Capítulo 6: So Would You Be My Student?
"You just thought I was insane, right?" the man asked, a smile underneath his mask as he stared at Tega.
Unresponsive, Tega looked at the man for a while and replied, "Didn't you want to give me that?" He pointed at the apple in the man's hand.
In his current situation, Tega thought it was best to dodge the man's question since saying yes might leave the man angry, and no might also leave him angry.
"Here you go," the man said, handing Tega the apple. Turning to face his spider, he laughed and muttered, "He thinks I'm crazy."
As foolish as its master — or rather, psychotic since that was the right word — the spider let out what it thought was a jeering laugh.
Surprised that the man had easily handed him the apple, Tega asked with an indifferent face, "This isn't another one of your illusions, right?"
His voice carried mild traces of irritation, and his hands were slightly clenched.
No matter how tough a person's mentality was, constant exposure to illusions would definitely do a number on their minds, especially the traumatic ones he had experienced.
"Hope this isn't a pig's brain?" Tega interrupted the man before he could speak, bottling up his unease and staring at the apple he held.
Shifting his gaze to the man, Tega thought, 'I can't even tell if it's an illusion or not.'
Hands in his pockets, the man walked to Tega's side and whispered, "Don't overestimate yourself. My illusions can kill you if I wasn't holding back."
His slightly hoarse voice, for some reason, sounded horrible to hear, causing creases to appear on Tega's forehead.
Unsure whether the man had threatened him to assure him or make him know his place, Tega raised an eyebrow.
After taking a bite out of the apple in his hand, Tega ran his eyes over his surroundings — searching for the slightest crack.
Surprisingly, neither the disgusting pink thing he expected to appear in his hands nor cracks in space materialized.
"It's quite good," Tega said after confirming it was still the same delicious apple he was eating.
His tone showed that he wasn't willing to trust the mysterious man before him anytime soon.
"Told you so," the masked man sneered, displeased by Tega's obvious lack of trust.
Walking towards where his spider lay, he added, "My name is Lauren, and the cutie beside me is called Tinubu."
"Yes, she's female. My little cutie." He grinned, patting the spider's head while finding the shock that Tega failed to hide enjoyable.
The longer he thought about it, he soon realized this was the first time he had seen another expression on Tega's face apart from disgust, irritation, or indifference.
"That wasn't something I really wanted to know," Tega finally replied, shifting his gaze from Lauren to the gigantic spider.
No matter how he looked at the spider, the only conclusion he came to was male — and a big, fat one at that.
'Maybe it's a male with a female's mind,' he thought, staring at the spider for a full minute.
"Hey, hey, hey! Are you suddenly interested in railing spiders?" Lauren questioned, clapping his hands. He yelled, "Stop! You're traumatizing her!"
"Are you sure she's female?" he asked, still staring at the shivering spider.
Annoyed that Tega kept staring at his pet like it was some kind of freak, Lauren walked up to Tega. "I said she is, and stop staring. I'm not gonna let her be with you."
"Relax. Even if you paid a dowry, I'm not desperate enough to marry a spider with an identity crisis." Tega reassured Lauren in his own weird way, finally taking his eyes off the spider and staring at Lauren.
"Are you sure about that?" Lauren asked again, wanting to know if Tega was serious about what he said.
Unwilling to dwell on the topic, Tega shelved the spider's weird situation at the back of his mind. "You said I don't have an ounce of mana and wouldn't be able to use it. Care to explain?"
Although he had acted unbothered when Lauren told him at first, that was just an act so that the latter wouldn't see it as a weakness.
Not the type to let go of any opportunity, Lauren had mockery laced in his voice as he teased, "I thought you had something else you could rely on?"
"If you don't plan to explain, just say so," Tega replied bluntly, staring at Lauren with a frown.
"Chill, chill, it was a joke," Lauren said but soon continued after clicking his tongue. "You made my spider uncomfortable."
Grinning under his mask, he teased with a finger on his chin, "I'll answer your question if you kowtow to my spider."
"Forget it. You'll speak when you want to," Tega shrugged. Unwilling to show he was desperate, he sat and asked, "So, what's the plan?"
His attention on his spider, which seemed saddened, Lauren questioned, "The plan? What plan?"
"Where are we going?" Tega clarified, his eyes fixed on Lauren, who seemed to be comforting his spider.
"What 'we'?" Lauren scoffed. Standing up from where he sat, he explained, "I'm a loner. I'd rather go alone than bring someone who might hinder me."
Unbothered by Lauren's response, Tega closed his eyes, massaging his eyelids. "Take me to the nearest city—"
"What would I gain from doing that?" Lauren interrupted, his head tilted slightly.
Aware that Lauren had the advantage in their negotiation, Tega opened his eyes, replying, "When did you die?"
There was a subtle, cunning glint that vanished as swiftly as it had appeared in Tega's amber eyes.
"Around the late twenty-fifth century, why did you ask?" Knowing Tega's personality and that he was the type who enjoyed minding his business, Lauren had traces of caution in his voice.
"This will be easier than I thought," he mouthed. Unbothered about what happened to Lauren after his death, Tega proposed, "I'll tell you about the things that happened after your death if you take me there."
Realizing Tega's intention for asking a question he wouldn't, Lauren grinned and muttered, "I guess he's adapting slowly."
"What do you say?"
Pleased by Tega's proposal, Lauren replied, "I accept, and I'll take you there on another condition."
"Speak."
Tega knew about the power imbalance between the two of them. Although he was unwilling to compromise easily, there were times he had to go with the flow instead of opposing it.
"Good boy." Patting Tega's head, Lauren said with narrowed eyes, "You have to be my student."
With a finger on Tega's lips, Lauren continued, "Although I wanna know how things turned out in detail, I really couldn't care any less about what happened to that wretched place."
"I have the potential to become unstoppable in a new world, so the future of a world where I was insignificant doesn't matter much." Taking his finger off Tega's lips, Lauren asked again, "So would you be my student?"
His voice lacked the anger, playfulness, and amusement it usually held but sounded serious yet deadly calm.
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