I don't think I should go against Natalia, at least not for now. She definitely understands powers of Aquilae better than me considering she literally stopped time right in front of me. But it seems like I too have powers of Aquilae which lets me move through time when I die. Maybe if I can master this power, I'll have enough control to decide which time period I want to move to.
Sooner or later, this world will come to an end and I can't decide whether to save it or not. For now, I'll just let things happen and then decide what to do.
Livia was still sitting there studying and I decided to join her. I want to experience this world a bit more before coming to my conclusion.
"I thought you were going home?" She asked.
"Well... got any questions you can't solve?"
"Right! How do you solve this?" She pointed to a question and I leaned in instinctively. I had been friends with Layla, Amelia and Elena, so, I had naturally gotten over my fear for women... well... it's not THAT bad anymore but I'm not as conscious about every move.
"Have you tried multiplying by Cos alpha on both sides?" I took her notebook and solved the question and explained why I did what I did.
"Huh? How did you get the right answer?" She pointed to the solution written in the book. "There is no Cos."
"Math doesn't have one way of solving problems. You can be creative with it. It's like art."
"Yea yea... shut up." She rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Oh right. I heard you had an accident? Rumors about you spread super fast."
"Suffering from being too rich and influential. Anyways, I'm perfectly fine. All I needed were some painkillers."
"Oh? Be careful from here on."
"We'll see."
We spent roughly two hours together solving questions. For me it was a good practice session too since it cleared up some concepts for me too.
"Oh right, it's your birthday in a week. Any plans on birthday party?" She asked.
How does she even know when my birthday is...
"I spend my birthday in this one Thai restaurant. I prefer eating alone. That way I can take time with enjoying the experience."
"Oh? As if you have an option of not eating alone. You need friends for that." She snickered.
I didn't feel any malice from her tone or words. Maybe she is trying to tease me. It's common for friends to take jabs at each other but I don't think we are close enough for her to do that. I don't want to make it uncomfortable so for now I'll let her continue.
"I do have a birthday party though... uhh... I may or may not be present at it. My parents organize a massive party for me so I'll send you the invitation for it." I got up and quickly left.
The birthday party my parents organize is simply for business opportunities. It's a quick and easy way to gather all their business partners in one place and do their business.
...
Once I was back home, I started reading through the math books my teacher had given me. These books had about 2,000 pages each. I need to be able to stop time if I want to finish these books but a couple hours in and I could already notice some equations I had seen in certain spells.
I closed the book when I got tired. I had already finished first segment of first chapter... It's really gonna take forever.
"So... five grand orders are in reality much more powerful than what I had imagined. Maybe the grand orders in the future have a fragment or two of the real grand orders. So wait, does that other four will die too? Occidenia Aquilae is already dead but what killed it? How did it get divided into multiple fragments and how did one end up inside my body. Maybe the experiments done on me in the past and that liquid was blood of Aquilae and it contained so much power that no human could withstand it. Maybe somehow the world got flooded with his blood? There is a lot to unpack but most of it is still a mystery to me."
I walked up the balcony of my room looking down at the city wondering what would become of them in the near future. Is this what Furrina went through? Maybe her case was even worse than mine because she genuinely cared about each and every life of her dominion.
"Master Kara?" My butler knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"People have found alien species in nearby forest. We would have to move to a new area."
It seems like invasion has already begun. Blood of Aquilae is converting into these monsters yet I have no idea how and why.
"Anything else?"
"Tomorrow, your parents will hold your birthday party. They want to get deals signed before the public finds out of about invasion. It would of course lead to chaos and civil unrest and would be bad for business."
"Caring about money till the ends of time. Why are they so sure they'll survive this invasion... Fine. Please leave." I sent the message to Livia about my birthday party being held tomorrow instead. We had already booked a venue well in advance so I sent the address too.
I should at least keep my word. I went to my dad's home office and read through his mails.
"Seven specimens who are strong enough to take rifle shots with no issue? Looks eerily similar to monsters I saw in Scofinia." I left the penthouse and quickly made my way to the location sent to my dad but was stopped just outside the forest by a swat team.
