[9:54 a.m]
Checking the time, Raymond wasn't surprised to find he was late for the day.
The 'rest your eyes after waking up' game was deadly and Raymond was suffering its consequences.
Not that Raymond had any intentions of going today anyways.
Right now, all the students were diligently learning at the academy. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to go shopping?
With all the points he had at his disposal. He was nearly unable to sleep at night—constantly tossing and turning in his bed.
The thought of what to buy and what to eat was enough to make him positively giddy.
Donning some casual clothes, he left his apartment and started walking towards the commercial district.
The academy grounds were essentially split into three distinct sections.
First, was the academy— all of the dorms, halls, training grounds. For learning and training.
Then, the commercial district—malls, plazas, parks and recreational areas. So that students wouldn't go insane from essentially being locked inside the academy grounds all year round.
Lastly, the nature district—the mountain, forests, lake and beach were all a part of this.
With how large the academy grounds were, it took him nearly half an hour of walking just to get to the commercial district from the academy.
Walking through the plaza, Raymond took a deep breath. Catching the aromas from several stalls, cafes and bakeries.
He could smell a comforting, deep, buttery aroma. A savory, intense, spice filled aroma. The comforting smell of roasted coffee.
Buying a mocha and a chocolate pastry from a random street side cafe. He took in the sights—the soft glow of the morning light, barely peeking through the cloudy sky. The quiet of the morning, with the occasional sounds of people.
Handing him his coffee, his barista said. "Its such a nice day today isn't it?"
"Really nice day. I'm glad I decided to skip today." Raymond replied.
"Skip? Skipping class costs quite a lot of points you know, it's not worth it in the long run."
"Nah it's fine, I got the points. "
She asked, "You're a first year right? Top 100?"
Raymond nodded, "Yep, how'd you know?"
She leaned over the counter slightly, "I guessed, I've never seen your face before. Plus only someone with a decent amount of points would skip. But hey if you're a new student, interested in joining my club?"
Raymond raised an eyebrow, "You're a third year?"
Students had to be at their third year minimum if they wanted to create a club and second year minimum to hold any positions in any club.
She pointed at her name tag pinned on her uniform, " Willow Francesca, I'm a third year. President of the Coffee Club, we mainly just hold gatherings to drink coffee and chat. There's only fourteen of us in the club so it's a pretty small club."
Well, Raymond did put it in his list to make some friends. Wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
"Sure why not, I'll apply when the club registration starts on Saturday. My name's Raymond Vance."
Willow held out her hand, smiling brightly. "Glad to have you aboard then, I look forward to seeing you there Raymond. "
He shook it, that's one thing he could check off his list. It seemed like it had only ever grown in size so this was the perfect opportunity to finally tick something off.
"By the way, if you're a student as well. Why are you here rather then at class?", he asked.
Aren't you also a student? Why are you here as a barista rather then learning? Weren't you just lecturing me just now about how it's not worth it to skip?
She giggled, "Well its not a big deal, but its a very carefully guarded secret between a few of the upper years and the academy though. Promise me you won't tell anyone else?"
"I promise."
Leaning even further, she quietly whispered after looking around. "Actually, since students are allowed to work in order to earn points. Some employers who need help on certain days can request for permission to skip for their employees. As long as both consent, the academy will agree to let you skip."
His eyes widened. This was knowledge even he didn't know from his past visits. Wouldn't this have made his life so much easier back then? As long as he found a random place to work in and bribe his employer he could have just skipped without needing to constantly find excuses like back then.
Back then, his entire fake family had been unfortunately killed off in order for Raymond to skip—grandparents, cousins and even the in-laws. When they ran out, Raymond had to resort to using points. Eventually, he also ran out of points as well and had to resort to several loans and the occasional extortion of whichever bully he could find.
Such a simple method...
It hurt Raymond even more now that he had permission to skip for free whenever he wanted.
Damn seniors, hiding such a good thing for only themselves!
"Interested in working? My boss here has been looking for a new server. I think you would be a good fit."
Actually, she only wanted to use his good lucks to help promote the cafe for business. But she couldn't tell him that!
He declined the offer, "Sorry but I'm not interested in a job right now. Maybe in the future."
She pouted slightly, "That's a shame, well a few regulars are coming in now so I need to make their drinks. See you at the next club meeting!"
