Dave stood up. "I don't really need to tell you too much." He pulled a business card out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. "The website on this card will tell you all you need to know to decide. We'll be watching for your application."
Dave and Megan walked out. Before she left, Megan stopped and looked like she was struggling with her apologies and the desire to spill everything to me. "No worries," I told her. "I understand where he's coming from, and won't hold it against him."
I followed them out of the office and watched the three walk out of the entrance. The three students in the hallway were suddenly very interested in what they were doing and didn't look up until they got into their minivan, a Honda Civic, and drove off.
The bell rang, signalling the beginning of lunch period. I sighed and went to my locker to get my lunch. I sat down at a corner table with my deli sandwiches. Hummus, lettuce, mustard, and ketchup complemented my beef perfectly.
The nerdy crowd sat down at my table with a thump, all five of them. They pulled out their lunches, and stared at me while they chewed. "So, what's the story?" Jessica demanded. She was a rail thin girl with black hair, black eyes, and black skin. I checked with System, and seemed like she just was a confluence of rare genes, not some cultivator.
I swallowed my bite of sandwich. Man, that was good. "Before I tell you, do any of you remember me being summoned to the principal's office?" I wondered if the psychic had blocked their memories.
Jessica frowned. "That wasn't about Max?" Her cohort started to mutter about secret organizations.
"He definitely got invited to a secret organization," Neil told Robert. Neil was round and plump, his blue eyes hidden behind enormous glasses.
"Bet you five bucks he was warned to stay quiet!" Felicia said. She had apparently forgotten to brush and clean her long, thick, locks of brown hair and resembled a hedgehog.
"Deal," said Neil.
"We remember," said Robert. He was looking at me with a sour expression on his handsome face. "Now tell us. What was it like?"
I leaned back, chewing my last bite of sandwich. "You know, it's fascinating. When you eat, you are intaking a part of the world and making it part of your personal reality. No wonder there is such a thing as cultivating based on what you consume." Robert turned amusing shades of red and purple. "Hmm, maybe I should make a world focused around that system. Maybe a level up system, because manual qi cultivation using animals will most likely not end well. I'd imagine that without techniques to neutralize the characteristics of the power, the cultivator would end up as a beastman."
Robert was being restrained from leaping at me by his girlfriend Raven, a pretty brunette. At least I think they were, based on the soul connection they shared. Looking more closely at the info System presented, I could see that they were actually twins. That's why they had a soul connection - they became Defined together in the womb. Then I looked at their thoughts. Oh dear.
"You know Robert, Raven here is your sister. Your twin sister, in fact. Just thought you'd like to know." I coughed awkwardly at their suddenly pale faces and trembling limbs. Luckily, they hadn't gone all the way. That kind of connection with someone you're already attached to by Definition is very bad. Worse case scenario, they would damage their Wills by tearing chunks off each other when they separate. Very sticky, and sure to affect any sort of cultivation or afterlife, not that I knew how the afterlife worked for those for whom it wasn't a different plane of existence.
I felt the need to avoid the sudden awkwardness, so I quickly changed the topic, filling them in on the generalities of what went down. Jessica gave me a flat stare as I revealed that I now had two wives, but didn't comment. They did ask a lot about the magic and fights, as well as the details of my Ascensions.
Neil looked at me with disdain. "You're a cheater. Being a Hero supposed to be an experience of growth, not a playground to test out your extremely OP powers." He sniffed, adjusting his glasses.
I laughed at that. "True. Then again, I did my growing into my powers in the beginning. It was dangerous in its own way."
"Such a waste to make your angels genderless," Felicia commented wistfully. "I would have made them all women."
I snorted at that. "Would you have gotten anything done? That would have been a major distraction." I peered a little more closely at her, and System supplied me with more information. Oh my goodness. That was why her hair was spiky.
I gagged, and cast the cleaning spell. I had to move my hands to generate the force to clean her up due to my world's stricter Laws regarding energy conservation, but it worked! Dirt and gunk slid from her body and flew into a trash can next to the door.
Felicia glared at me. "Warn a gal, would you?" She was blushing furiously, but now looked much nicer and no longer smelled. She also was no longer fidgeting from her infection.
I waved my hands in apology. "I'm really sorry, but you were not sanitary. Here, take this as an apology." I reached into my satchel. I had been making it unnoticeable up to now, so they all jumped and swore when they noticed it.
"You brought back souvenirs?" Raven's eyes lit up. She was looking for anything to distract her from Robert. Neither had doubted my assertion thanks to my mental aura of assurance.
I paused and thought about that. "Do you want to become my followers? I would give you access to magic and cultivation knowledge, but you would no longer be your own person. If I called for your aid, you would have to come." It would be nice to have my own personal army here.
They were all nodding their heads eagerly, except Jessica, who looked uncertain. "This wouldn't involve anything sexual, would it?"
I snorted with laughter. "Honestly, if I was of the mind to enslave the world, I could, secret Hero organizations not withstanding. If I wanted you to love me, I could make you. In fact, becoming part of my guild here will make you safer! I take care of what is mine. However, you know me. I won't force the unwilling."
The geeks looked suddenly a lot paler. "I'll give you until tomorrow to discuss. This is a choice that will affect the rest of your life, after all." It seems mentioning how easily I could abuse my power was a bit of a shock. I soothed them and got up, swinging my knapsack back on my shoulders.
"Don't go." Jessica was still shaken, but reached out to grab my wrist. When I looked at her, she flinched, but held my gaze. "Make us your group. We would have to be idiots to even delay getting this chance."
I looked at the others. Each nodded, though I noticed Raven was still uneasy. "Think of it this way," I told her. "You wouldn't have to worry about a career or supporting your family, but you can still become a doctor if that would make you happy. I intend on giving each of you the freedom to do what you want unless there is an emergency going down. Starting pay would be five thousand a month."
Raven stilled, remembered that I could read minds, then flushed.
I smiled and dug into my satchel again. While I couldn't create anything in this Reality due to it's Laws, I could create something in another Reality and bring it through the portal. A loophole, but one difficult to take advantage of.
I focused on a ring in the VMD. It was black with silver runes looping around the band, trapping the Concept I poured into it. It was one of Connection, and it only connected to others like it. I said, very clearly, "RING." Even though I was bringing it into existence in another Reality, I felt the one I was in trembling under the merest glimpse of the Chaos I was tapping into. I created seven more using some of my Faith, adding a sapphire to one that would hold endless water, and a ruby to another that would hold endless lightning. Those would be reserved for my wives.
I withdrew the six unadorned rings, placing them on the table. Slipping one on my middle finger, I looked around. "Well. What are you waiting for? Put them on."
Jessica was the first to put hers on, wincing in anticipation of whatever transformation the ring would bring her. When nothing happened, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then frowned. The others each put on a ring when they saw that there wasn't going be a light show.
"I don't feel any different," Robert groused. He reached to pull off the ring, and frowned when it wouldn't budge.
"That's a soul bound item," I told him cheerily. "You can never remove it. As to its effects, you'll see in 3, 2, 1." While I spoke, I hastily updated System, adding a status screen, class choice between qi and mana cultivation, and limiting the new users' access. Upon reaching "1", I activated the link. They were now officially mine. I just had to think of good name.