“Well … yeah, but you weren’t the only one that saw it,” Fae pointed out. “And … he was a professor. I didn’t expect anyone to even say something, and especially not someone to just jump into the alley like that.”

  Ryan didn’t know what to say. He had always been impulsive like that. It didn’t matter what it was, but he always had a big mouth when he saw people in trouble, and had a tendency to go all out when things got violent. It didn’t always turn out as well for him as it did that time.

  “Seriously, don’t … you don’t need to force yourself to thank me. The guy swung at me once, and I beat him hospital-ready. I saw your expression afterward; you know I way overdid it. If the situation hadn’t been as serious as it was, I would’ve been kicked out as well.”

  “I … I mean, I … was just a bit shocked. There was so much going on, and I … I just really wanted to thank you for helping after, but I …”

  “But it took you five months to finally muster up the courage to come talk to me,” Ryan added, saying what was written between the lines. “You don’t need to force yourself to be my friend, I know that the way I act sometimes is way over the top, and I get if you’re … scared of me.”

  “No, th-that’s not—”

  “But I think you and Silvia are really cute together. I can tell how much you like her, and obviously she really likes you too, so I don’t want to be an obstacle and—”

  “Seriously, stop!” Fae loudly interrupted Ryan, almost surprising herself. “Yes, I was a bit scared of you after that, and I wasn’t sure what kind of person you were. But then I came to talk to you, and you were just so bright and warm and that just immediately disappeared. Especially after tonight, there’s no way I would still be even slightly scared of you. Just give yourself some credit, man.”

  Ryan smiled lightly. He was glad to hear that, though of course being practically scolded like that felt a bit weird.

  Fae continued, “Everyone at school knows how good of a guy you are, alright? Seriously, if anyone was to awaken, I’m just so glad it was you,” she pointed out, before a laugh left her mouth. “I mean, I didn’t know you were that kind of nerd, though. A magic class?”

  Ryan laughed slightly as well. “It’s not that kind of magic class. It’s a summoner thing. Turns out, it actually suits me pretty well.”

  “I’m really glad to hear that. And now, to the important part …” The colorful patterns on Fae’s skin once more started flaring up as she stared at the ground, fiddling with her hands while trying to hide her smirk. “You really think Silvia likes me?”

  Modak’s head felt ready to break apart. Daggers and needles might as well be stabbed in and out of his skull, and maggots seemed to be roaming through his innards.

  Modak was hungover.

  He carefully rolled to his side, grabbing the phone that was laying on his bedside.

  You

  help

  call an amilanve

  anbulance

  ambulance

  I will never drink ever again.

  Ryan

  lmfao

  With a loud groan, Modak looked at the time. It was already close to noon. He swung his feet over the edge of his bed, carefully staring down his legs at his feet.

  “How am I in my underwear, but still wearing boots … ? These aren’t even the ones I was wearing last night, what the fuck?” Modak pushed the boots off his feet and carefully stood up, then held his forehead as he stepped out of his bedroom to wash up.

  “Ew.” Kora walked down the hallway, putting in her earrings. “Wear some pants.”

  “Okay. Go to work,” Modak suggested in response, but Kora just turned back to him and sighed.

  “I’m about to. Are you blind?” she asked. Now that she mentioned it, Modak noticed that she was wearing a dark gray pant suit. She looked totally different now than she did in her time off. And then, he remembered.

  “Ah … you’re headed out to Orianda till tomorrow or something, right?”

  “Yup. Was already on my way, but I forgot something,” Kora explained briefly as she walked to the living room, grabbing her bag from the chair next to the dining table. “Now seriously, wear some pants.”

  Modak quickly rushed over her, intercepting his sister before she could leave out the door. “Does that mean you’ve got that fancy company car standing downstairs?”

  “… Yeah? Why?”

  “You think you can drop me off at uni on the way? I wanted to go to the library for something,” Modak explained in a pleading voice, but Kora just scoffed.

