"Master, I will help you in your search for a cure."
Yumeha's eyes were filled with tears while Enrico tried to explain that he was looking for a cure and that there was still a real chance of surviving.
The conversation, however, ended up being much more difficult than he imagined. It took almost two entire hours to completely calm her down and make her understand that he did not intend to simply accept his own death.
"I'm sure I'll get out of this cured. Even more so now, with your effort."
Yumeha's tears increased, this time from emotion, as she hugged Enrico tightly. He returned the hug, but could not help thinking about how the others would react if they discovered his illness. To be honest, he did not want to go through that situation again. He needed to reach the Eighth Circle as soon as possible and find a way to definitively control that cancer.
"Young Master, it's already time to go to class."
Angela entered the room wearing new clothes and bringing a new one for Enrico. The fire explosion that had happened some time after Enrico passed out ended up destroying part of his clothes, forcing her to change her clothes along with his.
Yumeha helped him get dressed, apparently satisfied that she was finally fulfilling what she considered her duty beside her master.
'She really sees me as her master.'
[That must be good for you.]
'To be honest, yes. This is very good.'
With Yumeha's help, Enrico walked toward the classroom feeling his entire body sore and tired.
That sensation was still present because of the previous night's episode, and he knew he needed to find some way to prepare his body for it. If he could not resist the pain, there was a possibility that he simply would not be able to endure it during some random month, and that was one of the worst scenarios he could imagine.
'The only problem is that there's no way to simply get used to this. But at least, I should train my body to resist the pain better.'
[New dungeon ready. However, you will only be able to enter it when this week ends.]
Enrico rolled his eyes. Ever since he had tricked the system on that occasion, he had noticed that the entity had become much more careful with the dungeons it made available. Looking at the representation of the new dungeon on the screen, he quickly analyzed its characteristics and realized that the place was considerably large.
"Enrico, do you want to see my new magic?"
As soon as he arrived in the classroom accompanied by Yumeha, Enrico saw Kai waving his hands to call him. He was sitting beside Valença, and the two seemed quite excited to tell him everything that had happened during the mission.
Enrico put on an expression of curiosity, pretending to know practically nothing about it, and approached with Yumeha right behind him.
"You missed an incredible mission. We met several strong people."
"Yes, especially the students from Shengtian and a boy named Kael."
"Tell me more."
Elowyn was sitting farther back with her subordinates, rolling her eyes as she watched the situation. Beside her, Grakk seemed to want to sit near Enrico and the boy's companions.
She let out a small sigh upon realizing that.
It was difficult for Grakk to follow the person he wanted to have as his Leader, especially because whenever Enrico was about to defeat Elowyn, someone ended up interrupting the fight.
Elowyn's eyes moved away from Grakk and went in another direction. She noticed an annoying essence to look at.
'It seems his hatred has increased... This is going to be problematic.'
Beside Grakk, Deymon watched Kai and Enrico with a gaze filled with murderous intent. Elowyn also wanted to defeat the two, but she would need to be careful not to cause real damage to them. Both could still be extremely useful to Sanos if they ever decided to join the territory.
'They may have been born in another territory, but they can also change, just like what happened with Director Hao.'
Kai had a great chance of joining Sanos, because his father was from this territory. The only problem would be his mother, because from what she had investigated, Kai's mother was from Tsuyokuni.
'It's possible that he wants to follow in his father's footsteps.'
The real problem was Enrico, because none of his relatives were from Sanos.
It would be interesting to have them as warriors of Sanos. Elowyn might hate people who used light magic, but she knew very well that people like that would rarely betray their companions. The only doubt remained Enrico, who possessed that strange emptiness capable of devouring Kai's light and any other essence around him.
'This is good... My eyes don't hurt at all because of it.'
"Miss Elowyn, I'm back."
Narisse and Velka approached and respectfully sat beside her. The two had been demoted because of their previous defeats, but managed to recover their positions after defeating some weaker Class S students. Now, they attentively watched those who had managed to defeat them.
'Looks like a new rivalry has emerged. Thanks to this, they might end up becoming stronger.'
Elowyn noticed that Narisse's gaze turned away when Seraphina looked at her. She raised an eyebrow, trying to understand what had happened for Narisse to still show fear while, at the same time, seeming to want to fight again. When she realized that Seraphina was now looking directly at her, Elowyn smiled slightly.
'Does she think I'm next? Very well. Come.'
In truth, Seraphina had looked at her that way at that moment for another reason.
'Why did that slut look at Enrico? If she tries anything funny, I'll kill her.'
The table cracked slightly under the pressure of Seraphina's fingers.
"Good morning, students."
Professor Zenaria entered the room shortly afterward, still with one of her arms bandaged. She had been injured during the fight against another Class S teacher over the position of teacher for that class. From what the students had heard, Zenaria had managed to reach the Seventh Circle during the battle, which meant she was now much stronger.
"Your mother is very strong, Serenya."
"Yes... But I'm strong too. I managed to reach the Second Circle."
"Really? How did you manage it?"
Serenya was talking to Enrico.
Seraphina watched the two while they talked and, especially, noticed Serenya's proud smile. After hearing that, she decided to say that she had also reached the Second Circle. The two had trained a lot over the past few days. Serenya constantly fought with her mother, while Seraphina carefully followed the training methods Enrico had taught her.
The previous night, the two had finally reached the Second Circle practically at the same time, completely ruining the surprise they intended to make for Enrico.
"That's very good, Miss Serenya."
"Hohoho, of course, and you also did a good job, Seraphina."
The two looked at each other with some irritation.
[It looks like they're about to fight.]
Enrico noticed it even before the system did, so he decided to stop the possible mental battle those two were having.
"Serenya, Seraphina, stop fighting. The teacher just arrived. If you don't stop, I'll stop talking to you for an entire week."
Enrico decided to use a punishment he knew would work. The two immediately sat down, although they still maintained irritated expressions.
"My dear, you're amazing."
Two arms lovingly wrapped around Enrico's neck. Aoi had heard the entire conversation and was now hugging him from behind. At the same time, Rina was biting her nails, clearly bothered by the closeness of the two girls. Valença also seemed to want to approach, but Kai, sitting beside her, would not let her move forward.
'This is quite noisy.'
[Well, these are your friends.]
Enrico decided to ignore all that confusion and returned his attention to the class and Professor Zenaria. In the original story, she would eventually become a villain after trying to reach the Seventh Circle through a pact with a demon. However, for some reason, in this timeline she had managed to reach the same level without needing to resort to that agreement.
'Serenya, at this time, was already outside the story... Maybe, because she couldn't reach the level she wanted, she became desperate and sought more power.'
[From what I read, her city is under pressure from another city.]
'This is a problem I need to solve somehow... I don't want Serenya to get hurt.'
Perhaps he needed to talk to her family, although, to be honest, Enrico did not believe that this would work easily. Even so, he could not simply ignore that situation knowing what could happen in the future.
'Only one week until vacation... I'll solve everything during it. And I'll start by making an alliance with the vampires.'
It was time to start with the vampires. During that last week before vacation, he would also need to train a lot, even with his body still suffering the consequences of the disease. He knew he needed to be prepared for everything that was coming.
'I'll take Yumeha with me. There are still so many alliances I need to make...'
Enrico could only sigh at the amount of things he needed to resolve. Become stronger, form alliances, help others evolve, prevent future events, and find a cure for his own cancer. There was a lot of work ahead, and, as much as he liked the feeling of evolving, even he had to admit that this journey would be extremely difficult.