[Walter Ignis's POV]
…
Standing in front of the mirror, my eyes look closely at the scene in front of me. The face was mine, yet I couldn't believe it. The short bowl cut and those deadpan eye bags around my eyes. With one look, anyone can tell that I haven't slept for ages.
'Was that all a dream?' I thought as I looked around the clean yet cheap bathroom of the shabby apartment where I was living. My mother died a long time ago, while my father, who somehow got caught up with the loan sharks, was now paying their bills by working in the same High School where I am supposed to study.
"Breath Walter! We need to be calm about this situation. Let's start from the very basic,"I calmed myself, as I always did. My eyes turned around to look for the things.
Trash. Sink. Mirror. Lightbulb. Power Socket. Plastic. Electricity.
I counted the things which I can use properly around me. It shouldn't be impossible to check if it was all a dream or not. Though I really hope it wasn't one.
I began removing my shirt as I closed the dirty sink and turned the tap on, while I broke the external wire circuit and carefully placed the open wire into the sink. I was careful enough to turn off the plug so that I may not end up electrocuting myself.
Once all that was set, I needed to find an object to transfer the energy to. And I placed the trash can opposite to the sink with me in between them. Once that was done, I closed my eyes as I recalled the phrases of the 'Book of Arcanist' which I received as one of the things when I ascended. It was part of my Gift: Theurgy that allowed me to create spells keeping the laws of Theurgy in mind.
-Click!
I switched on the electricity source while keeping the water an inch below the upper level. Placing my hands just barely above the sink, while keeping the other towards the trash can…
"Albei Recato: Eria ttore Feie(Oh World Creators: Turn this electricity into fire).... Nilterie brust(And burn this unsightly object)"
-BOOOM!!!!
Almost spitting against the sink, I was thrown towards the mirror. My body hit the mirror as I body shattered it, breaking it into pieces. While I did touch the water in the sink, because the entire area was short-circuited, I didn't get electrocuted.
Falling on the ground, I felt a pain in my entire body. Perhaps a couple of my bones were shattered as well…. But…
"Pfft hahaha….. Ow ow ow… ha ha… ha.. It hurts," I spoke as I couldn't contain my smile. It was all true. It wasn't a dream… Thank god… I have a chance to change my entire future…
'Future, huh?' I thought as I recalled what the future held for us. Pain and suffering.
"WALTER!!!" I heard a shout from outside the apartment, as I woke up from my daydreaming. From the voice, it was perhaps the landlady.
'She doesn't sound really happy,' I thought as I slowly stood up from the bathroom. My body was hurting, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Slowly I stood up from there and walked outside the bathroom and as I reached halfway to the outer room…
"Huh?!" I saw my vision blurring as I fell to the ground. Did I overuse my energy? Or was it blood loss? I didn't know. I could still hear the knocking on the door. It was getting louder… but that was the least of my concern…
*****
"HUH!!!!" I took a deep breath before a churning pain entered my chest as I started coughing. The more I coughed, the more it hurt, before a hand helped me, comforting me from behind as I finally gained my composure. It was only then that I realized that I was in a hospital and the one who was helping me was the nurse.
"Hey! Breath easy. You are fine now,"I heard her sweet voice as I turned my eyes at her. My eyes reached her face, and she was… beautiful. She had black eyes and short hairs that reached up to her shoulders. Her face is too cute and too precious… My cheeks turned red as I observed her helping me out.
Looking at me dazed like that, she chuckled a little as she took a step back.
"You okay?" she asked with the same smile, and I nodded.
"Looks at you, fool, smiling like an idiot like that. Do you know how much it costs to treat you? Shouldn't you thank me for once?" spoke the aged lady on the other side. She was the landlady of the apartment where I lived.
"Thank you landlady," I bowed politely as I looked at her with pure sincerity. It wasn't just the thanks for bringing me to the hospital, but to provide shelter to me and my father by giving us her apartment at such a cheap rate. Without her, we might never be able to survive in this dog eat dog world.
For a few seconds, she just stumped there for a bit. Her eyes grew confused as she asked,"did you hit your head or something?"
Her shock was pretty much expected given how I used to be bitchy in front of her, being ungrateful and shouting at her since I couldn't fight the bullies in my school. In fact, she was the only outlet I had for my frustration and anger.
"Is this what I get for being polite for once?" I spoke with a slightly irritated tone, making her sigh in relief before she got irked out again. "You cheeky brat!" she spoke as she stood up, getting closer to me as she was about to hit me.
"Hitting a patient? Elders these days have no respect for the youngsters. Tsk! Tsk!" I spoke, and it kinda fumed her a little as her eyes threw daggers at me.
"Pffft~" the nurse, amused by our exchange, just looked at me with a keen look. Her eyes smiled a little before she wrote down the numbers of my heart rate and other things before finally leaving from there as she waved at me.
"So. Brat. Tell me honestly. Were you the one who caused the power to burst? The entire area's power was gone,"She spoke as she observed me with a deep look and I asked,
"What's the damage?"
"None. Because the entire area was gone, it became a government problem. They said it was an overcharged fuse burst. They just need to replace it. Electricity should come back by the evening," she answered without hiding anything while keeping her eyes on me.
"A successful experiment. I might really be able to pay my father's debt now and also give you the Real rent of the apartment from now on,"a bright smile appeared on my face as I looked at her, making her narrow her eyes at me before she asked,
"It's nothing illegal, is it?"
I shook my head as I spoke,"It's more of a shortcut, but nothing is illegal. Oh! I am not gambling or anything as well."
From my words, it should have been clear that I won't tell her what it is. But I made sure to try giving her a surety of whatever I was going to do was going to help me in the right way.
"The loan sharks won't be happy," Landlady spoke with a sad look, as she knew that it was them who placed me and my father in this position. We were a part of their money making workers. Losing us means losing a source of money.
"It's okay. I have thought about that… so I am going to ask help from a certain someone whom I can put my trust into,"I spoke as I looked at her with a calm smile and she observed me confusion.
"Who?" she asked with slight curiosity in her voice.
"A friend of mine. Michael Aroa," I spoke as a warmth filled my chest as I stood up from the Hospital bed.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Landlady almost reached me as she stopped me from getting off the bed. Though I slowly stepped up. Even though the pain was there, as long as I was careful, it didn't hurt me.
"I will be going to the Libra Building," I said as I looked at her and she was a little shocked.
"The building where the richest of the richest live…. Just who is this friend of yours?" She asked with real curiosity now. Though I couldn't bring myself to answer that… Even I had limited information about Michael. The only source being George.
"Return home safely, Landlady. Next time we meet, I might become unrecognizable…" I joke as I move out of the room leaving the Landlady standing there confused.
Taking my steps towards the lift, I first got down to the ground floor, where I went to the same nurse who had just been taking care of me. She was near the reception, talking with the receptionist.
"Hey! I am checking out,"I asked, and she nodded as she spoke,"Okay. Your money is paid while your condition is good enough to take care of yourself. Be careful not to hurt yourself, okay?"
I nodded at her before she helped me do the paperwork before getting out of the hospital.
With the little money I had, I haggled my way with a cab as he finally accepted to drop me at the Libra building. Though he didn't believe that I was going there, since he accepted the price, he drove me there.
Getting out of the cab, I found the same Libra building where I stayed for a couple of months with George and the others. It was nostalgic.
"Here to meet someone?" I then heard a familiar voice as my eyes turned around, only to find a red-haired guy standing there with a curious smile on his face.
"George?" I smiled back with a surprise.
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