Then a smile formed on his lips. With something like this, he had an unfair advantage and could basically decide how his battles would go.

He undid the summoning and the walls simply disintegrated into purple specks of light. Unfortunately, summoning the maze had messed that part of the yard up.

The ground was cracked and uneven where the stone walls had risen, and several deep fissures cut through the grass.

Unfortunately, domain-type summons did not exactly transport the battlefield to another location.

No, It simply forced it to overlap with the current reality, and that was what happened here.

Ethan shook his head amusingly. "Guess we’re calling the construction guys again."

He then spent the rest of the hours going back and forth with the system and even further testing out newer things.

[A/N: Full Status Window Posted in Author Thoughts]

——

The following day...

Ethan had spent most of the morning at home, and now he was arriving at Stark Industries sometime at noon.

He typed a few texts on the screen as he slowly walked toward the workshop area.

Blue Eyes🦋: are you coming to the guild today?

Blue Eyes🦋: ethan???

Blue Eyes🦋: dont tell me you’re ignoring me 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The messages were from over an hour ago. Ethan smiled and typed back.

Me: Yes, but I have to step into work today

The reply came almost immediately.

Blue Eyes🦋: okay 😊

Then another message followed.

Blue Eyes 🦋: Percival just asked me to check with you, should the team start preparing to clear the A-rank breach we got the permit for?

Me: Yes. I’ll be back to join.

Ethan then slipped the phone back into his pocket and walked into the expanded warehouse where lots of working men did their jobs.

The space was loud. The sharp hiss of welding torches, the clang of metal striking metal, the whir of power tools cutting through steel.

Men called out to each other over the noise, shouting names and instructions.

Sparks flew in bright arcs from workstations, and there were large sections of aircraft components everywhere.

He had only just stepped in when Lucy, who noticed his entrance, waved at him in her usual energetic way.

Ethan’s attention was naturally drawn to the blonde in the lab coat, but there was someone else there who had a smile on her face as she watched Ethan appear.

It was Elizabeth.

She was dressed in a white linen dress that wrapped elegantly across her bosom. The sleeves were minimal, beginning halfway down her forearms and leaving most of her arms bare.

Below, a red skirt flowed from the waist, and in one hand, she carried a leather handbag.

Ethan approached, looking rather surprised at the makeover. Frankly, she was indeed stunning, as though she was beginning to put the money into some personal use to look good.

After a short exchange of pleasantries, he went on to ask, "So what are you doing here?"

Bettie replied, "Actually, I just finished an interview at Elserion Academy. Since that academy’s only down a few blocks, I decided to drop by and say hi to Lucy."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He asked, "Why are you dropping a new application at Elserion Academy?" He paused. "Wait. What happened to Belsorth?"

She sighed lightly. "I realized I’d be working as an assistant for a really long time. And since I’m B-talent, they wouldn’t really consider me for a promotion from that anytime soon. Unless one of the teachers were to resign."

Ethan tilted his head a bit as he heard her call herself B-talent, even when she was now S. But as he stared into Bettie’s eyes, he quickly understood what she meant.

In Belsorth, Bettie had always been known as a B-talent mage. And in the evaluation reports for her class, it was written right there as B.

And she was less inclined to tell them she was no longer B, but now an S-talent caster.

Bettie was the kind of person to avoid doing a reevaluation just because she feared having to explain a really complicated situation.

Ethan also knew this. So instead of suggesting any sort of reevaluation or dwelling on the topic of her talent, he went on to ask, "Did you get the job?"

Right before she answered, one of the working men approached them. He had a welding apron smudged with burn marks, and his gloves were tucked into his belt.

He nodded respectfully at Ethan. "Mr. Stark." Then turned to Lucy. "Ma’am, could you come check the welds?."

Lucy then turned to Elizabeth and said, "I might have to go for a minute."

Bettie waved her hand. "It’s fine, it’s fine. I just came to say hi."

Lucy nodded, but just when she was about to turn and go with the guy, she stopped again, as though remembering something. "Oh yeah, Ethan. Crypco is unveiling that mecha tomorrow. It seems they weren’t bluffing after all."

Ethan had an apologetic expression. "Oh, I’m sorry, Lucy..."

Lucy immediately cut him off. "No, no, Ethan. It’s fine." She smiled warmly. "Please, don’t forget I’m your employee first. We have to work on these plane orders before doing anything else."

Ethan gave her a nod of acknowledgment and she left after another glance at Bettie.

When he gave Lucy employment, he also promised to let and help her with creating the mecha her father had designed on paper.

Unfortunately, after the Vanguard event and the flood of orders that followed, there hadn’t been time for any of them to return and continue with the mecha.

They had several waiting orders that took priority.

Ethan then returned his focus to Bettie, who then answered his earlier question. "As regards your question, I haven’t yet. But I know I will."

Ethan smiled. "Okay, that’s some confidence."

She smiled back and replied, "On my resume to Elserion, I included having S-tier talent. They asked me to return tomorrow for an evaluation. I know after that, I’ll get the job."

"No one refuses S-tiers after all," Ethan said with a shrug.

Bettie nodded. "Yeah. And with Elserion, it’s a clean slate. I don’t have to explain why I suddenly awakened S-talent when I’ve always been a B-talent caster."

Ethan chuckled. "Don’t worry, I got that part earlier already."

Slowly, they both began talking and walking back out toward the exit. It was mostly catch-up and light conversation. But as they got to the entrance, Ethan threw it out again.

"So you’re very sure I can’t ask you to join Clustervayne? I mean, you’re S-tier now." He had hopeful eyes.

Bettie smiled and shook her head gently.

"Oh, come on, Bettie. Think about it for a minute here. You earn way more being part of a guild. The average guild member makes more than academy tutors, and in Clustervayne, I pay everyone on the team far above average. Should I tell you the figures?"

Bettie laughed lightly as Ethan tried to convince her. "I know, Ethan. I know. It’s a whole lot of money, but..." She shook her head again.

Ethan sighed. "Dammit," he said gently. "Okay, okay, fine. But join us today, then? Just today. For old times’ sake."

Bettie had an amused yet puzzled expression. "I should be your guild member for one day?"

Ethan nodded. "Yes. We’re going to clear a breach today. It’s pretty high, at A-rank. But I’m sure with you there, it’d be much easier."

Bettie had a hesitant expression. "But A-rank is pretty high, though. Even for an S-tier caster."

"I know, I know. But I also know you’ve definitely studied a lot of strong spells since getting the talent. It would be relatively easier," Ethan said.

"Plus, it’s not free. I promise you’d get handsomely paid for joining us at the breach today."

"Ethan..." Bettie muttered, trying to refuse.

"Really, Bettie? Not even for old times’ sake?" He had a teasing, pretentious tone that made it sound like he was hurt.

Bettie sighed and resigned to the guilt trip. "Okay, okay."

"Yeah?" Ethan had an excited face now.

Bettie nodded. "But just this one time, Ethan."

"Sure, sure," Ethan said, nodding amusingly. "Now, we’re going to be here awhile. Just have to do a few things and we get back to the guild. That alright?"

Bettie nodded, and with that, they walked back in.

For the next hour or so, she followed him around or watched from some distance as he carried on with activities inside the workshop.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

—

A/N: Still got work 🥲