Strange Interaction
In all honesty, Mike wasn't exactly sure of what he expected when the door opened.
He knew that it couldn't have possibly been what he was thinking. After all, the school wouldn't allow such a thing.
Still, he couldn't help but be suspicious. His roommate hadn't turned up since, and from what he could tell, they seemed to have missed the orientation as well. So the fact that he was suddenly smelling blood coming from their room was very questionable.
Still, despite not knowing what to expect, he was certainly surprised by what he saw.
"Oh, hi there. Are you my roommate?" A cheerful voice sounded when the door opened.
Mike blinked when he saw someone who was only a few inches taller than him. He wore something resembling an apron with a pair of goggles hanging loosely around his neck. His sleeves were nowhere to be seen, revealing lanky and pale skin.
His hair was dirty blonde and messy, but his eyes were an ominous Crimson. Not the fiery red like Theresa, but red like blood. There were also some serious bags under his eyes. Like, to the point of Mike being genuinely concerned for a moment as he looked like he hadn't slept in ages.
The most disturbing thing was the red stains on his apron, hands, and face. Mike couldn't see behind him as his frame blocked the door, but the smell was stronger inside, making him wrinkle his nose.
His roommate, though, seemed to interpret this as something else.
"Ah, I guess I haven't taken a shower in a while. Sorry about that." He scratched his head, and Mike was genuinely perplexed by how calm he was despite his questionable appearance.
"Not that... is that blood?" Mike finally came out and asked. The boy blinked and nodded.
"Yeah? Why?"
"..."
"..."
Just as Mike was about to retreat and probably call for a staff member, the boy seemed to realize his error and laughed loudly.
"Oh! Haha! Sorry, sorry. Just remembered that not everyone dabbles in this stuff." He moved his body out of the way, allowing Mike to look into the room properly.
Compared to his, the room was a lot less bare. Not in a good way. Shelves hung on the wall with all sorts of metal parts and strange tools strewn across them haphazardly. The floor was even worse as parts Mike did and didn't recognise were scattered about. The desk by the side now resembled what one would find in a workshop as blueprints and half-finished products lay scattered on it. Similar blueprints were nailed to the walls with no apparent rhyme or reason.
There was machinery in the corners working silently, doing things he didn't understand, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
It was complete chaos, and Mike reckoned that he did all of this during the orientation as there was no way in hell he wouldn't have noticed all of this going on.
The thing that caught his attention the most, though, was the blood.
Specks of blood could be seen virtually everywhere in the room. The bed, walls, floor, ceiling, it was like a crime scene had occurred, but then the stains also didn't make sense, and while it was a lot, it would be a stretch to say it was from murder.
Moreover, Mike could see several large vials of red liquid with varying levels of volume left in the corner.
Needless to say, he was concerned.
"It's a bit of a mess, but I rarely expect people to enter so... I don't bother cleaning up. Besides, I know where everything is, so it's all good." He explained proudly.
"The blood."
"Huh?"
"Why is there blood everywhere?" Mike asked pointedly. In hindsight, it probably wasn't a good idea, but the feeling he got from this guy wasn't one of danger or anything, just... concern and a touch of morbid curiosity.
"Why is there... Oh! It's my ability." The boy laughed and snapped his fingers.
Suddenly, all the blood that was strewn about slowly started to levitate. It didn't matter if it was fresh or half-dried. It all moved off the various surfaces and moved towards the different vials.
The process was quite slow, though.
Mike also noticed that the only things that didn't have blood leave them were the various half-finished projects. It was hard to explain, but it was as if the blood had been infused into them somehow. Moreover, he got a strange feeling when he focused his attention on them...
"My ability revolves around blood. Don't worry, it's all blood that was given to me willingly." The boy explained, which is when something clicked in Mike's head.
"You're a part of the Caedryn Family?" He asked.
"Bingo!" The boy laughed.
"The name is Jonathan, and I'm your roommate."
"... Mike." Mike just nodded.
"Well, I hope I've satisfied your curiosity and assured you that I'm not doing anything shady. Now I have to get back to work, I have something cool I'm working on." He said.
"... Don't you need to sleep first? You seem a bit tired." Mike pointed out. Not truly out of concern, but he felt like he needed to say it. However, Jonathan snorted.
"Rest is one of the biggest obstacles to innovation. I don't need it." He shook his head.
"Well, good talk. See you later." He promptly closed the door, leaving a bewildered Mike just standing there, then he said under his breath.
"Freaking rich kids." He shook his head and walked towards the kitchen. Why was everyone in this place weird?
He then proceeded to put together something that was more calorie-focused than tasty, and he started to ponder as he ate. Specifically, on the orientation and the thing concerning Credits.
He knew about them, but Vice-Principal Joseph had really hammered their importance.
Anyway, he felt a bit concerned for a single reason.
What skill did he have that allowed him to earn credits?
The weekly allowance was good, but like Joseoh said, it was only barely enough, and while Mike wouldn't mind ascending the rankings to acquire the benefits it included, it wasn't something he'd be able to do within a short period.
The thing was, he needed to money.
He knew these people from the various families had ways to cheese the system. Perhaps they'd been given items by their families to sell and earn a large amount of credits in a short time. Or maybe their seniors who were also a part of the same family and had accumulated a large number of credits had no qualms giving them credits for free.
Mike didn't have any of that. All he had were his brain and abilities, and he was seriously considering what he could do to earn points reasonably.
'Hm, I'm pretty durable, maybe some people are looking for live test subjects to perform some stuff on...?' The moment he had the thought, he shuddered.
'Absolutely not.' He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
In the end, he decided to just open up the commissions list to see what was available.
The watch projected the hologram of the commissions list, rows of tasks scrolling down in neat columns. At first, Mike's eyes widened at the large payout numbers. However, one task he saw offered 4,500 credits for "Advanced Spatial Matrix Calibration," and another promised even more for "Systemic Array Synthesis."
He stared blankly at the descriptions for a moment before scoffing. He didn't even know what half those words meant.
He sighed and scrolled down further, but the trend only continued. Complex machinery maintenance, assisting in experimental technological projects, analysing monster corpses for high-level materials, etc. All of it was either far beyond his comprehension or solidly outside his painfully limited skills etc.
Eventually, he sighed and flicked the filter menu open.
The list was refreshed with far less intimidating and understandable titles. "Storage Room Reorganization," "Greenhouse Soil Turning," "Arena Equipment Hauling," "Arena Wall Cleaning." Not glamorous, but at least he could understand them.
Sure, the payout was far less than the previous things, but what mattered is that they were actually doable, and with his physical stats, he believed he had an idea for how his credit making ventures would start out.
"Well, whatever works." He thought and leaned back into his chair, food finished.