"Haaa! Haaa!"
Gasping for breath, I focused my eyes on the distant figure of Kai Wiseman. A faint smile began to form on my face.
It worked. He fell for my deception.
"Lucas, are you alright?"
"Bro, should we take you to the nurse's office?"
Both Nero and Kent, who stood and knelt beside me, expressed their worry as I waved my hand to dismiss their concerns.
"I-I'm okay," I managed to say between ragged breaths before turning to Nero and voicing my gratitude: "Thanks for having my back."
"It's alright," Nero gave my shoulders a light pat before glancing toward Kai, who was already out of the training field. "I've heard of him. Isn't that Kai Wiseman?"
"Yes," I nodded, summoning the last remnants of strength in my legs to stand up. "He's the heir to the Wiseman family."
"Yeah," Nero nodded in return. "I heard he formed a clique of young nobles."
"Mhmm, they call themselves Young Elites," I replied.
"Pfftt!" Kent stifled a chuckle. "Wait, for real? That's the most cheesy name I've ever come across!"
Yeah, well, he isn't wrong. Even I can't get over the fact of how stupid that name sounds whenever I think about it.
I mean, Young Elites? Seriously? Couldn't he come up with something better?
"Why did he target you?" Nero shifted his gaze to me and asked.
"I have no idea," I shrugged. "This was actually the first time I met him too."
"I see," Nero stroked his chin, his eyes filled with contemplation. "Well, regardless of the reason, it's all good now. I doubt he or his cronies will bother us anymore now that he satisfied his curiosity, whatever it was."
"True," Kent chimed in, concurring with a nod. "Well, guys, let's head back to class. The third period is about to begin."
"Indeed," Nero nodded once more, then turned to me, a mischievous grin forming on his lips. "Oh, and let's take the elevator."
"Oh, come on!" I protested, realising he was teasing me now.
Both Kent and Nero burst into laughter simultaneously, fueling my mounting exasperation.
"Hey, how's your shoulder, by the way?" Nero turned to Kent and inquired as we started walking.
"Oh, yeah, it's all fixed now, Nero. Thanks for asking," Kent replied.
"I see. Oh, and Kent, have you happened to hear anything about Drake's condition while you were in the hospital?" Nero inquired.
"Uh, yeah. He lost his arm, as you know, but the doctors managed to attach a mechanical arm to his severed hand. He's currently in rehabilitation, and they say he'll be able to use his new hand in a few weeks. Emma, the girl who cut off his arm, has been constantly by his side, helping him and apologizing," Kent explained.
"Well, it wasn't her fault. She was under a vampire's mind control," Nero responded.
"Still, she's a third-year cadet. I think she's more angry at herself for not being able to counter the mind control spell in time," Kent added.
As they engaged in conversation on our way to the next class, my mind drifted away, and I found myself lost in my own thoughts.
I pretended to listen to them, occasionally nodding in agreement with their words.
The initial phase of my plan has been successfully executed. This should deter Kai from following my trail for quite some time.
And when he eventually realises that it was I who fought Quinn during the Mock War— the mastermind of Class 1-A-1, it will already be too late for him to react.
Ha! This is already my victory!
…No, wait, I mustn't celebrate my triumph while there's still one more step left for me to accomplish.
I need to get stronger.
Only by becoming at least five times more powerful than my current state will I have the strength to accomplish both of the objectives I have set for the second arc— crushing Kai and surviving the Vampire attack at the King's Tournament.
Nodding, I muttered to myself, "Let's do this."
"Awesome!" Kent, who appeared to have overheard my muttering, suddenly yelled with excitement.
"W-What?" I asked, a bit startled.
"You just agreed to join me and Nero at the bar this evening!" Kent exclaimed, brimming with joy.
"H-Hey, I never agreed to anything," Nero interjected, slightly raising his hands in protest, but Kent grabbed hold of them.
Neither did I!
"You were considering it, and I take someone's silence as confirmation," Kent replied with a cheeky smile.
"..."
"..."
...I won't even bother pointing out how many things were wrong with that statement.
†
Once classes were over, Nero and I got roped into joining Kent on an impromptu trip to a bar, even though we never really agreed to it.
Anyway, Nero and I didn't really drink anything, but the outing turned out to be enjoyable to some extent.
After wasting a good couple of hours there, I finally called it a day and headed back home.
When I got home, I spent another three hours pouring mana into the beast egg, only taking short breaks to consume mana potions or grab a bite to eat.
It was around 11:44 PM, and here I stood on my balcony, mesmerised by the sight of the starry sky above and the vibrant city below, aglow with a captivating symphony of dazzling lights.
After consuming a few more rounds of the mana potion, I still had plenty of mana left in me to channel into the beast egg. But at last, I decided to hold off on that for now.
Why, one might ask?
Well, call it a hunch, but I had this gut feeling that I might need to save my mana for something else later tonight.
Ding, Dong—!!
Just as I was lost in those thoughts, I was abruptly jolted back to reality by the sound of my doorbell ringing.
Ah, there it was.
My hunch was about to become a reality.
Making my way to the front door, I swung it open and was greeted by the sight of a petite worker robot standing there.
"What's up?" I asked nonchalantly.
In its monotonous mechanical tone, the bot responded, "You have been summoned by your instructor Leo Kurogami."
Haa, I originally doubted it, but that bastard really summoned me in the middle of the night.
