Chương 130: An Admirer Of Art

June felt like a quivering rabbit; in a world where social cues were basically law, anyone was a potential landmine. Lilia, on the other hand, seemed unbothered by the stares of the people around her. Similar to June, Lilia was the type to avoid conversation unless prompted or if she particularly enjoyed their company, but unlike June, she was able to guide a conversation eloquently. The two sat across from one another at a black steel round table in an open-air veranda.

Lilia gracefully sipped her coffee while keeping her eyes affixed to June, while June himself slowly sipped on the black coffee he accidentally ordered, trying to remember how the human body digested liquids for his Flesh-Shaping abilities to handle it. While his abilities had further advanced to the point of near-total painstaking control over his body's every function, the bitter coffee seemingly forced an impossible facial response in the form of a wince. Despite his bitter drink, he was ecstatic!

Today was the day! Lilia and June finally went on their first proper date. They both quietly hoped nothing interrupted their time together once again. Mortimer had apparently pre-prepared June's outfit as a peace offering after trapping him in a simulation for what felt like an entire year. He wore a simple outfit: a tight-fitting beige shirt that hugged his chest and biceps like a taut rubber band.

On the lower end, he wore dark-blue denim jeans, something he would normally avoid, since he found the material and texture overly stiff and uncomfortable. But for Lilia, June would happily wear a motley if it made her smile.

'I could probably burst the seams of this shirt if I flexed my arms.' He wore deep brown dress shoes, which, to his surprise, actually meshed with the jeans and shirt well! His hair had gotten a bit unruly while he sat in the pod; Mortimer provided gel for it, but June didn't really get how to gel his hair without it looking flat; instead, he just gelled the parts of his hair that occasionally propped themselves up into cowlicks down.

His beard, on the other hand, was an enigma; he was incredibly fond of it, simply for the reason that he enjoyed brushing through it with his fingers while thinking. With Flesh-Shaping, he didn't have to shave it, as it would maintain its length and color as long as he decided that it was perfect; still, regardless of what he considered perfect, what mattered to him more was what Lilia thought about it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

His normal style before the simulation was keeping it scruffy and about a segment of a finger long, but during his time in the simulation, he settled on a shorter beard length since it was easier to clean when muck or blood got on it. Though after the preliminaries, June was pretty elated to hear that Lilia also preferred the scruffy beard as well, for similar reasons too! He was more than surprised to say the least, since he had heard repeatedly from his family that it didn't look good.

'To each, their own' He couldn't help but feel a bit giddy that his visage wasn't a blight on her crystalline eyes. Lilia, on the other hand, wore a simple yellow sundress with white flower imprints on it, and a sun hat. It was such a simple outfit, a common one even; it was a cliché outfit that you would always see in romance media. An overused outfit for the scenario, at least that was what June thought until he saw Lilia in one.

He finally understood the appeal of a sundress and sun hat; he fought a battle to blind himself in the moment to burn how Lilia looked into his eyes until he died. The sundress was overused in novels and shows because it worked damn well. This went beyond saying if it wasn't broken, don't fix it; this was perfection at its finest.

Even if the most beautiful, coveted, and dazzling angel of God descended from the heavens at this very moment, June didn't know if he would be able to muster the inner strength to look away from Lilia.

'Remember, Remember, Remember' He repeatedly said that in his mind, hoping that his eyes never forgot what he was looking at. It was like the light around her bent to emphasize her existence, and June felt an improved appreciation for lighting. He slowly shut his eyes with a cheek-tensed smile, and revelled in the moment of being with her. He would have ascended to the next plane if not for her soft hand tapping against his hand for his attention.

He opened his eyes and felt blinded by her for a moment, before realizing she had something to say. She opened her mouth, and her voice sounded like wind chimes.

"June, I heard you whispering to yourself about education earlier? What was that about?" June snapped himself out of his trance and cleared his throat while bringing a hand up to caress his beard.

"Well… I was thinking that I don't know that much about Magic or Will, or Qi… or much about the Nightrealm at all actually!? Is it even called the Nightrealm universally, or is that just a local name?" Lilia let out a stifled laugh, caught off guard by the innocence of his question. After a moment, she cleared her throat and composed herself before taking a sip from her porcelain cup.

"I was invited as a guest speaker at the local Mages' academy if you would like to come?" June's eyes lit up! The idea of an academy in another world was already fantastical, and better yet, to see Lilia in action would be a treat for his weary soul. He nodded with great vigor, inciting another bout of laughter in Lilia. Learning Magic from a professional would be a boon for June; worst-case scenario, he would at least have some takeaway that could be applied elsewhere. It was another date!