2 Months Pass…..
Lorraine sat at the cafeteria of the Golden Seekers Academy, with students and now Seekers chatting along happily, her existence not even with worth acknowledging.
After her awakening had gone public, Loraine's image had been changed forever, gone was the genius student who had immense potential, now replaced as someone not even worth a glance. Someone weak, insignificant, not important….
"Yo! Did you guys hear? The Black Storm guild had managed to climb onto Ospherius's 62nd floor yesterday!" An excited voice said from the lunch table, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"What!? No way! That's amazing! I heard that the 61st floor was nearly impossible to climb, as guilds have been struggling getting passed it for nearly 3 weeks now, that's insane." Another joined in.
The table soon erupted in discussion of the Tower and the guild that managed to clear it, while Loraine's mind was somewhere else, her gaze fixated on the screen of her Status, an irritated expression.
"Sigh, damn it….when will this cycle end…." She muttered under her breath, slamming her head on her desk as she nearly passed out from exhaustion.
[Status Window]
[Name: Loraine Golds]
[Profession: Seeker]
[Talent: Muscle Reinforcement(E)]
[Class: None]
[Level: 8]
[HP: 480/480]
[MP: 260/260]
[Strength: 30]
[Vitality: 25]
[Agility: 23]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Skills: (F)Basic Swordsmanship Lv.4]
[Stat Points: 0]
[Exp: 120/600]
Loraine glanced at pitiful her status with a distasteful look, her eyes were tired with bags forming under her eyes, a sign of the sleep she missed the previous day.
She had been working extremely hard for the past few weeks, participating in raids, doing odd jobs, and any other kind of work that generated some income. There wasn't a moment where she allowed herself to rest properly, as even 1 missed hour could result in less time for her mother's payment.
The treatment was incredibly expensive, as she had to struggle in raids, each time finding herself in close death scenarios, as she was just too weak to be of actual use to her team. Lorraine soon gave up on fighting the monsters, as she would extremely hard to take down a few of them, just to come out with scraps and barely contribute anything to her team.
Since her contributions were incredibly low, she didn't receive much payment, and she couldn't level up much either, as the process too long for her and she often found herself almost getting killed in every situation, only to be saved by her party members or classmates.
"Stay out of the way damn it!"
"Just stay back, you can't do anything with that pathetic excuse of a Talent anyway!"
"Tch! I wonder why someone as useless as you is still attending the Golden Seekers Academy, it would be better if you'd just leave and bare us the freedom of having to look at your pitiful state."
The words of her experiences working with others was harsh, as she immediately felt the pressure that the Seekers faced on their day to day lives diving into the Tower to keep them safe. It was hell, no other description fitted it.
Loraine had to resign herself to doing porter work and lighter jobs to avoid herself from getting killed, as she herself got hospitalized a few times, and had even more bills to pay, all of which was supposed to be for her mother.
Lorraine held her face in her hands, fighting to stay conscious with the weight of her lack of sleep. Today was the day of yet another month's payment, and Loraine had been struggling just to get by.
Her grades had dropped, her rank in the school had too, in fact, she had to beg just to be kept inside the system, displaying such a disappointing sigh made her stomach churn with disgust, not to anyone in particular, but to her own weakness.
"Loraine! There you are!" Amy's voice sounded, as everyone immediately turned their attention to her. Lorraine looked up to see Amy approaching, her eyes widening as she quickly tried to hide her face by pretending to read a book.
"Shit!" Loraine cursed under her breath, the timing couldn't have been worse, and now Loraine feared that Amy might see her sleep deprived condition.
"Woah! It's Amy!" A student whispered, their voice filled with excitement of that of a fan.
"She's grown really strong in the past 2 months, I heard that Amy was among the Top 5 of our Academy's strongest. Isn't that insane?" Another joined.
"It is! I heard that Amy was recently scouted by a powerful guild and accepted into their ranks, she truly is a prodigy!"
"Amy! Please look at me!"
Amy blinked, noticing the obvious attempt Loraine made. She pouted, approaching her as she moved past the awe struck and admiring students. She didn't care about the whispers filled with awe and admiration, her sole focus being Loraine.
"..."
"..."
A long, awkward silence filled the air as Amy crossed her arms and glared at Loraine, who was trying her best to be invisible to Amy, but that obviously wasn't working.
With a sigh, Amy sat down next to Loraine, "How long did you work this time?" Amy asked, her voice low as she glanced at Loraine, who was still trying to hide her face in her book.
"....12 hours, plus some work from the Seeker Association..…." Lorraine admitted, that paired with the hours of the academy, left her little time to recover, sometimes none at all.
Amy remained silent for a moment, her gaze turning from one of annoyance to genuine concern. She knew what Loraine was going through, it wasn't much of a secret as rumors of Loraine's mother's illness had spread around the Academy in no time, with some people even making fun of her for it.
She knew how hard Loraine had to work, sacrificing her study time, and recovery to prioritize her mother's life.
"Loraine…you don't have to do this alone…" Amy said, whispering low. "I can't bear seeing you like this, you need rest, actual rest…not this…"
Loraine remained silent, she knew Amy was right, but what could she do? If she rested, that would cut her time, and if her time is cut, so is the amount of money she could earn.
She still owes the hospital so much, as she had to stall multiple payments under excuses and tons of begging, but that wouldn't matter now, as the doctor had requested a full payment of the past months payment, as well as this month's one, so there was no time to rest.
Amy felt her heart clench at Loraine's silence, but tried again once more, she refused to give up as her dear friend was in need, but won't admit it.
"I want to help Loraine, allow me to at least cover half of the-" Before Amy could finish her sentence, her phone suddenly rang in her pocket, interrupting her.
'Damn it! What now? This damn guild always has to interrupt me during important moments!' Amy thought, gritting her teeth as she reached for her phone, she glanced at Loraine, conflicted on whether to answer or to stay beside her friend.
"Answer it…I'm fine, it could be really important." Loraine said.
Amy's eyes widened, but she strengthened her resolve, gritting her teeth as she was starting to become irritated.
"Just go…please…."
Amy glanced at Loraine one last time before rising from her seat and making her way out of the cafeteria, her expression one of pain, but she didn't dared show it and quickly answered the phone.
'Please don't go anywhere Loraine, I'll be right back.' Amy thought, running past the students as she heard the words of one of her superiors one the call.
Meanwhile, Lorraine couldn't help but feel more pathetic after seeing Amy's attempt to help her out, she knew that Amy's help would've been great to have, and could possibly help her with paying off the debt she owed.
She considered it for a minute, Amy would definitely help Loraine pay off her debts in a heartbeat, but the thought made Loraine feel terrible. If she didn't let Amy help, her mother had a very high chance of dying, but if she did let Amy help, Amy would lose quite a lot of money, as the treatment costs were far from inexpensive.
'Sigh, I have no choice, I want my mom to live. I need to accept her help, I've been pushing her away for so long, I need to apologize.' Loraine thought, getting up from her seat as she made her way out of the cafeteria.
"Loraine!" The sound of her name being called made her stop dead in her tracks for a moment, turning around to see a couple of faces she wished she didn't run into.
"Damn it…why them of all people…" She muttered under her breath, clenching her fists as she was face to face with two of the worst people in her Academy.
The Cardison twins.