New Game+

Lara continued to stroll through the hallways of the school. Various parts of the school continued to undergo renovations. Several buildings were being erected and the other buildings were being dismantled and improved.

Several soldiers were, in fact, patrolling the school grounds.

Lara couldn't help but shake her head. It was as the rumors were. Seeker's influence had drawn out the military. Over the past three months Seeker Carlean had developed a new nickname.

Because of his crazy gambles and how he managed to infuriate his enemies leading to bets that were always north of a million Sydians, he was now called Crazy Carlean.

Various organizations and groups were trying to stop Seeker from continuing in his gambling spree. But suddenly, news that shocked and stunned the world appeared.

Charles Lindmitt who was recalled back by New Great Britain and won the bid to bring back this personality enraged Phil-Pangea. Although by citizenship, he was of Pangea, his birth-home was Sweden and because of this, New Great Britain managed to recall this personality with the promise that all of his research will be supported and the findings would even be shared with Pangea.

At the peak of the accusations mounting against Seeker Carlean, Charles managed to cure cancer.

Lara couldn't help but smirk at the memories of Charles's announcement and how the unusual case of Seeker's sickness had allowed him to discover the link between cancer cells and how to control it through the brain. The Transcellular Neuro Phenomenon became the top topic in the world. Charles's study also concluded that within this years' time, he would have been able to map out and possibly cure any and all neurological sickness. His request is that Seeker must be allowed to do what he does. The adrenaline rush of Seeker was necessary for his studies. Seeker's streams had always accompanied several doctors in waiting who was said to be working under Charles and people who watch Seeker's stream knew of Seeker's condition.

And since Seeker's gambling spree was the fruit of this study, the rest of the world and Seeker's haters could do nothing but shut up.

Seeker paraded his accomplishment's the next day laughing and mocking quotations and statements made by people who declared Seeker was a threat to humankind.

Lara walked out slowly and casually, not joining with the other students who went their way in pairs or groups.

She walked into the long cafeteria and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction as she saw the arrays of meals. This was truly worthy of being one of the most prominent schools in the Pangean nations.

Being a Royal she continued to browse to the rooms that were specifically reserved for their use. As was indicated in the manual, the Royals may reserve rooms for them to dine in and so, Lara walked around the various rooms to check if there were any rooms with spaces.

Various offers popped up as the males witnessed Lara browsing. Lara ignored all the offers that these men gave and didn't even gaze back at them.

Even the men who directly walked and greeted Lara was not met even with a stare or smile.

Many men frowned at the sight of her apathy but dared not abuse their position. They knew it was stupid to mess with someone with the surname Diamon.

As she reached the middle area of the large hall which housed these private rooms, she noticed that a crowd of people was standing and staring at a certain room. They kept their distance but did nothing to overstep their boundaries.

Lara smiled in excitement as she knew what this crowd meant.

Seeker had finally come out and had gone to school. This was the first since the three weeks of Lara being in Pangea. After an intense match with several E-Sport players that led in an extremely shocking and unbelievable result, the World Governing Powers tried to detain Seeker but due to the lack of evidence, they had to let Seeker go.

Sadly, Lara couldn't approach as the crowd around that room was too many and were even crowding. There were more men than women because she would also be making an appearance.

Lara sighed and decided to simply stare at a distance.

 It was then she noticed that near where she was standing, was a Royal room with only one occupant.

She turned to peek inside and noticed a girl eating a rather simple dish.

The girl was beautiful but had a relatively simple appearance.

The girl inside noticed Lara's gaze and waved back with a smile.

"Hello! Are you looking for a room? I doubt there are any available here. Most Royal's dine together with their friends. And the other rooms are already taken because of Seeker's trio. I suggest joining another room. Don't worry. With looks and hair like that, any male Royal would definitely let you in for free." The girl giggled.

Lara had a bemused look. She glanced at the name registered for this room at this hour and then Lara's expression changed.

"Novelty-Blastoise?" She wondered.

The girl inside didn't react but maintained her warm look.

