After Professor Fields' announcement on their upcoming mission, he also asked his students - Ranger and Sanna to escort Yule on the medical building. He wanted to make sure that Yule is well-rested for the day in preparation for tomorrow's mission.
They nodded at the professor and quickly approached Yule who was still lying on the ground. Ranger assisted Yule where he grunted heavily while rising from the ground. He could still feel the aftereffect of the battle making his body felt very heavy.
"Your body is still adjusting after releasing massive amounts of magic during the battle. This usually happens to newbie slayers after using consecutive magic spells from their weapon for the first time. You're depleting your magic reserves quickly but through training, this can be fixed." Professor Fields explained as they passed him while going to the exit door.
The professor waved goodbye to them and off to the medical building.
*****
They walked their way to their destination. The medical building was located in the same direction to the student's dorm where they passed dozens of students walking also. Some of them nodded and waved at Ranger.
Noticing the popularity of his classmate, Yule nudged Ranger and teased him for being Mister Popular which made Sanna rolled her eyeballs.
While they were having fun on teasing Ranger, they had arrived at the medical building.
It was a large facility where two buildings were erected on parallel to each other. They were linked by a connecting bridge on the middle floor of the buildings.
They entered the facility and asked for assistance in the reception area. The female receptionist nodded and turned her head to Yule. She asked him some personal details which were needed to file a record. The receptionist input all the details provided by Yule on the hologram screen in front of her.
After a while, a male nurse approached them and told them that he will be escorting Yule to his room so they can start scanning him for any injuries.
Ranger and Sanna waved at him and let the nurse led the way to his room.
Upon arriving at the medical room, the nurse asked him to stand still while a medical drone will scan him. The nurse moved near to the wall and pressed a button. Then, a medical drone descended from the ceiling and started scanning Yule's body.
After a few minutes, the drone announced in a monotonous voice that there were no injuries on the body and recommended for immediate rest. The drone flew back again to the ceiling after fulfilling its task.
The nurse assisted Yule to the bed and instructed him if he needed any further assistance, he can contact him by pressing the button located at the drawer beside the bed.
Yule thanked the nurse and let his head fell on the pillow. That was when he started to feel the weariness again and allowed himself to succumb to sleep.
*****
When he woke up, Yule stretched his arms, and he could still feel some soreness around his body, but unlike earlier, his body felt rejuvenated. He pulled his mobile device from his pants to check the time.
It was already 6:30 pm! He slept for more than three hours. No wonder his body felt rejuvenated. Then he noticed also, there was one unread message from Sanna. He clicked on the message, and Sanna was inviting him to meet at a restaurant. Ranger and Professor Fields will be joining as well, and this will serve as a welcoming party for Yule also. This made him smile.
Excited for the dinner, he quickly pulled himself up and went downstairs to the reception area. After discharging himself with the receptionist, he headed outside the academy area and went to the nearest bus waiting shed. Sanna instructed him to take the bus since the restaurant was too far from the academy.
The restaurant is located near the university and college district.
He arrived at the shed and noticed there were a couple of students waiting also. After a few minutes, a flying vehicle that looked like a bus arrived and opened its sliding door. The students entered the bus and Yule trailed after them.
Upon entering, the students flashed their mobile devices to the pole near the driver. He imitated them, and a green light blinked on the pole.
Sanna told him in the text that their mobile devices serve like an ATM card where the academy deposits monthly allowance to all slayer students only. So he can use it as a payment for his bus ride.
After finding a vacant seat, the bus-like vehicle flew in the air. Yule was pressing his head on the window, enjoying the aerial view. He was like a kid enjoying a ride in a theme park.
He could see lights below which were all coming from the buildings and restaurants. Then, the bus turned left, and Yule spotted a large lake surrounded by various small establishments.
After a few minutes, he felt that their flight was starting to descend on the ground. The bus announced on the speaker that they will be arriving on the University district and asking for the passengers to prepare for the drop-off.
