Acquainted

The figure, which first seemed small, slowly started to become larger and larger until it arrived right in front of Aziel and Oliver.

Aziel pretended to be unfazed by the presence of the girls as he continued speaking, and Oliver listened intently.

"What's the matter, Zephyr?"

"Nothing, I was just asking if you have any plans after this?"

"Not particularly, but my best friend and I were on our way to the gaming hub."

"W-What, b-best friend?"

Zephyr couldn't believe it. From their childhood, Aziel wasn't one to make friends, let alone a 'best friend.'

"Yeah... is there a problem?"

"N-no, no."

Zephyr nodded and extended his hand forward, introducing himself. "I am Zephyr. Nice to meet you."

Oliver extended his hand, locking it with Zephyr's. "I am Oliver. The pleasure is all mine."

Aziel then intentionally flicked his eyes toward the girls standing beside Zephyr, hoping he would introduce them, but Zephyr didn't do anything and stood there silently.

The air grew awkwardly silent. Feeling the tension, Aziel extended his hand towards the girl while flashing a warm smile.

The first to reciprocate was Lyra Astral, who shook his hand with a firm grip.

"It's nice meeting you, Miss Lyra."

Lyra wasn't surprised at all, as she knew that the top-ranked students of each year were really popular.

"Lyra's fine. Anyway, I remember you from the combat session. You were pretty good against that 61st-ranked student."

"Ah, hahaha."

Aziel scratched the back of his head, giving Lyra an awkward laugh.

Then, everyone exchanged greetings with each other.

But...

When Aziel was about to depart with Oliver, Zephyr called him back.

"Wait, where do you think you're going?"

Aziel tilted his head in confusion and replied, "Didn't I tell you? I was going to the gaming hub."

Zephyr wrapped his arm around Aziel's shoulder and said, "That was before. Now both of you are coming with us."

'Us?'

'Only one day, and they're already going out on a date.'

Aziel furrowed his brows and sealed his lips, not saying anything further.

"But... where are we going?" Oliver asked.

"Oh, yeah, we're heading towards the gaming hub."

•••

Arriving at the gaming hub, Aziel could feel several stares on him, and the same went for Oliver. But no one dared speak to them, as they knew the consequences of showing hostility towards members of the greatest clans.

Oliver was also from one of the crest clans, the Drake clan, so he could manage.

As they passed through, they could hear whispers from other students.

"Whoa... look at them walking like equals with the top-ranked students."

"Don't they have any shame?"

"Aziel is Zephyr's brother... but who is that boy?"

Aziel shrugged off the comments internally and continued walking.

Suddenly, Zephyr halted his steps and smiled. "I'm going with this one; you can play whatever you want."

So, they each approached the games they wanted to play.

Aziel was initially surprised to find the games in this world very similar to those from his previous world. He concluded that the author must have been too lazy to come up with a new game.

What was his name again?

Shadowinx.

After playing for a while, everyone decided to go to the Nexus Supermall.

As they arrived at the supermall, Aziel could hear the same whispers he had heard at the gaming hub.

But he didn't really care.

Leaving that aside, he was quite surprised by the technological advancements of this world.

Because right now, he was enjoying his time with fictional novel characters he never thought would exist.

At least, that's what he thought.

They stopped by different stores, trying on new outfits—though it was mostly the girls who did so.

Oliver held all the bags that contained the items the girls bought. He stopped walking and stared at the two boys in front of him, who were carrying nothing and, on top of that, being friendly with those beauties.

"Hey, Aziel. Aren't you going to help me?"

"Absolutely not."

A flat-out refusal. Oliver felt his heart sink as his eyes moistened, the feeling of being abandoned by his best friend settling in.

After wandering around, the group stopped by a coffee shop.

Seated at a table for six, they each ordered their own coffee.

Aziel was again surprised by the technological advancement. They just had to select their order from a menu displayed on a holographic screen, and within moments, their orders appeared on the table.

'Hmm... space magic.'

'I think I should focus on training from now on, or I won't survive in this cruel world.'

"Say, Aziel, what is your current tier?" Alisa asked while casually sipping her coffee.

"Not great. I'm in the Wanderer tier. What about you?"

"Me? I just broke through to the low-Initiate tier last week."

"Whoa... I can't imagine ever catching up to you in my whole life."

'Tch... flexing her powers.'

"Anyway, what have you planned for the upcoming battle royale? You could definitely increase your rank into the top 100," Lyra asked.

'Wait... just last time I barely managed to survive, and now they want me to participate in a massive genocidal war?'

He frowned, strings of fear visible on his face.

"Yeah, I was just planning some ambushes and betrayals here and there. Hahaha."

"But don't dare try those against me, or I'll cut you in half."

"Calm down. Calm down."

"Achiel, don'tcha worry... I vil help you," Oliver commented, still with fries in his mouth.

Seraphina and Zephyr seemed to be casually listening to the conversation, trying not to speak more than necessary.

•••

After the conversation, they proceeded to pick up their attires from the stores.

In the end, Aziel decided to head back home, saying he wasn't feeling well. Zephyr offered to tag along, but Aziel declined, telling him to have fun with the others.

•••

After consuming a lot of mana due to the hoverboard, Aziel threw himself on the bed.

He pondered over the events that had transpired throughout the day.

He was tired.

Really tired, with no one around with whom he could feel at ease.

Gradually, his vision blurred, and his muscles relaxed, sending him to sleep.

•••

W-what is this again?????