We slipped outside.
The California night wrapped around us, cool and salt-scented from the ocean. My new clothes fit perfectly thanks to Aurora's shopping intervention, black jeans that actually stayed up and a dark compression shirt that didn't strain across my upgraded chest.
Three weeks ago I couldn't run a mile.
Now I was about to commit grand theft with my girlfriend, my other girlfriend, and my best friend who hated mornings.
My life had gotten extremely weird.
Belle led us north along the edge of campus where the paths grew darker and the buildings gave way to natural landscape. Trees thickened around us. The restricted section sat another half mile ahead, marked by chain-link fence and warning signs that glowed faintly in the dark.
My Treasure Sense activated automatically as we got closer. The Platinum crystal sang in my awareness like a beacon, pulsing with concentrated mana that made my teeth ache even from this distance.
