CHAPTER 69: LIES AND TRUTHS

It was almost daunting to think they would continue at this speed for hours. The wind hitting their faces hard for so long.

Riven wasn’t so bothered, though. Tatehan’s back was like a shield, blocking the wind from really getting into her face.

Tatehan took it in, though, embracing the wind. Streaks of tears flew from the corners of his eyes. They weren’t caused by sadness or joy but by the wind itself.

Riven just made sounds behind him, happy to be moving this fast and still be alive.

To Tatehan’s surprise, he was actually doing great. He was moving very fast but safely at the same time.

Anyone could reach the speed he was going, but not many could maintain that speed and still be alive. Not everyone could travel at this velocity without hitting a bump that would send the motorcycle flying and kill them both.

He occasionally swerved the handlebars, dodging rocks that were capable of shaking the bike and sending them tumbling.

They were at this speed for over forty-one minutes, and after that, the earlier sensation that came with it started wearing off.

The land in front of them was barren, filled only with pebbles and scattered debris.

Tatehan now slowed his speed, moving twenty percent less fast than before. Riven was quiet behind him, and the journey was starting to get boring.

"Want to engage in a conversation?" Riven asked.

The question initially caught Tatehan off guard, but then he nodded and replied, "Sure."

It wouldn’t hurt if he engaged in some talking.

"What’s your ability and your weapon?" she asked. "I saw you summon a sword and chakrams repeatedly when you faced the Shadow Goblins."

"I thought you wanted to have a conversation," Tatehan said. "Why the questions?"

Riven shrugged, still holding him tight.

"That’s how you start a conversation. We discuss something. For example, we discuss your awakened weapon and ability, we laugh about it, and then we discuss mine."

Tatehan was tempted to stroke his beardless chin in thought, but that would only send the Dust rider to the wrong direction and potentially kill them.

She wanted to know what weapon he awakened and his ability...

This was a problem in a way because she wasn’t exactly asking because she wanted to learn something new, like ’oh, so your weapon is a baseball bat? Wow!’

There would be nothing like that, because she’d already seen him summon a sword and chakrams in the middle of battle.

’Did she see me use my gravity manipulation?’

He thought for a moment (a second or so) and came to the conclusion that she didn’t. If she did, she couldn’t call it ’Gravity Manipulation’ because of the way he’d used it.

He remembered using it to launch himself forward at one goblin, and then using it to slam another Shadow Goblin into the ground with devastating force.

Thinking about it now, he realized these weren’t instances where he’d openly used the ability. To a normal human (even an enhanced one), it should pass as something normal—just enhanced strength and agility.

But he still had to tell her his ability. Which one should it be? He remembered his encounter with Kael, when he’d been asked what his ability was and he’d said Partial Regeneration. The reason he’d done so at the time was so it would be believable, considering he was badly injured and it would be unusual if he just happened to be whole again without any special help.

"My awakened ability is Gravity Manipulation," Tatehan said to Riven.

She was silent for some time, processing what he was saying. Tatehan didn’t mind, though. He even needed time so he could think of a perfect lie for his weapon.

He wasn’t going to tell her it was the spaceship, the Red Dragon Spaceship. That thing had a bad history. It was something that had ended Earth!

A whole planet!

A planet that was said to have the smartest species in the universe...

[A/N: Not exactly, some random alien should be smarter than us]

...this was a vessel so sought after that if anyone found out he possessed it, it could end him.

Finally, Riven nodded and said, "Fascinating ability. Wonder why I didn’t see you use it in your fight."

"Well, you didn’t use yours when you fought the Shadow Goblins, right?" Tatehan blurted.

"Well..." Riven began.

"I did the same."

"Then what’s the weapon that granted you the ability?"

"The chakrams," Tatehan lied immediately. "I know you’ll ask what about the sword. That was something I found near the corpse of a dead human."

"I see," Riven replied, going silent.

"What about yours?" Tatehan asked. "Thought you said earlier you’d tell me yours."

She smiled. Tatehan wasn’t looking at her to know any expression she made, though. All he did was face forward, as looking back for just a second could send one of his tires over a rock that would tilt the Dust Rider to the side and potentially end their journey.

"My ability is pretty useless," she said. "I mean, it’s good in the long term, but it’s meh compared to other Martian humans’ abilities."

Tatehan only nodded his head, listening.

"I have the ability to predict an enemy’s move in battle."

Tatehan almost stopped the motorcycle in shock— amused shock, though. He wanted to laugh but held it in. He wouldn’t want to make Riven feel bad or anything. When he couldn’t hold the laughter anymore, it came out as a chuckle.

"I know... I know," Riven said, her voice dropping lower than usual.

"But luckily I have two life-saving weapons. The device that can detect sounds or footsteps from afar before they get close, and then this rifle."

There was a pause, and she added:

"The rifle’s a lifesaver, by the way. I’d argue it’s among the top three best awakened weapons on this planet. Even better than your chakrams."

Tatehan grinned at that. She had no idea that his weapon was number one among all the awakened weapons on Mars.

She didn’t know that owned by him was the Red Dragon Spaceship.