“What…?” Kim Hajin asked.
He and Cristopher were currently outside of the dorms, sitting on one of the seats that are right outside of the dorms.
Once they both get back from Argentine, when Evandel when to sleep after talking about everything they did there, Cristopher decided to talk about what happened in the restaurant.
“Yeah. I was surprised to find her there. Honestly, I never thought I would find another cadet on the other side of the world.” Cristopher shrugged.
“You… I told you it would be dangerous.” Hajin said with a frown.
“I don’t know your definition of ‘dangerous’.” He said while making quotation marks. “But for me, being discovered with a child isn’t precisely dangerous.”
“Are you kidding me!? They found out about Evandel!” Hajin shouted at him. “If this is known, shits are going to blow up!”
“I wouldn’t put it like that.”
“Argh! Just why can’t you see it!?” Hajin hanged his head low while clutching it.
“See what? Were you trying to keep her inside your small dorm’s room all the time?”
“No! But still! You could at least hide that she was your daughter! Don’t you know this could complicate things?”
“No.” Cristopher leaned back on the seat. “From my point of view, you’re the one that’s overly complicating things. Some cadets saw me, yes. So? I wouldn’t be the only underaged father out there.”
“You’re a cadet from Cube! If those girls decided to speak. People will begin to look into it. It also doesn’t help that you were the one to beat the second-ranked cadet in the best Hero Academy in the whole world!” He glared at him.
“Let them look into whatever they want. They won’t find anything.”
“Exactly!” Hajin stands up while shouting. “What do you think they would think when they find out Evandel came out of thin air? Huh!?”
“I don’t care what they think.” He just shrugged at him.
“Huh? You don’t care…?”
“Exactly.”
“Ha… Haha… Hahaha… I can’t believe this.” Hajin facepalmed.
“Why would I care? Let them think whatever they want. If worsts comes, I found out about her recently, her mother came from some slums in South America, she died, and some mysterious man contacted me while I was traveling in Brazil.”
“Are you insane!? Do you really think that would work out!?”
“Why would I care if they buy it or not. Can they deny my resemblance to her?” Cristopher lifted his eyebrow.
“Of course, they… can’t…?” With a sudden realization, Hajin opened his mouth.
“What are they going to do? Try to take her away from me? Bitch. I have power. I can make money. I’m part of one of the best training academies for Heroes. If anything. Her future alongside me is best than trying to send her to some fucking orphanage.”
“But… What if they discover her connection to Rachel?”
“What? Are you implying that the English Royal Court would let anyone believe that her seventeen-year-old girl had a daughter when she was never pregnant, to begin with? Are you crazy? Evandel wasn’t born through the normal method. There’s no fucking way they will trace her back to Rachel, or to any other woman for that matters.”
“*sigh…* I keep saying… You shouldn’t have gone outside in the first place.”
“Stop it. I don’t know you. But I’m not that scared about letting people see her. Let her live, for fuck’s sake. You can’t let the girl stay all the time inside a freaking room.”
“What other options do we have!?”
“Let her be. Let her go out. I’m not telling you to let her roam freely through Cube. But at least don’t try to stop me from taking her out each now and then.” He shrugged. “Not like you can actually stop me.”
“Argh… I sometimes hate you.”
“Oh, come on. You know you don’t.”
“Whatever… I don’t know what to do anymore. I have this feeling that things are going to get out of our hands soon…”
“And when were they in our hands? I mean, neither you nor I know how the hell we got here. That’s not precisely having things in ‘our hands’.”
“*chuckles* I guess you’re right.” Hajin sat again. “Then? What are you going to do?”
“About what?”
“About Evandel. If people discover it...”
“Let things happen. I’ll just make sure nothing happens to her.”
“What if you have to abandon Cube?”
“Mm?” Cristopher tilted his head. “Why would that matter?”
“Well, you wouldn’t-”
“What? Have a Hero’s license? That shit is useless to me. I’m here only to support you along with the major plots. At most, you would be alone inside of Cube. It’s not like I can’t help you out of it.”
“Oh well, that’s true…” Hajin nodded.
