In the arcade area of Aquila Hotel’s basement, children in casual clothes and school uniforms were mingling.
Among them, a group led by Na-me was wandering around.
The dim lighting and the spinning disco ball from the ceiling gave off an underground arcade vibe.
“Punching machine, it’s a punching machine!”
“The highest score is 9570… Wow, how on earth do you beat that?”
“Na-me is too short to try, right? Can’t reach it, haha!”
“…”
“Hey, don’t make fun of Na-me! Na-me, let’s go check out over there.”
Yuna grabbed Na-me’s puffy cheeks and dragged her around.
Since it was the first day, there wasn’t much rivalry between the Sephiron and Altair students.
Especially among the younger students, awkwardness prevailed over competitiveness, creating an atmosphere where they avoided bumping into each other.
“There are too many people everywhere…”
Lee Ha-ru said with a gloomy expression.
The popular games like bowling, air hockey, and pool were all claimed by someone already.
Meanwhile, Na-me was licking a soft serve ice cream she got from a vending machine, then suggested.
“Wanna go watch the duel? My legs hurt from walking too long.”
“Tired? Hey everyone, Na-me is tired!”
“Hey, a spot just opened up over there. Let’s hurry before someone takes it!”
The wand rack was stocked with practice wands of various lengths.
The older elementary division students who had taken position at the entrance were gathering their wands to enter the training arena.
“Looks like they’re sixth graders.”
“Are they from our academy? Can’t tell since they’re not in uniform.”
Slurp.
“Hey? Na-me, can I have a bite of your ice cream?”
“I already ate it all.”
“Aahh…!”
Hiding behind the Crystal Sphere, which provided particle and barrier shields, Na-me hurriedly finished the remaining ice cream so she wouldn’t lose it.
Yuna quickly pouted but cheered up when Na-me promised to buy her another one later.
Beep-beep-!
Meanwhile, a buzzer echoed, signaling the start of the duel.
Creak-crackle-
A female student cast lightning magic with her wand towards a male student charging straight at her.
Just as a grand lightning bolt wouldn’t come straight down, her magic also branched out into dozens of paths.
“Whoa, isn’t that dangerous?”
“If she hits him directly, the barrier will wear off in no time.”
“What kind of magic is that, Na-me?”
“Just some basic Arc Discharge magic, I guess.”
“Who do you think will win?”
Na-me lowered her head.
Without much deliberation, she spoke in a dull tone.
“Honestly, I don’t know. Both of them are pretty mediocre.”
Regardless of how skilled the children were, it was natural that it didn’t meet Na-me’s standards.
“They look like they’re fighting really well, though…”
“Moving quickly isn’t everything. Their movements need to be precise.”
“NoName, can you tell us which movements are unnecessary?”
Yoon Si-hoo’s sharp question made Na-me chuckle.
She scooted closer to Si-hoo and added her commentary.
“Just watch. The first problem is the steps. While the electric magic is being cast, it’s standard to charge forward and close the distance like that guy. But as they get closer to the magic circle, each step shortens, and the number of small steps increases, right? They’re instinctively trying to dodge the magic, but it’s actually foolish. That would be detrimental.”
“Ooh…”
“And once they got close, they should either break the spell, take the caster down to the ground, or disrupt the mana from close range. But since they’re half-heartedly battling, they just end up taking damage from the lightning without accomplishing anything.”
“So if it goes according to what you said, that girl should easily win?”
“Even then, we won’t know until the end.”
“Why?”
Just as Na-me finished explaining, the female student couldn’t withstand the continuous hits and gave up her guard, stepping back.
Her back hit the soft cushion wall.
Seizing the opportunity, the boy leapt forward without hesitation.
Hwaaaah!
The boy’s right hand and left foot were engulfed in red flames.
“Looks like the result is about to be decided. That guy won.”
Clang-!
As the barrier shattered, a sharp sound echoed.
The fist filled with aura struck the girl’s face directly.
Just as the girl barely regained her senses to fix the remaining barrier, the boy spun in the air and extended his long leg.
720-degree kick.
Boom-!
The girl’s body bounced a couple of times before flying away.
