On the way to school, Taufik felt a lot of stares directed at him. Considering his good looks, this wasn't the first time he'd experienced such attention, so he was already used to it. However, after fusing with the vampire progenitor bloodline, all of his senses had been sharpened. Today, those stares feel more intense than ever.
'... Since my mom didn't mention it, I thought I didn't change that much. But seeing the looks of the people around me, especially the women, makes me doubt that. Does my mother have an eye problem?'
Taufik thought. Trying to ignore the stares, he walked hurriedly to reach school faster.
'If I stay any longer, I feel like someone is going to attack me' he thought again.
When he entered the school gate, he expected the gazes would subside, but they only intensified. And with his heightened hearing, he could even hear the whispers around him.
"Hey, is he a new student? He's very handsome"
"No, isn't he Taufik from class 2-3? Did he get more handsome?"
The comments didn't come only from women; even men were whispering.
"Wow, what has he been doing lately? Is he practicing at the gym?"
"Look at those muscles. Even though he's wearing his uniform, they're hard to hide."
"Yeah~ I want to know how it feels to be dominated by those muscles, ahh~"
Said the last guy, with a slightly blushing visible on his cheek.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Hearing these whispers, Taufik felt uncomfortable. As for the last guy, he made a mental note to stay away from him, no matter what.
When he reached his classroom, he hurried to his seat. The noisy class fell silent when they noticed Taufik entering. Once they recognized it was him, they looked surprised for a while before resuming their activities.
'Phew~ luckily they didn't question me'
Taufik thought, relieved that his classmates weren't too curious about his changes. Though they were surprised to see him looking more handsome, they found it somewhat normal.
Nowadays, with money and a bit of facial care, people can change their looks. In Taufik's case, considering his mother was a famous designer, they assumed it was only natural for her son to have some resources to spend.
As he sat waiting for the teacher to come, a friend approached him.
"Fik, have you been to the gym lately? You've grown quite muscular, and have you gotten taller too?"
Asked Rezaldy Putra, one of Taufik's closest friends. Reza, like most Asians, had black hair and dark brown eyes.
They had been friends since elementary school, so they were quite close. Although Reza often felt jealous because almost every girl he liked ended up liking Taufik, he remained a loyal friend.
"Yeah, pretty much"
Taufik replied casually.
"Why didn't you take me with you? If I knew the gym would make you more handsome, I would've joined ages ago"
Reza complained, feeling abandoned by his best friend.
"Idiot. If the gym could make you more handsome, Martyn Ford would be the most handsome man in the world right now"
Taufik explained.
"So, what's the reason you're more handsome if it's not the gym?"
Reza pressed. Hearing that, a thought crossed Taufik's mind; trying hard to control his expression so the grin didn't show, Taufik said.
"... You might get mad if I tell you. Are you sure you want to know?"
"Fik, we've been friends for a long time. No secrets between us. Tell me"
Reza insisted.
"Well, if you insist. But you already know the answer"
Taufik said, suppressing his laugh; now he knew why his mother liked to tease him; it was because it was funny and exciting.
"Huh? Am I?" Reza looked confused.
"The answer is… LI-NE-A-GE"
"... Lineage?"
"Yes, lineage."
"..."
"..."
"Damn lineage!" snapped Reza, slightly angry. "If only my mother were a foreigner like Aunt Linda, I might have a harem by now. Damn that lineage!"
"Hahaha! I told you you'd be mad, but you didn't believe me"
Taufik said, laughing uncontrollably.
"Whatever, I don't care anymore"
Reza grumbled, turning back to his desk.
After a while, Ms. Jennah arrived at the classroom. When she saw Taufik, she paused and looked tense for a brief moment. It's a small movement that is hard to notice, but with Taufik's heightened senses, Taufik notices that.
'... What is that? Was she scared just now when our eyes met? Or am I imagining things?' he wondered. But Taufik ignored it, thinking it maybe was just his imagination, and continued to focus on class, as did Ms. Jennah.
The lesson continued as usual, though Taufik occasionally caught Ms. Jennah staring at him, but Taufik chose to ignore it because he didn't know the meaning behind that stare. It wasn't the look he got like other women did when they looked at him, but it was something different and Taufik didn't know what it was.
--------
After school, Taufik prepared to find a hidden spot to practice his powers.
He snuck into the forest behind the school. It was dense, so if you didn't know the way, you eventually would get lost; there are a lot of cases of students who getting lost in the woods already, so the school has forbidden the students to go in there for safety reasons.
But for Taufik, that ban doesn't matter because when he wants to skip class or just wants some time for himself, he will go inside the forest, so he's already memorizing the way in and out of the forest.
When he thought he was far enough from the school, he searched for an area with fewer trees. Finding a suitable spot, he called the system.
"System, can you explain how my imagination magic works again?"
[Yes.]
[Imagination Magic: Magic based on the master's imagination. The master can create anything as long as their imagination and the magic power in the core can support it]
[Example: If the master wants to create fire, the Master must imagine what fire is and how it works.]
"... What the f*ck is that? What fire is? How its work? Man... Chemistry is my biggest enemy! I thought I just had to imagine it, and voilà! Fire in my hands!"
Taufik complained. Thinking his power has a very complicated way to use.
"Whatever. In times like this, we always can ask the almighty Google"
He muttered, pulling out his phone from his bag.
After searching for anything that related to fire on Google, Taufik looked at his hands; he visualized combining magic energy with oxygen and heating it. When he felt the Mana from his core flow to his palm, Taufik opened his palm, and then a fire appeared.
*woosh*
Taufik stared at it for a while. He didn't feel hot or anything weird; feeling satisfied, Taufik remembered what the article in Google said.
"... If I add more oxygen, the fire will grow bigger and purer, let's try it"
Taufik said and then began to concentrate; he imagined that he was gathering more oxygen in one place, and at the same time The fire in his plam also grew larger, changing from yellow to blue and becoming hotter. Though he didn't feel the heat, the grass around him had dried up because of the heat from the fireball.
As the fire grew and didn't show any sign of stopping, Taufik panicked.
'Oo-oh~... S- SYSTEM! How do I stop this?!'
[The master can throw it or cut the Mana flow—]
*Swoosh*
Before the System explanation finished, Taufik immediately threw the fire into an open field. Because the fireball just getting bigger and bigger.
*Boom!*
The fireball exploded when it hit the ground and left quite a large crater behind.
Taufik, who was sitting on the ground Sighing with relief, muttered.
"That was nerve-wracking expreiance."
As he approached the crater to inspect it, he heard the sound of 'something' falling from the bushes behind him.
*Thud!*
Taufik tensed up, turning his body in a hurry and then shouting.
"WHO'S THERE?!"
No reply came, so he rushed toward the sound using his enhanced speed. To his surprise, he found someone he knew sitting on her butt with a frightened face.
"...Ms. Jennah? Why are you here?"
....
...
..
.