I let out a yawn and closed my eyes……before opening them as I felt a sharp pinch to my side.

  It was the middle of November now, and exams were fast approaching.

  That night, after Persia pushed herself into losing control, she sort of attacked me and ripped one of my arms off, but I managed to snap her out of it before she could do any more damage.

  We had ended it there for that night, and had been sneaking out of the walls every night since then to work on her control. Not gonna lie, the first few nights were rough, I lost quite a few outfits.

  But after that, things started to take a positive turn……progress was slow, but steady.

  In the meantime, I had been working on Karma and Lightning Boost. I was still stuck at x2.7 with the latter, but I had made a bit of progress with Karma. I could use five percent for ninety-five seconds, ten percent for thirty seconds, and fifteen percent for eight seconds.

  That improvement prompted me to try extracting twenty percent, but it took just two seconds for my kidney to burst, one of my lungs to collapse and my windpipe to implode. So……I guess I'm not ready for that yet.

  Back to the present……we were studying for exams.

  This is the worst.

  Don't forget how many days I missed while walking back from Goldway, so my workload was even higher than the others.

  "Hey, no dozing off!" Snapped Persia, as I reluctantly opened my eyes and stared in dread at the pile of notes in front of me.

  We were all currently at Rai's place, having a group study thing.

  I was feeling really lethargic, mainly because this was boring as hell, but also because I had been sneaking out to train Persia every single night.

  "This is the worrrrrst……!" I sighed with a groan, "Zombies were easier to deal with than studying."

  "Stop being an idiot. Look, even Rai is taking this seriously and studying."

  "Hey, what's that supposed to-?" He began indignantly.

  "I'm too tired……! Can we just like get high or something, I'll start studying tomorrow!"

  "Kuro……no."

  "Could you guys keep it down……it's hard to focus," Grumbled Key irritably.

  I gave in and began poring over the notes……

  five minutes later……

  "Ahhh! I can't do this, all these notes just look like gibberish, there's so many of them too!" I groaned, burying my face in the pile of papers.

  "……I've seen you go to the library pretty often, you don't seem to have a problem reading then," Remarked Key, rolling her eyes.

  "Yeah, well……I go to the library to read about stuff that I want to know or am interested in……but I don't want to know any of this crap, and I'm sure as hell not interested in it, it's so boring! Did I mention that I'm tired?"

  It's a lot easier to pay attention and stay focused when studying about something you're interested in.

  "Yeah……I get what you mean……all this information is kinda pointless to know," Sighed Rai, dropping his pen onto the table.

  "Great, now you've killed this idiot's motivation too……," Groaned Key, glaring at Rai as he sheepishly picked his pen back up in response.

  "Come on, Kuro……think about it, it's just for a couple of months, and then we're done with our first year if we pass! Would you really be okay with remaining a first year while the rest of us move on to being second years?" Inquired Persia.

  Damn it, stop making logical arguments, I can't counter those when my behavior isn't following logic……

  "You know……I'm only tired because of you, we don't get much sleep these nights," I remarked, referring to our nightly training sessions, but wording it so that……you know.

  Rai was taking a sip of water as I said that, before choking and coughing. Key turned her head down awkwardly and pretended to focus on her notes. Az was the same as always.

  "Y-you idiot, don't w-word it like that, it's misleading! Wait, y-you did that on purpose, didn't you?" Sighed Persia, hitting my shoulder as her face turned red, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

  Well, that was fun for a second or two……

  Ughhhh, fine……I guess I'll just power through this……

  The following night, Persia and I made our way out of the walls as usual, heading for the Goblin cave. The other day, we almost ran into a group of Adventurers who were returning late from a Quest, it was pretty rare to run into someone out here at this time, we just about barely managed to keep from being spotted.

  Given that I wasn't very popular amongst the full-fledged Adventurers, they probably wouldn't hesitate to report it if they caught me sneaking out. But I had really gotten used to using this area to train, it was comfortable somehow. Monsters never bothered us since the Goblins were afraid of me, and probably of Persia too.

  As we reached the clearing, we stood facing each other.

  "Alright, you ready?" I asked her softly.

  "Yeah, I am……," She nodded, as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

  It's about time that I explained.

  She has a Retractable Anima. Retractable Animas usually manifest at random, but there's another way they can appear too……

  When a person undergoes extreme levels of anxiety and terror, their Anima could forcibly manifest as a defense mechanism, and the forced manifestation leads to some pretty drastic mutations.

  And unlike regularly manifested Animas, forcibly manifested Retractable Animas turn the user's state of mind feral and animalistic, as part of the whole defense mechanism.

  However, it isn't sustainable for long, and once it reaches its limit, the mutations significantly retract and returns the user to their normal state of mind. Because of how feral the full extent of the forcibly extracted Retractable Anima makes the user's mind, they can barely remember anything they do while in that state.