"Maybe I should eat here instead. I hate being the center of attention. Most female Royals are probably jealous of me." Lara laughed.

"Oh…" The girl was caught off guard but responded courteously.

"I'm Lara."

"Oh? You're actually introducing yourself? Its common knowledge for anyone that is a Royal to know you and your family."

"They know my family. But I don't think they know me." Lara giggled.

"I'm Charm Novelty Blastoise." She introduced.

"Novelty-Blastoise? Interesting." Lara smiled. Those two family names implied that this girl was the product of two powerful families.

"Go ahead. Feel free to ask. I won't get offended." The girl cheerfully offered as she started opening her meal. It was a simple meal considering the usual lavish food that most Royal's have.

"Alright. Since you said so. How come you are so… unaltered?" Lara asked as she observed her beautiful features.

"My parents simply didn't want it. Although genetic altering is beneficial, they wanted to have a child that would naturally be made and developed without those enhancements." She laughed.

Lara smiled and had a warmer look at the cheerful girl.

"I'll be honest…" Lara began.

Charm simply sat silently and waited for the usual words she has heard so often.

"You're beautiful already. Don't get altered. It's a waste of time. You're more beautiful because you're flawed." Lara laughed.

Charm was surprised at the words of Lara.

"Th-Thank you." She smiled with an embarrassed expression.

"Believe it or not… I hate my altering…" Lara sighed.

"I wished I could just walk in here with who I am. With who I really look like. But instead, the standards of these world in terms of beauty have grown so high that having a beautiful face like yours is almost good as not being good looking." Lara sighed.

Charm had a strange expression on her face.

"Why do you hate your Altering? I mean, you look stunning. Whoever tinkered with your genes must have been an expert!" Charm admired.

"But it isn't me… I wish I had parents like you who loved you for you and didn't need to enhance their kids. It makes me feel that I wasn't enough." Lara smiled.

"You're a weird kid." Charm laughed.

"And that's why I think we'd be good friends." Lara laughed.

"Thanks! That really means a lot. I mean, I have friends but none who have a prestigious title such as yourself."

"Oh? Were you bullied too much that you actually made friends with Rising's or Regulars?"

Charm laughed.

"If I am, will you find that offensive?"

Lara was surprised at Charm's reaction.

"I don't see any issues with having friends with Risings or Regulars. If I hadn't met you, I would have dined with Rising's if all Royal rooms were taken. If I met a Regular first, I would dine with him or her." Lara spoke seriously.

Charm smiled.

"Good! Then you won't have a problem then! I was scared you'd freak out like how my other friends did."

"Freak out?"

"I have a friend who is a Regular," Lara announced simply.

The eyes of Lara didn't show any strange changes.

"Is it that bad to have one on this side of the Earth?" Lara asked.

"Well... Yes. This school has always adopted this stand. Value those with potential and make the rest simply capable of surviving. In this school, a Regular, means you have no future. You simply exist and will act like someone who will help and do the dirty work." Charm sighed.

"I see. I think that's the general view around the world but no one would ever make fun of you if you have a Regular friend." Lara pondered.

"Not in Pangea. Because we have been situated around countries that are hostile to us, those who are Rising are treated as unimportant while the Regulars are like trash. The culture of this country urges this because as a Pangean, we were engraved with this thought in our heads. If we don't get better to those around us, we will die." Charm explained seriously.

"Anyways, forget it, let's eat." Lara offered as she tapped on the table which brought up the hologram for the menus at their school.

"This school is really impressive. Hologram menus? How rich."

"This is only recent. It's all because of Harker." Charm explained.

"Oh. Right. So what should we order? I can treat you to anything! Don't worry about the price just name it!" Lara laughed.

"Ummmm…" Charm hesitated. But then she looked at Lara and then sighed.

"Alright. The thing is... this Regular is a bit special. I actually treat him with a full course meal." Charm explained timidly.

"A Full-course meal?" Lara was stunned. Was Charm eating a simple meal so she can shower this Regular with dishes handmade from the top food restaurants that were run by the businesses of some Royals?

