Chapter 26: A Deal with a Liar

Ethan got up from his bed before I reached him. I thought he’d try to fight me or run, but he didn’t. He put both hands up in a pleading gesture.

"I didn’t mean to leave you there, something happened!" he said.

I wasn’t buying that shit. What could have possibly happened for him to leave me? If I hadn’t had the principal’s help, I’d have been expelled, for sure.

"Cut the crap," I yelled. "All you had to do was wait 1 hour. 1 HOUR. And now you’re sleeping in your bed like nothing happened."

"I’m being serious, please, please," Ethan begged again.

I was ready to summon my dimensional cube. Killing him wasn’t an option, obviously, but teaching him a lesson and getting him expelled would be enough. Then Ethan said something.

"A vampire, I saw a vampire in the woods! If I’d stayed, he would have found me. I had to leave, for my own good. I promise I was going to try to get you help this morning, but there was nothing I could do. Vampires have heightened senses, so if I’d stayed, he’d have seen through my invisibility."

If it were anything else, I wouldn’t have stopped, but when Ethan mentioned a vampire, I had to. I was still thinking about that vampire in the tomb, and how someone under his command might come to contact me after I entered the academy.

"How can you be so sure it was a vampire?" I asked him. "And didn’t you think the vampire would kill me right after I left the rift?"

"Look, we just met, alright? I had to think about my own life first, then yours. Also, if I died, I wouldn’t even have the chance to get you help."

I couldn’t deny Ethan had a point, but I was still pissed. And no matter what he said, trusting him blindly would be a mistake. My best move was to hear him out, since this vampire thing made me anxious, but keep him on a tight watch.

"I was standing there waiting for you, right, like we agreed," Ethan started explaining, "then I heard something in the woods, and being as scared as I am, I turned invisible instantly. That’s when I spotted a man."

"At first I thought it was one of the guards. Same uniform. But then I saw his red eyes, and his fangs were coming out. The vampire was sniffing you out like a hunter. When I saw that, I left immediately."

The way Ethan talked, it sounded real, but I still wasn’t sure. He was a suspicious guy, and I wasn’t letting my guard down again like last time.

"Let’s say you’re telling the truth. Why wasn’t the vampire out there when I left the rift?"

"No idea. Maybe it didn’t know you’d entered the rift, I don’t know, man, but I swear I’m telling you the truth."

Ethan noticed I still wasn’t buying it.

"You can keep all the monster crystals you got, no need to pay me, and I owe you a favor. If you want to use my invisibility again, I’ll do it for free. What do you say?" Ethan said, extending his hand.

The offer wasn’t bad. I wouldn’t have to give him 120 monster crystals, meaning I’d have them all to myself to upgrade my stats, which was exactly what I needed at that moment.

We shook hands.

"Deal. Also, I need your help with something. Would you mind doing more than just one favor?"

"Hey, aren’t you pushing it now?"

"You want us to be cool again, or do you want a war with your roommate?"

"Alright, damn, chill. Now how the hell did you get back into the academy?"

"Secret."

I lay on my bed, feeling exhausted after everything that had happened. My body needed rest. Staring up at the ceiling, I asked Ethan one more thing.

"Do you think you’d recognize the vampire if you saw him again? You said he had a guard’s uniform, so he could be inside the academy."

"I think so, yeah. If I see him, I’ll let you know."

I was struggling to keep my eyes open. The light in our room was still on, but I didn’t feel like getting up to turn it off, and I didn’t want to use my cube for it either.

Ethan had to walk over and do it himself, complaining the whole way. I really didn’t care.

The next morning, I woke up feeling like shit, with burns still covering my body. The first thing I did was grab a glass of water and drink the medicine the nurse had given me.

It didn’t work instantly, but I knew after an hour or two it would kick in.

Ethan was the one who woke me up. My alarm had gone off, but I hadn’t heard it.

"I already showered, so you can use the bathroom. Don’t waste time, we need to grab breakfast before classes start."

"Also, someone dropped this off."

Ethan handed me a box with the academy uniform inside. Every student had to wear it from now on. At least it came with a black hood with the academy’s symbol on it. Actually looked pretty good.

After showering and getting dressed, we headed to the canteen to eat something. All the students were there, from 1st years to seniors. I even spotted that blond guy who already hated me, but I didn’t talk to him or even look his way. Fuck him.

Our first class wasn’t in a classroom but inside the gymnasium. A practical class, so we’d probably end up fighting.

On the way there, I peeked into my pocket dimension to check on Bob. He was still asleep, recovering from trying to heal me. But he’d already thrown up all the monster crystals I’d given him.

The 30 crystals had turned into 300. That would give me a huge boost in attributes, but it would take time to absorb them all, so I couldn’t do it before the first class. Unfortunately.

Inside the gymnasium, I saw the other new students. The blond guy, Selena, and Brian were there too. They’d all joined the academy recently, so we’d still have some classes together.

I ran into Tom on the way in.

"You look like shit," Tom said. "Who’s this guy?"

"Ethan. My roommate. A fucking prick."

"Hey," Ethan frowned.

Out of the two of them, Tom was the one I trusted. So most of the time I just talked to him instead of Ethan. I already had to share a room with the guy, talking to him all day too wasn’t something I really wanted.

Inside the gymnasium, reunited with everyone else, I spotted the teacher. Same guy from when Tom and I used the training room.

He stared right at me and smiled. I could already tell what was coming.