Chapter 163: Chapter 163: The Event Ends
The eating, drinking, and playing was relaxed and fun. By the time Zachary Pierce arrived, they had mostly finished and all headed to the training room together for some sparring.
Ethan Yardley didn’t go; he started chatting with Zachary Pierce.
This was Faye Yardley’s first time in this kind of team combat training, and she found it quite fun.
It required teamwork, but when they drew lots, none of her original teammates ended up on her side.
Since it was their first time teaming up, everyone just fought on their own. Their main strategy seemed to be staying out of each other’s way.
Even though it was combat training, the overall atmosphere was incredibly fun and relaxed. For Faye Yardley, training with such a casual mindset was a first.
As for the effectiveness... to be honest, it was less productive than when she trained by herself. But her mood had never been this good during training before.
When the time was up, the group came out. Although everyone was dog-tired, they all had smiles on their faces, arms slung over each other’s shoulders, already talking trash about how they would definitely crush the other team next time.
After saying hello to Zachary Pierce, who had arrived later, they prepared to head back. Faye Yardley quickly had Willow Yardley and Eamon give them the prepared gifts.
Kyle Lewis took a large bag of things and grinned. "Miss Yardley, I won’t be polite then. You fed us well, and now I’m even taking stuff home."
"Don’t stand on ceremony. I prepared these for all of you. Please, just take them."
After thanking her one by one, they all said their goodbyes and left. For them, it had also been a very relaxing evening.
Eventually, the only ones left on the raft were Ethan Yardley and Zachary Pierce.
"Mr. Pierce, sorry about that."
"It’s nothing. I had a good chat with Ethan about some projects we could cooperate on," Zachary Pierce said with a smile. "I originally planned to invite you to my place to meet some people, but you said you were shy and wouldn’t know how to talk to the senior figures, so I didn’t push it. They’re still quite curious about you and would like to meet you."
Faye Yardley took the cloth Willow Yardley handed her to wipe away her sweat and said, "Let’s not. I genuinely have social anxiety. But don’t worry, if I get my hands on anything good, I’ll be sure to save a portion for you."
Ethan Yardley said with a laugh, "Don’t make things difficult for my sister. If there’s anything, you can talk to me first."
"Yep, telling my brother is the same as telling me."
Zachary Pierce smiled and then asked, "Has Jonas settled the accounts with you for your share?"
Faye Yardley nodded. "He has. By the way, I asked you last time if you’d found anyone with a Talent for replicating blueprints. Any results?"
"Not yet. At least, there’s no one like that in our system. It’s possible others have such an ability but are hesitant to reveal it." Zachary Pierce sounded resigned. If such a Talent truly existed, even if it could only replicate one blueprint per day, it would hold immense strategic value.
They would only offer protection to such individuals.
Unfortunately, they just hadn’t found anyone. Not even any similar Talents.
He finally sighed. "In the end, it’s just that there are too few people with Talents. Even those who earn rewards in Dungeon 3 aren’t guaranteed to receive a Talent."
Faye Yardley blinked, feeling conflicted. She still had several Talent Stones. ’Should I keep them? I don’t really have a use for them. But should I give them away? Just like that? For some reason, I’m a little reluctant to part with them.’
’So, I’m not really a good person after all.’
Both Ethan Yardley and Zachary Pierce could see Faye Yardley’s inner conflict. It looked like she had something to say, but they both had a tacit understanding not to press her.
Some things had to be offered willingly, both so she could explain herself properly and so it wouldn’t affect their friendship.
Zachary Pierce smiled and said, "Yardley, you’re developing really well. Your brother mentioned you chose a defensive type, which was a smart move. Out on this vast ocean, you never know where enemies might be, so defense is the best choice. Ethan’s choice wasn’t as good as yours."
"Hey, hey, hey! Do you have to put me down right to my face? What would you know about the choice your ’Mr. Yardley’ made?"
Faye Yardley just pursed her lips and smiled.
Zachary Pierce said to the siblings, "It’s getting late, so I’ll head back first. Call me if anything comes up."
"Wait—" Faye Yardley felt like a bundle of contradictions. She sighed, then held out her hand, a Talent Stone resting in her palm. "Here. It’s for you."
Even Ethan Yardley felt a pang of envy. He didn’t need it anymore, but his teammates certainly did.
’Such a spendthrift, this sister of mine. Couldn’t she think about her dear big brother for once?’
’But for Zachary Pierce’s group... with just one stone and so many people, who would he even give it to? That’s going to be a problem.’
Zachary Pierce was stunned for a moment, then gave a wry smile. He wasn’t as conflicted as Ethan Yardley might be about who to give it to, but he didn’t reach out to take it. "Yardley, you should keep it for yourself. You’ll have a team of your own eventually, and your future teammates might need it."
"I’ve already taken it out." Faye Yardley grabbed his hand and pushed the stone into his palm. "It’s yours. Take it. Quick, before I change my mind."
Zachary Pierce looked down at his hand, then back at her, and smiled. "Okay. In that case, I’ll be shameless and accept."
Being more and more in her debt, Zachary Pierce couldn’t help but feel a little pressure.
Faye Yardley smiled faintly, took a bag from Willow Yardley, and handed it to him. "You get what they got. Take it."
"Alright, I’m off. Bye-bye."
After Zachary Pierce left, Ethan Yardley clapped his sister on the shoulder. "Faye, fess up."
"What?"
Looking at his sister’s innocent and clueless face, Ethan Yardley decided it was better not to ask anything. He was afraid that by bringing it up, he might plant ideas in her head that weren’t there to begin with.
So, he changed the subject. "Fess up. You still have more Talent Stones, don’t you?"
Faye Yardley chuckled. "As expected of my dear brother, you know me so well. But don’t even think about getting any ideas about my stash. I didn’t just give you a Talent Stone back then, I also gave you a Talent Skill Book, remember?"
"Hahaha! You’re my little sister, why keep such close tabs? Besides, is your brother a greedy man?"
Faye Yardley just snorted twice, letting him interpret the meaning for himself.
As full-blooded siblings, they knew each other inside and out.
In any case, Faye Yardley considered herself to be very knowledgeable about her brother. As for whether her brother understood her... was there even a need to ask? You could say he was the one who raised her.
’There was a ten-year age gap between them. How old was she when their parents passed away? Eight, wasn’t it?’
"Alright, fine. Just hold onto them and stop giving them away so casually. Also, about Zachary... well, anyway, you should probably keep some distance from him."
Faye Yardley frowned slightly. "Brother, what kind of weird things are you saying? I’m not that close to him. If I were really close to him, I’d have joined his team by now."
"Uh... Willow, give me my gift. I’m heading back."
Willow Yardley glanced at Faye Yardley, and only when she saw no objection did she take two steps forward and hand the gift bag to Ethan Yardley.
"This event ends at midnight. We don’t know what tomorrow will be like. It’s been hot for a long time, and while chatting with Zachary earlier, we both guessed the temperature should be dropping soon. You need to be prepared for other kinds of extreme weather," Ethan Yardley couldn’t help but advise before he left.
"I know. Same to you over on your side. With so many people, you have a lot more to consider."