“Yay! I defeated Pikachu! How does my fiery punch taste? Spicier than spicy chicken noodles? Hurts a lot, right?”
The boy who won the duel teased her, and she let out a frustrated groan.
“Just you wait. I’ll turn you into electric grilled chicken next time.”
“Nope, not gonna happen! Not even a little bit itches, right?”
“Hey! Let’s have another round!”
“Wait! Don’t the little brats that run away without saying sorry need some education?”
The sixth graders’ duel seemed to end quite anticlimactically.
“Let’s go brush our teeth now… Huh?”
As Na-me stood up to leave, the boy who just won the duel jumped up to the observation seats, blocking her friends.
“Hey there, second graders! Did you enjoy the duel?”
The boy squinted his eyes and smiled widely as he asked.
“Yes, you were awesome!”
Na-me’s naive friends nodded enthusiastically and praised him in unison.
“But didn’t someone earlier say we were mediocre and foolish? Did you all hear that? Hmm?”
“Uh…”
“Who dared to say such a thing to a senior? Surely, I didn’t imagine that. Come forward and confess. If you drag this out, I’ll really get mad.”
“It was me.”
Na-me stepped forward a foot.
The boy looked down at Na-me, who held her head high.
Though it was the age where seniors were intimidating, her confidence made him narrow his brows.
“Right. What could be so disappointing for the genius of Sephiron Academy?”
“There are infinite points to nitpick from one to ten. I’m not saying this with bad intentions, so don’t misunderstand.”
“Oh, really? Then can you tell me? I’m genuinely curious.”
The boy threw a Crystal Sphere key at Na-me.
It was a silent pressure to follow him to the training arena.
“NoName, you seem to be on TV a lot lately, but you look like you’re not seeing clearly. Were you always this rude since birth?”
“I’ve been hearing that often since long ago.”
“Even this morning in the auditorium, I saw seniors, but you just passed by without greeting. Don’t you know the rules of our academy?”
“What are you talking about?”
Na-me took out the smallest wand and placed her hand on the Crystal Sphere.
Her head tilted a bit.
“I’m meeting you for the first time here today. Aren’t you from Altair Academy?”
*
I quietly closed my eyes and focused on my body and mind.
Within the large Aura Heart, golden mana danced, sweeping across every corner of my body.
Right now, my body was practically a glass cannon.
I guess, if I were to compare it to a League of Legends character, it would be similar to Asteria, which I used to play.
Though I compensate for my physical weakness with delicate management of the aura, I can’t be sure how long I can maintain that.
‘Am I feeling anxious right now?’
Perhaps I might be.
An undulating sense of vague fear at the possibility of being overpowered by someone and ultimately killed sometimes surged within me.
What if someone chokes me while I’m asleep?
Can I sufficiently resist someone who harbors malice against me?
Even if Erosion has the property of infinitely drawing mana, I don’t know how much my body can withstand.
These queries might be an excessive paranoia for living in modern society.
Yet, trauma isn’t something easily subdued by rational thinking.
As long as the obsession to be stronger than others doesn’t lift, I will continuously chase after the illusion of strength.
I don’t actually want that.
But until someone stops me, I can’t possibly halt.
Me, and the princess.
Me, and Na-me, for we are both cowards.
[Cast: Arc Discharge]
The Arc Discharge magic, which can be easily constructed if you know Kirchhoff’s second law and Maxwell’s equations.
The boy on the other side walked towards me, emitting blue flames from his fists.
“Can you really use the same electric magic as Ji-min? That’s amazing!”
“Sometimes, I do find myself feeling scared. Why do I live like this? I wonder how my life would be if I just forgot my past and lived normally.”
“What are you talking about?”
Solving mathematical problems and managing thousands of spells, an eight-year-old cannot live a normal life.
Eventually, as I find answers to the endless stream of questions, the niggling question of ‘why I reincarnated’ barricades.
I still don’t know.
Let’s not think too far into the future just yet.
If I completely focus on the friend right in front of me, maybe I can sort out my troubled mind a bit.
I should wrap this up quickly and go buy Yuna some ice cream later.
