“I… This was insensitive of me, wasn’t it? You’ve been wanting so badly to reach the first level and here I am mentioning it carelessly.”
“No, no! That’s not the case at all. Yes I’m frustrated that I’m not advancing as fast as I want to, but that’s not on you. In fact, this is a great idea. At least then I’ll know what to expect when I face higher levels.”
“Have you thought that perhaps…” She nibbles at her lip nervously.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She smiles. “It was nothing.”
“No. Tell me,” I urge. “I don’t want you to hide your thoughts from me just because I might get not like to hear them. We’re a team, remember?”
She nods thoughtfully. “I’ve been thinking about your fights. You’ve been battling individuals at level oneandtwo. And you said Zarek was close to level three, no?”
“Yes,” I say and I point to the definition of level three in the book.
Domain abilities become stable and usable in combat, but they consume a lot of energy and can only be maintained for short periods of time.
“He fit the definition of a level three.”
“How could you, who hasn’t even reached level one, defeat people so much stronger?”
Her question catches me by surprise, but I can’t say I haven’t thought about it myself, too.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “You’re right that theoretically I shouldn’t be able to defeat even a level one. Considering the factthat I only began consuming energy recently, I should not stand a chance inanybattle. Yet somehow I’ve won every single one.”
“Maybe youhaveawakened something but you’re not aware of it?” She suggests.
I shrug and shake my head. “If we weren’t stuck here, I would have tried to find a master to guide me and answer my questions. As it stands…”
“Trial and error,” she completes my sentence.
I nod. “We keep going. Even if we don’t have all the answers, we do all we can with what we do have.”
Her lips curl up and she shifts closer to me, her hand lightly touching my back.
“I like that,” she says in a soft voice. “We do what we can with what we have.”
Her breath fans over my face, warm and pleasant. I turn my head slightly. She’s closer now, resting her chin on my shoulder.
My eyes meet hers and I swallow nervously. It dawns on me just how close we are.
Even though we sleep in the same bed every night, I always place a pillow in between us for her sake—the last thing I want is for her to feel uncomfortable being near me in such a vulnerable state.
But now…
She licks her lips as her eyes move from my mouth to my eyes. She stares at me intently.
My heart thuds in my chest. Should I ask her if I can kiss her? Should I just do it? Move closer, hover a little, see if she moves away?
What the hell should I do in this situation?
The uncertainty is killing me.
Neither of us moves, our eyes still locked.
That’s it! Next time I need to read some of her books, perhaps they have an answer to my dilemma.
As for this moment…
