CHAPTER 168: HORMONES.

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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Seris finally settled down, crossing her arms with a victorious smirk. "Anyway, Orion. Since you’re making us talk about the future, what about you? You said projects, but anything specific?"

"Yes," Selene added. "You rarely mention your personal research unless something’s significant."

"Did you find something new?" Selene asked quietly.

Orion looked down at the table for a moment.

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Orion looked down at the table for a moment, weighing how much to say.

"It’s still a work in progress," he finally said with a shrug.

Selene nodded, accepting that answer without pressure. Seris looked like she wanted to pry but held herself back. Caelum simply hummed, the sound barely audible.

They stayed a bit longer—talking, teasing, drifting through small discussions—until they all mutually agreed to end the meeting by 5:30. As they stood, Seris stretched her arms lazily.

"Oh, and Selene and I are going back to the night party at nine," she said casually. "You two coming?"

Caelum froze.

Orion noticed it instantly.

The boy tried to hide it by looking down at his book, but his eyes flicked—very quickly—toward Seris.

Seris caught nothing.

She shrugged. "Suit yourselves, weirdos."

Then she and Selene headed out together, golden and blue skirts swaying as they disappeared down the corridor.

The door shut.

Silence.

Orion looked at Caelum.

"So... do you want to go?"

"Sounds stressful," Caelum murmured, burying his face back into his book.

"You sure? You look like you want to go."

"I don’t."

Right.

"Well, I’m out," Orion said, stretching as he stood. Caelum gave a tiny nod, still reading.

Orion teleported, leaving Caelum alone with his thoughts.

He arrived in the Magnum 1 dorm lounge, where the atmosphere was filled with laughter and chaos. A group of boys lounged on couches, while others packed items into bags or shoved them into spatial rings.

He spotted Galen and Arlen among them and headed over.

"What’s up?" Orion called out.

"Hey, what’s up, Onion boy!" Arlen said with that wide, mischievous grin of his.

After the first time it had been used—four years ago—the nickname stuck. Only among the guys, though. They never used it during important moments. At this point, Orion was used to it.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked, gesturing at the bags.

"Oh, this? Stuff for the party tonight," Arlen replied cheerfully, still packing.

"Party?" Orion repeated.

"Yes!" Arlen said, eyes sparkling. "There’s this really cool party at the outer Magnums."

Now that caught Orion off guard.

Was the party that large?

In the outer Magnums?

And he hadn’t heard a thing?

Was his information network this useless?

"Whose birthday is it?" Orion asked.

"I don’t know," Arlen said immediately.

Orion turned to Galen.

Galen shrugged.

"You’re going to celebrate a birthday," Orion said slowly, "and you don’t know whose birthday it is?"

"Nope," Arlen said unbothered. "But the girls in our class do. Apparently they know her, and now they’re throwing this huge party. I skipped the one in the afternoon—too girly—but tonight’s is going to be lit!"

Arlen practically vibrated.

"And everyone’s going?" Orion asked.

"I’m not sure about everyone, but..." Arlen leaned in dramatically and whispered, "I caught Erevan and Thaddeus asking out dates for the night."

Orion blinked.

His mind stalled.

’Erevan and Thaddeus? Both? Asking out dates?’

"Wow," Orion muttered. "It’s a full-blown teen party...and I didn’t know about it."

Arlen nodded eagerly. "Bro, it’s going to be wild."

Then he hesitated, lowering his voice again.

"I’m thinking of asking Selene," he whispered, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I get the feeling she’ll say no."

Orion stared at him blankly.

"And why exactly are you telling me?"

"I don’t know, man. Thought you might have advice or something."

"Arlen," Orion said with a sigh, "even I need advice about that stuff."

He waved him off and teleported away.

He appeared inside his room, exhaling slowly. Then he tapped his bracelet and called one of his subordinates.

The line picked up in seconds.

"Hello, Young Master. How may I help you?"

"Riven," Orion said while changing into comfortable clothes, "my classmates are holding a full-blown party in the outer Magnum. A party I only learned about five minutes ago—for a girl I know absolutely nothing about. What’s going on?"

There was a pause.

"Well... I wasn’t too informed about the party," Riven finally admitted.

"Riven," Orion said slowly. "You’re supposed to be my eyes and ears."

"My apologies, Young Master, but I didn’t think it would be of interest to you."

Orion froze.

’...He’s right. Why am I interested?’

He didn’t go to parties.

He didn’t hunt for gossip.

He wasn’t the type to obsess over social events.

A thousand parties had happened in the academy. A thousand had passed by without him caring. Unwinding was natural for everyone—Selene herself was attending tonight.

So why was he feeling something?

’Am I actually interested in going to a teen party?’

No.

He decided internally.

Absolutely not.

He had been to enough on Earth. Most were chaotic, overstimulating, and problematic. He wasn’t planning to put himself through that again—

Especially not in the hormone-flushed body of a fourteen-year-old.

"Young Master," Riven continued, "I’ll try to gather more information about the party and if—"

"No," Orion cut in. "Riven, stop."

"I—yes, Young Master?"

"I’m sorry," Orion said, adjusting his clothes. "You’re right. I don’t need details about the party itself. I just need to know who the girl is...and why my classmates are so fixated on her."

There was immediate movement on the other end.

"I’ll look into it right away, Young Master."

The call ended.

Orion sat on the edge of his bed.

Hormones or not...

Party or not...

There had to be a reason his classmates were so obsessed with this mysterious girl.

And the entire situation...

smelled like trouble.