"…and you'll also apply what we've learned today. For anyone interested in practicing by themselves, meet me at my office and I'll give you a letter of permission for using the necessary equipment at our medical facility. Okay then, class dismissed. See you next week, everyone."
As the Wilderness Survival 1 class ended, the students started packing up before leaving the classroom.
At the desk in the front row, a figure can be seen leaning back on his chair instead of leaving like the other students.
"Are you okay, Drai?" Christo asked as he arrived at Drai's desk with Jian.
"Yeah, I'll feel better after a few minutes…" Drai said weakly. He was grimacing and massaging his head with both hands.
Christo and Jian looked at each other helplessly. They had seen how Drai was looking down after his classes on Monday, but seeing his exhausted figure right after the class ended was something else. They had never thought that their abnormally strong friend could appear this weak.
As they were waiting for Drai to recover, Christo and Jian suddenly looked alerted and checked their comms simultaneously, following which the two looked at each other with a hint of excitement.
Christo then turned to Drai and said, "Here's some good news to cheer you up, Drai."
"Good news?" Drai asked as he stopped kneading his head.
"The first gathering is tonight."
"First gathering? VV?"
"Yeah, we just got a message from them. You should've gotten it too," Jian chimed in.
Drai immediately straightened his body and checked his comm.
"Yeah, I got it too. It says here that the gathering will be at VV's headquarters. Do you guys know where it is?"
Jian shook his head, whereas Christo said, "I know. I've memorized the campus map. It should be at the Sexy."
"Sexy?" Drai and Jian both asked.
"Well, it's actually the Student Activity Group Central or SAG-C in short. But everyone here refers to it as Sexy. I guess it's the same case as VV; it's just easier to say," Christo explained.
"So are we going there together?" Jian asked.
"Sure. After all, both of you probably have never looked up the campus map even once, right?" Christo teasingly said.
Hearing this, Drai and Jian scratched their head and embarrassedly smiled. Just like usual, Christo's guess was right on spot.
"Since there's still a few hours until the gathering time, how about we meet at the dorm later and go together from there?" Christo suggested.
"Sure. I was actually planning to meet a friend tonight, but I'll have to move it up because of the gathering, so I need to get going. See you guys later," Jian said before quickly leaving.
Watching Jian leave in a hurry, Drai remarked, "Is it just me or was he looking a bit frantic there?"
"I think so too," Christo said with an amused smile.
"Maybe he's afraid that his friend will get upset," Drai said shruggingly.
"Let's hope not. It will be more interesting that way. So, do you have any plans for this afternoon, Drai?"
"Not really. If I could use the training ground, I'd probably just train."
"Well, there's somewhere I want to go. You can join me if you want," Christo offered.
"Sure. Where are we going?" Drai asked.
"The Central Library."
"Library!? Ugh… No thanks. I guess I'll pass then," Drai said, feeling slightly nauseous as he pictured countless books full of difficult words piling on him like a hill.
Hearing this, Christo chuckled. "I knew you'd pass but not this decisively. It didn't even take you one second to refuse."
"I don't think I can handle anymore studying today…" Drai wryly said.
"Well, I hope you can find something fun to kill time. I think resting at the dorm isn't bad either. Anyway, see you later, Drai," Christo said before leaving.
After Christo left, Drai stood up and exited the classroom. He walked aimlessly for a bit and eventually sat down on a bench.
'What am I supposed to do now? Should I just go home and rest? But I don't really want to go back yet. Wait, maybe Auri's free…'
Drai immediately messaged Auri through his comm. Not long after, she replied.
< I'm not really free right now but you can come here if you want.>
Seeing Auri's reply, Drai smiled bitterly.
Closing the chat window, Drai contemplated briefly before sending another message.
It took several minutes before Natalia finally replied.
Seeing Natalia's curt reply, Drai could only smile helplessly.
'Natalia's been really nice to me, so waiting a bit for her isn't that big of a deal. I just hope we won't be late for the gathering,' Drai thought before replying.
Drai then closed his comm's interface and looked at the reddish afternoon sky.
'Everyone's busy studying or doing assignments. Should I try studying too?'
Recalling today's lessons, which mainly consists of the biology and ecology of numerous plants and animals, Drai felt his head throbbing. He tried focusing on the clouds above to distract him from the difficult terminologies used during the lessons.
'I guess not,' Drai thought, feeling his headache go away as soon as he stopped thinking of today's lessons.
Drai looked at the sky in resignation as he prepared to head back to the dorm. Yet, at this moment he saw a tiny object; it was a hover car that was flying in the distance. Seeing the hover car, Drai was reminded of his journey to the academy.
'I wonder how Uncle Jack's doing…'
Drai recalled the first time he met Jack at the skies above the Expo Center. He remembered how Ravi had to lift his whole family into the car.
