A couple of weeks later, on the 1st of October, I was on my way to Elina's place. I had finally come up with a spell that I wanted to request her to make for me, so yeah.

  I had first made sure that the spell didn't already exist, and then wrote down the specifications I wanted for it in great detail. While the idea of seeing her annoyed me, if she could pull this off, it'll come in extremely handy when I fight.

  I reached the building and entered, heading for her door. As I reached it, I rang the bell and stepped back.

  The thought of dealing with her really wasn't very appealing at all, to put it lightly. However this was something that, if it was actually possible, would be too good to pass up on.

  The door opened and she poked her head out.

  "Oh……its you."

  "'Sup, loli? I've got the specifications for the custom spell you promised you'd create for me……," I replied, holding up a small stack of papers.

  "Disrespectful as ever, I see……tch, very well then……you may come in," She responded disdainfully, opening the door all the way and letting me in.

  I suppose I could be a bit more civil than usual, considering that I had a lot to gain here. I handed the papers to her, she took them from me and began reading.

  "Here, take a look……so, do you think this would be possible?" I inquired, as she rapidly scanned the notes I had written out.

  "Hm, impressive……you have surprisingly beautiful handwriting," She muttered, as she read through it carefully.

  Ugh, never mind that, you little shrimp……can you make it or not?

  Her eyes widened with intrigue, as she raised an eyebrow while going through it.

  "……well?" I asked, struggling to hide my impatience as she finished reading my specifications.

  "Hm, this is a very interesting idea. I must admit, I have never even considered using Spell Scrolls in this way……and I doubt anyone else would have either, since a spell like this would be near impossible to create with just a single Spell Scroll……actually, and it pains me to admit this, but I am not sure if it is possible even with multiple scrolls. That being said……I shall certainly attempt it, I do not go back on my word, after all."

  Huh, guess her excessive self-esteem isn't all bad, it looks like her ego doesn't let her lie.

  "Cool……uh, in that case……I'll come back in, say, a week or so. You should be able to at least tell whether or not it's possible by then, right?"

  An insulted look appeared on her face.

  "Ahem, who do you think I am? A week? Hmph! Come back at this time tomorrow, I should have it ready by then, assuming that it is not impossible."

  Wow……really?

  She was being a lot more cooperative than usual……or wait, was I just being less uncooperative than usual?

  "Oh……awesome. Well, I guess I'll be off then-," I replied, turning and about to leave, when……

  "A moment, please. Consider this a, um……request. You may refuse if you like. I would like you to play the piano before you leave……I must admit, your skills are……quite good. Of course, I shall consider it a favor, and you may request another custom spell at a future date if you wish……," She requested hesitantly, really struggling to get the words out.

  Oh, I see now……everyone always treated her with respect and sucked up to her, so she could simply demand and they would never refuse……but I was different.

  I would never in a million years do something for someone who ordered me to do it like they were above me, that was a huge reason in why I had been so antagonizing towards my stuck-up clients in my old world……the only reason I didn't straight up kill some of them was because, well……money.

  And while she didn't know all that about me, she knew enough to know that trying to get me to do something by force was never going to work out peacefully. Huh……guess she must really want to hear me play again.

  Even though she wasn't exactly my favorite person in the world, I can't deny that this was a boost to my own ego.

  Hm, what should I do……on the one hand, I had no reason to do her a favor, and I didn't really want to either.

  On the other hand, as aggravating as I found her, her skills with creating Spell Scrolls make her a seriously useful ally to have……not to mention that it wouldn't even take me ten minutes to play a piece on the piano, so……I really had nothing to lose. And plenty to gain.

  "I suppose I could……yeah, why not?" I shrugged in reply, walking over to the grand piano at the back of the room.

  I pulled the white sheet off of it and opened the lid covering the piano tiles.

  "So, shall I play what I played last time, or something else?" I inquired, as I sat before the large musical instrument.

  "Oh, I……I shall leave that up to you," She replied after thinking it over for a second.

  Guess I'll try a different piece……let's see, how about something by Chopin?

  I took a deep breath as I ran my fingers over the keys, before starting the piece.

