Volume 3 - CH 6

He didn’t want anything in particular.

He didn’t need anything luxurious.

He didn’t have to be different from other people.

All he really wanted was a normal, boring life.

But… the average happiness he wanted would never last. He could will it to be all he wanted, but it’d never happen. It was ‘the unthinkable.’

Even so… even so, even if it only lasted a moment… 

---

“You who stand before me—all of you—will become geniuses.”

Ryner looked around. They were in an inorganic arena, made of some type of stone, and he was surrounded by children of his own age - boys and girls of about five or six years old.

They, him included, had just been called ‘geniuses.’

Geniuses… yeah. Because they were geniuses… they were forced into this military institution. Because they were geniuses. Because they were different from other people. 

Because they were born with talent. Because they were born blessed.

Ryner couldn’t help but smile at that. He stared through his black bangs, which hadn’t been cut in a while… and thought of his own black eyes. Of the strange scarlet pentagram that rose within them.

It had only just shown itself to him. The military called it Alpha Stigma… 

But when his friends and the people who raised him back at the village saw the pentagram in his eyes, they called him… a monster.

A monster who lived to slaughter.

That’s what… they said. Yeah.

A woman in her early twenties had called them geniuses. She had shoulder-length indigo hair and a thin but trained body. She might’ve been pretty… but for the tense, harsh atmosphere surrounding her and the military uniform she was wearing, she was anything but cheerful.

She looked at them and spoke again.

“Yes. You are geniuses who have been chosen.”

Genius. Genius. Genius.

That might’ve been true.

He was a genius of a monster. One who couldn’t save or even connect with others. One who was only capable of causing pain… 

A worthless genius, without any value whatsoever. 

He laughed.

“This isn’t a joke!” The woman said. And in the moment he yelled, light flashed around him. The world spun as he flew back. Then he realized he’d been punched. Hard. Her lithe body was capable of far more than it seemed, judging by how far she punched him.

“……”

He didn’t make a sound. His head was spinning. He couldn’t move his legs. Blood was steadily escaping from his cut lip… 

Her sharp gaze settled on Ryner. “You have been called geniuses your whole life. Then you come to train under me… and then you die. So don’t get the wrong idea when I call you a genius. That’ll get you killed sooner than later.”

Ryner finally found the strength to stand. He kept his eyes locked on her as he did so.

“You think you’re so special, laughing like that. Now that you’re back, I need you to listen to me. I won’t say this twice. Let’s start with my name. I’m Jereme Crysler,” she said and smiled. “For the next year, that will be the name of your god, so remember it well. My orders are absolute. If you should ignore them, I will kill you.”

Then she continued. “Even so, you’re lucky. You’d normally be sent to a place where you have to kill other kids, like Special Institution #307, or the Emeril Institution… You’d be dead if you weren’t the last one standing. But you were scouted for talent among the kids in the army, so instead of sending you straight to hell, you were sent to me. I will teach you how to fight. How to last. Of course, if you can’t do that, you’ll still die, though.”

She laughed. “In any case, it’s time for your introductions, followed by a test. First…”

She dug in her pocket, then removed several pieces of paper to read off of. “Oh, so the kid I just punched was an Alpha Stigma bearer. You were unable to dodge. Basically, you’re a total amature when it comes to hand-to-hand. You may know how to use magic, but you have no real knowledge of magic itself.”

Jereme sighed. “You’re not useful at all, and yet, the military brought you here when it attacked the village that raised you. The fact that they saw potential in you and brought you here means that you were saved…”

Ryner glared. “Why… do you know…?”

Jereme smiled as if looking down on him. “Do you think that you’re some kind of genius just because you saved the villagers? Do you like being praised? Don’t you think that’s stupid?”

“N-no!” Ryner protested. “I don’t feel good about it at all… And no one praised me for it anyway. This power… This monstrous power…”

Jereme snorted. “Haah? Then you’re looking down on their lives? Of course no one praised you and your half-baked power. You’re misunderstanding something. You’re persecuted as a monster, but if you say that you want to save humans knowing that…”

Then Jereme looked to a girl who was about Ryner’s age. She had unusual, long aquamarine-colored hair. “Ryner Lute,” Jereme said, “What you just said irritated me. I am going to kill this cute girl with magic right here and now, where you can see.”

“Wh-what… are you saying?” 

It just didn’t make sense.

This was the first time that Ryner had ever met someone like this woman. It was almost like… 

“If you truly have the power to save people, then stop me from killing her. But if you can’t save this girl… then I will kill another child. So make your decision - will you save her, or will you not? Your timer starts now.”

Jereme raised her hand and began to draw a magic circle of light before her.

Ryner’s eyes widened, then a red pentagram shone from within them.

He could see everything. Everything about the magic circle that she had just drawn, from the structure to the words to activate it. He could see it all, down to the letter, down to its depths… 

Then he began to draw the exact same circle that she had just finished. However—

“You’re too late. I wish for thunder - Lightning Flash!”

Her spell fired overwhelmingly quickly. The army men who he’d fought before absolutely could not compare to her. His spell was only a tenth of the way complete by the time hers was firing towards the girl.

“Stooopp!!” Ryner screamed. 

The girl moved back as if seeing the spell before it ever started, dodging it entirely. Then she turned towards Ryner. “What was that ‘stooop’ supposed to meeean?” She asked. “You’re totally misunderstanding something. I am the great Pia Valiere, a true genius. You know that, right? I’m different from the rest of you,” the girl with the aquamarine hair - Pia - said, completely unperturbed by this turn of events. 

Ryner stared, in a daze. 

“Ugh, looky here,” Pia said. “Stop staring like an idiot and get to finishing your spell. Go on and kill that hag.”

“Huh? What? Huh?” Ryner said.

Pia put some distance between herself and Jereme, moving fluidly, like she was a wave on the ocean’s surface. “God. Why do those of us with power need to serve Roland’s military, anyway? Sounds like someone hasn’t been thinking. Ummm, if I remember correctlllyy, you’re Ryner, right? You’re not bad if you can use Lightning Flash at your age, but you’re not all that. Okay, look around. That boy’s doing better than you are, see?”

“Huh?”

Ryner looked around, just like she said to. Sure enough, there was a boy running around with circular motions, putting distance between himself and Jereme. It was a strange sight, since the boy’s eyes were serenely shut. He had soft-looking golden hair that flowed with his movements, and despite his closed eyes, he ran carefully, like he could see everything.

Jereme turned the page. “Hmm… So you’re planning on going against me together? That’s fun. And the one looking like an idiot over there, running around me with his eyes closed is Peria Peloura, right?”

“…What does that say about me?” The boy with the closed eyes asked calmly.

Jereme’s eyes fell to her papers, but Peria took the opportunity to get behind her and fire a punch to her back. 

Ryner stared, astonished by the sight. It was amazing that a boy the same age as he was could attack her so overwhelmingly fast. Accurately, too. The second she’d looked down, he’d taken the opportunity to catch her off guard.

The boy spoke. “I learned this from people who can’t fight with their eyes closed…”

Then Jereme moved to the side, turned back, and grabbed his fist like it was no effort at all. Then she squeezed his wrist.

“Uwoh…!”

“Hmph. Peria Peloura. You’re a victim of the ‘all-boundaries’ experiment, aren’t you. You’ve been tattooed with numerous magical circles that brought your sight and hearing into non-existence, but as compensation, you’ve been bestowed with an abnormal sense of perception, one that allows you to understand what’s going on around you despite everything, but…”

She squeezed his arm even harder. “No matter how well your perception may be, it’s pointless if you’re still this slow. How can you be called a genius like that?”

