Chapter 25: Daily Life

The next day.

A vast cluster of clouds loomed over the horizon. The faraway threat of a thunderstorm once again reared its ahead towards Harwick city.

Theo lazily looked up at the sky. Today was another peaceful morning.

It wasn’t as if he never experienced peaceful moments back on Mistelhan, but they were indeed quite a rarity. Mostly, his time there consisted of combat. One battle after another. He hopped from kingdom to kingdom, beating back the encroaching demon army and at the same time solving a few problems that the various nations couldn’t solve by themselves.

A busy and hectic life. Some people might find that sort of thing enjoyable, but Theo certainly didn’t. He much preferred a quiet and unambitious life, much like his current one right now.

“What’s up with your finger?” A voice cut through his thoughts and wrenched him back to reality. Theo looked over, only to see Shirley. Her curious eyes were fixated on his hand. More specifically, she was looking at the band-aid on his index finger.

The two were currently walking to school.

“Oh, you noticed this?” Theo unconsciously looked down towards his own finger.

Underneath the band-aid was a rather severe burn mark. It was the unknowing aftermath of his training from last night. To make a long story short, he stuck his index finger inside an electrical socket three times. On the third attempt, he ended up burning himself.

It was unfortunate, and in retrospect, he may have overdone it, but it wasn’t as if he had any other choice. The energy expenditure for breaking the 2nd shackle was more than ten times as much as the first one. Even now, after spending an entire night training, he wasn’t even halfway close to his next break-through.

Theo felt fatigued. His face was a bit pale and there were dark circles underneath his eyelids. He had a sleepless night last night, not to mention his body was also a bit sore or rather, it was numb. Probably the aftereffects of the constant electricity that passed in and out of his body. His current state was a bit disconcerting.

“Aunt Lynn was out, so you know…” Technically he wasn’t lying, he just left his words ambiguous on purpose. As is human nature, Shirley subconsciously filled in the blanks all on her own.

“You burned yourself on the stove?” She asked.

Theo did not answer. Shirley interpreted his silence as a quiet confirmation.

“Aunt Lynn went out last night, right?” Shirley continued. “Did she go meet up with Quinn?”

His ears pricked up. “Quinn? Who’s Quinn?”

“Aunt Lynn’s publishing agent. I heard she’s close to finishing her second book, so those two will probably be meeting up quite frequently from now on.”

Theo’s eyes narrowed. Quinn, Quinn, Quinn… is that a guy’s name or a girl’s name?

He felt a massive headache forming. He had just recently uncovered the truth regarding the mysterious club president that kept driving Shirley home. All of a sudden, before he even had a chance to relax, there was suddenly another unknown character added into the mix. He couldn’t help but worry. Quinn… was that a guy or a girl?! Why is the name so damn ambiguous?!

At the same time, he wondered to himself: Was he always so… so possessive? Did his personality change when he returned to Plume or was he already like this even back then?

As if she could read his mind, Shirley looked at Theo with an odd smile on her face. She said, “Quinn’s a female.”

“Oh…” Theo tried not to show it on, but he unconsciously breathed out a sigh of relief.

“But still, you shouldn’t let your guard down.” She suddenly added, a faint smirk on her lips. “Although Quinn might be a girl, I heard she swings that way.”

“T-that way?” He widened his eyes.

Shirley seriously nodded. “That’s right. Also, she recently just got out of a relationship, so Aunt Lynn might be in more trouble than you think.”

“Ah…” Theo went slack-jawed. He honestly did not know how to react. Should he still be concerned? The image of Aunt Lynn in bed with another woman, the two firm, yet supple bodies pressed against one another, naked thighs and bare legs… he subconsciously gulped. He felt a certain heat rise from deep within his chest.

SMACK!

Someone suddenly punched his shoulder. Although it didn’t really hurt, the impact had snapped him out of his reverie.

He massaged his shoulder and exaggeratedly groaned.

“Just what sort of dirty thoughts are you having?” Shirley glared at him. She did not bother hiding the contempt in her eyes.

“Ha-ha…” Theo awkwardly laughed.

“Anyway, Aunt Lynn texted me yesterday.” She said. “Since she’ll be a bit busy with work from now on, she wanted me to go with you and pick out a new phone.”

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“Ah…” Now that he thought about it, ever since he returned to Plume, Theo still didn’t have a phone of his own. As someone who lived in a fantasy setting for more than two decades, he didn’t actually mind all that much. In fact, he had completely forgotten about the issue. It was only after Shirley’s reminder that he suddenly remembered.

In retrospect, from the perspective of a modern-day teenager, going three days without a phone should be a pretty big deal.

He thought about it for a moment. “Maybe over the weekend? Does that work for you?”

“Sure.” Shirley nodded. “Then, it’s a da—”

Her words abruptly stopped.

“What was that?”

“I-i-it’s nothing…” She stammered out, her cheeks slightly reddening.

She lowered her head and hurriedly walked forward. Theo stared at her. He tilted his head in confusion. What’s with her?

The rest of the trip to school had suddenly taken on a huge turn. Most of that originated from Shirley’s sudden shift in attitude. She went quiet and started nervously fidgeting. Occasionally, she would glance up at him. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words ever came out. Instead, she’d just hurriedly turn around and continue walking.

Theo saw her mouthing something out to herself. He wasn’t very good at lip reading, so he had no clue what she was saying, but from the looks of it, it almost appeared as if she was rehearsing a speech or something similar.

