City of Ravens (3)

When I entered the café, it was full of customers, the smell of coffee in the air that could make anyone thirsty for a cup, and the pleasant atmosphere made the place a perfect dating spot. And most of the customers looked like couples.

I found an empty table somewhere in the back, I searched for Emily behind the counter and in between the customers but there was no sign of her.

"You are the son of Professor Blake, right?" From behind me, the angelic voice sounded out. I turned my head and too see the person I was looking for.

"Yes! I'm Dominique. And you were Emily?"

"That's right. How is your head? Professor Blake gave me a big scare that time."

"My head? Ah! Its ok, I was preparing for it the moment I entered the building. She always reacts like this when my father does something, and that privilege extends to me as well."

"That's rough. Either way, what can I get you?"

"I will take a latte. And… I actually wanted to talk to you as well. If that's ok."

"Talk? Sure, if you can wait, I have a break in twenty minutes."

"Perfect! I'll wait."

I sipped on my coffee while I waited for Emily. I noticed that the staff was giving me a weird look like I was a hurt puppy. There was also one guy that walked by and said 'good luck'. It was bizarre. The coffee slowly got colder, and Emily came with her lunch.

"I heard that you are studying ancient languages?"

"Yes, well done. You did your research properly, but you should've thought of something better to start with."

"Huh?"

"No 'Huh'. If you want to ask me out, you should try a little bit harder."

"Wait, I didn't come here to ask you out, I wanted to ask for a favor. But if you want to go for a date… I'm up for it."

"…"

It seems like I wasn't the first one to ask Emily to talk like this. But they had other motives in mind.

"If you don't mind I wanted you to take a look at this." I took out a piece of paper with the symbols from my arm. "I found them in some ruins and wanted to know what they mean, I remembered my mother say that you are good with stuff like this and came here to find you."

"I… I'm really sorry about that, I thought that… It doesn't matter, let me take a look."

After passing a piece of paper, I looked around. The staff was looking at me with their mouths agape. Now I knew why they looked at me the way they did, but no smart person would ask someone out just like that. You first get close before striking.

Emily kept looking at the symbols as she ate. "So, how is it?" I asked after ten minutes of waiting.

"I never saw anything like this." She said. "it bears a resemblance to ancient Akkadian, but what it means I don't have any idea."

"But can you translate it?"

"I can. If you give me enough time, I will scan it and put it through analyzing software. But it may only help a little bit."

"Can you finish it in a month?"

"Probably. It would also help if I could see the place where you found it."

"That won't be possible."

"Ok. Can you at least tell me its surroundings, what it was on?"

"No."

"You sure are not making it easy for me. Is there anything that you can tell me?"

"No…"

"Sure. Give me your phone number, and I will let you know if I find anything. And if there is anything else let me know. You also owe me one, remember that."

"Thank you."

Emily took the paper and left after saying goodbye. I finished my coffee and got ready to leave when Emily showed up again.

"You still remember that you owe me. Well, its time to pay up."

"What can I do?"

"See that guy over there?"

She pointed at a guy standing in front of the café. Designer suit, expensive shoes, stylish haircut and an 'I'm nobility'demeanor. The most stereotypical rich guy I've seen.

"Yes."

"You will act as a shield."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just follow me." She garbed my hand, and we went outside. "Here he is, will you give up now?"

"You just picked up some random guy, don't act like this."

"No Nate this is my boyfriend, accept it or leave."

"You really want me to believe you that this is your boyfriend? He is just some beggar." Fury in his eyes grew stronger and looked like he would blow up anytime.

"Alright you should stop here, Emily is my girlfriend this is a fact, and you can't do anything about it."

"… This is not over. I know this is all fake, and I won't give up this easily."

When he left, Emily and I went back inside. I found this situation, acting as a shield, funny. Nothing like this ever happened to me before. And unlike me, Emily looked irritated and angry to the bone.

"Are you ok? Who was that?"

"I'm fine. And don't worry about Nate he is just an idiot that doesn't want to give up. Thank you for helping me, but I really need to get back to work now. I will call you when I find something regarding the text you gave me."

"Sure. I will wait."

I left the café and started walking back home. Walking in between the buildings, making my way back home, I noticed someone following behind me. Considering that no one knows about the ruins, it could only be connected to the 'Rich guy' situation.

But would he really do something like this? Isn't that too much even for a person like this? I made a sharp turn into an alley I used my soul image and climbed up the wall. When the person following entered the alley, I jumped down behind him.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The man said nothing, only looked around and smiled. Soon from both sides of the alley dozens of men poured in, they surrounded me with fierce expressions. The crowd didn't attack me, only stared at me, but all was revealed when Nate emerged from the back of the group.

"So, what is it that you want from me?" It was apparent he wanted me to leave Emily alone, this was just too stereotypical.

"Leave Emily alone."

"No."

"… Don't kill him, but make sure he won't walk ever again." He said while he walked out of the alley.

The thugs smiled cruelly and attacked me.

A few minutes later the alley was filled with groans of pain, the floor littered with bodies of thugs rolling in agony. The whole thing didn't last long, I didn't even have to use my soul image, just with my training from Master I was able to take care of them all.

With that done I went to a supermarket and bought myself ingredients for dinner before heading back home. There I continued my control training and spent time with my parents.

After eating I started to train my body, I noticed an irregularity when I was running. My body felt hot, and this wave of heat seemed to be coming from my arm, where the symbols were.

I felt this when I trained this morning, but I dismissed it at the time thinking that it was only my imagination. But now I knew for sure, it was doing something, the heat that was permeating made my body feel, lighter and stronger with each wave. I slowly started to push myself further.

I continued to train, longer and harder than ever before. When I got back home, my body was still pulsing with strength. I didn't know what was happening, but it was something that I would have to tell master later.