Can I quit now

-Why…?

This is not good. That's not how it was supposed to be.

I told Vivian that I wouldn't be able to train her today and asked her to simply continue the same exercise from yesterday. So after we finished our meal, she left to practice her magic while I headed to the Eastern Dormitories as planned. But this is not going well.

I definitely mentioned the time and the location on the flyers, I even mentioned my appearance. It shouldn't be hard to find me, so why isn't anyone coming? It's not like I'm hardly noticeable! I've been here for at least two hours, and although I did receive a couple of glances from passersby, no one stopped so far. You can't possibly be saying that, out of ten thousand students, there isn't a single soul interested in joining the tournament, right? So what's the problem? Me? Am I too impatient? Maybe I am, it's only been two hours after all.

…

Alright.

This is definitely not going well.

I waited a couple more hours, and I could now see the sun slowly sinking below the horizon. The afternoon was reaching its end, leaving the door open for evening, and there was still no one. I sighed, realizing the harsh reality. No one's coming. As I stretched my body, getting ready to leave, I noticed Vivian approaching from afar.

"So, how was your training?" I asked once she got closer.

Judging by her beaming face, it probably went well.

"Great! I can freely control it now!" she proudly announced.

If that's true, then she really is progressing fast. There is no doubt that her [Skill] is helping her, but her enthusiasm also plays a role in her rapid growth. I guess she is what you would call a natural.

"I wish I could show you, but I ran out of mana," she admitted, silently chuckling at her own clumsiness.

Yeah, I can definitely tell she gave it her all. On the other hand, on my side…

"What about you?" Vivian eventually asked. "Any luck?"

I sighed.

"None."

I told her beforehand the reason why I wouldn't mentor her today, but now it feels stupid. Not only did I miss her training but it was all for nothing.

"You're leaving?" the young girl inquired.

"Well, no one's coming so there is no point in waiting any more than that," I explained indifferently, trying not to show my disappointment.

Vivian tilted her head to the side, her eyes rising to the sky, seemingly thinking about something.

"You know," she spoke after a while, "I saw a guy pacing on my way here. He had one of your flyers in his hands so he was probably interested. Maybe he's too shy to come?"

"Really?!" I exclaimed, my voice betraying my excitement. "Where?"

"Just around the corner."

Without wasting any more seconds, I grabbed Vivian's hand to drag her to the spot she just designated. We can't miss this chance. Anyone will do, we need teammates. Reaching the said-corner, I finally spotted the boy who was still pacing. I was seeing him from behind so I couldn't see his face, but judging by his height, he should be about our age. Perfect.

"Are you interested in joining our team?!"

My sudden call caused the boy to flinch in surprise. He turned around, allowing me to take a look at his face, and as our eyes met, I tilted my head to the side.

"…Frost?" I frowned.

"W-What?" The boy tried to keep his composure.

"What are you doing here?" I started as my eyes fell upon the paper he was holding in his hands. Remembering the reason I came here, my eyes squinted even more. "You want to join our team?"

"No!" He immediately denied, hiding the flyer behind his back. "I mean… Maybe, I don't know."

As I gave him a judgmental stare, he became even more flustered.

"What! Whose fault do you think it is? It's not like I wanted to come, but I didn't have a choice! I had a team! I was going to participate! But ever since that incident with you happened, I was cast aside and no one else would accept me, and, and…"

Watching him desperately trying to justify himself was pretty amusing, I must admit it. But let's not push it too far.

"Well, I don't mind you joining, you know?"

The boy froze at my words as he silently looked at me for a few seconds. Eventually, he understood that I wasn't joking.

"Is that so," he mumbled, his ears slightly flushing in embarrassment.

It's not what I expected, but at least we have another person in our team now.

"What, you guys already know each other?" Vivian asked, clearly confused.

I turned my attention on her.

"Yeah, something like that," I responded, "this is Frost. I met him the day I arrived here."

I omitted to mention the circumstances of our meeting since it was embarrassing for both of us.

"I'm Frost," the boy introduced himself to Vivian, extending his arm in front of him. "I'm a mage, I specialize in summoning magic."

"Oh, nice to meet you," Vivian shook his hand, "my name is Vivian, I'm also a mage. I specialize in water magic."

Frost's expression darkened.

"Are you okay?" Vivian asked, full of concern.

"You're a mage?" he inquired.

The young girl nodded.

Frost frowned at her. He directed his gaze toward me, seemingly expecting something, then toward her, and toward me again.

"She's a mage," he muttered, clearly puzzled.

"Yes, that's what she said," I emphasized, raising an eyebrow.

"You're a mage," the boy added.

"Yeah?"

"And I'm a mage!"

I crossed my arms in front of me, not understanding his point.

"So? Is that a problem?"

"Is that a problem? Is that a problem, she says!" the boy suddenly exploded. "We can't win with this kind of team! I'm out!"

"W-W-Wait! What are you talking about?" I panicked. It was already hard enough to find a single teammate, we can't afford to lose him. "Why not?"

