Theo glanced at Owen for a mont, an awkward smile flashing past his face.
" I’ll have to take this call real quick."
Owen nodded once. "Do your thing."
Accepting the call, Theo raised his phone to his ear imdiately.
"Hey."
"Good morning," Iris replied, her voice soft. "Did I call you at a bad ti?"
Theo glanced at Owen briefly, who was now on his own phone.
"No, you’re fine."
There was a short pause before Iris continued.
"I want to ask you sothing," she said slowly.
Theo raised an eyebrow. "Go ahead."
"I’m heading to an E-rank dungeon further inland in three days," she said hesitantly. "Would you like to co with ?"
"I’m in," Theo said without hesitation.
Before he could say anything else—
"Wait," Owen suddenly said, leaning in. "Did I hear dungeon?"
Theo pulled the phone slightly away, glancing at Owen with narrowed eyes.
"...You heard correctly."
Owen froze for a split second, then leaned in closer.
"A dungeon?" he repeated. "You’re serious?"
Theo shot him a quick look.
"Keep your voice down."
Owen lowered it slightly, but the excitent didn’t leave his face.
"You’re actually going in one?"
Theo gave a short nod. "Yup, in three days."
Owen stared at him for a mont, then let out a breath.
"...You weren’t even going to tell , were you?"
Theo pointed at his phone, feeling slightly frustrated. "I literally just found out."
"Whatever, I don’t care about that," Owen said imdiately. "Take with you."
Theo glanced at him, unsure if he’d heard correctly.
As he stared at Owen, he noticed the eagerness in his expression, bringing him deep into thought.
"...Are you sure?" he finally asked.
Owen nodded imdiately, filled with excitent.
"Of course! There’s no way I’m going to pass up a chance like this."
Theo held his gaze for a second longer before letting out a quiet breath.
’He did pass the hunter exam,’ he thought. ’And he has to start sowhere.’
’Better to do that while I’m around.’
Theo shook his head lightly before bringing the phone back to his ear.
"Hey... is it fine if a friend joins?"
There was a short pause.
"If you can vouch for him," Iris said calmly. "I’m sure it’ll be fine."
"Good," Theo nodded, giving a thumbs-up to Owen.
"I’ll send you the details later today," she continued, her voice low. "Call if you need to know anything more."
"Got it," Theo replied. "I’ll take a look once you send it."
"Alright then," Iris said, her tone sweeter now. "Talk to you later."
With that, the call disconnected.
As Theo put away his phone, Owen smiled as he stared at him.
"So, I’m going to this dungeon with you?"
"Yup," Theo nodded, smirking faintly. "I’ll send you the details once I’ve got them."
Owen’s grin widened imdiately.
"Nice," he said, cracking his knuckles. "It’s about ti you take along."
Theo shook his head lightly.
"Just make sure you don’t embarrass while going there."
"Why?" Owen said imdiately, his eyes narrowing with a mischievous glint in them. "Is the other person soone I should know about?"
Theo shot him a look before stepping closer and elbowing him in the side.
"Do you want to help you train your earth shield or not?"
Owen let out a short breath, rubbing his side.
"...Alright, alright," he said, holding up his hands. "I’ll drop it."
But the hint of amusent didn’t leave his face.
They walked to the forest together, talking casually the entire way.
The mont they stepped into the small clearing at the center of the forest, Owen ca to a stop.
"...What the hell happened here?"
Theo glanced around too, pressing his lips together.
The ground was flattened, grass pushed deep into the ground, while several trees were crushed into wood spikes the size of a hand.
He scratched the back of his head for a mont.
"I did this," he slowly said.
Owen turned to him, confusion written across his face.
"You?"
Theo nodded once.
"I broke through to Bronze Core."
Owen’s expression didn’t change.
"Yeah, right," he said, nodding as he let out a chuckle.
Theo’s eyes remained locked on Owen, completely serious.
Owen’s smile lingered for a second longer before his brows slowly furrowed.
"...You’re serious?" he said, his eyes widening.
"No, that’s not possible," he continued imdiately. "It’s been, what, three weeks?"
Theo pressed his lips together.
’It’s about ti I tell him about my affinity,’ he thought, clenching his fists. ’If there’s anyone I can trust with it, it’d be him.’
’I’ll have to make up sothing to replace the system’s presence though.’
As for why he hadn’t done it all this ti?
There were countless small reasons that made him put it off, fear that his affinity wasn’t permanent, fear that he’d crush his spirit, yet all of them were nothing but excuses.
He glanced around the forest for a mont, then back at Owen.
"Sit down for a second."
Owen hesitated, clearly still confused. Though hearing the seriousness in Theo’s voice, he complied and sat down on a tree stump.
Theo did the sa, sitting down in front of him.
As he glanced at Owen again, noticing his confused and expectant look, he let out a deep breath.
"You rember the day of the awakening ceremony, right?"
Owen nodded once but stayed quiet.
"I split off from you and went ho depressed," he continued. "After getting ho, I went up to my room when sothing hit the building."
Owen frowned slightly, his head tilting. "Yeah, lightning or sothing, right?"
Theo nodded slowly. "I blacked out right after it hit."
He paused for a mont.
"And when I woke up again, I felt sothing different in my core."
Owen leaned forward, now clearly intrigued.
"My lightning affinity had changed," he continued, "now being much stronger than before."
Silence lingered for a few seconds as Owen’s mouth slowly fell open.
"That’s possible?!" he finally said, his voice brightening. "That’s amazing, man!"
Theo glanced at him, now confused himself.
’That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting,’ he thought, a grin slowly forming on his face.
"Congratulations, bro," Owen said, patting him on the back with a laugh. "Now I actually understand where your confidence in fighting David ca from."
Theo let out a deep breath, so of the tension leaving his shoulders.
"Yes," he muttered. "I’m sure I can take him down."
Owen shook his head, still smiling. "Man, that’s insane."
"And don’t worry," he continued. "I won’t tell a soul about this."
"Thanks," Theo said, smiling.
For the next hour, the two of them continued their conversation, with Theo answering many questions from Owen.
Finally, they moved on to the real purpose of their eting, which was helping Owen with his Earth Shield spell.
Theo pushed him to control his spell better and made him ready to use it at any ti by shooting extrely low-power lightning spells towards him.
By the end, Owen handled it much more comfortably and had improved imnsely compared to before.
After finishing up, Theo left the forest and headed ho.
His mind stayed on the training.
’Owen’s definitely ready,’ he thought. ’But I still have a lot to do before heading into that dungeon.’
Not only did he want to search for a simple technique for his water affinity.
’Now that I’ve reached the Bronze Core stage, I can also learn the first part of the Heavenly Thunderstorm manual.’
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