So fucking hot...

'It's so fucking hot...'

Me and the principal were currently walking through a desert of District 1, the sun high up in the sky shining more disgustingly than James. Dunes of sand were all our eyes could see for miles and miles. We had already spent more than 24 hours here, and we didn't seem to arrive at our destination any time soon. As beads of sweat were soaking my clothes, I couldn't help but think about how we got to this point.

When my master had said that we were going to District 1 to meet one of his old friends, I had assumed them to live in the city, not in a damn sand cave! Although we had arrived in the city, using a portal in the academy, it didn't take more than 10 minutes before we left the modern buildings behind and ventured outside of the city walls.

"There's another one Miren. Please get rid of it, if you may."

"Yes..."

I readied the two brothers, them both lighting up as they reflected the sunlight that came from above. Feeling the weight of Khanda and Nandaka in my hands made my mind instantly enter my battle mode.

"Krik!"

A big, brown scorpion emerged from the sand, its body plated with natural armor with big claws. It was getting ready to satiate its needs with us as its prey.

Even though there were more than five meters of distance between us, the scorpion shot its tail forward, an action that would make most people think it might be crazy. However...

As it finished its thrusting movement, a sharp stone was sent out from it, aimed right at my neck. However, a quick slide backward with my left foot was all I needed in order to turn my body enough to dodge its attack. Just as the stone passed my eyes, I went on the offensive.

*Crackle!*

Two big purple wings sprouted from my back as I activated the skill I was gifted by Druk, and I used a single step in order to close the distance between myself and my enemy.

Before the scorpion could react, I let my wings enter its body and injected a steady flow of electricity, stunning it while I charge up Khanda and Nandaka with [Discharge].

*Crrzt!*, "Krikkk!"

My brothers entered the head of the armored monster and a purple flash lit up as I let my charged-up lightning electrocute its brain. As soon as my wings took their leave from the plated body, it fell down to the ground, having already lost its life.

I had learned their usual pattern to the point that it didn't take more than 10 seconds for me to end its life, a product of killing more than 20 scorpions during the last 24 hours. It had also been thanks to these guys that I had gotten to practice using my wings with more delicacy.

During my fight against the mutant kobold, I had only used my wings as an all-out attack, charging them as much as possible before unleashing them into the foreman. It had been an incredibly powerful attack, but it took a bigger toll than what I wanted it to. After experimenting a bit against these monsters, I had already noticed that I could use the wings without a rebound as long as I didn't use my [Discharge] in conjunction with it, at least if one were to disregard the burn marks on my back...

This realization quickly made me think of other ways to use them to fight. The effectiveness of my wings didn't rely on my physical strength at all, they wouldn't meet any resistance against a physical body, as they weren't made of physical matter. That meant that I could use them without charging them up and still inflict damage on my enemy or, as I had just done, use them to stop the actions of my enemy.

"Come one, stop dragging your feet!"

"Yes, coming!"

And so we were walking once again, wandering through the seemingly endless desert in the search of master's old friend.

****

[James's Pov]

"So, you are saying that Miren might have left the academy? And he would do this because...?"

I was sitting with Sarah and Lindsey at the Aquarius café with both of the girls worried about our little classmate. To be honest, so was I, albeit to a lesser extent than these two.

Miren had already been absent for two days of classes and our teacher didn't have any information to tell us, meaning that we had no idea what he was up to. However, I had assumed that he would have told Lindsey about this but it seems like this was not the case, as she had come with Sarah to talk to me about it.

I think I could somewhat tell on the icy beauty's face that she was worried, although it was a next-to-impossible feat as her face looked almost the same as usual, with the only difference being her eyes were slightly more open.

"Because I said some really stupid things after our dungeon dive session!"

Sarah looked as if she was almost about to cry at this point, seriously thinking that her silly comments about Miren would have made him run away. In my head, there was no chance that this was actually the case.

"Sarah, he wouldn't run away because of something like that. There must have been something else that happened to him, or maybe he is just out doing some sort of special training with the principal."

Unbeknownst to me, my guess had been pretty spot on.

Suddenly, the rare voice of Lindsey rang out meekly, "But, why didn't he tell me then... I thought friends were supposed to talk to each other about stuff like this..."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that she was genuinely hurt by the sudden disappearance of her friend, mostly due to the fact that he had left without a word. Though I did feel bad about the fact that the silver-haired girl was sad, there was one big question in my head,

'Why am I even a part of this conversation though?'

Miren had already made it extremely clear that we weren't friends, and although I didn't know for sure, I was pretty certain that Sarah wasn't on that list either. The only one currently sitting at the table that was on that list was Lindsey.

However, seeing that hurt look in her eyes made me forget about this and, in the end, I would do what I could to make her feel at least a little bit better about the situation.

"Don't worry so much Lindsey. We all know how reckless and stupid he can act at times, but he is not one to disregard the people he thinks of as friends without a reason."

I honestly had no idea if this was something that still rang true or not, as the little black-haired boy had changed so much since I first met him, but they were the only words of comfort that I could give right now. Thankfully, my bouncy, both in personality and personalities, girl also raised her voice, affirming my words, "That's true! Something drastic must've happened for him to just leave without telling you!"

...

"Something drastic has happened? Then is Miren in danger?!"

I loved my girlfriend dearly, I really did, but no one could deny that she could be incredibly stupid at times. This was not how one should comfort a person in distress, telling them that their friend got caught up in a dangerous situation.

Before we could stop her, Lindsey stood up and started to walk away, leaving us with, "I will talk to my uncle!"

"Sarah..."

Having already recognized her mistake, she was currently looking down at the table in shame, "I know... I just... Never mind. Anyway, what do you think James?"

It was kind of impressive how fast she managed to shake off the situation and redirect the conversation.

"I think he is fine, although I do believe that something happened that made him have to leave the academy."

Her face looked a bit confused, wondering why I was staying so calm when Miren could be in danger, "Then, aren't you worried about him? Shouldn't we try to do something?"

'She is still naïve, but I guess that's also a part of her that I like...'

Putting my elbows on the table, I wanted to make sure I got my point across clearly, not creating any sorts of unnecessary misunderstandings.

"Sarah, Miren is not our friend anymore. No matter what danger he is in, it is not up to us to save him. I do realize that I've been the source of most of the bad blood between us, but there is one thing that cannot be argued. He was the one to choose not to try and go back to how we used to, thus we have no choice but to accept that."