CH 78

"Guys! When are we starting it?"

"Starting what?"

Five kids sat in a table together as they ate lunch. Zel, Emilia, Carlo, Von and Jed. Having been friends for a long time, the boys were able to quickly make a decision whether to accept Emilia into their little group.

Of course she's in! A girl was talking to them, it was a good change. Moreover, she was cute too, though it seems like Zel likes her. That means the boys don't dare to try and be too friendly.

It was all written in their Code of Pantheon. The rule book they made together last year when they first started hanging out. The original copy was the one they safely kept in Carlo's house, but they all knew what was written on it.

The code was their brotherhood's sacred oath, one they will never break or else they will be punished. The fifth rule was simple, there will be no fights because of girls.

(No girl shall stand between our friendship.)

(The punishment for breaking this rule, Death!)

(Or the sinner will pay for everyone's lunch, they can decide which one to do.)

It seemed silly at the time, but it looks like Carlo's addition to the rule book was a good decision. If there wasn't a rule like that, then he'd probably be jealous of Zel. Though it seems impossible now that Zel saved his beloved picture. There was nothing he'd do that would intentionally hurt his friend, not before, not in the future.

"Shooting our movie! Our road to stardom!"

A bright-eyed Carlo threw his arms into the air. His dream had always been to be someone in the entertainment industry. He could be a star, a director, a producer, anything! As long as he can create a movie, he'll be glad to do it. That's why the group decided to do this in the first place, because they wanted to help their friend fulfill his dream.

"Oh, yeah! The manuscript is done right, Zel?"

Looking at his friends that he would have lost touch with in a few years, Zel couldn't help but be emotional. They looked so cute to his mature, battered mind, but he knew that they didn't see him the same way. They looked at him like a friend, a brother.

He didn't mind entertaining them for a while. If there's anything he had in excess right now, it was time.

"Of course! I finished it a few weeks ago. I was going to show it to you guys the day before yesterday, but, you know."

Scratching the back of his neck, Zel gave his friends a wry smile. But since he didn't look like he wanted to bring it up, the rest of the group merely nodded. Zel didn't have his bag with him, as he left it in their room. But even then, he felt like that was good. He had to revise the thing after all.

'I could probably do another one and use that. I don't know how good a nine-year-old me can write, but I'm sure that I can do better than him.'

"Then let's do it tomorrow! We have time since it's the weekend. There's also no one at the house since my big sister will leave for a business trip!"

The Cosa family only had Carlo and his big sister, Grace now. As Grace has to take care of the Cosa Company as it's CEO, she doesn't have much to stay in the house. Leaving just Carlo and his bulter, Stephen, to stay in the house.

"That sounds great! I'll bring my new game and two controllers!" Jed's eyes lit up when the offer was made. He really wanted to play with friends because then he'd be able to leave his home for a while. It was much more fun with them, anyway.

"I'll bring snacks!" Von rubbed his stomach as he thought of the food he had kept hidden in his room. He was sure that the others would love the taste of Peanut Brittle.

"I'll bring my camera!" Emilia pitched in when she heard the invite. If they were going to make a movie, she'd be the camerawoman. Since Zel wrote it with only the four of them in mind, she'd probably be left out of the manuscript.

"What about it, Zel? You coming?" Carlo looked at the distracted Zel and placed his arms on the boy's shoulder. Only then did Zel finally nodded and gave a smile.

"Yeah! I'll show you guys something cool tomorrow too!"

Zel's attention was split between the conversation with the gang and a weird sensation coming from the ring on his finger. He knew that it was still too early for him to understand everything about it, but he was already confused about what it was asking of him. He sent a few strands of mana to it, hoping to get a better idea of what it wanted to convey to him.

'Space... The Legacy of Space is here...'

The power of one Legacy is good enough to make him invincible, as long as he had the reserves to use it. The Legacy of Space, however, it is perfect for his plans to quickly build up his Cerebral Kingdom. But he can't do it alone, not in his current state.

Zel looked towards the ground in thought, not joining in the conversation that was happening in front of him. He took out a notebook and started writing on it. It was because he was beside Emilia that no one else could see what he wrote, except for her.

(Daisy Riddle - 24)

(Phil Moniker - 20)

(Michael Thompson - 15)

(Matthew Linton - 6)

Zel was writing a list of the people he could contact right now. People he could trust, people who could help him. Right now these people are in trouble, but he could help them. If he was to choose the first members of his council, these people would be it. What's more important is that these people can get him the help he needs to finally 'earn' some money.

Thinking about how many things he needed to do, he couldn't help but rest his eyes by closing them. He thought about how he needed to make a safehaven for his kingdom, how he needed to get stronger, how he needed to make his people stronger, but what really made him feel tired was having to wait for his wife to finally awaken from her slumber.

Zel knew that she had awoken her mana core much earlier than himself. But what made him feel bad was that she had to use her Legacy to help his body adapt to the combination of the system and the mana core. Thankfully, she seems to be closing in on raising her reserves back to normal.

He could sense it clearly, being so close to her. Her body was already close to filling up the required amount of mana to restart her mana core. He wasn't quite sure why, but her mana reserves suddenly got a huge boost since they met yesterday. When she does restart it, she'd be able to form a Memoire using his soul. That should help her soul connect the dots, returning his wife her memories.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group had their lunch as they chatted about what they'd do for the rest of the weekend. It wasn't like they'd be able to finish shooting the movie tomorrow anyway, so they wondered what else they could do tomorrow. That was until a disturbance occured.

Jared and his crew once again appeared before Zel's gang. The group of three now had their usual seven, seven of the richest kids in the school. It was said that they were the heirs of famous business men, but their leader was the most influencial. Jared Linton.

" Bang . I see you boys finally found yourselves a girl! Is this one stupid too?" Ranton slapped the table the gang was eating on. It caused a few of the utensils they were using to fall off their plates and on to the floor, dirtying them.

"Haha. Hey, isn't she the new girl? The mute kid who usually ate alone in the classroom?" Anthony chimed in, not wanting to be left out. He was quite afraid of losing his position in the group since Emilio joined them. He didn't want to get his rank lowered to make way for him.

"Is that right? I guess the twerps adopted her then, but then she's in bad company instead of no company?" But Emilio himself didn't have any cause for concern against Anthony. Even adding to his joke as he thought of something 'clever'.

"Haha." Everyone but Anthony laughed. His eyes were glaring at Emilio, feeling like his joke got stolen. But his thoughts weren't acknowledged by anyone as the rest of the group just had fun together.

He looked at Jared whose face was smiling but not laughing and calmed himself. He wasn't going to be left out, as long as he proves himself, he'll be with his friends forever.

'He's not even looking. Damn it!'

But even as the rest of the bullies were having fun, Jared wasn't. His frustrated inner ramblings that he naturally thought were hidden behind his calm facade were revealed to Emilia. An Emilia who finally got a rough understanding of her situation. It's been happening for a while now, but she finally got to a conclusion.

She was able to listen to other people's thoughts. But although she could hear Jared's rather suspiscious thoughts, she was more focused on Zel's current thoughts. A person whose thoughts she has been listening to this whole time.

'I wonder when Emilia will finally remember me? I really miss my precious wife...'