"I'll have an iced latte, please."

"Sure! A tall, grande, or venti?"

What the fuck?

"Uh... tall?" I answered back.

"Should I put in any syrup? Chips and Whipped Cream? Also, what kind of dairy would you like? Or maybe you prefer non-dairy?"

What language was she speaking? I looked at the menu again with widened eyes. The words on it were more complicated than the chants of high-ranked magic spells. What was the correct answer to this?

"J-just make it normal, please..."

I received my coffee and walked away, the glass doors slid open and I left StarDucks in defeat. There was, unfortunately, no celebration or party after the rankings were announced. It wouldn't feel right to rub it in the face of those who failed anyway.

After Zachy's first rank was announced, almost everyone from our little group came around and tossed him in the air in a doh-age.

"Even though most of them had failed..." I sighed and sat on one of the chairs as I waited for the portal back to Ternet to open again.

Most students had their families come in to congratulate them and some were already there before it started. There wasn't much to do, so I left before everyone else.

{Your sister didn't show up, host? I was looking forward to meeting her}

“What gave you the idea?“ I leaned back on the chair and sipped on the coffee. Not that bad.

{Well I just assumed she would since you passed and she was closeby}

“Oh, she wasn't that close by, you know? We never stepped foot into the Agriche Academy after all.“

{Heh? No, we were certainly in there for the ceremony?}

I giggled and waved the system's words away. "Not at all. See, Agriche City is pretty much an Island on the northern pacific ocean. The city that people can come into is just a small part of the Island, the rest of it is sealed off into the Agriche Academy. And right behind the academy is another small Islet that is the Test Island. Both of them were magically formed, and the Islet is where every single test in the Agriche Academy takes place."

{Oh, is it so because the Dream Gate formed there?}

"Pretty much," I shrugged and lifted my eyebrow at the system's window. "Weren't you paying attention when we were reading those records?"

{I dozed off... sorry, I should just stay asleep forever, right?}

"Pfft."

The sound of a snicker came out from the front. I raised my head in surprise to see a pair of crimson red eyes looking straight at me. Black hair with shades of purple laced down to her waist as she covered her mouth with her slim yet small hands.

Standing behind the girl was the familiar tall figure of the second-ranking student, Luke Reese.

"He's talking to himself."

"You shouldn't be so loud, Kris." Luke gestured at her to calm down with a worried smile.

Blood rushed up to my cheeks and the girl started laughing even harder.

{My, my, this might be the first time you were caught}

"You shut up—"

The two of them saw me talking to the system again and walked away while laughing. I wanted to go there and clear things out but was too embarrassed to do so.

Whatever, who cares what those guys think of me.

{She was damn pretty though, the guy looks good too}

Fucking lech. Well, not like I could deny that.

As they went out of eyeshot, I shook my head and covered my eyes.

"Damn that was embarrassing."

{And you still talk to yourself}

"You shut up. Now I see why systems can usually read minds."

{H-host! I know I am useless, but you can't pin this one on me!}

I looked at the system's window with a disappointed gaze and sipped on my coffee again. "Why were they going back so soon?"

{Maybe no one came to congratulate them either? Filial relations are complicated in this world}

I thought over the systems words for a few seconds. It was something worth keeping in mind, considering I'll be seeing them every day soon. That just made what passed even more embarrassing, but I didn't stay hung over on it.

My eyes shifted up to the projections on the walls. A quick ad for some new cars ran over and the portal schedules came up again. I still had half an hour left. They didn't keep the portals open at all times for many reasons, the most important being how inefficient that was about the energy used and the need for the portals.

Yawning, I stretched my arms above my head. With nothing else to do, I took out the watch Ilya's uncle had given me from my bag and decided to set it up.

A hologram appeared with the manufacturer's logo before shifting out for the settings. I set in my preferences for themes and age, put up a biometric lock, and activated a unique ISMI for the device.

The watch lived up to its status as the latest model in the market. Not only was it extremely fast, but it also had a high range of compatibility. It was also possible to play computer games on it!

"The Portal to Ternet is now opening up. All commuters please head to the gate."

Time passed faster than I expected. I got up from my seat and went toward the gate. The attendant there was the same person as Rao days ago when I came here to Agriche.

She pumped her eyebrows in surprise when she saw me, so I made a ring with my index finger and thumb and smiled at her.

Her surprised face turned to a confused one before forming a smile.

“Congratulations!“ she said and I crossed over the portal.

With just one step, I had traveled a thousand miles and came back to Ternet.

“Let's go back home.“

***

It was already in the evening when I got on a tram from the station back to my district.

