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Chapter 08: Heaven's Ring

Chapter 08: Heaven's Ring

Liam's pov

First day of school. Maaga akong nakaligo then nakapagbihis na ng bago kong uniform as a Grade 10 student. Maganda ang unipormeng ito, kahapon ko lang nakuha.

I went out after kong makapag-breakfast at naabutan ko naman si lola sa may kusina. "Good morning po."

She smiled. "Aalis ka na ba? Ingat ka ha?"

"Opo." Nang akmang aalis na ako, natigilan naman ako't hindi ko alam kung paano pero, muli akong humarap kay lola at nagtanong. "Um. Have you seen Egroeg somewhere? Wala po kasi siya sa taas."

Then she recalled something. "Ah! Oo. Pumasok na rin siya sa school. Nakakatuwa nga, ilang linggo rin siyang hindi pumapasok pero ngayon, mukhang nagbago ang takbo ng hangin para sa kanya. Nakakatuwa talaga ang batang 'yon."

Oh. Good for him, then.

Hindi na ako nagbigay pa ng follow-up questions gaya ng kung saan ba ito nag-aaral o kung ano na ang current grade nito. I just went out. Took a cab and arrived few minutes by the entrance of my new school.

By the power of my new school ID, pinagbuksan ako ng gate ng security guard. Parang mafia boss lang.

May iilan akong nakakasabayan sa pagpasok sa campus ground. Mostly sa kanila ay mga dati nang nag-aaral dito, obviously, but hindi pa nga ako nakakalayo sa bandang gate, may tumawag naman sa pangalan ko.

"Liam! Hey." I turned to my back and saw Egroeg just by the corner of the guard's shed. Naka-lean lang siya sa may tila counter doon kung nasaan din ang isa ring naka-tokang guard at para silang mag-close na kaibigan kung makapag-interact.

Anyway, this guy stops his little chit-chat with his guard friend at nilapitan ako. Naka-uniform siya at ngayon ko lang napag-alaman na dito rin pala siya nag-aaral. I'm not sure kung naligo ba siya dahil ang gulo ng buhok niya. But aside from that, he's still presentable.

"Guess what I've found this morning." Seriously. Gano'n lang siya bumati sa 'kin. Pareho kami ng eskwelahang pinapasukan and he didn't even bothered on waiting for me para naman sabay na kaming pumasok--not that it's an obligation or something.

Wala man lang 'good morning' at basta na lang siyang magtatanong sa 'kin.

Sabay kaming naglalakad papasok ng campus building and I shrugged. "What did you found?"

He smiled. "A quest."

"This early?" I answered like I'm kinda protesting with it.

But he just didn't care. "Look. We had no quests  for at least two weeks ago. Wala tayong clients nang gano'n katagal, alam mo kung bakit?"

"It means it's peaceful."

He groans by my answer like it's the most boring answer he had ever heard. "No. It means we are unseen. Unheard. Unnoticed."

"May online website ka naman. Paano mo nasasabing walang nakakapansin sa 'yo?" Tanong ko.

"The point is. Kapag walang quests na darating. We need to find it ourselves."

"So, pumapasok ka lang dito para makahanap ka ng kliyente mo, gano'n ba? You're not actually interested in school, aren't you?" I asked.

"Well. School is boring. Quest are exciting. And I'm just paying attention to the best part." He answered plainly like it was nothing arguable at all.

Napailing na lamang ako. "You had guts."

"Thanks."

Napakunot ang noo kong tinitigan siya. "At sino naman ang kliyente mo ngayon?"