I wiped my sweat off.
Breathing in, I leaped at my opponent. First slicing towards them, which they dodged, before stabbing at their weak points. The opponent blocked my attempts and began pushing me back. I gritted my teeth and persevered, trying to gain the upper hand. Too focused on the fight, I didn’t notice that my stance was slipping.
My opponent slammed their sword into mine, causing me to lose my balance. I fell, and right as I was about to stand up, they put their sword at my throat.
“Checkmate.” Heath smiled.
“Damn. It’s 0-5 now…” I scowled. He put a hand out but I ignored it and stood up. Brushing off the dirt, I picked up my sword.
“Let’s go again.”
“Resting is important too—“
“I’ll rest when I can’t move.” I was becoming exhausted but I wanted to fight again. I’ve been training with Heath (and by myself) for the past few months. I’d been so occupied with training that I’d even fallen asleep in the training yard. Hadn’t the knights noticed me, I might’ve gotten a nasty cold.
But even with all this training, I was still too weak. There were a handful of months left, I had to quickly improve or I’d—
Heath overpowered me once more and I found myself at the end of his blade. I met his gaze.
“Again—“
“Rael, no. This is becoming unhealthy. I heard from the knights that they always saw you at morning practice. And that you were the last one to leave. If you continue to overdo it, you won’t ever improve. Swordsmanship isn’t only about training.” He didn’t lower his blade as he glowered. “It’s about knowing your limits and surpassing them. What you’re doing is merely using a sloppy foundation and reaching for the skies. Even if you train every day, you won’t come far. Only those with talent or enlightenment can effortlessly train like that. You have neither.”
I stared at him. And then sighed.
“Damn you. Why do you always have to be right?” Heath lowered his sword. I plopped down on the ground, sulking. “You mean, ‘you’re not like me, so give up’, right?” Heath averted his gaze.
“N-not really. Even if you’re not good at swordsmanship, magic might fit you more.” I gave him a blank look.
Ever since I awakened, I could sense magic. That might sound like an amazing ability, but magic for me was like the air. If there was enough of it, I’d feel a breeze of it. And even though my awakening had been… different, I was certain that my quantity of mana hadn’t increased. That meant that I, Rael, was an average spell caster.
Even the schools of magic that Rael chose in the game were average…
I sighed. How could I get past this hurdle? All of the future opponents were strong, too strong for me. I didn’t want to single-handedly defeat them, but rather work as support for the main character and the love interests. To do that, I’d have to be at least decent enough to stick around them. To become the perfect shadow, I had to catch up.
I began pondering as Heath took a seat next to me.
Finally, something clicked. I wanted to slap myself. There was a very simple solution to this issue. If the original Rael wasn’t good enough, I simply had to boost my abilities in other ways.
“Rael, why are you smiling like that…?” Ignoring Heath, I started scheming.
There were many ways to boost your abilities. There were two choices; temporary boosts or permanent ones.
Temporary boosts were either single-use artifacts, scrolls, or potions. Though it usually meant potions. Alchemists could create potions that cause your mana to increase or make you stronger for half an hour. Potions could turn you invisible, transform, or even make you more charming. The only limits to potions were their duration. The longer the duration, the more costly it got. That’s why temporary boosts were good, but not ideal.
Permanent boosts typically meant artifacts. Though some potions and scrolls could permanently boost you as well. It’s just that they usually cost… a whole castle, if not more. The cheapest potions to buy that permanently affected you were healing potions, but inferior potions could barely heal a few bruises.
Mages preferred artifacts over the other two options, most of the time. Famous artifacts in the past have been; The Claymore of Might. It was a claymore that gave its welder a 150% increase in strength. It also increased your health and defense by 50%. This made the wielder a powerful foe. But the sword was lost many millennia ago.
The Crimson Mask was a mask that increased a person’s affinity with pyro ten-folds. It also made you immune to fire. Though it too was lost many millennia ago…
Wings of Light were wings made out of light that could be conjured at any time. They were invincible as long as light existed. The wings were quicker than the fastest carriage, and could even blow away enemies with one flap. It was last seen in the Age of Darkness.
My lips twitched. I knew why legendary artifacts were so rare these days. It’s because they all disappeared thousands of years ago!
