"What exactly is your level?"
Sivir's expression shifted.
A moment ago, she had drifted into thought, imagining the future Azir would build when Shurima rose again. In that single instant, Caleb, looking almost impatient, had flicked her on the forehead.
But the force, speed, and even the way the rest of his body had moved with it had all been flawless.
She had already once suffered a nearly fatal injury from letting her attention slip for only a moment. By all rights, after all the training she had put herself through since then, her body should have developed an instinctive response to attacks like that.
And yet that one little flick from Caleb had not triggered even the slightest counterattack from her.
Which meant that any time Sivir let her mind wander, Caleb could kill her in a single strike from this distance.
"So T3 is the limit?"
Caleb pulled his hand back and shook his head with mild disappointment.
Sivir had been sizing up Caleb's group, but Caleb had been sizing up Sivir too.
First of all, one thing was certain, thin as it might be, the blood of Shurima's royal line really did flow through her veins.
That meant the odds were very high that the next empress of Shurima would be her.
That was, of course, assuming Azir was gone by then, and that she accepted the Rite of Ascension and survived it.
In truth, you did not have to become Ascended to inherit the empire.
It was just that if Azir remained an emperor who had undergone Ascension, and Sivir never did, it would be very hard for her to live long enough to ever see the day she inherited the throne.
Aside from the magical surge carried in her bloodline, Sivir's real combat ability still came mainly from the experience she had built up through constant fighting, along with her honed body and, most importantly, the Chalicar.
That weapon had once belonged to the first empress, Setaka, so its power was naturally nothing to take lightly.
Even so, Sivir had not truly mastered either close combat or ranged combat.
If you also counted the shield from the game that could block one skill, both Caleb and Kai'Sa could still kill her within thirty paces.
Caleb went without saying. With Shadow Step and Arcane Shift, all he had to do was get in close and keep Sivir tied down.
After that, he could leave the rest to the lightning.
And Kai'Sa, so long as her Void Seeker was not blocked by that shield, would appear in front of Sivir the very next second.
Then, during the invisibility granted by Supercharge, once Sivir lost track of her target, she would be swallowed by Icathian Rain.
So with that single light flick of his finger, Caleb had already tested the depth of Sivir's abilities.
By the time Sivir realized it, it was too late. As she stared at Caleb, who was calmly petting Yuumi's head beside her, her eyes filled with resentment.
So she had underestimated him?
Sivir looked at Caleb's calm gaze, the faint hint of a smile there, and shivered.
She was long used to the savage temperature swings of desert combat, but this was different. This was something colder.
He had seized on that tiny opening, used it to sound her out, and succeeded.
If he had gone all out from the start...
Looking at Caleb's face as it settled back into quiet calm, Sivir suddenly found herself curious.
What was he thinking right now?
...
"No, seriously, system, how is that fair? I'm faster than Sivir, and better than her too!"
At that moment, Caleb was yelling inside his own head, because he had just realized a very serious problem.
"I'm still basically a normal human, and I'm already above T3 at minimum!"
"So how come she has abs, and I don't?!"
Caleb raged inwardly.
"Jayce is a scientist and even he gets a six-pack, so why am I still stuck with this little belly?"
It was not entirely his fault.
Back in Piltover, most people wore clothes that covered their whole bodies anyway.
Jinx's top half was a different story, sure, but hers was flat enough to use as a ruler.
It was only after seeing Sivir that Caleb finally realized something.
He had been in this other world for so long, and he had already left Piltover and Zaun behind.
And the muscle on his stomach was still just one smooth slab.
Was that reasonable?
No, it was not.
[The host lacks exercise.]
The system's calm voice hit Caleb like a lightning bolt. Outwardly, he kept walking in silence, but inside he had already wilted.
What a miscalculation...
At first, he had avoided training because he just wanted to survive a little longer in Zaun.
Then the rewards started rolling in, his physical abilities skyrocketed, and the issue slipped his mind completely.
And now here he was, strong enough to beat at least someone like Sivir head-on, and he still had a little belly.
"Is it too late for me to start training now?"
Caleb's mental tone turned painfully sincere.
[You may require training intensity proportionate to your current physical abilities.]
The system's cold reply was like a butcher's cleaver, delivering the final sentence.
His dream of getting abs the easy way had just died on the spot.
Caleb lowered his head and stared at the shifting sand beneath his feet.
The sky was full of stars and moonlight.
The three of them and one cat sat around the campfire, and not a single one of them had gone to sleep yet.
Caleb was planning to knock out a hundred sit-ups and see if he could work on his core a little.
Sivir, on the other hand, was still too shaken by that little test to fall asleep.
Kai'Sa was busy petting the cat and had no interest in sleeping yet either.
The moment Sivir's brow furrowed, she threw the Chalicar from her hand without hesitation.
In midair, the weapon seemed to split into dozens of copies and spun out in every direction around them.
A burst of dense, crisp metallic impacts rang out, and then the Chalicar merged back into one piece and returned to Sivir's hand.
All around the camp, dozens of throwing knives dropped to the ground.
Caleb quietly gave a small nod that no one noticed.
From that alone, Sivir was at least competent.
Otherwise, with Shuriman royal blood and a divine weapon, if all that added up to was an ordinary peak human, that would be like a first-overall draft pick with Hall of Fame bloodlines turning into just another starter.
The Chalicar had not yet shown its full power, but at the very least, her future still looked promising.
"How have you been gone for days, and who is she?"
The red-haired beauty appeared again without a sound, like a ghost rising from an underground tomb.
"Why do you sound like a jealous wife who just caught me cheating?" Caleb could not help saying. "And besides, why would I have to explain myself to you?"
"There."
A dark blur flew at Caleb without slowing in the slightest, and he caught it in one hand.
Seeing how calm Caleb remained, Sivir still felt danger from the woman in front of them.
Just like her, this woman clearly had blood all over her hands.
And who was this now?
Someone else who had come looking for Caleb?
Sivir realized the impression she had formed earlier had touched only the outer edge of the fog.
Caleb's real self was hidden much deeper, somewhere she would have to keep digging to find.
Katarina shot Caleb an annoyed look. Ever since he and Kai'Sa had vanished, she had spread her eyes all through the Tyrant Mercenary Company.
Several of her spies had died for it before she finally managed to pin down the general direction the two of them had taken.
And after rushing all the way here, there was now another Shuriman woman standing beside Caleb.
"Uh... I'm going to sleep first."
Sensing that the atmosphere had turned ugly, Caleb immediately dove into his sleeping bag and rolled himself far away.
People always said that put three women together and you had the start of a full-blown soap opera. If he stayed awake now, he would just be extra baggage.
Katarina and Sivir locked eyes at the exact same time and said in unison, "Who are you?"
The fire crackled and popped, and Caleb's exaggerated fake snoring drifted out of the sleeping bag.
If only he could keep Shadow Step active all the time.
Then he could just burrow into the sand and pretend he did not exist.
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