Chapter 252: 252 : Opening Shop and Increasing Harem Members XXIX
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Fizz tried. He tried very hard. He tried the way a starving man tries to convince himself that a single crumb is a feast. He floated in front of John’s face on the walk to class and whispered about "historic hatch day snacks" and "the sacred duty of buying pastries" and "the spiritual health of newborn creatures." He even tried to bribe John with the promise of not arguing for a whole hour, which was an illegal promise in Fizz law.
John still did not celebrate.
He walked like a person carrying a glass cup full of something dangerous. He kept his steps steady. He kept his face neutral. He kept his mana above the line in his chest that his instincts had drawn.
Inside him, the bond-thread with Nyx was still new.
It felt like a thin wire under his ribs. Not painful. Just present. A reminder that something existed in the dark behind his reality, waiting, listening, learning.
Fizz drifted beside him as they moved through the academy halls. "You are thinking too much," he said, mouth full of confidence. "That is my job."
John answered without looking at him. "Your job is to make noise."
Fizz gasped, offended. "I make strategic noises."
John did not argue, because students were passing. Teachers were passing. Doors had ears in this place. The academy smelled like chalk, ink, and ambition, and ambition always listened for secrets.
They reached their first class of the day. John sat. Fizz hovered low and behaved for almost five minutes, which was a personal record. Ray Flame arrived late, yawning like his body did not respect schedules. He sat on his bed of arrogance at the back and pretended the world owed him silence.
John listened. John wrote. John did not think about Nyx until the bell finally ended and the room emptied again.
Only when they were alone, back in their dorm room, did John lock the door and let his shoulders lower slightly.
Fizz turned in the air and landed on the desk like a professor who had just finished a lecture. "All right," he announced. "Now we test the vacuum bug."
John frowned. "Do not call it that."
Fizz blinked. "But it is a bug. And it vacuums."
John set his satchel down and opened the window a crack. "We test quietly."
Fizz nodded solemnly. "Quietly. Like thieves. But with snacks later."
John sat on his bed, placed his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes.
He reached inward.
The void answered.
The mana platform appeared in his mind like a small island. The dark around it felt endless, but not wild. It felt structured now, like the void had accepted that John was building something inside it.
Nyx was there.
Curled in a tight shape at the center of the platform, like a seed that had learned to sleep with its own shadow as a blanket.
John did not touch it immediately. He watched for a breath. He felt the bond-thread. He felt the anchor. He tasted the way mana drained just to keep the platform stable.
His mana was not collapsing, but it was not free either.
He had been right to fear letting his reserves fall to zero.
He whispered inside his mind. Nyx.
Nyx uncurled and stood.
It turned its head toward him, direct again, like it was already used to the idea that John existed as a constant.
Fizz’s voice floated in from the real room, muffled by John’s focus. "It is staring at you again."
John ignored him.
He sent a simple command. Move.
Nyx moved.
It walked in a clean circle around the center of the platform, as if checking its borders again. Then it stopped and waited.
John sent another command. Show me what you are.
He did not know if Nyx understood the meaning of that. It was a human request, not a beast order.
For a moment, Nyx did nothing.
Then it tapped the platform once with its head and stepped backward, like it was making room.
The system chimed in his head, calm and precise.
[SYSTEM Notification-
Entity Status Window: Void Ant (Helper Type)
Name: Nyx
Bond: Active
Anchor: Active
Stability: Moderate
Growth: Early Stage
Core Functions Unlocked:
1. Void Collect: Gather small debris, mana residue, and weak void fragments.
2. Digest Convert: Convert gathered material into Clean Void Essence.
3. Compress Carry: Store converted essence safely in internal void sac.
4. Residue Trace: Sense and follow void-touched signatures within short range.]
Passive Skill:
Silent Judgement: Low-intensity pressure that causes discomfort to targets with hostile intent.
Warning: Nyx is linked to host void signature.]
John’s eyes opened in the dorm room.
Fizz was floating three inches from his face, eyes wide with greedy curiosity. "Tell me everything," Fizz demanded. "I can see the word judgement in your face. That sounds like a job title."
John spoke quietly. "It has skills."
Fizz puffed up. "Of course it does. Everyone has skills."
"Its useful to me," John said. "They are very good. Not like some snack lover."
Fizz nodded like that was reasonable. "What. Eating snacks is a skill too. A snack is social status. A snack is destiny."
John ignored the nonsense and focused on the important part.
Void Collect. Digest Convert. Compress Carry.
This meant Nyx was not only eating trash.
It was processing.
It was making something useful out of something useless.
And it could sense void-touched signatures.
That made John’s chest tighten slightly.
Because if Nyx could sense void, it could sense him.
If Nyx could sense him, maybe others who dealt with the void could sense Nyx, once she is outside.
Snake. The royal office.
People who hunted rare things.
John did not speak that fear aloud. He only said, "It can carry void residue. It can convert it into a clean essence."
Fizz stared. "So it is a vacuum ant with a stomach."
John’s mouth twitched. "Yes."
Fizz leaned closer. "Can it vacuum my money problems?"
John looked at him flatly. "No."
Fizz sighed like life was unfair. "Fine. Then it can vacuum dirt. We (Fizz and Nyx) can earn money by cleaning."
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