Upon thinking about the professor, Drai suddenly had a realization.
'Oh right! Why don't I visit Professor Ravi instead? Didn't he invite me a couple days ago?'
Following this, Drai immediately messaged Ravi, saying that he would like to visit him.
'I hope he's free and not studying or something…'
Shortly after, Drai's comm vibrated. Seeing that Ravi was calling him, Drai hurriedly picked up the call and Ravi's slightly disheveled face appeared on the interface.
"Drai Boy! I'm glad that you finally decided to visit me. I've been itching to start our project, you know?"
"Hello, Professor. How are you?"
"I'm fine, just feeling a bit tired from work. This time of year is always the busiest. Anyway, when will you be coming?"
"Is right now okay?"
"Now? Sure! Send me your location so I can get Jack to pick you up. Sorry I can't go there myself, as I need to finish up my work and prepare some stuff."
"Ah, you don't have to trouble Uncle Jack, Professor. I can go there by myself," Drai hurriedly refused the offer.
"You're a good kid, Drai, but it's fine. I'm sure Jack will enjoy this short respite after being cooped up here all day long. Now send me your location, Boy."
Due to Ravi's insistence, Drai could only accept the service and promptly sent his current location.
"Great. Now just wait a little bit and Jack will be there in no time. Now I need to go, Drai. Take care on the way here."
"Okay. Thank you, Professor."
After the call was over, Drai sat there quietly. Several students passed by, but Drai didn't recognize any of them. After all, Drai was currently at the area where most elective classes were held, which meant that most of the students passing by weren't from his faculty.
While he was waiting, Drai decided to check out his stats and SP but saw that they hadn't changed.
'I wonder when I'll be able to obtain this Colossal Augmentation skill. I just need six more SP. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I only gained one SP when I leveled up before. Does it mean that I need to level up six more times before I can get the skill? If only I could sacrifice my EXP for SP, maybe I can get it sooner. But Professor Paul said that such a thing is impossible. I guess I just have to bear with having no active skills for now.'
While Drai was caught in thoughts, a figure approached him silently.
"Yo," the figure said.
"Oh, Uncle Jack! You're here already?" Drai blurted in surprise.
"It's only a short trip if you travel by a vehicle. Now let's get going," Jack gestured as he turned around and headed to the nearby road. Drai immediately rose and followed him.
Shortly after, the two stopped next to a lamp post at the sidewalk. There, Drai could see an object that was presumably their ride.
"A tandem bike? Are we going to the Professor's place on this, Uncle Jack?"
"Yeah. I recommended this to Professor Ravi quite a while ago, since I figured that he could use some exercise. Since then, we usually travel around the campus riding this. His legs are too weak though, so half the time I'm the one doing all the pedaling," Jack explained as he unlocked the magnetic bike lock. He then moved the bike to the road and sat on the front saddle.
"Hop on," Jack said, gesturing at the back saddle. Drai nodded and took a seat, feeling somewhat nostalgic, since he used to ride his bike to train back in Pontia.
"Ready?" Jack asked.
"Yeah."
"Let's go. Don't pedal too hard."
Following which, the two pedaled and the bike accelerated slowly, moving down the road toward a direction that Drai had never been to.
Jack wasn't really a talkative person, so they pedaled in silence. Although Drai had spent a few hours in the hover car with Jack on the way to the academy, he couldn't help but feel a bit awkward, since his face was almost touching Jack's back. It didn't help that they weren't talking at all.
Thinking of a way to escape this awkwardness, Drai suddenly had an idea.
As Jack was enjoying the wind, he suddenly heard a crunch and felt a strong tug before falling down sideways along with the bike. Luckily, they weren't speeding and Jack's physical stats were not too low, so he wasn't hurt by the fall.
Jack, whose clothes were a bit tattered, quickly stood up and looked at the scene. He was stunned to see that the back part of the bike was half crushed. The back saddle was flattened and embedded into the frame of the bike along with its supporting structure.
Jack turned toward the likely preparator who was currently standing near the bike, looking at his feet with an obvious expression of guilt.
"Can you tell me what in the world happened here?" Jack asked, still looking dumbfounded.
"I-I… I…"
Seeing that Drai looked too anxious to speak clearly, Jack shook off his shock and said, "It's okay, Drai. Nobody's hurt and I'm sure Professor Ravi won't mind if he loses his bike. I just want to know what the hell happened here."
Drai looked at Jack sheepishly and steeled his heart before confessing.
"I was trying to train my balls…"
At this moment, if someone were to pass by, they would see a man standing frozen with his mouth agape and his bulging eyes glued to the crotch of a young man who was scratching his head, ruefully smiling.
***