Ranking

Sitting on the ground, was a young Artemis playing with some building blocks, and other kids toys. He was smiling, enjoying his time showing his baby brother how high he could stack the blocks, while his parents sat on the couch not far away. They were watching a show on the TV, and everything was good.

However it didn't last forever.

Artemis stacked the blocks higher, and higher, wanting to impress his family. However, like Icarus, he went too high.

The blocks were not steady, and they began swaying.

"Artemis! That's enough sweetie, come down slowly, okay?"

Artemis ignored his mom, he looked at his brother who looked at him in reverence, and tried to climb just one block higher.

As he went onto his tip toes, trying to place another block, the foundation under him gave way. Unable to support his weight.

The block tower crashed down, and Artemis fell with it. As he landed on the ground, his wrist broke, and he began to cry.

"Waaaah!"

However the attention of his parents never came. Instead he was brought back to attention when his father yelled out.

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID! YOUR BROTHER HAS A CUT ON HIS HEAD!"

He looked at his brother, who had a small and superficial cut on his head. However Artemis couldn't argue back, as when he looked at the faces of his parents, he realized that they were mad at him.

"I-I'm sor-"

*SMACK*

Artemis was sent flying back, crashing into what still stood of the tower, and tears welled up again in his eyes.

He touched his cheek with his other hand, and looked up at his father with shaking pupils. He could see it in his father's eyes at that moment...

Hate.

Clutching his cheek he was about to stand up, when a swift kick landed into his stomach. Collapsing to the floor, in a fetal position, a flurry of kicks and punches began to land on his back.

It wasn't long before he realized that, the louder he cried and wailed, the harder he would get hit.

So Artemis locked it all up. The pain. The anguish. Everything was not allowed to reach the surface. As the hollow sounds of flesh being hit rang out, Artemis's father lost his vigor, and the beating subsided. Artemis stayed down, afraid to anger his father any further, and waited until everyone left the room.

He then cried quietly, and eventually passed out from the pain.

****

I opened my eyes, looking ahead blankly, and looked at the horizontal view of the world.

'I... Suppressed that memory... Did I.. Misremember my life?'

I wiped the dried tears from my eyes, and realized that I was sitting on something. I turned my head, and looked down. I saw a pair of thin legs, which caused my eyes to go wide. I turned my head again, to look up, and saw Mary was sleeping quietly.

Afraid she might stir, I slowly raised my head, and sat back up. I was scared at first, but after a moment of looking at her I realized she was really sleeping.

'She looks so... Vulnerable.'

A strand of hair was in her face, so I reached forward and brushed it out of her face. I went to tuck it behind her ear, so it wouldn't fall on her face again, but when I cupped her ear I suddenly stopped.

Mary had her eyes open, and was staring straight at me.

Silence.

I stared directly into her eyes, and she stared into mine. Neither of us moved a muscle, until I felt it had gone a little too long, and I needed to say something.

"This isn't what it might look like... I mean, it might be what you think it is? I mean, I-"

"You were brushing the hair out of my face?"

Surprised, and flustered, I nodded vigorously.

"Yes. Yes! You're absolutely right!"

She brushed off her lap and stood up. I didn't know why, but her ears were slightly red.

"It's a common misunderstanding... Or so I hear."

She then began walking briskly towards the hedge maze.

I followed behind her nervously, but she didn't bring it up again. Instead we quietly walked through the maze, and back to our dorms. As we were about to separate, she turned to me.

"Dinner tonight?"

I flinched at her sudden movement, but collected myself. I looked briefly at my phone, checking the time, and saw it was 3 PM now.

"Okay, 7?"

She nodded briefly, then walked off.

I watched her departing figure and thought quietly to myself.

'Why am I on eggshells around her? Look at her, she doesn't think anything of it at all. I'm overthinking things too much... I need to focus on training myself.'

I slapped my two cheeks, and headed into my dorm. I spent some time looking into the value of currency in this world, and found that the average income of a commoner was roughly 72,000 credits a year.

Having made 10,000 credits in a few days was incredible. However nobles were different than commoners, they averaged almost 300,000 credits a year, and the bigger families made even more. I realized that this was chump change to Edmond. I was also unsure if this was a monthly payment, or what, but I was happy with it.

I spent some time looking at the cost of weapons, and found they were also disgustingly expensive.

I began to consider making my own gear. It should be possible, but I didn't know if it was worth learning the craft. For now, I couldn't afford anything. Whether that was to buy something, or the time to learn a new craft.

Noticing it was relatively late, I decided to head to the cafeteria.

When I got there, I noticed Mary from a distance, and noticed she was wearing something different from her usual uniform.

A long skirt and a long sleeve shirt. It wasn't anything fancy, but I had to stop in place as looked at her. She looked so much different than her usual self, and I even felt like I could see her lips glistening with lip gloss.

Her hair was tied back into a pair of small space buns. She turned, and saw me standing there staring at her. She walked over, with her arms crossed across her chest, avoiding eye contact the entire way.

