"Alright then, I will contact you in a few days. You will once again be assigned as Temporary Assistant Head of Disciplinary Committee. The last time you had this title, things went a bit too…ballistic. Let's try keeping that down a bit this time. Although if some things arise, you know what to do. For the right cause, IOEA has your back no matter what. So don't be afraid about anything either." Avinash said in a serious tone.
Saksham nodded and said, "Alright, I will see you in a few days."
With that, he hung the phone and fell into thought. This new mission given to him by Avinash looked risky, of course not for him, but the treasure he was going to get. After strengthening himself and including his [Immortal] Bloodline, his [Overlord's Batter Suit] as well as his new weapon, his strength was far above any [King] Level Unusual as well as Awakened. In fact, he was a threat for the [Emperor] Level Awakened and Unusuals at this point. If the barrier around the Black-gold lotus is somehow able to feel that, then as soon as he steps a single foot into it, Black-gold Lotus would immediately destroy itself.
That was going to be a big problem. He asked the system, "Can that barrier read or even feel my true strength?"
"No, it can't. Your body is so perfectly molded now after all the strengthening as well as due to your [Immortal] bloodline that nothing can be felt by the other person as long as you don't make it obvious. So it is hard for that Black-Gold Lotus to feel your true strength. As long as you keep your strength to the level of [King] inside that barrier, it won't be able to feel your true strength. So, don't worry about any of that." The system replied.
Saksham heard this and finally felt relieved. If the Black-gold Lotus destroys itself due to him, he would feel really regretful. But now he doesn't have to worry about any of this. Saksham then looked down on his hand and saw his [Spoon]. He decided to just put it back in his System space than in his hands. What if he forgets about the real weight and accidentally swings it while thinking about something else? He didn't dare to imagine the next scene.
So, he felt that it would be better to just keep it in his system space until he really needs to use it. He was definitely not going to use the Giant Axe until he was in a place with little to no civilians or even a city. Due to how strong it was, Saksham didn't feel at ease using it anywhere near a lot of innocent people.
While thinking all that, a small space was torn open in front of Saksham's right hand, and he slowly places the [Spoon] inside. After he was done with that, the torn space became normal again. Saksham then went to his study table and took out his notebook that he uses when he has to write down the next steps in his head.
1- Strengthen the body again
2- Upgrade Your [Shadow Clone]
3- Make Your Own Hyper Occulus
4- Talk to Anitha about the powers
5- Talk to parents about the powers
Saksham cut the first point in this list. He had strengthened his body already. Now, all that's left are the rest of the things. Each one is more difficult than the one before. He can upgrade his [Shadow Clone] in about 6 days when his EP gets full again. Even Hyper Occulus too. He can make it with his remaining EP. But the next 2 steps are the most important and crucial ones.
Yep, he had finally decided to reveal his secret to the 3 most important people of his life. The world would soon become chaotic. No matter how much IOEA tries, chaos will ensue. With the threat of [Terramons] as well as that weird Vinayak Guy, he can't rest assured for the safety of his parents at the hands of IOEA or someone else. He felt that he needed to do something himself. He was going to reveal the extraordinary world to Anitha and his parents and then give them a choice if they want to have powers or not.
But all said and done, Sakhsam didn't know how to approach this topic to Anitha or even his parents. And even if he tells them, they won't believe it unless he shows them a demo. That would not be hard for him. All that's left for him is to find a time and tell them. Thinking till here, Saksham nodded and finally added another point to the list.
6- Get Black-gold Lotus
After writing this, Saksham closed the notebook and went to his bed. His final exams were going to start the next day and he was thinking of telling Anitha after that. He closed his eyes and finally went to sleep.
________________________
The Next Day
Saksham woke up on time and freshened up. After wearing his uniform, Saksham went to the kitchen and hugged Savitri and pecked her cheeks. Seeing Savitri roll her eyes, Saksham laughed and then went to the dining table and had his breakfast. After he was done with that, he touched the feet of Savitri and Arjun and took their blessings, and left for the examination center for his final examinations. Along the way, he saw Anitha standing at the side of the road, waiting for him.
Saksham saw her smiling at him with her most beautiful smile as always. He fell in a daze for a second before coming back to his senses and shaking his head with a smile on his face. It's the same story every time. He gets mesmerized with every smile of hers. Saksham couldn't help but sigh at her beauty every time this happens.
