As it looked like an awkward silence was going to fall, Nari quickly revived the conversation.
"Aren't you going to invite us in Beom?" Nari said with a joyful expression on her face, but in a serious tone.
The combination of Nari's expression and tone made shivers go down Beom's spine. "o-Oh, yes. Please come in." He said as an instinctive response.
Going into the bungalow, it looked like someone had been living in there for years with how messy it looked. It was hard not to notice, but Yasuo didn't comment on it because he didn't want to sound impolite on their first meeting.
But Nari had known Beom for a pretty long time now and wasn't afraid to comment on it. "Your bad habits never change, do they?" Nari said while shaking her head in disappointment.
Hearing Nari treat Beom, who was a big dude and the same age as Nari, like a younger brother, made Yasuo chuckle out loud on accident, before quickly cover his mouth.
Luckily Nari and Beom didn't seem to have heard it as they were talking to each other while Beom was clearing some space in the living room for everyone to sit at.
Beom was waiting for Nari to say something, but she didn't look like she had any intentions to do so.
"So… Why did you come to my bungalow Nari?" Beom asked to start the conversation.
Apparently that was not the right thing to ask as Nari responded by saying: "Do I need a reason to come to your bungalow, Beom?", which again made shivers run down Beom's spine, who said "Of course not." In response as quickly as he could.
"But you usually have a reason for coming…" Beom said in a small voice, trying to tread the conversation as carefully as possible.
Nari nodded her head as Beom was right. "Well, that is correct. We have come to you with a request, - No, with a proposition." Said Nari in a way that would pique Beom's curiosity.
"What is this so called proposition?" Asked Beom, who had indeed become curious.
Nari looked at Yasuo, who joined the conversation for the first time since entering Beom's bungalow, and went straight to the point by saying: "Do you want to be in a portal clearing group with me and Nari?"
Beom wasn't expecting this kind of question and began thinking about this so called proposition, and formed a serious expression on his face for the first time, which slightly startled Yasuo.
"Hey, big bear. Don't stare at us with that weird thinking expression of yours." Nari said.
Hearing Nari say this made Beom immediately change his serious expression, which apparently was just the expression he normally makes while thinking.
A good minute of silence went by, before Beom looked at Nari and said: "Okay, I will be part of your portal clearing group… But! First tell me why you want to create a portal clearing group while at the academy and why you chose me."
Beom was looking at Nari, full of anticipation, who said: "Don't look at me, he is the one who came up with the idea and invited me to start a group with him."
Beom then looked at Yasuo, who began explaining why he wanted to create a group in the same way he did to Nari. Explaining that he wanted to learn more about teamwork, make use of the augmented reality program and complete missions at the academy to earn points.
Yasuo also explained that Nari and him just came out of the augmented reality program a few minutes ago and noticed that they were lacking a strong close combat damage dealer.
"And that is how we arrived here." Yasuo said, finishing his explanation.
"Oh yeah, that is some good reasoning. And hearing you makes me think I would be the perfect fit to the team." Beom said, while nodding.
"Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, what class do you have?" Asked Yasuo hesitantly.
"Didn't Nari already tell you? I am a [Strengthened Axeman]." Beom said openly.
Yasuo was surprised when he heard Beom say his class. 'Wow, an attributed class.' Yasuo thought, while being amazed.
He remembered reading about attributed classes. Apparently there are countless attributes which someone can receive when they awaken, which either gives an advantage, a disadvantage, or both.
'By the sound of it, strengthened, is an attribute that boosts a person's strength. I don't think it has any disadvantages.' Thought Yasuo.
In return, Beom asked Yasuo: "Which class do you have?"
As Yasuo was about to answer, Nari interrupted them by saying that it is time for dinner, suggesting that they went to her Bungalow to go and eat something.
They all ordered some food from the cafeteria through the academy app, and changed their locations to Nari's bungalow. And before they could even properly sit down at the dinner table, the doorbell rang, meaning the food had arrived.
Now with food in front of them, they continued talking over dinner where Beom asked Yasuo the same question again: "Yasuo, what class do you have?"
While enjoying dinner, Yasuo casually said "[Rune Possessor]".
Beom nodded and continued to eat, but a good few seconds later, it started to sink in that he didn't know what kind of class it was. Not wanting to sound dumb, he looked at Nari, who quickly got the hint.
"Yasuo show him your hand." Nari said, while continuing to eat the Caesar salad she ordered.
The same way he showed Nari, Yasuo put his hand forward, for Beom to see, and made a rune appear.