"Are you listening? She's a mage, you're a mage, I'm a mage," Frost repeated, the tone of his voice growing impatient. "Mages are the most important assets of a team, which is why they are always protected by their team members. But if we're all mages, who's going to protect us?! We'll all be dead before casting the first incantation!"

I… didn't think about that. Out of desperation, I was willing to recruit anyone but he has a point, doesn't he? It might be a problem. We need to consider the balance of our team. I can handle myself since I can use [Voiceless Incantation], but I am certainly not planning on disclosing that, and I need to think about Vivian and Frost.

"Well, if we recruit two close-range combatants, it should be fine, right?" I suggested.

But Frost didn't seem convinced as he placed a hand on his face.

"Let's suppose that we do manage to recruit two close-range combatants," he considered, "they'll keep busy two members of the opposing team. But what about the remaining three? In a five-person team, there is almost always one healer and one ranged fighter. That leaves us with one melee fighter, still."

Listening to Frost's rational explanation, Vivian nodded in approval while I could feel the headache coming. Do we really have to talk about strategy now? The tournament is in five months.

"You're a summoner, right?" Vivian asked, seemingly thinking about something. "Can't your familiar be a tank?"

Frost widened his eyes at the young girl's suggestion before bringing a hand to his chin, carefully considering it.

"It's risky, but I guess that could work," he admitted after a few seconds.

Vivian's expression brightened at his approval.

"So we just need to find two close-range fighters, right?" I summarized. "It shouldn't be so difficult."

Although I say that, I'm not entirely confident in this. But for now at least, Frost is one of us. As I prepared myself to lead the way to the refectory, I felt the boy's hand holding me back.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"The refectory," I responded, "I was thinking of going before it's crowded."

"What about the recruitment?"

I blinked at him several times before letting out a small sigh.

"You know, I waited the whole afternoon," I explained, "if anyone was interested, they would have come by now."

"I think we should still wait a little bit more," Frost insisted, "someone might come last minute."

I really didn't have the courage to do so, especially after wasting an entire afternoon like that. But I didn't want Frost to threaten to leave either. He seemed especially persistent about it. However, before I had the chance to make a choice, I heard a little voice calling me out.

"Hello? Are you Lynett?"

Wait, for real?

Turning my head in the direction of the voice, I saw a small boy looking at me with beaming eyes. Although he was young, twelve years old at most, he was about the same height as me. Looking down, I immediately noticed one of my flyers in his hands. A smirk spread on my face.

"You're hired!" I enthusiastically exclaimed as I grabbed both his hands.

"Huh? Really?" the boy exulted in delight.

"Wait, what?!" Frost shouted, bewildered. Vivian didn't say a single word but I could see on her face that she was as surprised as him. "Hold on a second Lynett, what are you talking about?"

I pointed the paper in the boy's hands.

"He obviously wants to join our team."

"That's not what I mean!" Frost exasperated. "That's a child!"

"Yes, but he's also a beastman!" I pointed out.

That's right. Beside his small size, the boy's most particular features were the little round ears sprouting out his head and the tail swaying on his back. He was a beastman without a doubt. But not any kind of beastman. The black stripes on his orange tail were speaking for themselves. He belongs to the tigerkin.

"You're the one who wanted a close-range fighter," I told Frost, a confident grin on my face, "You've seen his tail, right? He's a tiger. What better close-range fighter than one of the most powerful sub-races of demi-humans?"

Frost narrowed his eyes, carefully inspecting the demi-human boy.

"But he's a child…" he repeated, clearly reluctant.

"You shouldn't underestimate him because of his age," I furrowed my brows as I tried to reason with him, "I once saw a demi-human boy beat up a full-grown adult, and a trained bodyguard on top on that, within mere seconds!"

Frost was not fully convinced. I could still read the hesitation on his face.

"He's a tiger, Frost, a tiger!" I emphasized. "A super predator! A master hunter! A fearless combatant!"

"Alright, alright!" he finally gave in as he let out a long sigh. "I get it! I hope you're right."

A broad smile on my face, I faced the demi-human boy.

"Welcome to the team!" I declared. "As you already know, I'm Lynett. Nice to meet you!"

"Welcome!" Vivian congratulated him in turn. "I'm Vivian!"

The boy happily returned our smiles.

"I'll do my best!" he beamed. "I'm Jalone!"

Frost was the last one to introduce himself.

"I'm Frost," he said, "I'm sorry to ask this of someone younger than me but… We'll be counting on you to protect us. I've heard that the tigerkin make terrific melee fighters."

Jalone tilted his head to the side as he raised a single eyebrow.

"You want me to be a melee fighter?"

"Well, we're all mages so…"

The demi-human boy blinked a couple of times at us before displaying a large smile.

"But I'm a mage as well?"

…

Huh? Say what?

"I'm a mage!" he repeated as he didn't get an answer.

A brief and awkward silence settled in as we all exchanged meaningful glances.

"Dude," Frost spoke up, "can I quit, now?"

Fuck.

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Ozen_Ice: The wait is over, no more Hiatus. 10 chapters on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, totaling 30 chapters per week. Tk for the patience (◠‿◕)