After a few days of routine classes, the professor instructed the Rank B students to pair up for an activity. Davi, who hadn’t cultivated many friendships, noticed a girl who had been left without a partner, seemingly ignored by everyone else forming groups.
"Who is she?" He asked so classmates who had approached to discuss how they would form pairs. Even though he hadn’t been in the class for very long, he was still part of a group of friends in a way.
The problem was that there were five of them, and if soone had to be without a partner, it would obviously be Davi, after all, he wasn’t that close to the guys.
"She..." one boy murmured. "I think her na is Lina, but she’s weird."
"Don’t you think you’ve already conquered enough won’s hearts?" Another boy complained.
"The world is so unfair! And I can’t even get one girl!" Yet another boy interjected, complaining exaggeratedly.
"From what I know, she’s not good as an explorer either. No one understands how she ended up in Rank B." The last boy in the group added.
"True, I heard a rumor that she only got into Enki because she’s related to a professor." Then they started discussing rumors.
"I’ve even heard that she did special favors to get in," one of the boys said with a perverted smile. "But I doubt it, she’s not even pretty."
"Don’t talk like that about soone you don’t even know." Tired of that discussion, Davi said in a harsh tone.
He didn’t know anything about that girl, but he could tell she was trembling slightly. She seed scared and perhaps desperate seeing that she wouldn’t get a group.
Moreover, he hated judging people based solely on rumors. Especially since he had suffered from that several tis.
"Sorry, I forgot that rumors were a sensitive topic for you," one of the boys said, and the others fell silent.
"Whatever, it’s fine," Davi said. There was no reason to argue with a group of friends he barely cared about. "And you don’t need to worry, you four can split into two pairs."
"What about you?"
Davi looked towards where Lina was and noticed she was looking in his direction. But she quickly looked away as soon as their eyes t.
"I’ll talk to her," Davi explained. "I don’t think she has a partner."
His friends didn’t seem very supportive of the idea, but no one objected. So he crossed the room, approaching the girl, who seed startled by the sudden approach.
Her shoulders hunched, and she looked even further down. At that mont, the boy couldn’t help but think she looked like an armadillo trying to protect itself with its shell.
"Do you want to be my partner?" Davi asked calmly.
Then he had to wait for her answer. The girl timidly left her cocoon little by little. Her long and ssy green hair still hid her eyes and most of her face, but she was probably looking in Davi’s direction.
"Yes..." she said in a sigh so low that the boy even doubted his ears.
Still, he replied with a friendly smile, trying to make the girl more comfortable. But he also didn’t try to push the conversation further. Forcing a shy person to talk usually doesn’t work.
"We’ll be a good team," He limited himself to saying that.
Then, in an unconscious reaction, he caressed the top of the girl’s head. Which led her to react cutely, taking a slight step back, like a small frightened animal.
And, in the next instant, she ended up approaching the boy’s hands, accepting his affection with a slight smile.
"Co hand in your team nas, class is almost over," the teacher announced.
"I’ll go register our nas, see you tomorrow,"
Davi said and quickly turned to walk toward the teacher. And just as his back moved away, Lina managed to say in a low tone:
"Thank you."
Unfortunately, Davi didn’t hear those words. And even if he had, it would’ve been hard for him to guess the reason why the girl was thanking him.
The truth was that Lina had heard Davi’s friends talking about her, after all, she had excellent hearing. Thanks to that, she also heard when the boy defended her so strongly.
That’s why, as he walked away, she stared at him with a shy smile, blushing in a cute way.
While Davi handed in the nas to the teacher, he felt a slight tingling on the back of his neck, as if soone were watching him. He briefly turned around, but Lina had already lowered her head, absorbed in her own thoughts.
After saying goodbye to the teacher, Davi returned to where Lina was. She was still standing in the sa spot, staring at the ground. He approached hesitantly.
"I registered our nas," he said, trying to sound casual. "I think we can go now. Class is over. I need to run to the lab, so we’ll have to talk about the project later. Can you give your number?"
Lina hesitated for a mont, but finally handed him her phone so he could scan the QR code. With her contact saved, Davi said goodbye and ran off to the alchemy departnt. The class had run overti, so he was already late.
Davi and Ange had completely finished organizing the lab, and now they were finally working on a research project.
Now, he finally understood why Alia had said that working with Ange would be advantageous. Ange had a promising research project: creating a restoration potion based on the blood of a creature called Lumiflora.
The desired effect of the potion was to absorb mana from the surrounding area, allowing the user to recover spent mana much faster. Theoretically, this would let soone use a skill for a longer period than its original limit.
This was a natural ability of the Lumiflora, a sessile monster that lived in environnts with high mana density and was capable of filtering and absorbing it.
Its "blood" contained special molecules that reduced the negative effects caused by the intense flow of mana through the body.
If these traits could be transferred to the potion, the result would be sothing with fewer side effects than existing mana regeneration potions, and with a significantly stronger effect.
Naturally, such a power would be perfect for Davi, who was completely dependent on his only combat ability: .
But even for regular explorers, this would be extrely useful. That’s why Davi chose this as the research they would complete first.
By the way, Davi really did have to choose just one research project and force the girl to drop all the others, because Ange had been trying to maintain over ten completely different research lines at once.
Besides being disorganized, she seed to have a chronic difficulty in making decisions. As a result, she would dedicate a little energy to everything and never fully focus on a single one.
Because of her tendency to get involved in multiple simultaneous projects, she never made significant progress on any individual idea. This lack of focus kept her from finishing her research in a tily manner.
On one occasion, this scattered attention resulted in the theft of her research. She had talked about her idea with a professor who, unlike her, divided between tasks, focused all his energy on it and was able to finish it quickly, publishing the work as if it were his own.
Finally, Davi quickly arrived at the laboratory, where his main job was to ensure that Ange wasn’t doing sothing foolish, like starting a second research project without finishing the first.
He also helped whenever he could, but he was so busy keeping things organized that he didn’t have ti to do much beyond that.
At least working with that girl was undeniably a lot of fun. After all, every day she managed to cause a different kind of accident. And her cuteness was very entertaining to watch.
Plus, she loved to bake sweets and always brought so for the boy, which was an excellent bonus. However, that day he would have to leave the lab a bit earlier than usual because Morrigan showed up.
"Good evening," the redhead greeted them politely.
"Hi! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? You’re that girl who always follows Alia, right? You’re always wearing those maid outfits, aren’t you?" Ange excitedly approached the newcor.
She bombarded Morrigan with questions about her clothes, but she didn’t get any answers. Davi found it amusing, but he couldn’t help but feel curious too. Why did that girl dress so strangely?
Well, it was probably because of Alia.
"Do you need sothing?" Davi finally asked.
"Yes," Morrigan said with a faint smile. "Could you co with ? Alia asked to call you, and besides, there’s sothing I need to show you."
Davi glanced sideways at Ange, who told him he could go, saying she’d finish things on her own. He was slightly worried that the lab might be in flas the next day, but he agreed and reluctantly followed Morrigan.
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