  Honestly, the Beethoven piece I'd played last time was the only piano piece that I could play from start to finish without or barely any mistakes, I had been made to practice it more than any other piece……overall, I think I did a decent job of performing this piece, but I also made a handful of mistakes here and there, though I managed to brush past them relatively smoothly.

  Let's just hope she didn't notice……

  "So……was that okay?" I inquired, as I finished playing and closed the lid.

  Her eyes were glossed over in wonder and she had a peaceful look on her face……

  Cool, I think it's safe to say that I pulled it off.

  "Uh……hello?"

  She snapped out of her trance as I waved a hand in front of her face.

  "Oh, er……I, uh……ahem, I thought it was fine……yes, not bad at all," She said in her usual haughty tone, nodding with a thoughtful expression while clearing her throat……

  her acting skills could use some work.

  "Well, if there's nothing else……I'll be on my way now," I remarked, before stopping and turning back, "Oh, actually……mind if ask a couple of quick questions?"

  "Hm? Very well, what is it that you want to know?"

  "Two things……first, what's your progress with adding the remote activation function to Spell Scrolls? Last time you said that you had managed to create the function but with a range limit of a five meter radius. And secondly, this is about teleportation……there's a good chance that this is already being researched, but do you think you could look into a way to make teleportation more flexible, and perhaps increase the distance limit too? For instance, what if a teleportation Spell Scroll could teleport you to a certain point from any other location that's within range, instead of being limited to back and forth between two fixed points? Hm, that explanation was a bit convoluted, maybe an example will make it clear……alright, what if you make a scroll that teleports the user to the Academy, and the user can use it from any location that's within, say, fifty kilometers. In other words, if I had that scroll, I could teleport to the Academy from the Rustlands Stadium, or from the royal castle, or from my apartment, or from anywhere else that's not farther than fifty kilometers away from the Academy."

  "Interesting……I have heard that you are one of the least talented first year students when it comes to entering command lines in Spell Scrolls……however, you appear to have a fairly impressive degree of creativity, I must admit. Hm, yes……I shall look into it, I am quite intrigued by that idea. As for the 'remote activation', as you call it, I have not made any progress on that front. Whoever came up with it is a true genius……I can somewhat see and understand what they did, but as for exactly how they did it……I do not know, I am missing a piece or two of the puzzle, I seem to get close to figuring it out at times, but to no avail. It is quite frustrating, but I welcome the challenge. Was there anything else?"

  "Nope, that's all I wanted to know, for now anyway. Well, I guess I'll be back tomorrow."

  "Oh, one more thing."

  Okay, why was this conversation getting extended so much?

  "Yeah, what is it?"

  "I would like for you to pass on a message for me. Specifically, to your friend Azyl Roake, the one with the, er……drowsy face. I had heard that he has exceptional talent with Spell Scrolls, as well as about the custom barrier he created and used on the Goldway Quest a couple of months ago, one that was powerful enough to stay fully intact after taking on a large blast from a Blood Crystal……I got a look at that scroll, and I was impressed. He has room for improvement, but given his young age, there is no denying that his skills and talent are first-class. Therefore, I would like to take him under my wing as an apprentice……you see, I take great pride in my skills, as you may know, and the best way to preserve these skills would be to pass them on to a student. However, I have been unable to find someone who had the right potential to be my apprentice, until now……," She explained.

  She wanted Az as an apprentice? Well, he certainly had the skills for it, but……

  "Sure, I'll let him know. But I should tell you ahead of time, he's very likely to turn down your offer," I informed her, as I headed for the door, "Well, this time I'm leaving for real……later, loli!"

  "Tsk……disrespectful little sh."……

  I began heading for a teleportation booth as I left her building.

  I had taken a Quest with the rest of my group in the forest area again……no, we weren't just going there to get high again, though I can't deny that we might do so at some point.

  The main reason was to train.

  I had slowly begun to restart my nightly sneaking out training sessions, currently at three nights a week, with Persia joining me every now and then.

  And as a group, we were continuing to work on our teamwork and combo moves.

  With Az having revealed the extent of his abilities, Key finally revealing her Anima, and Rai having gotten a weapon that doesn't get in everyone else's way……we were starting to make some serious progress in that department.

