As it turns out, Freja will be joining our little team, and well… I don’t mind, I suppose. But looking at Isak, it seemed like he felt relieved, or perhaps some closure after all the misunderstanding—they apparently started dating again.

Everyone was surrounding them, asking about how things went and whatnot. I’ll ask him later; I am a little mad after all.

Then again, it wasn’t like he had to tell me what he did with his life. But I would’ve wanted to know—we’re best friends, you know? 

“—what’s on your mind, Aska?” Brother Al suddenly asked while we were eating.

“I feel a little conflicted,” I replied.

“How so?”

“…I couldn’t save her, but her situation with Isak is a bit… I’m not sure how to explain.”

I knew, of course, she caused me some trauma, but I don’t think anyone has noticed.

“Meeting the one you failed to save is harsh, isn’t it?”

“…..”

“Everyone knew what happened. It was out of your control; don’t take the blame for it,” Brother Al said while nonchalantly eating the rest of the food.

“…are you trying to console me?” I hesitantly asked while looking into his cold eyes.

“I am,” he bluntly said.

How unlike him.

“Say, we’re from the same world, right?”

For some reason, I found myself asking that. I don’t know why I didn’t. I guess I assumed he was from another world altogether. But he’s friends with Noel, so he must be from the same world. But what in the world could cause someone to become like this?

“I assume we are, now that Noel has met his sister and all.”

“…what kind of life did you lead?”

Hearing my inquiry, his expression didn’t change as he said, “Noting much, I just studied things, anything. It didn’t matter what it was, honestly.”

I can tell he’s telling the truth, but not the whole truth. Still, that would suggest he leads quite a different life than most people.

Was he an agent of some sort or something?

At his age?

I know he’s 19 and was a second-year in university, meaning he probably skipped a grade. He’s only two years older than me, yet he seems so much more mature. Perhaps I’m the one that’s immature.

I wonder, can I become his friend?

“Alum.”

“…yes?” he looked at me with slight surprise.

“Hmm, nah, I’ll just stick to Brother Al!” I expressed while cheerfully smiling.

“Do whatever you want,” he replied. “—how about you? What sort of life did you lead?” 

“…what?”

I didn’t think he’d ask.

After all, Brother Al didn’t strike me as someone who’d be too interested in others—he never once asked about anything personal.

“…I had led a relatively normal life,” I replied. “As a kid, I liked being outside, catching bugs and stuff.”

I wonder…can I tell him? Would I feel a little better?

“One day, my mom slept for good.”

“…”

“She died from heart cancer—by the time she was diagnosed, she only lived for a month. I didn’t fully comprehend, as I was just five at the time.”

“…heart cancer isn’t something you hear often…”

“Yeah… I felt that the world was so unfair. Why was it, Mom?”

Thinking about it, my own memories of her are a little faded; I only remember her face through photos. 

“You know? I’m often told I look exactly like her by my grandparents.”

“You’re her child, after all.”

“…that’s why I grew out my hair… Mom didn’t really like long hair, so… I thought that if I acted the opposite of her, perhaps Dad wouldn’t feel so sad?”

“I see.”

“…things eventually got better. When I turned eight, Dad remarried, and I got a stepsister and a stepmother.” I chuckled a little. “But now that we’re here…I wonder, how is Dad and Stepmom doing? Are they flirty like they always are or…of course, they must be panicking…”

Brother Al placed his hand on my head and said, “Don’t worry about it; it’s out of your control, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“…haha, that’s very reassuring…”

“I wasn’t trying to cheer you up.”

“…..”

This guy.  

He totally was trying to!

“Liar,” I commented while glaring at him.

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. It didn’t feel so bad, but…it's getting messy!

“What!?” someone randomly shouted.

Both brother Al and I looked in the direction of the voice, and it was Isak. We glanced at one another and decided to head over to everyone.

“…I’m sorry, I really tried doing what you said, but I can’t make it appear…” Freja timidly said.

“What’s wrong?” Brother Al asked Noel.

“…it appears that Freja doesn’t have an ID.”

“…ID?” Brother Al tilted his head.

“Did you forget about it already…?” Noel queried.

“Oh, you meant the display?”

“…did you forget that it existed?”

“Mmm.”

Sometimes I wonder how he doesn’t recall important things… then again, he probably has it memorised, so he doesn’t need to…

 

— :::: —

 

As it turns out. Freja couldn’t access her ID, which was kinda strange, not gonna lie. Not even The Saint could tell us the reason. She herself has never come across something like this before.