  Of course, this happening was extremely rare. In the first place, not many people can survive the required levels of terror it takes to manifest, and even under those conditions, the probability is quite low.

  I was training her to control it. How, you ask?

  By slowly extending the Retractable Anima bit by bit instead of using the full extent right away. It took three nights before she figured out how to retract and un-retract her Anima, but she lost control right away, the full extent of the Anima forcing itself out immediately.

  And let me tell you, she is crazy powerful in that form.

  Her fingernails grow long and curved into ridiculously sharp claws, her reflexes are beyond superhuman, and her speed and strength are significantly greater than mine would be even with x2.7 Lightning Boost and twenty percent Karma combined.

  As for the physical mutations, silky jet-black fur covered her entire body, her limbs grew more limber and flexible, her teeth and claws grew sharper and the fur on her tail grew thicker. Her eyesight also improved tremendously, her reaction time was beyond incredible.

  Thankfully, whenever she attacked me, I just grabbed onto her and spoke to her gently, and she usually snapped out of it, the Anima retracting immediately. She had been really conflicted and apprehensive about the fact that I was getting so severely injured each time, but I managed to convince her to keep going.

  With my Healing Factor and threshold for pain, it wasn't a problem at all for me, but it wasn't easy to convince her of that.

  It took about eight days before she could use a fraction of her Retractable Anima, but she could still lose control at the drop of a hat.

  It had been a little over a week since then, and she could now use about a quarter of the full extent of her Retractable Anima without losing control. In this state, her teeth grew sharp, her limbs grew stronger, and her fingernails grew into claws, same with her toes.

  She was about twice as strong and fast as she was in her normal state. In this state, she could keep up with my Lightning Boost at x2.2 without even having to use Propulsion.

  On that note, her Elemental Magic doesn't get stronger when she uses more of her Anima, which means that if she uses Propulsion, it'll be at the exact same speed as it is in her normal form.

  In other words, when using the full extent of her Anima, it would be pointless to use Propulsion because her natural physical speed in that state is much faster that the speed she can reach with Propulsion.

  To help her visualize how much to use, I had her mentally divide the full extent of her Retractable Anima into four quarters, and work on controlling one quarter at a time before looking to increase her degree of control over to the next quarter.

  Now then, back to the present.

  Persia took off her gloves and released a quarter of the full extent of her Retractable Anima, her teeth and claws growing out, as her limbs strengthened.

  "Alright……now think angry thoughts, while avoiding losing control. You need to be able to maintain control even if you lose your cool. Otherwise, if you get agitated while using it in a fight, you'll likely control."

  She nodded and closed her eyes, as her expression turned into a frown.

  "Heh……you look so fierce like this……it's kinda sexy," I grinned with a laugh.

  I just couldn't resist.

  She opened her eyes and glared at me red-faced.

  "Sh-shut up, I'm trying to focus here," She growled with a pout, before closing her eyes again, focusing on her negative thoughts while maintaining control over the current extent of her Anima.

  After about five minutes, she opened her eyes and eased her expression, taking deep breaths to calm herself.

  "Way to go, Kitty Cat……are you up for a sparring bout, or……?"

  "Yeah, let's do it!" She replied, crouching on all fours to get ready.

  I nodded and took my stance, drawing out my blades. Oh, let me clarify……I had carved wooden replicas of my blades to use for training.

  "Alright, I'll be using Lightning Boost at x2.5, try to beat me without using Propulsion," I instructed, as she nodded in reply.

  Like I said, her current speed could keep up with me at my x2.2 boost, which meant she'd still be faster with Propulsion, but I wanted to get her used to using her strengthened body. And besides, by setting Propulsion aside, she can really make full use of her enhanced reflexes and agility.

  I had narrowed down my estimate of how much her Anima increases her power the more of it she uses……she was currently using about a quarter of the full extent, which approximately doubled her overall abilities. Meanwhile, the full extent of it had more or less been a good five times higher than her normal state.

  Given that……I estimate that each quarter of the full extent of the Retractable Anima gives her an increase of about a hundred percent.

  Assuming that her normal state is a hundred percent, then her current state was around two hundred percent……and using half of the full extent of her Retractable Anima would be three hundred percent, three quarters of the full extent would be four hundred percent, and the full extent is five hundred percent.

  Approximately.

  Her Propulsion could just about keep up with my x2.7 boost, and her speed would definitely exceed that when using half or more of the full extent……which meant that if she was using half or more of the full extent of her Retractable Anima, her Propulsion technique would become redundant.

  As we were about to begin our sparring session, an idea hit me.

  "Hey, since you're not using Propulsion to move around while using your Retractable Anima……why don't you use it as a weapon instead? Like instead of blasting it out to propel yourself, shoot it out like an arrow or spear of wind at your opponent," I suggested.

