Chapter 90: A Thousand Mana Cores?!

Kyle woke to a persistent tapping on his forehead.

He groaned before aimlessly swatting the bugging annoyance resulting in his hand connected with something hard and scaly.

The tapping stopped for a moment before resuming, more insistent this time.

"Wake up!" Void's voice, as sharp as ever, cut through the fog of Kyle's sleep.

Kyle groaned again, parting his eyelids to see the small dragon perched firmly on his chest.

The creature's golden eyes were locked onto him, its tail wagging back and forth in an impatient rhythm.

"Ugh... Void, what time is it?" Kyle mumbled, rubbing his eyes as he tried to shake off the remnants of his sleep.

Void, unimpressed by the sluggishness, shifted its weight and gave an exasperated snort.

"Check for yourself. I'm not your personal timekeeper."

Kyle groggily reached for his comm on the bedside table. His eyes widened in horror as he caught sight of the time. 11:23 AM. Searᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"What the—" Kyle shot upright, sending Void tumbling off his chest and onto the bed in a backward roll. The little dragon hissed in annoyance, regaining its footing with a glare.

"I've been trying to wake you for the past hour!" Void snapped, hopping back onto the bed.

"You're lucky I didn't leave you there. Honestly, for a student, you're quite the heavy sleeper."

Kyle ignored the sarcastic tone, running a hand through his disheveled hair.

"An hour? Seriously?" He yawned, trying to process how he had slept through Void's disturbance for so long.

Void sat back on its limbs, watching Kyle with a serious look.

"I tried everything short of breathing fire on you. Not that I have the strength to breathe fire—yet."

Kyle couldn't help but chuckle, despite the stress creeping in. "Yeah, I guess I owe you for that."

"You do," Void replied smoothly, tail flicking again. "And speaking of debts…"

Kyle's chuckle died in his throat, his instincts warning him of impending doom.

"Wait... what do you mean, debts?" he asked slowly, eyeing the dragon with suspicion.

Void's grin was far too smug for Kyle's liking.

"Remember our little agreement? The one about mana cores?" Void's eyes sparkled mischievously as it paced on the bed.

"Yeah, I remember. I'll give you 20 mana cores when you become an Intermediate Mage, right?"

Void gave a small, almost undetectable nod, then sat still for a moment before adding,

"You're correct, but scrap that deal. I've changed my mind."

"Changed your mind? About what?"

Void's grin widened further. "I think 20 cores are far too few for a being of my level. I'm going to need... let's say... 1000."

Kyle widened his moth, his jaw dropping as if he hadn't heard Void correctly.

"A thousand mana cores?! Are you insane? Do you have any idea how much that would cost?"

Void, unfazed, tilted its head slightly, as if considering the matter.

"At current market value, that would be roughly 200,000 credits, give or take a few thousand."

"Give or take?" Kyle repeated, his voice rising.

"Void, that's a fortune! That's 27 years of our current allowance! How do you expect me to come up with that kind of money?"

Void shrugged, completely unconcerned.

"How you acquire them is not my problem. I need them for my growth, and as my master, it's your responsibility to provide."

Kyle stared in disbelief. "My responsibility? You can't just drop these ridiculous demands out of nowhere!"

"This is hardly ridiculous. If you want me to grow and be a proper partner, I need resources. Consider this an investment.

My strength will directly impact yours, and you know how important that is, don't you?"

"Void, we're talking about a thousand cores. Do you realize how long that would take me to gather?"

Void fixed him with a cool, calculating look. "I've done the math, actually. Based on my current rate of mana absorption, it will take approximately 203 days for me to reach level 10 and become an Intermediate Mage—assuming I cultivate for ten hours daily.

You have more than enough time to gather that amount of cores before then."

Kyle blinked, momentarily stunned into silence. "Wait, you did... math?"

Void nodded proudly.

"I am more than a cute face, Kyle. I've calculated the most efficient path to power. And 1000 cores is a small price to pay for the strength I will offer you in return."

Kyle sank back onto the bed, his head spinning. He was used to Void's confident attitude, but this felt like a whole new level of audacity.

Still, as unreasonable as it sounded, Void wasn't wrong. The little dragon was key to his growth especially outside the academy , and in a world where power meant survival, their mutual advancement was essential.

"Alright, fine," Kyle sighed, rubbing his temples.

Kyle couldn't help but feel he had been scammed once again. Furst, Orion now Void.

'Wait... Orion,' Kyle suddenly remembered their agreement.

He directed his gaze to his comm again, scrolling through the notifications.

Sure enough, there were five missed calls from Orion—one at 7:00 AM, then 8:00, then 9:00... all the way up to 11:00, as if Orion had been trying to reach him every hour.

"Crap," Kyle muttered under his breath. He opened an unread message from Orion, which contained nothing but an address marker and a simple line of text: Be here when you wake up.

Kyle grimaced. He had totally forgotten they had made plans to meet today, and knowing Orion, the guy was probably fuming by now. Enjoy new chapters from m-v l'-NovelFire.net

He grabbed the Frozen Claw, from the desk, giving it a quick once-over before placing it in a bag.

Just as he was about to head out the door, Void's voice called out again. "Wait!"

Kyle stopped mid-step, glancing back to see Void hopping off the bed and trotting over to him, its eyes gleaming with excitement.

"I'm coming with you!" Void announced, looking up at him expectantly.

Kyle shook his head, already knowing where this was going. "No way. You're staying here. You'll only be a disturbance to me."

Void's face fell into an exaggerated pout, its eyes wide and pleading.

"But I'll be good! I promise! I won't cause any problems. I just want to see what you're up to."

Kyle raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Since when do you care about what I'm up to?"

Void straightened, the pout vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

"I have my reasons. And besides, I'm curious about this 'Orion guy' you're always talking about. I need to assess the competition."

Kyle blinked, taken aback. "Competition? What are you—"

"I'm2 your most important partner, aren't I?" Void interrupted, puffing its chest. "I need to know who else is vying for your attention."

Kyle stared at the little dragon, momentarily at a loss for words.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Void replied with a smug voice. "I'm not. You should appreciate the effort I'm making. After all, I'm your most valuable asset."

"Hmph. Let's go," Kyle finally sighed in defeat. "But... Try not to be a disturbance."

Void hopped into the system pet space in a flash, its voice echoing in Kyle's mind as it settled in.

[I wouldn't dream of it.]

Kyle snorted. "Sure."

With that, he finally headed out the door, locking it behind him as he made his way to Orion's place.