CHAPTER 790: 790: DIVINE GAME: CARD SWAP 39

When she saw Lightchaser wearing her usual metal mask and pulling up on a motorcycle to pick her up, Rita kept a straight face, trying hard not to smile. She nodded coolly.

"You’re here."

Lightchaser: ...

Rita flew onto the backseat and, remembering something that had been bothering her, grumbled,

"Were those candies you sent me leftovers from the Rock Locust brand?"

"Taste good?"

"No! All my classmates said they were disgusting!"

"You could give them to GodDraw77 next time."

"I’m just in first year—I still have six years of classes with her. Can I wait until seventh year to help you with that?"

"In seventh year, you can help me deliver something else."

Rita didn’t dare ask what that "something else" was. She still wanted her diploma.

Lightchaser didn’t ask where Mistblade had gone. Once they got home, she simply added another blank hexagonal wooden plaque next to the goblin head ornament by the door.

It was a white plank with a black-dusted border. A very ominous color scheme.

Every time Rita walked by that plaque, she couldn’t help but wonder: if a Moonfox’s tail gets chopped off, does it grow back?

This was Rita’s second Winterveil spent with Lightchaser. Nothing fancy—except for the addition of Wail.

The tiny old lady somehow seemed even busier than Lightchaser. She disappeared the day after Winterveil.

Back to just the two of them.

With more than twenty days left before school started again, Lightchaser decided to resume her "Junk Street extracurricular classes."

But before they headed back there, she confronted Rita directly about the skill.

Lounging on the couch with one leg crossed over the other, Lightchaser said,

"Use that skill of yours on me. Keep going until it works."

Rita didn’t bother pretending. She knew the moment she lost control and used it on Wail, Lightchaser had figured it out. Especially with the skills Lightchaser had given her: Evidence Trace and Forged Records.

Evidence Trace let her identify someone’s basic data and trace clues tied to them in a given area.

Forged Records could alter personal information and even manipulate how health and mana points appeared to regenerate or deplete—perfect for supporting her life-draining steal skill.

After seven failed tries, Rita finally managed to use I Just Want to Improve So Badly on Lightchaser and steal something.

Her expression twisted as she pulled a coin pouch from her bag. Inside were 89 gold, 15 silver, and 7 copper coins.

One percent of wealth. That’s all she got.

She’d almost forgotten what copper coins looked like.

Thinking about how much she spent on classes in Junk Street, Rita was genuinely moved.

Turns out poverty couldn’t stop education in this world either.

Lightchaser snatched the pouch back immediately, her expression dead serious as she counted the coins several times before tucking them away.

Rita cleared her throat and went for Lightchaser’s soft spot.

"The reason I cried so hard last time? It was because I stole 2.97 million gold from Wail and she stole it all back. That was just one percent of her wealth."

Lightchaser fell into an awkward, long silence. Suddenly, she understood why Rita had been poking her chest over and over again that day—it was the pain. The pain of loss.

Eventually, she muttered,

"Why didn’t you say that at the time?"

All she did was cry and yell "297! Ahh! Ughhh!"

Rita replied dryly,

"Wasn’t Mistblade there?"

Lightchaser took a deep breath, then said,

"If you ever get that much again, yell for me. I’ll run with you immediately. We split it 80/20—I get 80."

"Why?" Rita protested. "I’m the one stealing it. Shouldn’t it be 80/20 the other way?"

"You have any idea how hard it is to dodge Wail’s revenge? She’s the last GodDraw77. I’m taking 70, you get 30."

"60/40!"

The two nearly got into a full-blown fight over their imaginary 2.97 million gold.

But Lightchaser was the more mature one. Once she snapped out of the 2.97 million daydream, she cut the argument short.

"Your skill is highly stealthy," she said. "Use it freely in Junk Street. You decide when and who. When you get exposed, that’s when our time there ends."

"Can I give the stuff I steal to you to handle? 80/20?"

"You want me to be your lackey?"

"You get 80, I get 20. If it’s something you want, keep it, no payment needed."

"..."

"Is that okay?"

"...Fine."

...

This was Rita’s first Winterveil spent in a proper city. Last year, she and Lightchaser had been traveling through the wilderness during the holiday.

But by the fourth day after the holiday, the streets of Asaein noticeably emptied out—half the usual crowd had vanished.

Junk Street’s part-time teachers were down to just a few. Lightchaser walked her down nearly half the street before they saw another soul.

"Where did everyone go?" Rita asked.

"This year’s Divine Game is being held in the Burrowbug Swamp near Gadgetzan," Lightchaser replied flatly. "Those with money are heading to see it in person. The rest are staying home to watch the broadcast."

Rita shut her mouth. She immediately regretted asking.

Above her, Lightchaser’s icy voice rang out.

"Don’t make that disgusting face. You think I’m like you? Crying and throwing tantrums over everything?"

Rita nodded frantically. Yes, yes, you’re right.

She hadn’t nodded twice before Lightchaser smacked her on the back of the head.

Clutching her skull, Rita glared. She was convinced her brain would eventually be knocked loose.

Thankfully, they finally found a teacher at the far end of Junk Street.

It was an old dog, over six hundred years old. Even Lightchaser showed it the utmost respect.

Rita studied under the dog until school started again.

The teacher covered everything—runes, alchemy, cooking, mechs, engineering, gemcraft... It seemed to know everything.

It never taught combat, but somehow, in those 20 days of class, Rita unlocked an S-rank skill.

Because Lightchaser, who often sat in to listen, would interrupt every day to ask bizarre, incomprehensible questions. Every single day. Finally, one day, Rita snapped and awakened a crowd-control S-rank spell:

"Would Whoever’s Talking Please Shut Up?" — a 5-second group silence.

She hadn’t dared use it yet. After all, Lightchaser paid for the tutoring.

During the day, Rita worked. In the evenings, Lightchaser coached her in combat.

Under Lightchaser’s personal guidance, Flame Shadow and Another Me both advanced to SS-rank.

Now, her shadow clone had 80% of her power and could use the skills Rita had painstakingly trained.

When Flame Shadow finally broke through to SS-rank, Lightchaser taught her a new A-rank spell: Fire Rain.

It wasn’t very powerful, but it had plenty of upsides—wide area, instant cast, dense flame droplets, short cooldown. Paired with Flame Shadow, Rita could move through the flames effortlessly.

She no longer needed Calm Down a Second to manually light a flame and toss it to move long distances.

She was learning to run—just like Lightchaser said. Not walk. Run.