Peria raised his face as though he was looking at her, despite his closed eyes. “A genius? To tell you the truth, I… no, I mean, do you really think that I wanted this? The military forced this experiment on me… On my eyes, on my ears… I can’t experience the world now. I can only ‘sense’ it…”

Jereme frowned, exasperated. “So you want revenge on Roland?”

“That’s right! I’ll definitely get revenge on you g… gugh!”

He never did finish that sentence. Jereme sent him flying with ease. He made a sound as he hit the ground, then rolled across it… 

“You’re weak!” Jereme said. “How do you intend to get revenge when you’re that weak? You’re not persuasive in the slightest. There are people in Roland’s military who are far stronger than I am. How exactly do you plan on getting revenge against them?”

“I…”

“Don’t ‘I’ me! If you can’t answer my question, then you’re not qualified to use the word ‘revenge,’ you brat! Don’t think that you’re special just because you can perceive the world! And…”

She looked to Ryner, “You too, Ryner Lute! You have power, but it’s laughable at best… You can’t even protect yourself, and here you are wanting to protect others? To save them? Don’t be stupid! You all live in a hell where you can’t afford to think about others. From now on, you should only worry about yourselves. If you want to escape, then you need to be strong enough that I can’t kill you!” Jereme screamed. 

Ryner couldn’t move.

All it took was her glare to render him immobile. He felt like… like her aura alone was capable of killing him… 

Even Ryner, who hadn’t undergone any training whatsoever, could understand that she was strong just by that look. Unbelievably so. He couldn’t do anything. Even if he tried, it’d be absolutely pointless. They were in completely different leagues. 

She might’ve been a lean woman, but that didn’t change the power within her.

Peria was the same. His eyes were closed and his ears were deaf, but he still managed to radiate his own kind of power.

If he moved.

He’d be killed.

And yet… 

“Alright, alrigghht. Is that all the bullshit you have to say, hag?” Pia asked. She wasn’t concerned in the slightest. In fact, her chest was puffed out with pride despite the killing intent swirling around them.

Then Pia looked at Ryner and Peria. “Godd, I knew that boys were useless, but I can’t believe that you couldn’t even manage to make a gap for me. You can’t move just because she’s hysterical? You’re worse than pathetic, and here I am, a real genius. I’ll finish her up real quick, so after that you have to listen to what I, the great Pia, have to say.”

Jereme grinned. “Not bad. You can still move despite everything. Let’s see what a self-proclaimed genius can do. Hmm, so…” She looked back down to her papers.

Pia put her hands on her hips. She was far too proud in these circumstances. It was absurd. “Have a good look at my accomplishments and be amazed. I graduated from a top military academy with super duper grades when I was just four years old. I’m different. I’m four times as good as you guys are at magic. I’m finally being recognized for what I am. I’ll be adopted by a noble and on the highway to being an elite in no time…”

“That’s weird,” Jereme said, cutting Pia off. “That’s not what’s written here. It says that you were a problem child in school. That you’d make it everyone’s problem the second things didn’t go your way… Your noble ‘parents’ abandoned you because of that, and now you’re here. Well, you have a hereditary magical abnormality, and uncooperativeness seems to be part of that package.”

Pia bit her lip and wrinkled her nose at Jereme. “What does that mean! What do you mean I’m uncooperative? Normal people just can’t keep up with me!”

“Hmph. Yep, that’s what we call uncooperative…”

“Shut uuupp! Shut up, shut up, shut uuupp! I don’t have to listen to normies. Ugh, now I’m mad! My number one pet peeve is when people try to look down on me! I’m totally gonna obliterate you!” Pia yelled while shaking her arms. 

“I-it’s like they’re not communicating at all,” Peria said, bewildered. “She really is uncooperative…”

“Y, yeah,” Ryner agreed with a nod. 

Pia drew a magic circle with unreal speed as they spoke. “You’ll be shocked when you see my super ultra Lightning Flash! Here we go! I wish for thunder—”

Light gathered in the center of her magic circle. It was massively bright, and her brightness was several times larger than Jereme’s spell had been. Then she pointed towards her target.

“Lightning—”

She stopped there… no, she was stopped there.

At some point, Jereme had appeared behind Pia. She yanked her cyan hair down and pulled her to the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Jereme asked as she held Pia’s face to the ground by her hair. “Come on, shock me with your amplified magic. Fire it and surprise me with how good you are.”

Pia groaned, frustration bubbling on her face. “Uuh…”

“Uuh? What are you uuh-ing about? Are you okay with that being your final word? I’m going to kill you now. Are you okay with that?”

“Shit,” Pia said into the training ground’s stone floor. “And you’re a normie of all things…”

“If I’m a ‘normie,’ then what does that make you? A worm? I hate brats who don’t understand anything. Though I guess that doesn’t matter, since I’m killing you now anyway. Or do you want to live just a little longer? I’ll turn a blind eye to this if that’s what you want. But I need you to understand that this is what a human is capable of, worm. And you have to apologize. So? Say you’re sorry. I’ll let this go if you say you’re sorry. So say it. I’ll let you get up, so come on.”

She loosened her grip on Pia.

“You fucking hag!” Pia yelled the second she was able. “Get your dirty hand off of—auh!”

Jereme shoved her face back into the ground. Blood dripped from Pia’s nose. Then Jereme lifted her hand once again.

“Uuh… I can’t believe this is happening to me,” Pia groaned. “I won’t let this go… uogh!?”

Jereme slammed her face into the ground again. Then she raised Pia’s head by her hair. 

“…U…gh… Sh… I, I… ’m s, sor… ry,” Pia whimpered, on the verge of tears. Blood was steadily flowing through her mouth and her nose… 

Jereme nodded, lifted Pia up by her hair a final time, and tossed her over to where Ryner and Peria stood.

“Alright,” Jereme said, “That’s it for my exam. I understand where you stand now. Hopefully you’ve grasped your situation by now. Today is the day I became your god. I’ll kill you where you stand if you don’t listen to me. Any objections?”

No one said a word. Not after everything that’d just transpired.

Jereme continued. “Your real training will begin tomorrow, so get some good sleep in before then. This whole building is reserved for our use, so feel free to rest wherever you’d like. There are several rooms here, as well as a cafeteria to eat at. Use the facilities to your benefit. This will be both your home and your training grounds for the next year. At the very least, you’ll survive as long as you do what I say. But if you try to escape, you’ll be chased down and killed faster than you can imagine… Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads without uttering a word. 

The three children deeply understood that they were incapable of winning against this woman. 

Jereme nodded, satisfied. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow, then.”

With that, she turned and left the arena. The kids’ eyes followed her until she was gone.

Pia was the first to speak. “Uuh, we’ve gotten all caught up in something serious… I was the top student in my academy, and that hag still managed to beat me silly… I was holding back, but still. She’s something else.”

“……Holding back?” Ryner said without thinking.

“What! If you have something to say, then say it!”

“N-no, I don’t, but…”

“What was your name again? Ryner, or something? You didn’t even fight back, so what gives you the right to look down on me?”

“Huh?” There she went, putting words in his mouth. Ryner’s expression turned troubled. “Nah, I really don’t think I was looking down on you…” 

“Nah?” Pia repeated. “You sound too casual. Are you trying to be masculine? That does not suit you. You look like you’re a goodie-two-shoes. Talking like that isn’t going to make you sound strong! You should be going, ‘I believe’ I wasn’t looking down on you!”

Ryner was shocked to the point that he couldn’t form words. “Uuh…”

“Now, now,” Peria said with his calming voice, “I believe that we can agree to disagree on this…”

“You believe? Uwagh! Did you seriously just say that? Are you trying to sound like a good boy, saying that you believe instead of you think? Nobody thinks you’re cute!”

