After Gabe lost, Draco started saying that he also wanted to compete with Gabe. Everyone told him that he would lose, but he said he wanted to fight. Gabe agreed to compete with him, and they did. Mia didn’t tell Gabe anything because she wanted to see how he’d deal with a child. And Gabe gave Draco just enough trouble to make him use all of his strength. In the end, Gabe lost almost similarly to how he lost against Bart. Draco jumped in delight after victory, but it was like sending another slap at Bart. When Mia thanked Gabe for letting the kid win, Bart felt another invisible slap bruising his ego. He still refused to believe that Gabe intentionally lost in the arm-wrestling match as otherwise, it would mean that Gabe was significantly stronger than him. Eventually, Bart brought ice creams for everyone. In fact, he gave two ice creams to Mia when Gabe wasn’t around and told her, “I’m sorry for everything. I know a simple apology wouldn’t cover the mistakes I’ve done, so I’ll be
Gabe came to a local grocery store where things weren’t going well. The store was owned by his friend, Monroe.“This is the third time this week that things were stolen from my store,” Monroe was telling all his worries to Gabe. Having seen Gabe drive a Lambo, he no longer considered Gabe as poor and undependable.“What are the police doing?” Gabe asks, sipping on almond milk from a bottle, which he bought using the twenty dollars that Mia had given him instead of giving a protein powder packet.“I complained to them, but they are more interested in taking products from my store for free instead of solving the case,” Monroe sounded quite frustrated. “The police have taken things worth over 2000 dollars in the past six days. I regret filing a complaint.”“This is pure harassment,” Gabe hissed. “Shouldn’t you consult a lawyer or something?”“Why? To feed the lawyer, too?” Monroe’s shoulder slumped. “These days, you can’t trust anyone. People who have no morals go to high places, but idi
After having brunch with Irene, Mia left the restaurant.Someone else came and sat at Irene’s table. It was her husband. “You chatted for a long time. What did you two talk about?”“Something that men wouldn’t understand,” Irene replied, making him smile. “She might need our help in the future, so if that time comes, I don’t want you to think about it.”He calmly nodded.“Thanks,” Irene said.“You’re not the type to care for your friends,” he said. “Why do you care about this particular friend? Did she help you in the past or something?”“Nothing like that. During our marriage, I realized that I don’t have many friends, so… I thought I should invest some time and effort into making some good friends.”“You think she’s worth your time and effort?” he asked.“I hope so,” Irene replied. “She’s definitely not like Keira or Natasha, but we’ll see.”In Draco’s school.Draco was playing mobile games during class hours using Nicole’s mobile. During recess, Draco put the mobile in his bag and
In Tuna Waves restaurant.After seeing her talent, Nicole was given the role of innovating the dishes by the head chef. She worked for the entire day and prepared seven dishes and made the chefs taste.What Nicole didn’t know was that this was a test. If she were to get approved by more than half the chefs, then she’d be promoted from an intern to a chef.When the chefs tasted her seven dishes, some of them raised complaints that most of these dishes were not weather-friendly or customer-friendly and so on.Nicole didn’t keep all these things in her mind. So, she asked them to give her one more chance before they even gave her the result.The seven dishes she made were definitely good, but most of them had too much spice, which would scare many customers away, and that wouldn’t do good business. These dishes were perfect for home but not for hotels.The head chef told her she could come tomorrow and try again.Nicole, however, said it was alright and worked for four more hours to prep
“You can sit,” the chairman’s wife, Jessica, told Nicole while she got lost in thought.“I-It’s okay, ma’am.” Nicole couldn’t stand still because working like this was new for her. Nicole could see from Jessica’s figure that she was probably five to six months pregnant.The little girl, Nora, came over to Nicole and took her to the nearest chair. Now, Nicole had no other option but to obey the little girl, which made Russell and Jessica chuckle a little. Nora went back to her parents and expressed her wish to eat the dish. They stopped the nail-polishing in the middle for their daughter’s sake and together fed their daughter by taking turns. Nora kept chewing and storing the meat in her cheeks instead of swallowing, which was her habit. Jessica poked the swollen cheeks, which automatically made Nora swallow. Nora then began to put food in her parents’ mouths. After tasting the dish, they briefly looked at each other and then shifted their gazes to Nicole.“Who made this?” Jessica aske
Bart was someone with a wicked sense of humor, but he couldn’t express himself well ever since he had taken a beating from Gabe.When Draco asked Bart to help him get his stolen mobile back, Bart replied with a question. “Do I look like I’m free enough to deal with the matters of the children?”Draco then had no choice but to come to his mother and tell her what happened.Carrie, having gotten used to the costly mobile, was shocked to hear this news. “Why the hell did you take the mobile to school?” she started beating Draco left and right until he cried. “You don’t even know who stole it, so who am I supposed to ask? Your teacher?”Draco went crying to the rooftop, where he was surprised to see Gabe sleeping on a mat.“Why are you sleeping on the floor?” Draco asked him.“Sleeping outside like this is a luxury in itself,” Gabe was staring at the star-studded sky.“Luxury? This?” Draco could only shake his head. He came and sat next to Gabe and also looked up at the sky, but then sudd
