It was the middle of March now. A lot had happened lately, things had been pretty busy and eventful.

  First off, you're probably wondering what happened with Key and Rai. Apparently, it had been really rough……when the two of them went over to her place to talk to her parents, the Dassen family, along with Fuckboi, were there too.

  Key didn't back down though, stepping up and bluntly rejecting the engagement immediately. Her parents had apparently been absolutely furious and a huge yelling match began, and right as things started getting ugly, the Dassens claimed to feel insulted by this whole thing and straight up walked away, withdrawing the engagement altogether.

  In other words, mission accomplished, the engagement was successfully avoided, but……that wasn't the end of it. Her parents directed all their anger at Key and Rai, who stood up for himself and her as much as he could, but they weren't interested in listening to a word he had to say.

  According to Key, they were beyond enraged at their business deal failing, and were blaming her for it, seeing her defiance as a selfish betrayal. So, right now, she was on really bad terms with them, and had been staying with Rai more often than not, barely going home at all and hadn't spoken to her parents since that whole argument.

  Once they told us how that disaster went, I had this particular thought, and it might be kinda insensitive, but……I'm glad I don't have parents.

  Academy classes were in full flow now, and as for duels……I had been pretty active with dueling, there were plenty of third years who wanted to challenge me, but of course……they all lost. If I use Karma, there isn't a single person in the Academy who can defeat me……well, except Persia.

  She was on par with me in a fight in pretty much every aspect excluding Elemental Magic, but the main reason I'd lose is because I just can't bring myself to go all out against her and fight her seriously, even with a safety barrier in place.

  Anyway, with a record of twenty-four wins from twenty-five duel matches, I was currently topping the student rankings at number one. Oh, let me just clarify……that one loss was my fight against Misen in the Brawl of Glory……yeah, my matches in that tournament counted as official duels.

  It was kinda annoying that that was the reason why I didn't have a perfect record, but it wasn't the end of the world, so whatever. Okay, that's sort of a lie……it bothers me more than I'm willing to admit.

  As for missions……I had gotten a couple of jobs from Erhtaph since the serial killer incident was resolved, but both suspects had proven to be innocent, and it had been over a week since he last contacted me.

  Oh, and the whole thing with the number one Adventurer, Neo Lapunder, was resolved……kinda. Thanks to Erhtaph explaining to the Guild what had happened, Neo was given a warning and would be severely punished if he tried to come after me or attack Misen again.

  I wasn't really sure exactly how strong he was, but given his rank, he could probably defeat me as I am now. Still, I wouldn't mind taking him on further down the line. Adventurers are forbidden from dueling Student Adventurers, so that'd have to wait though……it also meant that I won't be able to challenge the four former Big Five members who graduated until I graduate too.

  Then there was my own progress with my skills and magic. I could now use five percent Karma for two whole minutes, ten percent for around forty-five seconds, and fifteen percent for twenty seconds. I could also handle twenty percent for about seven seconds.

  And as for Lightning Boost, I had finally, FINALLY mastered the x3 boost mark. Ever since I reached x2.5, progress had been painstakingly slow.

  Persia had made great progress too, she could use half of the full extent of her Retractable Anima without losing control, but anything beyond that was proving to be a challenge. Still, half was a pretty significant power boost, effectively more than tripling her speed, strength and agility.

  And finally……my apprentice.

  I'm not gonna lie……training someone and watching them inherit my skills was……pretty nice. And Mika soaked up everything I taught her like a sponge, so it was never too difficult either. Naturally, her muscles had been extremely sore after the first few training sessions, but she ignored the pain and kept at it.

  I had discovered that she had a fairly high threshold for pain tolerance, it wasn't nearly as high as mine, but it was still more than a little impressive. At first, I had taught her to increase her body's flexibility by stretching your limbs out wider than you're used to, it would hurt initially, but the payoff would be worth it, an increase in agility, flexibility and dexterity.

  Once that was done, I decided to teach her martial arts before working on her Elemental Magic. I had to use the Academy training rooms, Persia came with me because, you know……me asking to book a room alone with a little girl might give people the wrong idea, and that was a can of worms I'd really prefer not to open.

  She got along well with Persia too. It had been around two and a half weeks since I took her on as an apprentice, I had mainly been training her on the weekends, but there were a few sessions here and there during the weekdays too.

