[Susan Storm's POV]
Julius and the training robot went into round two. In his eyes, I could see that he was holding back.
'If he's holding back, then whatever it is must be more lethal than what he's shown.'
That was probably why he was slightly disappointed when he didn't see Reed, but the robot. He tried acting normal, but the twitch I saw when I showed him the robot wasn't hidden at all.
Julius ducked. The robot moved with hydrokinesis, a superconcentrated water jet piercing towards Julius. The water got stopped by that strange barrier Julius used.
'I wonder if he can automate that barrier?'
If he could, then he was pretty much safe from most things. Bullets wouldn't work, fists wouldn't connect, nor would abilities that couldn't bypass it. Off the top of my head, I could think of a few people who wouldn't even register the skill. They would eradicate him, but there were plenty of people whose abilities wouldn't work against him.
Unfortunately for him, most of those people knew how to adapt, so I couldn't be sure how long it worked against them.
'There you go!'
I cheered from the side. His barrier came up quickly, stopping the training robot. The robot followed up, but once again, the barrier stopped it as if it had never gone down. Blood trickled down Julius's face, but the smile on his face spoke volumes.
The robot seeing the situation…
"Entering level 2."
Its speed skyrocketed, and it entered dual-casting mode. Instead of just using things individually, it was turning up the pressure. Water and fire converged at slightly different intervals; I would assume trying to beat the invisible barrier surrounding Julius.
Julius tried and failed to handle the incoming attacks. His skills with his barrier were improving with every move. Seeing how hard he was working despite being limited put a gentle smile on my face. I took out my phone to do his little girlfriend a favor.
Click~
'And send.'
Almost instantly, the reply came.
[Felicia: HUBBY! 😍😍]
"Pffhehehe~" I tried to keep it down so as not to distract Julius, but Felicia was too funny. Even though she looked so mature, her personality was so childish.
[Me: He's practicing hard. Don't go playing a prank on him when he gets home.]
[Felicia: How did you know?!]
[Me: You're very easy to understand.]
[Felicia: 🤓]
[Me: Send me that again and I won't send any more pics.]
[Felicia: 😙😙😙I don't know what you're talking about!]
[Me: 😐]
I took another picture, sent it, and put my phone away. That girl was what I imagined having a little sister would be like. Hell. Given how Johnny sometimes acts, I wish I had a little sister to spoil. The distraction would help from that hot-head's antics.
"I GOT IT! YES! YES! YES!"
I jumped from Julius's loud outburst. His eyes snapped toward me, vanishing and reappearing in front of me like a phantom.
"Thank you!"
He hugged me with so much enthusiasm. Normally, my first instinct would be to tear off the person who tried, but seeing him somewhat act his age stopped me from doing so.
'He's more of a kid than I thought.' I shook my head and let him hug me. He didn't do anything weird, and it was clearly something out of pure excitement.
Once he calmed down, Julius realized what he had done. It was cute watching him back away with his eyes staring holes into the ground.
"I-I'm so sorry!" His face flushed red, making me giggle.
"Felicia really picked a good one, didn't she? You're adorable." I ruffled his hair like I would Johnny's when he was younger. He didn't say anything, just rubbing the back of his neck as I felt the heat rising from his head.
A few moments passed, and I finally let him go. He teleported back to the training robot that patiently waited for him. The two were going for round three. I wasn't sure what he would benefit from it now; however, I didn't stop him. My mind moved elsewhere, completely unrelated to the hardworking boy.
'Reed. I really want a kid now.' I rubbed my stomach, anticipating that lovely night. If only he hadn't gotten distracted by that political nonsense, we could have already started.
We finally started dating, and of course, the world had to intervene to stop us from celebrating.
"Huh? You're back?"
"I put it in rest mode. I figured I should pay you back for helping me, so need help with anything?"
"Don't worry about such things, Julius." I flicked his forehead, raising a brow. "What caused you to react like that earlier?"
His sky-like eyes radiated stars. "I finally got the automation process for infinity down!"
"Infinity? That's the barrier you use, right?"
Reed had explained something about it, but I completely forgot about what he said.
"Yep!"
"If it's automated, then why isn't it working now?"
"Huh?" Julius tilted his head, looking at me like it was common sense. "Because it only targets attacks, and because I trust you. There's no need for it to defend against you."
"What if someone copies my appearance?"
"Hahaha~ then I would know, no problem." He tapped the side of his eyes. "I couldn't mistake you if I tried."
"How about Reed?"
"Same thing."
"Johnny?"
"I think he can put a sock in it." He rolled his eyes, still holding a slight aggravation with my little brother.
"Still upset that he frightened your girlfriend?"
"Yes."
I giggled at his honesty. I couldn't fault him, nor would I try to fix his problem with Johnny. That idiot little brother had to be the one to fix this problem.
"Want to go get some food?" I asked.
"You sure? What if someone tried to spread rumors?"
"Rumors?"
"Well, if they see you with me, alone, they might try saying I'm your boyfriend or something."
I groaned, "Yeah, you're definitely right on that one. How about we order DoorDash?"
"Italian?"
"It can be Italian."
"Sweet!" He fist-pumped the air, running off to the living room.