“No, I am really not trying to sound like a good boy…”

“Ah! You just said I am instead of I’m! You’re sooo lame.”

Ryner and Peria exchanged a look. In that moment, their hearts connected and spoke to each other just as clearly as words might have: So it doesn’t matter what we say…

“But anyway,” Ryner said, “You guys are really strong—”

“No, you’re just weak,” Pia interrupted. “What were you even thinking about as you lived up until now? This is Roland. Normally you would have known that the military would pick you up and work you to the bone for being special sooner than later.”

“Huh? Really?”

Peria smiled through unhappiness, then shook his head. “You’re going a bit too far. Just because you have some special power doesn’t matter as long as they don’t find out… Although, some of us had no choice. We were forced into experiments and couldn’t do anything to stop it… I suppose we just have bad luck. I guess we all have bad luck here, though.”

“Aahn? Could you not lump my luck in with normie luck like yours?”

“Ah, s-sorry,” Peria apologized, a troubled look on his face. “I-I guess you’re different… Anyway, you might have realized it when that Jereme woman said it before, too, but I only have this power because I was ‘given’ it through an experiment. I’ve been training since then, trying to reverse it. But you, Pia…” 

“It’s Lady Pia to you!”

“……Lady… Pia… You said that you trained in a special military academy, right?”

Pia nodded at the critical moment. “Thaaat’s right! I’ve trained in magic and hand-to-hand combat. Even adults can’t compete against me! Whaat? You’re thinking about that Jereme woman!? She’s a monster! I’ll beat that hag up before you know it… But more importantly, Ryner, you’re the problem here! It looks like you can use a little bit of magic, but you’re a dimwit who can’t even do it quickly! And you suck at hand-to-hand! Where did you even train!?”

“Um… well, I didn’t really… I was living a normal life in the village, and then I was taken here all of a sudden…”

“Yeah, that’s a lie!” Pia said as she whacked Ryner upside the head. “If that was true, you wouldn’t know how to use Lightning Flash!”

Ryner pressed a hand to his head. It really hurt. All he could do was mumble a response out. “I…”

Peria spoke from beside him. “No, Ryner is an Alpha Stigma bearer. Wouldn’t he be able to use any magic that people cast in front of him?”

“Whaat? You’re an Alpha Stigma bearer? Peria, how’d you know that?”

“I mean, Jereme said it. Did you not catch it?”

For some reason, Pia puffed out her chest. “Obviously! I don’t care about things that aren’t about me!” she declared.

Ryner and Peria exchanged another look. An unsaid sigh passed between them.

“So that means that you could copy Lightning Flash just because Jereme used it?”

Ryner nodded. “Mm-hm. But I’m not very good at it. I’m still not used to casting magic.”

Pia wrinkled her nose. “Hmmmm… By the way, do you know how long it took for me to be able to use magic?”

Ryner shook his head. “How long?”

“Six months! And I was exceptional! Superior! My skill and speed was enough to make the world cheer for me! And you’re telling me that you can do that just by looking at it?”

“Y-yeah.”

But in the moment that Ryner nodded—”

“Fucker!”

Her fist smacked him dead in the face. He didn’t dodge - he just went flying without a fight. He curled into himself on the ground, holding his face in his hand out of pain.

Pia completely ignored that pain. She sighed loudly. “Aw, man. Hitting you is really refreshing. This is why I hate normies. The second you find something good about yourselves, you start feeling all good and optimistic about it.”

Ryner didn’t move his hand from his aching cheek. “I-I’m not really optimistic, though…” 

“What!? Are you complaining?” She spat as she stared at him with a fierce expression on her face.

There it was. No matter what he said, she’d still yell at him. “Uuh, n-no,” he answered.

Pia looked satisfied. “Good. Anyway, nice to meet you guys. I’m a genius, so you can come to me with anything you don’t know and I’ll show you how to do it! Now let’s get a good night’s sleep so that I can shock that hag into silence tomorrow!”

With that, she left the training grounds… 

Ryner and Peria watched her in blank amazement.

“S-so this is what we’re dealing with for the next year,” Ryner mumbled.

“…Let’s do our best as the guys around here…”

They nodded at each other.

That was the first day that Ryner spent in Jereme Crysler’s training facility.

---

Their real training started the following day.

The three kids were separated for their training, since they all had different power levels.

Pia and Peria seemed like they were giving it their best in their own drills. Ryner, meanwhile… 

He was called into a plain training room.

Jereme gazed at him and spoke. “Umm, so, Ryner. You’re the weakest of the three of you. If I were to rank you guys, I’d say that Pia comes out on top, followed by Peria… Then there’s you, who’s definitely lacking in power. Your first goal should be to reach Peria’s level.”

Ryner grimaced. “But Peria looked like he was really strong yesterday? I don’t think that I can get to his level… I’ve never even trained before.”

Jereme nodded, then grinned. And then… while smiling, she smacked Ryner hard enough for him to fall to the ground.

“Gyah!?” He pressed a hand to his hurt cheek as he lay on the ground. “Uuh… This just keeps happening…”

“Did I ask for your opinion? If I tell you to become as strong as Peria, then that’s what you’ll do. Next up will be Pia. That’s your starting point. And you’re telling me that you can’t do it just because you’ve never trained before? Don’t worry about that. If you train three times as hard as Peria from now on, you’ll catch up in no time…”

Ryner shivered. “Th, three times… I can’t… gyaahh!!”

She kicked him in the face. “In any case, if you can’t dodge my attacks now, then you’re going to end up dead.”

He groaned, hand back on his aching face, then whispered to himself. “Dying might be better than this…”

His whole body was shivering from being hit in the head. He couldn’t find the will to do anything.

But Jereme raised her fist again… 

Ryner tensed. Jereme smirked.

“See? You’ve already grown. You’re prepared to react to my fist. Real life experiences are the best way to improve. This will be your curriculum - the life you will lead from now on.”

With that, she lowered her fist, dug in her pocket, and handed Ryner a piece of paper. 

He looked down to read it and was immediately at a loss for words.

5:00 am - Wake up, then immediately begin fighting Jereme. This period lasts for six hours.

11:00 am - Magic research to allow your body time to rest. There will be an assignment, and it will be completed within seven hours. 

8:00 pm - You will integrate your research into your battle training. This practical exam will last for nine hours.

That makes 22 hours of training. There will be no breaks. You may use the remaining two hours however you would like.

It was painfully straightforward. Anyone could understand what it meant.

“Tch… What am I even supposed to do in two hours?”

“I thought that I was pretty clear about that? You can spend it however you like. Though I recommend that you eat and sleep…”

“That’s crazy… You won’t be able to sleep either, will you? And people die when they can’t sleep. So this has to be a joke… right?”

“Sure,  people do die if they don’t sleep. My face would lose its natural beauty, too. But don’t worry. I’ll have someone from the government watch you strictly from time to time while I rest—”

“Why would I be worry about thaaaaat!” Ryner shrieked, despair filling his mind. 

Jereme completely ignored his fever pitch. “Alright, now that that’s all clear, it’s six-thirty in the morning right now. We’ll spar for four and a half hours, until eleven. I’m going to punch you, kick you, strangle you, and attack you until then. Use your head and resist to the best of your ability. You’ll die if you don’t give it your all, so let’s go!”

Her tone was light, but the fist that swung towards him was anything but.

Ryner’s screams echoed through the room.

---

Ryner was laying on the ground at the end of those four and a half hours. His elbows and neck were twisted by Jereme’s blood-stained hands. 

“Ah, augh… uu…”

He was on the verge of losing consciousness for the sixth time that day when her grip wavered.

“Alright!” Jereme said. “That’s time. You’re still alive. You did well. This is great for your first time, really. Now go to the library and study while I train Peria.”

