Chapter 18 - The Pain

I stiffened while staring at the menu book in front of me. All the food names look foreign to me and the price for one portion of food is equal to my food costs for one month.

In my previous life or should I say before I regress, just to keep myself alive I had to do tons of odd jobs so I could eat

"I want to order one chicken perry-perry," she said to the waiter in a neat suit standing next to her. She put down her menu book on the table and looked at me.

"What do you want to order?"

"My order is the same as yours," I said confidently. Although actually, I have no idea what Chicken perry-perry is.

The waiter put our order on the tablet computer in his hand.

"Also give us some wine," she added.

The waiter tidied up the menu book on our table. "I'll deliver your order soon." Then he lowered his head and left.

I looked at the elegdecorationstion around me. Paintings and some antiques adorn the room. The entire table is neatly arranged with fresh flowers and a candle. Smooth carpeted floors and classic music filled the room. This is my first time entering a fancy restaurant. Even when my father was alive we never entered a place like this.

'If I knew I would eat in a fancy place like this I should have brought better clothes.'

Even all the waiters are wearing suits tare hat better than my jacket.

"A mam-"

"Just call me Camelia, hearing mam feels like I'm old."

But you are old, she is old enough that I can call her aunt but because of her sexy body she felt like she was in her mid-thirties.

"Camelia, about my payment," I said to her, I started to feel embarrassed when I said the 'payment'.

I finally lost my virginity, but the way I lost it feels wrong somehow.

"Oh, yeah, here take it," she said as she picked up one thousand dollars like pocket change but for me, it was more than some pocket change.

I took the money from Camlia and felt the weight behind them.

I had to work like crazy for three months before I could get this amount of money but now I just earned this much from my first day at job.

"How old are you Kevin?" she asked after I placed money in my jeans pocket.

"Ah, I'm Eighteen years old," I answered her. To tell you the truth I also want to know about her age. Despite what I said earlier she is old enough to be my aunt, there is not any sign on her face that she is that much old.

I cleared my throat. "Camila, forgive my impudence. How old are you?"

She gave me a teasing smile.

"Guess it."

I observed her face for a moment. Her face looks beautiful even though she is only wearing thin makeup. Her skin looks smooth and her hair is well-groomed.

"Maybe 25 or 26 I guess?"

She chuckled.

"Do I look that young? I'm already 35 years old."

'It turns out to be true, that number is age.'

A waiter pushed a small cart over to us and placed our order on the table. He opened our food cloches. A well-made dish appeared in front of me, its fragrant smell tickling my nose, and stimulating my appetite.

"Please enjoy," said the waiter.

"We will continue chatting later," she said.

I nodded to answer her.

***

1 a.m.

Back at my temporary residence, I sat on the bed, looking up at the night sky outside the window.

"There's nothing to do."

The seniors, including Emma's gang, would be incredibly busy fulfilling magic training and physical training curriculums at famous dojos or academies.

There must be quite a few who have already completed their 'Mana Body'.

They can freely use 'Mana formulas' as they please.

Not me.

Whether they're talented or not, everyone eventually awakens their 'Mans Body', but I can't even manage that.

It's not because of my brain tumour cancer, after all, I have cancer in my brain, not in my mana core.

Firstly, I lacked talent in magic, and I was terrible at studying.

To realize mana formulas, one must necessarily learn the discipline of 'Mana', but I'm practically magic illiterate.

If I hadn't cheated with a 「Journal」, I would have been expelled a long time ago.

Anyway, my priority is gathering money at the current moment, I need around 100k dollars so I can get my treatment for a brain tumour.

I just have one thousand dollars in my pocket and half of it will be gone for my admission fees since I only paid half of it.

"Aggh."

Suddenly my head started to throb, I felt sudden dizziness hit me.

The world around me seemed to sway, its edges blurring as if reality itself were warping. My vision became a distorted kaleidoscope of colours, and I struggled to maintain my balance.

The effects of the brain tumour had caught up with me, an unwelcome intrusion into the fragile stability I tried so hard to maintain. My surroundings became a disorienting dance of shadows and lights, each step I took felt like a precarious venture into an uncertain abyss.

I pressed a hand against my temple as if physically trying to push away the pain, but it only intensified. The relentless ache in my head seemed to echo the tumultuous thoughts swirling within. Nausea crept in, a bitter companion to the throbbing pain, threatening to overwhelm my senses.

"Fuck." I curse loudly from the pain. It's very painful.

Unable to withstand the assault on my senses any longer, I staggered towards my bed. The room spun as I collapsed onto the mattress, losing consciousness to the merciless grip of the brain tumour. In the hazy descent into darkness, the line between wakefulness and dreams blurred, and I succumbed to the silent surrender of unconsciousness.