"Thank you, Mister Middleton," Erik replied with a half-embarrassed smile. "It wasn't an easy fight, but I managed to pull it off in the end."
"It wasn't an easy fight? Hahahaha, Erik, there is no need to be humble with me; I've seen many students here at the Red Palace through the years, and I know when someone is holding back his strength!"
Erik smiled awkwardly. He wasn't used to such compliments.
"I was watching from the sidelines, and I have to say, you handled yourself very well," Martin complimented. "You've come a long way since your first day here. Your growth was remarkable," the healer added.
Erik nodded, feeling proud of his progress. "I've been training hard, trying to improve every day."
"I can see that," Martin said with a smile. "Oh, Erik, I also wanted to apologize for what happened with Nathaniel the last time; it was my duty to stop him."
Erik's expression grew somber. He appreciated Martin's apology, but the incident with Nathaniel had nothing to do with him. He nodded his head in acknowledgment of Martin's apology.
"I appreciate your concern, Mister Middleton," Erik said. "However, I must clarify that Nathaniel's behavior was not your responsibility. Besides, everything went well in the end, so there is no need to apologize." He added.
Martin nodded understandingly. "All right. Now, I have some matters to attend to. Take care!" the man said.
Erik smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Mister Middleton. Have a nice day!" Erik waved goodbye and continued walking towards his destination, grateful for what the man had just said.
As the man left, Erik went back to browsing the vending machine. He finally decided on a bottle of water and inserted the coins.
"Well, I should be getting back to my room," Erik said, grabbing the bottle from the machine.
After sipping some water, the young man left the building, walking briskly towards the bus stop to head to the Red Palace. He and the others decided to meet at the cafeteria to have dinner together, but he needed to meet Amber first since she told him she had to talk to him. Then he took a sip from the bottle and realized that it was warm and tasted strange. Erik sighed and thought he should have gone for the soda instead.
He hopped onto the bus, swiped his card, and sat down. After a few minutes, the bus pulled up to the Red Palace's stop. Erik stepped out and walked towards the entrance, scanning his ID card to enter. He went to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.
Erik stepped out into the familiar hallway leading to the student's apartments as the doors opened. He quickly pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Amber, letting her know he had arrived.
Just as he was putting his phone away, he heard a voice calling his name. He turned to see Amber walking towards him; her red hair had grown significantly longer during these months and swayed as she walked, but he only noticed this now.
"Hey!" Erik said. "It's great to see you again," he added with a smile.
"Hey!" Amber replied, but she wasn't that happy for some unknown reason.
"Were you waiting for me?" Erik asked.
"Yes, actually. There is something I must talk to you about," she said with a slightly angry tone.
Erik noticed this and immediately asked, "What?"
"You know it well, Erik," the girl said sternly.
"Seriously, I don't know what I did that upset you so much…" Erik replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible. "Can you please tell me what's bothering you so we can work it out together?"
Amber frowned but then looked Erik in the eye and said, "You left the Red Palace yesterday!"
Then, Erik understood what was the problem. However, he couldn't tell the others that he was going out because of the Crystal Cross gang, as they would have for sure asked to go with him, and that wasn't possible. Besides, what would he have told them? That he went out to search for information about a guy he planned to kill?
"What were you thinking?!" she said, her tone stern. "You can't just leave like that, Erik. You know the risks, or did you forget what the Crystal Cross gang tried to do to you?"
Erik facepalmed and wondered how Amber had learned he had left the Red Palace. He knew he had to devise a convincing excuse, but he couldn't think of anything that would satisfy Amber's curiosity. He took a deep breath and tried to compose himself before answering her.
"I had to take care of something," Erik said defensively. Amber raised an eyebrow and gave him a skeptical look. "Something more important than your safety?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What was so important that you had to leave the Red Palace alone? You should have told someone," Amber said, her voice rising. "We could have helped you."
"I know you would," Erik said, but he wasn't regretful for what he did. "I'm sorry, Amber. I didn't mean to worry you, but I couldn't ask you all to come with me, not after everything that happened. This is my problem," the young man added. However, this worry was a little bit weird, and he took a mental note of it.
"This is not your problem alone, Erik; this became ours once they tried to kill us all inside the forest!" Amber said, shaking her head. She then sighed, "But I'm just glad you're okay." Looking at Erik in the eyes worriedly, she said, "Promise me you won't do something like that again."
"I promise," Erik said, but he wasn't sincere, as he knew that he had to take care of this matter, Achim's matter. "I'll make sure to let everyone know next time…" He didn't want to lie to her, but he had.
Amber let out a deep breath, the tension in her shoulders easing. "Good," she said, smiling at him. "Now, let's go grab something to eat. The others are already waiting…"
Erik smiled back at her, grateful for her concern. "Sure thing," he said, and they walked toward the cafeteria together.
Along the way, Amber came up with another question. "So, have you already found a tuxedo for Tuesday's party?"
Erik paled. He totally forgot he promised Amber to go with her to the party her family was throwing on the 18th. He didn't have anything to wear.
"Ah…" Erik could only say.
"What. Don't tell me you forgot…"
Erik shook his head. "I didn't forget," Erik lied. "It's just that I haven't had the chance to look for one yet. Do you have any recommendations?"
"You forgot!"
"NO! Seriously, let me expl-"
"You forgot."
Erik sighed; there was no reason to keep lying. "Guilty," he said in the end. Amber facepalmed, then looked at her friend and said, "So, you have nothing to wear?"
"No…" Erik said it awkwardly. Amber rolled her eyes and said, "Typical guy." Amber sighed. Her friend was an idiot.
"But to be honest, it wasn't my fault! I had a lot of things to do during the past week, and it totally slipped my mind!" The young man tried to defend himself but unsuccessfully.
"I will handle your formal attire. Just do not forget about the party! My dad will send a car to take us all," Amber said. The young man nodded, feeling grateful for Amber's help. Honestly, he couldn't wait to see her in her formal attire at the party.
"The others are coming too?" Erik asked.
"Yes, did you believe I would only tell you?" Amber was slightly surprised and hoped he asked that because he wanted to go alone with her. Her stomach fluttered a little bit as she thought this.
"Right, right… Well, at least I will have someone to talk to…"
That evening went on like that. Erik and his friends spent a lot of time eating at the cafeteria. All the physical exertions they did during the day needed a lot of energy, so they were forced to eat a lot to keep their bodies in tip-top shape.
However, they spent a lot of time chatting; Amber didn't tell the others he had left the Red Palace the previous day, and Erik and his friends had a lovely evening. It was a rare moment for the awakener; before the biological supercomputer, he was alone, with no friends and family, and he was bullied and beaten. However, he now had many friends who cared about him a lot and even risked their lives to protect him.
It didn't matter that they only became his friends after he obtained the system, and he wasn't so picky as to abandon them because of this. They probably had their reasons to stay away from him previously.
As for Aaron, his friend didn't really get better after what happened to his father, and to be honest, the others were a little bit worried as he started behaving strangely. Not only was he increasing his training time a lot and spending less and less time with them, but Anderson said he heard him muttering something worrisome, something related to a guy named Grimes.
Erik's friend hadn't connected the dots yet, but it wasn't hard to figure out who this Grimes guy was. Allan's father and New Alexandria's chief of police. Erik hadn't seen Allan since they came to the Red Palace and didn't know how he was doing there. However, judging by the fact that he had a rare power that allowed him to manifest electricity through his spear, things weren't probably going wrong for him.
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