Broken

Chapter 21

I should keep in mind, for future reference, that just because a girl can breath under water did not mean that she wasn't also immune to getting pruned. Hair still damp, I stood in the mostly empty kitchen of my borrowed apartment and stretched out my arms to the ceiling, flexing still wrinkled fingers. Outside the wide window, the city sprawled, the sky a beautiful bright blue.

Not that I could go out and enjoy the lovely weather. Being constantly tracked down and followed by the press meant I was trapped in the Chaos Guild's, admittedly, roomy building. But, it was this boredom that lead me to testing out the newest random skill <Broken> had decided to hand off to me: <Mermaid's Breath>

It apparently allowed me to breath under water for an hour with a two hour cool down period. Needless to say I did not save this one with <Index>. Could the ability to breath underwater come in handy in the future? Sure. But I assume it wouldn't be needed so often as to justify taking up one of the two remaining slots for saved skills.

What I needed was a damn attack skill. As it stood right now, I was a Three-Stared raider with an apparent infinite potential, yet I didn't have a single usable combat skill! All these reporters and guilds looking for me, yet how embarrassing would it be if they all learned that I was basically just a regular chick who could, kind of, hit pretty hard. I suppose I could also dodge a speeding bus as well... Though, I rather doubted either of those were particularly praise worthy.

I sighed and scooped up my cell phone off the empty counter. I thought about calling Greyson, since he sounded so butt-hurt that I hadn't called him last time, but decided that teasing him was more fun. I hit 'call' on Eric's contact.

"Come entertain me." I said in leu of a proper greeting.

I heard Eric chuckle on the other side of the phone. It was nearly twenty-four hours since the interview with Agent Trench and I had sequestered myself to my room. I had wanted to be alone with my thoughts for a while. I needed to get myself grounded. Now, feeling more like myself again, and after an hour long soak in a bathtub, I found myself needing to move.

"Alright. Wanna come train with us?" Eric asked. I heard Greyson snapping and snarling in the back as his muffled complaints about not being the one contacted filtered over the phone. 

"Depends on the kind of training..." I said, not really in the mood to sit there watching the pair bounce around in their beast-like mana cowlings while I could do nothing but twiddle my fingers. I wanted to move as well.

I could almost hear the grin break over the blonde man's pretty face. "We were just about to go down to the ground floor and beat each other up. You can hit Greyson as much as you want."

"Tch, so long as she knows I'm gonna hit back." I heard Greyson huff somewhere near Eric, probably listening in.

I smiled. I wasn't fond of getting beat up, but it was also true that I needed to get used to my body's condition. After the Selection my stats had gone up and I didn't know my own strength anymore. The twins were a sturdy pair; they could handle a few blows, I was sure.

"Sounds good."

It was a matter of minutes before the twins were at my door. I invited them in as I finished stuffing a change of cloths and a water bottle into a small bag. If I was going to be running around with those two then there was no doubt that I would be working up a sweat.

"What happened to your head?!" Asked Greyson, sounding worried and pointing at the red knot on my forehead.

"Nothing." I stated, avoiding eye contact.

A grin spread across the man's face, looking delighted at my misfortune. "Did you slip in the shower?" He asked, no doubt noting my damp hair.

"No, I did not. Lets go."