Rise of the Crusader
Chapter 97

97 Beta Test

Raphael had a neutral expression when Becky spoke, he turned towards Elisa, who was also staring at him with interest evident in her eyes.

“So, what does this mean?” Becky asked.

“I’m not quite sure.” Raphael paused, “But, it’s an adventure I replace rather interesting.

“The need to replace a better half to share one’s life with has always puzzled me. Maybe it’s because I’m so interesting on my own.” Raphael said. “But, as I said, it’s an adventure or a risk I replace interesting.”

Neither Becky, Melinda, nor even Elisa had been expecting that answer from Raphael. Melinda and Becky’s mouths opened slightly and after a few seconds, Becky spoke.

“That means you do not have any feelings whatsoever for Elisa, and you’re only giving this a shot because you replace the idea intriguing.” Becky blurted.

Raphael was about to nod his head when he abruptly paused. He stared at Elisa, before then shifting his gaze back to Becky and was about to speak when he was interrupted by Melinda.

“It’s fine. If Elisa doesn’t have any problem with it, then we can only choose to support her and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.” Melinda said.

The atmosphere was then tense as Melinda and Becky were glaring at Raphael, clearly, neither of them was delighted with the words he spoke.

.....

And with the look that Elisa had on her face, it was to say that she didn’t seem to have a problem with it. Melinda and Becky couldn’t necessarily blame their friend because of the way she felt towards Raphael, she couldn’t see anything wrong with his words.

Suddenly, Raphael turned toward what was left of the dormitory, and he placed his hand on his chin.

“Fascinating,” He mumbled in a low voice.

Gus had gone back to Raphael, and as the both of them stared at the building, there was a different kind of glow in their blue eyes.

After a few seconds, Gus let out a loud screech, and in response, Raphael nodded his head several times. “Of course, there’s no way this occurred with a second party not involved.”

“Whoever did it know about the situation in the house, and except Bane has made enemies on campus, I think the attack was meant for me,” Raphael said in a rather calm tone.

There was a nod from Gus and Raphael said.

“To be honest, it isn’t so bad. It can be termed as one of the perfect murders in my case, as no one would really look into it. They would consider it as a natural occurrence, not bad.” Raphael exclaimed.

Raphael’s theory wasn’t wrong, as the quake that occurred was orchestrated by someone.

However, despite how good the plan to collapse the building was, there was a flaw in it. The flaw was the person who planned the quake had no idea of the sort of person Raphael was.

Raphael had always prepared himself for any hazardous situation that might take place. The window glasses in his room were bulletproof and were made from the strongest of all glasses.

And except an earthquake or any other extreme crisis occurs, it was impossible to break through the glasses in his room.

As the glasses were taken care of, and other preparation such as taking care of an assassination attempt on his life was made, Raphael readied himself in case of an emergency situation. He secured a route to escape out of the dormitory when necessary.

“How’s your feather?” Raphael asked the owl that was on his shoulder.

Gus flapped its wings when it heard Raphael. It then let out a long hiss, which for some reason brought a light smile to appear on Raphael’s face.

“I haven’t forgotten your request, I still haven’t received the materials I need yet,” Raphael said, and a screech rang out from Gus. “Urgh! Didn’t the both of us go to the mall together, they don’t have it.”

“Once they get it, I have asked them to inform me about it. So, we can start working on it.” Raphael muttered.

Gus let out a loud cawing sound, and an expression that Raphael recognized to be a smile appeared on his face afterward.

While Raphael and Gus continued to stare at the building, the other students had gone to inform the student council about the incident that happened. As for Melinda, Becky, and Elisa they were discussing among themselves.

“Elisa, are you sure about this?” Melinda asked. “Don’t let your emotions get the best of you.”

“This is more like a beta test to him, he simply wants to see what is so interesting about the idea. I want you to think about this very deeply, Elisa because, in the long run, it’s you who will bear most of the pain.” Melinda said.

Becky nodded her head repeatedly as Melinda spoke, and a second after Melinda went quiet, her voice rang out.

“Yes, Elisa. Is this the sort of relationship you want with him?” Becky asked, “We are, of course, going to support you, and be with you through every moment, regardless of the decision you make.”

Elisa took a deep breath, she stared at Raphael, whose eyes were still fixed on the ruins, and she nodded her head. “Yes, I also want to give it a try.”

“My feelings for him are something I have never experienced with someone before, and I wish to know what this means.”

“Is this simply infatuation, or am I in love with him? I need to know the answer.” Elisa said. “If my feelings towards him aren’t what I expect them to be, then I’m going to take a step back, but if they are, I will do everything in my power to make him fall in love with me.”

There was resolution and firmness in Elisa’s voice. Her eyes were also filled with determination.

“Hmm... What is he doing here?” Becky muttered and then pointed her to the lean man who had just appeared.

Though the man was a familiar face, Becky still found it surprising that the student council chose to send one of the instructors in the academy over.

The lean man who was speaking with the students a few meters away from Becky was Lucien. Lucien was one of the three figures that focused on dealing with the training domains of the elite division.

A few seconds after the students briefed Lucien about what occurred, he walked over to the ruins. And while he was standing close to Raphael, Raphael didn’t even glance at him for a second, and instead, his eyes were glued to the ruins.

Lucien suddenly stretched both of his hands at the ruins, he then shut his eyes closed and clawed both hands afterward.

As Lucien opened his eyes, a strange spectacle occurred. The ruins that were left of the building began to collide and then merge with one another, and after a short while, it grew back to its former height.

Once the height was attained, Lucien waved his hand at the building, and several materials joined with the building. They soon merged with it, and after the merging, Lucien waved his hand at the building again.

It didn’t take any less than three more minutes and the dormitory was fully restored. The building even appeared sturdier than the rest, and It was difficult to believe that this building had just collapsed a while ago.

“That’s going to be all, goodbye.” With that said, and Lucien walked away.

It would be a facade to say that Lucien’s stunt didn’t get Raphael’s attention. Raphael had eyes fixed on Lucien as he rebuilt the dormitory, and even after he was done, Raphael continued to stare at him.

Raphael had only removed his gaze away from Lucien when he was no longer able to see him.

“It isn’t creation,” Raphael responded to the owl on his shoulder. “It’s more like manipulation.”

“He has the power to manipulate creation. Control and shape matters, energy, objects, systems and perhaps even reality.” Raphael said. “Though I’m not quite sure about the reality aspect of it, the power is really not that bad.”

Gus stared into the long instance after Raphael spoke and after a few moments, he turned towards Raphael and let out a hiss.

“Haha hahaha!!!!” Raphael laughed. “It’s almost like you can read my mind,” Raphael said.

As Raphael turned toward Melinda, Elisa and Becky, he raised an eyebrow and then said, “What is it?” Raphael asked as the three of them were staring at him as though he were a freak.

“How can you hear what it’s saying? Do have some powers or gadget that allows you to speak to animals?” The question just kept coming from Becky.

And in response, Raphael shook his head. “While I do have that sort of gadget, that isn’t it. I can listen to Gus, and so can you.” Raphael said.

“What? How is that possible? The both of you have been going all about for quite some minutes, and I’m unable to understand a thing from him.” Becky blurted.

“That’s because you’re not listening. You’re hearing Gus’s voice, but you aren’t listening to what Gus is saying.” Raphael said and then walked into the dormitory.

...

An – Read Author’s words