After purchasing what they needed for the training camp, Amelia, Brandon, and Aurelia decided to bond one last time before the two left for tomorrow.
For that reason, they opted to watch a movie together.
It was Aurelia's first time, so she was quite excited.
But while they were lining up for tickets....
Brrt.... Brrt....
Brandon's phone began to vibrate in his pocket.
Retrieving his phone, he scrutinized who the caller was.
[John Smith]
It was Zed.
He still hadn't changed his contact name yet.
"Amelia, can you get the tickets? I need to take this phone call.
"Okay."
Just like that, he left the two their own devices and headed for somewhere more secluded.
Click.
"What is it?"
—Brandon, I think we might've found the cause of the issue.
"Hm?"
—We've been checking his vitals, and yet we've always found nothing, right?
"Go on."
—But what if it wasn't his health that was malfunctioning, but somewhere else?
Brandon pondered for a while until he reached a conclusion.
"His mana core?"
—Precisely. We've looked everywhere, his organs, his mental, yet it all comes out healthy. For that reason, Ironaxe used the magic scanner since maybe, there could be other irregularities like a curse, and guess what we've found.
At that moment, Brandon's phone vibrated. Notifications flashed on his screen.
Zed had sent a bunch of photos.
Brandon narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the photos.
It looked like an X-Ray photo. However, it was more focused on the mana core.
On the mana core, there were light particles surrounding it.
However, as Brandon scanned further, his brows furrowed.
There were cracks in the mana core, and mana continued seeping out which was the reason for the particles.
"It's..... broken."
—It is. I'm not sure if we can mend it, but we'll do all we can.
"Please do so."
Stabilizing the core was easy. All they needed was to pure the right basic affinity into the core. However, if it was possible to fix the cracks, then Brandon couldn't tell.
But since Zed had mentioned they were going to try and 'mend' it, maybe he had experience of fixing broken mana cores.
"Contact me if you've got any updates."
—Yeah, it'll take a while. Just focus on your training camp or whatever. I'll be using some of our funds to hire surgeons for the procedure. It might take a month or two.
"Alright, that's fine. Go ahead."
—Alright.
Beep.
At that, the call ended.
However, Brandon felt a slight unease.
From what he knew, this was the exact scenario where it was possible for a Wraith to taint a person's mana core.
A broken mana core.
He quickly dismissed that thought.
There was no way to check until it was too late. If he were to kill Rafael Asami now, and turns out, his core wasn't tainted.....
"Tsk."
If that's the case, then he had to wait until Rafael Asami woke up.
This gave him even more reason to keep it from Rachel until everything was certain.
Realizing the atmosphere was getting somber, Brandon raised his head and brushed his bangs back since it was obscuring his vision.
That being said, he returned to Amelia and Aurelia, who were waiting for him with popcorn and drinks in their hands.
"Hey."
"All done?"
Amelia asked after shoving popcorn in her mouth.
"Yep, let me get those off your hand."
"Thanks."
Brandon received the popcorn and drinks from Amelia. Then, as he lowered his head and looked at Aurelia, she immediately looked away.
Her cheeks were puffed.
Guess she liked popcorn.
"Brandon~!"
And glanced at Brandon.
Before they could react, something else happened that had caught their attention.
The movie started.
But it didn't stop them from showering Aurelia with praises, ruffling her hair and hugging her. Much to the point where she seemed annoyed.
"Aaang~!"
***
The next day.
7 PM.
They were set to depart, and were instructed to arrive at the academy before 9 PM.
Their bags were assorted, packed with everything they needed that would last for two months. Precisely, Brandon, Amelia, and Belle's bags.
Aurelia seemed to be busy at the moment. Her tutoring sessions had finished for the day. However, Brianna was currently helping her with her homework.
"I have 3 apples in my basket, and I just picked 3 more from the tree. How many apples do I have now...?"
Aurelia was wriggling her little fingers and working on a math problem.
As soon as she arrived at an answer, her brows raised innocently, picked up the pencil, and started writing.
"Six~ Six~ Six~"
Brandon sneaked behind Aurelia, who was seated on her little desk. Beside her, was Brianna, Brandon and Belle's mom.
"Aurelia?"
Then, he whispered her name. Aurelia stopped writing and turned around. When she saw him, she smiled.
"Yes?"
Aurelia looked at him with her cute eyes. Brianna too looked at him and said,
"You're going now?"
"In a few minutes. I'm waiting for Sis and Amelia to finish changing."
"Ah."
Then, Brandon returned his attention to Aurelia.
"Be a good girl, Aurelia, and don't trouble Mom too much."
"Un! Aurelia is always a good girl~!"
"Hehe. Okay."
Brandon ruffled her hair.
Then, his gaze lingered on the paper on Aurelia's table.
"Math?"
"Mn. Aurelia is pretty good~!"
"Really? Can I ask you a question then?"
"Un!"
Aurelia nodded her head with a youthful smile.
"She's a fast learner by the way."
Brianna added a comment.
"Oh?"
Brandon's head tilted.
He felt like wanting to tease the little elven girl.
With those thoughts in mind, he asked.
"If you have 12,143 apples, and then you magically get 13,812 more apples, how many apples do you have now?"
"Mmn...."
"...."
Aurelia started wriggling her little fingers again while Brianna remained speechless and stared at him with a frown on her face.
Realizing that all her fingers combined couldn't exceed ten, Aurelia's brows knitted.
"I didn't learn that...."
"Hehe. If you can tell me the answer by the time I come back, I'll get you anything you want."
"Anything....?"
Aurelia's eyes sparkled.
"Anything."
"Un! Aurelia will study hard."
"Good girl."
Brandon ruffled her hair once more. Then, he looked at Brianna.
"We'll be going now, Mom. If you need anything, just call me. I'll be here before you know it."
"Okay."
Brianna stood up and embraced her son. Brandon stifled a smile and returned her embrace.
"Be safe."
"You too, Mom."