But Ryner was long past the point where he could stand. His body felt like it’d been ravaged, and his mind was somewhere far away. She’d punched his face, kicked him in the stomach, and gone all out on his joints more times than he could count in those four and a half hours… 

Somewhere along the way, he’d managed to dodge some of her attacks… All he could think about was how much it’d hurt if she hit him again. 

His mind was blank. He just couldn’t move himself to stand… 

“Hm, what’s that? If you don’t want to go to the library, then that means that you want to keep going, right? Alright, let’s go for another four—”

Ryner bolted up. Sharp pain shot through his body. “Uuh… shit!”

But he had to remain calm. He had to stay conscious. He had to stifle the urge to lend himself to nothing. If he closed his eyes, this would never stop.

He’d have to repeat this countless times, but he’d definitely die if they kept going.

He definitely, definitely, definitely, definitely… 

He had to do something… so that he wouldn’t die… 

“Ah, aah, I was just, going to the library…”

He forced himself to stagger away.

“Right, exactly,” Jereme said. “Let your body rest while you study. The only books there are ones that you’re going to have to work your brain to the limit to understand even the basics of. After that, you have another hour of hand-to-hand combat, then an hour break. That’s how we’re doing this, okay?”

“……”  

What could Ryner even say at this point?

---

Researching magic was surprisingly fun.

Jereme had left him a bunch of really difficult, highly specialized books on magical theory to read, and he was currently making his way through one.

“Hmm, so that’s how magic is made…”

He was half-laying on his desk because his body was beaten to its core, but he was still flipping pages as fast as he could manage. He’d never seen books like this back at the village - there were books, sure, but nothing as full of knowledge as this.

Honestly, it was really fun.

He could easily grasp what spells were supposed to be just by reading about them. That was all it took for him to learn how to use them. It was almost like what happened when he looked at the real deal. 

It was strange.

All he had to do was read, and he understood it in seconds.

Just who… 

“…Gyaaahh!”

Screaming echoed from the next room over. It was Peria. Ryner grimaced. “Uuh… You can do it, Peria—”

“Aaaahh!”

But Peria was screaming again before Ryner could even finish his sentence. 

His screams repeated, on and on, over and over, filling Ryner’s ears until morning.

Depression was sinking through him. He covered his ears, then looked back down at the book he’d been reading.

---

After that, it was time to cast the magic he learned to increase his speed and to use it in battle.

It was the kind of training where he used both the spells he copied from Jereme alongside the magic he’d just learned. He had to do that while considering the hand-to-hand aspect of battle, too… 

The day came to a close with him once again laying beaten on the ground.

This time, he truly lost consciousness. Everything went white. Nothingness filled his mind.

“Alright, it’s morning. Time for some sparring—!”

“You’re kidding me!?”

This time, he was the one screaming so loudly that it could be heard inside of the library.

---

A month passed in that manner.

---

For some reason, they had a break in their training that day.

He woke at five in the morning, and was free until seven. Then he was ordered to go to the arena, where Pia and Peria also gathered.

Pia furrowed her eyebrows. “Ryner, you’re laate! What are you thinking, making me wait like this!?”

Ryner was already tired. “Umm… I was late? You’re getting mad about that? So, uhh…” He stopped there.  

Peria, meanwhile, was concerned. “Ryner, are you alright? You look really, really tired.”

“…Huh? Oh, uh, sorry. I was sleepwalking. I’ve been pretty sleep-deprived lately, y’know…?” Ryner said as he stumbled up to the others.

“But you’re sleepwalking even more than usual. Are, are you really okay?”

Ryner couldn’t even keep his eyes open. Lately, opening them halfway was the best he could do. He laughed as if he was proud. “But think about it like this. If you’re not getting enough sleep, then isn’t sleepwalking actually really efficient? I feel like I’ve been sleeping every extra second I get—”

Jereme interrupted him. “Enough small-talk. It’s time for your scheduled test on everything you’ve been working on.”

“What do you mean, ‘scheduled!?’” Pia said. “Since when?”

“Hm? Since now,” Jereme said. “From now on, your abilities will be tested monthly, okay?”

“Will this be like when we fought back in the beginning?” Peria asked.

Jereme shook her head. “No, we do that every day, don’t we? This will be an all-out battle between the three of you.”

Peria gasped. “No…” 

“No way!” Pia said. “Things’ll get real serious if I go all-out on these normies, you know!”

Ryner was silent. It was like he wasn’t interested in any of this. But that was obvious, wasn’t it? After all, there was no way that he could win against these two. Even so, the conversation continued around him.

Jereme continued. “Last time, Pia was the strongest, followed by Peria, and then Ryner was in last place. I wonder who will come out on top this time?”

Pia shrugged. “There’s no point in even doing this. I’m a genius. It’s impossible for me to lose to these losers.”

Jereme ignored her. “Let’s get started. Does anyone want to go first?”

“No,” Peria said. “I…” 

Ryner was silent. He wasn’t even looking in the right direction. 

Pia looked between them. “What’s all this about? You guys don’t have any confidence at all, do you? I understand, going up against me is terrifying… But aren’t you guys pathetic? Alright, I’ll fight Peria first. After that, I’ll fight Ryner.”

Jereme nodded. “That works. Let’s get started, then. By the way, the winner gets a day off of training.”

Ryner’s eyes snapped open. “S-seriously!?”

“It’s true. Not only that, but your free time will change, too. The strongest will get seven hours of free time per day. Ryner, I want you to understand that this past month, Pia has gotten five hours more free time than you per day. Peria has gotten five hours total. You’ve had two. Isn’t that frustrating?”

Peria was the one to respond to her inflammatory comments. “W, wait, Ryner has only gotten two hours a day? When was he supposed to eat and stuff?”

Ryner’s expression turned dark. “Umm… while reading…”

“Then that leaves you two hours of sleep… Two hours… No wonder you’re always sleepwalking,” Peria said, flustered. 

“Oh, my,” Jereme said. “Are you sympathizing with Ryner? So will you let him win today? If you do, then I think you’ll become an expert at sleepwalking, too.”

Peria grimaced, then patted Ryner on the shoulders. “I’m sorry, Ryner. I’m going to do my best, so…”

“Uuh…”

In the end, their solidarity as the only boys here was fragile and easily broken. Ryner could feel tears threatening the corners of his eyes.

Anyway.

“Alright, let’s get started,” Jereme said. “Pia, Peria, it’s time to fight. Five, four, three, two, one. Go.”

With that, their match began, far more casually than it probably should have been.

“Let’s gooo!”

“Let’s begin.”

Pia and Peria started to move. Ryner watched in amazement. They were fast. He could immediately see that they’d improved tenfold by the rigorous training that’d been imposed on them all, bringing them to the brink of death time and time again.

“Amazing…” 

Ryner knew at once that he’d never reach their level.

“You’re thinking that you’ll never catch up, aren’t you?” Jereme asked. “That means that you’ll be stuck with only two hours of sleep forever.”

“But there’s no way I can beat them after just one month.”

“Then you’d better get used to living on two hours of sleep for the next year.”

Ryner scowled. “There’s no way!!”

“Then take the time to watch Peria closely. Look, there’s no way he’s going to win against Pia. You’re right about one thing - the past month hasn’t changed the gap between their abilities.”

Ryner looked back to Pia and Peria. He watched as Pia casted her amplified magic, and Peria tried to pierce through it and into her chest.

Then Pia suddenly stopped her spell with the clap of her hands and grinned. “You're sooo easy to trick. By the way, that spell was a fake-out. Think you can dodge my fists while you're focused on my magic?” Pia fired her fists towards him at an incredible speed.

