Belonging (2)

"I want to know the common sense in the first district. You can extend the usual schedule by an hour," I went through my head.

"Increase basic etiquette and manners by an hour?" Luke misunderstood.

"I want to know about the basic dangers in the first district. Everyone else seems to know as if they were common sense. It could help me avoid them in the future," I explained.

"I can try teaching you for a few sessions," he was hesitant.

Maybe Alex recommending him to do the same thing helped. After finishing the regular schedule the next day, Luke pulled out an empty notebook. My eyes glittered with great expectation as I worked harder than usual to get to this part. Oddly, Luke began to draw Sprinkles on the first page. The sensitive Venus flytrap whose greed for bugs never ended. I always stood at least one meter away from that thing when Ethan forced me to help feed it.

"Isn't this just a harmless plant?" I was confused.

"You can mistake this for a plant from the third district since it has a similar appearance. However, it is an egg for a potential familiar in the first district. It is considered to be dangerous even before it hatches. Only those with a certain expertise can raise and tame it. Otherwise, many people have died from a single encounter," Luke explained.

"Is this a rare plant?" I wondered.

"It should be hard to encounter. These eggs are an endangered species," he finished drawing.

"Have you ever seen it before? What do these plants usually eat?" I didn't believe him.

"The Enchantres family seldomly lets others see their familiars. Many things are unknown," he surprisingly revealed.

"You're making a big deal of things again. As long as you feed this sensitive plant, it behaves nicely," I recalled.

"You've seen this egg before?" Alex dropped his book.

"I've been feeding it for years, starting from elementary school," I went through my memories.

"I'm disappointed in you guys. There was even a time I had to babysit this plant for an entire week in elementary school," I grimaced.

"It's not a plant Rika," Luke hung his head.

"It is a plant. A very sensitive plant that is always hungry for more food," I hated Sprinkles.

Ignoring these two idiots who believed everything, I began to call Ethan. Thankfully, Ethan immediately answered the call like usual. Hiding Luke and Alex from the camera, I directly asked, "is it true that Sprinkles isn't a greedy plant but a potential legendary familiar?"

"Does Sprinkles look like an ordinary plant to you?" Ethan was offended.

"Sprinkles was exactly that when you forced me to take care of her sometimes. Isn't it your weird hobby?" I was confused.

"You seriously didn't know?" Ethan was surprised.

"By the way, where do these odd plants come from?" I wanted my own.

"Legends say it originally came from the other dimension," he recalled.

"You should have told me this before. I think I can get a friend for Sprinkles. I have enough experience to raise my own anyways," I could ask Micah for one.

"What? There's more to it than you know- ." Ethan was cut off when I ended the call.

My eyes lightly sparkled as I wanted my own familiar. It was on the road to become a cheat character. I placed my annoying marble that kept on vibrating into silent mode. There was the possibility to use my dimensional library when I ran into any troubles later on. And I always wanted a pet, feeling lonely when confined inside a mansion with barely any good company. I unconsciously grinned, having many great ideas flowing into my head.

"At least Rika knows how dangerous the egg is now," Alex tried to console Luke.

"You want a familiar for yourself," Luke noticed.

"I want a pet. I think I can raise it better than Ethan," I excitedly nodded.

I didn't care what answer Luke gave me. If he didn't allow me to openly raise it, I planned to do it behind his back anyways. Maybe Luke knew my thoughts, he ordered me, "you're sleeping with me starting from tonight. You're not ready to take care of another living being."

"Is it fine if I interrupt you guys?" My dad knocked on Luke's door.

"Yes, please come inside," Luke closed his notebook.

"Would you like to join us in watching a football game together tomorrow? Evan managed to get some tickets from his school for four people," my dad offered.

"August can look after Rika in your place. She can make sure Rika won't leave the house," he added when they seemed reluctant.

"I'm afraid we will have to decline. I have to tutor and feed Rika during the day," Luke used me as an excuse.

"It's only for four hours, including the travel time. It wouldn't be bad to take a break once in a while," my dad was oddly insistent.

"I promise to eat everything on my own. I can go through the workbooks during that time too," I equally wanted them gone.

"It's not like you don't trust my mom to take care of me, right?" I hinted.

"You're only going to eat cake and snacks as your meal," Luke was stuck in a corner.

