VOL 2 Chapter 39: Master Jessica.

"But I really want to develop this prototype, and working there will give me opportunities to meet interesting talents for the future development of my brand..."

"Please, Erik, you have enough funds in those rings to finance the creation of that device several times over, so stop being stubborn and use them already. Besides, if you want talent, a single word from you is more than enough. The galaxy is crazy about you now that the latest edition of the university journal has been published; I even heard it has achieved a sales record not seen in two centuries."

Sigrún commented, annoyed by her beloved disciple's stubbornness about using the family's money. At that moment, Eleonora added, already feeling somewhat offended by his constant refusal.

"Yes, Erik, you're going to make us feel bad if you don't use the family's money and keep treating us like strangers."

"It's not that I treat you like strangers; it's just that I didn't earn that money myself, and I really want to see how normal researchers work..." Erik commented, somewhat uncomfortable as his body sank into the flexible and soft bodies of his masters, to which Sigrún replied angrily.

"Don't you have our assistants? Use them for your research."

"Damn!" Erik felt as if struck by lightning when the word "assistants" was mentioned, so he quickly turned to look at Seraphina and asked, almost panicking.

"Seraphina, how much time is left before my deadline for the assistants expires?"

"Young master, actually, due to your recent publications in the university journal, the council has decided to grant you an extension of five more years for your two licenses. In a few days, you will receive the official communication regarding this." Seraphina responded with a beautiful smile on her face, which allowed Erik to let out a loud sigh of relief, then commented in a thoughtful tone.

"...That's a relief, but I'm back where I started; I still don't even know where to find good assistants..."

"Fufufu, we already told you, just say the word, and they will flock to wherever you call them." Eleonora commented in an amused tone as she adjusted her head more comfortably on her beloved disciple's shoulder, who replied in a somewhat uncertain tone.

"But if I do that, all kinds of people will come, and it'll be a mess to know if they're trustworthy or not..."

"You're right about that, but it's a good way to gather people; afterward, you can test them out. That's how I discovered Valeria. Besides, with the blood contract, they can't do much to you." Sigrún commented in a soft and relaxed voice, a cheerful smile on her face as she slipped one of her cold hands under Erik's jacket to warm it.

"That's true; maybe I should try it..."

"Well then, Seraphina, inform the director that Erik is very busy today and won't be able to attend the meeting." Eleonora commented cheerfully as she imitated Sigrún and slipped her cold hands inside Erik's clothes, to which the perfect maid nodded professionally.

"What do you two think you're doing spoiling your disciple like that?"

Suddenly, a melodious voice was heard in the garden, although none of them turned to look at her. After all, they knew perfectly well who it was from the moment she arrived and simply continued with their activities, ignoring her.

"Mind your own business, Thalia; this is a family matter and doesn't concern you." Sigrún commented irritably, still with her eyes closed and without the slightest intention of moving from her comfortable spot, to which the beautiful redhead replied in a strict and accusatory tone.

"Hmph, what kind of masters are you if you're teaching your disciple to skip his appointments, especially with the director?"

"Erik is busy today, so go tell the director that the meeting can't happen today; it will have to be rescheduled for another day."

Equally annoyed, Eleonora commented from her spot, while she softly traced Erik's well-defined torso with her fingers, without the slightest intention of turning to look at Thalia. Thalia was floating in the air with her arms crossed, an exasperated expression on her face.

"Well, that's not going to be possible, because it turns out the meeting isn't just to talk about the work the director proposed to Erik; Master Jessica also wants to meet him." Thalia retorted angrily as she looked at the pair of troublemakers who seemed to lack even a shred of decency, which inevitably drew the attention of the pair of beautiful women.

"Jessica is here?" Sigrún turned to look at Thalia and asked, evidently surprised, to which the beautiful woman in the air nodded, then explained in a serious tone.

"Yes, for some time the director has been in talks with her to officially join the faction, and one of his objectives is for her to give advice and guide Erik a bit with the non-affinity fighting style. Apparently, they've already reached a preliminary agreement, but she wants to meet Erik first before deciding."

Upon hearing Thalia's explanation, Eleonora and Sigrún released their beloved disciple with some reluctance, then settled into their seats and adjusted their appearances, at which point Eleonora commented elegantly.

"Then I suppose there's no other choice; let's go to the meeting, Erik."

"Alright, then I'll go get ready; I won't be long."

Erik nodded in understanding, then quickly went to bathe and get dressed, feeling genuinely curious about whom this "Master Jessica" might be and what she could teach him about fighting without affinities.

After a while, Erik returned to the garden, now dressed in the elegant white university uniform, where he found his masters and his personal maid waiting for him, while the red-haired Master was nowhere to be seen.

"You look very handsome." Eleonora commented with a smile as she approached him upon noticing his arrival, at which point Sigrún added cheerfully.

"Yes, the uniform suits you a lot, hehe."

"You both look gorgeous as well." Erik commented with a smile, which made the pair of Masters smile cheerfully. They quickly came to his side, along with Seraphina, who stood professionally behind her young master.

