Once Again

After making himself comfortable on the bed, Veer addressed his girlfriend, "My situation is different."

"As if," Elara snorted. "Let me guess, you're looking for a way to impress Aunt Freya using the Dormitories, right? And that's also the reason you took responsibility for the Second Dormitory, right?"

Veer wasn't even surprised and simply nodded. Elara was the only person who knew him inside out, so there wasn't any point in hiding anything from her. She would easily guess or simply ask for the truth.

On the screen, Veer saw how Elara's expression changed as she looked down. "You're not the only one who needs to prove himself, you know."

Veer was surprised to hear that but then laughed out loud, "Oi! Don't tell me you're going to give me that long speech?"

"Kill yourself!" Elara hissed at him, but she continued. "Fine! Forget the speech, I'll be honest with you. You have too many enemies, whether it's because of me or simply because your existence is trash, but it doesn't change the fact that many people want you dead."

A smirk formed on her captivating lips as she continued, "Since I'm with you, they'd surely try to take advantage of me, oh yeah, like those novels you sometimes wrote."

Veer coughed awkwardly as he remembered the days he had to write top brain-rot novels just to earn money. He really wanted to erase those memories...

"Anyway, I'm not some weak girl always waiting for your help. Heck, you're even weaker than me, so there's no point in that," Elara continued to throw jabs at Veer. "I need to be powerful and influential enough to help you, not drag you down, idiot. So yeah, I'm also working hard here."

Then she remembered something, and a strange look appeared on her face. "As for Lily, she's really weird. I don't even know what to say, but she gives me a dangerous feeling. What I mean is she won't be a burden to you."

Even if Elara tried to say her words in a playful way, Veer saw right through her. He sighed, thinking, *She's insecure about her future, huh. What an idiot!*

"Silly girl, do you truly think you guys would ever be a burden to me?" Veer asked. "You know damn well I'm only working hard for you; otherwise, I would have already..."

"Alright, alright, I understand," Elara looked away, raising her jacket collar a little higher to cover her cheeks. "Let's just work hard together so we don't get left behind and become a burden."

Knowing nothing would change her mind, Veer shook his head. He then leaned back slightly and asked, "How did you even become a leader so quickly?"

"Oh, that? Since Lily picked the First Dormitory, I went to the second and punched the boss there. Boom! I'm the new boss," Elara even showed her fist to demonstrate. "Though Lily just went in and became leader naturally."

Veer was speechless, wondering what was wrong with this world. Was it really so easy to deal with matters if you have strength?

Well, in a way, strength could solve many things.

"Good for you," Veer sighed. "For me, it's just the leader being tired, so they shifted responsibility to me, saying if I can conquer you two, I can definitely lead the dormitory."

This time, Elara was speechless. She looked sideways and asked, "Forget these matters; tell me, have you decided on which path you're going to take?"

Veer hummed, taking out a packet of chocolates. "I am going for Battle Mage."

Not surprised by his choice, Elara asked, "You sure?"

Veer nodded and said, "I've got myself a rather good Mana Circulation Technique, so I'll be practicing that."

"Ho!" A mysterious glint passed through Elara's eyes as she caught on to something in his words, but she didn't ask about it.

She just nodded and said, "Good! I'll be going the warrior path, and Lily has decided to be a mage. Well, no surprise there, I guess."

The two talked for some more time, even adding Lily to the call. They just joked around and enjoyed each other's company.

Even though they knew their phones were different from normal people's, they still didn't trust them with their secrets.

After half an hour, Veer bid farewell to the two and began to wonder if he should continue his Mana Circulation Technique or not.

Shaking his head, he stood up and once again sat on the wooden floor. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and gathered the Mana.

Going through the first Mana Vein was easier than before, but the pain wasn't any less. Still, he persisted and finally managed to reach the end of the first Mana Vein, where he changed the Mana flow to the second Mana Vein.

The change was a tough point, creating small explosions in his body as sweat dripped from his forehead. Gritting his teeth, he endured it and tried to finish.

Unfortunately, the pain and pressure grew too much for him, and he coughed up, dispersing the Mana he had so carefully gathered.

Now, he was back to zero.

Still, he didn't give up and tried once more, but only after studying his mistakes in previous tries. They were very important and helped him improve for the next attempt.

He failed again.

But he tried again.

Then he failed again.

In the span of a few hours spent holed up in his room, Veer forgot the number of times he had used the Technique, becoming a madman with a relentless drive to succeed.

This was Veer Ainsworth, a complete madman when it came to something he was interested in.

Unfortunately, even then, he didn't succeed. After hours of practice, he lay in his sweat, still wondering where he went wrong the previous time. He had tried everything and even made he didn't repeat the mistakes, but he still failed at changing from Third Mana Vein to fourth Mana Vein.

He tried to focus on his mistakes again, however his tired mind gave up and yielded nothing in return.

"Guess it's time to hit the bed. I can't be like this forever, can I?"