Finally.

"D-do I look weird... I don't have a lot of casual clothes so this is kind of all I had..."

"No, you look wonderful."

I said without hesitation. I didn't want her to think that she anything like that.

'Reddened cheeks. Took an effort to look nice. Changed her look to something that isn't what she normally wears...'

I smiled bitterly as we headed into the cafeteria together.

I knew what was going on, but I felt guilty because I wouldn't be able to return those feelings. I was also guilty for creating this situation. I had done poorly of keeping a respectable distance between the two of us. I let myself feel unguarded around her, and now I had nurtured misplaced feelings.

I watched as she excitedly placed food onto two plates. She was getting foods that she knew I liked, and she animatedly talked about new foods that were available. Putting them onto her plate, no doubt to have me try later, and it all made my heart ache.

Even as we sat down to eat together, she continued to show me every sign of a teenager infatuated with a boy.

'I have to stop this from going further... She doesn't even know me well, I can't let her go down this path.'

Making up my mind, I resolved myself to take action. We finished our meal, and went for a walk like we usually did. As we walked it was quiet, and seeming to have sensed the serious mood, Mary stopped and turned to me.

"Is... Is something wrong? Did I do... Something?"

I looked at her, realizing this was the time. I turned fully towards her, staring at her with as little emotion as I could, and began to recite what I had rehearsed in my head.

"We have known each other for five days."

Confused, she tilted her head slightly.

"Yeah, what does that matter?"

"Do you think you know me well enough, to be acting like this?"

I did my best impersonation of a scolding father.

However I was immediately shaken when I looked at her and noticed tears were already beginning to form in her eyes.

"Why... Why are you doing this?"

She looked at me with eyes that showed she felt betrayed. I bit my lip, and continued.

"Because you don't understand what you're doing. I am a stranger. What you're feeling is infatuation, you need to stop, because the only thing waiting for you is disappointment and heartbreak."

The look in her eyes changed to anger.

'Yes... That's what you should feel instead of this.'

"I... I'll never let someone like you break my heart."

She grabbed the hair ties out of her hair, letting her hair fall naturally, and threw them to the ground. She turned around and sprinted off, disappearing faster than I could follow with my eyes.

I stood standing there for a long time, to the point my legs started to feel cramped, and finally left. I went back to my dorm alone.

'Alone... Yeah... It's better this way.'

My chest ached, and I wanted to run to find Mary, but I buried those emotions deep down.

That night I didn't sleep well.

****

The award ceremony went without a hitch. I discovered I was right about the belt, and that it was more than what they could see.

[Belt of The Otherworld's Child][Divine]

[This belt has the trapped essence of an Otherworlder's child. A being from another dimension that sought refuge here, but they were sent back to their dimension. Without the power from their parent, the child that was left behind confined their essence into a belt. Their soul had long died out, but their powers are still in the belt. The wearer can summon tentacles from the belt, and the belt is able to grow when fed mana.]

The item was more than satisfactory, and I was awarded a bit of money. Around 50,000 credits to be exact. It wasn't exactly small, but it didn't mean much to me.

I went to school after that, and continued my daily training. Saving up my gold, I went into auto pilot at school.

Mary and I no longer spent time together. Instead we avoided each other, and only were together on the weekends for our club. Over a month went by, during which I began to see significant improvements to my physical fitness, but the belt had not progressed any.

The rankings had come out, and as I figured, I was dead last. I had no weapon skills, no magic yet, and I had a weaker body than everyone else. Because of this, I ranked 28th, and had developed a poor standing in the class. People further avoided me, and I simply ignored them.

It was a normal start of the week, when Ms. Hilton made an announcement in our first period class.

"As you all know, you've spent the past month training, and there have not been any tests."

Everyone in the class nodded.

"Well, that's going to change. Your first test will begin on Wednesday, two days from now, and will be a test to see how well you can apply your skills in combat. A famous illusion mage will be coming, and you will fight an F-Rank illusionary monster. It will be slightly easier, than a normal F-Rank, but defeating it is not the end of the test."

Everyone looked nervous, as most people here had not yet had real combat experience, so they were rightfully scared.

"If you defeat a monster, the difficulty will be increased, and you will go until you cannot go anymore."

Everyone began murmuring to themselves, before Ms. Hilton quieted them down.

"Settle down. It will not be dangerous, as we have a sparring arena where you cannot die, so you should focus on doing your best. Okay, that is all on that, now everyone open your history books to page 87."

I followed along the class, but I still had my mind on the test that was coming up. It would be the first chance I had to change my ranking, so I had to make sure I did well. A lot of monsters had a significant advantage over me, because of my poor physical fitness, and I didn't have enough time to make up the difference.

Instead, I would have to rely on my current skills and items to find a way to kill a monster. Monsters would be significantly harder to kill, than the two terrorists I had killed before. Monsters could have hard exteriors, or be so fast I couldn't catch them.