Once the bus landed on the ground, the doors opened and people started exiting out. After stepping out of the bus, Yule was greeted by different buildings constructed in various art styles. There were still some buildings constructed in modern design, but he was also surprised that there were also some constructed in art deco style.
After enjoying the view, Yule tapped on his mobile device and typed the name of the restaurant. The screen provided the direction to his destination and started following it.
*****
Despite the help of his mobile device, Yule was getting lost in the district. The whole is district is like a maze, crowded by buildings and alleys. Compare to the Capital Dome, this area had few hologram screens hovering in the air.
Above them also, the majority of the vehicles were the bus-like rides that Yule just took, flying in the air in different directions.
Feeling hopeless, Yule was about to text Sanna if she could pick him up, but when he passed a certain alley, he could hear shouting coming from that area.
Yule was torn between if he should peek or not in that alley, but his curiosity got the best of him. He stealthily moved toward the dumpster and hide.
When he tilted his head upward to see the commotion, he found a pony tail-haired girl wearing a blue school uniform and opposite of her were three girls wearing the same uniform as her.
"Save it! Just because you have that feline creature, you can act haughtily around school!" The girl with braided-haired shouted.
"I-I was-" the ponytailed girl was interrupted when a girl beside the braided girl wagged her finger before her. Telling her to stop talking.
"Remember, we are the one talking, Candice." The braided girl continued.
'Candice?' Yule asked to himself. He had this strong feeling that he knew this ponytailed girl.
When the girl moved her head, Yule saw the face of the ponytailed girl, enough for him to recognize her.
She was the girl in the summoning ceremony. She summoned the feline goddess, Bastet.
"But Agatha," Candice referred to the braided girl. "I've never boast around my contracted mythical being!"
"Oh yeah," Agatha challenged. "But you keep on telling everyone that you now have this chance to save this world. Are you telling me that you have this messiah complex?"
"I-I never said that I will save the world! What I told my friends is that I can now help save it. Plus, I'm planning to do it...," she lowered her head and mumbled her words."...for my dead parents."
Agatha mockingly imitated her words, then she moved forward and pushed Candice's chest through her finger. "Whatever! Whether you're slayer or not, you still irritate me." There was cold sharpness on her voice.
Then, Agatha signaled her friends, and the two pulled something from their backs.
Inching closer his head, Yule tried to peek what was the item they pulled from their backs. That was when he saw balloons filled up by water. They were planning to splash Candice with those balloons.
"W-What do you think you're doing, Nikka? Forte?" There was already a hint of alarm on the voice of Candice.
Nikka and Forte just snickered at her and looked at Agatha, waiting for the signal.
Candice started to step back from them when Agatha snapped her finger. With their faces filled with a sinister smile, Nikka and Forte raised their arms and was about on throwing motion when -
"I don't think that's a good idea, girls."
Yule stepped forward quickly, halting the movements of Nikka and Forte.
Filled with irritation on her face, Agatha threw Yule a dagger look. "Who the hell are you?"
Candice was looking quizzically at Yule also. She was surprised by his sudden appearance. But thankful at the same time on interrupting Nikka and Forte.
Looking at the three mean girls, Yule laughed at them and started scratching his cheek. "You see, I'm Candice's brother."
All the girls looked surprised at him.
"But Candice never have a brother before! We thought she's an only child!" Nikka protested.
"Plus, you don't even have similarities. Look at your skin!" Forte added.
Yule checked their skin, and they were right. Candice had brown skin while he had pale white skin. His white skin was from their Spanish ancestry on his maternal side.
But Yule didn't break his smile despite the attacks from those two girls. "Silly me, did I just say brother? What I mean to say is I'm his cousin." He moved closer to Candice and put his arm on her shoulder. "We're so close that we almost treat ourselves like siblings."
Taken aback by the sudden development, Candice froze on her position.
"Whatever!" Agatha shouted. "I don't care if you're his brother, cousin, or boyfriend! Girls!" she snapped her fingers again. This time, Nikka and Forte eagerly raised their hands heavy with water-filled balloons.