Eventually, the two reached the front of the school building.

Theo had one hand on the door and was about to go in when someone suddenly grabbed onto the cuff of his shirt. He turned around, only to see Shirley looking up at him with a determined expression on her face.

Her cheeks were dyed red, the flush crawling up to her ears and down to her neck. Beads of sweat ran down her forehead. Her glasses were fogging up. Her lips slightly quivered. She looked nervous. She looked excited.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I…” The two locked eyes with one another. Her voice trembled. She breathed in several hurried puffs of air.

“T-t-t-then, i-it’s a da-date…” She stuttered out. Before he could even react, she suddenly let go of his sleeve, and hurriedly ran into the building.

Theo was left standing there, dumbfounded and just a little bit confused. After a while, he scratched the back of his head.

“Then, I guess it’s a date.”

A slight smile colored his face.

****

Theo decided to skip class again.

Despite training for the entire night last night, he still planned to train even more today. Obsession might not be the right word to call it, but it was something similar. Theo felt this desire, this itchy yearning to keep going. Some of it was rational, while parts of it were purely nonsensical.

He was under a lot of pressure. The sooner he upgraded his mind source, the better. After all, his supplementary exams weren’t that far off. Ever since he first got back, he made no attempt at studying. By this point, he had staked everything on his mind source. The current plan was to improve himself now, and then spend two or three-days cramming for the exams.

While he was fairly confident, that didn’t mean Theo was completely guiltless.

Although his memory constantly improved with each new shackle that he broke, still, it wasn’t enough. He would only feel secure once he got to the third mind shackle. At that point, his body would undergo a qualitative improvement. Among other things, he would acquire something similar to eidetic memory.

Plus, there was another reason; Theo had an obsession with getting stronger. Well, it wasn’t so much as getting stronger, but rather, he wanted to avoid the feeling of being weak and vulnerable. He had this… this impending sense of crisis, like something bad was hiding behind the corner, waiting to pounce.

He felt a similar feeling back on Mistelhan. Every day, it was there, the looming dread, the uneasy foreboding. He was under the constant impression that something would swallow him up if he so much as stopped for even a second.

Despite being back on Plume, that uneasiness did not disappear. Even though he knew his fears were groundless, nevertheless, it breathed down on the back of his neck like a starving dragon.

“Maybe this is what PTSD feels like?” He half-jokingly muttered to himself.

Since he was skipping class again today, he obviously needed to find a place to hole up in. His first thought was the infirmary. Theo shook his head. Almost immediately, he decided against it.

Going there a second time was a bad idea. If he really did show up with the same lame excuse of being sick, then that weird doctor might grow suspicious. Why was he going to class while he was sick? Why didn’t he just visit the hospital? Theo really didn’t want to answer those questions.

Plus, the delinquent that he beat up yesterday might return to cause trouble. Theo wanted to avoid as much trouble as possible.

Luckily, Theo’s afterschool visit had given him an idea. The abandoned section of the school building was the perfect place to hide. Not only were those classrooms vacant, students and teachers alike usually avoided the area.

Since classes were currently being held and students were preoccupied at the moment, then he could just go to the clubroom. It should be empty at this hour.

It did not take Theo very long before he arrived in front of the PRSP’s clubroom. He opened the door and widened his eyes in surprise.

He had expected an empty room, but that wasn’t what he got. Sitting in the middle of the room was a certain blue-haired individual. She sat by the table, a plate full of butter cookies in front of her.

She subconsciously looked up and locked eyes with Theo.

“…”

“…”

Silence filled the room. She simply stared at Theo with an expressionless face, while Theo awkwardly scratched the back of his head. What was he supposed to say in this sort of situation?

Why was she here? Was this girl also skipping class? What type of excuse should he give her? All sorts of thoughts filled his head. Eventually, Theo let out a cough, before he greeted, “H-hello. Do you remember me from yesterday? I’m the newest member.”

“…”

As expected, she did not respond.

“Erm… so, what are you doing here?”

“...”

“Skipping class? I guess I’m also doing the same thing.”

“…”

“Um… you, your name was Mary, right?”

“…”

It was like talking to a brick wall. No matter what he said, no matter how hard he tried to start a conversation, the girl would not respond. She simply stared at him with a lightless gaze. He was reaching his limit. He was used to dealing with socially stunted individuals like Shirley. Heck, he himself was socially inept, but this girl was simply on another level.

Just as he was worrying over what to do, the girl suddenly stood up.

“W-what?” Theo warily asked as he subconsciously took a step back.

Mary ignored him and mechanically took her stuff. She walked over towards the door in silence.

She came to a stop in front of him. Theo stared at her in confusion. She did not say anything. The distance between the two was less than a foot from one another. Because she was such a short girl, she only measured up to the top of his shoulders. She stared straight ahead with unblinking eyes. Because of the height difference, she was essentially staring at his chest.

Theo felt awkward. She was like a statue. No matter what he asked, the girl did not respond. Eventually, he realized something: he was blocking the doorway. Could it be…?

He hesitated for a moment, before he took a step to the side.

As if that was what she had been waiting for, Mary started walking again. She left the room and quietly disappeared down the hallway.

Theo scratched the back of his head. He stared at the empty doorway for a moment, before he shook his head and closed the door.

With nobody else around, he started his training once again.

Like that, Theo’s daily life progressed.