I had to prepare as much as I could until then.

After our morning classes, I skipped lunch to opt for more time at the archery range, since I needed anything I could. I had progressed with my skill with a bow. I could reliably hit the target every time, but I was now working on my speed.

I didn't have any skills related to archery, so it was just a normal arrow in my hands. It didn't have much killing power.

Instead, I actually improved significantly from hand to hand combat. I watched people online to learn proper technique, and fine tuned it with just feeling. I wouldn't say I was a genius, but I had some level of talent.

I stayed for the entire hour for lunch, before wiping my sweat and heading to basic of magic class. The class had taught me a lot about magic, and spirit arts, but I still didn't have a chance to use that knowledge yet.

I was a little over halfway to enough gold purchase a skill, but I wouldn't have enough time to get a new magic. Instead I decided to use one lottery spin to try and get something helpful.

[Ding Ding Ding!]

[Falling Star][B-Rank]

[Can be used to significantly increase the force of a falling object.]

I didn't know exactly how useful it would be, but I would find out I guess. I went through the rest of the day thinking of different strategies.

After the classes ended for the day, I made my way to the hedge maze, instead of the training field like usual. It was because who I needed wasn't training right now, instead I needed something to actually help me in combat.

I stepped into the maze, and began to wander aimlessly. Not trying to get out at all, instead I was waiting for the maze to lead me somewhere helpful.

So I walked, and along the way I was left alone with my thoughts. Something I really didn't like recently. I thought a lot about the situation with Mary, and I felt a lot of regret with it.

However even though I regretted it, I didn't change anything. I had seen her train harder, and longer, eventually by the time of the ranking she was strong enough to rank first. It was a situation where I could only watch as she grew. Feeling as though my presence was a detriment.

It made me lonely. Everything felt wrong. I no longer looked forward to training, rather it was something necessary. Eating wasn't as fun. It was just for sustenance.

My life was like a routine again.

'Just like in my old life...'

It was a sad situation. As my thoughts turned somber, I turned a corner and came to an open arena. In the center of the arena was pedestal with a black ring on it. I walked towards the pedestal, and inspected the ring.

[Trial of Gustad][Sealed]

[Putting on the ring will initiate the trial of Gustad, a knight of unimaginable power, who was driven mad when his wife was executed after being tried as a witch. You will undergo a trial. Until you overcome them, you will be trapped within your mind. Overcoming the trial will unseal the ring, and grant you a unique skill.

Failure to overcome the trial will result in death.]

My eyes were wide in shock, the ring was what I needed, however the downsides were severe as well. I stood, just staring at the ring for a long time, thinking of what I should do.

'Is there any reason I should fear death?'

This was when I began thinking worse thoughts.

'Does my life here... Even matter?'

'What am I struggling for? Trying so hard for?'

'No doubt my family in my past life didn't care that I died, and now in this one I have no family so there really will be no one mourning me...'

It was while my mind began racing, that I felt a soft touch on the tip of my nose. I opened my eyes, that I subconsciously closed, and saw a small woman flying in front of me.

She had her head rested against my nose, and was gently caressing my cheek.

"It's okay Artemis... You're okay."

She slowly lifted her head, and looked at me in my eyes, while floating slowly backwards so I didn't go cross eyed.

"Are you back to your right mind?"

"I.. Uh... What happened?"

The fairy floated to the side, and looked at the ring on the pedestal.

"You asked for immediate power... This... Is the only thing that meets what your needs are. However, just by being near it, you were feeling the effects of the trial."

She turned back to me with a genuinely worried look.

"Mm..."

I nodded, understanding that made sense, however I had another question.

"You're... The one who controls the hedge maze.. Aren't you?"

She nodded.

"You need to know that this is harder than you can imagine."

I looked at the ring. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't just walk away. I needed power.

As I was lost in thoughts again, the fairy spoke.

"Your death..."

I looked at her. I always suspected she was able to read my thoughts or feelings.

"It would hurt more people than you think... That girl."

"Mary?"

The fairy nodded.

"She comes in here for hours... She asks me to create a bench and she sits there silently. She just sits and watches the clouds."

"I... Can't get close to her. It'll only hurt her."

The fairy floated over and sat on my shoulder. Resting her head on my cheek.

"You're already hurting her."

I stayed silent, because I knew that she was right. I closed my eyes in frustration, and fear.

"Is it okay..."

"For you to live? For you to be happy?"

The fairy looked at me with sadness.

"The fact that you would question that is proof of a life of pain. Let that pain go."

She the floated up, and flew off.

I looked at the direction she went for a while. Contemplating. The master of the maze had never shown itself to anyone before.

'Why now? Why me?'

However no answers came. It was just me, and the ring, in this empty room.

I took another look at the ring, and decided.

"I need the power. If I die, then that's the price I pay for my inability."

I grabbed the ring, and slid it onto my right hand ring finger. Immediately my vision turned black.