Nick sat in his seat for a seemingly long time, going through the events of the end of year exam in his mind and thinking about how far he had come:
(I've actually survived my first year in Richter Order Academy, I've become a rank 1 Apprentice Magician and I'm on the verge of making a living for myself. I've come a long way from not being able to afford food and having to deal with the constant criticisms of others. Things have gotten better in a way and it was extremely hard getting to this point but since I survived, I'm very satisfied with myself. There should be a two month break before my second year semester begins so I should use that time to get ahead, pushing towards rank 2 Apprentice Magician. I also have new spells to learn and create and a business opportunity to work on...)
Nick's mind started to become muddled when he thought of the growing complexity of the tasks that he had to complete but his mind became focused again when he thought of his advantages that he could use to complete those tasks:
(I have my own mystical language, Nickel, for manipulating rule magic, I am now a scholar in soul magic and I have a mountain of information on space magic along with knowledge of corresponding spells and formations. Let's not forget about my ability to create scrolls; with all these little advantages, I really am a beast...)
Nick continued to think about his possible next moves for almost two and a half hours. He only stopped when the restaurant's server came to his table, laying out dishes of meat and sauce made from the ghastly serpent carcass.
"It's finally ready."
The server nodded and said:
"Let us know if you would like anything else."
The server left and Nick started eating the meat and was shocked at how good it tasted.
(I didn't have any seasoning with me during the exam so I didn't get to fully enjoy the meat but I didn't think that its potential for flavor would be so great. Whatever sauce that the chef used on it is giving it a sweet yet rich, meaty taste; the texture is also great, kind of like fried chicken with no sort of sponginess from chewing on fat. Yup, this is the best thing that I've ever eaten; I think I've found my new favorite past time.)
Nick spent the rest of the afternoon eating and savoring his meal and by the time he was done and satisfied, the time was about 6:30 pm. With a full stomach, Nick threw away his trash in a nearby trash bin and left the restaurant to head back to his dorm room. When Nick stepped into his dorm room, the time was 7 pm and so he went to the bathroom and took a shower and afterwards sat at his desk to look at his new contract with General Beast Store.
(I still have about two and a half hours until the results of this year's exam are sent to my email so I'll just review this contract until then.)
Thirty minutes into reviewing his contract, a soft, continuous knock was heard at his door. Nick was confused.
(Who would be knocking at my door and at this time of day?)
The next moment, Nick remembered the conversation that he had with Marsha that morning and he became serious. Nick placed the contract into his backpack and hid it under his bed. Nick walked to his door thinking:
(It's time to see whether I can really rely on that Marsha character.)
Nick opened the door and he saw a red haired woman with a white complexion, pearly white teeth and a slim body standing stoically at his door; she was wearing a fitted yellow blouse and an orange, fitted skirt that reached to her knees. Nick remembered the time when Lana also appeared at his door but he knew that this time was different; he was not the same person as he was back then.
Nick spoke with a slightly nervous voice:
"Marsha sent you, right? Please come in."
The woman stepped inside and Nick locked the door and turned to her, asking her a question:
"What did Marsha tell you, oh and my bad, I forgot to ask for your name?"
The woman spoke without much liveliness in her voice:
"My name is Katherine Dell and before I talk about Marsha, can I ask you something?"
Nick replied:
"Shoot."
"Why did you ask Marsha for me?"
Nick took a second to think and answered while shrugging his shoulders:
"You're a pretty woman and I saw you naked, that's all that there is to it."
The woman closed her eyes, let out a breath and opened them again and spoke:
"Let me make this clear, the only reason that I am continuing to deal with that monster Marsha is because of arrangements we had made before and during the end of year exam and what this is, is just carrying out a business arrangement. After we're done, don't talk to me casually when you see me and If I hear any rumors, I'll know it was you."
Nick squinted his eyes and replied:
"A business arrangement, huh? That's how I see this too. Now, can you answer my initial question?"
Katherine nodded and replied:
"Marsha and I made a deal that involves her selling me a certain magical tool in exchange for our meeting tonight in addition to that I no longer owe her for some events that took place during the exam. As for what will happen tonight, since I know that monster will ask you what happened, let's just get on with what you want."
