112 Bad Influence
Hanzo held the sides of his head in frustration.
『...Did Mune teach you about that? He's gonna give you bad ideas...』[Hanzo]
Hanzo got up and grabbed Nova's shoulder.
『He didn't teach you how to unlock it, right?! That's dangerous!』[Hanzo]
Nova stared blankly back.
『H...uh?』[Nova]
Sarena joined in as well, grabbing his other shoulder.
『Don't do it! It's a pain! You can't even control it well unless you train for hours on end!』[Sarena]
『Huh..? Sarena, you have one as well?』[Nova]
『Yeah, but I can barely control it! Don't even try to unlock it!』[Sarena]
『Hmm..? You have a Raiment, Sarena? When did you get that?』[Derenne]
Her face suddenly got red.
『Uhh?! I uhm… End of second year. It was… during the trip.』[Sarena]
Oswald got off the sofa in a panic.
『Huh?!』[Oswald]
He grabbed Sarena, forming a whole line of people grabbing Nova.
『You got a Raiment?! At the end of the second year, too...』[Oswald]
He stared at her, deep in the eyes.
『What happened? Was it when you got separated from me?』[Oswald]
Her face got even more red.
『...Err.. Yes… I guess so..?!』[Sarena]
She quietly murmured to herself while looking away from Oswald.
Nova silently thought to himself while nodding.
「...Yup. No matter how smart Oswald is, he'll never understand Sarena's heart.」[Nova]
Nova didn't decide to correct them though.
『I won't go out of my way to kill myself, don't worry.』[Nova]
Sarena stared at him blankly.
『...Wait. He didn't tell you how to get a Raiment, did he?』[Sarena]
Nova had completely assumed that the way to get a Raiment was almost dying, from both Sir Fluffles and Mune.
『Uh… He didn't specify. Is there something I'm missing?』[Nova]
Everyone shouted at him in unison.
『NO!』
Nova winced.
『...Huh?』[Nova]
He scratched the side of his head lightly, in confusion.
『If you learn how to unlock Raiment, you'd probably actually try to get it, right?!』[Sarena]
Nova shook his head really hard.
『No! No! Not at all!』[Nova]
He maintained his strongest poker face.
『Nova! You promised to not try to get it! You better not!』[Freyana]
『...I actually kind of want to know how to unlock my Raiment… Can you tell me after, Sarena?』[Derenne]
Sarena quickly looked at Derenne with a sharp look.
『Derenne! You'll influence him!』[Sarena]
Sarena sighed.
『...You know it's against school rules to disclose the method for Raiment. It's different for everyone, save for almost dying and peak emotion anywa...』[Sarena]
She suddenly realized what she said and covered her mouth.
Hanzo began to dryly laugh when he saw her slip up.
『...Haaa….ha...』[Hanzo]
『So, I should experiment for my Raiment?』[Nova]
They all shouted in unison again.
『NO!』
…..
After they finished yelling at Nova, everyone left Nova's room, leaving him to "repent" for his lack of caution.
『Haah...』[Nova]
「Rough. Well, since you have your Raiment already, you want me to tell you about it?」[Reischneid]
Nova went ahead and started the walk to the cafeteria, since it was getting late.
「You're gonna teach me about Raiment?」[Nova]
「Well, you already have it. You might as well know how to make it worth your effort.」[Reischneid]
「Hmm… Okay. Sure, then!」[Nova]
「Alright. So, if your seed is a manifestation of your dreams and goals, Raiment would be characterized as your "raison d'etre", or your reason for living.」[Reischneid]
Nova unconsciously nodded while still walking.
「Then, in order for you to increase the power of your Raiment, you need to continuously stay either in a state where you must recall your raison d'etre while keeping yourself alive, or just practice normally.」[Reischneid]
Nova blanked out for a moment, even standing still in the middle of the hallway, trying to process Reischneid's words.
『Oi!』
A female student almost bumped into him.
『A..Ah. Sorry!』[Nova]
『...Just be careful.』
She continued on her way.
Nova sighed and scolded himself for standing still.
「...What does that mean?」[Nova]
「Go into life or death situations while recalling the reason why you fight.」[Reischneid]
「...What if I'm fighting to survive?」[Nova]
Reischneid scoffed.
