"Hey Theo, I saw you cry earlier! I never thought that the stone cold man I always saw finally broke down in the face of a heartwarming parting between families! Don't worry I'll keep you company till our first break brother mans!"
F*ck.... Of all the people to see me cry, It had to be this brat.....
Theo cursed inside for his incompetence and unawareness, because of exposing himself to a dimwit who had no barriers on talking about anything and a professional yapper that didn't know how to shut the hell up.
Theo unexpectedly teared up as he parted ways with his family.
His adopted sister clung to him like her life depended on it, forcing his sister to take Helena away from him.
The worried face of her mother was and her warm embrace still lingered very dearly in his memories.
His father who was usually stoic and expressionless gave him a rare smile before telling him to take care, reminding once more how blessed he was to have such a caring family.
making him more convinced that saving the World was the only way for him to pay back everything they'd done for him.
But who knew this idiot was there lingering on the railings, waiting for me to enter the ship...
Theo and Patrick were currently in the cafeteria of the flying ship. The distance between the centre of the continent and the capital of Virtus takes fifteen hours.
Alethea was way bigger than Earth so it was only natural that the flying magical ship with the speed of a regular fighter jet would take that long.
Teleportation was an option but it was tradition for Virtus and Vitoten to use the flying ships even before the famous teleportation gates were created a few decades ago.
Though teleportation gates are only limited where mana veins lay, some countries are unlucky enough to not have one, enabling them to use a more convenient means of transport.
Theo was also thinking about how he was going to meet the other protagonists of the game.
Does he wait for them to approach them? Or will he approach them himself?
Theo, with a plethora of confidence in a lot of things, was in fact terrible at making friends.
He was the type to be alone until someone approached him and befriending him was also difficult unless you had enough social energy and confidence to communicate with him.
Simply put, befriending Theo was annoying as hell, in reality and in game, unless of course you were Selene, who he started to grow fond of after a month of knowing each other.
Theo guessed that in exchange for the ease of use of the character, they balanced it out by making Theo a hard character to recruit in your party, while Selene, surprisingly, had an easier time recruiting party members.
I'll just leave it all to Selene, I guess.
"Yo! This meat's insane! Try it out Theo, here! Have a piece"
Ting!
Theo deflects Patrick's fork perfectly and sends the piece of meat back down to Patrick's plate.
"I'm good Patrick, I'll be satisfied with my meal. I don't need more"
"Ah, Sorry sorry! I should be more careful and understand my brother better! Hahahaha!"
Patrick heartily laughed, not disheartened by the reaction Theo portrayed.
Theo simply sighed and smiled wryly as Patrick continued to devour his meal after laughing
Patrick's toooo energetic and positive. It pisses me off. Have some kind of restraint....
While Theo was back into his mind hole a shadow was casted over him and a voice filled with elegance and sweetness
"Greetings to the imperial Prince. If it is possible with your Grace's permission, I hope to share a meal with your highness."
A woman with visibly short soft beige hair and well endowed body bowed her head while holding her tray beside Theo.
Theo with only a glance nodded with little care and spoke in an almost flat tone.
"Do as you wish, distract your Fiance as well while you're at it, Fia Lancaster."
"Thank you, your grace. Now, scooch to the side Patrick and let me take the seat beside you. Hold your mouth as well in front of his highness and stop eating in a disrespectful manner"
Fia Lancaster the daughter of Duke Lancaster and a childhood friend of Patrick Heathcliff, who owns the southern lands of Virtus and has a similar standing with the Rosenberg family who are the money makers of the Empire.
Despite the lacklustre reply that came from Theo that he gave Fia, He was actually celebrating inside that a leash for the loose dog had finally arrived to make it behave and give Theo the peace he deserves as he planned in his head his steps for his future in the Academy.
"Why are you always so stingy, Fia? It's fine! Me and Theo are buddies, rather brothers! He doesn't mind my attitude and actions at all! He's simply shy and polite. I know him best after all!"
Fia as she sat down beside Patrick shook her head in disappointment, so she pulled her hand far back from her shoulders then-!
BAM!
Slammed her palm on the back of Patrick's head with exceedingly strong force that shook the table and floor they were, launching the teenager across the cafeteria, almost hitting bystanders, who luckily dodged before they got hit by the flying Patrick.
Damn, As expected of a duke's daughter she packs a punch.
Theo seeing Patrick fly across the room smiled in delight and nodded at Fia who rid him of his annoyance.
Fia was a person that would resort to violence when you pass her tipping point, which was lower than people thought, but she was, most of the time, kind and caring for those around her, displaying the one of the best mannerisms in his generation.
"Ah.... I'm sorry for such an unlady-like and improper display, your highness. I am deserving of your punishment if you so wish!"
Fia knelt down on the floor with her head vertically on the floor.
"It's fine, rather than worrying about me I think you need to go "tend" to Patrick"
Before Fia could respond a loud resounding blast radiated from the blast zone where Patrick landed.
"HAHAHA! You've gotten a lot stronger from the last time I've seen you! I take this as a challenge! Now prepare your stance! I want you to see how far you've progressed!" Patrick dusted himself off as he pointed at Fia with a jolly laughter.
Fia, who was still kneeling on the ground shook, trembling slowly faster even the floor shook under her shaking fist.
BANG!
The ground shook with intensity under Fia's fist as she slammed it with anger.
"FINE!"
Fia stood and cracked her knuckles as her aura radiated magic unusually big for her age group.
"It's been a while since I had a punching bag. Don't go crying on me to stop, Patrick"
WHOOSH!*
BANG!*
Fia sprang from where she was and did a roundhouse kick in a blink of an eye, which Patrick blocked with his two arms with ease as he also radiated a similar or even larger size of a magical aura than Fia.
BANG!* BANG!* BANG!* BANG!* BANG!* BANG!*
An exchange of fits and kicks reverberated from the cafeteria, forcing all the future students to move to the other side of the cafeteria to move away from the conflict.
Many stayed to observe, cheering for their favourite to win and few like Theo continued eating without care or left to their own room to wait for the flying ship to arrive to its destination.
As Theo took another spoonful of his soup another shadow was casted over him, this time it was an encounter he expected and wanted to avoid until much later or completely if his destiny allowed it to.
"Hello, Your highness, would you give me the grace of eating with you?"
Theo glanced to the side and saw a large headache that he wished he didn't have to deal with in his current life as well.