Leaving the enduring class which has been upgraded to footwork training class, Luvi took a light shower and then waited outside of the sparring room. Teacher Bhuvesh and his cronies have stopped bullying him too much since he ascended to white star rank himself.
Though when the White star ranks had become overabundant, their snide remarks started once again. Because, it just so happens, Luvi was really bad at footwork. His giant body was holding him back and limiting him by a lot.
But that was all trivialities and childish bullying that could be ignored for now. And besides, since last night, his mind had been occupied with something else entirely.
'Are the drones here?' He asked absolutely no one, while looking up into the air. There was fear in his heart. He feared that he had been found out by someone other than FIX. And no matter how harmless Miriam looked, the chance of her being a spy was not so bizarre.
And even if she wasn't, there was a high chance that she sold him out to someone else and was waiting to reap the benefits. Hence, all she needed was a confirmation.
"Teacher Daarun, I would request for a break." Luvi's mind was occupied and considering the history Daarun had with him, he chose to give Luvi a break off the record.
Because, even though Luvi was not one of the outstanding students, he was still a hardworking one. But majority of faculties didn't believe in him one bit, so it is rare they would approve any break for him when he asks for it.
That is where Daarun comes out and he helps him when the moment calls for it.
So Luvi left, intending to take a small break under the shade of a tree.
But he was no fool, closing his eyes, he senses his surroundings. His enhanced senses born out of the feline senses skill was a lot more useful than it appeared at the beginning. Although Luvi needed to manually activate it while using up his mana, the sensing ability it provided gave Luvi complete control of his surroundings and made him aware if there are any suspicious people eyeing him.
Just like the day Miriam had been doing not so long ago.
"No one."
Opening his phone, Luvi entered his ID and connected to the message group.
DreamMachine: I would like to debate about the pricing structure of techniques. As you already know, the practice realms are divided into novice, adept and master techniques. With each of them also having a difference in quality, which can be further divided into primary, intermediate and advanced levels of quality.
When compared to the hunters, Novice were the techniques that helped one reach till Blue star rank.
Adept was for purple star, while master was for gold star rank.
And each of them had multiple techniques of varying qualities. Luvi wished to know how the pricing structure would work in this case.
But in truth, this was all an excuse from him. The pricing had already been formed through the help of FIX, once again.
As FIX is the only one that truly knows the real value of materials in Luvi's hand.
The real reason he originally created this meeting was for one simple reason.
Seeker: I think it's wrong to ask extra for life saving methods. Isn't the whole goal to strengthen humanity?
Impala: Making the life saving methods 40% more expensive than their contemporaries should earn us some extra profit. And besides, the majority might not even buy them unless they learn it's something precious.
The discussion was on and his minions were putting forward their own opinion. But Luvi didn't say much, his eyes were on the seeker.
No, it's better to call her by her real name, Miriam. And with FIX's confirmation, he didn't treat her any different.
At this point, Luvi received a message from FIX.
FIX: Don't be distracted, I will assure you. Miriam is not aware of your identity. Nor has she been a replacement. It's the real Miriam. I have confirmed it… I am also already in your city.
Lack of participation of Luvi in the discussion was significant enough that Luvi was not of sound mind on the surface.
DreamMachine: Don't you find it weird? From all the capable guys, she chose me. To the world, I am just a weak guy with a scarred face and a disgusting one at that. So why would she approach me?
These self deprecating words that escaped from Luvi's mouth exposed some of his low self esteem for a bit. But he soon calmed down and wrote.
DreamMachine: Just watch my back, I will check on my own whether she really knows or not.
With those words, Luvi started to plan his next step.
There was one thing he hated more than watching a couple act lovey dovey in front of him, and it was when someone tries to manipulate him instead, treating him like a simpleton.
Throughout his life, he hasn't left anyone that treated him that way, go unscathed.
And the same will be true for Miriam, if he found out that she might be aware of his identity.
"But first, I should change my mental makeup, she might find something through her ability if I remain so guarded against her."
Luvi punched his face, to recover his cool, forgetting that his fist were a lot stronger than before.
"Oooh fuck… I forgo..h"
"I phink, I mighf have brokenf my toofth!"
Putting his finger into his mouth, Luvi pulled out his teeth after some effort, before fixing his jaw as well as spitting some blood.
"Fuck, you never get used to the pain." The teeth in his hand were bigger than normal and it seemed to be growing still after leaving Luvi's mouth.
Which he was aware of.
This is how his teeth were, the moment they lose contact with him, they would use up all the mana stored in them and would grow for a bit, before turning normal.
"This is not how I wanted to change my mood." Putting the teeth into his pocket, Luvi shifted his attention to his gums, to the area where there was a tooth missing. And with some effort from Luvi's side, new teeth grew out of the hollowed gum.
Spitting once again and checking the size of the tooth by making some biting motions, Luvi increased its size a bit more, bringing its level to other teeth.
"Beside the swelling, nothing seems to be too bad." Luvi said after using the front camera of his phone as a mirror.
And although it looked a bit stupid, all of it was according to Luvi's plan, minus the teeth breaking part.
"I guess, it's time."
Seeing that the discussion was over and some valid points have been put forward by his minions. Luvi sent a message to Andy.
"Book me a slot in the ability sparring room 7, around 2pm."
There were a total of two kinds of sparring arena. The one where all abilities were unallowed, meaning the arena required in this was a lot smaller. Just like the one in which Andy and Adam fought before.
While there was another arena, used by the star students who only focused on finessing their control over their ability and hence they required a larger area to practice their combat styles.
Which is the place Luvi had chosen to spar with Miriam.
From what he knew about Miriam, Luvi moved to the sparring room one hour ahead of time after getting the confirmation from Andy.
Who was sparring with someone else in the second room not so far from Luvi.
But Luvi didn't care much for now, his mind was focused on catching Miriam by the throat, either making her squeal her plans or proving that she truly doesn't know who Luvi is.
And even if this ends up making her his enemy, Luvi didn't care.
He had too many enemies to even speak of, adding one more would just be a drop in an ocean. Not to mention, the importance of the Dungeon Entrance token was a lot lower than learning if Miriam knew who he was.
"She would start from there… Might use a fireball. I need her to…"
Multiple scenarios played out in Luvi's mind, being an avid watcher on dungeon hunts as well as certain habits untrained people would do while fighting for the first time.
So after proper planning, he went ahead and closed the security cameras in the room.
All the training halls have been outfitted with cameras for various purposes. Ignoring the security reasons, there were various students who used to watch their own fights so as to find any errors during their fight, which they can use to improve on later.
These videos can even be added to resumes while applying for a job at any hunter guild.
But for those that wished for privacy, they can easily close the cameras if they want to.
Which Luvi just did.
After which, he walked a few steps toward a certain part of the arena, and placed his broken tooth on it, which still had some blood on it.
"Preparations are done… Now it's time to change my mental state."
******