  And so, we were using the forest area to train together and work on our teamwork. We had settled on a default formation of four in front and one in back.

  Naturally, Azyl was the one in back, as a last line of defense and attack, using long range attacks to back the rest of us up.

  Of the remaining four of us, we were all close range fighters, I was the only one of us who had reliable long ranged attacks with my needles and lightning, but of course, I preferred to fight in close range. Since Rai had switched from a mid range weapon to a short range one, I had started training him in close range combat and how to better use his new weapon.

  After he had shown me the dexterity of his tail during our tennis match, I made him incorporate it in his fighting technique.

  I teleported near the gate that leads out to the forest area and headed out, using Lightning Boost to get to the spot where we had all agreed to meet up and train.

  The others had gone ahead of me, they must have already begun- and they're not here……actually, it looked like they hadn't even been by here yet.

  Had they not arrived yet, or……wait, don't tell me……

  I headed for the cave-tunnel that leads to the weed haven, went through it, and……

  sure enough, they were here.

  "……seriously?" I sighed in exasperation, as they all lay out sprawled on the grass.

  "O-oh, hey, Kuro……we were just uh……taking a break," Rai weakly explained sheepishly, his eyes were completely red……

  is this for real?

  "I guess I can't be surprised at you and Az……but you too, Persia and Key?" I inquired with a sigh.

  "S-sorry……we thought it'd be pointless to train with just the two of us, and we figured if they were gonna smoke……why shouldn't we?" Giggled Persia apologetically.

  Key just averted her gaze in embarrassment, rolling over and hiding her face in the grass.

  "Alright……everyone up! Try to sober up while we walk to the spot where we planned to train. Or else I'm hitting each of you with a needle coated in Confusion," I warned them, as they all groggily and unsteadily got up.

  "You're so mean sometimes, Kuro," Grumbled Persia, yawning as she rubbed her eyes.

  "You're just mad that we smoked up without you," Muttered Rai, using his tail to keep his balance and stay standing.

  I flicked a spark of lightning at his face, zapping the tip of his nose, as he let out a yelp.

  "Zip it, Raccoon Tail. Let's go."

  They painstakingly dragged their feet as they followed after me, stumbling and yawning the whole time.

  We soon reached the area where we had agreed to train, a grassy clearing with plenty of trees in it.

  More often than not, we'd be fighting in areas with plenty of obstacles, instead of areas that were wide open spaces. I needed to get them used to using the obstacles to their advantage……for instance, since this area has so many trees, instead of getting boxed in by the lack of open space, use the trees to maneuver unconventionally around your opponent, making it hard for them to predict where your next attack might come from.

  "Az, did you make it?" I inquired, as he stared back at me blankly with a stoned expression before getting what I meant.

  "Oh, yeah I did……it should work the same way as the ones used during the Brawl of Glory for the most part," He yawned, handing me a Spell Scroll.

  I'd asked him to make something like one of those 'safety net' barriers that were used in the Brawl of Glory and the exhibition matches in Goldway, the main differences being that I had asked him to make one that would cover a lot more ground within it, since five of us training would need much more space than a two person fight would, as well as to teleport a person out of it if they were about to receive any significant injury, not just a fatal one, while also taking my Healing Factor into account.

  As I activated the barrier around our training area, with us inside it, I remembered what Elina had asked me to do.

  "Oh, by the way, Az……the loli asked me to give you a message……she wants you as her apprentice, she's interested in your skills with creating spells using Spell Scrolls," I informed him.

  "Wow, are you serious? Azyl, you can't pass this up!" Exclaimed Key, after an initial look of surprise.

  "……yeah, no……hard pass."

  "You can't just 'hard pass' something like this, Az! You're being offered to be mentored by the best of the best, think of how many people would kill to be in your position right now!" Interrupted Rai enthusiastically.

  Az was starting to look pretty cornered……

  maybe I should have told him about the offer in private.

  "It is a rare and golden opportunity, but if he doesn't want to do it, it's kinda pointless to force him," Pointed out Persia, before adding, "Though it would be pretty stupid to pass up."

