"Ergh."
A groan escaped his mouth while he held his throbbing head. He could feel a touch on his forehead before he cracked open his eyes a little. A blurred image of black and red was seen.
"Do you hear me, Michael?"
He closed and opened his eyes again to make his vision much clearer.
"Sora."
Sora helped him sit up.
"How are you feeling?"
"Like a shit."
Sora's mouth twitched upward.
"You're in good shape, then."
Sora sat at the edge of the bed.
"So, do you remember what happened?"
Michael closed his eyes for a bit and tilted his head upward with a frown decorating his handsome face. The colour red came to mind before he opened his eyes again.
"I vomited blood and fainted after I drank those weird liquids you gave me."
"At least you didn't have amnesia again. Here, drink this."
He grabbed the glass of water from Sora.
"And those weird liquids have saved you."
Michael gave back the glass before he touched his skin and inspected it all over his body. Clean and smooth.
"Incredible. The fantasy world is amazing."
Sora smirked at the awed expression from Michael. His body was completely healed; not even a scar was left behind. His body seemed new like he had undergone a moulting process.
"Anyway, I do have a question."
"What is it? Ask anything. Perhaps you want to know how I make those liquids? I could tell you the details of when you ended up in this situation again, which I hope you're not. Or do you want to know where that vampire is?"
Sora sounded excited when he said those, but his voice completely changed into a dull one when he uttered the last sentence.
"None of those. Why couldn't you give me something to wear?"
Sora looked below at the exposed skin of Michael.
"You have the shorts, and don't you already get used to being half-naked?"
'What did he take me for?'
"There are no bandages on me anymore; a shirt would be much appreciated."
Sora scratched his head before agreeing to fetch his shirt upstairs. Right after a minute, Sora disappeared from his view, he could hear loud and urgent footsteps walking down the stairs before someone he knew emerged from the opened door.
Leviathan, with a spoon in his hand, looked at him with wide eyes.
"Michaelis!"
The vampire snake launched himself at him.
×××××
He pulled out a shirt from the cabinet; it's not like he has many shirts to begin with. Something clean to give Michael is enough.
< LOADING... >
Sora halted his movement when he saw that. What is this now?
< NEW MISSION INCOMING >
A dreadful feeling instantly came over him.
"Tsk, could you let me rest for a week?
_ N O _
He clicked his tongue again. He had just completed the task two days ago, but he needed to do a new one now? The rewards he received were not even enough, considering he needed to use his three years to create those elixirs.
He should have received at least a new sword or 1 billion coins. That should be what he earns from this long-term task. The system is stingy.
He just received the three elixirs he made for Michael. An elixir that could heal a wound from an aura. Where should he use that now? Why not have the system give him those elixirs from the start? He already knew the ingredients to make a new one, so it was not a worry anymore.
Maybe he could sell it; people who can use aura would surely swarm to get this incredible item. Yes, sell it at an auction! He would get money real quick!
Maybe he would give one of the elixirs to Michael to keep for himself. Who knows, he might be attacked by an aura user again. He should have warned Michael about these people when Michael decided to find his origins in this world later.
Leviathan won't be telling him anything about Michael. That vampire snake is also stingy.
What if Michael decided to follow Leviathan later? A sense of protectiveness emerged within him. No, he can't let Leviathan travel alone with Michael. As a fellow world traveller who has more experience, he needed to make sure Michael was handed to a safe hand or just stick with him; the latter is better.
"If you want me to do the next task, hand over one million."
He jolted after the sudden electricity.
"Stingy! I just said one million, not a billion!"
_ P I G _
Sora rolled his eyes.
< INCOMING REWARDS >
< ONE MILLION COINS HAVE BEEN ADDED >
"You should do that from the beginning. So, what is the task?"
< MISSION 1111 >
Sora widened his eyes after he read the task.
"What? No, why?"
_ NO COMPLAINING _
"Five months? Now, I am certain that you have a horrible idea for our future."
×××××
"Young Master Rezal."
The pink-haired teenager turned around towards the one calling for him.
"Oh, Lady Rubiena. It has been so long."
"Indeed, it is. You have been busy, I suppose."
Rezal rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.
"Not really. Considering that next year will be our last year, our work has become abundant."
"Our time has been occupied with assignments and tasks lately. Should we sit somewhere and have a talk? I do have some queries to ask you."
"Then, how about at the gazebo?"
"That will do too."
Rezal and the girl, Rubiena, walked side by side towards the mentioned gazebo. Rubiena's shoulder-length hair, whose colour corresponded to her name, was swayed by the wind with each of her footsteps.
They each took a seat facing each other under the gazebo. The roof of the gazebo gave them protection from the sun high in the sky.
"Without beating around the bush, I want to ask you about the commission that was given by Professor Victor. I was not notified about this due to my absence from his class three days ago. However, I got to know that we had been paired up as a group for this commission."
Rezal understood that after he heard that because he totally forgot about it.
"Yes, that's true. Please accept my apology that I had forgotten the commission and to inform you further about this matter."
Rezal bowed his head a little.
"You don't need to apologize over something like this. We have given a long due date to finish this commission anyway. Please rest assured."
Rubiena reassured him, and Rezal let out a relieved sigh.
"Then, would you want to discuss further about the commission now? I do have some time now; it would be hard for us to meet often after this."
"If it was not a burden to you, we could gather what topic we would want to present later. After that, we could split up our task."
Rezal nodded, agreeing with the suggestion. The two teenagers began to discuss the topic of their commission and what they wanted to do before they split their tasks between each other. They would pile up their tasks into one when they met next time.
"That would be all."
"Yes, you are good at handling this. I was fortunate to be paired up with you."
"You flaunt me too much, Young Master."
"It is not when it is the truth. Besides, we have known for a long time; shouldn't you drop the title already, Rubiena?"
Rubiena rolled her eyes. Rezal's lips twitched slightly at her reaction. This classmate of his sure knew how to act elegant as a noble lady and nonchalant when she wanted to. Knowing her since their first year, he would always pressure her into dropping the title when calling him, but this girl was too stubborn to the core.
"Knowing for a long time was not a ticket for me to be rude to you."
"It's not rude when I am the one who permitted you to call my name. You are too firm."
"I will take that as a compliment, Young Master."
Rezal clicked his tongue, while Rubiena chuckled slowly.
"We should go now; students have begun to notice your presence here."
Rezal looked around, and it was true that some students were glancing in their direction. Mostly the juniors, but there are also some seniors. Rezal sighed in exasperation.
"Well, let's leave now. Life in the academy was truly exhausting."
"I second that."
"Want me to escort you back?"
"And create another rumour about us being together? No, thank you."
Rezal snorted, leaving his noble-like attitude behind.
"Suit yourself. Goodbye."
"Have a good day, Young Master Rezal."
Rezal just waved his hand without looking back at her and continued walking.
"Maya!"
Rezal stopped walking when he heard that name. His head quickly scanned his surroundings and stopped at a girl with strawberry-blond hair.
His eyes widened slightly when his mind processed something in his memory that was long ago. The conversation he has with his friend before he enters the academy, is about a friend Michaelis managed to make when they were having their punishment for sneaking out.
He had forgotten about this because he was preoccupied with something more important. But then, when he heard the name again, he remembered his friend.
"You will always become a part of me, don't you, Micha?"
Maybe he will befriend her, just like he said to Michaelis before. Michaelis would be happy if he knew both of his friends had befriended each other, right?
Nah, that boy would be annoyed.