Freya seemed to be interested in what I'd give her in exchange for the customer coupon. She took us to the public gym she used. A place where we could rent a room for a while. Allowing us to have some privacy while doing business. As expected of her.

She had it all planned.

We changed our clothes to get more comfortable. I wore a standard bodysuit meant to keep the body's health in check. Heat regulation and other comforts were installed into the gym-wear. Too bad this was secondhand. Maybe I needed to buy my own later.

Just as I was checking out the features, Freya arrived on time. Tying her hair into a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way. Again, I became mesmerised by her beauty. This wasn't because of her spectral core. The turning into an 'elf' didn't make a person beautiful.

Despite how one would usually see them depicted, I was unable to look away at how her bodysuit made her curves more pronounced. The modest chest wasn't bouncing around due to the structure of the bodysuit, but that only made her look more erotic.

I should probably stop looking.

"Here is the target to test on." Freya didn't notice my gaze. She turned to bring out a metallic training dummy. There were ancient patterns naturally formed into the dummy. I could tell what exactly this was made of. The realisation got me surprised.

"'Adamant Steel' on a training dummy...?" Now I was even more suspicious of her. This wasn't the same as regular 'steel'. This metal was better known as 'Adamantium'. A material that had low ability to conduct Mana, but was durable beyond comparison.

"Only a little was used. You could say around ten percent. The rest is regular steel." Freya didn't seem to think much of showing off her wealth. It made me wonder how her father afforded this on an officer's salary. I wasn't nosy enough to ask her straight up.

"I know this wasn't what we came for, but can you demonstrate how you use 'Double Breath'?" I could feel my curiosity getting the better of me when I asked this. She didn't reject my request. There was this feeling like she wanted to warm herself up.

After jumping a little and loosening her muscles, I could see that her body was being covered in an ethereal energy. This steam-like visual effect was kinda cool. Letting me see that she was actually taking in more breaths than usual to buff herself.

My eyes couldn't see what was happening to her internally, but it was definitely using up a lot of vitality. Something she was able to manage via 'Vitality Concentration' and 'Vitality Storage'. It was easy to figure the details of how she constructed this.

The more I saw, the more jealous I felt.

Culminating into her casual punch to the dummy.

BOOM!

A loud clanging sound. I'd expected her hand to be mangled, but it looked like Double Breath also boosted muscle density for a short moment. There was only a slight reddening of her knuckles. Enough to make it obvious that she wasn't used to boxing.

Judging from her calluses, she was a swordswoman.

Not used to hand-to-hand combat.

Even so, her one attack had managed to create a large dent in the liver of the dummy. Enough to make me let out a gasp of cold air. Knowing that a normal person's organs would've been destroyed with that punch. Maybe even punching a hole.

"Your turn." She passed the ball back to me.

Freya likely wanted to see how well I could do.

I didn't rush myself. There was still some time getting used to my body having lowered its level to D Rank. How was my strength now? Could it compare to the time my muscles were overflowing with vitality? I part of me wished that it'd be the case.

I stood in front of the training dummy and aimed for the other side. For a brief moment, my eyes closed to help me get a better sense of my Mana. There was this feeling of life force sealed within my body. The perfectly fine E Rank Magic Capacity was flowing.

I didn't have any way to use it right now. After all, I'd been relying on my body alone all this time. Unable to manifest the Magic Capacity I had. The most this could be used for was 'Internal Reinforcement'. This technique allowed a great increase in my strength.

The only problem was that it was incomplete.

'Internal' meant that it's only increase the strength of everything under the skin, but not the skin of my hand itself. This meant that after punching, there was a high chance of the hand exploding. The skin would break, and the rest of the hand would with it.

There was only one way of fixing this.

'Dormant Saint'...

I accessed the special derived energy that was flowing through my meridians. Different from the one flowing through my Artes Lines. This energy seeped into the entirety of my hand. Leaving no aspect of it alone. Not even the skin above the veins. 

