32 Okay, this is totally a date.

I and Evangeline were currently outside the hotel's premises and trodding along the small but spacious roads of Mystic City, the capital of the Mystic Islands.

We had planned to go shopping for stuff in the marketplace. Possibly even attend an auction.

As we were walking and chatting, I couldn't help but stare at her fabulous body. She was wearing the same clothes she wore the last day, but today, somehow, she looked even sexier...

"Umm, Samuel... I'm kinda curious about something... if you don't mind me asking...", she suddenly asked.

"Uh, sure. Ask ahead."

"Umm... Are you like, into rings and stuff?"

"Huh?"

"I mean... You've got 3 pretty mean-looking rings on your left-hand fingers... I was wondering if you liked collecting them or something..."

"Oh, no. Those are talismans. They have special effects."

"Wait, really?! You have three talismans?! That's insane!", she exclaimed.

"Haha, I got lucky, I guess...", I tried to shrug it off.

"Hmm... sure, whatever you say.", she decided not to probe any further.

A few more minutes passed by. We continued chatting and bickering.

--- Evangeline's POV ---

'I can't believe I'm actually having this much fun, spending time with Samuel...', she thought to herself as she kept on her calm and cool facade.

'Also, it's kinda crazy that he already has 3 talismans of his own! He's way more skilled than I am... Well, I'm sure I'll catch up soon... after all, we are always training and teaching each other back at school...'

As she was thinking and talking at the same time, she couldn't help but think of some embarrassing intrusive thoughts as well...

'But... this morning... when he said that I looked amazing... I thought he looked better than me, though...'

She looked over in Samuel's direction and observed him for a good few seconds.

'Jet black hair, which is quite uncommon these days... sharp, fiery orange irises that look like lakes of molten magma, but calm at the same time... a calm and sensible expression that doesn't give off too much about himself at first glance. If you looked at him, you'd think that he was always thinking of something. Making some grand tapestry of plans that only he in the entire world would understand... And lastly, his body... I knew that he possessed the gift of good genetics, but still... it's amazing that his body grew this much in just 2 months...'

'Seriously... he's so fucking handsome...'

"Anything wrong?", suddenly Samuel interrupted Evangeline's thought process.

"No-nothing! Umm, haha! Just thinking of what I should buy, haha!", she shoved aside all of her intrusive as well as normal thoughts and answered the best she could.

"But, why were you staring at me, though?", Samuel didn't let her change the subject, though.

'I can't just tell him that I was admiring his looks! That would be too creepy!'

"Heh. Is it cause I'm so handsome?", Samuel said mockingly.

"Y-yeah. It is.", Evangeline responded without thinking.

Samuel's eyes widened for a second and then suddenly, he turned his head away from her.

"I-I appreciate your words. Thanks. And... I find you very attractive as well."

Both Samuel and Evangeline's faces were red with embarrassment. Although, Samuel's not as much as Evangeline.

'I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY I'M SO HAPPY', she continued spamming in her own mind.

"A-Anyways. I'm getting hungry. Shall we go eat at that restaurant?"

"Y-Yeah. Let's."

--- Samuel's POV ---

'The hell was that?! That came out of nowhere! And... Why did I have to go ahead and say those cringey things to her as well?!?!?!? I feel like such an idiot!!!', I yelled internally.

After that little exchange, we haven't really spoken much, which has made the mood between us even more awkward.

"Um, have you decided on your order yet?", I inquired her, like a proper gentleman.

"Pffft. Why are you so formal all of the sudden?", she snickered.

'Sigh... at least she isn't mad about it... Wait, why should I care whether she's mad or not?!'

"Shut up. Order quick. I'm hungry."

"Ok, Ok. I'm ordering.", she stopped laughing, but her smile didn't go away from her face.

Eventually, we did order our food. She had strawberry ice cream for dessert and I had chocolate cake.

After that, we left the restaurant to go to the shopping district.

I bought myself a Mystic Blue blazer and another black shirt. A pair of brown trousers and another pair of black shoes.

Evangeline, on the other hand, turned out to be quite the shopper. She put on at least 20 different clothes and asked me to rate them.

Some of them were... let's just say that they were a bit too much for my fragile heart to handle... Also, for some reason, I don't want anyone else to see her in that way.

Finally, she settled on 2 more dresses and 3 pairs of leggings.

The little shopping spree took us 3 hours. From there, we went into an auction to see the kinds of items this island had to offer.

They were mostly monster parts, thesis on monster anatomy and strategies written by famous hunters, and some rare artifacts. We didn't buy anything, of course. We just did some window shopping.

Before we knew it, it was already nighttime.

As we walked out of the auction house, a bright and lively place caught both of our eyes.

'The Mystic Bar.', I thought out loud.

'This is the place where the MC and Sophia had their first ever intimate moment... it's supposed to happen around 3 days from now, though...'

Suddenly, I felt a tug on my shirt. It was Evangeline of course.

She was pointing towards the bar and making an expression like a little child that wants to go on a ride at the carnival.

"Okay, fine. Let's go.", I complied and we both entered the bar.

In this world, the vitality of awakened people is much higher than normal. Also, they live a lot longer. So, this world's drinking age is actually just 15. I know that sounds crazy, but it was that way in the novel.

You obviously couldn't drink strong stuff like vodka or tequila, but you could drink wine and fruit beer before the age of 21.

I had gone to bars before, back in my world, so it wasn't really a new experience for me, but the same couldn't be said for Evangeline, though... She was amazed at the interior of the place.

I smirked and asked her slyly. "Wanna grab a drink?"

She looked flustered and embarrassed, which was extremely cute, and then she nodded affirmatively.

I then asked her to follow me and we sat at a reserved table showing our Nexus IDs.

The bartender wasn't really surprised to see Nexus Academy students here, but he was surprised at how good Evangeline looked. He smirked at me and gave me a thumbs up as if telling me, 'Good luck, bro!'.

'It isn't like that, for fuck's sake! I'm not trying to hit today!', I couldn't say it out loud, though.

We drank some beers and even ordered an expensive wine bottle.

Before I opened it, however, I was interrupted by a drunk Evangeline.

"No... not here... Let's open that after we reach your room..."

...

'?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?'