Noticing the look on her face, Ruth quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to know about the blueprint I made?"
'Hmmm? What blueprint?'
"Well, you see... after what happened back at the power plant, I created this so it would never happen again."
It was then a blue interference revealed itself in front of Ellia.
____
Ruth's hand-crafted buddies. (Nanorobotics)
Quality: Black platinum
Basic stats
Durability: ∞
Equip Requirement: N/A
Abilities: Shown after the crafting of the product
----
Requirement to create
Three-joint mechanical arm able to perform at surgical levels
Ingredients:
Plutonium-238, U-235, tungsten, neuro attachers, pure all-purpose fabric, and the metal of recreation.
____
"This will literally fix all the problems you have right now. Remember back at the power plant, you lost consciousness? That wasn't because of that girl's fire magic. It was because you came in contact with the highly radioactive water. Now with this, you won't have to worry about useless things." Ruth spoke, trying her best to convince Ellia. "I"m also pretty sure this was better than magic."
'Hmmm, we can't judge about magic when we haven't experienced much yet. From what I saw from instructor James, Magic is pretty damn impressive.'
"Yes, but this is better!" Ruth boldly claimed, causing Ellia to roll her eyes.
'How are we supposed to build this anyway? And where the hell are you getting these materials from?'
"I just need the three-joint mechanical arm to start the build process, and from the materials... don't worry, I know a place to get them."
Upon hearing her words, Ellia turned her head to the kitchen table. There she moved her eyes towards Alex, who was pouring himself cereal.
'You said he was the Empire's youngest prodigies, right Ruth?' Ellia asked with a smile.
"Yes, I did."
'It seemed he was skilled in engineering and mechanics, so why don't I ask him?'
"You could, but are you sure you want to do that?"
'Huh?' Ellia spoke in confusion. What did that mean? But thinking little of it Ellia got up and walked towards Alex.
Alex, noticing Ellia shined a bright smile. "Did you sleep well?" He asked as if he was a caring boyfriend, but it only got a simple nod out of Ellia. But Ellia's following actions puzzled Alex.
"I did. Did you also sleep well?" Ellia also answered with a bright smile. Seeing such sights, Alex flinched.
"What?" Ellia asked, utterly ignorant of the cute face she had on.
"Do you want something from me?" Alex asked with a chuckle. 'You think I wouldn't know? You always act like this when you want something from me."
"Granddaughter like grandfather, am I right?" Ruth's voice echoed inside her head, which was soon followed up by a giggle.
"Argh..." Ellia smacked her forehead, stopping her cutesie act. "Yes, there is something I want from you."
"That is?"
"Make a robotic arm for me."
Alex raised an eyebrow upon hearing her words. It was pretty random, after all, to ask for a robotic arm.
"Like prosthetic arm? You have a friend that needs it or something?" Alex asked.
"No." Ellia shook her head, brought up the system interference, and started reading from it. "I need uh... a three-joint mechanical arm able to perform at surgical levels."
Alex simply stared at ELlia as she spoke her words. Why the hell would you need something like that? It concerned Alex a bit, but he didn't pry any further.
"You know I don't do these for free," Alex said, casing Ellia to lower her lips in displeasure. "But I would have done it for free if you were still together and happy."
"Are you suggesting we get back at it together?" Ellia asked with a smirk. "If so, then no. How about I give you money instead?"
"No, I don't take money, but you know it was kinda uncomfortable sleeping on the table..." Alex spoke as if he was suggesting something.
'Is he suggesting that he sleeps with me?' Ellia thought in disbelief. Glaring at Alex as if she could kill any moment.
Noticing Ellia's murderous glare, Alex gave a dry cough. "Errrr.... it would be great if I could sleep properly just for a single day."
Despite his words, Ellia continued to glare at Alex. "He's still pushing his luck. It's like a kid trying to find out what he can get away with...."
But after a few moments, Ellia started to tremble. "Fine..." She mumbled as she tried her best to avoid eye contact with Alex.
Hearing her approval, Alex smiled.
"Alright, follow me," Ellia said as she grabbed onto Alex's wrist. Then setting a tight grip, she dragged Alex to the door.
"We'll be leaving!" Ellia announced with a shout before leaving the room with Alex.
The moment they left, a sudden silence fell upon the room.
"Are they dating?" May asked, which got a shrug out of everyone. Everyone but Aerie denied such things.
"No way! There's no way..."
...
Shutting the door, Ellia finally released her grip on Alex's wrist, but she still signaled Alex to follow with a wave.
'That girl said I had a resting area?' Ellia asked as she remembered the female receptionist at the shooting range talking about it.
"Yes, she did. Do you want me to guide you there?" Ruth asked.
'Of course.'
Then following Ruth's directions, Ellia strolled through the hallways of Everwhite with Alex right beside her. Ellia could tell he was enjoying the situation just from his smile alone.
But it couldn't be said the same with Ellia.
'It's so gloomy here... Ellia thought as she looked at passing students. Almost every student had the same look about them: hopelessness, sadness, and fear.
Such expressions were very familiar to Ellia, who had regularly seen such faces on the frontlines.
'It must be because of the test..." Ellia spoke inwardly, then glanced towards Alex. 'What the... I thought this kid would have trouble for the past few days, but to think he had such a bright smile.'
Ellia didn't know whether Alex was crazy or just simply ignorant.