The natural power hardened my hand tremendously.

But that was it.

Unlike the Internal Reinforcement I'd used, this natural 'Hardening' simply stiffened the muscles in my hand. Increasing the durability alone, without expanding any avenues... but that much was enough for me. Power and durability completed this skill.

It was using two lesser techniques to create a brand new one. I called this 'Flesh Enforcement'. A purely physical technique that couldn't take on the property of my affinities. It simply boosted my attack power to go beyond that of my D Rank physical ability.

With this in mind, I struck out my hand.

My form was impeccable. My technique was clean.

BANG!

However, the result wasn't much.

I could understand the difference immediately. Even though she had a weaker physique than me overall, I could see that she was able to put 100% of her power into that punch. Unlike me, who wasn't able to bring my technique beyond the fixed limits of my body.

Her attack power could be measured as 'C Rank'.

Much stronger than the 'D+ Rank' I'd attained.

The dent I'd made in the dummy was small.

It was nothing compared to what she did.

"Is that all you have?" Freya looked disappointed at me. Making my face flushed red in embarrassment of my own failure. I had to do something before her opinion of me dropped to being a swindler of sorts.

"No. This is just an example of its use." I coughed and tried to act like this was part of the plan. There was enough reason to boost the confidence. Without eloquence, any amount of attitude would seem more foolish than persuasive. I kept my mind running.

"Of what? You just used reinforcement there." These words made me catch on to her misunderstanding. It was a good chance to change her opinion of me. So I raised my chin and confidently made my point clear.

"I can't externalise Mana, remember?" When I'd mentioned this, the girl widened her eyes. There was a bit of doubt after remembering my words from before, but she couldn't imagine it. Moreover, being able to do what she could meant nothing to her.

She only focused on the difference she could use.

"Was it 'Physical Boost'...?" Freya's question seemed more filled with doubt than certainty. Although a person's Limiter could boost strength, it could not be used to fix the issues of Internal Reinforcement. The scale and potency of the two techniques were great.

"This is the first 'Dormant Saint' technique. I've simply called it Hardening. Boosting the endurance of the body isn't its only use." After I'd said that, I got into a stance. Focusing this technique on my feet.

She watched as my body vanished in an instant, then appeared somewhere else. My burst of movement speed had caught her off-guard. There was no sign of reinforcement being used on my legs, nor was it possible to increase my speed relying on this alone.

"You said it only boosted your endurance." Freya glared at me, but I felt more at ease knowing that she wasn't being all serious. There was enough rapport I'd made with her to give me a chance to explain. It wasn't really that big of a deal in the first place.

"Again, all depends on how you use it." I said while explaining the technique and moving again. This was a demonstration of sorts so she got used to seeing it in action. After all, this was a purely physical technique that required a lot of patience to learn.

The first thing I taught her was how to Harden her flesh, then moved onto the specifics of how to improve her speed. Her eyes gradually widened the more I started to explain it. Unable to believe that such a complex technique was usable in battle.

"I'm supporting this by using the extension of Mental Boost called 'Numeracy'. It increases my ability to complete equations in my head, which is useful when you use Hardening on your feet." I said while bending my foot while grasping the floor.

'Hardening' increased the density, but it couldn't turn muscle into metal. The tougher foot on the ground would also have increased elasticity. This allowed me to bend my legs like a bow, then release to essentially 'shoot' myself in the direction I want.

To stop, I just landed myself normally.

The increased toughness on my feet protected them.

Freya watched me use this a few times in a row.

Sitting down to learn Dormant Saint with me.

"It's fine if you can't learn it immediately, I-" Just as I was about to give her words of comfort, my eyes widened to what happened before me. It was an unbelievable sight. The girl who had just learned my technique for the first time moved at high speeds.

Her body flickered from one place to another.

"You call this 'Flash Step'? It's good, but way too predictable. Try it like this." Freya said while altering my technique. She expanded the effective range of the Harden to bend her whole body. With great efficiency of movement, she flickered here and there.

