had prepared breakfast. Although it wasn’t complicated, the simple flavors were pleasing.

Fang noticed that instead of having a chef, Valeria had cooked the meal herself. He thought that she must be extremely busy as the head of commerce, yet she still took the time to prepare meals for him.

Breakfast was soon over, and Valeria led Fang to the peak of the tower, where he would be able to gain energy. Though this tower wasn’t designed solely for the purpose of gathering energy, it had the function of an energy tower nonetheless. Unlike the training camp tower, the concentration of energy didn’t seem as compact, but Fang was the sole occupant using it without the usual time limit of an hour.

Practicing the endless method, he was stunned at how quickly it seemed to absorb. Even in the past, it had never been this fast. It surely wasn’t the effect of the energy tower—it must have been the energy bath that accelerated his growth so much.

Damn, no wonder the wealthy became so strong—“ordinary” people who tried hard could never match up to this enormous gap!

Valeria had said that energy towers were available for anyone to use, but people who gained energy could only stay for two hours at most, as staying longer could potentially burden the body. However, with the use of the endless method, Fang stayed for three hours before exiting. He then headed towards the lower floors, where some techniques were described and training machines were elaborately set up.

It was late in the lethargic afternoon when Valeria and Fang dined again. Before Fang prepared to head back, Valeria took out a card. “Fang, here’s a card with access to a little gold usable across the country. Please take it.”

Though Valeria said it was a small amount, judging from her past generosity, Fang didn’t believe it would be insignificant.

He waved his hands. “Valeria, thank you, but you’ve helped me enough. For living costs and tuition, I’ll manage on my own. Plus, the experience from hunting monsters should be useful.”

“Well, okay.” Valeria didn’t press the card on him, her eyes glinting with enjoyment. It seemed she had made the right choice.

Fang bid farewell to Valeria and returned to camp with Rhodes. Upon arriving back at his residence, Blue surprisingly discovered that Fang hadn’t come back the previous night and asked as soon as Fang entered, “Fang, where were you last night?”

Fang hesitated slightly as he hung up his coat on the stand. “At Lady Valeria’s home.”

“What? Did Valeria let you stay for the night?”

He nodded. “Yes, it was really late when we finished talking, so she asked if I wanted to stay over.”

Puzzled, Blue stood up. “Why is she so good to you?”

Fang awkwardly replied, “Well… I don’t know.”

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From Fang’s tone, Blue knew there was something more, but if Fang was reluctant to share, it probably involved private matters she wouldn’t pry into.

She frowned. Valeria inviting Fang to stay the night was strange enough, but for him to go again and stay the night? What was so attractive about this guy?

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A week later, in the dim moonlight, two figures were present on the practice grounds.

One of them was Fang, with undisguised joy on his face as he felt his energy desire to expand. This was definitely a welcome sign, as it usually preceded an upgrade. If nothing else, in a couple of days, he should be able to become a 2nd grade intermediate!

Typically, it should have taken an additional month and a half or longer to advance from 1st grade to 2nd grade as an intermediate, but in less than a month, Fang was on the verge of advancing. Nevertheless, the rate would soon slow down; compared to a week ago, the energy bath had worn off considerably.

The second figure was Blue, looking depressed. Every day, she had followed Fang around and clearly recognized the insane speed at which he was progressing—she even felt it was inhuman. This suspicion originated when Fang came back from Valeria’s place… could it be that she gave him an energy bath? It was the only explanation Blue could come up with, given the decrease in his speed over time.

But Blue couldn’t understand at all. Why would Valeria give him an energy bath? The used materials were extremely expensive and should be more valuable than average to have this much impact. It couldn’t be that the head of commerce, after rejecting countless advances and never having a boyfriend, suddenly wanted a pet?

No, it couldn’t be. Valeria wasn’t that kind of woman. Not to mention, if she wanted a cute pet, it would never be Fang. After all, while Fang wasn’t ugly and had some handsome features, he was simply a nuisance that needed to be dealt with!

Because of that event, Blue had been depressed all this time, yet Fang went about with a good mood every day? Right, let me play with Fang once, hit his self-confidence hard, and make him tremble in fear. That would be nice… Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

However, if she did that, a small portion of her strength might be revealed, and she wouldn’t be able to demonstrate the majority of her skills…

What the hell, Fang’s a freak, so he should deal with freaks. Let’s just do it!

“Fang, we’ve known each other for such a long time, but we’ve never practiced against each other. Would you like to compare pointers?”

In schools, it was relatively common for students to have practice fights to enhance their combat experience. Fang couldn’t see anything wrong with that suggestion, so he agreed.

“Sure!”

“I’m pretty weak, so please don’t go too hard on me!” Blue said, almost letting out a laugh. Fang, it’ll be a great expression to see you embarrassed when you get defeated by someone weaker, and I’ll feel infinitely better.

Unable to sense the incoming danger, Fang comforted Blue. “Blue, don’t take this too seriously. It’ll make you too nervous. After all, as a fighter, winning or losing is a normal part of a duel, and sometimes failure helps us become aware of our shortcomings!”

Blue was speechless. The way this guy talked made sense and felt eerily similar to that old man.

Bothered, Blue was about to protest when someone suddenly called out, “Come over here!”

Two men quickly approached the practice grounds—it turned out to be the same aggressive people from the first day, Garret and his friend.

Seeing Fang, Garret was a little surprised and let out a curse. “It must be your lucky day. Regrettably, I’m not looking for you today. Instead, I’d like a ‘friendly’ talk with a certain someone next to you.”

From Garret’s tone, it was clear that his goal was to challenge not Fang, but Blue.