21 To the academy gates!

Sneaking into a home in the city, Nix peered out the door, making sure nobody was looking as he carefully closed the door.

The warm and inviting aroma had caught his attention. The growling in his stomach pushed him to find where the culprit hid.

Creak!

Lightly stepping, he pushed in the kitchen door leading closer to where the pleasing aroma was coming from. His nose, his only guide at the moment.

His sole focus was on the food before him. Salivating, he looked around for any sign of someone approaching.

Going with the unconventional, he hungrily dug into the food with his hand, stuffing his mouth.

Closing his eyes, he let out a satisfying moan to the taste, the aroma had surely not disappointed him.

He felt a stick poke at his chest.

"Y... you... g... get a... a... a..way f... from m... m... my d... dish!" A woman in her mid forties stuttered, a mop in her trembling hands.

Nix furrowed his brows at the situation he had found himself in. He had closed his eyes for just a few seconds and was met with the owner of the house?

The woman held out the wooden end of her mop, her grip tightening. She refused to back down on holding the mop stick aimed at him.

"Ma'am, I do apologize for my crude behavior, but I'm not a thief." He raised his hands in surrender, his hands soiled with the food.

Nervously chuckling, he could see how hard it was for her to believe him when he was caught red handed.

For some reason, this scene reminded him of the time in his previous life when he had been accused of being an art thief by those who had supported Drui, but this time it really did feel and look like he stole something.

The woman looked on at the shirtless male, he seemed to be telling the truth, well apart from the obvious food theft.

Nevertheless, she couldn't let her guard down just yet. Gaining more confidence, she raised the mop stick at his face instead.

"I just needed a meal and a shirt, that's all and I would be on my way, it would be like I was never here." He added.

He was trying to blend into the background and get into the Shibui Gift Academy by learning about the main city first.

It's been merely a few hours since he had gotten to the main city, and yet he had little to no clue what to expect or learn.

Mune had made mention of the main city as the best place to blend in and know a bit about the academy.

The city was always assigned members of the academy to protect them whenever the citizens alerted them to a danger.

Most especially those who refused to go to the academy and chose to use their gift for personal gains.

These citizens had no gifts and had to rely on the academy for their safety.

It was only a miracle to birth a gifted one, it wasn't hereditary but merely a blessing–hence its name.

The rare occurrence of having siblings with gifts made it all the more intriguing.

This made him wonder how his mother had managed to birth three children with gifts.

From his observations, he had noticed when they were in danger, they had always pressed a small device which was given to each and every one of its citizens.

Hence, he had expected this woman to press the black device as well.

She hesitated as she stared into his eyes. Slowly her hand dropped, so did her mop.

Dropping to her knees, she wailed, tears dropping continuously from her eyes.

Nix was taken aback by her action, he couldn't connect the dots as to why she would resort to that.

"You remind me of my son," she began, sniffling and wiping away the tears.

"Whenever he came back from an athletic event with friends, he would always come back shirtless and sweaty. The first thing on his mind would be my dish." She gave a sad smile as she reminisced on that moment.

From the tone in her voice, Nix knew it didn't end well for the son. He couldn't get involved further than it already was.

'Do not ask any personal questions.' He cautioned his tongue.

"I do apologize about what happened to your son. I will compensate you one day for the damage I have caused you." Nix promised, drawing the attention away from the sad story.

"I don't need your money." She replied, "I had always put that up so the memory of my son isn't lost." She retorted.

'I never said I would give you money.' Nix's thoughts screamed, his brows twitched to her reply. But said nothing out of respect.

Nix was left speechless. There was no way he could think of to comfort such a broken hearted woman. He had no experience in such things.

"What is your name, young man?" She walked up to him, pulling him by the hand towards the living room.

Nix didn't want to get involved, he had his fair share of causing danger to his family. He couldn't bear to think of reliving such a scenario again.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't say. It's better that way." He pulled away his hand, "I appreciate you caring for a total stranger." He bowed his head, ready to leave the same way he had come in.

"Did I say something wrong?" She looked up sadly.

'It isn't you, but me.' Nix facepalmed at how true the statement is but how overly used it was in another setting.

"I would rather be alone, for your sake too." He replied coldly, turning around to leave.

"Wait! Please give me a moment to search for something." She held his wrist, before letting go to hurriedly search for the said thing.

Halting in his steps, he could hear distinctive running around the house. He wondered what the woman was searching for.

'What if she calls for help from those ignorant academy members? What if this is just a diversion to keep me here till they arrive?' He felt uneasy, his trust level critical.

Coming back out from her son's room, with a shirt in hand. Her expression fell.

He had left.

"I just wanted to give you a shirt at least. You should be the same size as he was." She mumbled to herself.

–––––––––––

Huff!

Huff!

Running, Nix didn't stop till he caught sight of a black shirt hanging loosely on the washing line. Hiding in an alley, he activated his telekinetic gift, slowly pulling the shirt towards him.

He was careful not to let the passerby see what he was doing.

Finally getting a hold of the shirt. He threw his hands into the air, silently celebrating his achievement.

He couldn't approach the academy gate without properly looking the part of a responsible gifted citizen.

[You have earned the class: Pilferer]

"No! No! Cancel that class. You stupid system!" He hissed. "This was merely just a one time thing, how could you give me such a class?!"

Pulling on his hair, he kicked the walls in frustration, how could the system regard him as a thief just because he had done that.

"I had a good reason! I was going to return it when I get into the academy." He muttered to himself until he believed it.

Finally realizing no matter how much he whined, the system wouldn't revert it's decision, he wiped down his face slowly.

Dipping his hand into his pocket, he pulled out the hexagonal gold medal with little wings below it. He couldn't waste any more time sulking. It was time to pay a visit to the academy gates.