Nodding, Raymond took another sip of his mocha as he left. Holding his chocolate pastry in his left, he took a large bite out of it.
The crunchy and flaky crust. Buttery yet not too excessive, paired with its soft and fluffy interior. Packed with sweet melted milk chocolate. Not too much, not too little—just the perfect amount.
Raymond closed his eyes as he savored the taste in his mouth. Chewing slowly so it lasted longer. It was these little things that made Raymond grateful he decided to leave his home dimension. There was nothing like coffee or ice cream in his home dimension!
Walking towards the mall, Raymond quickly finished his pastry despite his best efforts. Finishing the last of his mocha as well, he found a random bin and threw the wrapper and cup inside before entering the mall.
Looking around it was still the same as ever. The same three cafes, a small convenience store and the same milk tea store next to it.
Shivering slightly from the cool air conditioned air. He found the nearest mall directory and quickly found his destination.
...
"Thank you come again!"
Raymond winced at the amount of points he spent. Nearly 360 points all gone just for a single high-end gaming rig.
That was nearly five percent of his monthly points just for this!
Such a purchase would have been unthinkable for any other first year.
Leaving the store, he checked his own balance.
[Balance:7140 points]
Shopping for the parts had taken nearly an hour already.
With the thought of the other things he would need to buy, he sighed in his heart.
Earning was so easy. Yet spending was always easier.
Spending another 800 points just to get a few monster parts as well nearly made him cough up blood.
800 points was equivalent to nearly 8000 dollars just for some measly F and E rank monster parts.
But such a thing was necessary. With his recent increase in strength, the previous disguise ring he created was starting to struggle to remain active.
Luckily these were only a few of the parts needed. Most of the parts could be obtained by just asking the academy.
But having to spend 800 points out of his own pocket hurt!
His request for the materials needed had already been sent. He just needed the academy to approve it.
To disguise his real intentions, he also requested a bunch of ice related materials
—telling the academy it was for his ice magic research.
Well, he was planning on using some of it for his own ice magic research anyways so maybe it wasn't really such a lie?
Although, he didn't actually need any of the materials in order to research more ice magic.
Raymond suddenly felt his own moral standing slip further into the grey zone.
Taking another bite out of his ice cream—yes, a bite. Not a lick but a bite.
He pondered on his own morality for a moment.
'Wouldn't it be better if others used these resources considering that I don't even need them?'
Taking another bite, he quickly dismissed this thought.
'Whatever, it's for a good cause anyways. '
His conscience was as clear as water. Free from any guilt and completely at peace with his own doings.
Erasing any memory of this from his mind, he checked his list of items he wanted to buy.
-furniture (beanbags)
-more clothes (must buy a cool looking cloak with hood!)
-the stickiest glue possible(must be as sticky as possible)
-toiletries
-a new phone
-the academy books and stationary.
-cool looking set of armour plus cool sword?
Raymond suddenly sighed. Looking at this list, where in the world was he supposed to get a cool looking cloak with a hood!
And he was still undecided on the last item on his list.
He may have been a mage, and his agenda may have been that mages were better then warriors.
Yet there was just something about a full suit of armour, with a cape billowing in the wind. Wielding a longsword that struck a chord in his heartstrings.
Or maybe the wandering look, with armour hidden under a cloak. With the hood up and the sword in the sheath. He would wander around, looking for promising young talent.
Mages could look cool sure, but a robe just didn't hit the same as a set of medieval armour. It had to have a cool helmet though, the helmet alone made for nearly 90% of the coolness factor of a suit of armour
Or just not wearing a helmet was also an option.
A dumb option but an option anyways.
Remembering when Noelle summoned her suit of armour made him exhale with envy.
The sharp outlines, her winged helmet. All made from a silver metal, fully encasing her body head to toe. Standing in a stance with her spear as she menacingly charged at him.
With the blue garments underneath the armour. Her blue hair, paired with the blue cape.
The coolness factor was off the charts!
Sure Ellen looked cool in her archer attire with the bow and quiver. But it just wasn't the same...
...
Noelle suddenly shivered. Her right hand which was holding her pen smudging the ink a little bit onto her palm.
'It's not even cold in here, why an I shivering?' she thought.
Meanwhile sitting far behind her, Ellen suddenly felt a bad premonition in her heart.