In one of the specialized dorms in the academy, a beautiful girl ran through a door with tears pouring out of her eyes.
"That Bruce..."
Natasha opened the door and locked it behind her. She clenched her soft hands tightly, remembering the man's eyes that were staring at her like she was some clueless idiot.
It was as if the man couldn't care less about her!
"Was it just a lie when you told me I was pretty?"
"How about when you helped me at that time when I slipped on the floor?"
"Or that time in the Grand Library where you helped me pick up the book that was too tall for me..."
Natasha recounted every significant moment in the past few weeks. She gritted her teeth, furious. The man had just played with her!
He was just like the man in the novel! How cruel and sadistic!
Evil!
Despite her, age, Natasha was someone that still dreamed of a prince in white-shining armor coming to her life.
She was homeschooled for most of her life and she only had her swords and books to keep herself entertained at home.
Reading the books in her home, she developed a fascination over the romance novels her mother kept in stock.
She especially loved reading those with very handsome male leads with a kind heart...
It was just a huge coincidence that Bruce had resembled a character in one of her favorite novels.
"Curse you!"
Natasha stomped her feet, wiping off the tears on her eyes. Her first love ended in a cruel rejection... how horrible.
Even if she didn't show it outwardly, she still had pride over her appearance and talent. She was confident that the man would like her back.
But... she didn't expect that she just going to get treated like a clueless idiot!
"Darn it..."
Natasha's voice was muffled. She went to her bed and laid there lifelessly, looking at the ceiling of her own room with a red face.
At that moment, a ringing sound resounded on the table beside her bed.
She looked at it and saw that it was her sister, Zyr calling her via holographic smart-technology. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to answer.
"Natasha here, sis."
[Oh cute sister! What took you so long from answering? I thought you hated me... ]
"No, it's nothing like that." Natasha replied, mildly annoyed. "I was just changing, yep, changing clothes."
[Is that so? Thank goodness... I wouldn't know what to do if you hated me...]
"Sis, get to the point. Why did you call me?" She was already feeling a headache over answering the call.
[Oh, alright. I just came back from the battlefield and found some rare souvenirs, I wanted to send them to you personally but unfortunately my teammates kidnapped me to go on a tril...]
"Really? Souvenirs?" Natasha pretended to be interested, dragging her body along the bed. "That sounds great!"
[Yes, dear little sister. I'll have the Cosmic Express send them to you, if they haven't sent it by now then tell me—]
Ding!
[—I'll go to their branch and ask for an explanation on why they dared to act so s—]
"Sis, it's alright, they're already here..." Natasha sighed. The Cosmic Express could deliver things in a matter of seconds, even if it's a planet's distance away.
[That's great... and also, who made you cry?]
[Requesting video chat. Y/N]
Hearing that, Natasha was stunned before she rose over her bed in panic. She panicked. Her sister hated it the most when she cried.
Even though she hated what Bruce did, it didn't mean she wanted him to, well... get beaten up to death by her sister.
After a few seconds, Natasha replied in a confused tone. "What do you mean, sis? I... I'm not crying, not at all."
[Requesting video chat. Y/N]
[Requesting video chat. Y/N]
[Requesting video chat. Y/N]
[Requesting vide....]
"Sis, I can't accept it right now! I'm uh, doing something important!"
[Tell me. Who made you cry?]
"I told you! No one!"
[Natasha, if you don't tell me righ—]
"It was father!" Natasha suddenly screamed. She covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. But she couldn't take it back now. "I, uh.. father got angry at me..."
[That damn old geezer! Just he waits when I return to the academy, I'll beat him to a pulp to show him he can't get angry at you!]
Without waiting for her to continue, Natasha turned the call off. She looked at the ceiling on her room as she covered her mouth.
"Uh oh..."
Thinking about her father being unjustly blamed by her sister, Natasha felt a massive headache erupt in her head.
"Darn it, it's that Bruce's fault..."
"I swear, if I ever face him in class, I'll have my revenge as I beat him to a pulp to the point he'll cry in regret over rejecting me...! I'm so angry!"
***
"Achoo!"
Bruce sneezed, feeling as though someone was talking about him behind his back. He looked all over his surroundings.
The library was silent.
"I guess someone must be praising me behind my back...oh me, oh me, why do you have to be so spectacular?"
"It can't be helped."
Bruce shrugged, returning his focus back on the books he was holding. He was on the library right now.
After having a talk with Comma and Fredo, he decided to get out of the dorm and look at the library to confirm a hypothesis he had.
Among the six domains of the Cipher, there was one referred to as the "mind" domain, where skills related to the mind was under.
In some aspects, the mind domain was better than the body domain. It had slightly less requirements than some physical skills on the body domain.
A physically weak person can have a mind skill and excel in fields of study or in concentration.
Bruce figured that if he had a mind skill, then the best way to discover it is through reading books in the library.
He opened a book, entitled, "Basics of Evolution".
'Dr. Lopelheim suggested that evolution can be controlled, and it is the basis of a strong, enduring civilization. There are infinite ways for beings to evolve, but through certain rituals, we can choose our own evolution path and be baptized by the pure aura of the universe...'
Bruce was immersed in reading the contents of the book. He could gather insights even at the simplest words, and he understood everything smoothly.
[Ability No. 3]
[Top-level comprehension: You can understand most things quickly and gain insight on everything you focus on. You are a genius.]