“Perhaps God doesn’t like unsightly creatures like me…” Freja suddenly said.

The Hero hugged and said, “That can’t be true…”

For the record. The worshipped belief of the Kilenloth Church is that of an omniscient being of light. The God doesn’t have a name, but the celestial angels accompanying them do.

Milena is known for her betrayal of the Celestials and Mortals. Thus, she was banished into the void.

Griel was known as the ruler of angels and is currently residing in the heavens, watching over The Mortal plane with the other Celestial Angels.

Hmm, those are the two I can think of.

But… Not receiving God’s blessing… How did that make any sense? If God blessed Mortals, then why are beasts and abominations able to use magic and stuff?

Even though she doesn’t have an ID, she should be able to use magic, right?

Suddenly, Mister Hilos came out of a rift with a fruit in his hand. He munched on it and stood there looking a little lost.  

“What’re yer all doin’?” he asked.

“Oh, Hilos, we’re trying to figure out why Freja doesn’t have an ID,” Noel said.

“ID? The hell’s that?”

“…..”

Strange… Mister Hilos is a spirit who walked this world for more than fifty thousand years.

“You don’t know what it is?” Brother Al curiously asked.

Hilos scoffed and said, “Why would I? What even is this ID yer all talking about?”

Brother Al walked up to Mister Hilos and showed him his ID, and Mister Hilos made an unpleasant face.

“Tsk… That bastard.”

“…what do you mean?” Brother Al asked.

“What? Don’t you know who’s magic this is?”

With an annoyed look, Mister Hilos reached his hand into the void and threw something at Brother Al.

“That’s an attribute, artefact. Whilst it ain’t showin’ the intricacies of the ID. That’s what we used back in the day.”

Mister Hilos then looked at Saint Amethely and said, “Girl, you should be careful of that bastard,” before disappearing into Brother Al’s sword.

“—wait, Hilos…”

Saint Amethely looked confused, and so did everyone else. However, it did seem like Saint Amethely understood what he was referring to.

Mister Hilos does whatever he wants, huh?

 

— :::: —

 

We later found out through the artefact that Freja had an attribute for water magic and light magic.

Not gonna lie. It sounds a little strange using game logic.

And it also appears that Freja doesn’t have a Divine Weapon. If one possessed a Divine Weapon, it should come naturally. So the fact that she couldn’t summon it meant that she didn’t possess one.

A bit like me…

Well, now wasn’t the time to think about that.

As Isak was swiftly approaching, he used obsidian projectiles and shattered them everywhere.

Using Eye of Concept, I avoided them all without a hitch, but Isak was a sneaky little one and morphed the ground as he surrounded me in lava.

I surrounded myself with water magic, and the heat wasn’t too bad. I made threads and daggers out of water to surround myself.

It was a little tricky, but I got used to it somewhat, thanks to my ability to see everything at the same time.

—also, I don’t get as dizzy anymore!

However, Isak sliced through all the work I had put in and kept dashing towards me. Well… what did I expect…?

Our blades connected. I was pushed back, and he’d continue to strike aggressively.

“C’mon, Aska, fight me head-on!” he cried.

His eyes were different, and he seemed more determined than before.

“…..”

I made a thick platform of slippery ice and pulled his leg upwards with water threads. I leaned in and dragged my edge along his to derail his blade. And gave him a heavy headbutt.

I then pulled myself back up with water threads and tried to tie him down for a finishing blow. But all the threads evaporated, and as I coated my hand in the water and dove down, Isak avoided the punch by rolling to the side.

He knocked himself up by using an earth pillar and dashed toward me. I created a ball of water and instantly evaporated it to make a thick mist and pulled myself away.

Isak made an explosion to blow away the mist, and our eyes met.

“Still using tricks, I see,” he remarked.

“Well, fighting you head-on is a loss. What did you think I’d do?”

“…..”

Well, it’s a bit difficult to fight him on his battlefield, isn’t it? I basically have lava all around me.

That's why I’ve come up with a counter!

Attribute Magic: Instant Freeze

All the water threads underground instantly solidified, and the cold was surfacing as the lava started to harden and become rocks.

Isak looked stunned and asked, “When were you able to use large AoE spells?”

I stuck out my tongue and said, “Secret~”

It’s now my turn.

“I-Isak, do your best!” Freja cheered.

She, along with the others, were watching. I wish Hilda and Julia cheered for me, but…they're in their own little mock battle…

Julia…