I calmed down. I had to think rationally, if those weapons still existed, even a commoner could rule the world. I had to be realistic and pick artifacts that wouldn’t make me overpowered. The artifacts that I thought of were legendary ones, written in history. I had to pick ordinary artifacts from which location I knew of.
Shoes of Haste were shoes that increased your speed and decreased your stamina usage. That meant you were quicker for a long duration of time. Though the shoes had to be constantly recharged with mana, they could save you countless times from a dangerous foe. I knew that those shoes existed in Lore Academy. I had to acquire them before anyone found them.
There were two other artifacts of equal importance; one of which had a major drawback.
The Fountain of Wishes, and the Necklace of Sheere Gown.
The Fountain of Wishes was a fountain at the very center of Lore Academy. If you dropped a coin and prayed for good fortune, you’ll be granted three wishes by the entity that resides there. The entity wasn’t omnipotent, so you weren’t allowed to wish for more wishes or become the strongest person in the world.
The Necklace of Sheer Gown belonged to a woman who had a twin. She grew up with her twin and they became close. Though they were different, Sheer loved her twin the most in the world. One day, her twin gifted her a necklace, a necklace she’d first worn as a newborn. They merely asked her to put the necklace on whenever she missed them. Sheer agreed with a smile and put it on. She looked back at her twin and saw— nothing.
Only then did she realize that her twin never existed in the first place. Her twin was merely a clone of herself. Because of the necklace, a simulacrum was created and it followed her into adulthood. Knowing the truth, Sheer was horrified. She didn’t know what to do with the necklace and decided to donate it to a magic school. That magic school, Lore, found no use for it and hid it away.
But I might have some use for it. A simulacrum could be used in many ways. One way would be as a guinea pig, but I don’t think I’d be able to stomach using them like that.
The benefits were mostly that while the simulacrum was physically weaker than you, it could be mentally and spiritually stronger. That meant an increase in magic. So if you played it smart, you could use the simulacrum as an ally or guard.
The problem with the necklace was that the longer your simulacrum existed, the more it became its own person. If it existed for over a month… it would become sentient. And I wasn’t sure if I wanted another Rael running around.
But the benefits outweigh the negatives, so I had to get it.
I stretched my arms, feeling sore. All this thinking made me tired. I stood upright and Heath stopped me.
“You should rest more.”
“I don’t want to train anymore, I’m feeling hungry.”
Heath blinked. And then he smiled.
“Then let’s go eat.” He grabbed my arm as he led me inside. I didn’t resist and watched Heath in amusement.
He seemed to be opening up more.
“Rael!” Al screamed as he jumped into my arms. I groaned as he squeezed me tightly.
“I’m delicate, be careful.”
“Shut up, you deserve this for ignoring us for so long.” I smiled wryly. He wasn’t… wrong. It’d completely left my mind to contact Al and the others. I’d been so busy training that I unintentionally ignored them.
Claus and Weiss stared at Al unhappily. I raised my hand.
“No more hugs. I’m growing allergic to them.” I’d been hugged almost every week by Wei who’d become clingy. I didn’t enjoy hugs enough for them to become a routine.
I pushed Al off of me and fixed my clothes.
“Now come on, let’s do something before I die of boredom.” The three exchanged glances.
“Card game?” Weiss suggested.
“You always cheat, so no.” I rejected.
“Traveling?” Al asked.
“After sitting on a carriage for several hours? Pass.” I declined.
“Then what about hide and seek?” Claus added. I looked at him.
“That’s— a good idea! We haven’t played it together.” Claus grinned.
“I’m pretty good at hide and seek.” He added as he smugly crossed his arms.
Al and Weiss exchanged glances.
“Hey what about we play something else—“ Al tried saying but I cut him off.
“No no, it’s a fun game. Come on! We won’t have any more opportunities like these!”
They gave up quickly and soon we stood in a circle, playing rock, paper, and scissors. Except, in this world, it was called; “Boulder, Parchment, and Sword!”
Weiss and I quickly won our round, and the only ones left were Al and Claus. I watched them battle with their hands. Weiss was muttering something under his breath.
“Please let it be Al, please let it be—“
“Boulder, Parchment, and Sword!” Al had a parchment while Claus picked boulder. Al jumped with joy over having won. But when he looked at Weiss’ dejected face, he froze.
“Um, Claus, I might’ve cheated, do you want to do a rematch?” Claus shook his head.
