Chapter 3: Friends
The musical tone sounded out again and some students let out a cheer as the teacher on the podium shook his head and announced the end of the class. Students soon began to group up with their friends preparing for their after-school activities. Some of them would be heading home while others would be hanging out together after school. Meanwhile the rest would go for their respective clubs for practice. Today the students seemed especially lively, as everyone knew that soon everyone would be busy with their upcoming college preparations and it would be very hard to see each other in the upcoming two months. It may be very well be the last time they would see their classmates in a long time.
Alex's desk-mate, a boy with horn rimmed spectacles called Lom also exchanged best wishes for the exams with Alex and then left for the air-ball club which he was part of with his friends. Spotting him leaving, a girl with blue shoulder length hair in a ponytail rushed over and quickly took his place besides Alex. Another guy with similar blue hair shook his head but also came over and sat down on Alex's desk-mate's table. A little bit behind where the blue haired guy was sitting, a green haired teen could be seen fumbling on his desk while clumsily packing up his bag before also rushing over. He took the desk in front of Alex. As his friends were arriving one by one, Alex was also packing his bag with his books on his desk.
The blue haired girl was Sarah Boris and the boy was Ruth Boris. They were heterogeneous twins and together with Larry and Alex were considered the big four in the Gran city first high school. In fact the big four were quite popular in the whole city. Sarah started cultivating spiritual energy when she was eight and Ruth also started on the path of body cultivation when he was at the same age. They both cultivated at a terrifying speed and it was said that by next year they would be able to form their core and then start cultivating their soul spirits or any other path that they wished to take. This news was so shocking that some universities from the state already sent them invitations for early recruitment. Unfortunately they didn't put such universities in their sights.
Sarah and Ruth had awakened their soul spirits but couldn't develop them as they hadn't reached the point of core formation yet in their respective paths. They had decided to start on other paths first as they came from the Boris clan of the city and had superior qualifications for those paths. Due to these reasons they soon reached a terrifying level where they could easily be recruited into any top tier university on the planet provided that they managed to get their academics right.
Larry on the other hand did not have any special background. He came from an ordinary family but managed to awaken a tiger type soul spirit: the nature tiger spirit. The specific properties of his soul spirit were not known as those were generally only privy to the person themselves and were a taboo to be shared with others. But it was a well known fact that tiger type spirits were generally extremely strong. The fact was further reinforced when Larry topped the only mock citywide metaphysical college entrance examination. Alex didn't take part in that because he didn't have any abilities or powers to use at that time. And he never practiced any form of self cultivation, so his combat ability was also zero.
It was simply because the previous Alex dreamt of being a researcher like his uncle, and cultivation was just to increase his mental faculties. So, he practiced a method of mind cultivation, which sharpened his mind and enhanced his concentration. Of course, he was neither from a big clan nor very talented in mind cultivation, so he started his mind cultivation at 15 in his senior year with the basic "Mind Concentration Exercise" and didn't have much to show for his cultivation, as mind cultivation was considered one of the slowest and most expensive cultivation paths out there. It should be noted, for starting in any cultivation path, you require some kind of catalyst, reagent or ritual, as the human physiology here was the same as back in earth with no metaphysical properties. There was no book or exercise which could directly transform the human body into something extraordinary without any materials. Even the starting reagent for the mind cultivation costs a lot but thankfully Alex's family background was decent and they didn't have any objection to his pursuit.
Alex did participate in and topped all 3 of the mock citywide theory college entrance examinations in the senior year even though he didn't participate in the single metaphysical one. Ruth, Sarah and Larry also showed huge improvements over the 3 exams under his guidance further cementing his status as one of the most promising youths in the city. There was also news that he had awakened to a soul spirit which could aid in research areas. Though the spirit was known only to his close friends and family, many people in the city had already pegged him as the next great researcher from Gran city from the rumors itself.
But that was the old Alex. The current Alex had an intense thirst for excitement and was gloomy when he learnt about his predecessor.
"You guys should be leaving soon, right? You had an appointment with Leo and the bunch."
Alex started the conversation when he saw Larry take his seat. He thought they would be leaving after talking with him for a while but apparently he was wrong.
"The only reason we were going was because we thought you would want to hook up with that Lucy girl. Or do you really think Sarah here would be interested in that Leo punk?"
Ruth spoke up in a brusque voice. Like Larry, Ruth was also the mischievous and energetic type but you wouldn't know it from his voice and tone if you were meeting him for the first time. In fact you would be hardly even able to listen to his voice as Ruth rarely talked to strangers. It was the same for when the trio met with Alex.
Larry was the first one to come looking for Alex because he was really poor in his academics. Sarah and Ruth also approached Alex at the same time and in the process got into an altercation with Larry. Though he lost pitifully to them then, he put up a good fight, perfectly demonstrating the scariness of the tiger type soul spirits. In just 8 months he managed to top the citywide examination managing to overtake many people who had been cultivating since a long time. But both Alex and Larry knew that he came first only because Sarah and Ruth didn't put their all in the examination. And like them, it was possible that there were many others who did the same.