Candice quickly snapped her eyes shut, preparing her body for the incoming attack.
"I guess, you've left me with no choice." Yule pressed his chest and shouted - "Weaponize!"
A white light popped out from his chest and went straight to his right hand where it extended its length until it fully transformed to his violet spear.
The sudden appearance of the spear froze the three girls. But Agatha recovered immediately from her stupor.
"Hey! That's illegal! You can't summon your weapon when you're in the civilian districts!"
Yule just chuckled at her and stomped the hilt of his spear to the ground. This made them jumped from their feet.
"Unfortunately for you, there's no one around to report me. So I can do whatever I want to the three of you," Yule said threateningly. "So still wanna throw those balloons?"
Agatha clicked her tongue and waved her hand to Nikka and Forte. The two nodded at her and throw the water-filled balloons to the ground, splattering the pavement.
"This is not over, Candice!" Agatha threw a death glare to Yule and walked away from them. Nikka and Forte trailed after her.
Once those three girls were out of eyesight, Yule heaved a huge a sigh of relief and the spear returned to his chest again.
Candice back step away from him and showing concern on her eyes. "Why did you help me?"
"It's three against one. The next move is to help you."
She lowered herself and sit on the dirty ground. "I can take care of myself. I've been taking care of myself since my parents died."
Yule raised his hands in the air, looking like he was surrendering himself. "From your looks, I know you can. But those girls were playing dirty at you. Sometimes, it's okay to accept help from other people."
"Even from strangers?" she retorted.
"Hehe. Yes, even from strangers. Don't worry, I will not ask anything from you."
Candice looked faraway, ignoring Yule.
Taking that as his cue to leave, Yule waved at her, leaving her sitting alone in the dark alley.
Unfortunately -
Yule still needed help in getting to the restaurant for his welcoming party. He cleared his throat loudly just to get the attention of Candice.
He was successful in getting her attention as she looked at him expectantly.
"Y-You see... Hehehe. I'm still new in this area. So I would like to ask if you know the direction of this restaurant?" Yule showed his mobile device, displaying the image of the restaurant.
"So much for not asking anything from me huh?" She pulled herself up and patted her checkered skirt. Candice grabbed the mobile device from Yule.
"I'll walk with you. This is the least I can do after saving me from those morons."
Yule bowed his head to Candice and followed after her.
*****
They crossed two blocks until they arrived at the row of restaurants surrounding the lake that Yule saw earlier. They further passed some establishments when they reached a restaurant with a signboard of a cartoonish fish wearing an apron and holding a spoon and fork.
"So we have arrived," Yule said to Candice.
She just nodded at him without replying.
"You know you could join us also if you want to?"
"What? I'm your charity case now? I'll pass. I still have training to do."
"Training? But you're still in middle school right? Slayers training is due until you're enrolled to the Academy if I remember correctly from Sanna."
"You don't know when the aswang will attack the humans again. So I better be prepared."
"Well, we're 10, 000 meters above ground, so I don't think they can infiltrate this island."
"You don't know that!" She shouted. "M-My parents were killed by Level 4 aswang who could fly! And I definitely will kill that aswang!"
Shocked by Candice's revelation, Yule was left speechless, and he couldn't think of the right words to reply to her.
Then, they were interrupted when someone pulled open the door of the restaurant. Sanna and Ranger came out from it.
"Yule! We saw you outside the restaurant. What's holding you up?" Ranger asked.
Ranger and Sanna were surprised that Candice was also in the area.
"Oh, are you going to join us also?" Sanna inquired to her.
Candice shook her head and looked back again to Yule.
"Thank you again! But next time, I don't need your help." Then she quickly away from them.
"Okay so what exactly happened?" Ranger grabbed the shoulder of Yule.
"It's a long story. I'll tell you once we're inside."
"Good! And Professor Fields is already in there. We're only waiting for you. We thought you get lost."
"About that..."