Chapter 64 - Umbrella
’’Good,’’ Joop chuckled, leaning back in his chair. ’’I’ll see if I can arrange it for you.’’
Theo nodded, a faint smile appearing on his face.
’’Thank you.’’
Joop waved his hand dismissively.
’’Don’t worry about it,’’ he said. ’’I’m expecting great things from you in the future.’’
With that, he let out a soft groan as he pushed himself up from his chair.
’’I think that is everything for now,’’ he continued. ’’I’ll update you when my friend gets here.’’
Theo nodded, shoving his chair back slightly as he stood up as well.
Without hesitation, he reached out his hand.
Joop took it firmly, shaking it once.
The two of them locked eyes for a brief moment before letting go.
Theo turned around and made his way to the door.
Only a few minutes later, he stood outside the Association’s doors again, the sun in the middle of the sky at this point.
Theo squinted slightly as the sunlight hit his eyes, raising a hand to block it out.
For a moment, he just stood there, letting out a quiet breath.
’That went better than expected,’ he thought. ’The Association head... he’s truly helped me in many ways.’
He lowered his hand again, his gaze drifting forward as he began walking down the street.
Despite the people walking past him, or even the noise the cars made, his mind was concentrated on only one thing.
’My next steps... I’m going to need to think about them carefully.’
There were quite a few things to take care of now, especially assuming he’d fly to the university the same day as Joop’s friend gets here.
And first off on that list... were his parents.
His expression turned slightly serious as he thought about it.
’I’ll have to explain everything to them,’ he thought. ’The money, the Association... and the fact that I’ll be leaving soon.’
His fingers brushed lightly against his pocket.
’I can show them the payment I received from the Association,’ he continued. ’That should make things easier to believe.’
After all, suddenly talking about large sums of money and moving cities wasn’t exactly something anyone would take lightly.
’I’ll also ask them if they want to come with me,’ he thought. ’It’d be safer... and better for all of us.’
With that in mind, he quickened his pace slightly, weaving through the crowd.
It didn’t take long at all before he reached his apartment complex.
Theo pushed open the door and stepped inside, though the entire apartment was quiet.
’They’re still at work,’ he realized, glancing around.
Letting out a deep breath, he stepped further inside and closed the door behind him.
For a few seconds, he just stood there.
Then, a thought crossed his mind.
’Right... the weapon,’
he thought. ’If they’re not home yet, I might as well look at that first.’ He continued on to his room without wasting any time, his eyes immediately locking onto the umbrella.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he recalled the options the system had given him during the fight.
’’I didn’t get a real good look at it,’’ he muttered, tilting his head slightly. ’’But the choice was between a mirror and an umbrella.’’
Rubbing his temples, Theo tried to remember the material it was made of.
’’It was made of something like a deepsea serpent’s claws and a kraken’s something something.’’
He paused for a moment, his mind churning.
’’Right... it was a kraken’s tendons.’’
Even though he now remembered the names, he had no idea how strong those creatures actually were... or what to expect from them.
’They must be really strong though,’ he thought, picking the umbrella up. ’After all, this thing is at the diamond core level according to the system.’
Theo held it tightly in his hands, his eyes locked on the folded umbrella.
He slowly raised it in front of him before tapping a single button.
The umbrella snapped open instantly, revealing the beautiful sea-like patterns drawn on the canopy.
’’Whoa,’’ he muttered, swinging it around softly. ’’That feels amazing.’’
Whether it was folded or not, it almost felt as smooth as swinging around a regular spear.
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, locking onto the canopy.
A faint ripple moved across it, spreading out in all directions like a wave.
’’Now, what was that?’’ he muttered, tightening his grip.
Seconds passed by as he stared at the canopy, slowly turning into minutes.
Yet, the same ripple didn’t show itself again.
Theo’s grip slowly loosened, letting out a quiet breath.
’What a strange thing,’ he thought, flicking the canopy shut. ’I guess I’ll have to figure it out later.’
Without giving it more attention, he placed it aside.
Finally, he let himself fall back on his bed, his gaze locked on the ceiling.
’’So much has happened this past month,’’ he muttered, closing his eyes. ’’It’d be nice if everything continued like this...’’
But deep down, he already knew that wouldn’t be the case.
The world just didn’t work like that.
As he lay there, the things he’d been pushing away resurfaced one by one.
’Right... there’s still that thing,’ he thought, his eyes opening again. ’The duel...’
There was no way in hell he’d miss out on that.
’I’ll have to go back and forth from the university.’
With his thoughts on the duel, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He pushed himself up and closed his eyes, focusing deep inside himself.
Before long, the mana from his affinities began flowing steadily towards his core’s walls again.
It wasn’t just one color of mana this time — both his water affinity and lightning affinity rapidly let go of little mana threads.
Slowly but surely, tiny specks of silver appeared all over his core.
Time passed by quietly while he cultivated.
Then—
The faint sound of the front door opening snapped Theo out of his concentration.
His eyes opened immediately, a faint uneasy feeling settling in his stomach.
’Let’s hope they react well,’ he thought, grabbing his phone. ’And that they’ll come with me to a new city.’
He opened his bank account without much thought, revealing the large balance on it.
He stood up without hesitation, his heart pounding as he walked downstairs.