Volume 2, Chapter 58: The Price of a Latte
The silence that followed the disappearance of the four Abyssal Generals was almost louder than the fight itself. It was that heavy, ringing silence you get after a loud concert, the kind that makes you wonder if your ears are ever going to work right again. I stood there, watching the last of the gray ash settle onto my shoes. Great. Now I had Abyssal dust on my favorite boots. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get high-grade monster residue out of treated leather?
I sighed, reached into my pocket, and pulled out a small silk cloth. I began to polish my glasses. My mortal shell, Professor Lakas, was feeling every bit of that x56 burst. My muscles felt like they had been put through a meat grinder and then loosely taped back together. But as I looked at the kids, I kept my face as smooth as a fresh sheet of paper.
"Well," I said, my voice echoing in the glass cathedral. "That was… educational. Wouldn't you agree?"
Ma Xiaotao was leaning against a pillar, her crimson aura still flickering like a candle in a draft. Bei Bei and Tang Ya were sitting on the floor, breathing hard, their eyes wide. They looked like they'd just realized their teacher was a bit more than a guy who liked to give long lectures on Baybayin syntax.
And then there was Yuhao.
He was standing near the shattered tank, his Spirit Eyes still active. But he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at the truth. Inside his All-Seeing Library, Electrolux was probably stroking his beard and pointing out the friction I'd just caused in the local space. Yuhao could see the way my Overdrive had momentarily overwritten the rules of the room. He looked at me, and for a second, I saw a flash of understanding in his eyes. He knew I wasn't just a professor.
"Professor," Yuhao whispered. "You… the way you moved. There was no friction. None at all."
"I have a very good tailor, Yuhao," I said, winked, and slid my glasses back on.
I turned my attention to the two titans in the center of the room. Di Tian was no longer the raging beast. He had shifted back into his human form—a tall, imposing man with hair as black as a starless night and eyes that held the weight of a thousand years. He was cradling Bi Ji. The Emerald Swan looked frail, her green dress torn, but the color was returning to her face. The pure life energy was flowing properly again.
Di Tian looked at me. Not at Professor Lakas, the man with the squeaky boot. He looked straight through the shell, through the meridians, and straight into the Iridescent Constellation that sat behind my eyes.
He began to kneel.
"Oh, no. No, no, no," I said, waving my hands frantically. "Stop that. My back is already killing me. I don't need the added weight of a Dragon King's formal greeting. It's very bad for the floor tiles."
Di Tian didn't stop. He lowered his head, his voice deep and resonant, like stones grinding together at the bottom of the sea.
"The Forest of Star Dou owes you a debt that can never be repaid," Di Tian said. "I have spent ten thousand years guarding the borders of my home, thinking the world had forgotten the ancient laws. But I see now that the Sovereign has never truly left us."
The kids went stiff. "Sovereign?" Bei Bei muttered, his eyes darting between me and the kneeling dragon.
"He's a bit concussed," I said, pointing a thumb at Di Tian. "A lot of purple sludge in the ears. It does things to the brain."
"I am not mistaken," Di Tian continued, ignoring my attempt at a joke. "The way you corrected the energy… the way you erased those Generals… only the Origin could do such a thing. My life, my forest, and the destiny of the Great Star Dou are yours to command. We pledge ourselves to the Phoenix God Star."
I felt a headache coming on. This was the problem with being a God. Everyone wanted to give you their destiny. Honestly, it was a lot of paperwork. And the political tension? If the Federation found out the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King had pledged his forest to a random professor from the Anito Academy, we'd be in a diplomatic nightmare before dinner.
I looked at Di Tian, and for a split second, I let the playful, confident mask slip. Not enough for the kids to see, but enough for the Dragon King to feel the cold, absolute weight of my actual presence.
"Command you?" I said, my voice low and dry. "Di Tian, I can barely command these kids to turn in their homework on time. Look at this place. It's a mess. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I am currently dreaming of a very specific cup of Barako coffee from a small shop three blocks from the Academy."
Di Tian blinked, looking confused. "You… you desire a bean-water?"
"It is a very good bean-water," I said, stepping closer and patting him on the shoulder. It was like patting a wall of solid granite. "Listen. If you want to repay the debt, here is your command: Take your wife home. Heal. Keep the forest quiet. Don't go starting any wars with the Federation because someone looked at a Spirit Beast the wrong way. The world needs to stay steady, not loud. Understand?"