"Are you in love with this man? Is that why you're eating such a simple meal?"

"Yeah. Actually, the reason I have a simple meal isn't because of my lack of money. After all, I am still a Royal. As you guessed, in about five to ten minutes from now, that Regular would join me and eat here." Charm finally confessed.

"So he's your boyfriend? They say the best way into a mans heart is through his stomach. " Lara teased.

Charm gave her an odd look.

"I don't think anyone had said that idiom since the Void years. But no. It isn't anything like that." Charm defended.

"A Full-Course meal? There are only three five star restaurants serving in this school. One of which is owned by Harker and the rest by some royals. I know the range of these meals. And while it isn't expensive, it sounds like a lot to be given for free at a Regular."

Lara continued to laugh as she saw the change of Charm's color.

"It really isn't like that!"

Lara smiled weirdly.

"Then do tell, what it is!" She teased.

"Alright. This Regular. His extremely special."

"That's what women who are in love always say." Lara laughed again.

"Well... I'm feeding him not necessarily out of love... But out of pity."

"Pity?" Lara had a weird look.

"He… he goes in here… to cry…" Charm tried to explain.

"Cry?"

"Yes. He's… very busy… is constantly under pressure… and rarely sleeps. That's how pitiful this guy is." Charm explained.

"Wait. He's a Regular, right? Is he a working-student or something?"

"He is a Regular. But I wouldn't call him a working-student. But he's really sad. Every day, he has to report to his superiors and it sounds like they keep giving him a task that is almost impossible that even Royal's of our prestige would find to be very very difficult."

"You're kidding?" Lara was stunned.

"Basically, he has to get in between the turf battle between two companies and sometimes have to clash with other government agencies, groups, the police, military and if I remember correctly, an odd deal of trying to get him to meet the president of Corplegred."

"Corplegred? The current owners of the Pokemon franchise?"

"Yes. That same company. His missions can go as easy as talking with people but will sometimes involve running away from armed men. He has extremely harsh deadlines to finish and frankly, some of them are illegal."

Lara continued to gap in shock. Was this a Regular or a secret agent?

"There were times that he even had some wounds and told me he got it from his training sessions. The first time I met him was when I had an errand and got to this room for about thirty minutes in my allotted time. This guy thought I wouldn't show up and went into this room, locked it so he could cry. When I saw how pitiful he was, I allowed him to stay. Every now and then when he is scheduled to meet with his superiors, he goes in this room to cry." Charm sighed.

Lara had a strange expression.

"That's awful? Wounds? Why would a Regular have that kind of lifestyle? Is he one of those enrolled in a Student-Soldier program?" Lara guessed.

"Yes. He is a student-soldier. But that's not why he cries. It's because his identity is a bit special even for a Regular. Although people still look down on him for being a Regular, his identity also makes him someone that wouldn't make others bully or mess with him. In fact, people know that this guy comes in here to meet with me. Honestly, I lost quite a few friends in the process. They say it's out of disgust, but in truth, most are jealous of me. In fact, many Royals have tried to talk to this man." Charm explained further.

"Interesting. Who is this person?" Lara finally asked.

"STUPID ZEEK! STUPID STUPID ZEEK!" A loud curse was heard as the door opened and shut immediately.

A young man had immediately collapsed to the floor and started to weep desperately with painful sobs.

"I FAILED AGAIN!" He cried out pitifully. 

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS! LET ME DIE! JUST LET ME DIE!" His sobs grew louder and louder. The soundproof room prevented his loud howls to be heard from the outside.

"Cliff! Oh my God! Get up! It's alright! It's Alright! Here! Have some drinks! Don't worry. It's on me. Eat as much as you want!" Charm immediately helped the young man to be properly seated and tapped on the table to bring the buffet options.

Lara was stunned at the face of this man.

Despite her research, very little data had been shown about this man. But in a twist of fate, Lara met this man on the first day of her transfer.

"CLIFF FANGWOOD?!" Lara recognized the man who was officially assigned to be the bodyguard of Seeker Carlean.