"Morning Saksham! Are you ready for the exam?" Anitha asked cheerfully.
"Yeah. I am totally ready to smash this subject today." Saksham patted his chest confidently.
"Oh? Someone's looking pretty confident." Anitha smiled.
"Yep! Your 1st position is mine this time. Heh!" Saksham folded his arms on his chest and raised his head high.
"Alright, alright. You can take it. Happy now?" Anitha patted Saksham's head.
"Yep! Very happy!" Saksham nodded like a puppy.
They both looked at each other and burst out laughing. As their laughs slowly stopped, Saksham raised his right hand and put it in front of Anitha, who smiled and placed her hand in his. Saksham grinned as he held Anitha's hand and they started walking towards their examination center. Along the way, both of them were silent as always but suddenly Saksham broke this silence.
"Anitha, after this exam, I have something very important to tell you." Saksham looked at Anitha seriously.
Anitha saw Saksham's serious face and looked in his eyes for a few seconds and then smiled and nodded. Saksham saw this and felt relieved. He once again looked ahead and they both continued on their way to the examination center. Soon after, they reached the place and entered their classroom, and sat at their respective tables. Saksham looked at Anitha who smiled at him back and give him a thumbs up and said silently, "All the best!"
Saksham smiled and did the same gesture. Soon their exam started and Saksham saw the questions and smiled. He was going to ace this exam. With this thought, he started writing answers of each question one by one. He wrote all the answers quickly and by the end of 1 hour, he was done with everything. He sneakily looked around and saw Anitha still writing her paper. Anitha had a serious face right as she was writing her answers. It made her look like a cute white cat. Saksham grinned foolishly as he saw this.
And it was if she felt his gaze, Anitha looked up to see a foolishly smiling Saksham. It startled her before making her almost laugh out loud seeing that foolish grin on Saksham's face. She averted her gaze to not bust out laughing in the examination hall due to someone's monkey-like face. Saksham saw Anitha getting shy due to his "charming smile". He stretched his cheeks even wider and showed as many teeth as he could, making his smile even more "charming". He waited for Anitha to look at his face and get even more "shy".
At this moment, the girl sitting in front of Anitha stopped her pen after writing a big answer. She was feeling happy after securing 5 marks. So she decided to give her fingers a bit of rest. She wanted to look around too out of curiosity but as soon as she looked up, she saw a face almost like a monkey grinning at her. It looked so stupid that she suddenly breathed out all her breath through her nose. But she tried her best to not laugh. If she laughed, she would be in trouble. Her entire body started trembling as she tried her best to control her laughter. Tears welled in her eyes as she started breathing heavily.
With Saksham's excellent hearing and vision, he noticed the abnormality of the girl just at that moment. He saw the girl's lips squirming with tears almost falling down. Her face had gone red from holding in all the laugh, but for Saksham, it was his "charm". He felt as if he underestimated his charm. 'Damn! I am too handsome!' he thought. But he also felt puzzled because of this. He didn't know why suddenly his "charm" got so strong to the point of making a girl cry out of shyness. Did the strengthening of his body also make his charm go up or something? He decided to ask his system.
"Hey, did the strengthening of my body make me more handsome and gave me a more defined face and handsomeness or something? Like in those novels?" Saksham asked.
"...Don't tell me you are thinking that girl is shy due to your "charm"?" The system asked back.
"Of course. Why else would she blush?" Saksham rolled his eyes.
The system didn't say anything else and just popped a window up in front of Saksham's face. It was a mirror. Saksham was surprised at first. But when he saw the face in the mirror, he almost busted 1 lung trying to hold in his laugh. Before he could say anything, he heard the system's voice in his head.
"Now, don't be proud for being able to make that ugly of a face. You are right about strengthening giving you something more. And that's definitely not charm. It's facial muscles being able to stretch more than humanly possible. And that's why you were able to make….that face." The system took a moment before completing his sentence.
All this interaction happened in the blink of an eye inside Saksham's mind. He didn't know that at this time, the invigilator had already seen his turned head and was walking toward him to see what he was trying to do. He didn't even have time to change his facial expression before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around a bit and saw the invigilator's face. Seeing the invigilator's face, Saksham realized he had his face turned for too long. He messed up. He was about to open his mouth to explain, but before he could even say anything, he heard a thundering laugh resound throughout the classroom.