Bi Ji looked up then. She smiled, a soft, radiant thing that seemed to make the broken glass in the room glow. She understood. She had already recognized me earlier. How could she not? As I said before, I am the only Phoenix God. Even in this mortal shell, the pure essence of the Phoenix still flows through me. And Bi Ji carries Phoenix blood in her veins. In a very real sense, I am her God.
"We understand, Professor," she whispered.
"Good," I said, clapping my hands together. "Now, if we're quite done with the kneeling and the world-altering oaths, I'd like to leave. This place has the aesthetic of a very expensive trash can, and I'm ready for a change of scenery."
••••••
The trek out of Sector Seven was a lot faster than the crawl in. Di Tian had expressed his gratitude by flattening most of the remaining Abyssal traps on his way out, leaving us a clear path to the surface.
As we walked, I watched Yuhao. He was quiet, his eyes unfocused. He was likely inside the All-Seeing Library, talking to Electrolux. I could almost hear the old man's voice lecturing him about the Fist Intent he'd glimpsed during my fight. Five years ago, during the tournament, Yuhao had first felt that resonance—the Panununtukan. He had seen how a single vibration could bypass the outer defense and damage the core. Today, he had seen the master-class version of it.
"You're thinking again, Yuhao," I said, nudging him with my elbow. "It's a dangerous habit for someone your age."
"I was just thinking about the friction, Professor," Yuhao said, looking at his own hands. "When I used Agaw on Di Tian… I felt like I was trying to catch a falling mountain. But when you hit those Generals… it was like you weren't even there. You were just… the space where they used to be."
"That's the Eight Directional Flow, kid," I said. "The eight directions aren't just places to stand. They're paths. If you move through them correctly, the world doesn't have anything to grab onto. You become the quiet between the movements."
"And the Overdrive?" Tang Ya asked, her voice still a bit shaky. "Is that what we're supposed to do eventually? Turn into a sun?"
"Let's focus on you guys reaching x10 without needing a nap first," I joked. "Baby steps. Or in your case, Hakbang steps."
But internally, I was thinking about Chen Feng.
Far away, in some other corner of the continent, that System of his was probably screaming at him. I could feel the ripples in the resonance. He was a foreign set of rules, a piece of bad code trying to force its way into a world it didn't understand. He wanted the Blue Silver Grass? He wanted the Clear Sky Hammer? He wanted to be the next Tang San?
He didn't realize that in this world, those things weren't just stats. They were legacies. And the Baybayin markings and the Federation's education system were doing their job. He was being forced to learn, to grow, to actually earn his power instead of just killing low-level soul beasts for easy gains.
Poor kid, I thought with a smirk. He's playing a game, and he doesn't realize I wrote the engine.
•••••
We reached the Phoenix-Rail station just as the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a bruised purple and orange. We boarded the silver-and-gold train, the Seven-Tone Resonance tracks humming beneath us.
The kids collapsed into the plush seats of the faculty car. Within minutes, Xiaotao was fast asleep, her head lolling against the window. Bei Bei and Tang Ya were sharing a pair of Spirit-Pads, likely looking at the latest combat mechs or the tournament rankings.
I sat across from Yuhao. He was looking out the window at the passing landscape. We saw a local Awakening Branch—a beautiful white pagoda with the Baybayin marking ᜎ (La) glowing softly on its peak.
"Professor?" Yuhao asked without turning around.
"Yes, Yuhao?"
"Why did you give me the Library? Instead of… you know… a weapon or a ring?"
I leaned back, my eyes closing. I could almost smell the Barako coffee now.
"Because, Yuhao, a weapon only works as long as the metal holds. A ring only works as long as your soul power lasts. But the Library? The truth? That stays. If you can see the friction in the world, you can never be trapped by it. You'll always know where the exit is."
I opened one eye and looked at him.
"Besides," I added, my easygoing and confident grin returning. "I wanted someone to be able to tell me when my lectures are getting too boring. You're my quality control."
Yuhao chuckled, a real, human sound. "They're always boring, Professor."
"Ouch. Right in the heart," I said, clutching my chest dramatically. "And after I just saved you from four Level 99 Generals. The youth of today. No respect for their elders."
I closed my eyes for real this time. My back was throbbing, my left boot was still squeaking, and I had a meeting with the Dean in the morning. But as the Phoenix-Rail screamed through the night, a blur of silver and gold light, I felt a sense of peace.
The Emerald Swan was safe. The Dragon King was in debt. And the new order was still holding steady.
But man… I really, really needed that coffee.
End of Volume 2, Chapter 58