  "I don't really care either way, but if want my opinion……I say give it a try before making up your mind……I mean, what's the harm in trying it out for a couple of days, right? If you then decide that it's not your thing, by all means, drop it. I'm just saying, that'd be a better option than not even giving it a chance and then regretting it later on," I added.

  And besides……if his skills with creating spells improves, then I won't have to go to the loli bitch if I want a new custom spell……hehe……

  what? There's nothing wrong with a little ulterior motive, it's just human nature……

  "Uhhh……I'll……I'll think about it," He responded hesitantly.

  "Okay, now that that's out of the way……let's get to training! Oh, right……I almost forgot, are you planning anything for the day after tomorrow?" I asked Azyl.

  He looked confused, not getting what I meant.

  "Oh, the day after tomorrow……! The 3rd of October, your birthday," Exclaimed Key in realization.

  "That's right! Let's do something fun!" Grinned Rai excitedly.

  "……I just want to get high and sleep……nothing will make me happier than spending the day as relaxed as possible," Azyl responded immediately, a slight look of alarm on his face at the thought of a tiring celebration.

  Anyway, once the excitement died down and they sobered up, we FINALLY began training about an hour later.

  "Alright, use your tail to grab onto the branches and then drop down……most enemies won't even see it coming," I informed Rai, as he tried leaping up off the tree trunks and using his tail to grab a hold of a branch.

  "You're so different when in trainer-mode, Kuro!" He grinned and laughed.

  "……new rule, no talking. Now shut up and keep practicing."

  He finally got it, but then the branch snapped and broke.

  "That's fine, mistakes like that will help you better identify which branches are strong enough to support your weight……it's better to make mistakes now in training than in a real fight. Keep working on the dexterity of your tail……there's something I want to try out, but I don't think you'll be able to do it just yet……," I remarked, and began heading to see how the others were doing.

  "Wait! What's this thing you want to try? Come on, you gotta tell me!"

  "……I'll tell you after you're ready to."

  "Oh, come on……the suspense is going to kill me! You gotta tell me, man! Come on……tell me! Tell me!"

  This was getting real annoying real quick……

  "Oh my God, shut up! Fine……I was thinking of a move where I fling my dagger towards you, you catch the handle with your tail, take out your opponent, and then fling it back to me……I figured it'd be useful if you lost or broke your weapon and got cornered in a fight, or something like tha-," I reluctantly explained, wanting to avoid having him bugging me the whole time.

  "Oh, I want to try that now-!"

  "No, you can't. You don't have enough fine control over your tail yet……and I'd rather you didn't get your blood all over my dagger," I interrupted.

  I then headed over to where Persia and Key were training.

  Azyl had made some dummies out of ice for them to use as targets.

  The two girls were starting to work really well in tandem, Key was now able to keep up with Persia's agility, thanks to her increased flexibility and improved reflexes, now that she was no longer hiding her Anima. She was still very hesitant about using it in front of other people though, we'll have to work on that……

  I observed them for a bit.

  Key shot forward towards one of the ice figures and unfurled a downward diagonal slash from the left shoulder to the right hip, as Persia sprang up from behind Key's right shoulder and speared her claws through the left side of the chest.

  And then, in a simultaneous motion, they both jumped back, Key using Stream to coat her sword in flames, as Persia unfurled a blast of wind from her palm through the flaming sword, which sent out a blazing fireball at the head of the ice dummy.

  Hey, not bad……they pulled off that entire combo flawlessly, and in less than five seconds.

  In the past, Key's sword technique was too rigid in her normal state, and was hard to incorporate combos with.

  But the added agility from the full extent of her Anima had made her sword technique a lot more dynamic and adaptable, making it a lot easier to pull off combo moves.

  Alright, looks like I don't need to interfere here. Now, then……

  "Alright, Az……you ready?" I inquired, walking towards him as I stretched.

  As far as Elemental Magic goes, there was really nothing for him to work on……so instead, I was helping him work on his weakest area……hand-to-hand combat.

  He was hopeless with using weapons, we had tried everything from swords to daggers to axes to hammers to bows……you name it. None of them worked for him, though. And so, I was teaching him martial arts.

  Unlike with his Elemental Magic and General Magic skills, this didn't come naturally to him at all.

