After Isabella finished concealing Ryker's space magic for the event at Nosfera, he asked her to train him. In secret, of course.
She had agreed as a way to spend time with him. Then she vanished somewhere else with her space magic as Ryker started explaining what had happened to Liv and Fenia.
Getting ready for Nosfera, he told them both to stay. Liv had objected. But eventually he won her over with the promise of a shopping trip which she called a date. On the other hand, the wolf happily continued watching her show.
Outside Meridian Academy, there was a taxi stand. Standing there, he was waiting for his cab, checking the location of Nosfera Castle on his mermap. Nosfera castle was 30 min away. So he had plenty of time to check his socials.
Messages from his worried friends who saw the humiliating test score were coming in one after another. With a deep sigh, he told them he was okay.
"Someone's in demand."
Looking up from his phone, he saw a girl with one gold eye and one emerald eye. A girl whose name he never got. She was wearing the same Meridian Academy uniform, but this one had the symbol for Nosfera: a bat.
"In demand?"
Rosy looked at him like he had just asked why the sky was blue.
"You're famous, or rather infamous. Both attract women."
He smiled wryly. The comment struck a nerve, but it was expected that he'd be the gossip of the entire academy for a few weeks.
"So are you waiting for a cab too?"
She raised a single, perfectly manicured eyebrow, seeing right through his weak attempt of avoiding shame.
"Changing the subject, are we? Very well, I'll bite."
Rosy sat down on the stoop.
"Yes, I'm taking a cab to Nosfera. But the taxi here is absurdly expensive... if only there was a rich benefactor," she fluttered her eyelashes.
She wanted him to pay. He sat down too.
"Why are you even taking a cab? Can't you fly there?"
Rosy took out a book from her bag.
"How am I supposed to read my trashy romance novels and fly at the same time?"
Her smirk was a mix of arrogance and amusement.
A small tightness popped in his chest as he remembered lashing out at her and calling her book trashy. An urge to apologize hit him.
"I'm sorry for what I said earlier, about your book."
His apology made her yin-yang eyes widen for a moment before she regained her usual composure.
"Thank you for the ride."
"I never offered... but okay," he muttered under his breath.
A bright yellow cab pulled up. The headlights cutting a path through the darkness. A cat demi-human with sleepy eyes was at the wheel, giving them a lazy nod to hop in. Ryker got up and opened the door for Rosy.
"What a prince."
She teased, before sliding onto the cracked leather seat with a sigh.
After buckling himself in, Ryker told the driver the destination: Nosfera Castle, earning him a grumble from the cat. Although he happily started the meter.
"So what exactly is House Nosfera?" he asked, looking at the back of the driver's head as the cab started moving.
"..."
She was ignoring him, deeply engrossed in her story. The car was driving on the highway, eagerly cutting off other cars, the streetlights making Rosy's book pages a blur. It felt like a private bubble that Ryker was not allowed in. Well, he had refused her invitation. He had it coming.
Leaning back in the chair, he looked out the window. In the part of the city they were driving through, Minotaurs were becoming increasingly more common.
On the sidewalks, their large, muscular frames were strolling about. Every species had their special event like Nosfera: from the Jormungandr swimming in the ocean to the dragons soaring the sky.
He turned back to Rosy, hoping she would look up from her book this time.
"Any advice for tonight?"
Except the girl simply turned another page. Even the cab driver felt the awkward silence and turned up the radio as a way to help the poor lad. An Eastern rock station filled the void.
A few minutes later, the city was replaced by dense forest as they began driving up a mountain. The smell of pines and sounds of crickets were abundant.
He turned his phone on. Plenty of games were on it, but he didn't feel like playing any of them, not the gacha nor the idle-clickers. The anxiety was hitting him. He was definitely going to get made fun of, laughed at, and ridiculed tonight. Something no one really enjoyed.
"You should be more like this heroine," Rosy suddenly spoke up without taking her eyes off her book.
Tilting his head, he waited for more. It didn't come.
"Aren't you going to elaborate?"
A quiet chuckle came from the blonde vampire as she closed her book with a soft thud, placing a small feather bookmark on the page she was on.
"Are you actually looking for inspiration from trashy romance novels? Just because you're last place doesn't mean you have to act like a vampiric wimp."
"I'm not a wimp."
He grabbed a hold of the handle on the roof of the cab as they took a particularly sharp turn on the winding mountain road.
"I've simply been dealt a bad hand. I'm playing it."
Rosy was shaking her head at his reflection in the window. It was a disappointing shake.
"Does that mean you've dedicated your whole life to magic? Studied every book in existence before you even got tested, even before applying to Meridian Academy?"
Her tone was condescending. But she was right, and he disliked that.
"You speak as if you have any idea what it's like being me," he argued back.
The car became quiet. Then the driver grumbled, "This is your stop."
Grabbing his phone and holding it to the card reader, he paid the fare and stepped out. Rosy followed. The castle was still a short hike away. He was quiet. Sure, he didn't train after finding out he lacked a mana core, but that was because he thought there was no point.
Moonlight faintly lit the walkway up to Nosfera castle. Suddenly Rosy punched his arm.
It wasn't that hard, but it caught him off-guard, making him stumble into an oak tree. Pain shot through his back as he landed; a small grunt left his lips. His ears were ringing. Dirt stained his hands brown from trying to balance himself.
She leaned down. Rosy's eyes were boring into him, trying to understand him yet blatantly showing her hostility.
"Why did you stop arguing?"
Looking up at her, he saw not mockery, but a challenge. A dare. It made his heart race. He was already planning on training tomorrow.
"The heroine took 771 losses before she was even allowed to have a duel to prove herself. Lose properly or stop pretending you deserve to win."
Grabbing his collar and stretching her left arm out, her left hand curling into a fist and her intent to harm obvious, she punched him.