NOVEL NEXT Chapter 32: Old Men
Pearl Institute and War God College were both located in Beijing, China's Capital Mega City.
In fact, they were located quite close to each other.
"Boss, this is great. This way, we can first join Pearl Institute's freshman party, and then after we've scouted all the prettiest girls, we can go on to War God College to scout out THEIR pretty girls! That way, we brothers will be able to pick the prettiest freshman in Beijing! Wahahaha!" Fatty was salivating so much about the pretty girls that he actually forgot he was talking to his boss, and said that they were brothers instead.
Of course, Damien Bloodbane did not forget to remind him with the usual.
Smack!
"Oww! What's that for, boss? What did I do this time?" Fatty howled indignantly.
Damien Bloodbane ignored him and frowned at the invitation that he held in his hand.
'Formal Attire. Attendance is compulsory. ' It read.
"Formal attire. How much does it cost to rent a set?" Damien Bloodbane asked Fatty.
"Rent? RENT? Are you kidding me, boss? This body of mine has never, ever touched anything which wasn't bought, looted or robbed! Oh my sainted lamps! Oh my tainted pants! How can you even think of ren- OW!"
"Just shut up if you don't know." Damien Bloodbane snapped at Fatty and started to walk down the street near the Institute.
"Heheheh! Don't worry boss. Let's just find a nice shop that sells suits, and with my super amazing sense of fashion, I will help you choose the best suit that will dramatically increase your chances of getting lai- OW!"
Damien Bloodbane sighed helplessly.
They were accepted into Pearl Institute, of course. Ardan Flameborn made sure of that.
But being a busy and powerful A ranked, he did not bother with the little details.
Damien Bloodbane had been left to his own devices with regard to the school fees and everything else that he needed to participate in its activities - like the formal attire which the welcoming party required.
Thankfully the school fees included dormitory and meals, so he did not have to find a place to rent.
But he did have to find a way to gather the required amount for school fees - a humongous fifty thousand dollars per year.
He only had five hundred dollars in his bank account.
Damien Bloodbane felt slightly depressed.
He could kill Zerg Champions and powerful Lightning Dragons, but he was stumped about a damned piece of suit.
"I guess I need to find a job." Damien Bloodbane muttered.
"Wha… A job? Why do we need to find a job? Aren't the school honored to be able to get wonderful students like us? We are so powerful, so ama-"
"Or, we can try selling some dragon fangs." Damien Bloodbane said thoughtfully.
"JOBS! WE NEED JOBS!" Fatty declared with utmost passion. "I WILL GO AND FIND A JOB IMMEDIATELY! RIGHT NOW! BYE BOSS!"
And with that, Fatty finally disappeared from Damien Bloodbane's sight.
"If only it was that simple." Damien Bloodbane chuckled.
He had thought of selling dragon fangs, of course. But doing that would attract too much attention on him, adding to the already heavy scrutiny he was under with regard to his powerful necromancy abilities.
No, it was best to lie low as much as possible.
"A job then." Damien Bloodbane sighed. He opened his Chronolink, an all in one device for life in Urban Beijing.
There were many job vacancies nearby, but most of them required work experience and a minimum age of 21.
Life in Beijing was quite hard for Super Soldier Damien Bloodbane.
"Hmm? What is this?" Damien Bloodbane's attention was drawn to a notice pasted on the door of an old coffee shop.
'Powerful Mages Only. A Rank and above. Trash below A rank is prohibited from entering."
With double underlines below the word 'prohibited'.
Damien Bloodbane's lips twitched slightly.
What the hell?
Could they be any more discriminative against the non elite mages?
He looked around him, and realized that everybody was actually acting very normally around the coffee shop, proving that somehow that coffee shop had earned its right to be situated there, right smack in the elite area of Beijing near the two schools.
A rare surge of rebellious inspiration filled Damien Bloodbane at that moment, and he decided to make his way into the coffee shop to see exactly what it looked like and what would happen if he, an E rank trash, actually went in.
Hanging by the door was an energy sphere which functioned as a lock.
Within was a mess of mana threads.
One had to either have overwhelming strength at the A rank and above to cut through the threads, or one had to have incredible mana manipulative abilities coupled with godly puzzle solving skills to sort out the mess of the mana threads.
Of course one had to be very careful not to let the threads containing the opposing elements touch each other. Doing so would trigger a nasty explosion which could possibly destroy the door and the nearby shops as well.
Damien Bloodbane did NOT have the funds to compensate for such a massive loss of monetary value!
It was a very effective way to filter out the weak "trash".
"What is strength?" Damien Bloodbane murmured. "It is not just quantity. It is also about purity. And if quality is strength, then my death energy should be beyond S rank!"
Without hesitation, Damien Bloodbane sent a sliver of his death energy to cut the mana threads within the energy sphere.
Shua.
His death energy split the mana threads in half like a hot knife through butter.
A tiny surge of satisfaction blossomed in his heart as his hand pushed the door of the coffee shop open.
Kring.
The bell hanging on top of the door rang lightly as it opened to reveal a small reception area and what seemed like a huge, cozy room behind it.
The reception was empty, and there was a bunch of old men crowding around one of the tables in the main room.
"Go! Go Riki! Weave faster damn it! If you lose to Maru again, I'll tell your wife about your secret stash!"
"Hahaha! Maru! Smash that bald Riki to pieces! Weave weave weave damn it!"
The old men were shouting and laughing with glee over what seemed like a competition between two seated old men.