Chapter 80: You Will Lose, Zara
"Sure." Ren was startled, but he agreed right away.
Then, they took several pictures with her smartphone, changing positions each time. When he saw the results, a faint smile spread across his face.
They turned out great, but he could still see her shy expression in each photo, especially in the one where they were holding hands.
It was so cute, to the point that a desire to embrace her suddenly arose within him.
After that, they continued talking.
Unlike before, he kept holding her hand during their conversation.
Even though she was thrilled, his actions made her feel shy since there were several people around them.
At 09:30 pm, the duo went home.
Like before, Ren kept holding her hand.
He didn’t let it go as if there were glue between their hands.
After they arrived home, he walked her to her room.
Ren reached for her other hand and said softly, "Good night, Elara."
"Good night, Ren," Elara replied shyly.
To her surprise, he suddenly moved closer to her and pressed his lips against hers.
’Hmm?’
Her eyes widened in shock.
But in the next second, her surprised face melted away, replaced by a shy, yet happy expression.
Once he broke the kiss, Ren looked at her lovingly. "Have a nice dream."
"You...you too. Have a sweet dream." Her face was as red as a tomato since he had just kissed her.
After he headed to his room, she opened the door and lay down on the bed.
She grabbed a bolster pillow and hugged it tightly when the memory of their kiss suddenly flashed through her mind.
’We kissed again.’
Her face flushed red once more.
The moment she recalled their time at the street vendor, she sat up and took her smartphone out of her pocket.
She went through their photos one by one, slowly and carefully.
When she saw the picture of them holding hands and smiling softly, the words from the elderly cashier and stall owner came to her mind.
’We really do look like a couple.’
Her heart fluttered as a soft smile spread across her face.
’Should I set it as my wallpaper?’
She immediately shook her head.
They were not officially a couple yet, so she changed her mind right away. She placed her phone on the nightstand and lay on the bed.
’Ren...’
She embraced the bolster pillow tightly once more.
At the same time, Ren was checking the photos with a smile on his face. Elara had sent the pictures to his phone, so he also had them.
’She is really cute.’
Once he was satisfied looking at it, he slept.
----
The moon set and the sun rose.
After helping Sylvie in her coffee shop for an hour, Ren and Elara traveled to the Aether Organization together.
To their surprise, they saw Lily and David sparring in his private training ground.
But what surprised them most was that there was also Cassandra there. She was talking with Virelia and watching their spar casually.
David stopped attacking Lily the moment he spotted them. "Ren, Elara, you have come. You two ar-ugh!"
Before he had finished his words, he was sent flying by Lily’s fist.
David pointed his index finger at her and roared. "Lily, why did you hit me? I was greeting them."
"We are in the middle of a spar. It’s your fault for taking your eyes off your opponent." After saying that, Lily rushed toward Elara. "Elara, you have come."
"Un." Elara nodded.
David rose to his feet and approached Ren. "Ren, we kept pinging you in the group last night. Why didn’t you reply?"
"Well, I was sleeping." Ren lied.
David looked at Ren suspiciously. "Why do I feel like you are lying to me?"
"I’m not lying. By the way, you are early today. Is it because you want to train your innate ability?" Ren changed the topic.
"I was not early. You are the one who is late." David replied. "Look! It’s already 08:30 am now."
Ren glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Oh? I didn’t notice it."
Cassandra walked toward them and said, "Alright, today you guys will spar with each other. I will observe and give you feedback later."
"Alright." Lily and the others answered in unison.
"Instructor, can I skip it?" Ren asked.
Cassandra wanted to know the reason. "Why?"
"I got two spell books two days ago. I want to try mastering it." Ren didn’t tell her where he got them.
"Sure." Cassandra agreed right away.
"Thank you," Ren replied.
"Little brother, let’s play a game." Virelia tried to take advantage of the situation.
Ren turned to her. "What game?"
"If you can master one of them before sunset, I will grant you a wish." Virelia raised her right index finger. "But if you fail, you give me one. How is it? Do you dare?"
"I accept your challenge." Ren agreed right away.
