Proofreader: Me!

  With the furious sparring sessions over, sweat and body odour had found itself among all of us. My nose had been reacting strongly, but Reinhardt had employed some spell to remove everyone’s smell. Anyhow, I would learn that no matter what.

  Everyone was resting as the professor approached us all with a notebook and pen in his hands.

  “The next session I will hand you a paper detailing all of your weaknesses, furthermore, I will relay such information to any other combat professors you may have. If there are no questions, you are all dismissed.”

  The only response was the huffing and puffing of the students, which he promptly took as an opportunity to leave. Just as quickly, our classmates had cleared out the field.

  “It was nice seeing you, Luke, even if you were slightly exaggerated by Julz here. But, I do prefer the real you a lot more,” Lyuga nodded proudly.

  “Exaggeration? When have I ever lied about my subordinate?” Julia closed in on Lyuga threatening to smack him.

  “All you ever spout are lies!” From behind the three of us, the girl from earlier shouted.

  “How dare you accuse me! The heir to a Ducal family!” Julia retorted with a smile on her face.

  I stepped back, unable to detach myself from the familiar dread she exuded.

  “Luke, you don’t look so good. Need me to take you to the infirmary?” Lyuga halted to ask me.

  I shook my head, “No I’m fine… and uhm, who exactly is she?”

  “The name’s Rebecca Lario, future successor to the Alexander Kingdom’s Lario Wares,” The girl answered for him.

  That merchant company, I swore they did not exist at this point in time. It could possibly be the butterfly effect of Hell’s Paradise and was likely the only real answer.

  Yet, that thought alone wasn’t able to calm my nerves.

  “Nice to meet you!” Rebecca held out her hand, waiting for me to take it.

  I hesitated, meeting eyes with both Lyuga and Julia who looked somewhat concerned. They knew that my reaction wasn’t like how I would react normally.

  ‘Curse it! Screw my gut, just this once!’

  “Likewise, the name’s Luke,” I spoke with a forced smile.

  The moment our hands touched, my entire body overcame with goosebumps. My surroundings blurred as Rebecca’s figure turned translucent. Instant regret lumped within my throat as I struggled to make a noise.

  Instead of faltering there, I immediately let go of her hand and put mine on the hilt of my sword.

  “Who… who are you!” I yelled as my senses stabilised.

  On the verge of attacking, Lyuga grabbed my arm preventing me from taking any further action. Julia tackled me from the side, holding my face with her hands.

  “Get a grip!” She screamed with her nose almost touching mine.

  “Hu… huu…”

  I let go of my sword, taking deep breaths. In that moment of recuperation, Rebecca’s expression became clear to me. I grit my teeth unsure of what to think of it.

  For now, only three outcomes made sense to me, and none of them were pleasant. If something like that were to be let loose, then…

  ‘Dammit. Should I just kill her now?’

  Lyuga’s voice cut me out of my head, “Julz, is he fine now?”

  “Luke, look at me!” Julia’s hands scrunched up my cheeks further.

  I shoved her hands away, “I am! Let go!”

  “Oh…” She sounded somewhat disappointed, but I ignored it.

  Opposite to me, Lyuga approached Rebecca. Their expressions weren’t enthused but anger was not included within it. It looked like he whispered something to her, but it was lost to me. However, it seemed to change her very essence.

  It was almost as if her mana’s nature changed, from extraterrestrial to human.

  “Sorry!” She bowed profusely, tears threatening to shower. “I really mean it! Something like that shouldn’t have happened…”

  I was massaging my temples until she trailed off. She and Lyuga were hiding a secret from the both of us.

  “Eh! What? So it was your fault!” Julia stood up in front of me, accusing Rebecca. “I knew I could… could never trust you!”

  Through the face Rebecca made, my suspicions numbed with how pitiful she looked.

  Not willing to be thought of as a traitor, she fired back instantly. “It’s not like that! I never knew my ability would have some kind of abnormal side effect when nothing’s ever happened before!”

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  “Grrrrr…” Julia scowled, unable to forgive her that easily.

  The stalemate continued while me and Lyuga exchanged glances. Both of us nodded and took action.

  “Atta girl, let’s stop the barking now,” I put my hands on Julia’s shoulders.

  “Hmmm!?” She turned red.

  “What Luke said, we should give the two some space,” Lyuga spoke to Rebecca.

  “Yes…” She pouted looking at the ground.

  Feeling pity, I offered Rebecca a proposal. “We can have a better discussion tomorrow, maybe around lunch. Then I’ll forget what happened, capiche?”

  Out of the three outcomes I had imagined, it seemed there was a fourth. She was a unique ability holder, just like me. It wasn’t an obvious conjecture, but considering that Julia and Lyuga seemed aware of it, that was the most reasonable scenario.

  There was just one issue, why would that ability of hers conflict with mine? I could only guess that unique abilities were not friendly toward each other, maybe opposing sources of mana, or…

  “Luke, we have to hurry to the next class or we’ll miss it!” Julia gripped my arm, hurrying me along.