When I reached back home, mom wasn't there. She must have been at work. I would get to see her tomorrow anyway, so I didn't bother much.

Back in my home, Going up to my room, the bag fell on the chair with a thud. My hands scoured through the desks and shelves in search of the paper with Ilya's details.

“There it is.“

I sat down on my bed and entered her contact info to send her a text on the default messaging application.

[Ralph: Hey Ilya! Ralph here, we met in Ternet!]

"That should be fine, no?"

{Yeah, why are you texting her? I thought you didn't care much}

"After what her uncle did? I'm definitely interested in him."

Placing the watch on my desk, I rushed downstairs with a change of clothes and walked into the bath. The two-day-long exam had tired me out to the point I could fall asleep if placed on the roof of a horse-pulled carriage.

{Say, host, what will we be doing now?} the system's window opened again.

"The monster at the end was much stronger than I anticipated," I replied with my eyes closed inside the bathtub. "I'll focus on gathering more strength till the year starts. It's about time I try to develop my Dark Awakening as well."

{Hmm, elemental awakenings are weak and common, that's why you didn't pay much attention to it, right?}

"Yes. And the Dark Awakening is even worse. I awakened with all four skills with luck, but not only is it super tough to develop, but it also has just support type skills."

Post a long relaxing soak in the bathtub, the watch was buzzing strongly. She had replied too quickly.

[Ilya: Ralphyyy! I was waiting!!]

[Ilya: How was it?]

[Ilya: How did it go?]

I sighed and typed back a response.

[Ralph: I passed! 400th Rank! There were only 800 passing students, though, or I would've been much lower.]

[Ilya: Hey that's amazing!]

[Ilya: We should celebrate! Let's meet up!]

[Ralph: Haha, you just left!]

[Ilya: Righttt, that's there (;´•﹏•̀ ;)]

[Ilya: Oh! Do you mind if I forward your number to uncle Damian? The one you met?]

[Ralph: I was going to ask you for the same! I'd like to thank him myself.]

[Ilya: Alright!]

[Ilya: I've sent it to him, he'll probably text in a bit!]

[Ilya: Tell me more about the exam! How was it? What all did you do?]

Like that, our conversation went on for a short while before it became too tough to keep my eyes open.

***

A warm hand on my forehead woke me up from my sleep again. My eyes fluttered open and sitting there on a chair with a complete mess in her hair was my mother. She smiled faintly when she saw me open my eyes and ran her head from my forehead to my hair.

"You passed."

I slowly nodded and pushed her hand off my head and sat up straight.

She raised her other hand and showed me a letter with Agriche's stamp on it. "Your session starts in two weeks, the same time as your sister's."

I reached out for the letter and took it from her hands while pursing my lips shut. The sheets shuffled and I was about to move off the bed when my mother grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Ralph, listen."

"What is it?" I coldly asked.

She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times but didn't turn away from me. After a long sigh, she finally spoke up. "I'm, not trying to push you away."

Tsk.

"You're my son, Ralph. I would never do that. I want you to go out there and... go do what you wish for."

Again. She had come here to bother me again. After ignoring me for ages and then calling me a monster, constantly pushing her thoughts on how I should live on me while doing nothing for me. And now she was here to offer me some words again—

"—I am sorry for everything."

My eyes widened at her words.

"I don't expect you to forgive me at all, I don't deserve that." Her desperate voice was ringing in my ears even after her words passed. I tried to walk away again when she grabbed my other arm as well. "But, won't you at least tell me how you are doing over there? Just once a day will do. No, even a week... Please?"

A lump filled my throat and stopped me from saying anything. What was I supposed to say? What words were apt here?

She let go of one hand and pointed at the watch on the table. "I was going to buy you one, did your sponsor bring you this? Acestes Teumessian, right? I met him."

I was surprised once more. Did she meet him? How?

"He had high praise for you, he also said a lot about how much you cared for your family... I didn't say much to him, though."

A soft smirk appeared on her nervous face as she said those words. She knew I lied to him and covered my ass.

"Ralph," My mother ran her hand through my hair again. "Can you add me to your contacts as well?"

I still couldn't say anything to her. I slowly managed to give her a nod.

My mother's face twisted into a smile. "I made breakfast, you'll eat with me, right?"

Once again, I sighed and nodded.

She nodded back at me and got off from my chair, saying she'll wait for me, she left my room and closed the door behind her.

I developed my strength, went out to laze around and enjoy Ternet, had long chats with Ilya, and would talk with mom every once in a while.

The two weeks passed much faster than I had imagined.