38 Goodbye

The room was getting rowdier by the second with people trying to vie for Layla Palmer's attention. And hopefully getting this chance to drink with her. The owner of the building saw the disorder and immediately hushed everyone. She walked towards Lucas as she wanted to know what was wrong. She was quite offended by the fact that Lucas had just spat out the beer that everyone knew and loved.

"Kid, is there something wrong with the beer?" The owner said in a sweet and friendly voice.

Lucas looked at her and said, " No, nothing is wrong, it's just that this is my first time drinking beer. I didn't expect it to be so bitter. But now I see that that is the joy of it."

The owner openly laughed and while smacking Lucas's back repetitively. It wasn't meant to hurt but she had no control over her strength. So with every slap Lucas's back arched more and more downwards. She then said," Yes that is the joy of it. Be a man and drink up. Look your girlfriend seems to have no problem with the drink," After that, the owner walked away and went back to overseeing the restaurant.

Lucas stretched out his back as it was aching after the repetitive slaps. But he was worried as to what he was going to do now. He could not drink the beer and damage his mana channels, but neither could he openly offend the owner and everyone in this room... Lucas discretely told Layla Palmer under the noise of the discussion happening in the room, " there is something wrong with this beer. I felt something off happening to my mana channels when I swallowed a bit. That's why I spat it out. Don't drink this beer."

Layla Palmer was about to take a sip but then she slowly removed the mug from her lips, swallowed air and then put the mug down on the table. She then said, " Are you sure?"

" Yeah, I'm 100% sure. It is weird, why has no one noticed? Despite the number of people here."

" I did not notice either and I had a sip of it. Do you think my mana channels are weaker now...?" Layla Palmer said with fear and sadness.

" I don't think so, you have gone through the trial by fire so your body is a lot stronger now. Also, I think it's when you drink a lot that the damage becomes noticeable, that is if you looking for it..."

Layla sighed in relief, " Great, then I won't drink this beer anymore!"

" Yeah, that would be advisable."

" Should we tell the owner about the effects of her beer?"

" NO! Definitely not, I'm sure someone else will notice and eventually tell her. Besides, I don't know if this is intentional or not. Also, this might not be the only place with bad beer. As such it's best to leave it as is."

" Okay, if you say so... Anyways this was a bust. Now that we can't drink beer anymore what happens next..." Layla Palmer said.

" Just leave the beers on the table, I'll deal with the repercussions. It will probably be a bunch of people teasing me anyways."

With that Layla Palmer stood up and then Lucas did. They were just staring at each other for a minute straight. Neither of them sure what to do... They knew this was the part where they supposed to say goodbye. But the words just weren't coming out their mouths. It was like trying to bring up a bolus in the oesophagus that wanted to go down the stomach. They just stood and looked at each other for another minute.

It was then that the restaurant caught on about the strange events. The whole restaurant turned quiet as they looked at Layla Palmer and Lucas staring at each other without uttering a word. Eventually, Lucas awkwardly extended his hand and said, " Thank you for everything."

Layla Palmer looked at his hand and then looked at Lucas, and then at his hand and then at Lucas again. After looking at Lucas the tears in her eyes began streaming. She had a flashback of what happened, all the emotional roller coasters she went on. First getting transported here, then almost suffering a fate worse than death. To hide in sewage scared she won't make it out alive. To arrive in a forest, where she ate the best food she had ever tasted. This is where she found herself. Where she used to be hunted by the monsters in her mind and outside. Until she gained strength mentally and physically to fight them.

All this happened because Lucas guided her correctly... She owed him her life and as much as she didn't want to leave. She respected his wishes because she knew Lucas did not make decisions lightly. Layla Palmer looked at Lucas's hand one more time but then instead of shaking his hand she walked closer to him and hugged Lucas tightly. Lucas wrapped his arms around her too and hugged her back.

Everyone inside the restaurant breathed deeply when they saw what was going on. It was odd. After 3 minutes Layla Palmer let go of Lucas so Lucas let go of her. She looked at Lucas and then kissed him on the lips. She gently took a hold of his hand placing something inside it. She slowly started walking out of the restaurant holding his hand and still looking at Lucas until his arm couldn't extend any further. So she slowly let go of his hand while turning around, and then walked under the lintel of the door. She waved at Lucas and said bye then walked out of the shop.

Lucas watched as she left. And he wasn't happy that she was leaving. He himself found that he developed feelings for her. To make matters worse, Layla Palmer kissed him. His heart was bleeding but yet at peace. On fire but all so cold and lonely. But he could not act on these emotions. A relationship in this stage of his life will only serve as a hindrance for him. He was unsure of how to do life himself how could he bring someone into that. Also having to protect someone while trying to protect yourself. Later he would be annoying a lot of people and to get to him they will go for his loved ones. In that regard, it was a blessing that in this world Lucas was an orphan too.

Lucas knew Layla Palmer would be alright. She had the money to get into the Academy of her choosing. Lucas gave her the treasure box to store some gold he gave her. Now that the Thea was level 3 he had could now use her dimensional space to store his items. Which he did, he took out all his treasures and left some gold for the registration as well as gold for her to live and eat.

Lucas rubbed his eyes quickly and sat down. He took deep breaths to regain his composure. He no longer cared about formalities like making the owner feel like her beer was worth something. He immediately called for the bill.

When he did five massively built men stood up and sat next to him filling up the table. They looked at Lucas slowly. Trying to size him up. This time the room didn't go silent as people were whispering to each other. Trying to guess what was going to happen next.