Mr. Thorne was sent flying back by a punch from Master Rory, his health bar plumting. Tanner Sinclair’s heart ached just watching.
But it was no use. The Mage’s ultimate ability wasn’t just powerful; it also applied a shock status effect.
On top of that, after unleashing his ultimate, he cheekily spamd instant-cast water ball attacks, grinding down several of District Twelve’s top players to critical health in a humiliating display.
A text bubble popped up over the fallen Mr. Thorne.
[Mr. Thorne] I just want to know how that Mage with his short legs climbed the stone pillar.
[Madam Whitlock] It’s a secret.
A Holy Light Beam hit him, and Tanner Sinclair’s screen went completely gray.
"My dear niece, quick, tell your uncle what your strategy was just now." Tanner Sinclair imdiately got up and ran over to Aurora Sinclair’s side to look at her computer.
Aurora Sinclair turned her head and asked blankly, "What strategy?"
"The one Madam Whitlock taught you, to ambush us!"
Just then, Alvin Morgan’s soft chuckle ca through Aurora Sinclair’s headset. "Don’t tell him. That’s our secret."
Aurora Sinclair imdiately shook her head at Tanner Sinclair and replied, rather seriously, "That’s a secret."
Tanner Sinclair was speechless.
’Girls really do side with outsiders!’
***
Zeke Quincy had originally planned to pull an all-nighter gaming, but shortly after 9:00 p.m., Aurora Sinclair closed her laptop, ready to head back to sleep.
"You’re not pulling an all-nighter?" Zeke Quincy asked, surprised.
Aurora Sinclair shook her head. "My master wants to go to bed early and wake up early."
Zeke Quincy was speechless. He realized Aurora Sinclair’s lifestyle was like that of a senior citizen.
’She has to be asleep by 10:00 p.m. and is up at 5:00 a.m. sharp to run and practice her forms.’
’It wasn’t just her, either. Leigh and Titus Miles were the sa. They didn’t act like young people at all.’
Aurora Sinclair said goodnight to them and walked out of the ga room, laptop in her arms.
On the other end of the line, Alvin Morgan lit a cigarette. He sat by his computer, quietly listening to the sounds coming from her side: the door closing, her setting down her laptop, the water running as she washed her hands...
When he heard the rustle of clothes, Alvin coughed twice and asked, a bit unnaturally, "Aurora, are you getting ready for bed?"
Aurora Sinclair froze. She’d just rembered she was still on the call with Alvin Morgan.
Before she could reply, his voice ca through again. "Good night, Aurora!"
His voice sounded oddly rushed, and the line imdiately went dead.
Alvin Morgan picked up the glass on his desk and took a sip of iced tea, finally managing to quell so of the heat churning in his chest.
He glanced up and saw two n still standing in the corner of the room, doing their best to make themselves invisible.
The tips of his ears grew hot. "Get the training room ready," he said coolly.
"Huh?"
Alvin Morgan was speechless.
’They really are idiots!’
’I’m sending them on an away mission next month.’
***
「The next day.」
Butler Sinclair had the staff pack for Aurora Sinclair and Leigh Miles. The two of them hadn’t owned much to begin with, but the Sinclair family had showered them with so many things over the past few days that their clothes alone filled six entire suitcases.
When Jean Quincy saw them packing, she realized that Aurora Sinclair and the Miles brothers were moving out of the Sinclair estate.
She was a little envious. Living independently was sothing she had always longed for.
Aurora Sinclair’s new ho wasn’t far from Tanner Sinclair’s apartnt—just two streets over, in an ordinary residential complex near the Arcadian University faculty housing.
Most of the residents were teachers and students from Arcadian University, so it was a fairly quiet community.
They were moving into the centermost unit on the top floor, a small two-bedroom apartnt. There were two other units on their floor, and one of them was... Janet Sinclair’s?
Jean Quincy saw Janet Sinclair open her door barefoot and nearly choked.
"Aun... Aunt Janet? What are you doing here?"
Janet Sinclair shrugged, ducking her head to light a cigarette. "This is a friend’s place," she said nonchalantly. "Just dropping by."
Just then, a familiar male voice called from inside the apartnt. "Janet, the floor’s cold. Put on your slippers..."
Jean Quincy froze, then imdiately leaned in to peer inside. She saw Leon Barron standing there, holding a plate of fruit and wearing a cartoon apron, looking completely dostic.
Leon Barron rarely bothered with his appearance. His hair was usually a long, ssy mop that covered his eyes, he seldom shaved, and his go-to outfit was a wrinkled white shirt and ripped blue jeans. He always looked listless and unkempt.
If not for his glasses, which gave him a vaguely scholarly air, no one would have ever guessed he was a middle school teacher.