  "Okay……I'll try," She nodded, after mulling it over for a bit.

  We then began.

  She shot towards me on all fours, before rapidly turning to the right, jumping onto a rock, and then springing off of it towards me. She swung her claws at me, I stepped back to avoid it and lightly zapped her neck.

  Electric shocks can feel really, really annoying, so it was a good way to keep her in an agitated state of mind while she tried to maintain control. If she could maintain control even while her mind isn't calm and relaxed, she should be able to start attempting to control more of the Retractable Anima much sooner.

  As I dodged and zapped her, she quickly recovered and turned towards me, I was just barely able to regain my balance before she struck again, swinging her foot up and across at my chest with incredible flexibility. I blocked the kick with my left arm, nearly knocking me off balance as I kinda overlooked the fact that her strength was increased too, not just her speed.

  I used my right hand to zap her again, this time on her side, before I quickly sprang back. She immediately shot forward, spearing her claws towards the middle of my chest. She had bent her fingers inwards a bit so that the claws wouldn't pierce me.

  I pivoted on my right foot to avoid it, her hand brushed past my chest, and before her momentum could take her past me, she fluidly transferred the momentum to her left foot and pivoted on it with stunning agility, so that she was facing me.

  When she uses Propulsion, if I'm able to evade a charging strike from her, she can't do much to stop the momentum that carries her past me, but now that she was using her own natural physical abilities instead of Propulsion, she was able to take full advantage and make full use of her insanely high agility.

  As I began to jump back, she kicked up at my left hand, knocking my wooden dagger up in the air. In a flash, she sprang up towards it, rapidly twisted her body in mid-air, and kicked the airborne dagger back down at me.

  I deflected it away with my wooden short-sword, and began to fire some light sparks at her while she was in the air……before I could, she fired out a blast of wind from her hand straight upwards, rapidly speeding up her descent.

  She then dashed forward towards me and fired a blast of wind from her palm. I jumped over it with my body parallel to the ground, and then twisted my body to unfurl an airborne, horizontal spin kick at her shoulder as she neared me.

  She blocked the kick using her forearms, and then blew out a blast of wind at me from her mouth.

  Given that I was in mid-air and I had used up all my momentum in that kick……there was no way I could dodge this.

  "Guess you win this round, Cat Girl," I sighed, as she knocked me onto my back.

  "Yeah, but I can't really be too satisfied……you are going easy on me, you know."

  "Not by much……x2.5 and x2.7 aren't that different."

  "That aside, you aren't using Karma, and you were definitely pulling your punches, I know you can hit a lot harder than that. You were using really weak lightning bolts too."

  "Okay, all that can be explained. Regarding Karma……I don't know, using it against you just feels……wrong. And yeah, I might not be putting my full strength into my punches……but you were bending your fingers so that your claw thrusts don't pierce me, you know. As for the low voltage lightning……I don't want to hurt you or anything," I explained sheepishly.

  "……fine, I guess I can't really argue when you put it like that. Let's keep going for a while longer," She suggested, as I got back on my feet.

  "Sure, I don't mind……you're showing some extra drive tonight, aren't you?"

  "That's not it……are you forgetting about exams……after tonight, until exams are over, we'll only be training, uh……let's see……two nights a week! After all……we can't have you being too tired to study……right?" She inquired with a firm smile that said 'just try and argue, I'm not budging on this'.

  "……"

  "……"

  "……right……yes, ma'am."……

  A couple of days later, it was after classes and we were in an empty classroom with the rest of Group D.

  We were currently, ugh……studying.

  The combat and Elemental Magic exams weren't a concern for me, it was the written exam and the General Magic exam that I was very much in danger of failing.

  I was as hopeless as ever with Spell Scrolls, and could still barely even create the most basic of barriers without using a guidebook. Even in my old life, where so many skills just came naturally to me, coding was the one thing I was totally useless at……and Spell Scroll command lines are even more complicated than coding languages.

  "……you know, now that I think about it……staying a Student Adventurer might not be that bad……yeah, I bet being a full-fledged official Adventurer is overrated anyway," I groaned in defeat, as I stared at the large pile of notes in front of me.

  How was I supposed to memorize all this, anyway?

  "Hey, don't just give up without even trying," Persia sighed exasperatedly.

  "I'm not giving up, I'm facing reality……this is impossible."

  "Dude, even for you, that's some serious pessimism. Well, not that I can't relate……this is the worst," Agreed Rai, as he painstakingly revised his notes.

  The door then swung open and someone poked their head in, scanning the room.

  "Oh hey, Vi……are you looking for someone?" Greeted Persia, as the familiar head with kangaroo ears walked in.

  "Yeah, I was actually looking for you guys! Well, more specifically……you, Kuro. First years are now eligible for duels right? I want a rematch for the Brawl of Glory!" She challenged me with a grin.

