novelCracks (2)
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Book 4, The Dragonblood Warrior - Chapter 10, Cracks (part 2)
The sky grew dark, but Linley continued to sit there and slowly drink. Alice still did not show up, and the people in the bar grew fewer and fewer in number. By his side, Bebe was very much enjoying all the alcohol, as normally, Linley didn't let him drink too much. This was the first time that he was able to drink to his heart's content.
"Sir, we are about to close." The waiter said respectfully to Linley.
"Close?" Linley was startled.
"Oh. What's the bill?" Linley stood up, but he was feeling very woozy.
Linley had already finished six bottles of jade wine. Fortunately, Linley had a strong constitution and was able to hold his liquor. An ordinary person probably would've collapsed long ago. Next to him, Bebe had drank an even more ridiculous amount, polishing off a full dozen bottles.
After paying his tab, Linley left the bar. By now, it was late at night. The Dry Road was almost deserted and devoid of people.
"This was the first time that Alice missed our appointment." Linley let out a long sigh.
Taking one final look back at the two story house shrouded in darkness, Linley headed directly for the Jade Water Paradise.
At the Jade Water Paradise.
"Third bro's probably having fun with his girl right about now." Yale, George, and Reynolds were all chatting, laughing, and enjoying their wine.
"Hey, Boss Yale... do you think Linley's still a virgin?" Reynolds chuckled.
Yale wrinkled his nose. Quite confidently, he said, "That goes without saying. Just by looking at him, you can tell that he's a 100% virgin. Bah... Fourth Bro, let's go get some rest." As he spoke, Yale pulled his beauty by the hand and moved to leave the room, quickly followed by Reynolds.
"Crack."
The door to their room suddenly opened.
Yale and Reynolds stared in surprise. Shocked, Yale said, "Third Bro, why'd you come back?"
"No reason. Come on, Boss Yale, Fourth Bro, Second Bro, keep me company and have some drinks with me." Linley's voice was a bit low and quiet.
Reynolds, George, and Yale all looked at each other. Yale was the first one to laugh and say, "Wonderful. It's rare to see Third Bro in such a frank and straightforward mood. Tonight, we bros are gonna keep you company and drink with you." Yale, Reynolds, and George all sat down and began to drink with Linley.
The next day, Linley once more went to Alice's house, but once again, Alice did not show up.
.... .
Within the Ernst Institute.
"Alice really is mad at me this time?" Linley was walking on the roads within the Ernst Institute, and his mood was not very good.
While walking, Linley noticed a particular shop located in the middle of the Institute, and saw various notices and advertisements outside of the shop. Linley's gaze suddenly fixed upon an advertisement for a crystal ball. In his mind, he suddenly remembered some words Alice had once said to him."Big brother Linley, we're living in different places. Every time I see other couples on campus, I'll think about you and miss you, but it's so hard for us to meet each other. Alas... how wonderful it would be if the two of us could always be together."
Linley's heart suddenly moved.
Heading directly to the shop counter, he spoke with the storekeeper."How much do the memory crystal balls here cost?"
"800 gold coins." The storekeeper's eyes lit up. Memory crystal balls were extremely luxurious items."We have some extremely high quality memory crystals here. These memory crystals were specially manufactured for us by water-style magi of the eighth rank, right here in the Institute."
Linley had a thorough understanding of the fundaments behind the construction of a memory crystal ball.
The water-style's "Floating Scryer Technique" would be embedded into the crystal ball through the usage of alchemical methods. When the memory crystal ball was activated through a small amount of mageforce, the spell would automatically activate and automatically record a long scene. After the recording was completed, the next time mageforce was used to activate the memory crystal ball, the crystal ball would automatically play back the previously recorded scene.
After negotiating over the price, Linley managed to procure two memory crystal balls at the price of 1200 gold coins.
"I'll use one memory crystal ball to record what I do at the Institute, while I'll give the other to Alice and let her do the same. That way, even if I'm not able to see her, I'll be able to watch her through the memory crystal ball." Seeing the two crystal balls in his hands, Linley couldn't help but let a smile blossom.
....
Stonesculpting in the dormitory, training in the mountains, attending classes at the Institute... Linley recorded everything down, until the memory crystal itself was totally filled up and could not record any more. And then, excited, at the middle of October, Linley took the two memory crystals with him to Fenlai City, only to find... Alice still did not show up.
October 29th.
The four bros once more headed together towards Fenlai City. Within the city, Linley separated from his three bros.
Reynolds, Yale, and George watched as Linley departed, the expressions on their face solemn.
"In the past seven years that I've known Third Bro, he's always been an outstanding genius, both in the field of magic as well as in the field of stoneshaping. But clearly, Third Bro highly values the relationship between him and this Alice. If this results in heartbreak, I'm afraid that Third Bro will be deeply hurt." Yale frowned as he spoke.
Reynolds nodded as well."I have the same feeling. That Alice girl hasn't shown up for three of their meetings now. I'm afraid there must be some trouble."
"Honestly, breaking up isn't necessarily a bad thing, " Yale laughed."As a man, if you don't experience the pain of a breakup, how will you mature? I've always felt that Third Bro dotes on that Alice too much. If it was me? Shit. If a girl acts up towards me, I'd drop her in a heartbeat."
George laughed."Boss Yale, honestly, I rather appreciate how Third Bro behaves. Your point of view is really a bit too..." George shook his head.
"I myself am inclined towards how Boss Yale thinks." Reynolds smirked.
"Enough chitchat, let's go to the Jade Water Paradise."
Yale, Reynolds, and George headed directly to the Jade Water Paradise, but halfway to their destination, Reynolds suddenly, secretively nudged Yale and George."Boss Yale, George, wait a second. Take a look over there. See who that is?"
Yale and George both turned to look in the direction towards which Reynolds was gesturing. Immediately, the expressions on the faces of both Yale and George changed.
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