There were still a few days left before the upcoming Quest to meet and escort the Silvland representatives and Adventurers to the Rustlands, and I was currently on an investigative mission.

  This would be the last night of investigating this current suspect, there was nothing suspicious about his behavior, so all that was left was to search the place.

  The reason he was under suspicion was because he had recently been assigned to a job at the Academy, and was in a position that would give him access to sensitive information regarding the Academy and its students.

  In other words, he was being investigated for no other reason than the fact that he had the opportunity to steal and leak information, but there was absolutely nothing to indicate that he had actually been doing so.

  Yeah, ever since the serial killer, Erhtaph hasn't really been able to find anyone who was genuinely suspicious, it was barely even circumstantial. I didn't find that very surprising, the Rustlands was highly unlikely to be a part of any of The Valaque Empire's immediate short-term plans, so they wouldn't waste too much manpower on sending spies here, they probably just posted a few spies here to report to them in case something drastic or unpredictable happened. In which case, there was a good chance that I had already eliminated all the spies they sent here.

  Anyway, as the lights in the house were switched off and the suspect went to sleep, I deactivated the invisibility barrier around me and snuck in through a window.

  Making sure to keep my breathing and footsteps quiet, I stealthily walked through the house, searching each room thoroughly after giving the sleeping suspect a dose of tranquilizer to keep him asleep.

  With the rest of the house fully searched and nothing suspicious turning up, I headed into his bedroom, pricking him with another tranquilizer needle just to be safe.

  Hm, what's this?

  The part of the bedframe by one of the corners of his mattress had less dust around it than the others, and the bedsheet wasn't tucked in as tightly as it was in the other corners……which meant that he had recently lifted this corner of the mattress.

  I slowly raised it, moving aside the bedsheet.

  Suspicious……there was a book under the mattress. It looked like a sketch book. What could be in it? A map of how to navigate the sewers? Routes to sneak into the country without being noticed? Or maybe……scratch all that, false alarm……it was just filled with sketches of nude drawings.

  Hold on, some of these look a bit familiar……huh, was that Instructor Tabbs!? Yeah, and Instructor Uensh too! Here's Instructor Falm Burays. Holy crap, had they modeled for him or something……no, the sketches were a bit off proportion-wise, he had probably drawn them from memory and used his imagination to, uh……fill in the blanks.

  Heh, no wonder he was hiding this. He'd be lucky if all that happened was that he got fired if one of the instructors found this. Still, if these had been sketched without the subjects modeling for them, and that was almost definitely the case, taking that into consideration……these were pretty amazingly realistic. And really good too……

  okay, I'm getting distracted, this isn't what I'm here for!

  Anyway, it looks like this guy is innocent……a little perverted, sure, but who isn't, amiright?

  "Well, as long as you're not hurting anyone, this isn't really a problem, I guess," I mumbled, as I put the pervy sketchbook back in its hiding place.

  Just to be sure, I searched the rest of the room, and……found nothing. Alright, looks like I'm done here. Mission complete, conclusion……the suspect is innocent. I'll go report it to Erhtaph in the morning, because right now……

  I got back to my apartment room not long after that, and entered it, closing the door behind me.

  "Hey, Kuro……welcome back- mfph!" Persia yawned, before I interrupted her with a kiss.

  I ran my hands over her body as she let out a moan, caressing her lips with mine as I massaged her boobs.

  "Someone's awfully enthusiastic tonight……what's gotten into you?" She inquired with a seductive smirk, running a finger down my chest.

  "O-oh, uh……I was just thinking about you while walking back, that's all," I replied, as I kissed her neck, making her shudder with pleasure as she ran her hands through my hair……

  yeah, I probably shouldn't tell her that I was feeling horny because I saw some random guy's nude sketches of our instructors……yeah, I'll take that secret to my grave……you're welcome, nude-sketch guy, and……thank you……

  The next day, I had a training session with Mika, we had planned to work on the instinctive side of her fighting. She had the basic technique down perfectly, but having skills and using them in a fight are two completely different things.

  If you've played sports, you've probably experienced this……you do amazingly well during practice, but then you get to a big match and thanks to your nerves, you keep messing up and making simple mistakes.

  Being nervous in a situation like that is only natural, and the best way to prepare for it is to be able to instinctively make the correct decision in a crunch situation.