Katherine proceeded to take her blouse off and throw it on the floor, revealing to Nick her yellow bra and her flat stomach. Nick didn't know what to do for a few seconds and thought:
(Am I really going to go through with this; this arrangement feels weird even though I am the one that asked for it? Sigh, even my body is shaking a little right now, this is pathetic. Whether I like it or not, this is also a part of my growth, I need to remove hesitation in times like these.)
Nick's eyes became determined and he held Katherine by the hand firmly and led her to his bed without saying much and picked her up slightly and placed her on the bed. Katherine lied on the bed watching Nick to see what he would do next. Nick took off his t-shirt, shorts and underwear, feeling slightly embarrassed about being naked in front of a woman he didn't even know. Nick was about to join Katherine in the bed when a thought came to his mind.
(Oh wait, I forgot to buy a condom, do they even sell those on campus?)
Nick felt like face palming himself at this moment. There was no way that he was going to risk getting this girl pregnant but he had already gotten this far and it would be ridiculous to stop his own momentum. Nick remembered a few videos he saw during his time in high school when some of his male classmates where showing illicit videos that they had downloaded off of the internet when the girls weren't around. Nick didn't really want to watch the videos but he found them pretty hard to ignore at the time when he heard the sounds that they made. Nick decided to do what he saw in one of those videos.
Nick reached for Katherine and took off her skirt and underwear with no resistance from her then he placed her in a bent over position like what he saw when he had walked in on her and Marsha before. Nick licked his right palm and rubbed his saliva on his engorged private part; the next moment, he spread Katherine's butt cheeks and guided it towards his groin, thinking:
(I'm a certified goblin.)
Katherine wasn't expecting much because she was fairly experienced with men her age. When it came to rich families on Grand Earth, most children had some sort of sex education by the time they were in high school and with many willing participants, most young people were very promiscuous and the better your background, the more opportunities available for this kind of activity. While Nick was guiding her lower body towards his groin, she thought:
(This will probably be over quick, he was so nervous, even though he tried to act calm.)
Katherine was in a neutral mood until her eyes opened wide in shock as a jolt of pain could be felt from her bottom.
(What the hell, he put it in there?)
Nick spoke with an authoritative voice at this moment while he gave a deep stroke:
"Don't resist too much; you said before, let's get on with whatever I want, right? Well, you asked for it."
Katherine gritted her teeth and hid her face in the bed sheets as Nick delivered stroke after stroke.
.............
An hour and a half later, Katherine got off of Nick's bed and picked up her underwear, skirt and blouse and put them on before she left without saying another word to Nick. Nick lied on the bed and looked at the closed door for some time without saying anything. After a few minutes, he got up and took another shower. While showering, he thought:
(That was...satisfying in a base sort of way but still did not match up to the pleasure of me forming my mindscape or creating my first spell. Glad to know that I wasn't missing out on much.)
After his shower, Nick got back to his desk and turned on his laptop and logged into his email account. The email from the academy was there waiting for him. Nick opened it and saw his grade as well as the new rankings for the first years;his grade was still 'S' but his rank was pushed back all the way to number 9, but he was apparently still regarded highly by the academy according to the remarks in the email except that they said that he was mostly a one trick pony and he lacked some fundamental magical training but the quality of his magic power was extremely high and his spell which they assumed to be original was very well crafted for someone of his age and rank, also, they said that he had some talent for fighting against magic beasts and exploration of the unknown.
"One trick pony? Did they not notice that I used soul pressure or soul vision during the exam."
Slade commented:
[Probably not, at least it is not likely with just the monitoring of the space band alone. that's one of the advantages of soul magic, the spells are very discreet unless you want them to be loud so the magical tool was probably unable to pick up on your use of soul magic in the latter days. The results might have been different if someone that specializes in soul magic watched the recording though, this evaluation seems very subjective so it is probably based on the bias of a particular Magician.]
"Well, I guess that is to be expected."