  Anyway, back to the present……today was a Tuesday, and it was after classes. I was at Elina's place.

  "Hey, Elolina……got the spell I requested?" I inquired, as she let me in, "Oh, hey, Az. What's up?"

  "Save me," He groaned in reply, a pile of blank scrolls in front of him.

  Damn, was he supposed to fill out all of those?

  "Yes, I have it ready. Your ideas are as impressive as ever," She replied, as she opened a drawer.

  Woah……did she……did she just ignore me calling her 'Elolina'!? Not only that, her tone of voice was a lot more amicable than usual.

  The latest spell I'd requested was called Switch. Another two-scroll spell, this spell requires two users. Both users take one scroll each, and when either of them activates it……they switch places.

  For instance, let's say I'm at Point A with one of the scrolls and Persia is at Point B with the other scroll, and one of us activates the spell……it doesn't matter which of us activates it, but the moment one of us does, I would teleport to Point B, while Persia would teleport to Point A. It had a range of two hundred meters, as in if the two scrolls were further than two hundred meters apart, the spell will not activate.

  "The only problem with all these spells is that I'm running out of space on my body to strap them onto," I remarked, as I took the scroll from her.

  Yeah, either side of my waist and thighs held a total of four scrolls, and the left side of my back held another three. I suppose I could fit one more on my back, but any more than this would slow me down.

  "I heard that you punched that Lapunder bastard so hard that he couldn't even stand……I commend you for that," Said Elina, a satisfied smirk briefly appearing on her face before she covered it up.

  Wait, is that why she's being a lot easier to deal with today? I mean……she's almost being straight-up friendly right now!

  "I take it you don't get along with him, Eloli? You two are the top two ranked Adventurers in the entire country."

  "You refuse to stop butchering my name, I see. To say I do not 'get along' with him would be……an understatement. In fact, I do not believe that he gets along with anyone."

  Wow, I gave her an even more annoying nickname, and she just brushed it off without much of a thought.

  "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me. Anyway, I should get going."

  "Oh, I heard something else that was quite interesting……you got yourself a young apprentice?"

  "Yeah, what about it?"

  "I just found it rather surprising, that's all."

  Can't blame her for that, even I was surprised at how much I was liking having an apprentice to train. I think I'm starting to understand why my master took me on as an apprentice in my old life.

  There was definitely something really gratifying about passing down your skills……and especially considering the fact that deep down, I was really sympathizing and felt a kinship with Mika as a fellow torture victim, it made having her as my apprentice all the more gratifying.

  "Well, I'm off then, Eloli. Later, Az!"

  "Take me with you," He begged in a defeated tone, as I gave him an apologetic look as I left.

  Alright, now that that's taken care of……I need to get to the Academy……

  I reached the Academy and headed for one of the training halls, entering it as I reached it. Persia and Mika were already inside. Persia was helping her with her hand-to-hand combat skills with some light sparring.

  While I taught her my technique and skills, she mainly tested them out by sparring with Persia instead of me, since I figured it'd be better to go up against a different fighting style than the same one she was using.

  "Hey, you two……how's it going?" I inquired, shutting the door as I entered.

  "Hey, Kuro. It's going well, we were just warming up while waiting for you to arrive," Persia replied, stretching her arms up.

  "Bro! Can you teach me how to use my Lightning Magic today?" Mika asked eagerly.

  She used a pink elastic headband to push back her shortish light brown hair, and was wearing a sleeveless tracksuit-like outfit with knee-length shorts, it was light blue with a purple floral pattern.

  "No, not yet……you've still got a lot of hand-to-hand training left to go, right now you've got the right technique for punching and kicking, but you're weak on defense and agility. Today, in order to increase your arm strength and flexibility……you're going to try walking on your hands," I instructed her.

  "Fiiiine," She sighed reluctantly, as she stood on her hands, her balance a bit unsteady.

  Usually, if she wanted to try something she wasn't ready for, and I refused, she never argued back too much. She being obedient and easy to handle in that regard was a big part of why I was continuing on with this whole apprenticeship thing. If she had been an annoying brat, I wouldn't have put up with it.

  "Why don't you try training her in Lightning Magic at least a little bit while working on martial arts?" Persia inquired curiously, as Mika took a couple of steps forward on her hands and then quickly stabilized herself as she began to lose her balance.

  Not bad, she's become a lot faster to adjust and adapt to mistakes and fix them.