  Using the sports example again, you've seen how professional players' reaction times are much faster than yours, they seem to have a lot more time to react……however, that's not the case, they simply react and identify how to respond much earlier thanks to countless hours of repetitive training, etching it deep into their muscle memory.

  For fighting, there was another way to sharpen your instincts, the 'sixth sense' when it comes to battle. And that's by suppressing your other senses while training.

  Let me explain.

  I was going to make Mika spar with Persia while blocking out one of her senses during each bout. For example, if they sparred in ten minute bouts, I would put something over her ears to deafen her during the first ten minutes.

  Then when the next bout began, I would uncover her ears, and use something to block her nose. And then the next bout would be the most difficult, with her eyes covered.

  Obviously, the sense of touch can't really be fully covered so I wasn't going to bother trying, and as for the sense of taste……well, it's really not something you use in a fight, unless you're a weirdo or you have to bite your opponent for some reason.

  I personally don't, mainly because during a fight, both you and your opponent are going to be covered with sweat, dirt and blood……I don't want to have to bite into that unless it was like the only way to avoid death or something.

  The first two bouts went well, she didn't have much trouble sparring without her hearing or sense of smell.

  "Kuro Sensei, is it even possible to fight blindfolded? I feel like it's not……it was a bit weird to be without my hearing, but since I could still see, I could manage just fine. And blocking my nose made almost no difference at all, except that I had to breathe from my mouth. I don't know if I can fight without being able to see, Bro," She said skeptically, as I tied a cloth around her eyes.

  "It is possible. It's not easy, and it's something that I'm not very good at either, but fighting blind is very much possible. By using your ears, you can hear your opponent moving around you, and can use that to predict which direction they'll be attacking from. By using your nose, assuming you have a keen sense of smell, you can identify how close or far your opponent is from you by their scent. Admittedly, that one is really difficult, and I can't do it at all, even if I heighten my sense of smell using Lightning Boost, I can't figure out how to identify and differentiate between different scents……it all just kinda overwhelms me. Another way is to use your sense of touch. When a person moves, the air currents around them also move……if your skin is sensitive enough, you'll be able to feel those movements and know how and where your opponent is moving. That……is also something that I can't do. Still, this is worth working on, especially since you're a Lightning Magic user too……if you can even slightly figure out how to fight while blinded, even to a tiny extent, it'll make a world of difference afterwards if you can master the Lightning Sensory Field technique. It is technically used mainly for tracking and sensing enemies, but it can also be a great weapon to use if you're fighting someone in the dark."

  Well I say that, but that's one technique that I use so rarely that I forget that it's even in my arsenal half the time.

  "Ohh, I get it now……let me guess, you use smoke bombs or something to blind your opponent, and then use Lightning Sensory Field to find them in the smoke cloud and defeat them before they can even see you coming?" Mika asked enthusiastically.

  "……"

  "……um, Sensei?"

  "Holy fuck, how have I not thought of that before? Mika, that's genius!"

  "K-Kuro, watch your language, she's only eleven!" Persia lightly smacked the back of my head, as I grinned sheepishly.

  "Oh, I don't mind……I got used to hearing those kinds of words while I was……you know……," She trailed off, a dark look appearing in her eyes.

  "Look what you did, Cat Girl, you should think twice before talking sometimes," I whispered.

  "H-hey, how is this my……whatever, forget that for now," She whispered back, before leaning down and wrapping a comforting arm around Mika.

  "Hey, are you alright, Mika?" I asked gently, patting her head softly.

  She nodded before standing up and smacking her cheeks with her hands.

  "Yeah, I'm okay. It's like you said, I can't let this occupy my thoughts too much! I'll……I'll keep focusing my thoughts on my training, until I'm so strong that my past experiences can't scare me anymore!" She declared, a look of renewed determination in her eyes.

  She had some seriously impressive mental resilience, especially considering how young she is……most adults would likely never recover if they went through what she went through.

  That might go for me too, don't forget that I had pretty much completely lost my mind and would have stayed that way if not-God didn't adjust my psyche when I died.

  I was……proud to be her mentor……

  Later that day, I was at my apartment with Persia, taking a nap. Pero was sleeping by my feet, warming them up with her soft fur.