Nick looked at the rankings with more attention and saw that Marsha was now ranked 16th while her associate, Greg North was ranked 13th. Nick also saw some other familiar names:
Daryl Smith, rank 7
Don Bartholomew, rank 35
Marcia Dunn, rank 115
Cindy Reece, rank 52
Jean Raymond, rank 27
Jerry Taylor, rank 11
Nick did not really know any of these people personally, but it is probably a good thing to keep track of the standing of familiar names to gauge their improvement. When Nick looked at the name in the rank 1 position, he was slightly surprised, then when he thought back to the events of the exam, he realized that it wasn't so strange. The person in first place was: Jessica Jones, the female Apprentice Magician that Nick had met at the waterfall.
(I did feel that there was something weird about her. It's good to know that that feeling had some substance behind it, even if it was just intuitive.)
The email stated that the new school year would start in September, two months away and that students had to formally apply to spend this time away from the academy. In any case, the email declared that for those students wishing to leave the academy for a short period, the day after tomorrow, all students would be allowed to leave the campus from 6 am and return at 6 pm. Nick had a few thousand dollars in his bank account and wanted to do something in person anyway so he would definitely be leaving the academy grounds on that day. Nick turned off his laptop and went to bed.
(I won't be doing any more physical exercises until the day after I leave the academy grounds in order for my body to rest properly. Tomorrow's a new day, I can't wait.)
Nick meditated for about an hour and then went to bed and slept until the next morning.
..............
RING RING RING RING
Nick woke up at 5 am to the sound of his alarm and he got out of bed to take a shower, brush his teeth and get dressed. An hour later, Nick picked up his backpack and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. There was a few dozen other students in the cafeteria besides Nick and some even watched him as he bought his breakfast of eggs, pancakes and orange juice. Slade commented:
[You seem to have gained some attention.]
Nick noticed but didn't care because these people didn't, in fact, care about him, they were just curious about his ranking.
(Story of my life.)
Nick sat down to have his meal and a woman sat down across from him two minutes later. Nick took his eyes off of his food to look at who it was and so he saw Marcia Dunn, Don's servant, sitting opposite of him. She spoke using her small, pink lips:
"Greetings Nick Capitol. Let me congratulate you on your ranking. Achieving rank 9 in the exam must not have been an easy feat. I was thinking that the food in this cafeteria is pretty good. Is it possible that I could sit with you to have a meal when we encounter each other in the cafeteria like this again?"
Nick raised his right eyebrow in awkwardness and replied:
"I don't own the tables or chairs, do what you want, although, I don't know why you would want to sit next to a less than."
Marcia awkwardly nodded, knowing full well what Nick was referring to but she ignored the implication and replied while getting up:
"Well, let's have a meal together next time then."
Marcia left with a slightly embarrassed but determined expression. Nick's forehead skin creased as he openly frowned.
(These people are becoming like flies.)
Slade chimed in:
[It's natural for people to want to associate with the strong even if they know that they offended you in the past. Remember what I said, right or wrong does not play that much of a role in most people's thinking. It's all about benefits. You'll get used to it.]
(No, I won't.)
[Well...if you don't accept and acknowledge their efforts to get to know you, they will start to hate you and throw proverbial stones your way.]
(If that happens, I'll ignore them like always.)
[Have it your way, kid, but the stronger you get, the less you'll be able to simply ignore your enemies.]
Nick understood what Slade was saying but he didn't want to think about that for now. Nick took out his smart phone and made a call to Marsha. Nick waited for a few seconds until she finally answered the call.
"Good morning babe."
"Marsha, I told you to stop calling me that. Anyway, in honor of our deal, let's meet up at the library in the next hour, how about that?"
"Hmmm...since, I already completed my end of the deal, I'll be deciding where we meet up. I haven't had breakfast yet so meet me at the High Spirits Restaurant around that time, we've got much to discuss. Speaking of our deal, did you actually fuck Katherine's ass last night for over an hour, ha, ha? I didn't know that you were that rough, color me surprised. I'll see you in an hour."
Nick's face flushed with embarrassment as Marsha ended the call. Nick looked at the phone for a while and thought:
(Sigh, I really hate loose lips.)