  “Well, what class would that be?” I raised my eyebrows.

  Julia gasped while dragging me forward, “General Magic Studies!”

  “Were you going to force me into joining if I didn’t plan to take it?” I questioned.

  “Shut it, commoner! Move those legs!” She shouted as she let me go.

  I met her pace through the use of enhancements, but I didn’t expect that she had already become that fast. In terms of achievements, I felt immeasurably lacking.

  -x-

  “Hah… hah… we barely made it!” Julia was gasping and holding her knees.

  On the other hand, I was breathing normally. In fact, I hadn’t sweat at all. That by itself lifted my spirits… my vitality had always been my strongest stat before mana had been.

  “I can feel your condescending gaze, commoner!” She announced even though I hadn’t said anything.

  “Hmm? What are you saying, just go in already,” I played innocent and pushed her inside.

  ‘Oh…’

  The room’s free space was infinitely more compact than Ancient History. I recognised almost all the important students without much effort. There were also others standing at the back due to the lack of chairs.

  ‘Isn’t this convenient?’ I mused sarcastically.

  I looked down meeting Julia’s cheeky eyes. She giggled, seemingly having something up her sleeve.

  “Arrrreeeee yooouuuu two… the last students?”

  By that irritating voice, it had to be Mary.

  “Plleeeeasssee siiiittt down… or sttaaannndd uuup~”

  My head threatened to shut off through every syllable she pronounced.

  “Luke! Here, sit on this,” Julia pointed toward a deformed piece of wood.

  Looking at it closely, it seemed she tore a piece of wood from the ground and moulded it into a stump.

  ‘On second thought, telekinesis was pretty enticing.’

  I briefly gazed at the surrounding students, some had amused expressions but most of them were jealous. Either that I was sitting next to someone pretty, or because I was able to sit down. It seemed to be the latter that they were envious of though.

  “Toooodaaayyy weee wiiiilll beegiiin wiiiittthh theee bassiiiiccs~” Mary’s voice triggered some kind of sleeper mode within me.

  My eyes were fluttering unable to remain open the more she taught. Unfortunately, Julia was aware of such happenings and pinched my arm to keep me awake.

  “Commoner, as my subordinate keep at least a sliver of decorum!” She demanded with an angry whisper.

  The class wasn’t anything interesting, however anyone here needed to take it. Mana was the backbone of everything we did, mages and swordsmen alike.

  Although, for swordsmen, it takes the form of something the natives here called ‘Aura.’ There were about seven stages for both paths. Haruto used Ki, so he followed a different path of power, but it could be combined with mana.

  For mages, they went by Foundation, Consolidation, Advanced, Evolutionary, Transcendental, Supreme, and lastly, Deity. Each stage represented the state of one’s mana core and thus is also used to rank magic based on what each can manage.

  For Swordsmen, if I remember correctly, it had been… Fledgling, Basic, Expert, Master, Grandmaster, Sacred Wielder…

  ‘Ouch! There is definitely a seventh one but… I can’t grasp it.’

  I rubbed my head as I felt a headache come on. Regardless, similarly to Mages each stage represented the body’s state in holding and controlling mana, or aura to use the common term.

  “Reeeemmmeeemmbeeerrr! Swwoooorrdsssmeennn cannoooott ussseeee morree thann Foundation magiiiicc~”

  It was perfect timing, but that was precisely the reason I was hell-bent on learning Magic Missile earlier. There were ways to supplement the lack of mana, but the main reason I didn’t learn anything higher was due to that restriction.

  I could not use the techniques of a swordsman if I formed a mana core, as it would delegate the mana around the body into one organ. As a result, mages can strengthen their body, but only in short bursts.

  Swordsmen prefer to circulate mana throughout their body to strengthen it entirely, allowing for movements that should be impossible. For example, Abel is capable of stepping through space, a form of teleportation.

  By the world’s law, it was impossible to embody these two paths.

  Although, that was what I had once thought. Fjleora’s technique of breathing which drew in mana from the surroundings, could potentially be used to conjure spells. Due to the nature of a spirit, which is a body of mana-given consciousness, it could do either thing. Which meant I could become an abomination in the world of combat if I replicated their functions to an extent.

  [Master! We already discussed how you weren’t ready yet!]

  I shooed away the voice in my head, but she was right. I would have to be in the Expert stage for my manipulation of mana to become that sublime.

  The status board would keep track of one’s progress once they begin undertaking either path. Simply thinking about the three years I had to spend in the academy drained me of energy.

  For reference, Fen started with the stage of Basic and Serina at Consolidation. Although, it hadn’t shown up on my appraisals as I haven’t begun a path yet.

  Also, about Serina… I was certain she was at least at the stage of Transcendental, based on what she has done so far. Her Ultimate Magic was unlocked at the stage of Supreme, but she was also using it at the expense of life force.

  For some reason, that didn’t seem right either. It was more like she drew power from the future, rather than her current state.

  ‘Urgh, whatever. At the very least before the end, I should be at the sixth stage of swordsmanship… How fun.’