The light from the windows said a lot about the time.
Scarlett had left Luke for classes. He was alone in his room, revisiting his adventure with Amigo.
Something told him he was treading water.
"Damn it. The trials begin today," Luke hissed at his own negligence once he remembered.
Before he could jump out of bed, the system appeared.
〖Current Era: Protocell〗
〖Your Astral Tortoiseling has evolved to Predatory Cell!〗
〖Armored Cell | Colonial Cell | Filament Organism〗
〖Current Form: Filament Organism〗
〖Elapsed Time: 500,000 Years〗
"Half a million years already?" Luke whistled. "My buddy’s really putting in the work. I wonder... if he dies, does he restart a step back, or is the trial over?"
"The progression might be fast, but I had to go through so much just to figure out the right path for Amigo. I wonder if Scarlett has made any progress with her beast besides feeding it resources."
Luke had a lot of questions about mythic beasts, but for now, he couldn’t miss a very important day at the academy.
As soon as he arrived on campus, Luke kept his guard up. He was ready for any ambush because he wore his uniform over the Bluespine Centaur Chestplate.
He didn’t trust Adrian’s "indefinite suspension." Adrian was the Duke’s heir. A punishment like that could disappear at any moment if the right people got involved. His brother might even be watching him now from any window, so Luke stayed alert.
While walking to the classroom building, Luke saw a scuffle in an alleyway. A clique of freshmen was bullying a meeker student. They cornered him against the wall while their summons snarled around him.
"Alright. Stop it right there," Luke said. He didn’t think himself a hero, but he had no tolerance for cowards who picked on the weak.
To his surprise, he was ignored. The lead bully only looked him up and down, then returned to his business.
"What the hell?"
Luke stood there in the aftermath of disrespect.
Back when he was a freshman, he would never have dared treat an upperclassman with that kind of attitude. The kids these days were growing wings.
He would teach them a lesson, but he was going to give them one last warning.
"I am not going to speak a second time," Luke said, placing his hand on the lead bully’s shoulder. "Back off."
The freshman felt the power behind Luke’s grip. He thought everyone said Luke Kingsley was just a deadbeat, so what was this aura he felt?
"Whatever, man. You’re a freak anyway," the bully muttered, shrugging Luke’s hand off his shoulder before he and the rest of his crew walked away reluctantly.
Unbeknownst to them, another student had already reported the scuffle to Camilia, who arrived just in time to block the path.
"Your IDs. Now," Camilia demanded angrily. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."
The bullies lost all their bravado. With their heads hung in shame, they handed their cards over.
"Do not take their actions to heart, Luke. They don’t know any better yet," Camilia said, walking up to his side. Then, she looked at the victim. "And you, you’re safe now. Head to class."
The boy thanked Camilia and scurried away. His summon was a living scarecrow, which explained why he was an easy target to pick on.
"You really fit the role of an administrator, Camilia," Luke remarked.
"And you fit the role of a tardy cat, Luke Kingsley."
"Nope, I wasn’t late," Luke lied. "I just came over here to help the boy."
"Nice try," Camilia replied. "Lady Scarlett already told me that you were fast asleep when she left the fortress.
Which reminds me, I have a question. Did you and her perchance sleep in the same bed together last night?"
Luke scratched his head in confusion, wondering why on earth she would ask that. But he didn’t see any point in hiding it.
"Yes, we did. Is there a problem with that?"
"No problem," Camilia replied, looking around the neat campus. "I am just surprised. I thought that kind of ’activity’ was reserved for older, and more importantly, married adults."
"Wait, you haven’t had—"
"I will handle the punishment for these bullies later," Camilia interrupted, holding up the IDs. "Also, the trials are starting soon, and there are only a few slots left. Do you need me to help you find a party?"
"Thanks, but I already have a party," Luke declined.
With nothing left to say, he waved her goodbye and continued into the building. Meanwhile, Camilia stayed behind, watching every step he took.