"This area is currently under surveillance." One of the officers said.
"I see." I sighed before moving further away. Jean and his group taught me a magic to make myself invisible. It was a spell that could make our body non-interactive with photons. I had readied a hoodie and sweatpants with the spell casted on them. "I should have used it from the start..." I entered the forest and followed the path drawn out by the investigative agencies and reached the area where they had contained the monsters.
They seemed stronger than ones I saw in Scofinia by a wide margin. As I approached the area, the monsters took a notice of me. They must've sensed the blood of Aquilae in me and started acting violent trying to break through the cage.
"It was a bad idea..." I sighed as one of the monsters pounced at me. I quickly moved to the side and tossed a small bomb onto the ground and dashed in the opposite direction before detonating it. It was a simple magic bomb so it shouldn't do that much damage to the surrounding.
They are definitely stronger right now. Maybe blood of Aquilae got diluted and or contaminated with time which resulted in weaker monsters in future.
...
It was my birthday party and the venue was filled with a few dozen billionaires and millionaires. They were trying to introduce their daughters to me which was weird. We are 2024... what's with this medieval bullshit?
I had no interest in any of them because I had already gotten interested in Elena and Amelia. I was worried and had rejected Elena in past but I hope she understands my situation too. Maybe I'm just an asshole.
I noticed Livia looking around confused and concerned so I walked over to her.
"O-oh? I don't think I fit here." She looked down with a saddened expression. Maybe she was embarrassed?
"You do in fact not fit in with these corrupt people." I shrugged. "Don't feel bad that your dad hasn't committed countless crimes to make money. You don't want to compare yourself to them, trust me."
"Always straightforward or... rude even?" She chuckled.
"I don't know. Oh. Do NOT entertain ANY guy in this room whatsoever. No matter what they say or do. If things go south, call me." I said as my dad called for me. I don't really think we are close friends but I don't want her to get hurt either. These assholes here were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. They think they own the world so they act however they desire.
"What?" I sighed. "It's my birthday, I want to enjoy it with my friends." Past me would've never even dreamed of saying something remotely close to this to my dad but now things are different.
"Oh-ho. Your kid used to be so obedient but now he's suddenly so rowdy. Rebellion stage of teenagers sure is a hassle to deal with." The rich old man had a hearty laugh.
"Y-yea... sure is difficult to deal with." My dad responded. "I have finished the production of holy water and plan to introduce it right now. You, Kara, stay away."
"It's my birthday, I get to be center of attention but whatever. I don't want these predators to look at me weird anyways. Do whatever." I waved at him as I left. I can finally be as petty as I want to be. I saw Livia looking troubled as she was surrounded by a bunch of guys. I pushed through them and pulled Livia close to me. I felt like I was in one of those rom com anime where a prince saves his lover from men preying on her. Weird.
"K-Kara? Is she your bi-"
I kicked him right in his head.
"Call her that one more time. I dare you."
The kick got everyone's attention as we were swarmed by a crowd wondering what had happened.
"Hey... you overdid it." Livia whispered to me.
"Overdid? I think he got what he deserved. Livia is a guest I personally invited. I would not tolerate any amount of disrespect towards her."
The guy's dad, I assume, got in angry.
"HOW DARE YOU ASSAULT MY CHILD?!"
"Child? Sir, your 25 year old MAN CHILD was hitting on a minor. There are CCTV camera everywhere. Either we forget this happened or I can release this video." My direct threat was enough to de-escalate the situation but it did make everyone else uncomfortable.
In any society, a status quo is preferred and no one dares to break it. It gives them a sense of security and a sense of power over others. For example, take the current scenario. There are at least 5 known pedophiles in this room. And as they are known, it's safe to assume that those who associate themselves with these pedophiles are okay with what they do. This is a status quo. So when that man child approached Livia, he had already assumed things will go the way they have always gone. But this assumption he had made was quickly shattered by my kick and then my threat. I have broken the status quo inside this room making everyone uncomfortable. This is bad for business but I kind of don't care. If I die, I'll be sent to future where everything is good.
Things quickly settled down as my dad made the announcement that holy water was out to be purchased. So, it had officially begun...