The steakhouse was open-air, so when Noah arrived with his red sports car, several people turned their heads, shifting their attention from the food they were eating to the flashy car that just arrived.
The place was not very crowded, so it wasn't as if many people had looked, only about 15. But among these 15 people, there was a pair of eyes that looked at that red sports car and sighed again, probably already being the twentieth time that person had sighed that day, even going so far as to bother the other tables nearby.
'Damn... those people lucky enough to receive a powerful Blessing from the start... Look at this lucky guy, even bought a sports car. I doubt that I could even dream of having a house with the price of that car even if I invade 3 Fortresses a week and disregard average expenses...' The young man sighed for the twenty-first time while thinking about it again.
Curious to know who was the mighty Blessed who had come to this simple steakhouse that he had frequented since high school, the young man looked at the luxury car, trying to see who would get out of the driver's seat, but to his surprise, who was driving that car was someone he knew, and knew very well!
'Damn... is that man Noah? Since when did he get so rich?! Didn't he have a Rank F Blessing like me?!' Surprised to realize that it was Noah who had arrived in that car, the young man even got up from his chair to try to get a better look, which attracted Noah's vision to him because of his large size, which, upon recognizing him, made Noah open a smile and come towards him.
It had been some years since the young man had seen Noah, and if it weren't for the distinct facial features Noah had, he wouldn't have even recognized him now. Noah was now taller, more handsome yet athletic, completely changed from the little nerdy teenager who walked around the school and occasionally talked with him about some games.
For the first time, he felt nervous when he met Noah. He didn't expect that in that time since they finished high school he would have evolved so much. Without the youngster noticing, a small feeling of inferiority arose in his chest, making him think of how insignificant he was when compared to Noah, who theoretically had a Blessing as weak as his, if not even weaker.
Noah, who knew a few things about body language, was able to read the young man's emotions very well and instead of the usual polite handshake that happened, he decided to give the man a hug to try to lessen the strangeness.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNoah remembered this young man very well. When he was in school and still spent a lot of time playing video games, this fat young man didn't have many friends because of the fact that he was overweight, but as they played the same games, until the end of the year Noah was one of the few classmates who still talked to him, besides Carlos, who was practically a brother to Noah.
When they were in their last year of high school, the young man awoke a Rank F Blessing, which allowed him to send small electrical discharges in the direction he wanted, but the Blessing was so weak that it only served to stun the Rank F monsters for a fraction of a second, the weakest monsters that existed.
Like Noah, he tried to invade Fortresses too, even though he had a weak Blessing, but because of his high weight, he was constantly injured and had to spend large amounts on hospital fees, which made him as poor as Noah, who had to spend a lot of money on paying off his uncle's loan.
"Noah, is it really you?" the fat young man asked with a confused look, still having traces of doubt if the athletic and wealthy young man in front of him was really that poor little nerdy boy he knew.
"But of course, Patrick. If it weren't me, how would I know about the day I beat you 7 times in a row and you broke your computer keyboard because of your excess anger? Hahaha!" Noah laughed as he remembered that moment which had almost made him urinate in his clothes, laughing at the anger his friend Patrick felt at the time, and after he regretted doing so.
Patrick was a little ashamed of that stupid thing which he had done when he was younger, but he was happy that Noah still remembered him, and mainly because he still acted so naturally, even though he apparently had gotten so rich. And that was exactly what Patrick wanted to know. "Are you selling drugs? What did you do to make yourself so rich?"
Noah ignored the first part of the question and answered the second. "My Blessing has evolved; now I can do more with it," he said as he opened his palm and made a small emoji made of flames.
Looking at that emoji, Patrick was very impressed. The last time he had seen Noah, Noah was starting to be known for having a useless Blessing which only made him slightly more handsome, but now Noah was showing that he could control flames on top of looking a lot better! If Patrick didn't know Noah, he might have even thought Noah was a model.
"Congratulations Noah, I'm happy for you. I just wanted something good to happen to me too. My Blessing is almost useless. Have you reached the next ranking yet? Rank E? But an E rank wouldn't be able to buy a car like that..." Patrick asked as he began to speculate on Noah's strength.