Peria made to block her. “Don't look down on me by using a weak attack like that…”

“That was a fake, too! Here’s the winning hit!” Pia said as she crouched down, then swept her leg past Peria’s, knocking him over. Then she sat on him, grabbed a fistful of his hair with one hand, and his neck with the other— 

“That’s time!” Jereme said.

Pia’s arms moved from Peria. “Whaaat? We’re already done? Laaame. Actually, this competition’s sucked since the beginning. Why does a genius like me have to fight a normie like Peria? Also, girls are superior to boys, so you had me winning against Peria twice before the match even started. It was absolutely impossible for me to lose!”

Jereme nodded. “I can’t argue that women are superior to men, but Pia, don’t get cocky. If you do, you’re bound to make mistakes.”

“Cocky?” Pia said, then raised her lower lip in a pout. “Who do you think you’re talking to? I don’t make mistakes.”

Jereme shook her head. “No. You listened when I told you that amplification magic leaves you with a lot of openings and used that to your advantage with a feint... I can tell that you're improving, which makes me feel lucky as your teacher.”

Pia’s mouth dropped in shock. “Huh? Uh, wait, is that a compliment? You’re kidding! I can’t believe… um, I mean, yeah! Your training is easy peasy!” Pia said, her happy tone betraying her words.

“Also,” Jereme continued, “when you said ‘think you can dodge my fists?’ as another feint? That was pretty good. Your extreme self-confidence lends well to the brute-force approach. Alright, you pass.”

Then she looked to Peria. “But Peria, you made a mistake. Your All Prohibited power heightens your senses, and yet... Even though you were fighting her from a distance, you let Pia's trick get to you. I'm disappointed. You get a failing grade, so your daily free time will decrease by one hour daily.”

“What!?” Peria and Ryner both yelled.

“W-wait, does that mean that we get even less free time if we don’t do a good job?” Ryner asked.

“It’s only natural. If you aren’t doing well, then that means you need more training.”

“You’re telling me that my two hours could get even smaller…?”

Jereme nodded. “It sure can.”

“I hate thiiisss!” Ryner scremed.

“Then you have to fight to the utmost of your ability. I’m not saying that winning or losing is the be all, end all. If you fight poorly, that means that you didn’t value your teaching, and your free time will decrease. If you fight well, then it won’t.” 

Ryner gripped his head with his hands. 

Value your teaching.

Those words swirled around in his head, over and over again. 

Her teachings… what did she teach him, again? What did she teach him over the past month?

“……”

Ryner thought about it.

“………”

His cloudy, sleep-deprived mind frantically struggled to think.

“…………”

But all that he could remember was Jereme punching him, kicking him, and choking him… She didn’t teach him a single thing! What could he do but despair?

“Alright, it’s time for the next match,” Jereme said. “Next up is Peria and Ryner. Five, four, three, two, one, go!”

“Whaaat!? Give me some time here!” Ryner yelled. But it was too late. Peria was long gone. “Huh? Where did he…”

Then Ryner heard a voice from behind him. “I’m sorry, Ryner.”

Everything went black.

---

“It’s coooollddd!” Ryner screamed. But he was already used to this. To closing his eyes, and then opening them like this. He sighed. “This again…”

He’d probably fainted. He couldn’t help but recall the many days he spent fainting, then having cold water splashed on him to wake him up… Ryner’s body stood without his mind, giddy with confusion… “Hey, Jereme, how much longer are we gonna practice? I’ll die… I’ll die die die die die…”

Then Jereme… no, not Jereme, but someone else responded. “No, Ryner. This isn’t practice. This is an exam. Come on, Ryner, come back to us. I just hit you in the back of your neck with my hand.”

“Huh?” Everything came rushing back to him. “Oh. Yeah, right. I lost, huh?”

“Don’t you think you should try a little harder?” Jereme asked. “If you don’t, your free time will drop by one hour…” 

“W-wait!” Ryner said. “One whole hour? But I only get two hours to sleep in the first place, so… it’d become one hour? Just one hour every day?”

“That’s right. Any complaints?”

“Duh! I mean, I’d seriously die.”

Jereme shrugged. “But you’ll die if you’re too weak anyway. So if you can’t even take my training, keep your head up and take death like a man. Now stop your whining and let’s move on. Pia, Ryner, it’s time to go. Five, four—”

“Gaaah!? We’re already fighting? Uh, so, Pia! Can you go easy on me? If I lose again, I won’t get a single hour of sleep anymore.”

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” Pia said. “But okay. I’ll play nice.”

“Oh, thank you! Pia, you look like a goddess right now!”

“—three, two, one. Go.”

In an instant, Pia’s shit-eating grin disappeared, and Ryner’s world went black.

---

“It’s coooollddd! Pia, you said you’d go easy on me!” Ryner yelled. He’d just regained consciousness, but he was already exhausted again. “So whyyy did I faint!?”

Pia shrugged. “What can I say? When a genius like me fights a normie, anything short of instant death is me going easy.”

“And what part of that was ‘going easy’!? You attacked me with all you had!”

“Well, anyway,” Jereme said, “your free time is down again.”

“And when am I supposed to sleep now!?”

“Do you really have to sleep, though?” Jereme asked.

“That’s stupid! Please, please just let me sleep a little bit… It’s a miracle that I managed to survive this past month as is. Please just let me sleep… please, be nice to me and let me sleep…”

“Be nice? Why should I be nice to you? The only time I plan on ever being nice is to my future husband. Everyone else is pretty insignificant to me, just like insects on the ground are insignificant to you.”

What a thing to say… 

Peria looked to Ryner and whispered. “A woman who says that everyone but her is like an insect will never find a man.”

Very true. Ryner nodded his agreement. 

Then Jereme kicked Peria so hard that he went flying.

“Uuh…”

Okay, mistakes were made. Ryner was certain that he’d be next.

Jereme tightened her fist. “So, Ryner. Were you just agreeing with Peria? You couldn’t have been, right? But you’re misunderstanding something. Even if my man decided he liked more delicate girls instead and tried to leave me, I’d just kill him!”

Ryner didn’t really understand what was happening other than that his situation was getting worse by the second. He shivered. Forget sleep deprivation; this was what was really going to kill him. He spoke through his shivering teeth. “I-I think that you’re the best woman out there, J-Jereme…”

Jereme’s face brightened in an instant. “Y, you really think so?”

“Y-yeah. I don’t know your exact case, but… if it were me, I’d definitely marry a girl like you… That’s what I think, at least…”

Jereme suddenly looked troubled. “Oh, so that’s how you see me?”

He saw nothing in her! But this obviously wasn’t the time nor place to scream his true feelings.

But then a miracle occurred.

“Hm, I see,” she said. “So this kid listens to me… Rather, I’ve cultivated an interest in me. Things might be easier if I just married him later in life. Judging by his age, I’d give it ten years. So Ryner, you’re a potential candidate in the running for my husband. So I’ll be a bit nicer to you. You’re right - you’d die if you went a month without sleeping. Okay, I’ll let you sleep.”

“R-really!?”

Jereme smiled wide. “I’ll give you 15 minutes. ♪”

“I’ll still dieeee!”

And so Ryner’s screams echoed through the arena… 

---

His training was a little different after that.

It was hard. Unreasonably hard. To the point where he was certain he’d die time and time again. But he didn’t even care anymore. All he cared about was sleep.

He fought like crazy, learned magic like crazy, and read like crazy… and the whole time— 

“I want to sleep. I want to rest. I want to nap for once. I want to see what it’s like to sleep through the night. I want to sleep in all morning. All that I want is to remember what sleeping was like. I’ll show them. I’ll sleep. I’ll win, and then I’ll sleep. I’m gonna sleep! For real! I’ll sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, until I die… I’ll sleep until I’m dead…”

He chanted that over and over and over again… 

That month stretched on like it was a year, but in the end, it did pass.