  "Is this really necessary?" He sighed, as I knocked him onto his back for the umpteenth time.

  "Yes, it is. You may have an absurdly high amount of Mana, but even your capacity isn't infinite……if we're up against large numbers and you're forced to use up all your Mana, like you did when we were attacked on the way to Goldway, you'll be completely vulnerable. Your Water Magic is one of our strongest trump cards, but we can't afford to be too dependent on it……that's why we need to expand our options as much as possible."

  He stood up with a sigh, as we continued.

  Another reason for this was that he had relatively low stamina levels.

  When we'd been running away from the Zombies, by the time we reached the gates, his legs were buckling like crazy, much more than the rest of us, despite he having been the only one who was fully rested when we started running. Yeah, he had used up a lot of Mana, but the rest of us had also been far from having a full tank.

  "I……can't……go on……," He panted, collapsing onto the grass after a few minutes.

  "Damn it, you usually last longer than this……heh, that's what she sai- okay, I'm getting off-topic. This is what happens when you get high right before training," I sighed as he refused to get back up.

  The others were starting to look pretty worn out too……

  As we all gathered in the middle, I glanced around at them. Now, then……

  "Well, looks like we're done for today……but first, I need to get in some training of my own. Let's see……Rai and Key, tag-team me. I want the both of you to attack me at the same time with everything you've got," I remarked, drawing out my blades.

  "Hey, that sounds like fun," Grinned Rai, activating his Lightning Boost and using Stream on his scythe.

  Not only would this make them better at fighting alongside each other, but it also gives me the opportunity to improve my technique for when I'm outnumbered.

  Rai could now use Lightning Boost with full control at a x3 boost, but his movements were a bit clumsy with it since he didn't stream lightning into his eyes, so his vision struggled to keep up with the increase in speed.

  Key drew out her sword, using Stream to coat it in flames, as she used the full extent of her Anima.

  I activated Lightning Boost at x2.7, as they carefully approached me, from either side……

  I'll try not to use Karma, I don't want to become overly reliant on it. And there's no need for Bloodlust Mode either.

  Rai shot towards my right while Key approached from my left.

  I ducked under the horizontal swing of his scythe, before parrying her downward vertical slash into the ground with my dagger and swiping my short-sword at her neck. She quickly ducked backwards, the tip of my blade just barely nicking her chin.

  Rai swiped the handle of his scythe upwards at my head, I sprang back to avoid it and flung a throwing knife at his chest. Key deflected the knife away using her sword, as Rai shot forward and unfurled a rapid, diagonal swing at my left shoulder. I used Stream on my dagger and blocked his strike, neither of us getting electrocuted as the lightning coating both our weapons canceled each other out.

  I raised my sword to strike him, when Key appeared to his left and blocked my downward slash. With both my hands clashing against their weapons, Rai opened his mouth and blasted a bolt of lightning at my head. I quickly tilted my head out of the way, the tip of my ear getting fried.

  Key then intensified the flames engulfing her blade, my grip on my sword beginning to loosen as my palm started sweating.

  Damn it……I was the one who had suggested using her flames like this, it was kinda backfiring on me now.

  I then sprang back again, as they immediately shot forward, giving me no room to recover.

  They were making sure to each attack one side of me, in order to keep my arms spread out on either side, preventing me from bringing them close together.

  I deflected and parried Key's flaming slashes away, but before I could counter, I had to defend myself against Rai's scythe swings.

  When he had first started using this weapon, his wide and slightly wild swings left a ton of openings to take advantage of, but he was starting to use it a lot more efficiently.

  He still had a lot of room for improvement, but he was leaving much fewer openings than before. Key thrust her blade at my head, I evaded it and drove my short-sword towards her shoulder, grazing the side of her arm as she moved out of the way.

  Rai then began spinning the scythe in his hands and unfurled a barrage of swings at my left, I deflected them with my dagger, but the force of his strikes were destabilizing my balance.

  Ordinarily, Key wouldn't be able to keep up with my Lightning Boost, and I would probably beat her without much trouble in a one-on-one fight, even with her Anima unrestricted……but by backing up Rai like this, she could take advantage of any openings that he creates, while he covers for her lack of speed.

