Paige moved fast. She covered the distance in a single, lightning fast leap.

Levi hadn't seen the distance closed so fast since he himself had been fighting more aggressively.

And, in one second, she was dual wielding her blue daggers, and in the next, she was swiping with claws the same color.

Levi easily deflected her blows, but she fought like a wild animal.

Seeing an opening, Levi used Mental Boosting and Empowering Flow, aiming for an easy shot at her ribs. Levi watched as her eyes caught his movement, and she backflipped out of the attack while bringing up her foot in a kick he barely dodged. 'Holy hell, she's faster than anyone I've ever fought.' Levi thought.

As Paige crouched, she watched Levi retake a stance. If it wasn't for Catlike Reflexes, the fight would have been over with his last counterattack. Something about that made Paige happy. She lept for him again, this time delivering a flying back kick she hadn't tried since she was practicing Taekwondo, and she'd never done well.

Her new speed, power, and balance provided a perfect execution of the powerful kick.

Unfortunately for Paige, larger flashy moves were weak against both Tai Chi and Levi's own skills and methods of fighting. Levi simply deflected the blow, continuing Paige's momentum more than she'd intended, and lazily kicked her landing foot out from under her right before it touched the ground. He hadn't even used much force with any of his effort, and even his kick had been light.

Paige hit the ground and was barely able to roll out to the way before Levi's arm came down like a whip where she'd landed.

Levi, for his part, knew he was going to win the fight. Paige was incredibly fast, and he'd be lying if he said she didn't physically outmatch him in ways. Her fighting style was also so ferocious and animal-like that not only was it throwing Levi off, but it was also outright terrifying.

But, he'd spent weeks sparring, and she obviously hadn't. The truth was that he could have already ended the fight. But he didn't feel like it would be beneficial to anyone to end the fight quickly when she wouldn't get anything except embarrassment out of that. Plus, she was a fun sparring partner, and Levi was pretty sure she'd be more than a match for most people with a week or so of practice.

He decided to push the limits of her speed. He really just wanted to know how fast she was. Her speed felt different from his own. It was more reflex and less thought out. He knew he was about to need a healing potion for a few torn and overworked muscles, and he'd end up with a headache that even a healing and mana potion wouldn't completely fix, but he had to know how fast she was.

He let her create more distance but sent his dagger at her as soon as she'd found her feet. Resorting to his older, more aggressive style, he pushed Mental Boosting and Empowering Flow as far as he dared, lauched himself at her, and was a millisecond behind the flying dagger.

She easily slapped the dagger out of the way, and he watched her recognition of his strike but had left herself open when she'd swatted the blade away. Unable to block, she dodged back, but Levi was still pressing, not letting up on his rapid assault.

He was amazed to see she was almost quick enough to react to every strike. Her biggest problem was that she reacted instinctually, often putting her body in positions where she wasn't able to physically respond to Levi's next attack. She had no real plan or method, just reaction. But Levi still saw her eyes follow his fastest moves in a way no one had ever been able to. That wasn't to say others couldn't deal with it, but they relied on defensive methods and letting Levi burn himself out.

Paige could actually follow every move but simply wasn't able to react to all of them.

Deciding he was almost at his limit, Levi decided to use a tactic he'd thought up but never had the chance to use.

Going with a combo he knew would cause Paige to dodge out of the way, Levi pushed his assault. But, this time, when Paige went to leap backward, she found the mana barrier Levi had summoned behind her.

Delivering a blow he knew would be considered fatal, but at least not as bad as bursting her liver, Levi punched her chest right over her heart. He heard the crack of ribs and felt as her heart gave way.

He jumped back, ending his skills and letting the healers do their job on Paige. He sipped some healing potion that was handed to him. He didn't look injured, but everyone had learned that Levi damaged his own body when he was pushing his skill that hard.

------

Levi was grateful when several people, including Iara and Craig, rushed up to congratulate Paige and comment on her impressive speed. Of those almost fast enough to follow Levi's movements at top speed, the two sword fanatics were the best. And they easily closed that speed gap with the range of their weapons and skills of their own.

He didn't want Paige to feel like she'd done bad at all. She hadn't. She'd probably beat at least half the people who regularly sparred. But he felt that if the praise only came from him, it wouldn't mean as much.

After she'd had enough of being showered in praise, Paige rushed over to him, beaming a smile.

"Holy shit. How are you that fast?" She asked. Levi noticed her eyes doing the weird cat-thing again, where the pupils grew super large.

"I have skills to boost my speed and strength, plus another to speed up my thoughts to keep up with my body." Levi was relieved to see she'd taken the loss well. "How about you? No one has ever kept up with my top speed so well."