“Well, I guess it’s time for me to leave.” Cristopher said while standing up, stretching.
“Mm? Where?”
“Did you forgot that I was seeing Angelica?”
“Are you still going out with her?” Hajin tilted his head.
“I’m not dating her. We’re just having some fun, at night.” He said while winking.
“Oh, right…” Hajin smiled awkwardly. “I still think it’s not a good idea being with her.”
“Relax, everything’s under control.” Cristopher said with a smirk before starting to walk.
“Wait.” Until Hajin stopped him, grabbing his arm.
“What?” Turning back to him, he asked.
“You told me you would help me increase the power of my weapons.”
“Oh, right. I did.” Cristopher nodded. “Let’s do that tomorrow.”
“Sure…” Hajin nodded. “By the way, I wanted to know if you could increase my training routine?”
“Mm?” Opening his eyes wide, Cristopher looked at Hajin. “Are you serious? Are you really asking ME that?”
“Yeah…” Hajin scratched the back of his head. “Honestly, my stats are increasing impossibly fast. And part of it is thanks to you and your training advice.”
“Well, obviously.”
“So…” Hajin averted his eyes. “What I wanted to say is, I want to know if you could help so I can keep improving, maybe a little bit faster.”
“…” Cristopher smirked at him. “It won’t be easy. You know that, right?”
“Of course. Even now, that goddamn training routine you gave me is killing me. But I can’t say I’m not seeing results.” Hajin said while rolling his eyes.
“Great. I guess it was time for you to finally put a little bit more interest in your own improvement.” Cristopher smirked. “Come to the Fitness Center at 12:00 AM, I’ll be waiting there while training with Olivia.”
Cristopher then left, leaving a worried Kim Hajin behind.
{Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him for help…} That thought was present in his mind for the next few minutes.
***
The rest of the week was pretty much a full routine for everyone. Cristopher and Evandel escaped each morning to visit some faraway place where he could help her train with her control of energy, especially Natural Energy, as it’s far more adaptable energy than Magic Power and which would easily help her Spirit Energy.
He also took the chance to hunt as many monsters as possible, selling them all through Park Soohyuk. That way he slowly increased his funds, using them to invest in Packhorse Master and SH Agency.
Kim Hajin either helped Essence of the Strait with some minor analysis problems, as they were still testing the waters while training with both Olivia and Cristopher in the night.
After they talked, Cristopher helped Hajin learn how to control his physique better, something that helped his ‘Parkour’ art grow quickly. He also started learning a few martial arts.
As Cristopher said, why try to focus on two different types of training separately, when he could do both at once, leading them to constantly spar inside the gravity room.
He also took the chance and inscribed a few runes in Hajin’s weapons, mainly his Dessert Eagle and the jacket he got from Rachel. This actually made Hajin really surprised, as he didn’t know what Cristopher meant when he talked about improving his equipment.
It even complimented his new Gift amazingly well, as the runes became part of the ‘concept’ that made the equipment, getting improved by the Gift too.
Right now, it was Friday, and Kim Hajin was holding the ball made of Aether, which already finished its awakening.
“It looks quite good.” Hajin muttered while analyzing Aether.
[Aether – Awakened]
[A corporeal, but formless, weapon. Adheres to its master or their weapon, reinforcing its strength. A portion of its potential was awakened through a mystical elemental’s power.]
[Mystic – Formless. Evolving.]
[- Master Selection: will not adhere to another being once its master is chosen.
- Physical Body Reinforcement: increases all variable stats of its owner by 0.7 points.
- Weapon Reinforcement: adheres to its master’s weapon and strengthens the weapon’s attack power. Aether itself can also form a weapon. (Current weapon-form Aether rank – ‘high rank’).
- Detail Materialization: Aether can manifest color and texture (cannot be too complex).
- Evolving Weapon: all of the above functions evolve with Aether's owner. Depending on the state of Aether’s awakening, other functions can develop.]
While Aether might not be on the level of a weapon on the same grade when it comes to damage power, it does overcompensate it when it comes to utility. To the point when it can even adhere to other weapons and make them even stronger, something that makes it quite deadly in the hands of any warrior.
