trouble in paradise

We spent all afternoon talking about my father and I got to know a lot about him. Although most of them seemed too exaggerated to be real, there were many things that could be considered useful information.

after that, Malia suggested we eat so she went to the kitchen which apparently, she hadn't labeled all its equipment for some reason.

"I thought that it was best if you kept such an advance kitchen since even if you don't choose cooking as a job, having a good kitchen could be considered a pro." Malia explained and walked toward a door at the back of the kitchen, "I didn't look into the refrigerator, I hope there is something to eat in the...."

Just as Malia opened the huge refrigerator door and was about to walk in, she froze, with a look of utter disbelief on her face.

"how…"

"What is it?" Nill and I asked at the same time.

"It's full..." Malia said, seemingly not wanting to explain more.

Nill and I looked at each other before walking toward the refrigerator.

As soon as Nill saw the inside of the refrigerator, he too was astonished, "You lucky bastard…" he muttered.

"What is so strange about it? It's just some meat in jars…" I said, not getting what all the surprise was about.

Both of them turned at the same time, looking at me like they were looking at a spoiled brat, and Malia seemed to want to hit me.

Pointing at the tens of glass jars inside the refrigerator, she said, "Do you know how valuable processed meat is?" 

"What are those?" I asked ignorantly.

A sigh escaped Malia's lips as she placed her hand on her face and closed the refrigerator. She said, "There are a few ways to raise your core's capacity so that it could contain more fuel.

One of which is eating monster meat… the rarer the better.

But monster meat is as poisonous as poison itself, so eating it is impossible unless a master chef processes it for you.

Do you understand how valuable those meats are now? Let's go out and eat."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they are yours and it's not right for us to use such a rare material when we haven't done something to earn it…" Malia said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"but it's ok…" I wanted to reject but with a simple look from her, I knew that there was no room for negotiation and just followed her.

Leaving the dorm building, we headed to a restaurant and ordered burgers with fries, and ate like there was no tomorrow.

Until I took my first bite, I hadn't noticed that since I came to the subatomic world I hadn't actually eaten anything but the healing potion that Malia gave me. 

I ordered a few more burgers and ate like a starving person while Nill and Malia slowly ate their first and looked at me in amazement.

"What?" I asked with a full mouth.

"Nothing, nothing," both Nill and Malia answered at the same time and then burst into laughter.

"WHAT?" I asked annoyingly.

"Nothing, it's just that you are so adorable when you eat… it's like looking at a hungry puppy eating." Malia said and laughed again.

We spent our night outside until midnight. When I got back to my room, I got straight to bed and slept like a hibernating bear.

The next morning, when I woke up, I went straight to the bathroom, took a bath, and left the room.

"Sarcasto," I called and the next second an angry blue line appeared in front of me.

"You can't call me that…" it shouted.

"Watch me…"

"What do you want?" the line asked annoyingly.

"give me the directions to Aunt Uriel's office," I asked waiting for another sarcastic remark which surprisingly never came.

"I will guide you there." The line said.

"no, just give me the address, I can get there by myself… I don't want to give you any more of my money."

"Just follow me you little sh*thead, you will only need to pay 5 MP's this time." the line assured and guided me.

Not long after, we were in front of a massive glass building with no door in sight.

"How do I get in?" I asked.

"Just ask the building AI." The line answered and vanished after taking 10 MPs from my ring.

Feeling like I was going to be pranked by the line, I walked to the building, "I'm here to see Master Uriel." I spoke.

All of a sudden, a part of the glass wall melted and Aunt Uriel appeared in front of me saying, "I told you to call me Aunt Uriel."

She then grabbed me by the ear and dragged me inside the building, "I didn't know you were a little pervert like your dad."

"Ow, ow, ow, what do you mean? I have done nothing wrong…" I tried to get out of her grip but nothing seemed to work.

"tell that to my student..."

As she dragged me forward, I suddenly felt like we were teleported and found myself inside a massive empty glass room with a large black granite desk in the middle.

Surprisingly enough, Aunt Uriel was sitting behind the desk, and nobody was grabbing my ear.

I straightened my posture and wanted to defend my honor when I noticed someone else in the room.

As soon as I saw the person, my eyes widened. 

Seemingly amused, Aunt Uriel smiled evilly and said, "So I hear you have met my dear student."

"It... it was an accident…. It was all that damn line's fault…" I tried to defend myself but the more I talked the more sinister the smile on Aunt Uriel's face became and the more red the girl's face became.

"You don't say…" Aunt Uriel said, ready to say something before the girl stopped her.

"Master, please don't mess with me…"

I didn't know how this situation could be considered messing with her when I was the obvious victim. However, her plea seemed to work as Aunt Uriel stopped and asked, "What do you need Alex?"

"I need your advice on a few things…" I said, looking hesitant about telling my secrets in front of the girl.

Noticing the reason for my hesitation, Aunt Uriel waved her hand and said, "Asue is my student, you can say what you want… there is no need to hide anything…"

"well…. You see… I have absorbed a core…"

"What?" Aunt Uriel shouted, "Who gave it to you? I had plans for your first core. I wanted to give you a legendary core…"

"It was mythic…" I muttered and the room became silent.

Both Aunt Uriel and the girl named Asue's eyes widen.

"What?" this time her shout was so powerful that the whole building shook, "what level…" she said through gritted teeth.

"2," I answered, not liking the turn this conversation had taken.

"Who the f*ck gave you the core?" Aunt Uriel said in a threatening tone, as if ready to kill the person responsible.

"It was from my father…"

Aunt Uriel became silent for a second before speaking again in the same threatening tone, "But who gave it to you?"

I didn't want to throw Lucile under the boss as I still had too much to extort from him but…

"Alex Adams, you better tell me this instance or when I find that as*hole, I will kill you both.."

"It was Lucile…"

"I knew that dam brat was up to no good…" Aunt Uriel said angrily, stood up and walked toward me.

With every step she took, I stepped a step back until I hit the wall and there was no room left for me to flee.

"what are you going to do?" I asked scared for my life.

"Nothing, we are just going on a field trip… it will be very informative and a good experience for you…" Aunt Uriel answered with a dangerous smile, then turned to Asue who was still frozen in place, and said, "You are coming too."

"what did I do?" Asue came out of her daze and protested.

"It's not about what you did, it's about what you might do." Aunt Uriel said and suddenly we weren't in the building anymore.

Instead, we were in front of a familiar white building.

"Lucile's lab..." I muttered.

"open the door." Aunt Uriel talked, seemingly to no one.

"Master Lucile asked not to be disturbed lady Uriel."

"Do you remember what happened the last time you disobeyed me?" Aunt Uriel said and the door opened without any objection from the AI, "Which floor is he on?"

"as always he is on floor -100." The AI answered obediently.

'What could she do to an AI to make it so scared of her?' I wondered.

Getting into the elevator, she pushed the -100 button so hard that the whole control panel shattered and the elevator fell into a free fall.

As Asue and I screamed at the top of our lungs, Aunt Uriel stayed calm, and in the last second before the elevator hit the ground, she grabbed onto us shielding us from the impact.

Coming out of the elevator, surprisingly intact, my ears were assaulted with so much force that I felt like my eardrums were going to bust at any moment.

"Lucile," Aunt Uriel shouted, making the whole building shake.