As he was sipping on the spicy laksa soup, Flynn's watch vibrated. "You didn't forget today's date, did you?" a text message popped up. It was Sherry, reminding Flynn, who definitely forgot. "How could I forget, I've been waiting for today for so long," he texted back, lying through his teeth. The afternoon classes passed like a breeze, Flynn not really paying much attention. He felt kind of useless during the test. Sure, he was able to hold his ground against one or two indigo dummies, but his spells couldn't take them down as easy as Drew or Brian.
"Perhaps what I need is a Medium," thought Flynn, thinking about where he could get a weapon. Mana Media differed greatly in price, if he wanted something that could really amplify his attack, it definitely required a hefty price. The most important part was that Flynn wasn't really that good with weapons. His hand eye coordination wasn't as good as some other mages, and he never really learned the basics of weaponry.
There was only one person in his class which owns a decent Mana Medium, Ben. Ben's family is quite wealthy, he always wore new clothes to school everyday. And from what Flynn had heard, Ben's group managed to get a pretty good score thanks to Ben's Medium. As the bell rang, Flynn walked towards Ben, who sitting at his desk, browsing the internet for things he wanted to buy. "Ben, how much does your Medium cost?" Flynn asked straightforwardly. Ben, who was a pretty nice guy, looked up and thought for a while. "Depends on which one," Ben said, as he fumbled for his media. "You have more than one?" Flynn thought, almost choking on his own saliva. Taking out three disks, Ben laid them on the table.
"This blaster costs about fifty low grade mana crystals, the plasma cutter around seventy, and the mana barrier costs about a hundred and fifty," Ben said nonchalantly. Flynn's eyes almost popped out hearing the price. Last time he checked, low grade mana crystals weren't that common. If Flynn converted all his money that he currently has, it'll be equivalent to around one or two low grade mana crystals. His mother wasn't very likely to give him the money required to buy a Medium since she didn't think that it was essential, and his father wasn't someone who would give him money. After getting a rough estimate of the prices of Media if he ever wanted to get one, he basically gave up on the idea.
"I'll be there in about five minutes," a text popped up on Flynn's holophone. "Oh lord, I totally forgot about that," Flynn thought, instantly scrambling to pack his stuff. Sweeping the stuff on his desk right into his bag, he quickly headed towards the stairs. In about five minutes, he managed to rush to the front gates of the school right on time. "It's been a while, I know you definitely missed me," Flynn said, as he saw Sherry walking towards him. She was wearing her school's uniform, her hair tied up in a ponytail. "You really had to ruin the moment with your stupid remarks," Sherry replied, rolling her eyes. Flynn embraced Sherry, savoring the moment. It really has been quite a while since they last seen each other since they were both caught up in their own stuff. Sherry's mom also wasn't someone who liked Flynn, since Sherry and Flynn were always chatting around midnight. Her mom also thought that Flynn was a bad influence on her daughter, lazy and arrogant.
"Where do you want to go?" Flynn asked, not really having a destination in mind. "I want ice cream," she said, smiling. Thinking for a second, a certain shop came to mind. "Sure, I know a place that has some pretty good Gelato," Flynn said, entering the store's name into his holophone. "Let's go," Flynn said, leading Sherry. On the way there, Flynn became an emotion dumpster for Sherry. She began to complain about her school life like most teenage girls of her age. Flynn tuned out a bit since he knew that Sherry just wanted someone that listened.
"Are you listening to me?" Sherry asked, instantly dragging Flynn out of his imagination. "Of course," Flynn replied, since that was the only answer for the question. "What was the last thing I said?" Sherry asked, not believing a single word coming out from Flynn's mouth. "You asked if I was listening," Flynn replied. "Don't play your stupid tricks, you know what I mean," Sherry said, rolling her eyes at Flynn's answer. "We are almost there," Flynn said, trying to change the topic. "Don't try to find a way out," Sherry said, tugging on Flynn's sleeve. "Um..... what flavor would you like?" Flynn ask, trying to sidetrack the conversation. Pinching Flynn on the hand quite hard, Sherry humphed.
"I knew you weren't listening to me. Don't you dare cast anesthesia on yourself," Sherry said, knowing all of Flynn's countermeasures. "I'll pay attention next time," Flynn guaranteed Sherry in a genuine tone. "Is this the first day I've known you?" Sherry said with a grin, pinching even harder. Though it actually didn't hurt that much, Flynn acted as if was causing him immense pain. After she was satisfied, Sherry finally let go of Flynn. She hummed a light tune, her mood better than ever. "This is abuse!" Flynn thought, although he didn't dare to say a single word. He was familiar with Sherry's wrath, and that wasn't something he wanted to experience again.
The Gelato shop had a upbeat atmosphere to it, and the creamy smell of the Gelato made Flynn's mouth water. "I'll have a scoop of rum raisin and a scoop of chocolate," Flynn said, always ordering the same thing since he was a child. Standing in front of the glass case, Sherry was taking her time. Flynn stood their silently, mustering all his willpower to stop the urge of making a sarcastic remark. "I'll have one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of vanilla," Sherry said, finally making up her mind. Nothing much happened, they casually chatted about their school life. And by chatting, it means that Flynn was just listening to Sherry talk about the tiniest things that happened to her. "Why aren't you saying anything?" Sherry asked, staring at Flynn. "Your stories were too exciting, I was caught up in your astonishing life," Flynn replied sarcastically. "Why do I sense a sarcastic innuendo behind your words," Sherry asked, preparing to pinch Flynn again. "I wouldn't dare," Flynn promptly replied. If Flynn's classmates saw him like this, they would definitely be in shock. The haughty Flynn was acting like a child being scolded, not daring to even resist? Where did the person who even dared to make snarky remarks at officers go?
Paying for the dessert, Flynn checked the time. There was still an hour to kill. "There is a park nearby, want to go for a walk?" Flynn asked. "Sure," Sherry replied, since she stilled had lots of things she wanted to say. The sun was setting, the sky being dyed red. The yellow street lamps turned on, giving the park a warm feeling. The park was empty, only the trees and flowers accompanied Flynn and Sherry. "Squirrels!" Sherry said, as she ran off, trying to chase the tiny rodent. "Be careful," Flynn said, since this part of the city wasn't that safe. He wasn't that worried since nothing could really hurt mages. He followed behind Sherry, easily keeping up since she was not that powerful in terms of physical strength. Pulling out a tiny silver whistle, Sherry began to cast a spell. Music magic was quite special, since rather than chanting, they required the Music mage to play a certain tune. Even Flynn, who had decent mental fortitude, was affected by the spell. He could feel his control over his body gradually weaken, slowly turning numb. Forcefully clearing his mind, he shook off the drowsiness. The squirrel however, was not so fortunate. It stood there, as its pupils dilated.
But before Sherry could approach the immobile squirrel, Flynn suddenly sense the surrounding mana fluctuate. "Get back!" Flynn yelled, rushing fowards. Sherry froze in shock, not knowing what to do. A large fireball exploded, knocking Flynn and Sherry back. Taking most of the force, Flynn's clothes were completely burned. Although Sherry was in range, Flynn had blocked most of the damage, resulting in only some burned skin. "Well done," a voice said, as a figure appeared from behind the tree. "Get back and alert the authorities right away," Flynn said, helping Sherry up. Sliding on his Mithril ring, Flynn empowered his whole body with mana. His could sense a rough level of his opponent. Although he was much powerful than Flynn, Flynn believed that he could hold him back for a couple of minutes. "Why are you attacking us?" Flynn asked, trying to stall. "You'll get the answer when you end up in hell," the man said, cackling as he launched another fireball at Flynn.