At the back of the class, Arthur was trying to circulate the mana through his body as efficiently as he could while he more or less thought about what had happened.
From his earlier test, it was clear that this was not a simple pulse. As the blood kind of splashed, you could say it was a discharge, a shock, just like a bomb that explodes.
'Lack of mana makes the move unable to be completed. Does the fact that I don't complete generate a reaction? It can be like stopping the brute force of a bull with a wall. It won't crack the first or second time, but eventually it's going to be knocked down.' Looking at his hand, Arthur was almost certain of it. But there were still questions he couldn't answer.
1. Level Up
2. Magic (Difficulty: Medium)
Awaken the magic in you! |
[Completely Cleanse Your Mana Channels (0/1)]
{Rewards}
•Technique: Timeless Meditation•
•Skill: Mana Blast•
{Bonus Reward}
Requirement: Main Quest completed within 6 months. |
•Book of Runes•
'Another mission? Is the sunlight shining on me and is the system really kind to me?' Looking at the quest board now, Arthur was really happy. A minute ago he was having doubts, but now the system seemed to want to solve his problems.
While thinking about what this new technique and that Book of Runes would be, Beatrice and Aline reached Arthur's side.
"Did you hear what the teacher said?" Beatrice spoke to Arthur. She looked like a model student as she held her pencil case and notebook at her waist with both hands.
"Yes, I sure did!" Arthur nodded. 'I have no idea what the teacher said...I'm selective, you know...'
Beatrice rolled her eyes and couldn't believe Arthur's unfaithful expression. It was obvious he hadn't heard, but she wasn't going to say anything either. But Aline seemed to have believed it and had already sat down. Everyone in the room had already formed their groups. Arthur's table seems to have been the one chosen for their group.
"As we are still at the beginning of the year, almost no one is used to each other. So everyone formed groups with the friends they've already made." Aline spoke as she looked around the room. She seemed more relaxed around Arthur, unlike before.
"We stayed with the theme of the independence of Brazil, more specifically the ending and talking a little about Marechal Teodoro da Fonseca." Beatrice also sat down and opened the notebook.
"So how is it going to be? Will I have to keep holding something for you? My memory is horrible and I can't write as my hand is hurt..." Arthur has already instinctively tried to get rid of all the work on the group.
"We're thinking of a slideshow, just like everyone else. Your hand won't have a problem." Aline spoke as she looked chuckling at Arthur.
"Oh, it was bad! How are we going to do the research and all?" Arthur asked not really caring.
"Can you come to my house Saturday? I believe there will be more work during the week, so we always do the same trio and do everything at once." Beatrice spoke calmly and easily. It made sense and would be more practical for everyone.
"That's fine by me!" Arthur replied while looking at Beatrice. He noticed that at the end of her sentence, the look she gave him was kind of weird.
"I'll have to talk to my dad, but I guess that's okay too!"
The day then passed quickly with yet another appointment from Arthur. There was one thing he was going to talk about with Amanda, one with Thomas, two with Gabriel, and now one more.
In the afternoon break, after lunch, Arthur made time to hang out with Emily on the lawn and eat the cakes he'd bought. He took the slices of vanilla strawberry cake and left the chocolate ones in inventory.
Their conversations were full of silly touches, and flirtation. As the mood yesterday had been spoiled, they couldn't say they had anything serious now, but it sure was something.
With the day finally over, Arthur went home after saying goodbye to Beatrice in the class room and Emily at the gate. But he didn't go very far and stood looking away.
Beatrice got out first and a nice car came for her. 'Rich, the house must be big. It will be fun!' Then he stared at the gate again and Emily soon appeared. She was typing on her phone. It was then that the moment Arthur had been waiting for arrived.
"Hi Emily! Waiting for your brother?" It was the teacher who helped bandage Arthur's hand who arrived. He reached behind Emily's back with his hands to speak to her.
"Yes!" With visible discomfort, Emily backed away a little to keep a respectful distance from him.
"Today was really crazy. First it was that stupid kid who got hurt, then it was so much work that I needed to vent a little. But anyway, how are you? I'm also expecting a ride, so it's okay to talk!" The man didn't mind Emily walking away and continued.
Hearing him badmouth Arthur, Emily instantly frowned. "I just remembered I forgot something in there, so excuse me!" She started walking back to school.
Without scruples, the man accompanied her: "I'll accompany you. It's going to take a while for my- hey, are you blind man?" He wanted to keep talking, but someone stepped on his foot and bumped into him.
"Oh my bad. I didn't see you there. Emily? What are you doing here?" Arthur arrived, with the most surprised face in the world, as if he hadn't done anything wrong.
"I thought I had forgotten something inside, but I think I was wrong. I'm waiting for my brother!" Emily's smile opened automatically.