---

The fated day came again: exams. 

Ryner sleepwalked over to the arena. He just couldn’t keep his eyes open. He couldn’t keep his posture straight, either. He was exhausted to his core, and when he staggered up to the arena door, he knew that Jereme, Pia, and Peria were already there.

Peria paled. “Wh… Ryner!? Are you okay? Are you alive?”

All motivation and will to live left Ryner’s body at the sound of Peria’s raised voice. His expression shifted between sleep and wakefulness. “Ask me if I’m okay all you want, but… it’s no good. It hasn’t been for a long time now.”

“Yeah… I can tell that you’ve been pushed past your limits,” Peria said, his voice shaking. 

Then there was Pia, as full of energy as always. “What. Look how unmotivated you are. Do you really think you can fight like that?”

“…I obviously can’t,” Ryner mumbled. “I can’t do anything but sleep…”

“Hey, don’t sleep in the middle of a conversation with a maiden like me!” Pia snapped and slapped at him. “God, you’re rude.”

But she missed. Because Ryner lolled his head in sleep in the middle of her slap. 

“Wha…” 

Peria’s eyebrows shot up, though he didn’t open his eyes. “Ngh…”:

Ryner’s expression, fuzzy from lack of sleep, didn’t change.

“H-how did you dodge me!?” Pia asked him. 

“Huh? I dodged…? What’d I dodge?”

“You didn’t even realize?”

“What are you talking about?” Ryner mumbled.

Understanding flashed through Pia’s eyes. “Oh, I get it now. You didn’t dodge me because you didn’t understand that I was attacking you. It was all a coincidence! Still, though, Ryner, you’ve gotten cheeky. To think that you could dodge my attack by accident!”

“Alright, enough chitter chatter,” Jereme said. “I’m sure that you all understand this by now, but today is what we’ve all been waiting for - our regularly scheduled exam.”

Pia shook her head. “No one’s looking forward to this. I’m a genius, so I’m the strongest here. It’s just boring when I already know I’m the best.”

Jereme smiled. “How can you be so sure? Peria and Ryner have been working hard in preparation for today.”

Pia looked at Peria, then Ryner, up and down and left and right to try to get a feel for what Jereme was saying. She came out of it a bit disgruntled. “Peria aside, how on earth is Ryner supposed to fight like this?” Pia asked. “He’s basically walking dead.”

“Hmm. He might have been doing a little too much over the past month,” Jereme agreed. “I’ve really been disciplining him. I’d say that stuff like this happened about thirty days this month…”

“That’s every day!”  Peria and Pia yelled in sync. 

Jereme shrugged. “Anyway, that aside, let’s get started.”

And that was that. Ryner didn’t really care at this point, though… 

“Pia and Peria, you’re up. Five, four, three—”

Pia and Peria stood face to face on opposite sides of the arena, tensed and ready to go.

“—two, one. Go!” Jereme shouted.

The atmosphere changed. An unmistakable killing aura sprouted up between them. It was far beyond what had happened last month. 

Pia smirked. “I see that you’ve improved by a lot.”

Peria grimaced. “Uuh… I’ve been practicing hard so that I would improve… but you got quite a bit stronger, too. But it’d embarrass me as a man to keep losing to a girl. I’ll show you a better side of me this time—”

Peria drew a magic circle with incredible speed. “I wish for a burnt prairie - Crimson!”

Countless fireballs sprung from his magic circle. He didn’t aim for her body. Instead, he aimed below her. His fireballs disturbed the countless pebbles and dust of the arena’s grounds. They seemed to circle her until she disappeared into the dust cloud entirely.

Even so, her response entirely lacked tension. “Whaaat? You think you can go easy on me and miss me with your magic just ‘cause I’m a girl?”

“Too bad,” Peria said, now behind her. “I can’t win by acting like a gentleman. The dust and pebbles only served to hide me.” He raised his hand up. “But because of my ability, I can see you just as clearly with or without the dust cloud…”

Just then, a rock from the dust cloud slammed into Peria’s face.

“Guah!?”

He raised his head sharply, but the stones just kept coming. They hit his shoulder, his chest, his stomach… until he couldn’t move at all.

The clouds gradually cleared, revealing Pia with a smirk on her face and a bright magic circle forming between her hands. “How can you see my charm points if that cloud’s hiding them?”

“Kgh…”

Peria forced his body up to correct his fighting stance, but… 

“By the way,” Pia said, “I’ve been waiting to cast this spell for a while now. What will you do? Surrender?”

Peria was crestfallen to hear that.

Pia only smiled wider. “What’s up with you? Is your mood in the gutter? You were mistaken since the very beginning by thinking a boy could win against a girl in battle. So don’t worry about it. A battle is all about playing dirty, right? And girls are obviously better liars than boys.

Pia continued after a brief pause. “I saw through your strategy the second you thought of it - ‘I’ll miss her with my fire magic and go easy on her,’ right?  I can’t believe you thought you could trick me with that. A nasty woman is going to take advantage of you someday. You know that, right?”

Peria’s shoulders slackened. “Uuh…”

Jereme looked to Ryner in the midst of everything. “Be honest with me. What do you think of their fight? Can you tell that these are the same people from last month?”

“Well… I feel asleep so many times in the middle of their fight that I don’t really know—”

“Watch them more closely! Ugh, god. I can’t believe you’re sleeping through this golden opportunity. Really, though, you kids are geniuses. Peria’s abilities are amazing, and Pia… This is all natural for her. She’s a genius made for the battlefield. Do you understand what she did? She used her words to deceive him. Then she used the stones in the sandstorm to interrupt his All Boundaries ability. The vibrations of their movements distracted him. It’s impressive that she can construct two, three layers of lies at her age. Of course, I saw through everything, but in the future… Ryner, are you listening?” 

“I’m not listening.”

Jereme smiled derisively at his immediate reply. “I see. That’s fine. You’re less experienced than Peria, so I don’t really expect you to absorb all of this. You’re falling further and further behind.”

“Ugh, just shut up,” Ryner said, his voice so tired that he sounded like death itself. I read The Art of War, so I’ll be fine.”

“Huh? Because you read about this stuff in a book…? Books on strategy weren’t a part of this month’s curriculum…”

Ryner stumbled towards Pia and Peria. “I want to sleep more. So after my study periods, I did my best and researched even more. I’ll sleep. I’ll definitely sleep. I’m going to win today and then sleep seven hours a day just like Pia can do now.”

“No, I don’t think you can win against Pia,” Jereme said. “Well, whatever. We’ll see what motivation can do for you…”

Though it was impossible to see said motivation when looking at Ryner - he was slouched over, could hardly keep his eyes open, and stumbled instead of walked… 

“Alright,” Jereme started. “Pia won again, but Peria did a good job too. He just hasn’t reached Pia’s level of ability and experience. Now how should this translate to your training… Okay, let’s move on. Peria and Ryner, let’s go. Five, four—”

Ryner met eyes with Peria. “Okay, good luck.”

Peria looked troubled. “Ah, you don’t look like your heart is in it at all. I feel bad fighting an opponent who can’t even walk straight…”

“—three, two, one. Go for it.”    

Peria was behind Ryner in the blink of an eye. “I’m sorry.” He reached out with his hand and gripped Ryner by the neck.

“Auh…”

Ryner once again lost consciousness, and began to crumple to the ground… 

Peria winced, then looked back to Jereme. “Isn’t Ryner even weaker than last time? I think he should be able to sleep a little more…”

Jereme shrugged. “Hm. So you want to give some of your free time to him? He’ll be able to sleep more then.”

