35 Friends...? (2)

While Erik and the others kept talking, the young man had problems talking to others due to his personality. Years of abuse made him what he was today. From the cheerful person he once was, now he was somewhat distant toward others but tried to sound as polite as possible when talking to other people to avoid looking weird.

Erik didn't say much during the other three conversations, but listening to them was refreshing. They talked, unaware that some people were looking at them as if they were freaks.

"Look at them," Karl, Nathaniel's friend, said. "They are treating him as one of their buddies," he added.

"Why do you care?" Natasha said.

"Are you joking? He had a trashy power until a couple of days ago, and now he is not trash anymore just because he can do some small cuts?" Karl said.

"Yeah, that's one of the perks of being an awakener, I guess," Natasha replied.

"He still is the usual trash! Didn't you see that he couldn't follow Professor McAllister's explanations properly?"

"So what? The little prick is an awakener," Natasha added.

"Say something, Nathaniel!" Karl said.

"About what?"

"Weren't you listening?" Karl asked.

"I don't usually listen to your bullshit, Karl."

"Auch!" Natasha said while laughing at Karl, who instead made a puppy face at Nathaniel.

"I was talking about that guy, Erik," Karl said.

"Ah, the plant hugger?"

"See?" Karl said while looking at Natasha.

"Amber is eating with him..." Karl said.

"You know well I don't give a shit about what that bitch does," Nathaniel replied. He then turned to look at Erik from a distance and said, "Besides, trash is still trash..."

"See? He agrees with me!" Karl said to Natasha.

"Whatever..."

***

After completing their lunch, the students began their training again; it was time for their sparring session, which Erik couldn't join since he lacked the skills. Instead, he kept practicing the Kyokar fighting style while the others were busy sparring.

The young man observed the other students, noticing something weird: Nathaniel, who usually behaved like a prick with the others, here had a more passive behavior.

Erik attributed this to the fact that, despite being the strongest in school due to his power, he wasn't much better than the other top students in terms of martial might.

He also thought about Anderson; he had Bρ2C, which was equal to Nathaniel's in terms of mana capacity. However, since his power was volatile and hard to control, his rank was only C on the Jorm scale.

Still, the damage it could do was vastly more significant than Nathaniel's brain crystal power, and the latter didn't want to mess with him in the open.

Nathaniel didn't have a good character, and his reputation wasn't excellent either. He basically felt superior to everyone, with Amber and Anderson being the only exception. However, not being the strongest in unharmed combat made his blood boil. He was furious due to Amber.

She could release her corrosive gas quite far from her position and kill individuals covertly; the gas could destroy even buildings. Besides, she was Caiden Joyce's daughter; messing with her was bound to be problematic.

"Focus, Erik!" Professor McAllister said, bashing him on the leg.

"Yes, sir!" Erik answered.

After a while, the training ended, and he was approached by Amber, who had just finished sparring with another student, winning.

"How did it go today?" she asked with a huge smile.

"Uhm… Good…" he replied, unsure how to take that approach. However, his mind was a turmoil; it was clear she was only trying to get friendly with him because of his status.

Yet, that wasn't bad; having someone to watch his back, even if it was for selfish reasons, was still better than nothing. Besides, Erik thought that, given her status and willingness to be friendly with him, he could also take advantage of her.

"Good, I'm glad," she replied. Then after a short pause, "By the way, how come I haven't seen you using your power?"

"Oh, uh... Well, Professor McAllister told me that I should focus on learning martial arts first."

"That makes sense. You're pretty weak," she said.

"Yeah... I know..." Erik replied, not with a tint of annoyance in his tone.

"Don't worry; you will improve soon with Professor McAllister's help."

"Is he that good?" Erik asked.

"He is. See that guy over there? He couldn't even throw a punch at the start of the year," Amber said while pointing at a young student.

"But I don't have a year to learn. Military school starts in September," he said, but he knew that with the system, he would become better than them.

"That's why you should focus on your martial arts," Amber said.

***

Later, in front of the school's premises, some cars were waiting for the young students, and Erik spent some moments looking at the vehicles without saying anything. The cars were floating over the ground, probably sent by Floyd's, Gwen's, and Amber's parents.

Though, Amber noticed Erik's gleaming look. "Is there a problem?" She asked.

"Not at all. It's just that I thought that I needed to get to the train station as fast as possible. Or I will lose the train."

"Do you need a ride?" Amber asked, making Gwen and Floyd look at her incredulously; she never did something like that for other people.

"Oh… no… thank you, I don't want to bother you…" Erik said, but that was just acting. In truth, he wanted to see the car.

"Oh, c'mon, there is no problem at all, Erik," Amber replied.

"Uhm… well, if you say so…"

"C'mon, hop in!"

They both said goodbye to Gwen and Floyd and jumped into the car. The driver didn't ask questions when the young girl told him to go to Erik's house.

Erik had never been in such a luxurious car; Benjamin's couldn't compare. He felt uncomfortable sitting there with Amber because he knew why she was doing all this.

The car had every possible comfort available, some to show opulence; the roof had a starry sky projected on the ceiling, some parts encrusted with diamonds, and there were a holographic screen and a champagne bottle.

The interior was full of black leather and gold trimming, everything seemed expensive, and Erik knew that the price of these things was astronomical.

He and Amber talked a bit during the travel, mostly about school life, which he wasn't very comfortable sharing due to his situation, but he did a little nonetheless.

When they got closer to his house, the car stopped in front of the door, and the two students said goodbye to each other.

Erik then went inside.

<This has really been a weird day. But I guess I can at least say telling I Awakened it is already bearing its fruits…>

Erik went directly to the kitchen to make himself something to eat; what Amber gave him during the day wasn't much, and he was starving.

He prepared dinner and then took a shower. After that, he relaxed a little before starting to make new neural links.

He concentrated on the task at hand for several hours; manipulating mana to make the neural link wasn't simple, and he understood why it took months for people to make them and why people usually stopped at a certain point. It was tricky, more complicated than he had ever imagined.

Erik felt the mana circling inside his body; the feeling was weird but natural at the same time; as he focused, he found out he had already developed a new neural link, probably related to the sharpening power.

The system probably established it when unlocking the unknown thaid's power because he didn't notice it until now.

As he kept practicing, he focused a little more on the mana inside his brain, and once he did, he started to feel something else, a weird feeling that increased in intensity as he channeled mana from the crystal to the brain.