And right now, it can even disguise itself as anything Hajin wants it to. While originally it could only form weapons of either blue or white color, now weapons made by Aether would look normal, so a sword would look like a real sword, with the same color and texture as one.
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“It does say that the weapon can’t be too complicated, so maybe guns are not possible…” Hajin muttered. “Well, let’s try it.”
He then tried to form a gun, but it only resulted in the shape of one, and not precisely a complete shape.
“Guess that leaves the gun out of the list.” He said, before trying to make a knife then.
Right in front of his eyes, Aether took the form of a perfectly normal kitchen knife, with the power of a High-Rank weapon.
“There’s a lot I could do with this thing…” Hajin muttered before turning to look at Evandel, who was currently forming a ghost with her Spirit Energy. “Evandel, I’ll go out for a moment.”
“Mhm…” Evandel muttered, focused on the ghost.
“Don’t go out by yourself, okay?”
“Argh! I know!” Evandel clutched her ears and started shaking her head, trying not to lose focus, something that made Hajin chuckle before he went out.
Being 9:00 AM during a break meant that everything around him was in total silence, many cadets were either sleeping or not in Cube, though, even then, a few rooms in the dormitory had light in them.
Walking towards the near forest, Hajin searched for a boulder, one he could use to test the normal knife made by Aether.
Finding one, he looked at Aether and used the Gift ‘Random Consolidation System’ on it.
“Scan.” With a small whisper, light quickly enveloped the knife before disappearing, leaving behind a number on it, ‘40’.
“Huh, lucky.” Hajin chuckled before throwing the knife towards the boulder.
A normal knife would merely bounce off the boulder, but Aether’s materialized knife with its concept strengthened, passed through it as if passing through butter, splitting the boulder in two by the sheer power behind the knife.
The knife then flew away a few matters, not stopping until Hajin called Aether back, making it come back to him.
“Ho… This is insane…” Hajin muttered while looking at the boulder. “Well, time to go back to prepare for my trip.”
***
That same Friday, 5:00 PM, outside the Seoul Portal Station, a few cadets from the Traveling Club were waiting for the remaining cadets.
There stood Oh Hanhyun, the leader of the club who already got over the break-up with Natasha, and a few other cadets, like Kim Suho, Yoo Yeonha, and Chae Nayun.
“Urgh… Why is it so hot outside!? God, when are they coming?” Chae Nayun said while waving her hand to try and get some fresh air.
“Who told you to wear your cadet uniform?” Yoo Yeonha muttered to her while looking at her smartwatch, wearing a simple black sleeveless long-dress, with a thin crop top jacket and a hat to cover from the sun.
“…” Chae Nayun didn’t know how to answer her, after all, she did wear her cadet uniform thinking Kim Suho would do the same.
But, sadly for her, Kim Suho came in a normal white t-shirt and jeans. Something that makes her doubt if she should hate him for betraying her expectations or applaud him for how good he looked in that simple outfit.
“Mm? It seems someone else is coming with the cadet uniform.” Yoo Yeonha suddenly said, making Chae Nayun lookup.
From the Portal Station’s door, Kim Hajin was walking out with his Cube’s cadet uniform, alongside a black jacket.
“How is he not burning in that thing…?” Chae Nayun could only mutter while looking at Hajin’s outfit.
“Hello, Hajin.” Kim Suho said to him once he got close enough, waving at him.
“Hey.” Hajin nodded at him, which left Kim Suho with an awkward smile.
“…” Chae Nayun smirked looking at them, thinking about how awkward that greeting was.
“Okay, now that Kim Hajin-ssi is here, I guess we just have to wait for Cristopher-ssi.” Oh Hanhyun clapped.
“Right, where the hell is that guy? Isn’t he always with you?” Chae Nayun asked Kim Hajin.
“Of course not.” He rolled his eyes before turning to the leader of the club. “He said he would be waiting for us in England.”
“Huh? He went there by himself?” Oh Hanhyun asked.
“Yes, it seems he had something to do there, so he went first.”
“Okay! Then I guess we’ll be going then.” Oh Hanhyun said with a smile, while all of them moved again towards the Portal Station, which made Kim Hajin wonder why would they wait outside and not inside if they were going to go back in.
