Chapter 26: She Came To Talk To Me

"What seriously?!" The girl asked in shock.

"Yeah. That’s what I was told. He awakened it as SS rank as well."

"Fuck."

"Damn!"

After a brief moment of silence, the other boy asked again:

"So, what happened to him?"

"I was told he went to a dungeon and never returned. Must have died there apparently."

Ethan whose eyes were still wide as he listened to the conversation.

Necromancy...

Nora’s older brother had awakened the same class as him.

He started walking when the subject changed.

What he heard sat heavier than the rest of the rumor. Restricted classes running through an entire family was already rare enough to draw attention.

A previous Necromancer in that same bloodline made Nora’s interest in him look less like curiosity and more like recognition.

She had not approached him because he was another struggling F-rank. She had approached him because she had seen this something like this before.

He replayed the interaction with her after the Dungeon. The way she had studied the Beowolf and the comment about Storage.

It was all coming together now...

Ethan returned to the dorm with his thoughts running amock in his head.

When he opened the door, the place was empty, Lila’s door was closed the same way it had been for most of the week.

He stood there for a moment, considering whether to knock, then decided against it. There was nothing useful he could say to her right now, and the distance she had built was not something a single conversation in a hallway would fix.

He set his bag down, changed into regular clothes, and left again, pushing the thoughts out of his head.

Whatever he wanted to know, he would find out soon enough...

Ethan made it to the East grounds and called the Beowolf out, the undead stepping out of his shadow slowly just as it did many times before.

Like that, he began.

The first sequences were basic: directional movement, stop commands, target focus and so on

Then he lengthened them, turning them into layered instructions that required the Beowolf to hold one action while preparing another.

The mental strain was present but manageable and he kept his Death Energy, refusing to burn through the pool just for the sake of faster gains.

A while later, he opened the system.

```

[EXP: 845 / 900]

```

He closed it and continued.

He worked through it while his mind wandered back to the revelation about Nora’s family.

Then, it wandered to Lila. The distance she gave him, the short response, all of it.

He sighed and pushed the Beowolf through another extended sequence, then checked the system again.

```

[EXP: 870 / 900]

```

Thirty points left to level up. He made slow progress but his connection with the undead had deepened.

He sighed. Level 6 remained out of reach for tonight. He needed to prepare for the meeting. So he knew that he would walk into it at his current strength whether he liked the idea or not.

When the sun began to set, he dismissed the Beowolf and inhaled. The air was cool, his body felt tired from the sustained control. At Rank F, his stamina wasn’t very impressive.

He exhaled, and walked back towards their dorm with a lot of things weighing on his mind.

***

The following night Ethan sat on his bed with the system screen open. The meeting was tomorrow, and he already made up his mind to go.

He didn’t train today because he wanted to be mentally ready for whatever was going to happen...

The agreement was for them to meet, talk, and possibly trade information about their abilities. Anything outside that, and he would leave...

He glanced at his system and his eyes fell on his experience points, the remaining thirty experience points sitting there like an unfinished task.

He closed the system and a knock sounded on his door.

"Ethan? You still awake?"

Ethan blinked, not expecting this and replied: "Yeah, I am. Come in."

The door opened to reveal Lila standing in the doorway wearing an oversized shirt that reached mid-thigh and and a pair of shorts underneath.

She had the same composed expression she had maintained for most of the week, and for a moment she only looked at him.

Then she stepped inside and closed the door behind her as she leaned against it...

"You’re meeting her tomorrow," she said.

Ethan leaned into his pillow. "Yes."

Lila crossed her arms behind here and spoke again. "I’ve been hearing things. I thought I should let you know. About how all her family members ended up with taboo awakenings."

"I heard the same," Ethan said. "Just today."

Her eyes met his. "Then you know her brother was a Necromancer."

"I do."

The silence that followed was brief and uncomfortable before Lila spoke with her eyes on the ground.

"I don’t like this..."

Ethan watched her carefully. This was the most she had spoken to him in days.

"I’m not going in blind—" he said.

"I’m saying be careful." she cut him off, "Don’t show her everything. Don’t let her control the entire conversation. And if something goes wrong, leave. You’re still F-rank. She would beat you before you know what’s happening.

"I know."

Lila nodded, and silence fell over them again.

She fidgeted with her fingers behind her and Ethan thought that she was about to leave.

He fought internally, weighing whether or not it was safe to bring up how she’s been acting.

But before he could come to a decision, she spoke again.

"There’s another thing I wanted to talk to you about."

Ethan raised his eyebrows. "Sure, go ahead."

The seconds stretched, and Lila’s shoulders rose and fell as she breathed hard, trying to bring herself to speak.

Ethan sat on his bed patiently, waiting for her to speak while he made his own speculations...

Was she going to talk about what happened?

Was she going to draw a line between them?

He didn’t know. Waiting for her to speak was the only way he could find out.

"I’ve been distant..."