After ten o’clock in the night, Gabe saw Mia’s car entering the street and climbed down from the rooftop using the pipe fixed to the wall and quickly came over to the outside gate.Mia parked the car outside the house as usual and stopped by the gate.“Where were you until now?” Gabe asked. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”“My car broke down, and I was getting it repaired,” she answered. “That’s why it took me this long.”“Couldn’t you at least call me once and tell me what's going on?” Gabe didn’t raise his voice, but she could sense a hint of anger and worry in his voice.This was something Mia hadn’t experienced in a long time. Nobody in the family really questioned her regarding when she was entering or leaving the house.“What’s the point of carrying a mobile if you don’t call your family and tell them you’re going to come late?”Gabe kept on talking, putting his hand on the gate, not even letting Mia inside. “Next time, remember that there are people waiting for
In Mia’s house.Gabe went to Draco’s room and had to knock on the door many times to get the door opened.Before Gabe said anything, Draco quickly touched Gabe’s shirt and said, “Uncle, I will give you the phone tomorrow.”“You have school tomorrow, so…” Gabe put his hand forward.Twisting his mouth in many directions, Draco reluctantly gave the mobile back.“Don’t you have your own mobile?” Gabe asked, startling the kid. “I saw you playing with it before.”“U-Uh, that…” Draco didn’t know what to say and ended up saying what had actually happened. “I just lost it today.”“What?” Gabe was shocked. “Lost it? Where?” How could he lose such an expensive mobile! Gabe got so angry he wanted to smack on top of his little head.“Actually, someone in my class stole it,” Draco pitifully explained. “I don’t even know who it is, so I don’t know what to do.”“Didn’t you tell your Mom about it?” Gabe angrily asked.“I did,” Draco’s mouth turned down. “But she beat me.”Gabe controlled his anger and
“Whoever manages to defeat that ‘worthless’ brat will get to keep the omega system.”The moment Gabriel Agnar uttered those last few words, all the nine standing members of the Jaguar squad rushed toward Gabe without a shred of hesitation.They were all elite warriors his grandfather had commanded, all intent on claiming the power that lay still dormant within Gabe."Stand down, brat," the third ranker Bennie called out, her voice layered with authority. "You cannot hope to win against us. Surrender, and you may yet find mercy."“You monsters who are ganging up on me, do you even know what mercy means?” Gabe retorted and countered Fang with a punch.Surprisingly, Gabe’s punch seemed simple but the weight it had was tremendous. Fang was pushed back.But at the same time Stark kicked Gabe’s face.Once again, Stark expected Gabe to be sent flying, but Gabe took the attack without even moving an inch.And it was Stark who frowned in response.Zephyr raised his hand, stopping others from a
“It’s time to return,” Gabriel Agnar said, and these few words changed the body language of all the squad members.In that moment, they let their guard dawn, a small figure dashed in through their ranks and attacked their patriarch Gabriel.Gabriel saw through the first feint and responded accordingly, but the second attack also turned out to be a feint just to distract him so that they could pluck the severed hand out of Gabriel’s hand.And they managed to grab the hand, but no amount of pulling was enough to get the severed hand out of the old man’s grip.Everyone was startled after seeing the young kid who gave off an ethereal energy, which they could sense.This young kid was none other than Ulf.“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” Gabriel asked him.“Ha-ha, good afternoon,” Ulf replied awkwardly, “or is it evening now?” He grew triple in size and clenched his fists. “Omega Arts Secret Move…” He threw in a straight punch at Gabriel’s chest. “Final Fist!”Gabriel took the attack
At Russell’s estate.Zephyr, the head of the Jaguar Squad, struck Gabe’s chest with his palm. A shockwave burst through his chest and ripped the back of Gabe’s shirt in the shape of Zephyr's palm.Gabe coughed out a lot of blood, and his eyes nearly turned white. He was about to fall back.Zephyr caught Gabe’s throat and squeezed it. “If I kill you, then the Alpha System will be ours.”“Gabe!” Mia ran toward him. “No!”“Where do you think you’re running?” Pixie, the number five, blurted. Her green hair extended forth like tree vines and sought to capture Mia.Mia moved swiftly and dodged a few vines, but the hair grew branches like trees, and they were sharp enough to pierce through Mia’s body.Her torso and limbs were riddled with many thin holes.She bled from the nose and mouth and couldn’t move at all. She felt completely frozen.Pixie pulled the hair out and retracted them. Mia fell to her knees.Seeing all this, Gabe’s blood thrummed beneath his skin. His heart pounded with the c