“No, it's fine. I’ll just find you first so you’ll be the seeker next round.” Al’s face visibly paled.
“I’ll count to 60 seconds. You better hide well.” I laughed at his cute threat and ran away when he started counting. Al’s castle was big, and I wasn’t very familiar with it. As it was made of ice, there were no wooden doors, instead, the doors were made of ice.
I ran upstairs, looking around. There was a hidden room that I’d found last time I visited. I soon reached the room and opened the door. It was filled with supplies, but I could still squeeze inside of it. I let the door close by itself and tried adjusting to the darkness.
I touched the ice wall and didn’t even feel a chill. So the ice was enchanted after all. I heard faint footsteps from outside, but they quickly rushed past my location. I sighed in relief. It was probably Weiss since I’d seen him run up the stairs ahead of me.
Right then, Claus had stopped counting. Silence filled the area as I tried calming my beating heart. I waited in suspense, listening carefully for footsteps.
Faintly, the clack of shoes could be heard just a distance from my room. I tensed up. Claus was already here? I thought this was a good hiding spot! Tensing up, I held my breath while glaring at the door.
I stared wide-eyed as the door slowly opened to reveal—
“What are you doing here?!” Weiss asked. I was dumbfounded but snapped out of it.
“What do you mean? This is my hiding spot!”
“No! I was going to go here.” He grabbed my arm but I pulled it back.
“I was here first!” I began shooing him away. “Leave or Claus will find the both of us!” Weiss had a look of fear on his face but before he could reply, there was a loud thump.
“Found you.”
We both froze. But we quickly realized that the voice came from downstairs. A loud yelp followed, sounding a lot like Al.
“Good gods, don’t scare me like that!” There was a silent pause. “Huh? Claus… why are you looking at me like that?” He sounded scared as his voice grew louder.
“Wait Claus, please, I was just—NO! PLEASE STOP—!” Al’s scream was cut off. Silence descended once more.
Weiss and I looked at each other. I took out my hand and he grabbed it. We tried to squeeze into the storage room and barely fit.
Moving had become increasingly difficult. This storage wasn’t meant for one person, let alone two. Not to mention…
“Stop breathing on my neck!” I complained, grabbing at it.
“I can barely move my head!” He whisper yelled.
I grew quiet but the faint cold air near my neck caused goosebumps to appear.
“Can you breathe a little quieter?”
“You might as well tell me not to breathe at all!” Weiss snapped.
“That would be appreciated.” I snapped back. “Okay, fine, just stand up more.”
“How?”
I leaned back and grabbed Weiss by his arm and tried lifting him. I leaned forwards so I didn’t have a sharp broom tip threatening to penetrate my brain, nearly bumping into Weiss’ face.
“…”
He wasn’t breathing down my neck but the position had become a lot more… awkward. We are now facing each other. I could barely turn my head to the side as Weiss had his arms there to balance himself.
“Hey actually, it wasn’t so bad when you breathed down my neck, you can go back to that.” I whispered to him but he didn’t respond. I closed my mouth and tried focusing on the mop in the corner of my eye.
But even that couldn’t distract me from the ever-decreasing distance between the two of us.
Wait, decreasing?
“You’re too close,” I whispered at him, as I put a hand on his chest, trying to push him away. I got a response from gritted teeth.
“I have like twenty heavy supplies weighing me down. Do you think I’m intentionally leaning in?”
“R-right.” Ugh, what is with this situation!? I knew that my face had gone red but it was due to embarrassment. If anyone saw us like this—
I heard footsteps.
Uh oh.
I wriggled my hand and placed it in front of Weiss who was only inches from me.
“Claus is coming.”
“What?!”
This was bad. Like really bad. I wouldn’t be able to explain the situation, no, Claus wouldn’t allow me to explain.
How could I forget that Claus was a love rival? He was practically in love with Weiss, who shall I remind you, was at a kissing distance from me!?
I took a deep breath. “Hey, get out now.”
“What why?” His response was muffled against my hand. I had to refrain from laughing at the tickling sensation.
“If Claus sees us like this, we’re more than dead. We’ll suffer a worse fate than Al!” Weiss fell silent but I knew he realized the gravity of the situation.
I was growing uncomfortable from the closeness, so I pushed him out of the door. The door opened right as Weiss fell. But we were entangled with one another, and he dragged me down with him. I fell on top of him, smacking my forehead on his chin. We both cried out in pain.