  Someone knocked on the door, but I was too comfortable to get up. Persia was awake, so I'll let her think that was asleep so that she'll get the door. I pretended to be asleep……

  what? Sometimes I'm extra lazy, sue me.

  I felt the bed shift as she got up and walked over to the door, opening it.

  "There you are, Persia. I went to your house, and your parents said that you were here," Said the person at the door.

  That voice sounded like……Key?

  "Oh, hey, Key. Come in, what's wrong?"

  "Well, nothing's wrong, per say……I just, uh……w-wanted your advice on something," She replied, as she entered and Persia shut the door.

  "Sure, what is it?"

  "I-it's a little bit, um……awkward. It's about- wait, Kuro isn't here, right? It's kind of an uncomfortable topic to talk to a boy about, it's pretty uncomfortable even talking to another girl about, to be honest."

  Uh-oh……I might be caught in a kinda awkward position here.

  "Oh, well……uh, Kuro's here, but he's asleep. See, his head is poking out from the covers."

  "……I didn't even notice him till just now. Okay, it looks like he's pretty fast asleep."……

  crap, what should I do? Should I wake up? But that might make things kinda awkward. On the other hand, pretending to be asleep and listening in to their conversation was kinda……

  "So, what's this about, Key?"

  "W-well, um……a-as you know, Rai and I have been together for about two and a half weeks now, and w-well……"

  "Wait, there's nothing going wrong between you two, is there?"

  "Oh, no……it's nothing like that, things are going well with him. I-it's just, um……he seems kinda h-hesitant to……you know……to go……to go further in b-bed."

  I was inhaling as she said that, and somehow the surprise at hearing what she said made me choke on the air and I let out a cough before I could stop myself.

  Shit.

  "Kuro……are you awake?" Persia's voice came out in a cold, annoyed tone.

  Yikes……

  "……"

  "……"

  "……n-no."

  "Kuro-!"

  "H-hold on, I can explain! I was at least half asleep at some point, then the sound of the door closing woke me up, and before I knew it you two were talking and I felt too awkward to interrupt! Honest!"

  Okay, technically I had been awake even before Key knocked on the door, but sometimes……honesty isn't the best policy.

  "……really?"

  "Y-yes, really! A-anyway, I'll just pretend I didn't hear anything. I-I'll go out for a walk to give you two some privacy and-," I began, getting up and heading for the door before Key stopped me.

  "I hate that you heard all that, it's absolutely mortifying……but since you did hear it, I might as well get your opinion too," She remarked, giving me a death glare.

  "W-well, uh……if you insist," I sighed in defeat.

  I should have just woken up right away.

  Anyway, with that, we began talking. Well, I say that, but Persia did most of the talking to start off.

  "Have you tried being direct? Just tell him what you want to do."

  "I c-can't do that, it's too e-embarrassing! Who k-knows what he'll think if I'm too forward?"

  "I don't think that'll be an issue……in fact, I'm pretty sure he'll react positively," Persia replied assuringly.

  "I don't know……"

  "If saying it out loud is too hard, try using body language, I guess……like, um……batting your eyelashes, or closing your eyes, or um……using your hands to."

  "I-I've tried, b-but……he always seems……I don't know, reluctant……I think?"

  I finally chimed in.

  "If I had to guess……he's afraid of you thinking that he's trying to do much too fast. I mean……you do tend to have a pretty short fuse at times, especially when it comes to him, so……," I explained.

  "That's-!……okay, m-maybe you have a point. So……what should I do? I don't know if I can just t-tell him……and if it backfires."

  "Oh, I doubt it will. I can tell you from experience that it works. I was pretty hesitant with Persia in the start too, but then she said……," I said, before clearing my throat and imitating her voice, "What was it again……oh, right……'you don't need to hold back……I'm certainly not'. Or something like that."

  The two of them stared at me in surprise.

  "Woah……you sounded just like her," Key exclaimed with her eyes wide.

  "Th-that was freaky……I just heard my voice come out of your mouth," Persia shuddered uncomfortably.

  Oh, yeah, I forgot that I was pretty good at imitating voices. The reason, embarrassingly enough, was because……I used to copy the voices of my favorite anime characters when I was bored, including female characters……

  what? I had no friends back then, don't judge me.