“Huh? W, well…”

Then Peria suddenly heard a voice from behind.

“I’m seriously sorry, Peria. You’ll only be able to sleep for fifteen minutes a day from now on, so… do your best.”

Peria was in shock. “What!?”

He turned around. There was Ryner, still on the ground like he was dead. But there was a rock in his hand.

“I think if I throw this rock at your head with all that I have, you’ll probably faint,” Ryner said. “So I think I won. Don’t you?”

Pia could hardly believe it. “Huh? Huh!? Wh-why? I mean, I definitely got you by the neck…”

“Peria, he read your attack,” Jereme said. “He moved his neck just a little at the last second to keep the damage to a minimum. Then he pretended to faint and waited for the opportunity to strike…”

But Peria could barely acknowledge her. “But, but why? I definitely hit his neck…”

Ryner shrugged. “You’re really nice, so I knew that you’d go for an attack where you knew it’d hurt the least…”

“He read you like a book, so I believe we have a winner,” Jereme said. “That means you’re down to fifteen minutes of free time.”

“You’re k-kidding…”

Jereme ignored Peria’s despair. It was time for the next match. “Pia, Ryner, you’re up!”

Ryner tensed up for the fight.

Pia just smiled. “Oh, so you’re not going to ask me to go easy on you this time?”

“…Even if I ask, I know that you won’t.”

“Obviously. I mean, I’m a genius. Do you know what that means? Being called a genius aaalll the time? It means that I’ve been different from normies like you ever since I was born. But also, it’s super rare, but every now and then another prodigy comes along with the potential to beat me. Humiliating, right? Because no one wants to be one-upped! That’s why I’ll never go easy on anyone. I always put a little bit of effort in, even if it’s against normies like you!”

Pia smiled. “Well, anyway. Too bad for you, Ryner. You won’t get another miracle like the one that let you beat Peria. I’ll never go easy on you. I don’t know what kind of dumb strategy you’ll try to hit me with, but I know that it’s not gonna work. You might as well just give up now.”

Ryner’s eyes narrowed. “I get it. You’re amazing. You’re trying to push me into a box where I can only make a few different choices instead of a bunch. You’re trying to get me riled up so that I get clumsy and make things easy for you. But moving around too much is a pain, so that’s not gonna work on me.”

“Mrgh.” Pia was clearly disappointed with his response. “So you’ve become a nasty fighter under that sleepy expression of yours. But this isn’t about knowledge. It’s about power, and I’m just plain stronger than you are. So that’s enough small talk. Let’s do this. I’ll show you how strong I’ve gotten in this past month!”

“…Go easy on me…”

“Hmph,” Jereme said. “Looks like there’s some bad blood between you two. Five, four, three, two, one. Go get ‘em.”

Pia moved first. She ran towards Ryner with stunning speed. “Can you stop me now that a month has passed?” She slammed her fist towards him.

“Oof.”

Ryner calmly made a circular move in preparation to catch her. But Pia adapted to his plan in an instant. Instead of trying to connect with a punch, she moved to grab his arm instead.

“Alright, let’s do this instead.” Ryner used his other hand to try to stop her.

“Then I’ll switch things up too!” Pia said and used her other hand to make a show of wrestling his other hand away, but then— “Just kidding!”

She changed her course of action entirely. Instead of going for a punch with the gap she made, she launched her leg up in a kick before moving her arms to get him.

There was no way that Ryner could dodge that punch. “This is bad… kuagh!” Ryner put all of his weight into stepping back. “Ow ow ow ow ow…” 

“What’s this?” Pia said, giddy from their fight. “Is your brain all fuzzy and slow? Your legs move like a turtle!”

“Umm, well, can’t help it. I knew I couldn’t win against you in hand-to-hand combat,” Ryner said as his legs shook from exertion. 

“What’s the point in stating the obvious?” Pia asked. “You couldn’t even win against Peria if you fought him now. What makes you think you can win against me?”

“You’re right,” Ryner agreed. “But I have a little more confidence when it comes to magic. So frustrating that I never got the chance to show it off.”

Pia’s eyebrows shot up. “Magic…? So? You think that you can win against me when it comes to magic?”

Ryner nodded without hesitation. “I mean, your amplification magic is really slow. Even I can follow it.”

“Hmm. But you only started learning magic what, a month or two ago? And you still think you can cast it faster than me? Say it takes forever all you want. I’m still faster than a so-called magician like you.”

Ryner shrugged. “But still,” he started, looking her dead in the eyes, “I’m still faster than you.”   

Pia’s expression turned dark. Murderous. “Oh, really? Really, now? That’s rich, coming from a normie like you. Fine, then! I’ll take you up on it, so let’s do this! I won’t feel bad even if I blow you to smithereens!”

With that, Pia began to draw a magic circle.

“Got her!” Ryner whispered to himself. “Here’s where the real match starts. I’ll definitely win that seven hours of sleep!”

Ryner’s eyes widened, and a scarlet pentagram rose in the depths of his dark eyes. He could see through the magic circle that Pia was drawing. She didn’t need to finish it. He could already see everything.

What kind of spell was it? How long would it take to finish?

He could see its construction, how to use it, and what it did. He read it down to its smallest parts… 

With that knowledge, he chose to cancel it—it was much faster than trying to use the spell himself. So he drew his own magic circle with unreal speed.

Pia began to speak. “I wish for thunder—”

Ryner said his own incantation. “I wish for rain clouds—”

“—Lightning Flash!”

“—Leveling Rain!”      

At once, a massive thunderbolt shot from Pia’s magic circle. At the same time, white rapids exploded out of Ryner’s. 

Their two spells clashed.

There was no way that Ryner’s would lose. Her electricity would diffuse into the water, then the electrified water would head straight for Pia. It would be impossible to dodge.

He could win. He could truly win this. 

The foundation for his victory was in sight. That was why Ryner got to moving. He began to close the distance between himself and Pia with Leveling Rain’s water as his cover. 

Then, in the moment that his spell hit hers… Pia’s boastful voice rang past the water. “I’m one step ahead of you, Ryner! Sure, Leveling Rain is supposed to cancel out Lightning Flash in textbooks. However, my Lightning flash…”

Then it happened, right in front of his eyes.

His wave disappeared before it connected.

All Ryner could do was let out a stupid noise. “Huh?”

After all, something crazy was happening. Her amplified Lightning Flash was so strong that it evaporated his spell, leaving them both with nothing. Which meant that Pia could see Ryner, since he didn’t have anything to hide behind anymore.

That was enough to confuse her, though. “What? No way. Who are you trying to hit…? That means that your magic was just a decoy!?”

Ryner’s punch flew towards her. She took it, then tried to grip at his joints.

“Y-you think I’d let you!?” Ryner said and managed to stop her.

Pia, flustered, attacked him again and again while still keeping her defenses up. She too was fighting with everything she had.

“Tch, ugh, you…! You’re way faster than before!” Pia said. “You’ve been hiding how strong you are since the very beginning!”

Ryner could hardly respond for how much he was focusing on the fight. “Aw, crap, I thought that would work…! I thought I could catch you off guard, but now there’s no poooint! You’re cruel, Pia! They didn’t talk about this stuff in the books I read… Awawawa, crap! I can’t win if we keeping goooinnggg!”

Their fight got more intense the longer it went on. It wasn’t just punches anymore; now they were kicking, headbutting, and doing everything they could to send the other flying. Things got faster and faster, and little by little, the gap between their abilities began to show. 

A smile started on Pia’s serious expression. “Hah! Ei! Hoh! Mm-hm, I can do this. Heheh, you can’t win, Ryner. I’m starting to get a feel for the way you fight. You’re a little faster than Peria… If I do this, then this, and… Hah!”