  "Focusing on too many things at the same time can be kinda overwhelming……she's got a good five years before she's old enough to apply for the Academy, so there's no need to rush."

  "Wow, you've planned that far ahead? You're taking this more seriously than I expected."

  "Yeah, well……I never expected to enjoy having someone to train. And besides, if I'm gonna do it, I'm not going to half-ass it."……

  After about an hour passed by……

  "Alright, Mika……that's enough, take a ten minute break!"

  She let out a sigh as she got on her feet, wiping off some sweat as she panted, her arms slumped on either side of her.

  "Try to relax your breathing, panting will only tire you out more. And don't drink too much water, take a few slow slips, just enough to quench your thirst!"

  "I know, Bro……you don't have to tell me everytime," She grumbled, as she sipped some water, before adding, "Hey, I was wondering……should I call you master or teacher or something while training?"

  Uh……what do I say?

  Okay, a young girl calling me master could give people the wrong idea, so definitely not that. Oooh, how about-!

  "Hm, you can call me Sensei. It means teacher in a different language."

  "A……different language?" She tilted her head in confusion.

  Oh, right……this world didn't have the concept of different languages, it had one universal language.

  "D-don't sweat the details! Anyway, it's upto you, call me whatever you like."

  "In that case, I'll go with your suggestion……um, Sensei Kuro?"

  "Oh, actually……Sensei goes after the name," I corrected her.

  "Oh, okay……then, Kuro Sensei?"

  Wait a sec……

  Crap, I like the way that sounds, but isn't it already taken, the teacher from Assassination Classr- no, it's not quite the same……yeah, I think it's just about safe.

  "Yeah, that works, let's go with that. Alright, so about what we talked about the other day……have you decided what kind of weapon you would like to learn to us?"

  "Well, I wanna use two blades like you, but using two different lengths is tough, so maybe two daggers?"

  "Alright, I've got a bunch of spare wooden practice daggers, take two of them to train with," I replied, taking out a couple of wooden daggers.

  "Okay……hey, I just remembered……that day, when you punched that number one Adventurer guy, your lightning was black, Kuro Sensei……will I be able to do that too?"

  "Oh, that……no, that's something only I can do. Well, not just me, there are apparently at least six others……anyway, it's not something that can be naturally obtained or learned, it's not something that humans are supposed to be able to use. Anyway, don't worry about that……let's focus on your training for now, 'kay?"

  I made her practice spinning both the daggers by the handles in her hands, in order to get used to handling them at the same time and improve her ambidexterity. She lost hold and dropped them a few times, but started to get the hang of it before long.

  "You're a natural, Mika. Keep it up till it comes so naturally to you that you can do that with your eyes closed. Don't get impatient though, this isn't something you can rush. Repetition and practice is the only way to get your body used to it."

  "Sensei, show me how well you can spin your dagger!" She requested enthusiastically.

  "Hm? Sure, I don't mind."

  I drew out my dagger and spun it by the handle in my left hand, before flicking it up, balancing the handle on the area between my index finger as it came back down, before wristily flicking it up again, high into the air this time, took a step forward, and caught it behind my back.

  "Heh, show-off," Persia smirked with a giggle.

  "Wow, that was awesome!" Exclaimed Mika, her eyes sparkling, before she got a determined look and continued practicing with the wooden daggers with a sense of motivation……

  We wrapped up training for the day about an hour later. Her stamina was still understandably a bit low, so I didn't want to push her too hard, and instead focus on gradually building up her stamina levels overtime instead of rushing it.

  As we were spending time resting……

  "Hey, Bro……why did you decide to accept my request to become your apprentice? I'm really glad, but when I first asked, you looked like you didn't want to."

  "Well, there were a bunch of factors that went into it. But, mainly, I could relate to your feeling of not wanting to be completely helpless ever again and your desire to get stronger to prevent that. See, I was actually once held captive and tortured too. Well, technically twice, but I escaped the second one in less than a day, so it doesn't really count."

  "R-really? I remember……when you found me, you had a really angry look on your face. I was scared at first, but then I realized that your anger wasn't directed at me……"

  "Actually, I was tortured too, I managed to escape though," Chimed in Persia.

  Huh, it didn't click till she said that, but all three of us were torture victims……the main difference being that I was the only one who hadn't survived their torture.

  "Wow, both of you too? Well……it's not really something to brag about having in common, huh?" Mika responded with a small smile.

