"Me," Nyx said. "I do."
"Oh." June put back his sunglasses. "Well, too bad. I broke my neck, so I can’t look at books for too long."
"..."
"..."
Nyx blinked. "But they looked perfectly fine all throughout this morning, even while you were eating."
"..." June sighed. "Well..."
Nyx cleared his throat as he said, "And I’ve done my research. It’s said that walking improves stamina and mana a lot. So to improve our inner mana, I think we should trek down to school."
June almost had a heart attack. "Trek? Like with our two legs?"
Nyx nodded.
"You really are after my life... No. We’re not doing that. I can’t die before my time." June shook his head.
Nyx stared at the book in his hand. "But it says here that it’s good for..."
"No." June closed the book in his hand. "Don’t listen to all those outdated methods. You have to be on the Internet to know better. There are better ways to improve stamina and mana or whatever."
"And what’s that...?" Nyx adjusted his glasses, curious.
And the next second, the two of them were sitting in June’s private jet.
The jet was already taking off as June happily stared down through the window with a satisfied smile.
"What are we doing here again?" Nyx asked, staring at June.
"Going to school, of course," he said.
"But didn’t you say you would find a better way than trekking that helps improve stamina?"
"Well, yes I did. This." June shrugged.
"..."
June smiled as he patted him on the hair. "I’ve done my research and it says this is more rigorous and intense for improving stamina and mana. I mean, can’t you see how we’re sitting high up in the sky?"
"..."
"But..."
"Trust my process. I know a lot of things." June smiled as he stared out through the window again. He had always wanted to ride a private jet, and this was his opportunity!
Why ride to school when you can fly above everyone?
The ride was seamless for June, who simply relaxed and enjoyed the ride while Nyx kept trying to open his book and read through.
Soon, they were above their sky, hovering around while looking for a landing spot. June had told them to land on the rooftop, stealing the spot where their extravagant principal always parked his jet when he came.
"But the principal..." Nyx tried explaining.
"Oh, he should take a rope down or something. He’ll be fine." He smiled as he looked down from the window.
June couldn’t help but love the view below. Tiny-looking people in uniforms staring at the extravagant jet in amusement.
He shook his head as he smiled. "Poor people down there... it must hurt to not have a jet. I was once like you guys..." He shook his head as he sighed.
They soon landed as he got down from the jet with Nyx, who was already feeling dizzy.
"That felt good. We should ride it more," he said as he caught sight of the security man approaching from a distance. June was sure he was coming to nag at him for the jet and uniform.
"Let’s go." He instantly pulled Nyx by the hand and dragged him away.
Nyx had no say—he followed June as they ran for their dear lives.
They soon arrived at the school library. And while Nyx checked them in, June casually stood there yawning.
"Can we take a quick nap? I’m tired already."
Nyx stared at him, kept quiet, and nodded.
The man in charge of the library stared at June. "Uniform..."
June smiled as he said, "My dog ate my uniform."
"..."
They walked into the grand academy library that looked like it came straight out of a Harry Potter movie or something—but with a more modern design to it. Books lined up in endless shelves. June was sure there were thousands or millions of books in this library.
He followed Nyx as they made their way to take a seat. Eyes lingered at them as some began murmuring to themselves while staring in their direction.
June was sure they were talking about them. They were making it a bit too obvious. Like those side commentators in a short drama. Typical NPC characters.
"What are they even studying for? I mean, it’s not like they can do some magic in like six days? They’ll probably fail."
"F-rank Espers and Guides paired together? A sure perfect recipe for disaster."
They all smiled amongst themselves as June arrived at the table with Nyx already seated. Nyx pulled out his book and immediately began going through them.
"Can’t we get a quick nap or something?"
"No."
June sighed. "So rude. I’m the elder here..." He mumbled as he got up to his feet.
"Where are you going?" Nyx stared at him.
"Going to find a book to study."
"But I already brought one..."
"No, too boring. Trust me, I’m a Guide so I know a better book to help me advance my skills." He winked as he left to get himself some books.
An hour later, June returned with a pile of books—ten in number.
He dropped them hard on the table that everyone around turned and stared at them.
"Shuuuu!" The students urged them.
"..." June blinked as he slowly sat down before his books, dismantling them with a smile.
Nyx stared at them as shock invaded his face. What he saw weren’t books for learning how to guide or improve oneself at all. All he saw were storybooks.
"What are these...?" Nyx asked in a low tone. "Why are you reading stories here?"
"Correction. They’re epic love stories of Guides and Espers with picture illustrations."
"Why though? We should be..."
June placed a finger in between his lips. "Never underestimate the power of storytelling. These will help me grasp the dynamic of guiding better. Because it’s easier to learn through stories—haven’t you heard that theory yet?"
"...but..."
"Trust me. I’m older here. So don’t mind me. Keep reading your boring stuff." He said as he turned to his pile of storybooks and began reading through eagerly.
Two minutes later, June was endlessly giggling as he flipped through the pages.
Nyx stared at him only to see him giggling, suppressing his laughter while flipping through the pages and laughing.
"What a silly love story—you’ll die for him? Dumb." He shook his head as he kept reading while giggling in between.
"What are you doing...?"
June pushed Nyx’s book aside and showed him the page. "Hey, see this—isn’t it funny how he thinks they’re gonna end up together when we know they both died in the end? Silly." He smiled.
Nyx was speechless. All he could do was sit and watch June read and giggle.
"What a joke." He giggled a bit too loud that all eyes fell on him again.
"Shuuuu!" They snapped at him.
"Oh, shuu yourselves." He rolled his eyes as he continued reading.
Nyx tried concentrating, but June’s laughter wasn’t helping matters at all. But he struggled hard, and soon he could read something because June had strangely stopped laughing.
Hopeful that June was reading seriously now, he turned only to see June sleeping.
"..."
He blinked, staring at him lying there asleep with a book over his face. And then he began snoring.
The librarian soon arrived and tapped him on the shoulder.
"No, I’ll never work..." June snapped as he woke up, looking around. He looked up at the librarian who didn’t seem happy with him at all.
"No sleeping in the library."
June smiled. "I read better with my eyes closed."