Linda's Deal

While Alden looked at Linda's status window, the green slug had finished healing his palm.

"Hmph! This is not the end of it." Linda gave Elttil one last angry glare and turned to Alden.

"Alden, let's go." Linda summoned the green slug back into her mental world and led the way to the elevators. Alden followed closely behind. They entered the elevator, and Linda chose the eleventh floor.

"Stupid kid!" The second the elevator went down, Elttil roared angrily. "Fu.cking! Stupid! Kid!" The veins bulged on his forehead as he roared angrily.

"I will get in trouble for this!" Elttil put his palm across his face, trying to hold back his anger. "I will make him pay for this. I will make your academy life hell."

Unbeknown to Alden, to hatch his beast egg, he made an enemy out of a teacher in the Academy.

...

The elevator arrived on the eleventh floor, and the door opened.

The eleventh floor was empty. There was no one inside.

"I dismissed the class when Elttil came to me and told me what happened. Luckily, no other teacher has class here now." Linda spoke as she walked toward the closest arena, and Alden followed behind.

"Since there is still an hour till the next class starts, we have time to talk." She climbed up the stairs onto the arena, giving Alden no choice, but to follow.

She stopped and turned to Alden, staring right into his eyes. Her stern expression has returned to her face.

"Tell me, why did you fire the gun at your own palm?" Linda questioned.

"T-Teacher," Alden broke eye contact. "I-It was an accident."

"Don't lie to me!" Linda shouted sternly. "With a hole in your palm, there is no way you bled only that little. So, I guess you needed your blood for something, a lot of blood.

But you had no one to heal you, so you deliberately injured yourself, and then you made the inexperienced students run away in panic by asking for their help.

You were left alone, so you had time to use your blood, and then when I arrived, I healed you without asking you questions. You killed two birds with one stone.

Your plan was truly foolproof. Truly a smart kid you are. But you underestimated me. I have seen so many people die and bleed. I can clearly tell you with what injury how much you will bleed."

"So tell me, why did you do that?! What did you need your blood for!?" The anger in her voice was evident. It put pressure on Alden, cornering him.

'With just a few clues, she almost guessed my whole plan.' Alden thought. 'But I can not tell her about the beast egg. I can not let too many people know. Especially not now that Chloe knows and I have not taken care of her yet.'

"T-Teacher, please don't ask me..."

Bam!

Before Alden could finish his sentence, an invisible pressure fell upon him. However, unlike previously, this time, the pressure did not even budge Alden.

"Ohh?" Linda's eyes widened in shock. She sensed the spiritual energy inside Alden's body. "You have broken through the 1-star warrior realm?"

Alden nodded. Linda could sense it, so there was no use denying it. If he did, it would probably make her angrier.

"You broke through in one night just by practicing the cultivation technique given by the academy?"

Again, Alden nodded.

Linda smirked. "You lied again. There is no way to break through a 1-star warrior realm in just one night, even if you are a heavenly genius."

"You are full of secrets." Linda stared directly into Alden's eyes.

Alden could not keep eye contact. When he stared into her eyes, he felt vulnerable. He felt she could see right through him, through all his secrets.

"You are definitely not normal and have a lot of secrets. But I will not probe your secrets. Everyone has them. If you don't want to tell me why you needed blood, that's fine."

Hearing this, Alden sighed in relief.

"However..." Linda was not going to let him off the hook that easily. "You must promise me one condition. No, let's make a deal."

"W-What is it?"

"I will teach you martial arts in my free time, and I will support you as much as I can If you get in trouble," Linda revealed her end of the deal.

"What's the catch?" Alden asked reluctantly.

"Nothing much. Just when the time comes, I will ask one thing of you. You can not refuse me then, and you must do what I ask."

'This does not seem like a bad deal.' Alden thought. 'I don't know what she might ask for in the future, but I will think of a solution then. But, at the moment, this deal is too beneficial for me to refuse.'

"Alright. I accept." Alden agreed. "But teacher, I have one question."

"Go ahead, ask."

"Why? Why are you helping me? First the martial arts book for dual wielding and now this.

 I mean, I am nothing different when compared to the others. Also, you might not gain anything from this deal. So why?"

"Because you remind me of my younger days," Linda spoke with a clear difference in her voice. It has softened a bit. "And also, you hate the military system, right?

I hate it too. I think everyone should have an equal chance to become strong. If they do, humanity's strength will increase, but sadly, to some people, it is more important to remain in power than save humanity."

"But still, you do not gain anything." Alden still refused to believe Linda would support him so much for nothing.

"And how do you know? You have broken through the 1-star warrior realm in one night. You have a bright future. So if you become someone powerful, I will gain much more than I would give you now. You can take it as if I am betting on you."

Alden could not help but admit that that was quite reasonable. "Thank you, teacher." He bowed to her. Though she gave him a reasonable reply, he still felt grateful to her. After all, she could have chosen to remain neutral and indifferent to him, just being his homeroom teacher.

"Alright, you should head back to the classroom." Linda waved her hand. "Your next class will start soon."

"Goodbye, teacher. And thank you." Alden walked to the elevator, entered, and chose the tenth floor.

"Breaking through to the 1-star warrior realm in one night, I am curious about your secrets and about your future," Linda muttered to herself. "In the future, I will benefit from your secrets. Don't disappoint me, kid."

...

Alden arrived on the tenth floor. The corridor was empty as all the students were in their classrooms.

Alden slid the door of his classroom 1-A open and entered.

The students inside were all curiously and excitedly talking about what happened to Alden and trying to figure out how it happened. Some even tried to ask Neo, but they instantly regretted it, as he shouted their ears off and almost beat them.

Neo was trying to figure out the motive behind Alden's actions, but he could not figure it out.

So when Alden entered, the whole chattery classroom fell silent.

They all turned toward him with curious gazes. But Alden ignored them and walked up to Neo and Owen.

"Alden, what was that about?" Neo asked immediately after Alden sat in his seat.

Alden thought for a few seconds before answering: "I will tell you later."

He decided to tell Neo and Owen his secret. Of course, not his secret about the system, but his secret about the beast egg. After all, they were his closest friends, and although for only a few days, he trusted them.

He felt it was not right to hide it from them when Chloe already knew.

"Alright." Neo did not question further and fell silent.

Alden looked around the classroom in search of Chloe, but he did not find her. She was not in the classroom.

Till the bell rang indicating the end of the second class, Alden, Owen, and Neo sat in silence.

Five minutes later, the bell rang again. Terof slid the door open and entered the classroom.

He walked to the teacher's desk and leaned.

"Students, in this lesson, we will learn more specifically about the beast taming and the requirements to tame a beast."