"Catlike Relfexes," Paige answered, confirming Levi's suspicions. "And that style you used was definitely some form of martial arts."

"Mostly, yeah. Tai Chi. A lot of it has been batardized or changed to fit my skills, and there's a little mix of things I've learned here and there. What about your daggers turning into cat claws."

They talked for a while after that. Mostly about the spar and their skills. Levi gave her pointers and promised to teach her a few better ways to deflect, block, and dodge without leaving as many openings.

Both were smiling throughout the conversation.

"You know that mana barrier thing at the end was pretty dirty," Paige said, joking.

"Hey," Levi said, raising his hands. "All is fair in love and war."

Paige's cheeks went a little pink at that. "Yeah, I guess so. It was a good trick." She suddenly stood. "I'm going to go take care of a couple things and clean up before the party. You'll be there, right?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I can't say no to alcohol and pork," Levi answered with a grin.

"Cool. See you then."

After Paige had left, Levi sniffed his armpit. He was due to wash up himself. Even more, his gear needed to be cleaned up. He couldn't remember the last time he'd washed it.

------

Paige was on a mission. Makeup. Even it was basic stuff made from whatever Grace could scrounge together.

Levi had said all was fair in love and war, after all. She knew he hadn't meant it in that context, and her feelings for Levi were far from love. She had a small crush and some animalistic urges most likely related to her class...plus, it had been quite a while since she'd had any company to scratch that itch.

She wasn't necessarily trying to push things with Levi, but...looking pretty never hurt. And things happened at parties all the time, at least from what she'd heard. She'd never actually been to any, other than kids' birthday parties.

So, makeup. Just a little to highlight her best qualities. She considered finding something to wear, but she knew most people were probably just going to wear their gear. A dress or something would make her look silly, even if she could find one.

"You're barking up the wrong tree," Grace said gruffly.

"Is this about Levi?" Paige asked.

Grace's gaze slowly turned from her cauldron to Paige. "You know, it didn't even occur to me that was why you wanted makeup, but no. I don't know shit about wearing makeup, much less crafting it." Grace sighed her token grumpy sigh. "But, I know there's some floating around. Agnis cakes the crap on. Looks like a clown at every meeting. You could ask her, but I'd recommend trying some of the other girls first. One of them is bound to know."

It didn't take long to find one of 'the other girls' in the safezone. Unfortunately, it was Maddy and her group. Paige was pretty much filled in on Maddy and David and knew her initial impression had been wrong about them. She was just avoiding the awkward situation where she had to tell them so.

Sucking it up, she walked over to them. "Hey, Maddy, um... not sure if you remember me. I've been gone for a while." Paige wasn't really sure how well this was going to go.

Maddy looked at Paige levelly. "Yeah, I remember."

"Yeah, well...sorry about being rude when we met. I had the wrong idea about you and David."

Maddy shrugged. "Yeah, but it still wasn't cool that David called you a bitch. I chewed him out about it. So what's up, what do you want? Information on the portal? We can kind of tell you where it is, but that's pretty much all we know."

"Oh, no. But congrats on finding it. You guys know about the party tonight, right? I was hoping to find someone with some basic makeup to wear."

Maddy's entire group perked up at that, dropping the intimidation act they'd been going for and exchanging excited looks and grins. "Hey, that's a good idea. We should all wear makeup tonight! And yeah, we know someone who makes some. It is pretty rough, but it does the job."

After that, they lead her to a woman named Caroline. She was somewhere close to 40 years old with a small build. She had more scars than you'd expect a woman to have and had a tattoo on her neck.

"So you ladies want to get all gussied up for the party tonight. Anyone in particular you're aiming to impress?" Caroline asked.

Most of the girls responded with 'Noes' and 'Not reallys.' Paige just kind of looked away, but Caroline still caught her eye after a moment and gave a smirk.

"Alright then, ladies. I tell you what... why don't you all go get cleaned up, and come back here smelling all clean and fresh, and I'll do all of your makeup personally. The first time is a free sample, but next time, we'll work out a trade."

----

Paige took her time thoroughly washing herself and her gear. She was glad all the starting gear seemed to self-repair. And she felt lucky her gear was literally a silk sheath dress.

When Paige finally made her way back, Caroline was finishing with the last girl of Maddy's group. She was somewhat plainfaced, if not outright, ugly. But Caroline was an absolute magician with makeup. The girl looked stunning.

After Paige gave out some well-deserved compliments to the girls, they left, looking excited for the party.

When they were gone, Caroline pointed at the chair, which was just another stool made of a cut log. "Sit down."