***
At the same time, in England, in the English Royal Court’s garden, two people were currently sitting in the garden while talking. They were Cristopher and Rachel, who were having breakfast after a morning of training.
“Oh, so the traveling club is also going to come?” Rachel asked me while I was drinking my coffee.
“Yeah, they should be coming any time soon, I guess. So, I’ll have to go soon too.” I answered.
I got to London really early, at 4:00 AM on England’s time to be more precise. Rachel texted me yesterday asking something about her training, and I offered myself to come to London so I could personally help her.
At this point, it didn’t have anything to do with the agreement of her paying me for the lessons, but the fact that I do want to help her. If anything, for the fact that I think she deserves it.
“Un.” She nodded before sipping on her own coffee that had some milk in it. “So… You’re staying the night in London?”
“I think so. I don’t really know what’s the plan for today.” I lied. I did know why Oh Hanhyun brought us here, and I also knew that we were going to stay the night, but that’s something I shouldn’t know right now.
“Okay.” She nodded. “Also, thanks for helping me this morning… I was kind of stuck with my training, and I didn’t know how to continue.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re listening to my advice.” I smiled at her.
“…” She nodded, before speaking shyly. “Still… Our agreement ended already, so-”
“Pfft.” I almost laughed at her shy attitude.
“Hey, don’t laugh at me…” She averted her eyes, getting slightly red.
“Relax, I’m not helping you because of the money.” I smirked at her.
“Then…?” She asked, a little confused.
“Because I want to.” I shrugged before taking a sip from my coffee. “As simple as that.”
“…” She just looked at me with her mouth wide-open.
“What?”
“No… It’s just…” She lowered her head, not knowing what to say. “It’s weird, for someone to do things just because.”
“Oh well, just take it as if I’m one of those weird cases.”
“Still… You should want something in exchange. I have to give you something, you’re helping me improve quite a lot, really.” Rachel said with a worried face.
“Look. I’m not doing this to gain something from you. In all honesty, it’s not like you can give me what I want.” I smiled at her, which made her flinch in surprise.
“…” She looked at me with a saddened face.
“Don’t take it the wrong way. It’s not just you. No one can give me what I want.” I kept my smile. “But it’s not that bad, really. I just do whatever I want or feel like doing every time.”
“So… Are you saying that you train me because-?” She started to speak.
“Because I feel like doing it. So, I do it.” I interrupted her with a smile, which makes her pout a little.
*Vrr. Vrr.*
At that moment, my smartwatch vibrated, so I turn to look at it.
“Mm?”
[Kim Hajin: We’re already here in England. Where are you?]
[Cristopher: With Rachel. Where are you at? I’ll go there.]
[Kim Hajin: We’re on our way towards the portal to Clancy Islet. Meet us there.]
[Cristopher: Roger.]
“Do you have to go already?” Rachel asked once I turned to look up at her.
“Yeah, it seems they’re already here and are waiting for me.” I shrugged.
“It’s okay.” She nodded. “Where are you going to meet them?”
“It seems that they’ll wait for me at the portal leading to Clancy Islet, so I better get moving.”
“Huh? Then I guess you’re all going there.” She tilted her head.
“Guess so.” With a shrug, I stand up. “Why?”
“Well, there’s an event there tonight.” She said while also standing up.
“Mm. Well, maybe we’ll meet tonight too.” I smiled at her.
“Maybe.” And she smiled back at me. “Ah! Wait, I’ll ask someone to take you there, it’s slightly away from here.” Rachel said before calling at her butler.
“You don’t have to do it, really.” I smiled awkwardly.
“I do it because I feel like.” She smirked while glancing at me.
“Pfft… Touché.” I just shook my head while smirking.
“Did you call, Princess?” Soon, a grey-haired man in butler clothes came to where we were.
“Yes, Randy. Could you please lead my m… Guest to the portal that connects to Clancy Islet?” She asked him, getting a little red from the slip of tongue she was about to have.
The butler, Randy, looked at her a little surprised, before looking at me for a second before nodding.