Beom's reaction was the exact same as Nari's, being amazed by how beautiful it looked for a few seconds, before asking. "What kind of rune is that exactly?"
Yasuo gladly answered. "[Ice Spe-"
"STOPPP!" Nari suddenly yelled with her mouth full of salad, quickly cutting Yasuo off before he could finish his sentence, which send shivers down Yasuo's spine, just like how it did for Beom, which made Beom chuckle.
Straight away, Beom received a stern look from Nari, who had heard him chuckle, and said: "After dinner, okay?"
Both Beom and Yasuo immediately nodded, and continued eating peacefully and quietly.
Having quickly finished dinner, the three of them headed downstairs to Nari's training room. Once there, Yasuo excitedly showed his "[Ice Spear]" In action, by shooting it at a training dummy.
Seeing this made Beom curious as to what other runes Yasuo had. Asking about other runes, Yasuo rolled up his sleeve and activated his "[Mana Barrier]", which phased through Beom and Nari, creating a big barrier around them.
Seeing this confused Nari for a good few seconds before she asked: "Yasuo, how come you have enough mana to do this? Weren't you completely out of mana in the augmented reality?"
'Oh, yeah. I never told or showed Nari my [Mana Circulation] rune. Well, now is probably the best time to show Beom and Nari at the same time.' Yasuo thought, and began taking off his shirt.
Seeing this made Nari blush and look away quickly before asking: "Why are you taking your shirt off?!"
Yasuo didn't hear Nari's question as he was pulling his shirt over his ears.
"What is this rune? Why was it already visible?" Asked Beom out of genuine curiosity.
As Nari didn't get an answer from Yasuo, and heard Beom's question, she also became curious and looked at Yasuo who was now completely shirtless.
"This rune is called [Mana Circulation]. Because it is a passive rune, it is always activated." Said Yasuo, looking at Beom to answer his question.
Turning his gaze towards Nari, Yasuo continued talking about the rune. "This rune allows me to store more mana, and also recover it faster. That is why I could use ice spear and mana barrier again after only an hour, because a part of my mana had already recovered." Yasuo said to Nari to answer her question.
"Sorry Nari, now I really don't have any secrets left about combat related things…" Yasuo said, looking at Nari with a guilty expression.
Nari giggled and nodded at Yasuo, signalling that she understood that he didn't do it on accident and that she didn't mind.
"Well, are you going to show him more, Yasuo?" Nari asked, hinting that he hadn't showed Beom his dagger yet.
For some reason Yasuo was more nervous to show Beom his dagger than he was when he showed Nari. But knowing that they would probably form a team soon, it was an inevitable thing, so Yasuo just decided to go for it and summon his dagger.
Seeing the dagger appear out of nowhere gave Beom the exact same reaction as Nari when she first saw it, dumbfoundedly asking about what it was and how it worked.
As this was the second time Yasuo had to explain what it was and how he got it, the confusion was luckily not long lasting.
Having seen how special Yasuo's class was, there was no hesitation in Beom's eyes before saying: "I will join the portal clearing group!"
Full of excitement, Yasuo looked back at Nari, who was secretly also happy about the fact that Beom joined at that they were now a three-man team with a perfect composition.
Yasuo was eager to go into augmented reality again, but now with the three of them, but he knew that it had already become late, so he suggested the second best thing: "Do you guys want to go into augmented reality tomorrow?"
Nari knew all too well that Yasuo wanted to go into augmented reality with a group as much as possible, but she had to disappoint him. "Yasuo, I think that now is the time we have to set up a clear schedule. It takes me more than a full day to recover my mana, and while at the academy I also want to follow as many classes as possible and also have time to study and train alone, so I think it would be best to limit the group augmented reality training to two times a week."
Hearing this saddened Yasuo, but he fully understood Nari's reasoning. Yasuo wasn't sad for long however, as he thought about all the things the academy had to offer, which was way more than just the augmented reality. Yasuo himself wanted to go to many classes to broaden his horizons and train by himself to obtain the achievements he had found in the library, which he had almost forgotten about.
With a determined look in his eyes, Yasuo answered Nari. "Okay, we will meet again on Monday, in six days, so that we have enough free time in the first week of school. But don't complain if I get stronger in that time."
Nari took this jokingly, but Yasuo was very serious about this.
With a bunch of new achievements lined up, he was on track to not only get a significant boost in stats, but if things went the right way, he would even be able to get a new skill or two.