  Anyway, let's see how good my imitation skills were after all this time. I sometimes used it during infiltration missions to trick my targets with phone calls to get them to meet me at the place I planned to assassination them in, by copying the voices of people they knew.

  I had never really had an opportunity to use it in this world, so I kinda forgot about it. Anyway……let's take it for a test drive since it's been a while.

  "Anyway, Key……just go ahead and say something like……*ahem*……'Rai, I want you to fu-!'."

  "D-do n-not use my voice to say something like that!" She interrupted me with a shrill scream, her face turning red.

  Persia was glaring at me but also struggling not to laugh at the same time.

  "Alright, fine……here's something that I guarantee will work, and it's not that embarrassing to say either. The next time he shows signs of hesitation, look in his eyes and say……'I wanna bang'. Trust me, it'll work like a charm," I said, doing my best to maintain a straight face.

  "……'I wanna bang'……it's kinda embarrassing, but I guess it's not as bad as saying it directly."

  "How come I've never heard you say that before?" Persia inquired suspiciously.

  "Well, uh……because I've never needed to be indirect with you," I replied, saying the first thing that came to mind.

  "O-oh, I see……that's good," She mumbled with a slight blush.

  Alright, she bought it. And even took it as a positive.

  "Thank you for hearing me out, the both of you……I'll follow your advice," Key declared, a look of purpose in her eyes.

  Hehe……I wonder how it'll go.

  As she said bye and left……

  "Now that that's over……I'm going back to sleep," I yawned, burying my face in the pillow with a lazy sigh.

  "I'll join you," Responded Persia, crawling under the covers and snuggling up to me.

  I dozed off in no time……

  The next day, around evening time, the five of us in Group D had planned another training session in the forest area, apparently Rai had a suggestion for a new training plan.

  Persia and I arrived at the spot we all train at, with the other three already there. As we walked over to the others, I activated the safety barrier around us.

  "So, what's this new training suggestion you came up with?" I asked him.

  "Oh, uh……before that……can I ask you something in private?"

  "Hm? O……kay, what is it?" I inquired, as we walked a few meters away from the others.

  He gave me an embarrassed glare.

  "Hey……were you the one who……told Key to say……uh……," He stuttered as his face turned red.

  "Hm? Oh, you mean……'I wanna bang'? That was……s-serious advice- heh," I replied, imitating her voice, before failing to keep a straight face and letting out a stifled snort of laughter.

  "……that was a freakishly good impersonation……wait, f-forget that! D-don't do stuff like that, I almost got a heartattack when she said it, dude," He stammered, as he turned even redder.

  "By your reaction……it looks like my advice helped her get what she wanted, so it all worked out."

  "……I-I can't believe she went to you for advice o-on……"

  "Well, she technically went to Persia……I just happened to be there, that's all. Anyway……your training suggestion?"

  "Hm? Oh, right! I was thinking……why don't we use anime influence to come up with new attacks with our Elemental Magic?"

  Huh, he sure recovered fast……his attention span is……not the best.

  "I mean……I guess we could. But won't that be more style than substance, it might look cool, but will it actually be practical?" I inquired pointedly.

  "Well, you know how I can't really fire lightning blasts too well over long ranges? I figured I could work on pooling a ton of lightning in my palm and then using it as a close range attack, like the Chidor-!"

  "Oh, I actually have a move that you could use……I cover my fist in as much lightning as I can and then unleash it in a punch, it's what I used against that number one Adventurer guy. I call it-," I explained, before abruptly cutting myself off.

  Crap, I almost revealed that I named my attacks! Actually, I pretty much did reveal it! Fuck-!

  "You call it……?" He asked, with an expectant look.

  Oh, right……it's just Rai, he probably wouldn't think that naming your attacks is weird or embarrassing.

  "……Shocker Punch."

  "Hey, cool! That's a pun on sucker punch, right? Is it okay if I use that name too?"

  "Sure, I don't care. But, uh……don't say it out loud……and if you do, don't tell anyone that I came up with it. It's embarrassing."

  "No way is it embarrassing, it's cool as hell! I've always wanted to have a named signature attack, but since my Mana capacity and output are a bit lower than average, I can't really charge up and fire big, powerful bolts like you can, so I don't really have any attacks worth naming. But now I've got this Shocker Punch move, it may not be my own original move, but it's something!"