“Sure. I’ll take him there, Princess. Anything else?” He asked with a smile.
“No. That will be enough, thanks, Randy.”
“No problem, Princess.” He bowed at her. “Well, could you please follow me?” He then asked me, to which I just nodded.
I started walking, but just before leaving, I looked at Rachel.
“Well, see you back at Cube. Or well, maybe later. Who knows?” I smiled while shrugging.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“By the way, you better be careful, you almost called me master.” I then whispered to her.
“…” Making her flinch and turn as red as a tomato.
“…” Meanwhile, Randy looked at us from a little far away.
“See you, then. Rachel.” I took my leave while chuckling.
“Idiot…” Not before hearing a small whisper coming from behind me.
“*chuckles*” I just chuckled a little bit harder for her to hear.
***
Once they checked their passport. The members of the traveling club all went towards England, after which, they stopped right outside the Portal Station.
“As you all know, we’re going to Clancy Islet.” Oh Hanhyun told them while walking. “So, we’ll have to go to the portal that connects the island to London.”
Before entering the portal, the club leader told them that they were all going towards Clancy Islet, as this was their destination.
“Hm… Good! Very good!” Chae Nayun excitedly said while clenching her fists. “We have free time, right?”
“Yes, until 7:00 PM.” Oh Hanhyun nodded. “There’s a big event going on tonight, and that’s why we are going to Clancy Islet. When I contacted them about coming to watch, they happily said yes.”
“Ho… It’s that so?” Yoo Yeonha muttered for herself.
“Yup.” While Oh Hanhyun, who listened to her, nodded with a smile. “Now, let’s go!” He then started leading them towards the portal but stopped a second later.
“Kim Hajin-ssi, where are is Cristopher-ssi?” He asked.
“Right, I’ll text him to meet us in the portal leading to Clancy Islet.” Hajin nodded.
“Sure!”
With that, they all started walking while following the Thames River, while most of the cadets talked among themselves about what they were going to do in their free time, and Hajin texted Cristopher.
After some minutes of walking, they finally saw Clancy Islet. It was an enormous mass of land with a size of 4.2 square kilometers that was also floating 700 meters in the air, all thanks to a reward from a Tower called the ‘Buoyancy Stone’.
The place was like a big floating Vegas, full of casinos, restaurants, hotels, and entertainment centers, all for the upper class of Europe to enjoy gambling, fine dining, costly shopping, and much more. By itself, Clancy Islet generated 30% of the entire tourism profit of England.
“Wow! It’s been so long! I must have been 11 when I last came here.” Chae Nayun said with excitement, before her face suddenly darkened, as the last time she came, she did so with her brother.
“It’s my first time here.” Kim Suho intervened. “So, are you going to be our guide?” He asked her with a smile.
“Of course!” She said after a second, getting energized once again.
“Hajin, have you been here before?” After a little bit of chatter, Kim Suho asked Kim Hajin, who was walking silently while looking at the enormous piece of land floating in the sky.
“No.” He shook his head after turning to look at Kim Suho.
“Oh? Then both of us are newbies, then.” Kim Suho smiled.
“I guess we are.” Hajin answered with a small smile too.
After a little bit, they made it towards the portal that connected England to Clancy Islet. It was the only official entrance, and with Clancy Islet being really important for the country, it was heavily guarded and surveilled.
The security was also really strict, and you would need to be someone important, with money, or have connections to actually make it through this portal.
“So? Where is Cristopher-ssi? Is he coming now?” Oh Hanhyun asked Kim Hajin once they stood close to the entrance.
“Yeah, where is that guy? Why couldn’t he just come with us?” Chae Nayun asked while frowning.
“He should be here anytime soon.” Kim Hajin only shrugged. “He already knows we would wait for him here.”
“Okay, I guess we can wait for a little bit, then. In any case, text him that we’re already here.” Oh Hanhyun clapped his hands.
But before Kim Hajin could text Cristopher, a Limousine parked close to where they were. Out from the driver’s door, a grey-haired man with a butler outfit went out and opened the back of the door, from where Cristopher came out.
“Thanks, Randy.” He said with a smile.
