Sora frowned.
He tried again. The kid in front of him was only a few steps away. Normally, at this distance, sensing his heartbeat, the tension in his muscles, and the density of his energy would have been routine. If he focused hard enough, his combat instincts should even have let him sense the near future.
Nothing.
The kid with the earbuds walked past Sora, completely oblivious.
Sora stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.
He closed his eyes and focused on the depths of his soul. To trigger his regeneration, he lightly nicked the tip of his finger with his tooth. The wound didn't close right away. The single drop of blood slowly seeping out healed before long, but it was definitely nowhere near as fast as regeneration.
None of them answered.
Finally, he ran his tongue over his upper teeth and made the familiar call he had been used to for centuries.
He felt his fangs sharpen and lengthen.
Sora stood there like that for a while. Then he pulled his fangs back in.
The circle had absorbed every Blessing in his Soul Core. Only the Progenitor Vampire blood was left. Probably because it was less a Blessing and more the bloodline of his body.
Sora let out a deep sigh.
He looked up at the sky. A blue sky, the walls stretching up to it in the distance, and a traffic light at the end of the street turning from red to green.
Whatever.
For now, he had more important things to do.
He felt for the small pink wallet in his pocket and set off to find an internet café.
...
When Elena opened her eyes, she saw the ceiling.
For a few seconds, she couldn't remember where she was. Then everything came rushing back at once. The circle. The light. The white-haired man. Those titles.
She shot out of bed.
The room was empty.
Her heart started pounding like it was about to burst out of her rib cage. She closed her eyes and focused on the thin bond she could feel somewhere inside her. It was a feeling she couldn't describe. It was as if a thread stretched out from her soul, passed through the walls of the house, and fixed on a point not very far from home.
He wasn't far yet.
Without even putting on her slippers, Elena bolted out of her room, ran across the living room, and reached for the door handle.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Rosalind had stepped between the door and Elena. Her finger was wrapped in a white bandage.
"Mom, let go, I have to go, he's..."
"You just fainted, Elena." Rosalind pulled her daughter back into the living room by the arm. "You fainted twice today. Twice! You're not going anywhere."
"But Mom, you don't understand, he's my..."
"Are you looking for that boy?"
Elena went quiet.
Rosalind took a deep breath. "We'll talk about him later. And trust me, it's going to be a pretty long talk. But right now, the issue is this boy. That bastard stole my wallet. How do you know him?"
"Mom, I'll tell you everything, but first I have to find him and bring him back right now. And please don't call the police."
Just as Elena was about to get up again, Rosalind caught her by the arm.
Then she pushed her daughter toward the couch and headed for the door. "He looked really weird anyway. If he's somewhere nearby with that white hair, I'll find him just by asking around."
"No, Mom, you won't be able to find him, I can fe..."
"Elena!"
Rosalind's voice echoed through the living room.
Elena froze where she was. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard her mother yell at her like that.
"Sit down."
Elena sat down on the couch.
When Rosalind remembered everything her daughter had been through today, the anger on her face gave way to a tired tenderness.
"Just sit. Drink some water. I'll be back soon."
Elena opened her mouth. Then she closed it.
What was she supposed to say? That she had summoned that man, that her ability was actually SSS and not S, that she could summon heroes, that the man had been a hero in seven worlds?
Elena pulled her knees to her chest and stared at the door. If Sora wasn't here to help explain things, her mother would definitely look at her like she'd lost her mind from grief.
The next moment, Elena's eyes went wide. She ran into her room and started tearing the pictures off the walls.
"No way. Did he run off while I was asleep because he thinks I'm a freak?"
...
Rosalind opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
At the same moment, the door across the hallway opened too.
First, two men in suits came out. Broad-shouldered, with clear wires in their ears and expressionless faces. Behind them came a young man.
He was tall, with well-defined features and blond hair combed back so flawlessly it was as if he had just walked out of a salon. He wore a navy suit that fit his body perfectly. He was a young man so handsome that he looked like he had stepped right out of a poster, the kind everyone would turn to look at twice.
A gold ring on the index finger of his right hand. Whether he was talking or standing still, he kept turning that ring with his thumb.
The mayor's son.
His father was still inside. He had said he and Fiora needed to talk about something private, and had sent his son and his men outside. The young man wasn't happy about it at all. He had graduated this year too, and had awakened as a B-Rank Mage class. But his father had chosen a private talk with an A-Rank, Divine class Awakener over spending time with his own son.
His eyes landed on the woman across the hallway.
Rosalind didn't even notice him. Her mind was entirely on the white-haired boy. She bent down and started putting on her flat shoes.
When she bent over, her cream-colored cardigan fell open at the front.
The mayor's son's thumb stopped on the ring.
His eyes slid to the mounds visible through the neckline of her cardigan and stayed there. He didn't even try to hide it. One of the bodyguards beside him noticed where he was looking and expressionlessly turned to face forward.
Rosalind finished putting on her shoes and straightened up. She tucked a strand of hair that had fallen loose behind her ear and headed for the stairs without looking at anyone.
As her footsteps went down the stairs, the mayor's son turned his ring once more.
The left corner of his mouth lifted.
"I'm going to get some fresh air."
One of the bodyguards stepped forward. "Sir, your father told us to wait in front of the building..."
"I said I'm getting some fresh air." The young man didn't even look at him. "You two wait here."
The bodyguards looked at each other. Then both of them stepped back.
The mayor's son put his hands in his pockets and walked toward the stairs after Rosalind.