"Success!"
Sam exalted, and with a wave of his hand, blue flame ignited in the air and disappeared in the next moment.
"Never thought my approach was wrong to begin with."
Whispering under his breath, he stared at the place where the flame disappeared.
Wiping down his sweat, he puffed out all the anxiety and tiredness from his body, which had accumulated after overexerting himself, and took a deep breath to analyze himself.
After watching the videos about rune energy, his vision broadened, and many things became clear before his eyes. He had assumed that rune energy behaved according to fluid mechanics, but in reality, it could take any role and follow any mechanics as long as given an ample supply.
The other thing was that it also had the behavior of sodium elements—as it got exposed to the air, it reacted with oxygen or moisture. Thus, as long as rune energy got exposed to the air, it dissolved, leaving nothing. That's why he was unable to wrap his fist, since that needed a continuous supply to maintain that state before it dissolved in the air.
Here, the same principle was also being applied: the oxygen was already present in the environment, leaving only fuel and heat. Rune energy simply satisfied both these conditions since it followed any mechanics.
Stretching his body, he got up and cracked his fingers.
"Time is also nearing for sword training."
Soon he shook his head and laid down on the bed, eyes staring at the ceiling and the ceiling fan rotating on its axis, with the breeze washing over his body.
"Cool."
"Love confession! What should I do?"
Before leaving this world, the previous owner left a dramatic scenario for him to wrap up—and the worst he could face: a love affair. Since in his previous life, he never had a girlfriend, though he wasn't a virgin.
"Urgh, idiot! Who needs a cash-emptying machine!"
Grumbling, he spat out and decided to remember the scene clearly so as not to leave any plot hole that might make her suspicious of him.
With his finger pressing on his temple, he closed his eyes, and everything became blank as the scene started to unfold, though everything looked blurry.
"First, I made a bet with a friend named Piyush, and though the bet was a huge amount—2000 U.C...."
Initially, everything was going round and round, and when the simple debate turned into an argument, even he was unsure as the scene unfolded before him.
"Maybe, Piyush thought he couldn't, and Sam took this as an opportunity to confess his hidden love in the disguise of a bet."
All of this happened in the morning study time, and class time soon arrived in the blink of an eye.
One by one, class periods continued, and the bet spread throughout the classroom, leaving no one uninformed.
Soon, the lunch period neared—which was the bet time.
Sam intently overlooked the entire scene, and unconsciously his hands were soaked with sweat.
With the exaggerated courage of his friends, he moved toward the bet target while Piyush silently followed, since he had to know whether he really proposed or not.
Tick!
Tick!
Sam now stood before the girl, and all the blood drained out of his face—even his throat dried up.
Confessing by the previous owner, but his situation worsened.
"You look good..."
He wanted to say another sentence, but as if the sentence ignored him and refused to escape his mouth—going through several failed attempts in his head, which happened in an instant—he spoke with his dried mouth.
"I love you."
As these words escaped, he turned, and his footsteps quickened as he moved to his classroom, while Piyush followed him, words escaping his mouth.
"Amisha!"
His hollowed eyes snapped open, gasping for breath.
Huff!
Just by visualizing the entire scene, his lips had dried. Taking the bottle, he gulped down water and moistened his throat.
"Feeling better."
His eyes unconsciously drifted to the scene. He really had to admit that the previous owner's vision wasn't wrong to choose that girl—because he couldn't say she was the most beautiful, like a fairy coming out of the sky—but he sure could say if he got her love, he really couldn't ask for more. And the most—yet simple—thing: a mole at the corner of her lower lip made her amazingly beautiful, as if his eyes simply wanted to stare at her.
Slap!
Slap!
Simultaneously, his hands fell on his cheeks and he vigorously shook his head.
"Come out of imagination!"
Tring!
Tring!
The alarm rang, and reality dawned on him.
"No! I've to prepare."
Whispering under his breath, he rushed to the door with a towel grabbed in his right hand and other bathing utilities.
...
Sword Training Center
"Only if I had admitted a week ago!"
Sighing at his fate, he shook his head and entered the center, soon taking his position while the peers whispered, smiles clearly overflowing on the faces of those who passed the previous test.
"Now everything is on the right track. I'll surely get certified within 2 years."
"Alas! Praveen, you're going to be promoted to 2nd rank. I envy you."
Sam clearly noticed a proud smile flashing on Praveen's face, but he wasn't going to judge anyone, since all their efforts paid off.
Praveen
Amar
Ram
Shyam
Mohan
Sam
"Congratulations, all of these 6 students are promoted to 2nd rank."
"Sam! Who is he?"