“Was a pleasure, Cristopher-ssi.” The butler smiled back at him. “Once again. Thanks for coming today, it’s not every day that I get to see our Princess smile so much.”
“No problem, man.” He shrugged. “I’ll be going then.”
“Sure. Take care.” Randy said before going back inside the limousine and driving off.
Meanwhile, the rest of the cadets just looked at Cristopher with a dumbfounded face.
“‘Supp?” He said once he was close to them. “Why do all of you have that face?”
“*sigh…*” Kim Hajin only sighed while shaking his head. “You’re already here. How was your morning?”
“Great, actually.” He smirked.
“Nice, I guess.”
“Hey!” Chae Nayun suddenly intervened. “Who was that!? How the hell did you come here with a limousine and a butler?”
“Shut up. You’re annoying.” Cristopher rolled his eyes.
“*kuhum*” taking everyone’s attention with a cough and a clap, Oh Hanhyun spoke. “Now that Cristopher-ssi is here, I guess we can all go to Clancy Islet, this way please.” He said, leading everyone towards the entrance.
Everybody just gave a glance to Cristopher before walking, while Yoo Yeonha stared for a little bit more, thinking about where the hell did that limousine came from and why was Cristopher inside it when he was only an orphan, and what was he doing here all this time.
“Here is my cadet ID and invitation from Jamie Kim-ssi.” The club leader said while talking with a guard. Giving him his ID and invitation letter.
“Wait here.” Taking both of them, the guard went away to confirm the authenticity of the invitation letter. After which, he came back and checked the entire group’s luggage to search for any kind of weapon, while also using a body scanner.
“So strict…” Che Nayun grumbled after all the security process. “Oh, right! We can go to the casino, right?”
“Yes, Cube’s cadets are treated like adults here.” Oh Hanhyun answered.
“Nice!” She shouted while pumping up her fists. She was excited, ready to expend the 300 million won she had saved from her allowance, thinking about using it in gambling and shopping.
“…” Meanwhile, Kim Hajin was excited for another reason, mainly thinking about how much money he could make with gambling. After all, with his unhuman luck, there was no way he won’t make a profit in there.
“Hey.” Cristopher suddenly whispered. “Make sure you make a lot of money.”
“Huh?” Making Kim Hajin looked at him in confusion.
“I transferred you some money, so you can go in there and multiply it.” He whispered with a smirk.
“*sigh…* I can’t believe this…” He shook his head.
“Hahaha.” Cristopher just chuckled. “It’s better to make as much as we can!”
“Sure…”
“Let’s go in.” After everyone was checked. Oh Hanhyun led them through the portal. Ready to go to Clancy Islet.
Once they passed through the portal, the scenery quickly changed, and a giant fountain, a flamboyant casino hotel, auction houses, fancy restaurants, and even some fleeting clouds greeted them.
“Casino! Who wants to go to the casino!?” Chae Nayun shouted, asking everybody.
While every cadet had their own plan, both Yoo Yeonha and Kim Suho had to tag along with Chae Nayun, knowing how dangerous it would be to leave her alone in the casino.
Kim Suho got close to Kim Hajin and Cristopher.
“Hajin, Cristopher, where are you going to go?”
“I’m tired… I’ll go rest in the hotel for a bit and then grab lunch.” Hajin answered.
“Don’t know, I’ll check around, I guess.” While Cristopher shrugged.
“Huh? Why don’t you go with us then?” Kim Suho asked while tilting his head.
“Mm? Nah, casinos are not my thing.”
“Why!? It will be fun!” Chae Nayun said, excitedly.
“…” Cristopher just looked at her in the eyes, making her flinch.
“W-What!?”
“You’re going to lose all your money with that attitude.” He shook his head. “Anyway, let’s just say that casinos and I don’t get too well. Not lucky enough.”
“…” Chae Nayun just glared at him. “I-I’m not going to lose my money!”
“Huh? Really? Wanna bet?” Cristopher smirked.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Hajin intervened with a sigh.
“*chuckles* Anyway, I’m going to see the place and check what I can find.” With a shrug. Cristopher went away, while Kim Hajin went towards the hotel and the others went towards the casino.