  Oh, that's right……thanks to studying for exams and training Persia, it had completely slipped my mind that students could challenge and be challenged to duels starting from the last two months of the first year……it was kinda weird timing considering that final exams were just around the corner, but right now……I definitely wasn't complaining.

  "Sorry, Vi……we're studying for our final ex-," Began Persia.

  "Alright, let's do this!" I interrupted immediately, standing up without hesitation.

  "Kuro, you-!" Persia began to complain.

  "I'll study after the duel is over, 'kay? Come on, it'll only take a few minutes or so."

  "……fine, but you better start studying seriously after you're done."

  "Awesome! Let's go to a training hall!" Exclaimed Vi enthusiastically.

  In order to fight someone in an official duel, you need three things……a person to issue the challenge, a person to accept the challenge, and an instructor to supervise. The instructors report the results of the duel to the Academy, which are used for the ranking system.

  "You know, I just realized……the rest of The Big Five are all graduating in less than a couple of months, meaning you'll be the number one ranked Student Adventurer at the Academy," I remarked, as we headed through the hallway to find an instructor who could supervise us.

  "Oh, wow……you're right……it's weird to think about……," She responded in surprise……

  A few minutes later, we were in one of the larger training halls inside the Academy, with one of those safety barriers around us.

  We had run in to Instructor Liga Dile and asked him to supervise our duel, to which he agreed. He would signal the start of the duel, and then report who won after one of us gets teleported out of the barrier by the other.

  I decided against using Bloodlust Mode……I didn't want to let my sadistic side out against her, she was always friendly towards me and the others so I'd rather not hurt her too much.

  Persia and the others were here too, watching from outside the barrier.

  "Three……two……," Instructor Dile began counting down, as I drew out my blades and activated Lightning Boost, "ONE!"

  Vi sprang forward, closing the gap with a single leap in the blink of an eye. She swung a rapid kick across me as she reached me.

  I quickly sidestepped, as the end of her foot clipped my shoulder, dislocating it immediately.

  I jumped back and slammed my shoulder onto the barrier wall to set it back in place, before ducking and rolling away as she sprang at me with a rapid flying kick. The barrier shattered, before reappearing as Instructor Dile quickly re-activated the barrier spell.

  Without wasting any time, she rapidly jumped towards me again, driving her knee towards my abdomen. I evaded it, as it brushed my side. She severely bruised it, but nothing broke.

  I can follow her movements a lot better than I could during the Brawl of Glory, and I could keep up better thanks to my increased control over Lightning Boost. The gap hadn't changed that much though, since she had improved quite a bit herself.

  She was relentlessly attacking to keep me on the back foot……she knew that if I managed to get on the front foot and exploit an opening, it'll be really hard for her to defend herself and make a comeback. Just like in the Brawl of Glory, she was looking to keep her distance and then charge into an opening and relentlessly attack to push me onto the defensive.

  She swung a high kick at my head, I ducked below it and drove my sword up at her neck.

  She bent backwards to avoid it, my blade nicking her jawline, before she backflipped and simultaneously swung her other foot up at my abdomen. It didn't have as much momentum as her full power kicks, but it was still strong enough to shatter the right side of my ribcage.

  She then sprang straight up into the air as high as she could, raising her right foot to bring down a devastating dropkick.

  I quickly jumped away, towards the farthest edge of the barrier from the area she would be landing. Her kick broke the ground apart upon impact, some of the flying debris crashing onto me.

  I quickly healed my broken ribs and extracted fifteen percent Karma……

  As she began to launch herself towards me, I shot towards her with x2.7 Lightning Boost and fifteen percent Karma combined, reaching her before she could jump forward and slashing my sword towards her neck……

  She got teleported out of the barrier as my blade began to touch her neck, as I quickly transferred the Karma back into the Mana Orb before it could do any damage.

  "Wha……what was with that speed just now?" She blinked wide-eyed, a stunned expression on her face.

  The total speed boost I got from that x2.7 Lightning Boost and fifteen percent Karma combination was about……a little more than x4.7. Fifteen percent Karma is approximately a x1.75 boost on its own.

  The only issue with this amount of speed is that my eyes struggle to keep up……and since I can only handle this much Karma for about eight seconds right now, I couldn't exactly practice with it that much, if at all.

  "Heh, that was pretty fun……looks like defeating you with just Lightning Boost alone is still more than a little challenging," I remarked, helping her back onto her feet as Instructor Dile fixed the floor using his Earth Magic.

  "Alright, now that that's over……," Persia chimed in, pulling my arm, "……it's time to get back to studying."

  I flashed her a look of dismay, as my brief escape from reality came to an end. Damn it, I should've dragged that fight out a bit longer!

  "……do I……do I have to?"

  _____________________________________________

  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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