"How did a goof like him manage to trap Lady Scarlett’s heart?"
RING -RING- RING
The bell rang for dismissal before Luke could even get to class. Students started piling out, discussing their grades and the latest challenge.
〖Congratulations! Your Astral Tortoiseling has successfully survived an era!〗
〖+5000 XP〗
〖Current Era: Symmetry〗
〖Your Astral Tortoiseling has evolved to Gelatinous Drifter!〗
〖Your Astral Tortoiseling has evolved to Flatworm!〗
〖Current Form: Flatworm〗
〖Elapsed Time: 6,000,000 Years〗
"Six million years just to go from a cell to a flatworm? Talk about a turtle’s pace indeed."
"At this rate, it’s going to take an eternity just for him to get his legs back. Keep grinding, little guy. What do you know? Five thousand XP is five thousand XP."
Lost in his thoughts, Luke bumped into someone whom he perceived intentionally wanted to bump into him too.
It was none other than Scarlett.
She looked him up and down with a neutral face. A loser might think she was sizing them up with disrespect, but on the contrary, someone of Scarlett’s standing wouldn’t even look your way if she didn’t care.
"You are late, Luke," she said. "You might as well have stayed back in bed, and I could have met up with you later."
"Yes, about that," Luke replied. "Why didn’t you wake me up before you left? I overslept because I was dreaming about us."
"..."
Luke slapped his forehead in his mind. That was a horrible execution. Scarlett looked at him like he was running on one bar of WiFi.
Luckily, she wasn’t used to hearing that sort of thing, so any game at all works. Scarlett blushed against her will, looking away.
"I thought you just needed more rest to recover from the attack. But if that dream was your reason for oversleeping, then it’s a good thing I didn’t wake you up all the same."
Meanwhile, jealous students walked past them in the corridor, stealing glances. They looked untouchable, like the perfect couple everyone expected. Yet, some hoped they would break up one day, while others wished for something worse to tear them apart.
The problem was Luke. Almost nobody believed he deserved Montclair’s queen
"Is our plan to be teammates for the trials still in place?" Luke asked.
Someone from the crowd interrupted before Scarlett could answer. It was Vivian, with Raven next to her.
Vivian hugged Luke like always and checked if he was alright.
"Since you guys are talking about teams, I need to remind you that you promised to join mine. That means we will be one party for the trials."
"The four of us?" Luke echoed, looking at Vivian, Scarlett, and then Raven. He frowned when his eyes landed on Raven.
After everything that had happened, Luke almost forgot Raven was his sister. It had been an eternity since they last had a conversation, and she hadn’t even checked up on him after Adrian’s attempt on his life.
He bowed to her, more of mockery than reverence.
"Oh, great Lady Raven. Do I need to kiss your boots today just because you graced me with your presence? Why do you agree to team up with me?"
"I haven’t agreed to anything," Raven scowled. "I only wanted a duo with Vivian. A four-man will limit individual rewards."
"Don’t be fixed on that," Scarlett said. "A duo gives a 25x multiplier on the leaderboard, while a full party gives 100x. Even if we sacrifice a bit of personal growth, a full party guarantees we stay at the top of the ranks. Besides, even Rake Cooper is putting together a four-man team."
"Leave it to Raven to be selfish," Vivian muttered out of the side of her mouth.
"Selfish?! I am only looking out for you, Vivian. Rake Cooper even asked me to join his team, you know?!"
"Hmph! Nobody asked," Vivian scoffed.
While his sisters argued, Luke felt someone walk past him. Her body brushed his back, and her hair mopped his arm.
Quickly, he grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. The girl spun around. It was Lucy Blackstone.
Lucy had yet to make any progress with her beast in over a year. She was like a walnut, strong on the outside, yet vulnerable on the inside.
Maybe Luke’s elite team could help her catch up.
"Hello, Lucy. Will you join our party?" Luke asked nicely.
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