"Liam," Michael said from his bed. "Is there a way to look up your current level?"
"Are you pulling my leg?" Liam said.
"No," Michael said, making a soothing gesture with his hand. "I really don't know if it is possible or not."
Liam looked at with an expression that made Michael want to dig a hole and hide inside it with embarrassment. But his friend did not comment on his lack of knowledge. Michael blessed him for that, he wouldn't have faced uncomfortable questions—questions he wasn't ready to answer yet.
"If you want to summon your status. Simply focus on your Nexus. As long as you want it to happen, it will. Remember, intent is always the key."
Michael tried summoning his status as Liam told him, focusing on the golden earrings that hung on both his ears. He had two Nexuses, one for his [High Practitioner] class, another for his [Hunter] class.
A window, like on a computer screen, popped out in front of him. Tentatively, Michael reached with one finger to touch the window that hovered before his eyes. But his finger passed right through it.
"This is so weird," Michael said. It did not surprise him, not after everything he had seen or learned of this world. But the experience was surreal.
"Liam, can you see this," he said, waving his hand as if he could grab hold of the screen that had no substance.
Liam shook his head. "No one can see someone else's status. Not unless they have a tool or a skill for appraisals."
So it was like an augmented reality only he could experience.
Michael made to summon his Status, but a knock at the door stopped him. A boy no older than ten came into the room before Michal or Liam could answer the knock. The boy left two bowls of steaming vegetable broth and scuttled away without saying a word.
The sight of the food made his mouth water and stomach grumble. Michael dismissed the Status Window, it could wait. He was so hungry!
He swallowed the first mouthful, delighting in the blend of spices. Liam left his own broth untouched.
Now that Michael thought of it, he had rarely seen Liam eat anything with vegetables in it—that was not a potato.
"Mm … This is good. This is really good. You should try some, Liam."
His friend grimaced, but took his own bowl of broth. And his grimace deepened when he swallowed the first spoonful.
It seemed his friend did not like vegetables.
Abruptly, the woman who had brought the summons from the Castra before, poked her head through the door once more.
"What is it?" Liam said."Mistress Castra says she will come and visit you after about an hour."
Liam folded his hands. "Is that all?"
"Yes, that is all," the woman said. "She was very kind to me when she spoke to me. I had not thought a Great Mage would be so … that is… She wasn't what I expected is all. Not what I expected, indeed."
"People are rarely what you expect them to be."
"Perhaps you're right, Liam," She said. "Perhaps you are right."
She left muttering about people and expectations.
During Liam's conversation with the woman he had no name for, Michael had finished his broth. Now, he hungrily eyed the bowl Liam was holding like a vulture would its prey.
Liam did not like vegetables, so perhaps…
"Are you going to eat that?"
"You can have it," Liam said, thrusting the bowl at him.
Michael gobbled up the second bowl of broth just as fast. It was a wonder he didn't burp. The broth was not as good as his mother's cooking. He did not believe anything could be better than his mother's cooking, but the broth was still good.
Mother, are you worried sick about me? Searching for me in vain?
Michael shook himself out of that train of thought. Thinking about his mother would do him no good.
As they waited for the Great Mage to arrive, Michael and Liam made small talks. About things they liked and did not, about what they liked in a girl. Silly talks. Mostly to distract himself from the thoughts of his mother that kept creeping in his mind.
As their conversation continued, Michael remembered the list of names Liam had read to him. He found something wasn't right about that list, now that he thought of it.
The list only named the injured. What about the dead?
"Liam," Michael said, gesturing to the board with the name list. "You told me the names of the injured, but what about the dead? How many of us died?"
Michael dreaded the answer. He thought Liam had purposefully left out the death toll to spare him the pain of loss.
Liam leaned against the wall of the room, eyeing the board with the name list. "That's the oddest thing, Michael. There were no casualties."
Michael blinked. How could there be no casualties? They were fighting against so many giant cockroaches. People always died in such conflicts.
Michael knew he should be glad that no one had died. Even a single death was one too many if you asked him. However, it was not the fact that everyone had survived that pickled his skin—but the how of it.
The Great Mage, Michael thought. She was the only explanation. She must have protected the villagers during the battle. But if so, why not help the villagers openly instead of hiding in the shadows? What was she after?Michael said as much to Liam.
"Maybe she simply does not want to be in the spotlight, people following her about like a crazed maniac."
"Maybe you are right," Michael said. "But I doubt it. Besides, if you and I came to this conclusion, others must have as well. In a few hours, everyone in the village will probably know that they won't have to bury their relatives because of her."
Liam frowned. "I did not think of that. Why would she not help us outright, then?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Michael said.
Liam snorted. "That was a rhetorical question."
"Be that as it may," Michael began. "But I think we should—"
Before he could finish speaking, the door opened without a knock. A woman sauntered into the room. The way she held herself with the air of arrogance and authority hovering around her, she could only be the [Great Mage].
What did she want with them?
"It is good to see both of you," she said. "Ever since I learned of you. I had longed to meet both of you."
"We have much to discuss," Castra said with a smile that sent a chill running down his spine.
Michael got the feeling that this woman was dangerous. Far more dangerous than he could ever imagine.