Virelia’s lips curled up into a smile. "You can’t take back your words."
She already regarded herself as the winner.
Sure, she knew he was not an ordinary awakener, but mastering magic in just half a day was a different story.
Even a genius needed a few weeks to master Basic-rank spell, so from her point of view, it was impossible for him to win the bet.
Elara shifted her gaze to Virelia.
’You will lose, Zara.’
She knew Ren would master it before sunset because he had done it once before.
"I won’t." Ren had seen the formation, so he was confident he would not lose.
"Ren, it’s not too late to change your mind now." David also doubted him.
"Don’t worry about it. Just focus on your training." Ren pushed David away.
Cassandra touched her chin as she paid attention to him carefully.
’He looks so confident. Is he sure he can do it?’
A question flashed through her mind.
Unlike Virelia, she didn’t doubt him completely.
But at the same time, she was not sure he could do it either. She was somewhere in between, because she knew he was not an ordinary awakener.
’Well, we will know about it later.’
She led Elara and the others to the center of the training ground.
"Alright. Today, Elara will spar with David, and Zara will face Lily." Cassandra spoke and paused for a second before she continued, "But I want all of you to spar without transforming into your beast forms. I want to see your real skills."
"Alright." They agreed right away.
As Cassandra was observing their fighting skills, Ren headed to the stone chair and sat on it.
He chose to learn the Lightning Bolt first as it was the easiest.
’Alright. It’s time to study this.’
In an instant, his focus was fixed on the manual.
The wooden gazebo, the hot spring, and everything else suddenly faded into the background, as if nothing existed but the pages of the book in front of him.
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes became hours.
Maybe it was because he was a genius, or perhaps because it was only a Basic-rank spell book, but for some reason, he found it surprisingly easy to understand.
He only needed to read it once to fully understand everything as if he were going through an elementary school textbook.
While Ren was studying the Lightning Bolt spell, far away in the Nexus Organization, Axel and his lackeys were busy snitching on Ren’s group to a grown man in mage robes.
His hair was as black as ink, and his eyes were as blue as the sea. The name of the mature man was none other than Ryven Blackthorn, a 4-star mage and Axel’s group instructor.
Since he hated people from the Aether Organization to the bone, he was easily swayed by their words.
He believed everything they said, as if he were under the influence of magic.
"So they stabbed you in the back and used a potion to weaken you?" Ryven’s eyes burned with anger as he listened to their story.
"Yes, instructor." Axel lied. "I was already injured after fighting the boss monster, so I could not defend myself. Otherwise, I would not have lost."
"That’s right," Jax added. "They are so evil. We made the most contribution in the battle, and they were not happy about it. That was why they stabbed us in the back right after we finished the quest."
"Not only that," Luka said, "They even took our space rings."
"What?! They also took your space rings?" Ryven’s anger grew even stronger.
"Yes, instructor," Vito replied. "Please help us get justice. Or at least help us get our space rings back."
"Hmph! They really are beasts in human skin. I’m sure they awakened beast class because their personalities are just like beasts!" Ryven stated. "I will report this to our leader. Don’t worry. You will get justice later."
Even though he wanted to rush to the Aether Organization immediately, he didn’t do that since he needed permission from their leader first.
Axel and his lackeys smiled happily. "Thank you, instructor."
"Go back and train now. I will head to the leader’s office." After saying that, Ryven left.
Axel clenched his fists as he thought of Ren.
’I will humiliate you and get you expelled from the Aether Organization!’
----
Aether Organization, Ren’s Private Training Ground.
’I think I fully understand it now.’
When he was about to use the Lightning Bolt magic, Virelia and the others approached him.
"I’m tired!" David walked slowly in exhaustion.
"You are so pathetic!" Lily said. "How can a jaguar be weaker than an eagle in physical strength?"
"Shut up!" David yelled. "You are not an eagle. You are a gorilla in disguise!"
"Do you wanna die?" Lily raised her fist.
Virelia walked toward Ren and asked with a playful grin, "How is it, little brother? Have you mastered it?"
David and the others turned to him, waiting for his answer.