Bending to look Paige level in the face, Caroline started mumbling to herself. "Definitely won't take much, or I'd take away from the natural beauty. But those eyes... we definitely need to make those pop." Caroline pulled out a collection of makeshift tools. Some brushes and powders, a thick black tar substance with a short stubby brush, and something that looked a bit like a black crayon.

As she went to work on Paige, she began talking. "I imagine I can do something with your hair, too. You'll be wanting to make an impression if you're trying to catch his eye."

"Who, what?" Paige stumbled to deny it.

"Don't bother. Anyone who's looking for it can see you're trying to get someone's attention. So what's he like?"

Paige blushed. "Well, I don't know him that well, honestly. He's handsome. He's kind of intense, most of the time. Then, at others, he's just... goofy. His smile seems so real, like the realest thing I've ever seen. Okay... that sounds corny. I guess it is just a feeling, mostly."

"Well, that's enough. At least for a start," Caroline answered.

"Well, Grace has a much different opinion on it. She say's he's too old."

"Wait, please tell me you aren't angling for Joe." Caroline pulled back sharply and gave Paige a look.

"What? No, eww. I mean, he's not a bad looking man, but he is built like an understuffed scarecrow. Just a little too skinny for me."

"Oh, thank God. I was about to have to warn you off. Iara is trying to make her move tonight. Who is it then?" Caroline went back to work on Paige's makeup.

"Levi."

"Oh, I've heard about him. A lot of the girls think he's a nice looking man. But they all say he's unapproachable. Always glowering and any time they try to get his attention he just tells them he's too busy." Caroline pulled back from Paige again. "And here you are talking about how great his smile is, when most the other girls haven't even gotten a good look at it. I think you have a better chance than anyone."

Paige smiled and blushed a bit. "Really? And you don't think he's too old?"

"Bah. You can't listen to what people say, least of all Grace, when it comes to relationships. From what I hear she hated her only husband. As far as the age gap goes...it can and does go bad. Don't let him be manipulative or controlling. But, if you're chasing him...he just doesn't seem like the type."

Caroline pulled back again and examined Paige's face. "Done. But stay seated. I'm going to do something with your hair. Not too much I can do without hairspray, but I doubt it will take much anyway."

After Caroline was behind Paige, and brushing through her hair, she continued. "Look, my late husband was almost 25 years older than me. We married when I was only 19. We were married for 22 years. And like you, I was the one who pursued him. The only reason I ever wished he was younger was because it felt like he was taken from me too soon. He wasn't a perfect man, but he was a good man. So don't listen to what people say too much, or you might miss out on your own happiness."

Paige tried to nod.

"Stay still!" Caroline protested.

"So, how'd you learn how to make all these cosmetics out of barely anything?" Paige asked, trying to change the subject.

Caroline laughed. "Most of it, prison. But I've had to adapt to the system. Most of that has been for the better. I can actually craft some decent makeup with the skills I've gained."

"Oh." Paige was quiet for a moment and considered asking the question, but before she could Caroline answered it for her.

"A few years after my husband passed--well more like 5--I decided to try to date again. The first guy I invited back to my place...I wasn't ready. I told him no. He got a little handsy. I got a little violent in response. It escalated and I stabbed him a few times. He didn't die, but it was enough that I did some time in the penitentiary over it. I only got out of prison a few months before the system came."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Paige didn't know what else to say.

"It's fine. I wouldn't change a single thing about my life."

Caroline pushed a mirror in front of Paige. "Take a look and tell me what you think."

Page saw her reflection. Her golden cat eyes were framed with dark eyeliner and some mascara equivalent with just a touch of eyeshadow. It highlighted her eyes perfectly. Not much had been done to her face. Caroline had smoothed out a few blemishes and fading scars with something, but you couldn't even really tell Paige had anything on.

Her hair was brought into a lovely, loose bun, with curls falling in ways that almost looked accidental but were definitely strategic.

"Wow. You're amazing." Paige gawked at her reflection.

"Nope, you are. And I'm glad you were last. The jealousy of the other girls might have resulted in some petty comments being tossed around, and I simply can't stand that shit." Caroline pulled out a very small bottle similar to those Grace used for alchemy. She dabbed something on her finger.

"Alright, tilt your head to the left." Caroline instructed and then rubbed the dab onto Paiges's neck. "Now to the right. Now wrists...and you know what, armpits too because we don't really have deodorant around here."

Paige sniffed at her wrist. It smelled like something between lavendar and honeysuckle. "Perfume?" Paige asked.

Caroline put a finger to her lips. "Don't tell anyone. I've only made one small bottle and have no more ingredients to make it. Probably won't until spring. But... consider it my good luck charm to you. Go get him, tiger."