Chapter 17: The Point of No Return

The next few days, Blue continued to follow Fang around, usually sleeping in class and then accompanying him into the tower, but no matter how hard he tried, with everything he knew, Fang came out happy while he was exhausted.

When the morning of the 5th day of the camp arrived, Blue walked out of the room with bloodshot eyes, two dark circles hanging enough to make him look like a panda.

Fang was worried. “Blue, are you okay? Seriously, you look really bad, can’t you get any sleep at night?”

Upset, Blue only stared at Fang again. Puzzling out what Fang was doing was incomprehensible, and he spent his nights trying to answer how it was possible. “I’m fine, getting plenty of sleep.”

“But how can you look so bad?” Fang wondered, then tentatively said, “Blue, do you spend your nights doing… it?”

Blue frowned. “What?”

“This!” Fang started to motion downwards and coughed slightly in embarrassment. “We’re healthy young people, I understand, but doing this kind of thing too much is unhealthy, you’ll be physically and mentally weak and it’ll directly affect your energy.”

Blue suddenly understood what Fang was implying at, and blushed. “You… dirty, dirty, dirty!”

Fang looked confused. “It’s completely normal as we age, many men face the same problem, and although I don’t do it, it’s okay if you do it, there’s nothing to be ashamed about.”

Blushing furiously, Blue shouted, “I didn’t do it, let’s just stop talking about that, okay?!”

Seeing how angry Blue was, Fang confirmed it was as it was, but his roommate was really too sensitive.

“No matter what, you can’t go on like this. I’ll skip today’s lesson and take you to see the healer to help fix your problems first.” Fang took Blue’s hand and started to walk out.

“Let go!” Blue broke free from Fang’s grasp.

Fang couldn’t understand Blue at all. “What’s the matter?”

Blue looked odd, biting his lip, body trembling, and his chest heaving.

When I grew up, other than my grandpa and that old man, no guy had ever dared to pull my hand!

Wow, it’s really unbelievable, he knows who I am and deliberately took advantage of me, inexcusable!

Looking back at him though, the amount of concern on Fang’s face was too realistic; reluctantly, he didn’t believe that a 16 year old boy would have such good acting skills.

I guess no one sent him?

In the end, he didn’t explode in anger, and only firmly stomped the ground. “I’m not going.”

“Okay, let’s not go then.” Fang pondered why his strange roommate would protest so much, but it seemed that Blue was calm now.

Resting, Blue suddenly felt a bit of regret. He had touched Fang in that brief moment, but didn’t take the opportunity to study the level of energy he was at.

So, Blue patted Fang’s shoulders. “Sorry Fang, my voice was too loud.”

Surprise flickered through Fang’s eyes, because until today, Blue had never been willing to get close to Fang, always separately at least a meter away. However, right now, Blue was patting his shoulders.

It seemed that his roommate had finally come to terms with his inner demons, and became more optimistic, no longer wary of anyone.

Fang returned the gesture, and patted Blue’s shoulders. “It’s okay, we’re friends and roommates – you don’t have to worry about it.”

Blue’s body was completely stiff at Fang’s hands, but Blue resolved himself at the point of no return.

A small probe of energy quietly emitted from his palm into Fang’s body.

He wanted to know one thing: if Fang had acted until now, and was concealing his actual level of energy. This would confirm if he had lied all this time, or if he was innocent.

But by itself, light flashed on Fang’s shoulders, and Blue quickly drew back.

Instant parry!

Blue couldn’t help but be shocked, although he also knew how to use instant parry, it wasn’t such a common or easy skill to learn.

Fang didn’t know why his body reacted all of a sudden, because he couldn’t feel any energy that pierced his body. The elders that came up with this technique did note that it was just a culmination of theory, and in actual practice, might have some problems, so he quickly responded, “Sorry Blue, I didn’t mean to do anything, are you okay?”

While he spoke, he wanted to look at Blue’s hand but Blue stepped back. “I’m fine!”

Didn’t he perceive my energy? Fang looked clueless, as Blue stared at him again. Even though it was instant parry, Blue realized the level of energy Fang was at; it was just simply a 9th grade novice.

Yes, he didn’t hide his strength.

However, how did he absorb energy at such a fast rate? Where did he learn instant parry?

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A couple of days went by, with Blue continuing to test Fang through conversation, setting up various verbal traps and observing his responses. He reached a conclusion.

This roommate was probably not sent by anyone, he was only 16 years old, and there was no way he could be so smooth, not showing the slightest reaction to the traps that he had set. Most likely, Fang was set up so that he’d be arranged with Blue without his knowledge.

Even if it was so, Blue couldn’t help but admit that he was interested in Fang. Inspired, he set out to lay intricate patterns of closed nets that energy couldn’t possibly seep through, yet, in the tower, Fang happily absorbed energy without any issues. There has to be a way, Blue thought, and he spent his days determined to win this cold war of energy control.

In a blink of an eye, ten days had already passed since Fang arrived at the school. It was one of the few rare holidays, with the energy tower closed for maintenance.

It hadn’t been long since Fang and Blue got back from the classes in the evening when the dwarf Durin showed up. “Fang, my friend, let’s go to Minuet City to drink!”

The brilliant city of Minuet lay only 10 kilometers away, and without any monsters ready to prey nearby, many people took advantage of the holiday to stroll into the city and experience the attractions the city had to offer. However, Durin’s reason for heading into the city was quite simple: to drink.

“Drink?” Fang felt embarrassed; he had never drunk before. “I think I had…”

He was interrupted mid-sentence by Blue, who shouted, “Let’s go, Fang!”

It might have been Blue’s appearance, or his mannerisms, but Durin hadn’t really thought that well of Blue. But seeing his enthusiasm, Durin’s reservations against him changed.

Fang frowned. “But… but…”

“But?” Blue interrupted him again. “I’ve never been to Minuet City, I’d really like to see how it looks like.”

“The best part about the city is its major pub, where all types of special wines throughout the country would be gathered at one spot!” Durin added on, as he had no interest in sightseeing. Drinking alone wasn’t fun at all though, so he added, “You see, even Blue wants to visit, Fang, you can’t just back out like a coward!”

Blue nodded. “Yes, we should balance both work and play, we’ve been training so hard in the school for so long; it’s time to relax!”

Two people continued to pester and persuade, until finally, Fang could only say, “Okay, I’ll come along.”

Blue and Durin, filled with spirit, got to their feet and started to head out. Fang, deciding that a break would be nice after all, told the two that he’d look for Mii and be right back, ready to go.

Durin laughed boisterously. “That’s great, let’s get ready to go!”

A smile crept around Blue’s face, as glorious plan to take place in Minuet City came into mind.