For the next two days, Max killed time as productively as possible. He did all the things he normally would do with a few things added in. The additions were a bit more time spent researching magic and more intensive reading in the library. But he also made time to meet up with Lance in person, and he was somewhat surprised to find himself having dinner with Momo again. He genuinely found stories of her home life and her home world very interesting.

Max told himself the glimpse into an alien world was the main reason that he was meeting up with Momo, and that it had nothing to do with the fact that she was a very attractive woman who also had made it very clear that she would jump his bones if he merely gave the go-ahead. That was the kind of straightforwardness and naked interest that could go to a man's head. He tried not to let it affect his judgment.

Part of him wondered why he was holding back, though. He'd gotten over his wife's murder from his previous life even while he was still back on Earth. However, it was also true he hadn’t been planning to find romance in the Quartet. He hadn’t exactly had much time for dating either, as busy as he had been. Besides, most women who were age-appropriate for Max now were just too immature and inexperienced for him. It was strange that he felt so differently about spending time with Momo until they stumbled into the subject over their dinner.

Max had grown accustomed to speaking to Momo that same way she did with him–no pretenses, no filters, just saying what he meant. "It's odd that we're having this conversation right now, and I definitely don't feel like I'm having it with a younger woman."

Momo was eating steak again. She replied, "It is true that I am fairly young for my species, but I think that the way Neusapiens judge these things is different from humans."

"What do you mean?"

She paused eating to think of how to phrase her thoughts and said, "On your world, are your years similar to the Quartet, give or take a month a year…or an hour a day or two?"

"More or less," said Max, nodding.

Momo pointed her fork. "Then by your standards, I would be near fifty years old, I suppose."

Max's jaw dropped. But after he recovered from his surprise, he felt somewhat foolish. After all, on Albion, humans were not the only intelligent species and they all had different lifespans. Earth had really dulled his sense of normalcy for the universe. It wasn't that surprising to find out that Momo's people lived longer than humans. In fact, he had far outlasted the a standard human lifespan in his first life.

The revelation about Momo’s age made her even more attractive to him, which was a problem. He had way too much going on right now to be distracted in this way. A dinner here and there was fine, but he couldn’t afford to go charging into anything more. Doing so would require that he sacrifice some training or study time, and he couldn’t yet.

***

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Max stood staring at a new letter in his hand.

At the end of the two-day wait, he’d received another message asking him to wait another three days. Even though two days hadn't been that long, Max was starting to feel a little bit antsy.

“Fine. That’s it.” First he went to his darkroom to access his dimensional storage. Then he went directly out to the woods, away from prying eyes. Three more days wasn’t actually that much longer, but he wasn’t going to put off training his mana body any longer.

He was frustrated as he sat, before clearing his mind and sinking into the rhythm of crushing mana units, absorbing them into his mana vault, and improving his body. This process should be more efficient later if he could go to the central area and acquire what he needed. However, there was no substitute for lost time. He was not going to spend three more days without working on his mana body

As he sat and meditated, he thought of many things. Dancing on the tip of his mind was the possible choice of just going to the central area by himself, sneaking there. Nah, that’s no good. Damn. He talked himself out of it for a number of reasons, not least of which was that he didn't have nearly enough money to buy the piece of gear he wanted by himself. Unless the headmasters were still sponsoring him, his plans would be ruined. As ar result, he would need to be in the Headmasters' good graces.

With his mind made up and another three days to kill, he altered his previous schedule.

In addition to his other daily activities, he began training his mana body again. He also somehow ended up having dinner with Momo again.

During his new dinner with Momo, she told him that she had discovered a special sort of “magic” she could use when men at the Academy tried talking to her. All she had to do was say a few words, as if casting a spell.

“What in the world are you talking about?” he asked.

“It’s simple, really. If someone won’t leave, or they bother me, I just tell them that I am considering mating with Max Cunningham and he might show up near me at any time.”

“...oh.” Max wasn't sure how he felt about the fact she was making up relationships that didn't exist, but it probably didn't hurt anything. He was happy to help a friend and he said as much.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

However, things started getting awkward at martial arts practice. Some of his students started acting like immature children whenever he was teaching Momo. Benjamin Northside was the absolute worst.

Once, when Max corrected Momo's form, adjusting her leg and waist, the big man had started making a suggestive whistle. The other students had laughed, but acted innocent when Max asked what was funny. Max had rolled his eyes, not least of which because all the goofing around was detracting from everyone’s focus. Momo hadn’t seemed fazed at all, though.

Ultimately, Max knew it was silly to even care, but he still didn't know what to think about Momo. It hadn't even been a full week yet since she’d started talking about “mating,” so he hadn't intended to explore the possibility of a relationship yet, let alone suddenly run into it head-on.

He needed to make a decision about whether he wanted to date Momo or not…but he didn’t need to make it immediately. Luckily, she'd made it clear that she wasn't in a huge rush, for which Max was deeply appreciative.