Her body turning into afterimages around her.

My heart finally froze.

The jealousy I felt was unable to be hidden. I put my hand on my face to hide my expression. Trying to not say it outwardly. There was no benefit in talking to her impolitely. The only reward would be her hatred and indifference. Don't say useless things.

I begged that of myself.

"What's wrong?" She turned after hearing nothing.

"I'm feeling a bit ill. Anyway, can I have the custom coupon now? There isn't much time before the academy starts." I could tell from her expression that she didn't believe my words. The start of the first year would be a month from now. It wasn't too close.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Freya sighed.

"I'm fine." I tried to make distance.

"Just let me do it." She ignored my words.

Although it was a kind gesture from her, my ugly nature would be hard to hide if this went on. I chose to focus on calming down rather than focus on what she was doing. Rubbing my temples to try and let blood flow to my brain. Massaging it a little bit.

It was a long walk. One where I'd glance sometimes.

"...Can we be friends?" Maybe it was just me. Though a part of me was unable to stomach her talent, the more innocent side of me hoped she'd be my first friend. Someone who knew me as 'Flinn Driftwood' rather than 'Maxwell'. The first step to growth.

"...That's fine." She also hesitated before answering.

I noticed her ears turn red.

That heat only grew when she helped me get into my room. The card fell from my grip, and she picked it up before scanning my door. It opened, and she helped me inside by supporting my shoulder.

Getting me to the bed.

"Thank you." I said this with sincerity.

My headache was going away.

It felt nice to be taken care of for once.

Just as I thought she'd leave at that point, her face suddenly changed. She looked down to see a piece of cloth on the floor. It was festive red and smelled like roses. When she picked it up, what it was became clear to me. This was... a pair of woman's underwear.

I felt my hairs stand on end.

"T-that must have been because of my master. He's that sort of person." I lied and didn't hesitate to throw dirt on my 'Maxwell' persona. Not wanting any blemish on the identity of 'Flinn Driftwood'. It was a quick response that seemingly persuaded her.

"It's none of my business." Despite her saying that, I could tell her opinion of me had dropped. She didn't even try and hear me out. Simply leaving while throwing the custom coupon on the bed. Her whole attitude became frigid in the blink of an eye.

I held my head after she slammed the door.

Slowly falling asleep from the mental fatigue.

########################

Freya was a levelheaded person, but there were certain types of people she abhorred. Playboys and those who capricious were one of them. She didn't like unpredictable people who acted on instinct. To her, a real worthy friend was a proper gentleman.

Not someone who sleeps around.

As she was walking downstairs, she decided to confirm if what Flinn was saying was the truth. It'd be easy to figure out on her own. The only thing she needed to do was to ask the receptionist about it.

"How many people rented this room here?" Freya asked like she was a friend. Information like this should have been kept private from people, but the receptionist didn't see a problem with just knowing the number of people who rented that room.

"Only one." The receptionist whispered to her.

These words were enough to incriminate Flinn and make his lies prominent. She no longer trusted him.

Believing he had bad intentions in the long run.

She left the hotel angrily, passing by a few people who had their faces hidden my masks and caps of similar design. Not noticing how out of the four, one of them glanced at her for a long moment. The girl who had left her underwear was also among them.

“Is she the one?” A familiar voice spoke up, she was the same woman who helped Lex Lindblum hide earlier. Lucia’s eyes looked darker than before. She almost looked like her soul had been snatched.

What had happened in the time off-screen?

Why was it only the person leading them who looked different? While the others seemed to have lost their energy, it was only the man, ‘Adam Graham’, that had a good mood. He was now ready to engage the important person, Flinn, and tell him the truth.

The truth that destroyed these people next to him.

The truth that made them lose their energy.

Adam was ready to start the main story. He could not allow events to proceed as originally intended.

After all, the protagonist must not die!