In ancient times, serpents had wings and feet, and they were called by many names. One of those kinds were also called Dragons.So, dragons were indeed serpents with wings and legs. Even in the modern day, dragons were worshiped in some places. Some martial arts were derived from dragons, too.However, Alleria’s martial arts were not related to dragons but of a different serpent kind, whose existence had been erased from history..When Alleria was young, she spent her time in the woods, and the most difficult enemies she faced were the monstrous serpents that lived in that forest. This made her wonder just how much stronger would the serpents be if they had legs, too, as they did in the past.This led Alleria to search through her clan’s library and find the ancient serpent art books. And she picked one that she believed would be the most challenging.And thanks to her collective efforts, she managed to become the head of one of the Eight Enigma Squads, the Serpent Squad.The Ancient S
Alleria was sent flying through multiple walls, and she ended up crashing into the tables of the precious customers.“That hurts…” Alleria’s cheek bruised, and she bled from a corner of her mouth.“W-Who are you?” The customers were all shocked because this woman was wearing armor underneath her cloak, and there was even a short sword at her waist. “Are you a cosplayer?”“Who was that little girl?” Alleria got back up, looking quite irritated because her cloak was dirtied by the food, so she had to remove it. She looked sturdy despite her age, and she was nearly six feet tall. Many men in that hall hadn’t seen such a well-built woman with attractive looks like that before. “Call herself as my grandmother,” she cracked her neck, releasing the gas bubbles from the joints in her spine, “let’s see if you’ve really got what it takes to utter such words.”She rushed into the bathroom, but to her surprise, Systa and Nicole were gone.“What?” Alleria frowned. “I didn’t see them leave. Where di
Nicole was getting out of the taxi, but Systa held her hand and stopped her. “I’m not feeling the urgency anymore. Can we go somewhere else now?”Nicole couldn’t make sense of Systa’s words. The little girl was struggling until seconds ago, and she’s fine now? Something didn’t feel right. Whether Systa was playing games or not, Nicole didn’t want to take the risk. “I’m taking you to the toilet room once.”“Ugh,” Systa hissed at her. “Listen to me.”Nicole was startled. “Did you just hiss at me? And why are you gritting your teeth?”“Because you don’t understand the trouble that you’re in!” Systa blurted. “Driver, turn the car around and get going.”The driver, however, looked at her with a silly expression as if Systa was not the one who’s going to pay him for the ride.Systa didn’t like that the driver was treating her as a little girl. She wished she could show her powers to him, but because of Nicole, she had to hold herself back.“Can you wait here for half an hour for us?” Nicole
Nicole finished her work in the hotel and walked out with Systa who was in the form of a little girl now.“Why do you look like that?” Nicole asked her.“Look like what?” Systa asked her back.“Look like you’re weighing life's burdens on your shoulders?” Nicole said.“I was just thinking about something,” Systa replied.Nicole picked her up onto her waist.“W-What are you doing?” Systa quickly said, her cheeks flushing. “This is embarrassing. Put me down.”“Get used to it,” Nicole pinched Systa’s cheeks. “You know, I watched Gabe grow, but I missed watching a girl grow. I didn’t have a daughter, you see. So, I feel like keeping you with me for as long as possible.”“S-Stop pulling my cheeks!” Systa found it annoying because her skin was not perfectly authentic human-standard.“Stop acting like that,” Nicole stopped pulling the cheek and gently rubbed it. “You’re a girl, so you’re going to raise kids one day. You shouldn’t get angry easily. Your worth will be decided by how good you ca
In Sciocidad, also known as the phantom city which floated through the sky also known as the lower heaven.At the border, Russell and Jessica were talking with a mature lady whose name they didn’t even know. All he knew was that she was the librarian of the clan that lived in this city.“My goal is to stop another world war from happening,” Russell told her. “If a war breaks out again, then the world really is going to end.”“Silly young man,” the lady named Uzza smiled, “the third world you were worrying about has long started and is still ongoing.”“W-What?” Russell was startled.“Food, air, water, and even people’s very blood has been polluted for decades now and it’s still happening today,” Uzza said. “We see a lot of chemicals being sprayed in the air through special jets. There are nanoparticles, graphene, and even parasites in those chemicals, which will mix with water, food, and can even enter people’s bodies through their skin. Everything the media tells you is fake. The elect
“It’s one thing that James lost, but for Atarah to lose to this brat…” The number one ranker of the Jaguar Squad, Stark, spoke. “This is quite shameful.”“Indeed,” Fang, the second ranker, opined. “I feel a little embarrassed since I’ve trained James for over a month now. For him to lose without even taking an opponent’s limb is quite disappointing. I hope he’s not dead.”“James is the last ranker, the number 10 of the squad,” the zeroth ranker and the head of the Jaguar Squad, Zephyr, replied. He had a sharp mustache and was cleanly shaven. “He’s the weakest, but Atarah is the ranked fourth in the squad, and she let her younger comrade lose. So, she failed both as a teammate and as an individual fighter. She needs to be punished for her mistakes later. But for now…” He glanced at the number five ranker, who was a green-headed female, Pixie.Pixie stepped forth and treated Atarah’s injury with her vivre. It was as though she was conducting surgery with her vivre, using it as needles to