"I won't. I can swear to you I'll finish everything you slice for me," I pushed further.

"It's fine, we understand," my dad seemed extremely disappointed.

"If her mother follows everything I instruct, it may be possible," Luke gave into him.

The next day, I danced inside my heart as Luke and Alex reluctantly left me behind in the house. Although they looked at me every few seconds in between, it wouldn't be able to continue soon. Maybe it was due to nearly being glued to me these days. My mom was stunned when she received more than one hundred pages from Luke on how to take care of me. Her fingers slightly trembled as she quickly skimmed through the file. I planned to throw it out when she wasn't looking later. It was rare to have four hours of freedom to do anything I wanted.

"Nobody follows it," I whispered once Luke and Alex were gone.

"He wrote this by hand," my mom was impressed.

"It's too much," I peeked at the document.

"He is a bit too strict on you. I'll let you do whatever you want for the next four hours," my mom agreed.

"This really means a lot to me," I hugged her.

I skipped to my bedroom, a place almost resembling a storage room. Unfortunately, last night, Luke attached my bed together with his. I clenched my fists as he didn't trust me enough to allow me to sleep by myself. It was obvious he was thinking I would summon Micah to purchase a plant when left alone. This was why my only chance was now, and I called for Micah. I smiled when Micah walked into my room, not wasting a single second to ask him, "I want an egg to hatch my own familiar."

"I can give you one for four hundred Memors. It's common for young fairies to raise their own," Micah agreed.

"I want a cool one," I lifted my wrist towards him.

"You can get the familiar you want based on how you raise it before it hatches," he took the payment.

My eyes glittered as Micah passed me a Venus flytrap inside a small pot, able to fit inside my hands. I could do some research later to get to know how to raise a legendary familiar. The most important part was hiding this from Luke and Alex. I let Micah leave as I pulled out a book from my dimensional library. Skimming through the table of contents, I stopped when I found the topic I wanted.

[12. How to Raise an Egg]

[12.3 Elements and Diets]

[12.31 Earth – Bugs]

[12.32 Fire – Fire]

[12.33 Water – Pure Mana Spring Water]

It was obvious the fire element was the easiest to raise out of the twenty different types. There was no disgusting or hard to procure food. I could easily place it inside a fireplace or use my mana to feed it fire. The key part would be that it was the easiest to hide since it didn't have many demands. To make sure it wouldn't attack me, I instantly mumbled a spell to give it some fireballs. My eyes widened when it opened its mouth, greedily gobbling the fire. From now on, this plant's name is Sparky.

I stiffened when my phone began vibrating, the call coming from Luke. I immediately hid Sparky inside a cabinet and answered after I ran to Luke's room. There was a high possibility Luke would turn back to return to the house if I didn't answer. It was always like this, frequently checking up on me whenever we were separated. I rolled on his bed as Luke's face appeared on my screen. From studying the scenery, they were still inside the car.

"I'm resting," I showed him.

"Remember to eat dinner a few hours later. I'm going to call you one more time to make sure you finish everything. I also want you to finish at least one chapter in the workbook by the time I return," Luke reminded me.

"You can call me or Alex when you don't understand a section," he endlessly repeated.

"I get it. You told me this over a thousand times last night and in the morning," I was annoyed.

I sighed after ending the call. I had no time to follow his instructions when I had to take care of Sparky. Using my dimensional library, I quickly cheated my way through to finish the chapter. Once I threw my workbook to the side, I opened the cabinet, finding Sparky behaving well since she was full. I needed a better place to hide her. I searched the house until I realized I had to plan how I would take her with me to the first district.

This was depressing, knowing my first pet would get confiscated upon its discovery. Unfortunately, I knew Luke disliked cute animals and other small furry creatures. Our mansions and villas were barred to prevent them from coming inside like the bugs. Prior to joining the ancient artifacts club, I had touched a kitten inside the art club before. I frowned from remembering Luke wiping my hands and other places I made contact for over three hours.

"I don't want you near these creatures again," Luke grimaced.

"The kitten initially looked pitiful," I found him being harsh.

"I trust you not to touch them again. If you break my trust, you can spend your free time with me from now on," he warned me.

"Do I have a choice?" My hands slightly shook.

"You have a choice whether to listen to me or not. However, there are consequences to the wrong decision," he was merciless.