  “Why? You got a cute little study date?”

  “… Have you never heard of NRU’s library before? That’s the most horrifying place for a date ever. No, I’m looking up some stuff for Ryan.”

  “Why, can’t he read?”

  “No, he can, obviously. But he’s still hurt, and I want to do something to help him out. Plus, he paid for all my drinks last night so I owe him one.”

  “Ahh, that’s why you smell like a liquor cabinet,” Kora sighed, looking up at her brother with a raised brow. “… You’ve got thirty minutes, exactly. If you’re not here and ready to go by then, I’m leaving without you? You hear?”

  With a broad smile, Modak rushed back toward the bathroom. “Thanks, you’re the best! Love you!” he exclaimed, making a small heart with his index finger and thumb while Kora just sat down on the couch.

  “You bet I am.”

  And so, Modak rushed through getting ready, jumping into the shower and scrubbing his body down as quickly as he could. Afterward, as he ran into his bedroom with a toothbrush in his mouth, he looked around to decide on what he would need to bring with him today. With foam at the edges of his mouth, he got dressed and glanced at his clock, then quickly jumped back into the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste. And in record pace, despite his immense headache that threatened to stop him every step of the way, Modak ran back toward the living room, where Kora was already waiting by the door.

  She looked at the watch on her wrist. “You ready to go?”

  “Yup.”

  “You don’t need breakfast?”

  “There’s a bakery out front by the library, I’ll get something there,” he explained, and Kora shrugged as she pulled the door open.

  “Fine by me,” she said, as Modak followed her out and pulled the door shut behind them. And as promised, Kora quickly dropped him off near the university library, and Modak swiftly stepped out of the car.

  “You’ll be back tomorrow evening, right?”

  “Yeah, around seven or eight if things go well. Will you be at work then?”

  “Sadly. Got late shifts today and tomorrow.”

  “Alright, don’t overdo it at the library, then. Take some breaks. And get yourself something to eat, alright?”

  “Of course. Drive safe.” Modak smiled, shutting the car door. Kora pulled out of the parking space and drove off as the young orc let out a slight sigh. Of course, as promised, he headed into the bakery and got some sandwiches, but he was still feeling a bit too sick to eat anything right now, so he just put what he bought into his backpack for the time being.

  And then, it didn’t take long for Modak to navigate the campus and make his way to the library. As he stepped inside, he took in that pleasant smell of paper together with a big cloud of dust. The tower-like bookshelves stretched out toward the ceiling. Modak walked around the many rows and looked up, searching for a certain individual.

  “Mr. … Stonebreaker … How can I … help you?” a voice asked from above him. Its owner descended from the ceiling via thread. Her mandibles rubbed against each other as she formed her words.

  “Oh, hello … how are you?” Modak asked, a bit taken aback. Arachnids were usually quite particular, but Aranea was probably the most sociable amongst the librarians, who were all scuttering about. They were sorting and retrieving the books, repairing them, and otherwise assisting the university’s students, professors, and researchers.

  Aranea’s mandibles rubbed against each other. “How can I … help you … Mr. Stonebreaker?” she repeated herself, and Modak slowly collected his thoughts.

  “Right. Sorry. I’m looking for information on a few things. The awakened class ‘Knight,’ the class ‘Spirit Keeper,’ spirits belonging to the concept of ‘Knighthood,’ ” Modak quickly explained. Being straightforward with the librarians was usually the best idea. Aranea began to flick the thread she was hanging from with two of her legs in a specific pattern.

  “Spot … Twenty-one … TI … K,” Aranea replied, turning around before climbing back up her threads. Modak made his way through the library, finding his row and the seat that had been assigned to him. He sat down on the chair and waited for a few moments, though it really didn’t take long for Aranea to arrive. Though, that didn’t seem like a good sign. Usually another librarian would come down to bring the actual books.