Anyway after the fight the trio approached Alex for his help but he indifferently ignored all 3 of them. They tried to coerce him and even played quite a few pranks on him but they couldn't get him to help them. His notes were also gibberish and it didn't help them at all when they managed to sneak a copy out from his bag. The end result was them getting punished by various teachers and finally sincerely apologizing to him. After many meals at a local fast food restaurant they came to a deal that Alex would help them study and make customized notes for them while they would shield him from bullies and an occasional meal at the restaurants. It has to be mentioned that Larry, Ruth and Sarah were good kids at heart and didn't go beyond childish pranks unlike a certain bully who when ignored by Alex dragged him and tried to push him down from the third floor.
It is also during that incident when Larry, Ruth and Sarah together kicked the bully's ass and Alex started opening up to them bit by bit. Soon after they managed to hit it off and got promoted from partners to friends. Larry and Boris siblings also warmed up to each other during this period only.
"Yeah. That Leo guy gives me the creeps. I was willing to endure such hardships just so that your love life could be a bit more eventful. Where would you get a good friend as me? Huh?"
Alex put his packed bag to the side as Sarah approached dangerously close to his face with a smile. Sarah was known as the seductress of the class. She liked to tease her close friends and tempt the ones looking from afar, but being from a noble family she still avoided physical contact with her male friends and acquaintances. It was strange how part of some civilizations despite being so advanced can be so backward at the same time. If anyone even thought about crossing the line, Sarah would turn into a demon from her usual bubbly and lively self. It was said that she forced quite some students to leave the prestigious 1st high school in her first year but no one dared to even discuss about it. Sarah gave the feeling of looking at a rose, but unable to hold it due to the thorns on it.
"Yeah yeah. I owe you one. What do you want?"
"Nothing much. I just want you to free up your calendar for a day sometime later this month and accompany us somewhere. You too, Larry."
Sarah flashed a dazzling smile at Larry. As already mentioned, Sarah was one of the most beautiful girls in the whole school. She had a tall and slender build with a round face and green eyes that could easily mesmerize anyone. Coupled with her killer figure despite her build, for a high school student, most of the guys in Alex's school were still smitten with her. But Larry was way past the point where he would stare dumbly at Sarah and roughly understood how she ticked. He suspiciously gazed at her and questioned while Alex looked up and exchanged gazes with Ruth.
"What are you guys cooking?"
Ruth was the one who replied to Larry this time.
"What can we be cooking? We don't even know to cook."
Alex, Sarah and Larry all threw Ruth a dirty look for his poor attempt with the lame joke causing him to shrink his neck and give an awkward laugh. Sarah shook her head before giggling at Alex and Larry.
"Don't worry. It's something interesting and good. Consider it as a birthday present from us for you two. You would be missing out if you guys don't come."
Larry didn't believe her a bit much less Alex.
"I don't owe you guys anything. I will pass."
Larry resolutely said before receiving a kick from Ruth under the table and a smack from Sarah on his head. She was a bit far from Larry, but when she waved her hand, there was a feeling of wind brushing by followed by a smacking sound on Larry's head. No matter how many times Alex looked at these scenes, it was still like a dream to him.
"Oh what about all the meals you have freeloaded off us this past year? You don't have a choice! Zip your mouth shut and be there when we call you. I will message you both the exact date later."
"Yeah. There's no free lunch in the world Larry, much less dinner and snacks."
Sarah hmphed while Larry and Alex exchanged helpless gazes. Ruth gave them a devious smile while spouting another distasteful joke. Alex stared at Ruth while carefully wording his next sentence.
"So, what is this about? You want to go for training or something."
He just gave him a playful smirk in reply while Sarah gave him a smack at the back of his head with her signature wind palm before folding her arms.
"What are you so worried for? You will know when the time comes. It's not like we are going to eat you or something."
Alex gave a stern glare to Sarah while she laughed happily. No matter what, Alex still considered his mental age to be at least 25 and it ticked him off in the wrong way when a girl of just 17 slapped his head. Larry tried prodding into what exactly Ruth and Sarah were planning but they refused to divulge any details and had this mischievous smile stuck on their faces.
Alex and the trio talked for a while before they decided to call it a day. None of them were part of any clubs and as Alex had already refused them they didn't plan to hang out after school either. They simply picked their bags and walked together towards the school gate.
The school was quite large and it took them more than 10 minutes to reach the school gates. The design of the school resembled more like a medieval structure than a modern one. For some reason, the more the society progresses, the fonder they become of their past which they don't care about when it is the present. Maybe this is also the reason some people resolutely stick to useless traditions than what they are supposed to hold on to. The group of 4 walked for a bit before settling down near the gate and talked for a bit while Ruth gave a call to their driver. Sarah and Larry were mainly doing the talking while Ruth kept trying to crack a joke here and there only to receive disapproving glares from the rest.
Soon after, a luxury flying car arrived and picked Ruth and Sarah up. Though technology was quite advanced in this world, flying cars were still considered a luxury and a land car was the norm for most people due to strict rules and taxes. Some nouveau riche also considered it as a way to flaunt their status. This easily showed how rich the Boris family were and how much importance they put on Ruth and Sarah.
The person who came to pick them was a middle aged man with white hair called Kriste. The way he carried himself, had a different type of charm to it and people could easily identify what sort of family such a butler may have come from. He politely asked Alex and Larry if they would liked to be dropped somewhere, to which they politely refused. After that, he gracefully opened the rear door for the twins before going back into the car. The car slowly took off as Ruth and Sarah waved back at Alex and Larry from the windows. After bidding the twins goodbye, Alex and Larry walked while chatting together to a nearby bus stop before they too separated after getting on different buses.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone