Jenna veered round and peered at the owner of the voice. Her face that was twisting in anger, blossomed with a dazzling smile. "Elora?!"
"Oh my god! It is really you!" Elora scuttled towards Jenna, and the two girls hugged each other tightly. "What are you doing here?" Elora inquired after holding each other for a moment.
Jenna let go of Elora and gawped at Kadyn before replying to her friend. "Don't ask. I came here when I heard that a magic shop has opened in the Lower Town. Can you believe it?"
Kadyn heard Jenna and cringed before lowering his head and skulked his face into hands due to embarrassment. What was worse than hiding the truth? Hearing the truth from someone else, of course.
Elora squinted at Kadyn under her eyelashes and continued to talk with Jenna. She glimpsed him hiding his face in his hands and found it infuriating and amusing at the same time. 'Bastard's still acting, humph!' she thought, but the smile never vanished from her charming countenance as she gossiped with her friend.
"Do you know I was about to awaken my fifth star, but that money grubbi…" Jenna saw Kadyn's hawk-like eyes squinting in her direction and shut her mouth. "Anyway, I could not awaken my star because the time was over. What about you?"
"Oh, me?" she pointed towards herself with a finger exaggeratedly and turned towards Kadyn. "I came to give food to my brother." She uttered and showed the lunch box in her hands. Then she gestured towards Kadyn and added. "Meet my brother, Kadyn."
Jenna jerked her head towards Kadyn and gawked at him with her bulging eyes. "He's your brother?"
"Who else? Did he harass you or something?"
"Hello, hello, do you take me some kind of pervert?" Kadyn couldn't remain silent. After all someone calling him a pervert indirectly.
"Humph, we will talk." Elora sneered, and Kadyn gawped at her speechlessly. 'What does she mean by we will talk? I'm big brother, damn it.' He thought but voiced no objection.
Both the girls whispered over fifteen minutes. Kadyn slouched on his chair and listened to 'em, chuckling from time to time. After that Jenna paid four hundred dollars and once more went to meditate. She was keen to awaken her next star. After all, the fifth star was the starting point for wizards.
"Now tell me what the hell is going on?" Elora rumbled at Kadyn as soon as Jenna vanished into the meditation room.
"Err…" Kadyn straightened his back and eyed blankly at his sister, completely lost for words.
"Tell me if you are doing anything bad?" she inquired concernedly and drew nearer to him.
"No, no," Kadyn denied without even blinking. "Don't you believe your brother?"
"Not anymore."
"..."
"Tell me." She urged, peering into his eyes.
Kadyn sighed and looked at his sister. His head throbbed. He had no idea how he should explain the situation to his sister. After all he could not tell that her brother was dead, and he was someone else.
"Trust me,'' in the end he said. "I would do nothing wrong, never. Right now I can't tell you how… this shop became like this," he gestured in the surrounding. "But one day I'll explain everything, trust me." He tried to explain and rose from the chair and cradled her hand.
Elora squinted at him suspiciously but pressed him no further to explain the details. She'd be happy providing her dumb brother wasn't doing anything stupid. "Alright, I'll trust you this once and wait to explain everything."
"Great!" Kadyn laughed, hearing her words. It felt pretty marvellous to have a sensible sibling. Or he had no idea how he would explain if she pressed the issue to the end.
"Alright what kind of service do you have?" she squeaked suddenly, looking all about. "I also want to meditate?"
Kadyn gaped at his sister and couldn't make any sound. One more trouble. Would the system let her meditate freely because she is his family?
"No favouritism allowed. She has to pay like others. Though you can also pay on her behalf."
As he was wrecking his brain to find the solution, a sound echoed in his chaotic head. "What do you mean I can pay on her behalf?"
"Two energy points or two hundred dollars for an hour."
Kadyn reckoned and creased his brows. He had no idea why the system wanted him to pay. Or anyone. What would he do after collecting all the money? He shook his head, then turned towards his sister, who was waiting eagerly for an answer. "Go meditate. Remember, you could meditate for only two hours."
[Energy Points: 82-4→ 78]
As he completed his sentence, four energy points were deducted from his account. "What the hell. I didn't even tell you if I want to pay dollars or through energy points. How could you deduct them like that?"
"Who are you making a fool of? I even know what kind of underwear you wear. Do you think I don't know you are broke with no penny?"
"..."
Elora placed the lunch box on the counter and dashed towards the meditation room with a jovial grin, leaving a single sentence. "Mom said you need to eat all that food."
Kadyn chuckled and shook his head and placed the lunch box over the shelf, and went to his secret room. He wasn't hungry. Food could wait, time could not. Two hours outside. Four hours in his room.
Today he wanted to awaken five stars and complete the mission. Then he could cast spells, could use magic. Just thinking about it made his body excited. What would it feel like to cast spells?
Sitting at the centre of the formation, he closed his eyes and activated the Elemental Chaos Formula, and swirls of energy formed around him, penetrating his body, and diving into the fire pool.
Not even fifteen minutes passed, and he succeeded to stabilize the fourth star of the fire element. However when it came to the fifth star, no sign of awakening could be seen. Time passed and three hours vanished in the blink of an eye.
The last hour started, and he saw twinkling in the dark space of the fire pool. Kadyn focused all the energy on that place. As the mana poured into the pool, the glittering star became solid. Kadyn didn't bother and proceeded to stabilize it.
[Energy Points: 66-4→62]
As this notification sounded, another notification followed behind it.
[Mission completed: Five stars have been awakened. Reward: Level 1 fire spell]
Kadyn opened his eyes, and a window opened in front of him automatically.
[Element: Fire]
[Name: Arrow Rush]
[Level: 1]
[Star Pattern: one star in the middle…]