Chapter 40 - Scavenging Part 2

--An) As you may have noticed that the release schedule for this is all over the place. I am trying to find the sweet spot but it seems this will now be released at 11pm EST from now on. I will update if the schedule changes again.--

Blake and the girls arrived at the computer science building, where Lillia handed him a small brown pouch with a long leather strap. "Just infuse it with mana to open it, and you can place anything you want to take inside. Its space is as big as this building."

"Are you sure you want to give me something so valuable?" Blake asked as he shakingly held the pouch in his hands. To him, this was like a legendary treasure.

"What do you mean!? Are you not my boyfriend in name only!?" Lillia yelled out as her arms began to transform. Blake quickly waved his hands back and forth. "That's not it! Don't transform here!"

Lillia pouted as her arms went back to normal. Luckily it did not seem like anyone noticed. Lillia mode to stand in front of Blake. "Then what do you mean!? I thought it was natural for couples to help one another out!"

"I am saying such an item is like a god like treasure to me! Even in my past life, we never had such things! So to me, it's a valuable item. To be honest, I feel like if I lost it, even I wouldn't let myself off." Blake replied as he scratched his head. Lillia stared at him for a minute before suddenly bursting out laughing.

"Why are you so cute!?" Lilli yelled out as she hugged Blake. "Don't worry, and just use it. Even if you lose it, it is nothing. I can always make another one when the Age of Magic arrives."

"Alright. Then I will use it wisely." Blake replied with a smile. Lillia's scent entered his nose, making him not want to let her go.

"Ahem…. We are in public." Tina decided to be the third wheel. She was starting to hate the fact that she did not have someone herself, which was why she was starting to hate it when the two in front of her kept announcing their love to the world. But what more was the fact that they stood out! Everyone else was gloomy while these two were all lovey dovey among the burning buildings! People were watching with their mouths wide open!

It was definitely not normal for people to act the way they were acting. They stood out amongst the rest, but Blake did not care. He blatantly ignored Tina's comment and hugged Lillia in his arms for a few minutes before letting her go. "Alright, you and Tina, go gather the information. I will hunt down things that might be useful for us later on."

"Okay, but to be sure you are safe, here." Lillia faked as if she was reaching into her pocket while using Blake as a means of hiding what she was doing and took a few pistol magazines from her space and put them in Blake's bag.

"Thanks." Blake smiled and hooked the bag around his neck using the long leather strap that was on it. Normally it would be wrapped around his waist, but he did not want to chance it. It was able to flatten out anyways, so he just stuffed it in his shirt to keep it from being snatched easily.

"Blake, is there anything, in particular, you want me to find out?" Tina asked. She was glad the public display of affection was now over.

"Yeah, find out if anyone knows if the Hermon Military Base is still intact. If it is still semi-standing, then we may just be able to find that faction." Blake had forgotten that a military base was close by. While it might have been destroyed pretty quickly, the chances of survivors and or the chances that the faction he is looking for might just be there.

"Alright, I will ask around," Tina replied.

"Then be safe," Blake said as he turned and walked into the broken down building. He wanted to stop by a few places. If he could, he would try to salvage as many books as possible. He remembered that during his past life, books were scarce. The dragons, after the first cleansing before the Age of Magic, went back, trying to destroy any books they could find. He was sure they did not want humans using the knowledge of technology and combining that knowledge with magic. It would be the biggest advantage to humans. Especially if it was DNA encoded to humans only, no other race would be able to use it.

So he was hoping to find any research papers he could get. This meant heading to the lower floors of the college buildings that would have the more experimental stuff. Colleges always had a secret sector that did government type projects that were never talked about. This was one of the major sources of income a college could get. Only the more prestigious colleges were able to get the higher paying contracts. Sadly this was only a semi decent college he was able to get a scholarship for along with many years of student loans.

The building hallways were charred black from the flames of the dragons that attacked. He slowly maneuvered under the falling debris as the smoke raised up to the sky. Big patches of the sky could be seen through what used to be a roof.

Sharp metal braided poles were sticking out of the broken concrete walls. Blake could hear other people rustling around inside the building, which he did not pay much attention to since the area he heard them in was nowhere close to the classrooms, or at least where the classrooms used to be. As he turned to walk to climb over a fallen wall, a man suddenly appeared above him. He wore military duds and had a large burn scar across his face. But what caught Blake's eyes the most was the symbol on his neck. An eagle with a flag. "Patriots…."

"Hmmm? Kid, you know my faction?" The man asked, his eyes narrowing. But Blake did not falter at the man's sudden hint of hostility. His lips curled up he began to wonder just how lucky he would be in this new life.

"To think I would run into one of you here. This is good, indeed. I have a few things I would like to talk to you about. Mind giving me some time?"