Extra's Ascent

"That will be three hundred credits," the cafeteria lady remarked, extending the sizable payment machine toward Aldrich.

Aldrich blinked, staring at the machine in disbelief. "Three hundred credits? I only ordered a bunch of stuff."

She raised an eyebrow, her voice carrying over the noise of the crowded cafeteria. "You mean you only ordered ten plates of fried rice, enough to feed twenty men, four chunks of heavy meat, plenty of fried plantains, and a wine to top it off. All in all, you have enough food here to last a man a whole week, so yes, your bill is three hundred credits!"

Aldrich felt his face flush with embarrassment as the cafeteria lady called out his order, the volume of her voice drawing the attention of those around him.

The line behind him seemed to grow longer as he stood there, feeling all eyes on him.

With a sigh, he reluctantly accepted the payment machine and placed his wristband on it for scanning.

The machine beeped, confirming the transaction, and Aldrich quickly returned the device to the counter, retreating from the line.

"Do you plan to donate that meal to a local starving community I don't know about?" Trevor quipped from the side, his grin wide as he glanced at Aldrich's oversized order.

"Not you too, Trevor," Aldrich muttered, exasperated.

"I only asked because I'm genuinely curious," Trevor continued, looking at the mountain of food on Aldrich's tray. "Which stomach do you plan to stuff all that into?"

Aldrich thought about it for a moment, eyeing the hefty bill that had just been deducted from his account.

If he was going to keep eating like this, he'd need a steady flow of credits. "Student profile," he muttered under his breath, as he took a seat at an empty four-seat table.

His food tray clinked onto the table with a soft thud, and Trevor followed, taking a seat opposite him.

A blue interface materialized before Aldrich's eyes, displaying his student profile:

STUDENT PROFILE

• Name: Aldrich Aldaman

• Race: Human

• Class: S

• Mana Rank: S

• Resource Points: 9,700 Credits

• Art:

-Bloodline Art: Clairvoyance - The Clover Gaze [1st Clover] (Unique Type)

-Martial Art: Bow Art (A)

-Elemental Art:

Primary Owned Element: Lightning (E)

Primary Hold Element: Fire (E), Water (E), Earth (E), Wind (E)

.

Aldrich's gaze lingered on the resource points section, calculating the remaining balance.

He'd been awarded 10,000 credits for his recent achievement of matching the predator-ranked walker, plus a standard supplement granted to all new applicants.

That left him with only 9,700 credits after this expensive lunch.

Something had to change.

In Eldora Institute, credits were the legal currency, accepted everywhere, from the cafeteria to the classrooms.

The more credits you had, the more comfortable your life could be.

With his current credit balance, Aldrich wasn't sure how long he could afford meals like the one he'd just ordered without dipping into his funds.

There were two ways to earn credits: completing tasks posted on the notice board or stealing from other students—though the latter came with significant risks.

Aldrich was confident in his abilities, but he wasn't keen on taking such a dangerous route.

It is not as though he lacks confidence in his skills, he is just open-minded enough to know that Eldora is a place full of monsters of different kinds.

You can't just go around beating people up for credits.

Doing so would earn one name. And in here, one had better be careful what sort of name they want to be tagged under as some could bring about trouble.

The serious kind of trouble he would want to avoid on a normal day.

The first option however seemed more practical to work with.

He would only need to start working sooner rather than later to avoid financial stress.

"Trevor," Aldrich said, looking up from his profile, "what do you say we hit the notice board after class? Maybe we can find a quest or two to earn some credits."

"Sure," Trevor replied, sipping his drink. "As long as I get to choose the quests we take, and the ones we avoid. You know, we don't want to take on something too dangerous."

The notice board was known for posting tasks of varying difficulty, ranging from easy errands to high-risk high-return missions.

Trevor's logic was sound; as an A-class student, he'd probably be able to assess the danger of each task better than Aldrich could.

"I'm fine with that," Aldrich agreed. "Let's do it."

As they settled into their meal, Aldrich barely noticed Dante approaching from behind.

The sudden sound of Dante's voice broke his concentration.

"This is where you were? I've been looking all over for you," Dante said, pulling up the seat beside Aldrich.

Aldrich quickly glanced up, remembering that Dante had said he'd wait for him in the cafeteria. "My bad, Pendragon. I got distracted," he apologized.

"It's cool," Dante replied, sounding casual. "Figured you wouldn't be on time anyway, with your nagging sister chasing after you."

Dante looked as unbothered as ever.

For someone with such a massive ego, Aldrich had expected him to be at least a little offended.

Dante however didn't seem to mind that he was stood up, at all.

"You're right," Aldrich admitted, a small smile forming on his face. "I wouldn't have gotten out of there if it weren't for Trevor here."

With that, Aldrich took the opportunity to introduce his two friends. "Trevor, this is Dante Pendragon. Pendragon, this is Trevor Noah."

Dante didn't even look at Aldrich as he spoke. "I don't think there's a need to introduce me, Aldrich. Everyone here knows who I am."

"Yeah, he's right," Trevor added with a smirk. "There's no one around who doesn't know Dante Pendragon."

Aldrich, still amused by the exchange, shrugged. "What they said."

As the three chatted, they were interrupted by a voice from the side. "Excuse me... can I join you at this table?"

Aldrich turned to see a figure standing near the empty seat next to Trevor.