「If you have a Raiment, you have another reason, for sure.」[Reischneid]
「Huh?」[Nova]
「...The reason why people try so hard to survive is because they have a reason to WANT to survive, Nova.」[Reischneid]
「Oh… And you said something about the manifestation of goals?」[Nova]
「Seeds are improved by getting closer and closer to your main goal in life. Back when I was alive, they had a way to measure the grade of your seed.」[Reischneid]
「Grade? Isn't it hard to measure the worth of a seed?」[Nova]
「Of course. It's the measurement of the seed's development and growth. I'm not sure how things have changed over time, though.」[Reischneid]
「...Then, what would the grade of my seed be?」[Nova]
「How the heck am I supposed to know?! It's not used anymore, I think! Not to mention, it was a rating system that went into the thousands! Honestly, if it was abolished, I'd be more glad than sad.」[Reischneid]
Nova's mind went a little blank at his hope of understanding how well he measured up against others being crashed into the ground.
「...Ah… I see...」[Nova]
「...Though, you fight against others to find out your place in the school, right?」[Reischneid]
Nova thought of all his fights so far, where he would just fling them with his mana shield and call it a day…
「...Uhm- WAIT!」[Nova]
Reischneid got scared by Nova's internal screaming.
「Huh?!」[Reischneid]
「My ranking matches! Where the heck are they?!」[Nova]
「What?!」[Reischneid]
「I haven't gotten put up for a match in so long! What the heck?!」[Nova]
Reischneid thought of an angry Reagan in his mind.
「...Pray...」[Reischneid]
Nova suddenly realized that he had walked past the cafeteria while he was deep in thought.
「Oops!」[Nova]
He started walking back.
「Anyways, just remember that Raiment is your reason for living and that it will develop naturally over time. It's like an extension of you that feels unnatural at first. Over time, it will become stronger or even radically change.」[Reischneid]
「Right! So, I should just practice my Raiment when I have a chance, right?!」[Nova]
The cafeteria was almost closed, so Nova started to break into a sprint.
「Eh. That, or get yourself close to killed. Depending on a whole bunch of things, you'll possibly get a bunch of stuff from it. It's always quite interesting to see someone's Raiment develop.」[Reischneid]
「...Uh… I think I'll pass on that one.」[Nova]
Nova finally got to the cafeteria and opened the door.
-or should have, but it was already locked.
「....Haaah… Why did I sleep for so long..?!」[Nova]
「...Raiment, that's why. Your body was recovering from the initial strain and burst of mana... I wish I was awake to see it! Damn!」[Reischneid]
「...Eh, we'll get to it eventually.」[Nova]
Suddenly, he heard someone behind him.
『Yo. Still alive?』
Nova turned around to find Mune staring at him with his bangs swept to the side, revealing his red eyes.
『...Oh. Yeah, I'm still okay. I slept through the cafeteria hours, though.』[Nova]
『Yeah. I ended up the same.』[Mune]
He yawned loudly.
『Raiment takes a toll on you if you keep it on for longer than you're used to.』[Mune]
『Are we not doing Raidagems today?』[Nova]
Mune waved him off.
『Those brownlings from yesterday caused the mission reward to skyrocket after I reported it. We're staying in the lead for at least another month.』[Mune]
『A month?! How does that work?』[Nova]
『...Compensation for bad information and high risk to students. Either way, I'm going on a Raidagem break for a week.』[Mune]
『Huh..? But I thought that you were...』[Nova]
Mune raised an eyebrow.
『Hmm? What?』[Mune]
『...A tryhard? I thought that we had to keep first place by a mile.』[Nova]
『What the hell? No. I like my vacations. What kind of masochist do you take me for?』[Mune]
Nova's mind went back to when Mune was telling Nova about him going through hell.
『...Uh..?』[Nova]
『Don't answer that. Let's go eat food.』[Mune]
Mune started walking off.
『Huh? Where?』[Nova]
『You ever been to Essence City?』[Mune]
『Yes…? Wait...』[Nova]
Nova started to walk after Mune.
『Good. Can you make a portal there?』[Mune]
『...It's almost midnight...』[Nova]
Mune turned back with a smile on his face.
『I know.』[Mune]
