MTLNOVEL CHAPTER 126: Explosion!
Lian barely managed to escape and roll away before the explosion echoed throughout the dormitory.
Boom—
"Damn it!" he coughed, struggling to stand. "I should have thrown the sword out; now my room must be a complete disaster!"
The glass windows shattered as black smoke mixed with dust poured out of the room.
"What the hell is happening?"
"Did something explode?!"
"Is someone fighting?!"
"I'm telling you! That was a fireball! Orin must have killed Lindo, damn it!"
"Hey, you idiot, I didn't throw any fireball; stop slandering me!"
"…"
It was late afternoon, and there were not many people in the dormitory, but the few who were there rushed out.
"Luckily, no one was hurt…" Lian murmured, shaking his head at the mess.
Turning around, noticing all the other students staring at him as if he were public enemy number one, Lian scratched his cheek, smiling awkwardly.
"Sorry, it was my fault… I promise it will not happen again—" he declared solemnly, his robe slightly blackened by the smoke.
After a few more curses and sighs of relief, the other students returned to their rooms.
"I need to be more careful; I think it is time to claim the title of Rune Master and get my own house," Lian whispered as he opened the door—or rather, the broken shards that remained of it.
Inside, Lian's room looked like it had endured a battle. The bed was half-charred, the wooden table reduced to a pile of ash, and sharp fragments of the sword were scattered around.
Not to mention the burnt smell that stung his nose.
"Damn…" Lian muttered, placing a hand on his forehead. "Now I understand why everything in the Rune Forge is built with reinforced metal…"
He knelt to collect the sword's remains, trying to figure out what went wrong.
"I got distracted and did not align the enchantment properly… damn it, I cannot afford to mess up. Now I have to clean up this mess…"
"Geometric Spell: Oval!"
"Aqua Vivax, Rivo Levis"
Imagining an oval, slightly smaller than usual, Lian began cleaning the room.
The water jet was not too strong, and with his control over it and mana as the main tool, Lian started cleaning every corner of the room.
A few minutes later…
"Hey, Lian," a familiar, boisterous voice echoed in the room, "I just heard about an explosion in this area; everything okay—" The boy's words caught in his throat upon seeing the scene.
He never would have expected the explosion to come from his friend.
"Rick?" Turning, Lian furrowed his brows, hardly believing his eyes. "Is that really you? What the hell—"
Noticing Lian's strange look, Rick smiled awkwardly. "Is it so odd for a man to care about his appearance?" he said, turning his head aside, almost pouting.
The usual disheveled Rick, with a dirty robe and dark circles from sleeping too much, was nowhere to be seen.
Now, a new Rick appeared before Lian, with shiny black hair, no dark circles, and a perfectly clean robe.
However, something was off about his appearance.
"What the hell are you doing with that robe?" Lian said, eyeing him from head to toe.
"It is for tonight," Rick replied, stepping into the half-cleaned room, observing the mess. "I told Clara I am a Bronze 5 with the Yellow Tiger; I could not show up in a Bronze 3 robe—"
"You are insane!"
Ignoring his friend's words, Rick continued. "Also, look at this!" With a hand gesture, a pin appeared in his open palm.
"This pin is faker than a 1,200-gold coin note! Who the hell is going to believe you!!" Lian shouted, exasperated. "And why does this girl have so many demands? Is she not just a Bronze 3?"
"You do not understand," Rick replied, shaking his head. "I do not have to wear it. I am keeping it just in case. Besides, she is not just a Bronze 3; she has a dual affinity, remember?"
Lian sighed helplessly. "Whatever, but I think something is fishy… you have a water affinity too, remember?"
Rick furrowed his brows, his eyes darkening as a shadow seemed to envelop him.
A moment later, his expression returned to normal.
Lian noticed it all but, before he could say anything, Rick spoke.
"Of course, but it is only poor. It is not worth mentioning. No one mentions a poor affinity."
Lian did not respond immediately, still slightly shaken by Rick's odd reaction earlier. Since Rick seemed unwilling to talk about it, Lian did not press.
"That is exactly what I mean," Lian said, trying to make his point. "For someone to claim affinity with an element, it means they have at least a good affinity with that element."
"Exactly—"
"And if this girl really has a good affinity for two elements, then why is her profile posted on the board, waiting to be picked up by some passerby? Obviously, something is wrong; otherwise, the major factions would have already snatched her, do you not think?"
Rick reflected for… a few seconds before shaking his head. "It is pointless to think about it, buddy. I will meet her tonight and judge accordingly," he said, placing a hand on Lian's shoulder.
"I am not an idiot," he added. "I will not get fooled."
With those words, Rick left Lian's room. But not before wishing him luck with the cleaning.
"Tch, as if I believe you…"
---
After cleaning the room and taking a shower, Lian went out to buy the things that had been destroyed: a new bed, a new desk, and everything else blown up in the explosion.
Back home, Lian lay on his new bed, thinking about plans for the near future.
That evening, he would meditate, absorbing the Bronze 4 Mana Pill.
He was not far from breaking through to Bronze 5.
After all, Lian needed to draw a total of 30 lines through his Geometric Meditation to break through; he did not only need to reach a mana threshold high enough to advance in rank, like other Mages.
With the previous day, Lian had managed to draw a total of 25 lines. He was almost at the goal. Most likely, even by consuming the Bronze 4 pill, Lian would manage to break through that very evening.
However, he could not rush.
He still had the Bronze 5 Mana Pill to take; he could not break through immediately.