44 Dolminico's restaurant

A couple days passed after they came back from the incursion and Uriel was now playing on his newly acquired smartphone. For the first time on his life he had one and there was a lot of catching up to do. He also created a social media account, something he had been trying to avoid for a long time because he didn't have means to keep his profile updated. The only computers he had access to were those in the faculty and it wasn't convenient for him to waste time like that.

It was also the first time he stayed in his dorm room during the day, he didn't have any class or homework to do as after acquiring a trait students were given some free time to train on their own or participate on incursions. It would have been an excellent opportunity for Uriel to hang out with Sam, but he was nowhere to be seen. His stuff was still in the dorm which meant he hadn't quit the college, but he hadn't been in the dorm room in a while.

'He must be with his family.' Uriel thought dismissively.

Almost bored to death, he decided to call Luna, but she didn't reply his call. The only other person he could call was Medusa, but she was currently under medical care and, of course, she was unreachable.

'Would it be fine if I called Miss Dragonfang to hang out?' He thought about this for a few minutes, unsure if it would be an appropriate thing to do. She wasn't his same age, but she was fun to be around and there would be nothing wrong in asking her out for coffee, but in the end he decided against it because he didn't want her to misinterpret the situation.

Apparently, everyone in his group of friends was either scarred or too busy and he was the only one in a somewhat good mood. The only thing that kept him down was that he couldn't keep any of the Flux orbs since the cryptid hunter agency was always hungry for Flux orbs and they bought every single one of them. The price was more than fair and Uriel received more money than he ever seen in his life, but he wanted to test out if he would be able to become stronger by crushing more orbs.

Uriel stored his phone inside his museum and got ready to head over to the library, he didn't have to work but at least he might find a book to keep him distracted from all the excitement of his past days. It was the most exciting weekend in his whole life. 'Now I finally understand the Chinese curse that said: I wish you live in interesting times.' He thought back at the memory. Living in boring times wasn't a bad thing, it was interesting times the ones that were dangerous, however, boredom was driving him crazy.

Uriel walked towards the exit of the building with the intention on going on his very first shopping spree hoping to get some new clothes and maybe grab a bite when a strange sound called for his attention. It was a small beep, a bit annoying, but the weird thing was that it came directly into his mind.

>System notification:

Luna: I can't answer the phone, I'm too busy in a project. Don't bother me.

'Wow, so cold! Who would say we were part from the same hunting party.' Luna's indifferent message felt like a stab in the heart, but at least he could confirm that his phone kept working even inside his trait.

Then, a new notification came in but this time it was different, instead of a beep an annoying ringtone started playing on his mind. It felt more like an earworm, the kind of feeling a catchy jingle would give when listening to it first thing in the morning.

"Yes?" Uriel said after retrieving his cellphone and picking it up. It was one thing to read messages, but if he was to answer the call with the cellphone still inside his museum people would believe he was talking to himself.

"Mister Sage, where are you?" A feminine voice replied.

"I'm at... Why would I tell you? Listen Miss, I've said this many times already but I am not interested in anything you have to sell, please stop calling this number."

"But I don't sell anything, I've been trying to get in contact with you for a long time. I'm calling on behalf of the Mapple corporation to invite you to participate on an expedition."

"Yeah, I'm not interested in that either." Uriel replied in a cold tone of voice.

"Please don't hang up, I've been trying to contact you for so long, all I'm asking for is to have dinner with you Mr Sage, it'll be my treat. Please, I'm just doing my job." The woman begged.

It was already difficult for Uriel to decline, he wasn't accustomed to saying 'no' to people, but when he heard the last part he was left with no choice but to comply. It wasn't her fault and it wasn't like he actually needed to do anything.

"Fine, I'll hear you out, but if it turns out I'm not interested in what you have to say you'll have to stop calling me."

"Yes, thank you very much Mister Sage, let's meet at Dolminico's. I'll head over there right now." The woman replied with a merry tone and then hung up the call.

When the woman said the meeting place Uriel fell in a panic. He was ready to go shopping, but he was nowhere near ready to to such a high end place. His clothes were clean, but they were old and a bit tattered. If the guards were to let him pass the entrance it would be a miracle, but he had already agreed to go and the woman hung up the phone already. The worst part was that even if he now had the money to go shopping, he didn't have the time since the woman said she would head over the restaurant as soon as possible and, although the restaurant was relatively close to the campus, he would still need to use public transportation to get there.

For a minute he thought of calling the woman and asking her for more time to prepare, but in the end he decided against it. His reasoning was simple, even if he was denied entrance it wouldn't matter since he wasn't that interested in whatever she had to offer.

Even though his first independent incursion didn't go as planned, he still got a huge benefit from it. Signing up for the Mapple corporation wasn't as attractive now as it used to, but deep down he was looking forward to trying some real food.