While searching for simple spells that didn't consume too much mana, I found a mana spell that could work perfectly for me.
As a guarantee, I found other spells that could be useful as a last resort, but the main idea already satisfied me.
After confirming that I had learned it and tested the new magic on a small scale in a secluded corner of the nightclub, I rejoined the group and continued partying, but this time without drinking another drop of alcohol.
Knowing that something could happen, it would be stupid to keep drinking.
From time to time I looked at Evans and confirmed that he was still drinking, but he still glared at me from time to time.
Realizing that he wouldn't do anything inside the club, I went back to dancing and partying with my colleagues.
Other people approached me after a while, some boys wanting to chat, some girls wanting to dance.
It wasn't until 2:40 in the morning that I felt I'd had enough fun and said goodbye to the people closest to me before leaving.
"Do you want... me to go with you?" Jake asked completely drunk as he nodded not a little subtly in the direction where Evans was with his friends.
'If you were sober I'd accept your help, but considering how drunk you are, no way, buddy.' I thought as I shook my head at him with a smile.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." I said as I left.
Josh was already passed out on one of the sofas in the area we were in.
When I said goodbye to Gina she gave me one last kiss before winking at me with one eye and trying to convince me not to leave, but I just returned the kiss before walking away under her frustrated gaze.
When I paid the bill for my consumption, I was surprised to spend $130 just on the snacks I ordered and the juices and soft drinks I had.
'If I were to drink alcohol, maybe that $200 wouldn't even be enough for the whole night. I shook my head, realizing how expensive nightlife was in this city.
When I left the bar, the first thing I did was look around and find a place with adequate lighting.
The place couldn't be too dark or too bright for what I was intending to do.
As soon as I found a suitable spot, I heard the loud music from the nightclub increase, meaning that someone had opened the door, and the door stayed open longer than necessary for just one person to leave.
Without looking back, I continued walking to the place I had found. I began to hear footsteps coming towards me, footsteps that were speeding up, as if they were trying to catch up with me.
I also accelerated a little and got into the ideal position I needed.
At that moment I was in an alley in front of the parking lot. One of the light bulbs that was supposed to illuminate the alley was burnt out and the one that worked had fallen to the ground, causing the light to come from below.
Normally I would avoid a place like this, but now this was the place for me.
Looking back, I saw exactly who I was expecting to meet.
Tyler and his three minions walking quickly towards me.
When they saw that I had stopped and turned towards them, they slowed down and looked at me cautiously.
"Hey Brooks, did you have fun tonight? We... didn't even get to talk properly." Evans said with a fake smile as he lost his breath in mid-speech from having to walk fast towards me and from how much he'd had to drink.
"Ohh, you wanted to talk to me, Evans? It didn't look that way to me with you staring at me with that ass face the whole party." I replied fearlessly.
Hearing what I said, Evans changed his smile from something that feigned sympathy to an evil grin.
"Too bad Brooks, if you knew how to act I could ease up on what I intend to do to you, but since you can't keep your dick out of your ass, I'm going to have to help you get it out..." He said as he slowly began to approach me.
Still unafraid, I let out a slight laugh and asked, "And you're counting on your three minions to help you in the fight?"
This made the other three boys even angrier with me, but Evans didn't notice and replied. "I don't need them to deal with you. Don't think that just because you've gained some muscles now you're somebody, Brooks, to me you're still the same fragile kid I knew."
Hearing Evans agree with me calling them minions, the three boys looked at Evans a little angrily, but did nothing to contradict him.
"Ohh, and you think I'm going to fight you alone?" I asked with a mocking smile and stood in a defiant position, both hands behind my back as if I expected him to do something to me.
As soon as I said this, the sound of footsteps began to emerge from the alley behind me, and several shadows also appeared.
Some carrying swords, others carrying sticks, but the one that stood out the most was one that seemed to be holding a pistol.
Evans was surprised to see this, not having imagined this turn of events.
Seeing that he didn't know how to react, I added fuel to the fire. "You know I came from an orphanage, right? And at the orphanage we had no way of getting money, so some older boys formed a gang to protect the younger ones and get some money for the older ones."
Looking him up and down, I asked a question. "You said you were very strong and all that, but is your skin already so tough that knife, sword or bullet cuts can't hurt you?"
Hearing this question and looking at the approaching shadows, Evans swallowed dryly as he mentally cursed me. 'Shit, why didn't this kid ever fight back when I bullied him before if he was involved with gangs?!'
"Shit, he's even got a bandana on his head dude, this fucker must really be part of a gang!" One of Evans' minions said.
This kid was one of the rich kids from college, having never gone near anything so dangerous or illegal, he made the dumbest assumption I could imagine anyone would make, but I didn't deny it and just smiled at him.
When he saw my smile in his direction, with the help of all the alcohol he'd drunk and how scary those shadows looked, he didn't think twice and turned and ran.
Seeing the first minion running away, the other two who were already a little angry with Evans also turned and ran away screaming.
"Fuck, I'm not taking part in this shit!"
Evans saw that he was alone and didn't think twice before turning and running away too.
I just looked at them running away and sighed as I brought my right hand from behind my back to in front of my face.
Looking at my fingertips glowing blue for a few moments, I quickly stopped the supply of Mana and the shadows disappeared like magic.
That was the spell I found on the internet, shadow-based illusions.
Very useful in dark places but completely useless in bright environments.
'Damn, if I'd known some non-lethal attack spells that didn't cost so much Mana to use with System I could have gotten a bit of revenge for what he did to me in the past, but at least tonight I'm not living the bad ending.' I thought as I shrugged and headed home.
On the way I passed the 24-hour grocery store where I did my shopping and paid $30 for a bottle of Jack Daniels before heading home.
Seeing Evans and his minions running around in fear was worth a celebration.
After arriving home and taking the first sip I felt the intoxication hit almost immediately.
Thinking about how satisfying the night had been, dancing with a beautiful girl, talking to cool dudes and enjoying good music, I realized that I had to change my lifestyle in this world.
Not that I was going to become a nightclub freak, but I at least had to enjoy my life more.
Use the money the games earned me to live in a nice house, buy the sports cars I've always liked, travel.
'What's the point of earning money if I'm not going to enjoy the good things it can bring me?' I thought as I took another sip of the whiskey.
Just that one glass was enough to make me dizzy, so after finishing it I went to sleep.
Thinking that Evans had tried some drastic measures to try and stop me from passing him in the College Rankings, I started to think of ideas I could implement in the game to prevent him from succeeding.
If he thinks the tactics he's learned from me will be useful in trying to stop me passing him, I'll show him what really useful tactics other games constantly use in the other world to compete with competitors on important dates.
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