  "You're pretty good with Stream……so when you're coating the blade of your scythe with lightning and then use it to slash at your opponent, you could name it something like……"

  "Ooh, I know……Lightning Reaper!"

  Dafuck……that was the exact name that I had been about to suggest.

  "Hey, what are you guys talking about over there for so long? Let's get started with training!" Persia called out.

  Key looked a bit impatient too.

  I had them all start with regular training, while brainstorming ideas for new Elemental attacks with Rai.

  "Maybe we should think of characters who have similar powers to us," Mused Rai, his brow furrowed in thought.

  "Okay……let's start with Az. A character with powerful ice abilities……"

  "Ooh, I know……uh, what was her name……the villain from Akam."

  "Oh, you mean Esdea……heh, AZdeath."

  "Hahaha, nice one!"

  "……"

  "……"

  "……this is stupid. What are we even doing? Az can do pretty much anything he wants with his Water and Ice Magic, his biggest restraint is literally just his own imagination. And I can't think of how Key could use her flames differently either……as for Persia……nothing comes to m."

  "Wait, I got it!" He suddenly exclaimed, before explaining his idea.

  Hey……that could work.

  I called Persia over to us, and as she came bounding over……

  "Yeah, what is it, Kuro?" She asked.

  "Hey, I want you try forming a concentrated ball of wind in your hand, and rotate and spin it as much as you possibly can."

  "Hm? Okay, I'll try," She replied, following my instructions.

  After a few initial mistakes, she got the hang of it before long, a sphere of rapidly spiraling wind forming in her palm.

  "……woah, if that was blue, it would totally look like the Rasenga-!" Rai exclaimed excitedly.

  "Alright, Persia……now try slamming that ball of wind onto the trunk of that tree," I instructed, pointing at a fairly thick tree to her left.

  She nodded and drove her palm towards it, and as the sphere of wind made contact with it……it instantly took out a large chunk of the tree trunk, absolutely shredding the wood into hundreds of splinters.

  The tree now had a hole in it, the size and shape of a……uh, salad bowl, I think? Maybe a bit bigger? Not the coolest simile, but it was the most accurate one I could think of.

  Either way……she could probably shred a hole clean through a human body with that attack.

  "W-woah……I've used something similar before, but I always shoot it out as a long or mid range blast, and it was never this powerful. I never even thought about using it as a short range attack," Persia exclaimed in surprise, staring at the hole she made in the tree with disbelief.

  "Well, when you shoot it out, the rotation slows down as the sphere expands, right? It becomes a bigger blast, but it also becomes less penetrative and damaging the wider it expands. While it's still in your palm, it's at its most concentrated and powerful," I concluded, after mulling it over, "Keep practicing that."

  "What are you gonna name it, Persia?" Inquired Rai enthusiastically……

  you're asking the wrong person, Raccoon Tail.

  "Name it? Why?" She replied with a confused look.

  "More like 'why not'! You gotta name your signature attack, it's just common sense!"

  No……it really isn't.

  "I'm fine without naming it, and I don't really have a 'signature attack' or."

  "All the more reason to name this one!"

  She was starting to get annoyed.

  "Jeez, fine! I'll go with, uh……'Spiral Sphere' or something……this is dumb and embarrassing, I'm going back to training."

  Huh, not a bad name, considering she probably just blurted out the first thing that came to mind to shut Rai up. It was a bit literal, but I liked it. I doubt she'll ever use the name though, but it will make it easier for me to refer to.

  Anyway, we all trained for a while longer, before deciding to call it a day after a couple of hours……

  A few days later……it was finally time to embark on the Quest. I woke up early and got ready, before I made my way to the north gate, where I would meet the rest of the members who were selected for this.

  As I arrived, a couple of familiar faces were already there.

  "Hey, it's been a while," Greeted Einn Olbaw, extending his hand out to me.

  "Yeah, it has," I responded, as I shook his hand.

  In case you forgot, he was the ninth, or rather, the former ninth placed S-Ranked Adventurer of Goldway, the one that I had dueled a couple of times during our stay there, he had those nunchucks. He was now the fifth highest ranked Adventurer in the Rustlands.