  "I don't think that's true……sometimes, the best way to deal with bad memories is to treat them like they weren't really a big deal, to just try and laugh them off……it's not something that's easy to get over, but not letting it occupy your thoughts too much is a start. A little dark humor, laughing in the face of fear and danger……they can seem insensitive, but as far as coping mechanisms go, you can't beat humor."

  When I didn't have a personality in my old life, I borrowed characteristics I liked from fictional characters, and those borrowed traits eventually gave form to a real sense of self for me, that's where factors like my sarcasm, love for puns and humor come from.

  And I often joked about the early part of my life as a human-trafficked child, and that helped me move on and get over it, the more I stopped seeing it as a traumatic experience and referred to it in a light-hearted manner, the less it haunted my dreams at night……

  A few days later later, I was called on for another important Quest.

  A week from now, I would embark into the snowy area with a group of Adventurers in order to meet and escort the Silvland representatives who were traveling here to finalize the negotiations regarding the alliance.

  "Are you sure you want me to go, though? I'm really not the most, er……diplomatic person, you know."

  "Perhaps so, but Erhtaph Ragiu himself endorsed and recommended your inclusion for this Quest, and given your track record, I am inclined to agree. You will not need to do any of the talking when you meet the Silvland representatives and Adventurers, of course. Your skills, along with your experience against the Vampire-controlled monsters that area, make you a valuable inclusion."

  What 'track record' was he talking about, my only public accomplishments were finishing as a semi-finalist in the Brawl of Glory and the part I played during the Goldway Quest……there were the investigations and assassinations I carried out, but those were all confidential, the only ones who knew about it were myself, Persia, Erhtaph, and Misen.

  Don't tell me the headmaster knew about it too……I couldn't afford to confirm it, because if it turned out that he didn't know, me trying to confirm it would just leave him confused and suspicious.

  "Well, I guess it could be interesting……sure, I'm in. Wait, who else will be included?"

  "Rest assured, we will not include Neo Lapunder in this Quest. He may be our highest ranked Adventurer, but his rather……abrasive nature makes it too risky to send him out to greet potential allies," The headmaster responded, "The rest of the group for this Quest has not been finalized yet, but you will likely know some of them."

  With that, I left, eagerly anticipating the upcoming Quest. There was still quite a bit of time left for it though……

  Later onthe same day, I had another training session with Mika……

  "Alright, now that you're able to walk on your hands without any problems, it's time to start practicing backflips. After that, keep working on building your arm strength and flexibility by standing on your hands and jumping up off your palms over and over."

  I set down a mat so that she wouldn't break anything if she messed up and landed awkwardly.

  "Got it, Sensei!"

  She followed my instructions and began attempting to backflip after I showed her how. As always, after a few initial mistakes, she got the hang of it before too long.

  She was a fast learner, and she had the basics of my fighting technique almost perfectly mastered already. In order to teach her my more advanced fighting techniques, I would first need to wait till she built up her stamina, strength and agility a lot more.

  She was slowly but surely starting to get stronger and more flexible with every training session. I also gave her a bunch of light exercises to do at home, such as finger and wrist flexing exercises.

  "She's really quick to master whatever you teach her, isn't she? You should be proud, Kuro," Persia said to me, as we watched over her practicing.

  "……huh, now that you mention it……yeah, I guess I am. I do feel pretty good inside when she gets the hang of whatever she's working on."

  A couple of hours later, as we wrapped up her training session for the day……

  "My arms are so heavy," Mika groaned, as she caught her breath while sprawled on the floor.

  I walked over with some water, sitting next to her and handing it to her. She sat up and took it from me, before gulping it down.

  "I know this is all necessary, but……I wish I could get stronger faster," She sighed wistfully.

  "No need to be so impatient, you have all the time in the world, Mika……and besides, you're doing great, your progress is pretty remarkable. Before you know it, you'll be a lot, lot stronger," I assured her, as I patted her head.

  She stared at me in surprise as I did……crap, should I not have done that? Before I could think any further, she beamed at me with an enthusiastic grin.

  "You really mean that, Bro? Alright……I'll keep working hard!"

  "I know you will," I replied with an encouraging nod.

  I had definitely been against the idea when it was first brought up, but now that it had been a few weeks, I could confidently say……I was enjoying having an apprentice.

  _____________________________________________

  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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