But now, not only had Leon Barron gotten a haircut, but he was also clean-shaven. The black-frad glasses on his nose had been replaced with a rimless pair, and a gentle smile played on his lips.
He looked like a completely different person, transford in an instant from a slob into a sophisticated gentleman.
’Is this still the sa couldn’t-care-less Barron?’
"Barron?"
"J-Jean..."
Hearing the exchange, Aurora Sinclair also leaned over to look. Her dark eyes widened, as if wondering whether the man before her was really Barron.
"Au... Aurora..."
Leon Barron’s pale face flushed crimson, and his words ca out as a stamr.
Janet Sinclair glanced back, rolled her eyes at him, and stepped aside. "Co on in. This is your teacher Barron’s place. I’m about to scrounge a al off him."
Leon Barron placed the fruit on the coffee table and forced himself to et Aurora Sinclair and Jean Quincy’s curious gazes. "Have... have so fruit..."
Jean Quincy’s eyes, alight with gossip, darted back and forth between Leon Barron and her aunt. "Barron, what’s going on between you and my aunt?"
Janet Sinclair leaned casually against the wall, took a drag from her cigarette, and smiled. "What do you think?"
Jean didn’t answer, instead turning her smiling assessnt to Leon Barron. "Barron, you look so different today! Did you just get your hair done? And hey, are those clothes new, too?"
Leon Barron opened and closed his mouth, finally just muttering, "I’m heading to the kitchen."
He looked for all the world like he was fleeing for his life.
Janet Sinclair stubbed out the butt of her cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table. She straightened up and said to Aurora Sinclair, "This is a nice neighborhood. Convenient for school, too. Grandfather should be able to rest easy."
Aurora Sinclair nodded.
"Once you’re done unpacking, you all should co over for dinner. Mr. Barron is a great cook! Right, Barron?"
The sound of crashing dishes and silverware imdiately ca from the kitchen.
It was followed by Leon Barron hissing in pain and letting out a sharp grunt from the kitchen.
***
Aurora Sinclair’s new apartnt was about the sa size as Leon Barron’s, more than enough room for the three of them.
After seeing the mbers of the Sinclair family off, Leigh Miles flopped excitedly onto the living room sofa and yelled, "Aurora, from now on, this is our new ho!"
Aurora Sinclair nodded.
Just then, a chanical voice suddenly echoed through the apartnt.
"Detecting three remaining targets in the residence. Ditto Number 2 system activating."
Leigh Miles jumped, scrambling next to Aurora Sinclair and staring at the source of the voice.
An ordinary-looking cabinet against the living room wall slid open on its own, and a tal robot, a little over a ter tall, rolled out.
Its head was a square screen flashing with a smiley face. Its body was clad in a small apron, with purely chanical arms hanging at its sides and two tal wheels for feet.
"What is that?" Leigh Miles’s eyes went wide as he watched it warily.
Titus Miles, on the other hand, seed to love Ditto Number 2. He imdiately ran over to get a closer look, even reaching out to poke it.
Ditto Number 2 slid back a short distance, pulled an instruction manual out of its apron pocket, and presented it to Aurora Sinclair. "Master Aurora Sinclair, please establish a new identity for Ditto Number 2."
Leigh Miles looked at Aurora Sinclair, stunned. "Aurora, is that your... toy?"
The emoji on Ditto Number 2’s screen imdiately switched to a bawling face. "I am not a toy! Ditto Number 2 is a highly intelligent robot, capable of providing convenient services to enhance Master’s life!"
Leigh was flustered. "Aurora, I..."
Aurora, who was flipping through the manual, suddenly called out, "Ditto Number 2."
The robot imdiately snapped to attention. "At your service, Master! Please issue your command—"
"Establish new identity."
"Affirmative, Master. Please enter a new na." The robot’s arm suddenly projected a beam of pink light, forming a holographic keyboard on the coffee table.
Aurora curiously hovered her hands over it and tapped the holographic keyboard. The corresponding letters appeared on Ditto Number 2’s screen.
She typed two words onto it: Ditto Miles.
The chanical voice spoke again. "New na set: Ditto Miles. Please set Ditto Miles’s gender and voice."
This ti, it was a multiple-choice selection.
Leigh looked at the options on the screen, pointed to one nad "Darius Lynch’s Voice," and shouted, "Aurora, quick, pick Darius Lynch! Jean would absolutely lose her mind."
Aurora Sinclair nodded.
Ditto Miles’s voice instantly changed to that of the award-winning actor, Darius Lynch. "Gender set to Male. Voice set to Darius Lynch. It is my pleasure to serve you, my dearest Master."
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