  Aranea quickly placed down an old leather-bound book in front of Modak. It was always quite a sight to see the librarians carry them, as their whole bodies were barely larger than the books themselves, so their eight thin legs were clutching them tightly. Though, there were a few librarians that were bigger, so they would bring the larger books when needed. But Aranea would only come out when the librarians had to talk to others; either to hear what books needed, or to tell them about some issue related to those books.

  “Nothing about … Spirit Keeper or … Knighthood Spirit,” Aranea explained, her eight deep black eyes staring into Modak’s. He already guessed that there would be nothing about Spirit Keepers here. Otherwise it would be a surprise that the Awakened Center didn’t know about them, but it was still worth a try.

  “I see … then do you have a catalogue of different known spirits and their concepts?”

  Immediately, Aranea pulled her body up by the thread again, without responding. A few moments later, before Modak could open the book he already had in front of him, one of the other librarians came down and placed a second book on Modak’s desk, and then disappeared a moment later.

  Modak pushed his hand into his backpack and pulled out his laptop, already a few years too old, and placed it on the desk as well so that he could take notes to show to Ryan later. The fact that there weren’t any books on Spirit Keepers and Spirits of Knighthood was a bit annoying, but he really wasn’t expecting much in the first place. However, the books he did have seemed interesting enough.

  One of them was a collection of different classes that had been noted down a few hundred years ago, and the other one was Spirituologist’s Journal as the author communed with a number of different spirits to properly categorize their magics and concepts. Of course, they were just copies of the original texts that were created by the different librarians over time. Original copies of a certain age and fragility were probably kept in a completely separate place. Either way, they were the exact books that Modak needed.

  He got as much information out of these as he could get, and then flicked the thread connected to the corner of the desk. In response, Aranea would come over as soon as she could, and Modak could request new books while the others were brought away.

  “Hm …” Modak muttered to himself. There were some more specific insights on the Knight class than there were online, so that was definitely worth it. In regard to other spirits, he wrote down whatever he could find about the ones with more unique concepts connected to them. A lot of spirits were more based around magic- or nature-based concepts, but there were spirits of specific types of magic or even spirits of specific kinds of combat, but nothing that really seemed to be related to knights or knighthood. That didn’t mean they didn’t exist, of course; rather, Modak knew they existed since Maximus was a thing. It just meant that they hadn’t been encountered often enough for that information to be noted down.

  As Modak was flipping through the pages of the book, he felt a tap on his elbow. Startled, he turned around and looked down at the perpetrator; a gnome.

  “Oh, Richie, how’s it going?” Modak asked in a low voice, and the fellow student across from him smiled.

  “It’s … going. You know how it is. What’re you reading up on?” Richie asked curiously, standing on his tiptoes to try and get a look at what the books Modak had actually were. Seeing this, Modak quickly closed the books and held them over toward Richie.

  “Just some stuff about spirits.”

  “And … medieval classes? What, did you awaken?” Richie wondered with a raised brow.

  Modak sighed lightly, “Well, not me, but a friend of mine.”

  “Huh … interesting. So it’s a really old-generation class, then? Those don’t pop up that often anymore.”

  “Right, you are a … Technomancer? That’s the youngest generation, is it?”

  Richie quickly nodded with a smug expression. “Yup, yup. A result of the digital age!”

  “I guess you don’t know a lot about older gens, then?”

  “Nope, sorry. Don’t really care too much about that,” Richie replied apologetically, and Modak let out a slight sigh as he leaned back into his chair.

  “Well, it was worth a try. So, what are you doing here? Doesn’t really seem like your … scene,” Modak pointed out. Technomancers tended to really be all about the newest tech and all that. That didn’t mean they didn’t read, of course. They were still a type of knowledge-hungry mage after all, but most of the time they would read through their phones or tables.

  “Ah,” Richie said, pointing behind himself toward the book-return box set up nearby. “I was bringing back a schematic book that I borrowed for reference.”

  With a raised brow, Modak looked down at Richie, an inkling of something coming to him. “For the robotics club, or just exam stuff?”

