Van turned to a part of the factory that shelved different kinds of crude metal ores available for Hugh to buy. There were all kinds of colors and shapes of materials that seemed more like a gem than a metal.
Van stopped in his tracks and turned to face Hugh, waiting expectantly for the purchase.
"My budget is the same. Ten different kinds of metals under 30,000 points."
Van once again closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Hugh waited patiently for Van's recommendation.
"You can buy 1kg of Spider ore, 1kg of translucent stone, 1kg of Wind powder, 1kg of..."
Van listed off the metals that Hugh could buy with his budget. Judging by the fact that Hugh had never heard of these metals before, he assumed that most of those were imported from different planets. Some metals could be found here on Earth by going through dungeons and tombs. This made it less expensive than the metals that were imported from other planets
"How much is it going to cost me?"
"26,920 points."
Hugh noticed that the metal prices were lower than the raw wood he bought before. As far as he knew, metals were more expensive than wood because wood could be grown and harvested many times. Metals cannot be reproduced, the normal ones anyway.
This meant that the wood he got was probably bred differently, making them more durable and rarer than regular timber.
"I'll buy it."
"Do you want to carry it, or do you want it delivered?"
"Please deliver it."
Van did not wait any longer and took out another tablet that had an indentation the shape of a handprint. He gestured for Hugh to complete the transaction by identifying himself on the machine.
Hugh obliged and put his right hand on the tablet, which made it shine a blue light that scanned his whole hand. After the confirmation, a text was displayed on the tablet.
<26,920 points have been deducted>
Van pushed a button and turned around to leave for his work. He ignored Hugh and went on his way.
"...thanks."
Hugh let out a word of gratitude for Van even though he was not sure if Van heard it. He planned to revisit this place if he needed more materials for his daily missions.
For now, Hugh was just excited that he will finally be able to finish his daily missions. Many things had transpired today, and a good meal will definitely replenish his energy for tomorrow.
He walked out, following the turns and curves he took to get here. He had memorized the path since he knew that Van would not help him get out of the factory maze of shelves.
He reached the metal door and pushed it lightly, to which it opened without any problems.
He walked outside to the sun losing its intensity, indicating that it was now in the afternoon.
There were still students walking around and socializing with each other at this time of day. Many were formed in groups, cliques to be exact.
Hugh observed that most of these cliques were made up of first-year students and sophomores following a junior. He had yet to see juniors and seniors grouped; in fact, he had never even seen a senior yet.
He did not know if seniors were truly small in numbers or that they were just stuck in their homes studying or practicing.
He walked away from the crowd towards the path back to his house. He was near the dome border that encompassed the central area and was surprised to see a large group of people flocking together.
Hugh did not want to go near the chaos, but the group was directly in front of the exit. He had to go through them to go back to his house and finish his daily mission. He exhaled and walked forward to the chaos.
Up close, he could see that the group was flocking around one person. This person had distinct chestnut-colored hair in a side-parted bob that curled on the ends. Hugh recognized this person to be Elise, the 17-year-old S-rank talent.
He remembered back when Elise dispersed the crowd when Garth was blocking his way towards the Main building. She commanded the flock with her presence alone.
Hugh stole a glance at her and saw that she was neither annoyed nor happy about the flock of people surrounding her. She had a deadpan expression, hiding her emotions in a veil of mystery that only served to flare up the men's libido even more.
Out of the sea of plain uniforms, there was one person that Hugh saw who wore a formal black tie suit. This guy walked the nearest to Elise, followed by the crowd of freshmen and sophomores who did not dare get closer to Elise than the junior.
"Elise, how about we go to my castle? My help will be beneficial to you as a freshman."
"...."
Elise did not answer the apparent pick-up line by the junior. She stared straight at the horizon and kept walking, ignoring the man next to her.
Seeing this rejection, the crowd behind her started to whisper amongst themselves.
"No way! James got rejected?!"
"James? Is it that guy in the front?"
"Yeah. He's a junior, you know!"
"I wish James would let me accompany him to exclusive partied in the central area."
"Parties? Can't you go by yourself?"
"No! The nightlife in the central area is only reserved for the third and fourth years. We first and second years only get to party in a designated location away from the others."
Hugh peeked in on the whispers around the group. Professor Kain had told them that during the night, first-year students and sophomores were only allowed to visit one place in the central area. He did not tell them that the juniors and the seniors had reserved everything in the central area for themselves.
Hugh was so entranced by the conversation that he overlooked a collision course at the front. He turned around too late to see a man bump into him.
Hugh was thrown to the ground from the collision even though he had a greater weight. He winced from the pain and looked up to the man that he collided with.
The man had well-kept blue hair that obviously used gel to keep it neat and tidy. He wore glasses that shined in the light, obscuring the sharp eyes underneath.
Hugh noticed that the man wore the standard Wolrath Academy uniform, indicating that he was either a freshman or a sophomore.
The man looked at Hugh and reached out his hands to help Hugh.
Hugh accepted the aid from the mysterious man and used it to prop himself back up. He patted his uniform down and looked at the man that collided with him.
"Thanks. Sorry about that, I was not looking."
"No, worries."
There was an awkward silence between the two until the man decided to speak.
"I'm Michael. Who are you?"
"Hugh. I'm a freshman."
"Me too. I'm from class B, are you from class A?"
"Yeah."
Hugh found it weird that Michael guessed his class correctly. There were plenty of other classes that Michael could have guessed the first time, but he strangely picked class A.
Hugh did not pay this any heed as Michael spoke to him.
"Well, nice to meet you Hugh. I'll be going now."
Michael did not wait for any response from Hugh as he tapped Hugh's shoulder before he went towards the central area. Hugh turned around to look at Michael, and he saw him wave his hand without turning back.
This was a strange occurrence but not enough to impede Hugh from his current objective. He needed to get to his house and eat the materials to complete his daily missions.
He walked forward and saw that the crowd, together with Elise, was gone from his sight. They must have gone ahead when Hugh bumped into Michael.
Hugh walked towards the path to the shifting room that he used to teleport to this location. On the way, he once again saw the unique houses in the junior's area. The sky was getting dark, and lights started to become the dominant source of clarity.
The atmosphere became different; it became cozy, like a walk in the park at night with just the lamps in the streets guiding him. Hugh cherished this moment as he felt like he was in a different world.
He turned around and saw the central area full of blinding lights and intense vitality by the so-called nightlife experience. He had no plans to visit the nightlife in the central area if he did not need anything from there.
He would much rather stay at home and practice his Desire.
After a while, Hugh reached the shifting room that led him back to his house.