  Well, it looks like I can't beat the two of them as a pair with just Lightning Boost……

  I extracted five percent Karma, as her sword went through my right shoulder, and his scythe went through my left side.

  Before they could pull back their weapons, I grabbed onto their arms.

  "I'll concede defeat……I was planning on winning without using this, so……," I shrugged as I zapped them both with black lightning sparks, the pair of them letting out yelps as I did.

  Both their knees buckled and they fell over, Rai hitting the ground first as Key landed on top of him.

  It wasn't enough to knock them out, just to make them too numb to stand up for a few seconds. Effectively speaking……I had tasered them.

  I pulled out their weapons from my body and healed the injuries, as I put away my blades, while funneling the Karma I'd extracted back into the Mana Orb.

  "H-hey, watch your hands!" Stuttered Key, as she struggled to get off of him.

  "S-sorry, my body is numb and hard to control," He replied apologetically, trying to move his hands away.

  He had fallen on his back, and his hands had been near his chest, while she had fallen back and across, her left shoulder landing on the right side of his chest, but as she tried to move and get up, she lost her balance and slipped, ending up face to face with him.

  Never thought I'd see something like this in real life. It was like one of those physics defying 'accidents' you see in harem animes……

  "This is embarrassing to look at……," I sighed, before adding, "Just relax, you two……the numbness will wear off any second now and you'll be able to get u."

  I was interrupted as Key reflexively let out a moan and slapped Rai, as his hand accidentally slipped onto her chest.

  This was playing out in such a clichéd manner……

  Wait, was this my fault?

  I had been the one who zapped them……well, I suppose I could have used a bit less voltage on them.

  They finally managed stand up, though their legs were kinda wobbly. Key's face was a deep red, and Rai was pretty quiet and fidgety too.

  It was a bit awkward as we deactivated the barrier and began heading back……no one really said anything.

  Usually, Rai was the one who broke awkward silences, but right now, he was one of the two who were the reason for the awkward silence. Persia, Az and I are not really the type of people who start conversations.

  This was……uncomfortable.

  "H-hey, Az……I'll be heading to the loli's place tomorrow to collect the custom spell I requested, assuming she was able to do it……you wanna tag along, give the whole apprentice thing a try?" I finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

  "Hm……sure. I'll come by your place in the afternoon," He responded.

  "Cool, sounds like a plan."……

  for the rest of our walk back to the country walls, the awkward silence was never broken even once……

  The next day, Azyl and I made our way to the loli's place.

  I was brimming with anticipation, I couldn't wait to see whether she had actually been able to create the spell I asked for.

  We reached the building and entered it, heading for her door. She let us in as we rang the bell.

  "I assume this means you are interested in becoming my apprentice?" She inquired to Azyl, as she shut the door after we entered.

  Straight to the point, huh?

  "Uh, well……," He began hesitantly.

  "He'll start off on a trial basis, and later decide whether he wants to stay on or quit……," I explained, before adding, "So, uh……about the spell I asked for……"

  "Hm? Oh, yes……I created it. Just a minute," She replied, walking over to a drawer and opening it, pulling out a pair of scrolls, "I did attempt to create this spell using a single scroll, but implementing both functions in just one scroll wasn't possible……these two scrolls are linked, this one performs the first function, and this one performs the second function. And here, I've listed the limitations of both functions on this sheet of paper."

  She handed me the two scrolls and the paper, I took them from her and scanned over the limitations she had listed on the paper.

  Hm, these limitations are……not a problem at all, I can definitely work with these!

  "Awesome, these are going to make a big difference!" I grinned, putting them away in my pouches and adding, "Well, I'll be off then, later Az. You know what……maybe you're not all that bad, Elolina."

  Oh, crap……I had accidentally combined Elina and loli into one word. Too bad it was unintentional, wish I had come up with that deliberately. Anyway, I should leave before she tries to cast some weird spell on me again……

  "Hold on, before you go……," She stopped me.

  Goddammit, here it comes……! I began to slowly move my left hand towards my dagger……

  "……could you play something on the piano?"

  Quick, I need to kill her before she casts something on m……!……

  huh?……

  that's it?

  _____________________________________________

  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

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