Noah smiled and responded with a hint of pride, "I reached Rank D today, but maybe it's just a matter of time before I move up to Rank C."
Hearing this, Patrick was impressed. Blessed Rank C were the top of the city. The powerful heads of companies usually paid at least $50,000 a month to hire a Blessed Rank C to stand by them without them having to do anything dangerous, while he, being Rank F, had to keep raiding dangerous Fortresses while he risked dying to monsters so as not to starve.
Noah, who was analyzing Patrick's expression, was pleased with what he saw. He was afraid to tell his friend about his achievements, worried that he would be jealous. But in fact, the only thing Noah saw in Patrick's eyes was that he was surprised. However, he did notice a little hidden and in the background it was possible to see a form of sadness, probably because he also wanted something like this to happen to him, which made Noah have an idea.
"Patrick, I think this meeting of ours may have been predestined. In fact, my Blessing has unlocked a new ability recently, and that ability can help you. Do you have anything to do for the rest of the day?" Noah asked with a serious look.
Patrick looked at Noah in amazement at what he was hearing, but responded quickly, with a little nervousness now that he knew that Noah, who was his age, was already a Blessed Rank D. Most of his schoolmates had just reached Rank E after the last 4 years. While some were at the top of Rank F and others in the middle of Rank F, only he was at the bottom of Rank F, just invading the weaker Fortresses but being paid less.
"Not really. I went out to lunch at this steakhouse because I missed eating something other than the instant noodles that I eat every day. But after that, I was probably going to go back to the hostel where I live and spend the rest of the day watching television. Why? How could your Blessing help me?" he replied and asked back with doubt and nervousness.
"Do you remember Carlos, from our school, the blond boy who had wealthy parents? So, I invited him to my house today for us to talk about something I am developing. Seeing the situation you are in, I think that what I have to discuss with him will benefit you a lot also. I assure you that you have nothing to lose just by being there. When you leave, I'll even pay the Woober to take you back, how about it?" Noah offered.
For a second, Noah felt like he looked like one of those men who worked with financial pyramid schemes, trying to offer an "unmissable opportunity" to the poor man who was hopeless. Fortunately however, Noah was sure that what he was going to accomplish with Carlos today could truly change the world, and make himself very rich and powerful, which was exactly what he wanted now, since he still needed to deal with his uncle.
Just as Noah imagined, for a few seconds Patrick thought that Noah was truly trying to convince him to participate in some financial pyramid scheme. He even had a relative who had lost a lot of money in one of those schemes that were banned from every planet, but seeing the car Noah was driving, and knowing that even if he continued to risk his own life three times a week he would never make it any higher, Patrick decided to accept.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm'Even though he is offering me to participate in a financial pyramid, if I can get enough money to buy a car like that one day, even if I end up in jail, at least I can be jailed, satisfied,' Patrick thought, already feeling desperate from being at rock bottom for so long.
If it were someone else offering something to him, and it really was something dangerous like a financial pyramid, he could have probably misplaced his life right then, and done something he would have regretted forever, but luckily, Noah was the one offering something to him, and that "something" was a worthy proposition.
If Noah knew what Patrick was thinking at that moment, he would probably have started laughing a lot, just as he had laughed a lot when Patrick broke his computer keyboard when they were younger.
With that decided, Noah sat down with Patrick at his table before placing an order for one of the best dishes at the steakhouse. First they would eat, then he would talk about business.
This was something that left the already afflicted Patrick even more puzzled, since no matter how much he asked Noah what opportunity this was, Noah refused to say it, and just said he was going to tell everything when they got home, since he didn't want to have to explain it twice: once to him and again for Carlos. Not to mention that it was something that could not be shown here in the middle of the steakhouse, even with it being outdoors.
This all made Patrick even more concerned, thinking that Noah not answering the question about whether he was selling drugs might have been an indication that it was, in fact, true.
Please read the author's notes down here! hehe :3 ↓↓↓
We reach 6k votes this week, so we will have 6 extra chapters!
[5/6 Extra chapters this week.] [1/2 Daily Chapter]
Every 900 power stones will be +1 extra chapter for next week beside the 2 daily chapter :)