  The Rustlands currently had a total of nine S-Ranks. There were Neo and Elina topping the rankings at one and two……I didn't know who number three or four were yet. Five was Einn, sixth was Ekai, seventh was the other Goldway S-Rank who had escaped here. Eighth was Misen and ninth was Fuo, the two of them had only recently made it to S-Rank.

  Anyway, in addition to Einn, two others were here besides me. One was the other former Goldway S-Rank.

  "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Kuro," I introduced myself.

  "Oh, hello……I'm Zira Rufaim, nice to meet you too," She responded politely.

  She appeared to be in her early-thirties, with a thick and powerful-looking lizard tail. She had a shortish, dark brown bob cut, with short, straight bangs in front. Her eyes matched her hair color, and her complexion was average. She carried a short spear, about the length of a baseball bat. If I remember right……she was ranked eleventh among the Goldway S-Ranks, and had dueled Ekai during the exhibition matches……I think she had Fire Magic.

  The other person who was here was Fuo.

  "Hey, congrats on making it to S-Rank……haven't seen you around for a while," I greeted her.

  "I've been busy with Quests. I still need to get a lot stronger," She responded, barely giving me a glance.

  Yeah……ever since she saw what Az could do while we were running away from those Zombies, she had been pretty obsessive about getting stronger. She had cut her long blonde hair since the last time I saw her, it was now just around shoulder length. She had a thick, light blue hoodie with white fur on the cuffs and hood on top of her usual elegant white leather armor.

  Speaking of haircuts, I should probably get one soon……the front of my hair was now a little past my nose, I had to keep using an elastic black headband to push it back when I'm on a mission or Quest, plus it was getting a lot harder to maintain.

  Including myself, a total of seven people would be embarking on this Quest. Which meant that there were still three more yet to show up.

  The next person arrived after a couple more minutes. Wait, isn't that……

  "Instructor Tabbs? What are you doing here?"

  "Good morning, Mr Black. Why, I am a part of this Quest as well. After all……I am the third ranked Adventurer in the country."

  "Say what?"

  No, really……what!? She was the number three S-Rank!? I mean, I had figured that she must be pretty strong, she had shown glimpses of incredible speed in the past, but……I did not expect this.

  "Oh my, all this time and you did not know? I assumed it was common knowledge," She said in surprise.

  Her longish white hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her white and blue leather armor had long, wide sleeves. She also wore goggles over her sky-blue eyes. She didn't seem to be carrying a weapon.

  Okay, just two people left……

  Ekai showed up next. He usually wore pretty light armor, and sometimes didn't wear any armor at all, but given where we were about to head into, he had on a thick, maroon leather-armored coat with a fur hood.

  Just one more person to go.

  And they arrived about half an hour later. Another familiar face. And one that I was pretty surprised to see included on a Quest like this.

  "Hey, you're late, Eloli," I remarked, as she arrived, "And I thought your rank was based solely on your General Magic skills……can you even fight?"

  She was wearing just light leather armor, with a bunch of Spell Scrolls strapped to it.

  "I see you're as obnoxious as ever, Kuro. How rude, especially after I made your latest requested spell," She responded, handing me one of the Spell Scrolls.

  "Wait, is this……?" I inquired, before letting out a smirk as she nodded, "Sweet, this'll make things a lot easier!"

  I had asked her to make this spell before I go on this Quest, but by last night, I had figured that she wouldn't be able to finish it in time……I had no idea that she was a part of this Quest too.

  As we all began heading out the gates and into the snowy plains, Instructor Tabbs inquired curiously……

  "Contrary to what I've heard, you get along quite well with Miss Elina Fenegus, don't you?"

  "Huh? You're mistaken, instructor……what part of any of that looked like we 'get along'?"

  "It seemed obvious to me……what kind of a spell is that?" She asked curiously, nodding at the latest scroll Elina had created upon my request.

  "Oh, something that's gonna come in real handy in this cold……I think I'll activate it now," I grinned, as I raised the scroll above me and ran my Mana through it.

  A small barrier formed around me, about the size of a telephone box, maybe a bit smaller, with a slight red shimmer.

  It moved with me as I walked forward, enveloping me in a pleasant, toasty warmth……that's right, this is a barrier to keep out the cold! I call it……Hotbox!

  _____________________________________________

  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.