Then finally the day came when Max received a letter giving him the go-ahead to finally explore to the central area again. But when he saw the added instructions in the new note, his eyebrows tried to climb into his hairline. "Three different golems," he said out loud, "from three different schools. Wow."

The note read:

You can now go to the central area, but please inform your dorm sentry golem before you go. Outside the Summoner Academy gate, you will be escorted everywhere by three different golems. One will represent the Summoner Academy, one will represent the Mystic Spear Academy, and one will represent the Replicator Academy. Thank you for your cooperation. And of course, please do not attempt to enter any dungeons.

Max thought about the letter for a few minutes. The headmaster was basically letting him know that three out of the four headmasters in the Quartet were now supporting Max behind the scenes–at least as long as he continued to get stronger and win the Quartet competition. This was good because he had realized that he needed more money. Maybe he could shake down any new headmasters for more of an allowance.

An extra two hundred and fifty mana units per headmaster per month would be nice. It honestly still wasn't enough, but it’d help.

Worrying about money was frustrating because he shouldn’t have to. Max was pretty sure that some of his other ideas to make money were viable, but most weren’t possible anymore now that his status had changed.

He needed to go to the central area, not only for shopping but also to explore some of the plans he and Lavinia had discussed earlier. Some of his plans were definitely viable, and would need to work out in order for his current situation to really pan out as much as some other paths he might have taken.

He’d been thinking a lot lately about weapons and armor.

Even with all the dungeon diving done by students in the Quartet, there was a shortage of weapons and armor. The prices were high because the truly exceptional students would pay to have various items attached to their soul. That way, when they returned to their original worlds, their equipment would go with them. In fact, all of this was one of the largest reasons why truly talented Challengers stayed in their Quartets for their maximum time allocation. The more weapons they could buy and bring back with them, the more tools they’d have and the more other people they could arm.

Max had been thinking about the entire system a lot lately. He’d concluded it didnt make a lot of sense if the goal was actually to help Challengers save their worlds. Who was paying for everything? If food and lodging and power were already paid for, why did gear need to be so expensive in the first place? Maybe the Quartet system’s economy existed to push students to be as individually powerful as possible, entice the talented and greedy students into buying more gear, or to force the less talented ones into staying, or to actually prevent too many students from going back to their world with weapons. Maybe it was some combination.

One thing Max was fairly sure of now is that despite the veneer of righteousness and altruism, he definitely didn't believe the entire Quartet system was completely charitable or selfless. Somebody, somewhere was benefiting from its existence. He couldn't help but remember the passage he'd seen in that strange temple right before talking to the Morrigan. The words were burned into his memory. They'd read:

Blessed be the Originators.

Try to

Love them

Hate them

Fear them

Join them

Destroy them

But never underestimate them

Lavinia got done reading the note on the floor. She said, “Well, I guess you get to plan a trip to the central area now.”

“Seems like it. But I can’t go alone. Needs to be a way to make the whole thing look a lot more natural and more casual. Too much scrutiny will ruin everything.”

“Just go with someone.”

“I’m not sure who to ask. And if I just take one of my normal friends or martial arts students, it still won’t look casual enough. Especially with golems following us around."

"Casual, huh? You’re a student. Technically. Why don't you just go on a double date?" said Lavinia.

"A what?"

"A double date. Not only that, if you go with the right people, you can even make it a little fun for yourself, you know, break up the monotony of training a little. I’m not sure if you understand the concept of fun so I’m using small words."

Suddenly, Slick came around the corner, holding aloft an impressively large piece of troll bone. The spirit ran in and began jumping up and down in excitement. Somehow Max knew that Slick was trying to be encouraging.

“Slick!” Exclaimed Lavinia. “Go put that thing back! Those bones are dirty! The cleaning spirits will throw them away if they’re outside of the dark room!”

Saliron’s awful voice echoes out of everywhere and nowhere. “On the contrary, The small one is perhaps finally understanding the allure of bones. I approve." Then the dark spirit cackled.

Max tuned them out. He knew exactly what Lavinia had been suggesting before and it actually wasn't a bad idea, even if he personally wasn't sure if he wanted to commit to a date–even a fake one. He didn't believe in leading people on, much less somebody he actually liked and enjoyed spending time with. But then he realized that was the man from Albion in him talking. People in other worlds could take courtship much less seriously.

Max privately didn't believe that was a better way to live, as evidenced by the many people working in the Quartet whose mothers and fathers had gone back to their home worlds, leaving them alone, but he supposed all those people would rather exist now than not.

Moral and ethical dilemmas tired him out, so Max decided to cut his losses and go to the library to study for a while. He loaded up his tablet with good books. His time in the Cradle of Giants dungeon had truly driven home how useful and powerful his tablet really was, and he never planned to go anywhere again without a good number of books on the device.

As he wound down for the night, he decided he'd try the whole double dating thing. Max pulled out his tablet and sent a message to Lance.