At the same time, a beautiful and intricate magic circle formed beneath the group, which, after a few moments, teleported them in front of an impressive jet-black door with an astonishing amount of finely carved runes all over its surface. It stood at the end of a wide corridor with floors resembling black marble, its left side decorated with all kinds of artworks and sculptures. The right side was a panoramic glass, offering a bird's-eye view of the entire landscape of the main city of Planet University.

As Erik looked around with curiosity, the enormous doors before them opened by themselves, revealing on the other side an impressive meeting room, where the director was seated at the head of the table, accompanied by Adrian and Thalia, who were sitting to his right and left respectively. Meanwhile, on the left side of the table sat a beautiful woman who seemed to have an aura of innate power and dignity.

The woman had a serious and emotionless expression, which could not hide her extreme beauty and charm. Her perfectly styled ash-blonde hair was short, reaching near her shoulders, framing her delicate and fine features that seemed sculpted with millimetric symmetry and precision.

Her skin was a color similar to white roses, while her eyes, of a penetrating and captivating light gray, held an almost mesmerizing glow charged with power. This was accentuated by the elegant and intricate dark blue tunic she wore, featuring complex geometric embroideries in what seemed to be threads of gold and silver.

"It's a pleasure to see Master Jessica after such a long time." Eleonora commented with elegance and distinction upon entering the meeting room, as she took a seat at the table, sitting across from the beautiful woman, who responded with similar mannerisms.

"It is equally a pleasure to see the most famous Masters in the galaxy once again."

"Well, allow me to doubt that, since you seemed to be hiding from us, Jessica." Sigrún added with a slight challenging smile on her face as she sat at the table, also facing the woman and placing Erik in the middle between her and Eleonora.

"It seems Sigrún still has trouble respecting her elders." Jessica commented with a small smile on her face, at which point a beautiful blue flame began to flicker in Sigrún's hair, while a defiant smile appeared on her face as she commented.

"Hehe, why don't we test how useful your seniority is, old witch."

"It wouldn't be bad to check how good those perfect synergy affinities of yours are."

Upon hearing Sigrún's challenge, Jessica smiled elegantly and responded calmly, although a monstrous pressure began to emanate from her body, so powerful that it even caused slight discomfort in Erik—something that inevitably caused Seraphina to narrow her eyes and start looking at Jessica like prey, which magically caused the pressure on the star-haired boy to vanish as if by magic.

"'Having nothing only means I can have everything', right? Hehe, even my disciple can say that you just want to seem important by throwing out a cool phrase." For her part, Sigrún retorted with arrogance and amusement, which caused Erik to glance at her sideways, sighing somewhat defeated after being thrown into the fire like that.

Upon hearing Sigrún's taunt, Jessica's expression could not help but twist slightly, though almost imperceptibly. She looked at the handsome star-haired young man who, since he sat at the table, had been jotting things down in a notebook he pulled out of nowhere, ignoring almost everything happening around him.

Meanwhile, Seraphina, who was standing behind Erik with an elegant expression, offered a plate of cookies to her young master, who smiled at her and took one, then returned his gaze to his notebook to continue jotting down his ideas. But at that moment, Jessica commented in a neutral and hard-to-decipher tone.

"It seems your disciple has an interesting interpretation of my words."

Upon hearing her, Erik looked up, only to find an elegant smile on the beautiful woman's face, which exuded a feeling of restrained anger that made his hair stand on end. He could only smile elegantly, then nod slightly in greeting before returning to write in his notebook the flash of inspiration he had when he felt the Myst around Master Jessica.

Jessica's smile twisted slightly upon seeing the boy ignore her so completely, but at that moment, Eleonora's voice—laden with a hint of mockery and a touch of pride—resounded in the room, drawing her attention.

"You're wasting your time trying to intimidate our disciple like that, Jessica."

"I don't know what you mean; I just wanted to know where such an 'interesting' opinion comes from." Jessica responded in a firm tone that tried to feign innocence, to which Eleonora retorted mockingly.

"Fufufu, I can answer that for you."

"Oh, I'd love that then, please, Master Silverwood." Jessica replied in a serious and elegant tone, which hid her genuine curiosity. After all, he was right; at that moment, she felt desperate and only said that to give herself courage to move forward, never imagining that, over time, that little phrase of hers would become almost an anthem for the small minority of people without affinities.

"Well, actually, it's quite simple. When Erik found out he didn't have magical affinities, he casually mentioned a phrase similar to yours. When we asked him why he said it, he said he just wanted to seem cool by sounding important—fufufufu, it's really adorable." Eleonora smiled with joy and a hint of nostalgia in her tone, then tenderly stroked Erik's starry hair.

Meanwhile, Jessica's expression couldn't help but become a bit kinder as she looked at Erik. After all, she could imagine what had happened at that moment and how difficult it must have been for the boy. In a galaxy where miracles were a daily occurrence and almost everything could be fixed, being born with an incurable disability was very hard to accept.

"Well, actually, today I wanted to take a look at your disciple's abilities to make a decision." Jessica commented in a serious and elegant tone as she looked at Sigrún and Eleonora. Then she turned to the director at the head of the table and asked,

"What do you think if we go to a more suitable place, Director?"

"Of course; there's already a place prepared. Let's go."