Xander System And The Blitz

7...Cafeteria...

It was the next morning and Jeremy was standing at the entrance of Alec's house, waiting for the door to be opened.

Soon, a middle aged man, having the same bottle green eyes with Alec opened the door. He looked like a weak man, still trying very hard to live for something...or some things.

Mr Todd saw a young guy about Alec's age in front of the door, and the first thing he asked was, "Who are you?"

Jeremy wore a pleasant smile "I'm Alec's friend, sir."

The middle-aged man blinked. "This is a dream" He said and shut the door.

Jeremy also blinked, confused. He knocked on the door like he had done seconds ago.

Mr Todd took in a deep breath and opened the door again. The young attractive man was still standing, wearing a smile to please the man.

"Hi, sir," Jeremy greeted respectfully "I'm Alec's friend and I just thought I should stop by so we could go to school together"

Mr Todd assessed him from head to toe "Are you sure you're Alec's friend?"

"Uh...." Jeremy tilted his head, his lips stretched to the side as he thought about Mr Todd's question. "I...think so"

The man gave him one last once-over before ushering him into the poorly furnished living room, all the while studying him. He saw that Jeremy didn't make an irritated face when he stepped inside.

Mr Todd smiled a little. Jeremy was truly Alec's friend.

"I'm sorry for acting..." Mr Todd paused, looking for the polite right word. "Strange" He finished with a smile.

"It's no problem, sir" Jeremy quickly said, sitting on the old couch.

"No, no" Mr Todd waved his hand. "I shouldn't have acted like that, but I was shocked. Alec never brought any friends over and they never visit, so I had thought it was going to be like that forever"

"Until you saw me" Jeremy added with a grin.

"Until I saw you" Mr Todd said with a grin of his own. "I like you"

"I'm Jeremy sir" He introduced, rising to his feet and stretching his hand towards Alec's dad.

"Call me Alan" The man said and shook the younger man's hand.

****

Mr Todd, whose first name was Alan hadn't been the only one doing some observations, Jeremy had done his too and he had wondered how Alec could be living in a place like this, and still afford to pay two thousand five hundred dollars for his new phone.

To someone who was still living fine than Alec before the system for involved, $5000 wasn't something small. The money could do things for Jeremy and Alec had easily sent it like he had more than that.

What Jeremy didn't know was that Alec had more than $5000, in fact it was something little compared to what was being stored in his bank account.

"Bye dad" Alec yelled, skipping towards Jeremy's car.

"Bye sir" Jeremy said politely.

"Have a nice day at school, boys" Alan said cheerfully, waving at the boys as they got into the car.

When the car zoomed off, Alan sighed. He knew Alec was undergoing some changes, but he couldn't place what exactly they were.

He was happy, yes, but he still couldn't help but get worried about his son.

At school, Jeremy and Alec walked side by side, getting stares of surprise and curiosity from people that passed by.

There were questions on everyone's mind, they wanted to understand why and how Jeremy became friends with someone like Alec.

Also, some of them had wondered what was different about Alec. Why was he so confident, strolling down to class like he wasn't scared of anyone anymore.

"That piece of shit is still alive?" Kevin was shocked, he couldn't even speak well.

"I'm surprised too" Jim said from beside him.

"But how the hell is he still alive?" Kevin questioned, glaring hard at him.

"I think the son of a bitch got lucky" Jim grumbled.

"And why is he acting like he's some sort of special warlord?" Sam remarked with a smirk and the others laughed, ignoring the lesson going on.

"I'm gonna teach the little shit a lesson, a lesson that will make him remember he's not some special warlord" Kevin said determinedly.

"Right." Sam agreed "He's just a little piece of shit"

The guys laughed again, but their eyes were intently focused on the back of someone. Alec.

****

During lunch, Alec had gone to the cafeteria to wait for Jeremy so they could discuss more about yesterday's events.

He knew joining Jeremy's team meant he needed to learn a lot more about the strange company that seemed like something from the future. And the people he would work for? He definitely needed to know about them too.

Also, how the system awakened days ago in that room was still a miracle to Alec. He does not understand where it came from or how it got inside him.

In the Cafeteria, Alec was still waiting for Jeremy. He had sat alone in a corner of the school's cafe, his head bowed, eyes on the table as he quietly sipped his milkshake.

He felt a pair of eyes on him and raised his head.