Her attack connected, and she grabbed Ryner’s right arm and twisted. 

Ryner tried to break free. “Uuh, crap! I need to get out of this… but I can’t. W-wait, okay, I lose! Can you let go before it really starts to hurt? Come on, I acknowledge it, you won. Stooop…!”

When things got bad, he gave in to his exhaustion and declared his loss…

Pia grinned. She didn’t stop twisting his arm. “Well, well, well. Looks like I won, just like I knew I would. But that’s only natural, since you only barely got better this month. You had to go up against a genius like me this time, but you need to put in more eff… hey, what are you doing?”

Instead of letting Pia remove her arm from Ryner’s, he slid it down to hold her hand. Hard.

Pia was instantly flustered at his sudden movement. “H-hey, what are you doing? Don’t tell me that you’re into me. Don’t tell me that’s where this is going. I guess it’s not surprising that a few normies would fall for my beauty, but—”

Ryner twisted until Pia’s joint cracked.

“H-huh? What? Ow! Oww! What do you think you’re doing!?”

Ryner looked at Jereme. She nodded.

“Alright, that’s game,” she said. “Ryner wins, and Pia loses.”

Ryner let go in an instant. “Yesss!! I won!! I can sleep now! For seven hours! Seven houuurrss!!” Ryner screamed as he danced around the arena like a madman. 

Pia, meanwhile, was absolutely dumbfounded. “Wh-wh-wh-what!? Wait, Jereme! This isn’t fair!”

“Unfair? What part of it wasn’t fair?” Jereme asked.

“What part!? Everything! Ryner already acknowledged his loss! Why would you let it keep going? That’s not fair—!”

Jereme’s expression turned cold. “You’re saying that it’s unfair just because it was possible for you to lose. Isn’t it better that you learn how to lose now rather than later?”

Pia scowled. “Uuh… But, but…”

“Don’t ‘but’ me! If you try to argue about losing on the battlefield, they’ll just kill you. Besides, you’re the one who said that a battle was about deceiving each other until the end. Take responsibility for what you say. You were deceived, so you lose. Any complaints?”

Pia’s frustration was palpable. “Uuh… no… I don’t have any…”

Jereme nodded, satisfied. “Alright, it’s time to dole out your free time for this month. First off is Pia. You’ll have seven hours.”

Pia’s eyes widened. “B, but I lost…”

“You did. Even so, you fought the best.”

Pia’s face brightened right up. “Y-yeah! A genius like me will always be superior to those boys. You really understand, don’t you, Jereme!”

It was like she never lost… 

Then Jereme looked to Peria. “Just like we said before, you’ll be running on fifteen minutes for this month. Any complaints?”

Peria shook his head meekly. “N-no…”

Finally, it was Ryner’s turn. He could barely contain his excitement. “I-I get seven hours, right? Since I won against both Pia and Peria?”

Jereme nodded. “True, you did well. Then for the coming month…”

“For this month…?”

“…you’ll be doing your best at fifteen minutes again.”

Ryner nodded real big. “Yay! I can sleep for fifteen minutes every day! I can finally s l e e p… I can sleep… wait… uh, wait. What did you just say? I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you right. I get seven hours of sleep, right?”

Jereme shook her head like it was the most natural thing in the world. “I said fifteen minutes, didn’t I?”

“Uh, no, I mean… ‘fifteen minutes’ is some new code, right? And it means ‘seven hours’? Right…?”

“Nope. This happened a couple weeks ago, but I got in a fight with my boyfriend of two days.”

“H-hey, wait, what does that have to do with anything?” Ryner asked.

Jereme ignored him. “This is what he told me; ‘I know that I told you that I’d go out with you, but there’s a woman from my past that I just can’t forget. I’ve been thinking that maybe I’ll be able to forget her through you.’ What do you think of that?”

Peria crossed his arms. “Hmm… I think you can take it at face value. He lost someone who he really loved, but then he fell for you, so now he thinks he’ll be able to forget her… or something.”

“What are you saying, Peria!” Pia said. “You really are just a kid. Don’t be fooled, Jereme! Men who say that stuff are the worst! He’s just a player. ‘I love you, but I can’t forget her. I know that it may come to hurt you. No, let’s just break up. I don’t want to hurt you.’ That’s what he’ll say, and then he’ll go find another girl. He might say that he doesn’t want to hurt you, but actually, he’ll just say whatever he wants to get what he wants. He’s obviously trouble!”

Peria looked… touched. “Wow… that’s so deep, Pia…”

“…No, seriously, why are we talking about this?” Ryner asked. “We were talking about my free time…”

Jereme completely ignored him and continued. “I thought so. I knew I wasn’t wrong. That’s why I told him off; ‘Why the hell did you confess to me if your feelings are half-baked! Come at me fair and square!’ What happened next is so sad that my memories went fuzzy, but… I broke both of his hands and held them until he said, ‘I’ll never show my face around you ever again, so please, just forgive me.’ I feel like he said something like that… but anyway…”

She looked back to Ryner and nodded. “So that’s that, Ryner.”

“I didn’t understand a single bit of that!”

“You’re a real slow kid, you know that?  Basically, you won, but it wasn’t fair. Also, when you held her hand it really reminded me of him and pissed me off, so yeah.”

Ryner was getting dizzier by the second. Even his voice was shivering. “But, that means… My free… my free time… that’s all I get…?”

“That’s ‘all you get’!? Are you downplaying my tragedy!? Alright, let’s scratch that fifteen out. You get ten minutes.”

“Wait, ten minutes is impossi—”

“Okay, then I’m sure you’ll be fine on five.”

“That’s not fine at aaaalll!”

And so Ryner’s screams echoed through the arena again today.

---

Anyway, one month passed.

Peria, insane on the verge of death, managed to sweep.

“Yes, I finally did it!” He screamed.

Pia twisted Ryner’s shoulder until his arm nearly popped off. “Well? Feel like surrendering?”

“Yes! I’ll surrender! S, so, augh, it hurts… It huuurrrttss! Please, I’m surrendering, so don’t hurt me anymore!”

Pia just smiled. “Ohh? But how do I know that’s not just a lie? It’s not going to happen. See, someone tricked me recently, and I don’t want that to happen again… I don’t want to become a woman who lets bad men trick her.”

“But this is just pointless, so c’mon! Time out! Seriously, c’mon, I’m apologizing now, so… it’s pointless…” 

“Crack! ♡”

Aaand that was the sound of Ryner’s arm popping right out of his shoulder socket.

“Gyaaahhh!”

As usual, Ryner was screaming.

And so their happy days (?) continued to pass… 

---

Here, one could laugh from the bottom of their heart. 

Every day was hard but strangely, at some point, it stopped feeling like it was tough.

Jereme took her broken heart out on them. Pia took her arrogance out on them. Peria and Ryner had no choice but to sigh and go along with it. 

Their daily routine involved getting hit and berated. Even so, they seemed to be getting along okay.

And so Ryner began to forget.

Here he was, surrounded by geniuses, by monsters, in a place where he could forget that he was his own kind of monster.

They were called geniuses, and he… he was different from them. They were ‘human,’ and he was a ‘monster,’ but he could turn a blind eye to that here and start to forget.

He was allowed to be normal here. 

But nothing lasted forever. Especially not happiness, or anything resembling it. 

He could wish for it. Beg for it, even. But he’d never be granted a normal life. That alone was impossible for him.

But even if it was only for a moment… 

If he could live without worrying.

If he could live without fear. 

If he could live without death.

A perfect battle machine.

A monster who invites death, disasters, and tragedy. 

That was a story inside of Ryner. A dark one, from not too long ago.