  “Robotics club. Our project the past semester was making robots for Power Duels,” Richie explained smugly, looking up at Modak with a slight grin. “Why? You interested in joining after all?”

  Modak sighed and shook his head, “Sorry, man. I really don’t have the time. But … Power Duels, that was that thing where you fight with miniature robots, right? Like on TV?”

  “Yup, we’re doing our final showcase this weekend. Well, it’s really just a small tournament, but both can be true.”

  A slight smile formed on Modak’s face. Power Duels were pretty popular a while ago, which meant some decades earlier. There was even a whole TV show about them, and even some cartoons where the kids fought far too extreme duels with those robots. But the way Power Duels worked gave Modak a certain idea. Seeing the orc’s expression, Richie was a bit confused. But Modak quickly revealed why he was smiling with a certain question.

  “Richie, do you think you could do me a favor?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Power Duels

  Alright, so, what’s happening?” Ryan asked, following his friends down the hallway.

  “Just calm down already,” Modak replied. “You’re so impatient.”

  “Dude, you texted us, told us to come to uni, and literally said nothing else. You expect me to not be curious? Do you know what this is about?” Ryan turned toward Silvia, who simply shrugged in response.

  “How would I? I got here like a minute before you.”

  Modak stopped in front of a door: The sign hanging on it simply read robotics club.

  “… You’re bringing us to meet your nerd friends?” Ryan asked with a raised brow.

  Modak scoffed and pulled the door open. “You’ve got a magical class, bud. You’re one of the nerds.”

  Ryan looked down at his hands, his eyes quivering in shock. “What have I become … ?”

  “Just shut up already.” Modak pushed Ryan into the room, and the three friends quickly stepped into the robotics clubroom. It was a fairly open space, and about half a dozen people were currently working on something or another. However, the center of the room was suspiciously open. Tables and shelves had been pushed to the side against each other to make space, and broad white tape sectioned off a square area. One of the people on the other side of the room quickly perked up as the door opened, and pulled the large headphones off his ears.

  “Oh, already here? That was quick,” Richie pointed out, pushing himself off his chair and moving over to the three guests, wiping his hands with a small towel hanging over his shoulder. He quickly stretched out his hand toward Ryan and Silvia.

  “Richard Snappertie, at your service!”

  Ryan raised his brow, shaking Richie’s hand. “Ryan Aglecard … sorry, but Snappertie, that’s … you’re the Technomancer, right?”

  “Yup, that’s me,” Richie replied, glancing over at Ryan as he shook Silvia’s hand as well.

  “Silvia Redhorn,” she introduced herself, and Richie looked up at her with a curious expression.

  “Redhorn? Are you somehow related to Yanna Redhorn?”

  “Yup,” Silvia replied with a smug grin, “she’s my older sister.”

  Surprised, Richie looked over at Modak and Ryan to see if he heard right, just getting a slight nod from each of them. Figuring that he shouldn’t press about this kind of thing, Richie quickly moved on, “Alright, so which of you two awakened?”

  Ryan raised his hand with a brief wave. “That’d be me,” he said, looking over at Modak. “Now, why are we here? Am I supposed to learn how to use magic from him or something?”

  “No, no, it wasn’t anything like that. The robotics club is working on—”

  “Hold on,” Richie interrupted Modak, looking at Ryan with narrowed eyes. “Magic? You … you awakened with a magical class? Ryan Aglecard, the guy that not even people from the martial arts clubs mess with … that Ryan Aglecard awakened with a magical class?”

  Silvia chuckled with a nod of her head. “You’re just as surprised as the rest of us.”

  “Shut up.” Ryan glared at Silvia briefly, before looking back down at Richie. “You know me?”

  “Of course I know you. I doubt there’s anyone at this school that hasn’t heard some rumor or two about you at this point. Gods, you made a hell of a mess during your orientation week.” Richie laughed, but Ryan quickly interrupted him.