Chapter 43: Suspicions
An audible sigh of relief escaped Arbus's lips as he exited the base's med bay.
"Finally."
He had been brought here immediately after the incident in the training room.
Thanks to his regeneration, the minor injuries he'd gotten from the fight had already disappeared seconds after the attack.
He couldn't tell anyone about that though, so he was forced to obey the medic's advice and stay for a few hours.
A frown appeared on his face as he thought back to the incident. Especially the smile on Jet's face.
For some reason, he couldn't seem to just dismiss it as him being amused by his predicament.
Arbus had a sneaking suspicion that what happened wasn't an accident at all.
He just had no way to prove it.
He sighed.
"Whatever, it's just the same old thing. I should stop letting him get to me so much."
He didn't like the fact that Jet's taunting always seemed to rile him up more than anyone else.
It was as if he always knew where and what to target.
'Royalty is really such a hassle, just like master said. I should do my best to avoid them in the future.' he thought with a nod, not bothering to address the fact that he was technically one himself.
He glanced to the side of the room, a smile spreading across his face.
There, Alexander was leaning against the wall with a bored expression.
He glanced in Arbus's direction after a bit, finally noticing him.
Arbus walked over with a wave. "Sorry to keep you waiting. The staff said they had to run quite a few tests on me to make sure my internal organs were fine. They aren't all that familiar with human biology, after all."
He said with a small laugh, remembering the slightly apprehensive expressions of the red mornan medics.
Despite their obvious fear, they still cared about my well being. That was why Arbus liked medical personnel so much.
Their selflessness during every situation had always gave him a hopeful feeling.
Alexander's brow raised.
"Oh, are they that different from Mornans?" He asked curiously.
"Just a few. Our hearts aren't as big for one." I said as we began heading toward one of the halls.
"I'm not exactly an expert though, since I'm also half Tarokian." He added with a shrug.
"Who knows what went where without my parents knowledge."
Alexander winced as he checked his ribs slightly.
"Ah yes, Tarokians. Truly terrifying. Remind me never to pick a fight with one again."
"I suppose I should thank Instructor Kate for not letting me experience the consequences of my own decisions to the fullest."
I smiled.
"Yeah, you definitely should. But at least you managed to beat one of them, that's quite an achievement in my opinion. That's one more than me."
Alexander glanced at him in surprise.
"Seriously? That's a joke right?"
Arbus turned to him with a raised brow.
"What's so surprising about it?"
Alexander remained silent for a few moments, then asked curiously.
"Are real Tarokians really that strong!? You were able to handle a level 7 bot like that without losing at least a limb or two. Truly a terrifying species."
Arbus's expression became a bit complicated.
"Well, not all of us I suppose. I often found myself on the weaker side for most of my life. And I paid dearly for that."
Alexander remained silent for a long moment, not sure how to continue the conversation after that.
"I wonder what Kearu's up to these days. He barely comes back to the dorm anymore." Arbus asked, changing the topic himself.
Alexander let out a sigh.
"I'm pretty sure he's spending most of his time in the mental training room now, kinda like you used to. He's still stuck on the final mission."
"I can understand why too, since I got the same last boss as him. I'm already considering quitting."
Soon enough, they walked into the shooting range as doors slid open.
Arbus immediately noticed that they weren't the only trainees present.
Rin, Jet and blue mornans like maze were gathered around a few spots already, firing away.
Arbus could feel Rin's cold gaze on him the moment she noticed him.
Alexander chuckled slightly, gesturing for the door.
"Maybe we should come back another time."
I glanced over the assembled Mornans again, noticing the fearful glances the blue mornans gave me.
It seemed they were now afraid of him again, after his performance earlier.
Arbus sighed, hoping that wouldn't bring more trouble than it was worth.
"No, it's fine." He said as he walked in, selecting a portable handgun from the selection against the walls before heading to the furthest available station from the others.
".... Alright then." Alexander muttered as he followed.
He grabbed a weapon of his own – guns resembling the ones he always used during his simulation fights, and settled into the station next to Arbus's.
The next half an hour passed in relatively quickly as they began shooting.
Alexander managed to hit his moving targets with almost perfect accuracy, which wasn't surprising to Arbus given his skills with guns and his performance a few hours ago.
Arbus on the other hand, struggled quite a lot.
Like always, guns seemed to be the Bain of his existence.
For some reason, he couldn't get used to the feeling of firing them. The sensation always felt off to him, which always caused his aim to be off the target. It was far different from the feeling he got whenever he pulled back the string of his hunting bow.
Bam!
Arbus sighed as another set ended, studying his gun with an annoyed expression.
In the last thirty minutes, he had only managed to hit 40 out of 200 targets accurately, despite a large number of them being stationary.
"How infuriating."
He scoffed.
"Who needs guns anyway? Swords are so much better."
BAM!
"Hmm, if you say so." Alexander replied with an amused smirk as he shot his last target.
He glanced up, checking the display device for their scores.
He had managed to hit 380 out of his 400 targets, all of them moving.
"Tsk, show-off." Arbus said with a grunt.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The sudden series of shots forced them to glance over at the source – Rin. They immediately noticed that her rifle had been set to stage two.
"Oh wow, she's really good." Alexander muttered in amazement as he watched her targets moving at the top speed. According to the scoreboard, she hadn't missed a single shot.
"I guess that's where legacy training gets you." He muttered to himself.
When she was finally done, she headed toward the wall, placing the weapon in it's original position before heading out without glancing in their direction.
Arbus's gaze fell on Jet for a moment as he noticed him watch her leave, his expression unreadable.
From what he'd heard from Alexander, he knew Jet was somewhat intrigued by this star system and its history.
It only made sense for him to be interested in a Dune heir.
Arbus chuckled slightly at the thought of Jet being more amiable if he knew of his family heritage.
Jet suddenly turned toward Arbus, meeting his gaze. A smile appeared on his face as he walked over.
"Arbus, I'm glad to see you're doing better after that terrible accident earlier."
"That was a terrifying sight, even from the observation deck. I can't imagine what you went through."
Arbus frowned, studying him for several moments.
"I'm sure you are." He said, turning away from Her and getting ready for another round.
Arbus's attitude didn't seem to bother him.
"No really, I am. I hadn't expected you to be so skilled. I knew you were holding back a lot during all your spars with me, but I didn't think it was to that extent."
He shrugged.
"It's a bit humbling, I suppose."
Arbus was a bit surprised by Jet's calm attitude. He'd expected him to be a bit more envious about the difference in strength between them, like he was for Kearu.
Jet's expression darkened suddenly.
"Half-humans are more dangerous than I had anticipated." He said, his tone laced with a dangerous edge.
Arbus glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
Alexander scoffed, ready to start another argument with the prince for the umpteenth time, but Arbus raised a hand to stop him.
"What else do you want, Jet."
Jet smiled, backing away.
"Nothing, truly. I'm just glad you were able to survive that. After all, It only makes things more exciting." He said as he walked out of the room, his entourage following behind.
Arbus and Alexander frowned slightly as the watched him leave.
"I'm not sure why, but I'm starting to think the malfunction wasn't really an accident, after all." Arbus said suddenly, returning to his station.
Alexander's eyes widened slightly as he glanced at him.
"Do you think Jet caused it!? How would he do that!?"
Arbus shrugged.
"That's what I'm not sure of."
"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. It's best to just forget about it."
Alexander's expression darkened for just a moment before he returned to his station.
"I suppose it is."