"You're… Malachi right?" Melanie hesitantly asked.
"For the most part."
Melanie seemed to recognize his sarcastic tone of voice and realized that it really was him.
She didn't get a good look at him in class but now that she was up close she could see that he was not only incredibly handsome but his eyes not hidden by sunglasses were slightly frightening.
"You uh.. look good."
"I think it's the clothes."
Malachi got tired of beating around the bush and decided to get to the heart of the matter. "Why are you here?"
Melanie put on a complicated expression before she spoke. "Well.. you know how the sky got all dark and scary and stuff a minute ago?"
"I vaguely recall something like that." Mal scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
Just how much of the city did he put into a panic?
He wondered how he'd be seen when the news about his assessment hit the news and internet.
Melanie wondered why Mal suddenly looked like he was uncomfortable and ultimately decided he must've been bothered by her presence.
'Well.. it's not like I don't understand.'
She sighed bitterly in her heart before she resigned herself to just say what she had to say and get out of here.
"W-well I thought it might've been some kind of gate break and I got scared that I was going to die."
'Should I apologize?!' The more Malachi heard the more guilty he felt.
Melanie looked Malachi in his illustrious yellow eyes and spoke clearly. "I didn't want to die without apologizing to you for what I did."
Malachi was momentarily stunned by this seriousness that he'd never seen from her but soon recovered and put on his usual carefree demeanor.
"It's cool. No apology necessary." Mal waived his hand at her apology and moved past Melanie to open the door.
Suddenly he felt her grab his sleeve and looked back to see her trembling with her head facing the ground.
"I.. I know you might not want to hear it but I need to say it. I truly am sorry Mal."
Before Malachi could even turn around and ask her why she was going so far, she released him and ran away.
He watched her get her car and drive off, his mind swimming in confusion.
- The Next Day.
Pandemonium.
That would be the only word to accurately describe the world's reaction when Malachi's existence was released to the public.
Not just in America but countries all over the world accused Malachi's testing facility of fabricating results to create a puppet with tremendous influence.
A blessed with four different blessings from highers in entirely different pantheons?
Who the hell would believe such an absurd lie!
And then footage of Malachi's exam was released.
Now guilds all over the world were calling Luna's phone attempting to buy Mal out of his contract with Immortal Moon.
The prices offered were so exorbitant and outrageous that Luna would have agreed immediately had she not been so fond of Malachi.
Naturally since he'd shown her such incredible faith and loyalty she couldn't just go and soil that could she?
Malachi himself was actually unaware of his meteoric rise to fame.
As someone who didn't watch the news and was barely on social media, how could he know?
He'd gotten a few texts from Serana but he just assumed she was being over dramatic like normal.
And he hadn't been back to class yet so there was nobody staring at him in awe or whispering around him.
While Aubrey knew, she didn't think her brother would care so she didn't mention it.
Currently, Mal was admiring his lavish new penthouse apartment.
Since he didn't need much space with just him and Aubrey staying there, he found a perfect upgrade for them.
It was only a three bedroom but it was nicer than most mansions.
Black granite floors with shiny golden chandeliers, expensive yet comfortable furniture chosen by Aisha and even a balcony view of the city.
He almost fainted when he saw the price, but Aubrey had reminded him they didn't have to be so cheap now that their situation had changed and they could afford to spoil themselves a bit.
As he relaxed on his comfortable new couch, he found himself incredibly glad that he'd listened to her.
Suddenly, Malachi's phone began to ring and he saw it was from Serana.
The call had barely connected when her frantic voice pierced through his ear.
"Mal! We need help please!"
He immediately sat up and put a serious expression on his face. "Serana? What's wrong?!"
There was so much background noise on the other side of the phone that he couldn't even hear her clearly.
All he could hear was something about her and her mother needing help but that was more than enough.
He dashed out of his apartment and headed for Sei's restaurant hoping he wouldn't be too late to help.
-
"It's him!!"
"Kyaa, he really does come here often!"
"Can I get a picture!?"
Malachi stared gobsmacked at the enormous crowd of people that were packed outside of Sei's restaurant like sardines.
"What.. the hell is this?"
Suddenly a pink haired girl pushed through the crowd and came running up to Malachi out of breath and sweaty.
"Huff huff, Mal! I'm so glad you made it!"
"Serana? Why are all of these people here and why did you say you needed help?"
"Well…"
Serana went on to explain how the older customers Mal had taken pictures with last time he was there showed their grandkids, neighbors and just about anyone that would listen.
Those same people had now come hoping to see the only man in the world with four blessings.
"You idiot you scared me!" Malachi grabbed Serana by her pink cheeks and began to pull.
"Oww oww oww! I'm sowwy!"
As the crowd of onlookers stared at the interaction between the handsome man and the gorgeous young woman, a conclusion bubbled up in all of their minds.
"Hey.. don't they look really close?"
"They're both attractive so.."
"Do you think they're dating?"
Malachi and Serana naturally heard the murmurs of the crowd and turned around to stare at them in horror.
"As if!"
"Her mom is way hotter than her!"
"Are you calling me ugly you piece of shit!"
"No, just inferior."
"I'll kill you!"
Serana had to be restrained so that she did not strangle her friend and once the two were separated, Mal could see the woman he'd just called hot a second ago amongst the crowd, a scarlet blush on her smooth cheeks.
'She..totally heard me.'