He slammed the door shut behind him.
Emma began to laugh.
“Sorry, it’s just… He would’ve been angry if I laughed in front of him.”
She wiped her tears and stood up.
“Don’t worry about Apollo. He just cares about everyone a bit too much.”
After Emma and Athena left, Neo leaned back into the sofa and stared at the ceiling.
“Do you guys have anything to say to me?”
Calista, Kane, and Alexander remained silent.
Anyone in their place would’ve rebuked him, been angry at him for leaving them behind when he got a chance to go to a better stage.
Neo wouldn’t have blamed them if they called him opportunistic.
Instead, Calista spoke in a whisper, almost as if she was begging him.
“Are you really leaving us?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t you stay here even after you join the Association?”
“No.”
She bit her lips and lowered her head.
The past few months had helped Neo become close to everyone in the city, especially Kane, Calista, Alexander, and Edmund.
They were like a family.
“Y-you will come back to meet us though, right?”
‘A bitter truth or a sweet lie?’ Neo thought.
Though, the answer was obvious.
“I doubt I’ll have time to come back.”
Alexander clenched his fist, and so did Kane.
Neo was about to console them when Calista wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked at him with a big, bright smile.
“Then, we’ll hold a celebration to celebrate your successful joining of the Awakener Association.”
“Our budget is tight enough as it is. We can’t spend the resources on a celebration for a single person.”
“We’ll manage,” Alexander spoke. “I’m sure the citizens will be happy to contribute.”
Neo tried to dissuade them and failed.
He clicked his tongue and left the office.
Just as he stepped outside, he found Emma waiting for him.
“You have free time right now?”
“…Yes.”
“Let’s have a coffee.”
“…”
“Just come with me. Think of it as a date. You don’t get a chance with a beautiful girl like me everyday.”
Neo wanted to roll his eyes.
He sighed and agreed.
On the way, Neo saw Apollo helping an old woman cross the street.
“He can’t sit empty-handed. You’ll keep seeing him moving around the city and helping people. Get used to it,” Emma said.
They entered the ‘Brew Haven’ café.
The place exuded warmth, with rustic wooden furniture, soft lighting, and aromatic coffee.
Again, Neo noticed another Myth at the far corner seat.
Athena was furiously typing on her laptop; her lazy, disinterested look was nowhere to be seen.
Emma smiled when she followed Neo’s gaze and saw Athena.
“Seems like she finally got an idea for her new novel.”
“She is an author?”
“Yeah. Terrible occupation, I tell you. Making a living as an author was hard as it is before the Apocalypse, and now it’s worse.”
“I doubt she writes for money, though.”
Neo and Emma sat near the window and ordered coffee.
The orders arrived, and Emma took a sip.
“Now this reminds me of something interesting. Want to know about it?” she asked as she shifted in her seat.
“I’m all ears,” Neo answered casually.
Never in a hundred years could he have guessed Emma’s next words.
“Athena is a Child of Mana. Turns out all — majority of — novels she has written were told to her by the world.
“It hurt her pride, and she decided to keep writing until she can publish a book that is written by herself and only herself.”
“…”
Neo froze.
He had to take a few seconds to digest the information.
Emma giggled when she saw his eyes.
“So even you can get surprised.”
“…Why did you tell me sensitive information like this?”
“I told you. I wanted to see you surprised. I was curious if you had lost your emotions since your mastery in Darkness seems quite high.”
The light in Emma’s eyes disappeared.
For a moment, Neo could see her true self.
Her smile, her gestures—they were carefully calculated.
Her true self held no emotions.
Neo blinked, and the strange feeling disappeared.
The Emma before his eyes became normal, not a sociopath who lacked emotions.
“Aren’t you worried about leaking such sensitive information to me?”
“No.” She leaned closer and whispered. “I’ll eat you up if you even think of betraying us.”
“Sorry, but I have no interest in you.”
“Is that so?”
She smiled and placed the coffee cup down.
“Thanks for satiating my curiosity. I’ll see you later.”
Neo stared at her figure as she left the café.
‘She dropped quite a bomb just to get a reaction out of me.’
‘I guess it was a big shock for her to see a Darkness user of my level retain normal emotions.’
He leaned back into the fluffy seat.
‘So Athena is a Child of Mana.’
There were not just one or two Children of Mana.
Athena was one; the Sphinx was another.
There were a few more Neo could remember.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know how many of them were present in the current era. Continue your journey with
Since Athena was safe and sound, the Child of Mana Neo had to rescue was different.
Neo looked at Athena, who was busy typing, and wondered if he should approach her.
Just then, she raised her head and stared at him, frowning, before returning her focus to the screen.
‘Seems like she doesn’t want to be disturbed.’
Neo decided to train to pass the time.
He sat on the top of the city walls and closed his eyes.
‘My goal is currently three… four things when I consider my combat ability.’
‘Learning the Tremor-ranked spell: Black Dawn of Despair.’
‘Learning sword techniques from Kane.’
‘Completing my Concept of Death.’
‘Ranking up.’
Creating a Concept could be done passively.
His main focus at the moment was sword techniques.
Neo opened his eyes.
He sensed Kane appearing beside him.
“Should we start training?”
“…Yes.”
Kane nodded.
The two moved away from the city.
They stood far apart.
Kane closed his eyes to calm himself. It wouldn’t do either of them good if he was distracted.
When he reopened his eyes, they were tranquil.
“You will be leaving in three days.”
“That’s right.”
“It’s not enough time to learn my techniques.”
“You can teach me the basics and give me the sword technique manual you’ve written. I’ll learn from them.”
“Seriously?” Kane was exasperated. “How do you know about that? I didn’t tell anyone I was writing a manual.”
“What can I say? I’m something of a mind reader myself.”
Kane chuckled at Neo’s poor attempt at humor.
He shook his head with a bitter smile.
“Still, learning from me and learning from the manual I’ve written is completely different. I can’t guarantee the manual will help you a lot.
“Receiving direct lessons from me is a hundred times better.”
“You are awfully confident for a guy who didn’t know he was using Incantations until yesterday.”
“I’m not confident at all. That’s why I’m worried the manual I’ve written will be inadequate to teach you.”
Kane bit his lips and clenched the sword tightly.
“Can’t you… can’t you just stay with us? Is it that important to leave? You have everything here.”
“Not everything.”
Neo smiled and didn’t elaborate.
“Let’s start the training.”
He unsheathed his sword and pointed at Kane.
Kane let out a melancholic smile and dashed towards Neo.