Chapter 52: [52] End Of The Probation Period
Ark stumbled out of Bronya’s room a minute later, looking as though he had been run over by a bus.
He glanced at the side of the room to see Cracker peeking at him with a concerned look on her face.
He pointed a finger at her. ’You traitor...’ he thought, but he did not have the energy to speak, so he just waddled back into his room to get ready.
Once the door clicked shut behind him, a notification appeared in front of his face.
[Probation period is now over. Player, you can now switch races at will.]
[Note: Switching from your skeleton form to your human form, and vice versa, can be done instantly, after which there will be a twelve hour cool down before you can switch back.]
[The only way to shorten the cool down period is by moving to Eden, where ’race’ transformation will be available after one hour.]
[There is no way to shorten the cool down for human transformation]
[Do you wish to switch races?]
Ark nodded while saying yes.
The transformation was almost instantaneous, and the moment it was done, Ark felt extremely weird.
He had only lived as a skeleton for a short while, and yet it felt like he was an entirely new person.
Things that were normal to him in the past now felt very off.
The feeling of his beating heart that gently rocked in his chest, the rising and falling of his chest as he took in slow breaths, his soft skin, and the presence of a tongue in his mouth.
Everything felt weird.
He glanced at himself at his bedroom window and smiled.
He could understand why both Bronya and Cracker had found it difficult to believe it was him. In his skeleton form he was average heighted, probably around 5 ’8, but in human form? Ark was well above 6 ’2.
Ark ran his hand through his tousled, ashy black hair, icy blue eyes staring back at him. His cheeks were a little hollow, but overall, he looked healthy enough.
"Hey, I’m not that bad now that I think about it..." Perhaps he was even handsome? Ark had never really given it much thought.
His body was also in good shape. He was not overly muscular, but he was well chiselled with muscles in all the right places. The six months at the academy had not been a joke...
Neither had been his excellent training regiment.
Grrrrrrr—!
Ark nearly doubled over as a strong wave of hunger slammed into him.
"What the hell?" Was it a side effect of not eating for so long? It felt as though he could eat an entire cow alone.
’I need to get ready... fast!’
But Ark could not exactly bathe right now... Bronya was still in the bathroom.
So instead, to shorten the time he needed to stay at home, he opened his closet and began sorting through his clothes until he got something he was satisfied with.
He arranged the clothes neatly by the bed and sat down. But it seemed his decision had been a terrible mistake, because now, he felt even hungrier!
Ark clutched his raging belly with one hand, while the other was on his face.
’Fuck. I feel like dying...’
It was at that moment he remembered a certain deal he had made with a greedy little girl.
"C-Cracker!"
The next few minutes were a blur...
All Ark knew was that he had eaten his way through a pack of crackers, washing it down with four cups of water.
Cracker was standing by the door, staring at him with a strangely excited expression.
"T-thank you..." Ark muttered. He was still very hungry, but the snack had calmed the fire in his belly.
Wait.
Come to think about it... Ark stared at the empty pack of crackers. Surprisingly, Cracker had given him a whole pack of crackers, instead of just the three he bargained for...
She always hoarded the snacks like they were gold. When did she get so generous?
Ark shook his head, pushing his suspicions out of his mind.
Maybe he was being too hard on her, his little sister may secretly be a saint—
"Just so you know, I loaned you those crackers."
"..."
The room fell into silence.
"Huh?"
Cracker nodded, folding her hands across her chest. "Why are you acting like you don’t know about the agreement?"
Ark blinked, his expression turning sour. "What... agreement?"
He suddenly felt a bad premonition, as Cracker pulled out a handwritten contract from her pocket, and raised it for him to see.
"You agreed to pay back with five cartons of crackers at the earliest possible time." She pointed at the bottom of the paper. "That is your signature right there."
It was actually his signature...
"F-Five cartons?! That is like two hundred and fifty times the amount!"
Just how greedy could she be? And who did she inherit such bold greed from??
"And when did I sign that??"
"Huhuhu." Cracker chuckled. "You don’t remember what you said? ’Oh cracker save me, I think my stomach is about to melt, I’ll do anything, anything you ask!’" She said in a mock deep voice while gesturing.
"You made me sign while I was delirious with hunger. That has to be fraudulent—"
"Lalalalala... you cannot confuse Cracker with big words!" She clasped her hands around her ears and rushed out of his room, slamming the door behind her.
"Make sure you get my crackers before next week!" She screamed through the door.
"Tsk..."
Ark would make sure he got her back, one way or the other.
<•••>
After bathing and dressing up, the family of three left their apartment, moving to the parking lot.
In front of them was a sleek, black sedan. It had belonged to their parents before they vanished.
The car had a few downsides as well as some upsides. First of all, it was old, like very old, but despite that, it was well maintained.
The AC had packed up a long time ago, Ark even wondered if there was any time it even worked, but it was a convertible, and it was packing a V8 engine as well...
They all got in and the engine roared into life on the third try. Bronya rarely used it because of the cost of gas, so Ark was glad to know it was still working.
"Alright." He turned to Cracker who was sitting in front and handed her his phone. "You will be our navigator, make sure we don’t get lost."
"Mmn!"
The roof of the car slid back, revealing the sea of stars that filled the skies above, and then Ark pulled into the street.
The drive was sublime. The cold air that washed over them, the rumble of the v8 and the scenery as they drove through the city made it very enjoyable.
It wasn’t long after setting out that Bronya fell asleep in the back, but it was only after taking five turns that Ark realised...
They were being followed.