But we were interrupted by a “Hm?”
I see Claus standing right by the door, holding it open. He must’ve known that we were there… and we were currently in a more misleading pose.
Claus eyed us for a while before he smiled. He pushed his long braid to the side and walked up to us. I didn't hesitate. I got off Weiss and began sprinting.
It’s not too late! I can live!
I feel an iron grip grab my shirt, stopping my escape. My body goes limp. If I’m compliant, maybe he’ll show mercy to me?
But I wasn’t so sure that he would. After all, he’d seen me with Weiss.
Right as we pass by Weiss, I kick at him.
“Help me, you idiot!” But he’s still rubbing his chin while mumbling something.
This was it.
A tear rolled down my cheek as I was silently dragged away.
Goodbye life.
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Weiss sat up after mumbling enough curses to last him a lifetime. He looked around, seeing neither Rael nor Claus.
Rubbing at his (probably) bruised chin, he frowned.
There was a scene that kept replaying in his mind. Right before his chin was bruised, he remembered falling like it was in slow motion. Right as he fell to the floor, he grabbed Rael. He could still remember Rael’s flushed face as he also fell.
Weiss stopped rubbing his chin. And then he shook his head. He… must be seeing things. Rael? Blushing? Weiss knew there had to be a misunderstanding. His brain was trying to rationalize every excuse in the book. But his beating heart wouldn’t listen as it thumped quickly.
Weiss placed a hand over his face, sighing deeply.
His thoughts were interrupted by a shriek.
“Please Claus, I can explain, it was Weiss that—No, NO PLEASE DON’T—!“ Rael’s screams were silenced shortly thereafter.
Weiss watched in terror as Claus reappeared. Claus stared at him.
He was the last one left.
“Ahaha, C-C-Claus, it seems that everyone was caught by you! As expected of the seeking master!” Weiss stuttered as he tried complimenting his childhood friend. Claus’s frosty expression didn’t change as he walked up to Weiss.
“C-Claus, you wouldn’t mind showing a bit of mercy to me? A-after all, I’m your closest friend.” He tried asking with puppy dog eyes. They always worked on Claus.
The boy paused.
“No.”
And then he ran up to Weiss. Weiss didn’t have time to back away.
“No, CLAUS—!”
And that’s how the three learned the hard way never to play hide and seek with Claus.
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Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The tapping of footsteps. He didn’t care to be careful. Taking long strides, he reached the fourth apartment building. He saw the stairs and walked up without a single thought in his mind.
Reaching the fourth floor, he looked at the two doors. He stared at the names and turned to the left door. He didn’t knock, but twisted the unlocked door open and walked inside. He sniffed the air.
And a small smile emerged.
Ru entered the living room. He saw a boy hunched over, muttering something under his breath. The boy lifted his head and gazed at Ru. Ru stared at him back. Then the boy grinned.
Ru took out something from his pockets and threw it at the boy.
“Put it on whenever you say their name. Or else someone might notice.” The boy nodded and put the cream-colored ring on. It looked invisible from certain angles.
“Are you also…?”
“Yes. The first one.” The boy gasped.
“So you’re beloved by them?” Ru couldn’t help but smile.
“We are all loved. We must spread their name. No matter what actions you must take.“
“Then what about those who deny their existence?”
Ru’s eyes blazed.
“Then we exterminate them.”
The boy began laughing. His laughter became uncontrollable as he clutched his stomach. Ru’s lips twisted. It seemed that the boy had become a bit maddened from the potion, but it was fine. As long as he stayed devoted, he’d prove his worth.
Ru turned to leave. He paused to glance at the maniacal boy who was still giggling.
“Rin Hans. That’s the last one.” His eye twitched. It always twitched when a certain face appeared in his mind. But this time that tick was welcomed.
A new school year was about to begin. And he’d meet him. Ru left the apartment building. He paused to take out a piece of paper. He removed the name ‘Rin Hans’, leaving only five other names.
His blood boiled. He was close… so close. Soon he’d get his reward for working so hard. The smile on Ru’s face was twisted, but because he was in public, he calmed himself.
He’d make sure to give Rael Vandergarden a warm welcome once he came here. Ru’s eye twitched once more as he walked off.
Mmmm good