After leaving the restaurant, Axel began walking home, and he contacted Dan about getting the job, and that he was free.
"I'll come to your house to pick you up by 5"
"Cool," Axel replied before putting his phone away and heading to Lily's school. After picking her up and returning home, he made some snacks for her and spent some time asking about her day.
Finally, it was 5 p.m. and Dan called Axel to come down.
On the way to the hospital…
"Oh! Did you really get a job at United We Rice? That is a really good restaurant. Many of those aristocratic families also have begun to order food from there, and it is really famous. Most of all, the owner of the place is a really scary person!"
"Yeah, I know. I met him. It felt like I was drowning in mud."
"Are you alright??!"
"Yeah. I'm fine. He only stared at me for a second before accepting me for the job."
"Amazing! If nothing else, you might actually benefit from staying there, maybe that person could teach you some martial arts, or even take you in as a disciple."
"Do you know who he is?"
"Nope. Al I know is that he is an incredibly terrifying person that even the zone chief would not wish to offend!"
"What!!!!" This deeply shocked Axel. The zone chief had the strength of at least Grade 2 Expert, was basically the manager of a particular zone, working directly under the president and council. Essentially, the zone chief was the highest authority within his own zone, but such a figure was actually being wary of that middle-aged man.
This could only mean that the middle-aged man had the strength of a Grade 2 Expert.
Each and every Grade, as you progressed higher in Ranks, became harder and harder to achieve. But with this difficulty came unimaginable power for those who were able to cross it. While being a Trainee, A Grade 1 could possibly defeat someone at Grade 2, and hold up a good fight against someone at Grade 3. However, At the Expert level, a single grade was the difference between Heaven and earth.
The middle-aged owner of the restaurant was either at or above Grade 2 Expert Rank!
Just as he was thinking about this, He realised that he needed to purchase supplies for the gym.
"Hey Dan, stop at whatever shop is nearby. I need to get supplies."
"Supplies?" Dan Slowed down the car as he asked Axel, while simultaneously asking Spark to search for nearby convenience stores.
"For the Gym, what else? I need to get some protein supplements and some towels, some snacks and water."
"Dude. Just relax. Let this brother of yours handle everything. For now, we go straight to the gym."
"But"
"No buts! Well, actually, butts! We are going to the gym right this instant! The butts are waiting for me!"
Axel stiffly turned to look at Dan and noticed his face was flushed and his eyes were bloodshot. He was clearly excited about going to the gym… only, it was the wrong type of excitement…
…
Within 5 minutes of driving, they arrived at their destination, which was an incredibly luxurious building. The building itself gave off a faint blue glow, indicating that there was a rather powerful energy field around the building to protect it and those within it from outside threats.
For some reason, Axel felt like he had seen this building in his past life, but it was an extremely faint and irrelevant memory, and so he could not remember too much about it. That was just how the human body works. Humans tend to attach emotions to memories, the stronger the emotion, the more lasting the memory.
Putting that thought to the back of his head, he turned to Dan and asked, "This is the place?"
"Of course! This is the place. This is the gathering spot for all the upper-class within this zone! It is the centre of the central district, where anyone who is someone gather, to meet up, enjoy, spend time, secretly plan coups, and to relax!"
"Oh… So that is what you meant by butts…."
"Ah-" Dan froze completely as he realised that he had been speaking his inner thoughts out loud for a large portion of the drive.
"Ehe, you see Axel… there will be a lot of people, most of them from rich families, who can afford to modify their children to give them incredible physiques… and so"
"No need. I get it. Do whatever you want with your eyes, but remember that you need to exercise properly."
"Sure, sure," Dan replied with a slightly embarrassed smile on his face. However, he was not too bothered. Axel was his childhood friend, and they basically knew almost every single one of each other's secrets.
"Then let's go."