Theo woke up early the next morning, feeling full of energy as he stretched his body.
Beside him, Owen was still sleeping on the bed, though his snoring had stopped by now.
After quietly standing up, Theo snuck out of the room to the bathroom.
'A lot to do this weekend,' he thought, quickly brushing his teeth. 'I need to find a spell and get the basics down before school starts.'
Spitting out his toothpaste, his eyes were drawn outside to the dark sky.
He paused for a moment, a small smile on his face. 'I should go for a run first, though.'
Keeping his physical condition in shape would help him immensely for when he joined the Hunters Association.
"A slow hunter is a dead hunter," he mumbled, splashing some water on his face.
It didn't take long before he made his way to the living room and found Owen's father sitting there, sipping from a cup of steaming hot coffee.
"Theo," he nodded once as he set down his cup. "You're up early."
"Good morning, Daniel," Theo greeted with a wide smile. "I wanted to go for a run outside."
A soft smile grew on Daniel's lips as he raised his hand.
"If you can wait for one second," he said, standing up. "It wouldn't hurt if my lazy bum of a kid goes with you."
Theo stopped in his tracks, the corners of his mouth twitching as he watched Owen's father walk upstairs with loud steps.
It only took a few seconds before he heard a soft thump from Owen's room, followed by a loud cry.
Finally, Owen's father walked down the stairs again, a satisfied grin on his face. "He's coming in a few minutes," he said. "Want a cup of coffee?"
Theo raised his hands in front of him. "No, thank you," he said. "Coffee and running don't go well together for my stomach."
A hint of clarity flashed across Daniel's face.
"Mm," he nodded. "I'll set you one for when you come back, then."
Before Theo could even thank him, Daniel stopped in his tracks, muttering something to himself.
"Right…" he mumbled. "Before I forget…"
He headed into the kitchen, grabbed an old phone from the counter, then returned and handed it to Theo.
"It's one of Owen's old phones," he said. "Figured you could use one after… you know."
Theo stared at the phone in silence, unsure of what to even say as a warm feeling spread through his chest.
'Even in our most desperate times,' he thought, a smile appearing on his face that couldn't grow any larger. 'They are still there for me, giving me a roof over my head and even expensive stuff so I can live normally.'
If this wasn't the true definition of friends for life, he didn't know what was.
"Thank you," Theo said, staring at the ground as emotion caught up to him.
"Don't mention it," Daniel replied, sitting back down nonchalantly. "You and your parents are practically family to us."
Theo fell silent once more, his mind racing as he tucked the phone away.
"One day, I'll repay this," he said, smiling. "By a hundred times at that."
Owen's father waved him off and picked up his cup of coffee again.
Just then, Owen himself stumbled down the stairs with dark circles under his eyes.
"You," he said, pointing at Theo. "Your good nature is rubbing off on my parents… stop it."
Daniel immediately narrowed his eyes at Owen, shoving his chair back with a low creak.
Owen flinched, flashing past Theo and slipping on his shoes.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked, locking eyes with Theo. "Let's go now!"
Theo shook his head lightly, a soft chuckle escaping his lips.
"Of course," he said, waving Daniel goodbye before walking to the door.
Once they stepped through the open door, a wave of cold air washed over their faces, nearly causing Owen to make a U-turn.
Theo just barely pulled him onto the sidewalk before starting their light jog.
"You know," he started, glancing at Owen. "It really wouldn't hurt you to exercise if you're planning to become a hunter."
Owen turned to him, his face dark.
"There's absolutely no need to run in the freezing cold at seven o'clock," he started, staring at the sky. "Especially when it costs me my beautiful… dreams."
"Let me tell you," he continued, raising his voice. "Last night, I had a dream that I was going to be surrounded by a dozen beautiful eastern women and—"
"Yeah, I think that's enough of that," Theo interrupted, shaking his head with a light smile.
After nearly half an hour of running, they came to a stop near a bench that overlooked the sea and sat down to rest.
Theo pulled out his phone to look up spells, while Owen leaned back beside him, cursing between heavy breaths.
Before long, he noticed Theo typing on his phone and leaned over with interest.
"You're already searching for spells?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "We've barely even gotten our affinities…"
"You know my situation," Theo said, scrolling down the Global Spell Index. "I need to become a hunter as soon as possible."
Owen leaned back again, a conflicted expression on his face.
"You're right," he said, taking out his own phone. "If you see anything good for an Earth affinity, tell me."
Theo nodded, his focus already on the dozens of simple lightning spells in front of him.
'Lightning whip, lightning bolts, and lightning balls are all spells I can learn at Gray Core level.'
He looked at the three that had caught his interest.
The Lightning Whip formed a lash of lightning mana, capable of binding a target and channeling electricity directly through their body.
'There are two problems, though,' Theo thought, brows furrowing. 'Its range is relatively low. And it would require me to learn how to use a whip.'
He contemplated for a moment, then moved on to the next spell—the lightning ball.
It was by far the most destructive spell he could learn, allowing the user to form a single ball of lightning whose power depended on how much mana was poured into it.
'It costs a lot of mana, but that isn't really the problem,' he thought, glancing up for a moment. 'The spell is terribly slow. Even if it explodes, most enemies will already be gone.'
Finally, he came to the last option—the lightning bolts spell.
A spell that formed small lightning bolts in the air and allowed the user to fire them forward at great speeds.
'It isn't the most destructive option,' Theo thought. 'But it makes up for that with its speed and the ability to create multiple at the same time.'
He sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating each option.
Finally, he came to a decision.
'I'll learn the lightning bolts spell.'
It was a close call, but this spell was far more versatile. If he weren't so painfully short on money, he would've bought all three.
With that, he selected the spell in the online spell library and typed in his email to receive it.
'I only get one for free,' he thought, shutting off his phone. 'I better train this to its limit.'
Beside him, Owen jumped up, shoving his phone at Theo's face.
"I'm getting this!" he said, showing a spell named Rock Shield. "You'll be the attacker while I defend us!"
Theo nodded, letting out a soft chuckle.
"That sounds good," he said, standing up.
Owen nodded excitedly, pulling his phone back with a smile.
"But if you're this full of energy again," Theo continued, "we can continue our run back to the apartment, right?"
Owen's excitement immediately faded as he stared up with a dark expression. "Can't we rest like twenty more minutes?"
Theo ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. "The sooner we get back, the sooner we can start training our spells."
Hearing that, Owen's expression cleared up a little. He stood up, stretching once before giving a single nod.
"Let's go."