Chapter 35

Food is good.

My burger tasted even better than I had hoped, and after mashing my avocados and mixing it with salt, pepper, and a bit of ketchup my fries were divine.

Eating my meal also gave me an opportunity to sort my mind out. Sadly I had to realize that most of my issues were emotional baggage from my family that I couldn't sort out. So I pushed it into the back of my mind. My father and his side of my family were planning to leave this world before the shit hit the fan, so there was no reason for me to dwell on any of that.

Beyond that I also realized that I had an incredibly large weakness to pretty women that showed interest in me. A bit of flirting and my mental defense seemed to be cut in half. For women like Karen, Caly, and Megan who were willing to follow it up with touching and kisses, I was a total push over.

Unfortunately I didn't realize any of this on my own. Delilah kept tabs on much of my internal dialogue and pointed out a few things to assist in my realizations. While it wasn't a terrible thing with Karen, Caly, and Megan who seemed intent on sticking with me, or were close enough to me that I didn't worry about them stabbing me in the back. Strangers like Grace, and all the other pretty girls I was likely to meet from here on, were a completely different story.

It was a sobering thought, and one I had no idea how to address. I already was a person who couldn't turn away from others in need. Add in my desire to impress pretty women and I was all set to become the biggest chump in the world.

While I didn't completely agree with the assessment, I also couldn't deny it completely.

Delilah also informed me that my ease of accepting Caly was pretty simple and a bit childish, but refused to elaborate as she felt I needed to figure it out on my own.

For a moment I had to wonder how Delilah as an elemental was able to understand so much about a fleshy's internal struggle, but she brushed it off and I had too much else to consider to worry about it.

The conclusions I came to by the time I finished my meal. Nothing. I could only go with the flow, and keep one of the girls I trusted by my side so it wasn't too easy for a pretty face to manipulate me. Was it necessary? Not yet, but it would be.

While everyone who was in the know was certain that the gate openings were going to cause the world to go crazy. Which would cause the governments to fall apart leaving those of us who survived to pick up the pieces and forge a new future. It was hard to believe. Even after having fought twisted and seeing a thirty feet tall elephant. Especially given the fact that I was sitting in a restaurant and had paid the bill with my debit card. Everything still seemed so normal.

It was tomorrow, the bad day my mother had warned me about, that worried me. One bad day was all it took to turn everything on its head. I wasn't sure how, but I was certain that tomorrow would be a game changer. Thinking back to the message my mother had me give to the Wallous family butler, I was certain there would be four gates opening tomorrow. I had no idea when they would open, but I was sure that it was those openings that would change everything.

With my head back on straight, or at least close enough I returned my attention to Caly who was frowning unhappily as she tried the makeshift sauce I had made for myself. It was easy to tell she didn't like it. Not that I was surprised. The moment I had added ketchup to the mix most people I knew called me weird, and less pleasant things. I personally liked it so I didn't care.

"Try using just the ketchup." I suggested.

Caly looked up at me warily but did as I said. Her face brightened shortly after and she went back to munching on her fries.

I noted that she had already devoured all of her burger, the extra pickle spear that came with the meal and was well on her way to finishing the fries. While I had already eaten everything on my plate it was still a surprise to see a girl eat so much. Knowing Karen and Megan as I did I was sure the pair would split the same meal and complain of eating too much while leaving a few fries on their plates.

I shook my head at the random thought.

My phone went off. I looked at it to see that Karen had sent a new text. They had finished at the store and would be over to pick us up in a few minutes.

"They are on the way." I told Caly.

"Not done yet." Caly replied simply then stuffed another fry into her mouth.

I chuckled then leaned back. I was sure we had a few minutes before the others arrived so there was no need to rush her. Besides there wasn't much left for her to finish. A couple minutes later and she swallowed the last of her meal. She gave me a happy smile. "That was really good." she told me.

I wanted to ask her how it compared to the food she was used to eating but a wave of energy flowed over me. I had gotten familiar with the sensation. A gate had opened.

I felt my body begin to draw in the mana released from the gate. I didn't expect there to be any issues so I had no way to resist the moment my body stiffened from shock as electricity began to course through my veins.

My mind immediately withdrew into my inner core as my body continued to be wracked by electrical shock turning me as stiff as a board.

With my consciousness shifting to my mana core I was still able to feel the pain and felt stifled by my immobile form, but I could ignore it much like I did the lava in my veins feeling I had previously experienced. I also knew how to handle it. I quickly drew in the mana from the edges of my core and relieved the pain to a degree, but not completely. No matter how hard I worked to draw the energy into my core, it seemed to just flow in like water through a sieve. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing but it was unexpected. This energy from this mana wave didn't respond the same way as it had during the other gate openings.

Then my first ability flashed, a lot sooner than I had thought it would. As soon as it had it began to draw in even more energy. Soon after more of my abilities began to flash as they absorbed enough energy to form extra wisps within themselves.

I was getting excited as my abilities all began to flash as they leveled up then my mana heart that floated in the center of my mana core flashed. It had never done that before, no matter how many wisps it formed. Then the pain that the electrical current created as it flowed through my body increased by a hundred fold and my mind blacked out.

I opened my eyes to find myself sitting exactly where I expected to be. Apparently the electrical current that caused me to stiffen had the unintended benefit of keeping me in my seat. Caly was still sitting across from me looking at me with eyes wide with fear and disbelief. "Is that what a gate opening is like?" she asked, her voice trembling.

I shook my head. "That wasn't what it was like before. It hurt, but it was like fire in your veins, not electricity." I told her. "And not so intense."

"Well that was interesting." Delilah commented.

"Kind of scary." Enya added.

"Um, where am I?" A third female voice asked.

Caly and I followed the sound of the voice and noticed a third elemental had appeared floating just behind the other two. She had a similar figure and skin tone as Delilah and Enya, but with long glistening silver hair, and dark grey eyes. She was wearing a loose but conservative white dress while silver feathery wings spread out behind her.

"Air elemental?" Delilah asked cautiously.

"Yes." the new girl replied. "Where am I?"

"My homeworld, which is currently going through an awakening." I replied trying to sense the elemental. I could vaguely feel her, which made me certain that I had subconsciously summoned her, but there was no bond between us.

"Ah I see, so this is an accidental summoning. You must have just reached the third level in air." she said, giving me a smile. "Congratulations."

"Did you have air before?" Caly asked me.

I shook my head. "Just fire and shadow." I replied. "Must have manifested after I passed out."

"Is passing out normal?" Caly asked.

"The first time, but I didn't pass out during the second opening." I replied.

"So you have no idea?" Caly asked.

I shrugged then looked to Delilah.

Delilah frowned as she seemed to consider it for a moment, then her eyes widened in understanding. "Check your mana cores." she told us.

I was about to do just that when my phone rang.

Fear ran down my spine as I remembered that Micheal and the girls were supposed to be driving over here. Did Micheal pass out too?!