He saw her again.

The same girl who had waved to him in the hallway days ago, and because of that, the big guys at the school had beaten him up.

This girl was standing near Alec's table and was doing the same thing she did days ago— waving, with a bright smile on her face.

She walked to get closer to Alec's table. "I'm Letty" She introduced cheerfully to Alec.

Alec blinked repeatedly, his lips parted as he wondered why this girl would willingly wave at him again and even introduce herself.

Letty.

She was popular in the school, chased by most guys and envied by many girls, so why would she come to him herself to talk? He was someone people mockingly referred to as the poor guy.

"Hi?"

The soft voice brought Alec's mind back to the conversation.

"Hi" He replied.

"I think you kinda spaced out" She chuckled, and Alec stared at how the smile brightened her face.

"Y...yeah" He stammered. He didn't even know how to act around a girl like Letty. Why was she still even talking to him?

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern in her voice.

Alec couldn't respond. He felt nervous, his palms beginning to get really sweaty. To make matters worse, he could see the faces of the bullies from the corner of his eye. They were just few meters away and he was conscious of their hard stares. That just meant they were coming for him soon. Very soon.

"Hello?" Letty waved a hand across his face. "You look lost"

"Uhh, sorry" Alec swallowed, feeling even more nervous. "Hi. Hi, Letty" He greeted quietly, trying too hard to match her bold cheerfulness.... but he failed.

Letty smiled at him "I hope you don't mind if I sit with you today. I've always wanted to, but I wasn't sure if you would like...."

"No. No, I don't mind" Alex replied, rubbing his sweaty palm together. Letty was not just going to greet him, she wanted sit with him?

She lowered her head a little, her black curly hair following the motion "Are you sure you don't mind me sitting here? I mean, if you're not comfortable..."

"I really don't mind" Alec quickly told her.

Then, a deep, angry voice boomed through the cafeteria.

"Actually, I mind."

Kevin materialized right in front of them, looking between Alec and Letty.

"Oh, God" Alec muttered under his breath.

"Letty, What are you doing with this poor little shit?!" Kevin yelled, pointing at Alec in rage.

There were sounds of mocking laughters directed at Alec as Kevin downgraded him.

Letty frowned at the bully. "Do not call him a poor little shit."

Kevin laughed. "Really?"

"Yes" Letty replied boldly.

Unknown to Alec, Jeremy had arrived and was watching from where he stood at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Kevin turned his attention to Alec. "Get out!"

Alec ignored him, sipping his milkshake.

"I said, get out!" Kevin thundered, but Alec didn't move an inch. "You know you don't belong here, poor boy"

Alec stayed on his seat, enraging Kevin even more. He grabbed Alec's milkshake and flung it across the cafeteria.

"Oooh..." The crowd in the cafeteria echoed as the milkshake landed on the floor.

Alec rose to his feet to get another drink for himself. Just as he was about to take a step, his sharp eyes caught Kevin trying to throw a straight punch. He quickly ducked quickly by leaning his head backward.

The cafeteria went silent.

Kevin blinked twice, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He tried to strike again, but Alec was swift enough to move aside, avoiding the attack.

Kevin was puzzled, wondering what hell was happening. Just few days ago he could beat up Alec easily, in fact, he had beaten him till he lost consciousness, but now.... now Alec suddenly grew strong?

In anger, Kevin attempted to drag Alec by his shirt, but Alec quickly stepped back and pushed a chair towards him, making Kevin stumble. Alec found that funny and chuckled before throwing a hard punch that sent Kevin flying toward the entrance of the cafeteria, landing right at Jeremy's feet.

Alec stared at Kevin on the ground. "Oh my God" He gasped. He spread his hands, inspecting them. He was obviously amazed by everything that had happened in seconds.

Just few days ago, he was brutally beaten by this same guy, but today the story changed. He won.

Letty laughed at Kevin, who was whimpering on the floor. "Oops. The mighty one has finally fallen"

The wide glassy screen appeared in front of Alec.

"Task successfully completed" The system informed.

Task? Does that mean he could complete tasks from quick fights like this too?

"New superpower unlocked: Level 1 – Neural Reflex Vision (NRV)

"Reward: $2,000,000, 000 deposited to user's digital account"

Alec blinked, the numbers ringing in his head on a loop "Two billion?"