"Hey, the boy who got hurt-"
"Let your brother know that we'll be at the cafeteria there, it's easier. I remembered I have some things to take care of too!" Arthur didn't even give the professor room to speak and was already taking Emily away. He had taken her hand directly.
Emily blushed and realized Arthur's intentions. Her heart warmed as she held his hand tighter, as if they were a couple. They soon left the professor behind and went to a small cafeteria nearby.
"Son of a bitch..." The professor's eyes gleamed with hatred as he saw the two of them together. 'You can deny it all you want, Emily, but someday you'll be mine!'
***
"Thank you!" Emily spoke softly as she looked at Arthur.
"Thanks for what? I'm really hungry, you know!" Arthur pretended not to understand and pointed towards the diner.
Emily laughed a little and became more relaxed. Only now did she realize that they were still holding hands. But even so, with the courage she managed to muster, she stayed that way with him.
A few moments later Augusto arrived and took her home.
***
Upon arriving home, Arthur noticed the change in the room. Once broken, but now in the exact same state as before it broke. The holes in the floor and wall were fixed, the windows replaced and everything was immaculate.
"The guys work well!" Arthur was shocked by the excellence of the work.
"Hiiii! Come see my room!" Amanda poked her head out of the kitchen at the sound of Arthur's voice. When she realized it was him, she immediately went to him with a smile.
Amanda's room was the reverse of Arthur's, white with pink or purple details. A MacBook was already on her desk with a few other gadgets.
"They fixed everything quickly, so it gave me time to get to the operations center. I located the owner and Thomas helped me do some things. He has a son, who owns the property. We managed to contact him and the offer I got was R$100,000.00. And I haggled a lot for it, since it was twice the price." As if expecting a compliment, Amanda stared at Arthur.
"Very well, you really work well together. Let's organize and budget for the renovation. Do you know anything about civil engineering?" Arthur ruffled Amanda's hair in praise.
"Graduated!" Amanda extended a V sign and looked at Arthur in victory.
"Then make a plan of a 3-story building. It's not necessary underground, but I need escape tunnels and special places inside it. Don't skimp on materials, make sure it's beautiful but strong. The ground floor and first floor will be a business Thomas has always dreamed of, so talk to him about it. The second floor is going to be the operating room and stuff. The third is going to be our office, so do it right. I'll leave it in your hands!" Arthur handed this task to Amanda, who nodded.
She soon abandoned her usual carefree and flirtatious behavior as she sat down in front of her computer and started doing what she had to do.
Stripping off his clothes and putting on more comfortable ones, Arthur entered Thomas' room.
"Hey! Want chocolate?" Arthur touched the top of Thomas' head.
Thomas didn't respond and just stared at the computer screen, seemingly lost in his own world.
Seeing this, Arthur did nothing and lay on the bed, fiddling with the cell phone that Thomas had unlocked.
A few hours later, Thomas got up to go to the bathroom and noticed Arthur there.
"Ah, what the hell are you doing here?" He asked, trying to calm down.
"I just got here, I came to talk to you..." Arthur put down his cell phone.
After Thomas returned from the bathroom, he pulled Arthur to show him the computer screen, his hands still wet.
"Remember that thing I told you about, that was watching you? So I figured out a way to access the source code and make a copy, but it was very complicated and took a little time and a lot of work for me alone." Thomas was talking excitedly as Arthur watched with a smile. "The time issue can be fixed by the processing power, so it's just me making a bigger cluster that solves. But not the manpower, so I remembered you know what?" Thomas looked at Arthur with near-explosive animation.
"What?"
"AI! With artificial intelligence, I can create one so she can help me and save me a lot of work. So I worked like crazy since that day and finally finished. Lis, say hi!"
"Hello, Arthur!" A robotic and clearly female voice came from the computer.
"Holy shit..." Arthur was a little shocked by this little monster's ability. Would someone who picked up a computer less than a month ago be capable of something like this?
At the same time, his heart beat faster at that name, as the image of a beautiful woman appeared in his mind. This was for a few seconds until he calmed down and let it go. 'This is already in the past...'
Thomas didn't let him think too much either when he continued, "With Lis' help, I was able to take care of some minor tasks and I got in through a once-a-month security breach and we stole the source code. Now I can make Lis replicate that thing's ability. But it still wasn't enough so I injected a part of her in there and she is constantly absorbing information for learning. I spent all the money I had on scattered servers..." Thomas's excitement rose and fell, and by the end his expression was almost desolate.
"I'd say I'll lend you the money, but I thought better of it. How about we start a company?" Arthur made the suggestion.
"Would be great! So I can more effectively camouflage myself from those people." Thomas felt relieved.
"What people?"
"I stole some information from the organization behind that spyware too, and they seem to have something to do with a Mercenary Guild... Apparently it's confidential and government information, so they went on high alert!" With a smile, Thomas was waiting for Arthur's praise.
But unlike what he imagined, Arthur actually gasped at what he said.