She nodded with determination that suggested she wasn’t easily discouraged by the way he responded. "I need you in my life." She countered his passive stance with an offensive flirt.
She is quite the direct one...huh?
Noah laughed again before shaking his head gently. "You’re too young."
With that polite dismissal, he continued walking, hoping to avoid the complications that dating represented in his current circumstances.
The girl was certainly beautiful; he could tell she was probably only a year or two younger than him at most, which wouldn’t normally present an issue. The real problem was his own emotional barriers.
Noah has been in a few relationships, and none of them have worked out with him.
After those romantic failures, he’d developed so psychological walls between himself and potential partners, defences that protected him from another failure.
I plan to work on that eventually. Staying with Lola has actually been helping with it.
The girl followed Noah with the sa playful smirk, clearly unwilling to accept his dismissal without further effort.
"Wait! My na is Alia. What’s yours?" She raised her voice, the sa beautiful smile on her face.
"Noah," he replied automatically as he continued walking, hoping that his dismissal would discourage her persistence.
Hearing his na, she repeated it silently to herself as if testing how it sounded, before walking quickly to block his path again with determination.
"I want your number."
Her directness was genuinely refreshing in a world where most social interactions involved layers of pretense and indirect communication. Noah felt sowhat curious about soone confident enough to pursue what she wanted so openly.
She’s got nerve. I’ll give her that.
"No, sorry," he said firmly but politely.
But she didn’t leave him alone, maintaining her cheerful persistence through his continued walking until he finally realized she wouldn’t accept defeat easily.
This girl is relentless.
After several more attempts to politely discourage her, Noah finally agreed rather than continue the public negotiation that was drawing attention from other mall patrons.
"Fine," he said, pulling out his phone and sharing his contact information with resignation mixed with amusent.
After successfully obtaining his number, Alia smiled with genuine beauty that transford her entire face from rely pretty to genuinely striking.
"You won’t regret it," she promised with confidence that suggested she was accustod to getting what she wanted.
With that declaration, she turned and left with obvious satisfaction, leaving Noah standing among his shopping bags with mixed feelings about the encounter.
We’ll see about that.
...
Noah returned ho and ate dinner with his dad. The sun had already set during his various activities, painting the house in the warm glow of evening light.
Without much left to accomplish for the day, Noah retreated to his bedroom and lay on the bed, allowing his body to finally relax. He wasn’t tired physically, but he just wanted to lie down and exist.
He spent so ti scrolling through his phone, catching up on ssages and social dia updates that reminded him of the ordinary world that most people inhabited without knowledge of magical realms.
Normal life seems so mundane when viewed from the outside.
After relaxing for a while and letting his mind wander through the day’s events, Noah decided he wasn’t quite ready for sleep.
His wind manipulation skill still needed attention. He hadn’t trained it at all today, focusing instead on body tempering and hunting with Leo.
Might as well make productive use of the evening hours.
Entering his shop through the familiar portal, Noah imdiately noticed Lola behind the counter, serving a custor with the courtesy and expertise that made her an invaluable employee.
Not wanting to startle another patron like he had during previous unexpected appearances, Noah made his presence known through a deliberate, soft cough that announced his arrival without causing alarm.
The custor completed their transaction and departed with satisfaction, leaving Lola free to acknowledge Noah’s unusual timing.
After serving the custor, Lola raised an eyebrow with curious interest. "How co you are here? You don’t usually appear during my shift ti."
Noah nodded in acknowledgent of the observation. He typically avoided the shop during Lola’s working hours, preferring to let her manage things on her own while he attended to his own affairs in the real world.
Things like shopping, spending ti with his family, and paying bills.
"Yeah, I was free tonight. I decided to work on my wind manipulation—I haven’t trained it today with everything else going on," he explained with honest directness about his training priorities.
"I’ll be upstairs in the main area practising. You can continue with your work down here."
I can’t train on this floor with the shop open for business. She’s been doing excellent work independently.
Lola nodded with understanding, her expression softening into a warm smile that carried genuine care for his developnt.
"Enjoy your training ti," she said with the supportive tone of soone who understood the importance of consistent skill advancent.
Noah headed upstairs to the shop’s expanded second floor, where the open area provided adequate space for magical practice without interfering with Lola’s custor service responsibilities on the main level.
Noah retrieved the tier 5 wind orb from his storage.
The wind orb felt comfortable in his hands as he settled into training position, ready to push his wind manipulation skill closer to the level 10 threshold that would balance his magical developnt.
I should be able to achieve level 9 soon. As long as I stay focused, my effort and the orb will help .
Below, he could hear the occasional chi of the shop door and Lola’s professional interactions with late-evening custors who sought his products during the quieter hours when the shop offered more privacy for their purchases.
For two hours, Noah remained on the second floor, honing his wind-manipulation talent while drawing insights from the wind orb. It didn’t disappoint. The essence within the first orb he had received from the prince was steadily depleting, but that was expected. Noah estimated it would run dry right around the ti he reached level 10.
He wasn’t concerned. He still had four more wind orbs stored in his ring. And if those ran out? He’d simply switch his daily earnings back from dollars to wind orbs again.
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