At the Cost of my Life - I

The infirmary. 

There, a certain student laid unconscious and in critical condition.

That wasn't extraordinary. Many students routinely visited the infirmary in similar conditions, either through excessive training, or an accident.

But what was extraordinary about this student was the fact that he had both the Imperial Princess and the Headmistress visiting him. 

There was Roland Lionheart as well, but the son of a baron wasn't that special.

Sophia stared at the student laying on the bed and then frowned, mulling over the past events.

The artificial gate that had been formed in the simulator room wasn't too surprising. Sophia had designed it to be as close as possible to the real thing, so she knew it was possible for it to one day create a proper gate instead of a mere simulation. Especially considering the suspicious circumstances where a faculty member disappeared.

That was in her expectations.

What hadn't been was the fact that there was a Rank 5 monster in there.

Sophia didn't know how it was possible. And since the gate had been cleared, she couldn't look for evidence of how it occurred either.

Tricky. It was very tricky.

Was the organization working in the shadows that powerful to be able to conceal themselves even from her gaze?

Sophia didn't know. But she did know that the student in front of her was odd.

When he walked into the academy, Alexander Smith was nothing special. Although a brilliant mind, as apparent by his perfect theory test scores, he was far weaker than the other students.

A rank 1 mage, a rank 1 warrior… if not for the fact that he scored perfect on the other half of the entrance exam, he wouldn't have made it into the top 500 necessary to pass.

But what was surprising was that on the first day, he went to train his magic and then managed to reach rank 2. Not only that, but he managed to break her expectations and improve his rank 1 spells from 'perfect' to something more.

At that point, she assessed him as a genius shackled by a lack of talent. And when she reviewed his background, that seemed to be the case.

Alexander Smith had been self-taught, and only after he had already turned 15. For three years, he worked himself to the bone. Even then, he barely made it into her Starlight Academy.

But now was different.

An unknown method to cast a Rank 6 spell by placing your life on the line. And though it was the simplest Rank 6 spell that borrowed the power of divine spirits, it was still something far beyond his capabilities.

And also something completely unnecessary.

Alexander Smith was intelligent and pragmatic. That was shown in how he guided Roland and Evelyn in their gate exploration, keenly pinpointing monster weaknesses and terrain hazards.

As such, he would have likely seen the hazards of fighting such a powerful monster alone.

And yet he immediately threw his life away just to kill it.

…Did he have a grudge against monsters? Was he suicidal? 

For once, Sophia was flummoxed.

"Headmistress." Evelyn glanced over and then said, "...Will he be okay?"

…And for yet another time, Sophia was flummoxed.

The usually composed and collected Imperial Princess looked worried. And for a 'mere commoner' as the nobles would put it.

If the nobles in the capital heard about this, they'd be in an uproar.

But to answer her question…

"...He was lucky."

Yes. Alexander was lucky.

For some reason, his heart was sturdier than most. Anatomically and figuratively.

Because of that, when he did the incredibly reckless act of self-destructing his mana circles and his mana star, he managed to live.

Although the cost of it…

Sophia frowned and said, "But I do not know if he will be fit to continue at this academy."

It was starting from zero. Alexander lived, but the cost of it was all the progress he had done up until now.

And considering his age, it would be near impossible to make it up. 

Roland ran a hand through his hair and said, "I still can't believe it. To think that there is someone with such a vicious grudge against monsters…"

Sophia had to agree.

It was an incredibly foolish act. 

Alexander knew that Sophia was watching. If something went wrong, she was there to step in. 

Even so, he threw caution to the wind and did a reckless and suicidal attack to take down the monster in front of his eyes.

…Maybe it would be worth revisiting his psychological evaluations.

Evelyn clenched her fists. Staring at Alexander for a moment longer, she immediately turned on her heel and walked off.

Roland stared at Alexander for a while longer as well, and then he said, "Rest easy, Friend." With that, he left.

And then Sophia was alone with Alexander.

It was noon. The students had been sent off for lunch, and class had been dismissed. Unfortunately, there had been no hiding Alexander's shape after the gate closed, so the rumormill would no doubt be abound with theories on what occurred.

Sophia conjured a chair for herself and then sat down, holding her head up with her hands. "Just what kind of despair-filled life did you live, Mister Smith?"

To viciously crush one's mana circles in a suicidal attack wasn't hard. However, it would only allow up to the force of the mana circles possessed.

What Alexander did was use the chaotic flux from the shattered circles, resonate it with his lone mana star, and then cast a Rank 6 spell. All the while, undoubtedly feeling like he was shattering from the inside due to the mana outburst.

It went beyond the level of pain tolerance to sheer insanity. No one in their right mind could remain lucid enough to cast magic while their body was tearing apart from the inside.

But even so…

"It's a pity."

Sophia sighed and then stood up.

Alexander was a genius and a man with incredible grit.

But some things in this world could not be crossed with genius and grit alone.

That thought reminded Sophia of her own plight, and she involuntarily grimaced. But then she let out another sigh and walked away, leaving Alexander to rest on his own-

"What… happened?"

Sophia froze and whipped her head around to look at Alexander, her eyes wide with shock.

It wasn't possible… at least. It shouldn't be possible. But sure enough, despite his body being a wreck, that stubborn young man had suddenly woken up.

Alexander blinked and then noticed Sophia. "...Headmistress? Ah. I'm alive then."

A callous assessment of his own situation with an unchanging expression.

…And for the third time that day, Sophia was flummoxed.

Because for some reason, she felt like strangling the young man in front of her who was treating his life so callously.

===

> Sophia Lux is irritated at your nonchalant treatment of your body's dire straight! +10 SP. Your current SP is: 30640

> SYSTEM: Due to an emergency refactoring, you will now be able to view the and access the RPG app in your mind's eye. The log will automatically display when pertinent information appears.

> Evelyn vi Eternia is determined to keep you alive and reward your hard work. +10 SP. Your current SP is: 30650

> Roland Lionheart realizes that suicidal idiots exist and is refining his healing magic. +10 SP. Your current SP is: 30660

> A spy for the Void Arbiters has caught wind of your incredible feat. The Void Sovereign has begun research into utilizing the energy of self-destructing mana circles.

===

Son of a-

Hah… Well. It is what it is.

I stared at Sophia and pondered on what to do.

A beautiful and mature woman with lilac-colored hair and rainbow eyes that peered through all falsehoods. 

That was how I described her.

She was also a woman who believed in the potential of humans and sought to use her natural talent to refine new heroes to help one day end the gate phenomenon.

…Of course there was resistance. Many people benefited from the gates, so they tried to resist.

But she was both a rank 9 mage who pioneered her own unique realm, and also the one who had selected and trained most of the powerhouses currently walking around the Empire, and even a few outside it.

There wasn't any harm to befriending her.

But the problem was that she was a piece that shouldn't be moving around yet.

If this story was a chess game, Sophia Lux was a queen. Moving her early risked losing her early as well and disrupting the whole game. At that point, it would devolve to a chaotic mess that was completely unpredictable.

After recovering her composure, Sophia looked at me and said, "How do you feel?"

I tried moving my body.

Immediately, I felt horrible muscle pains. Like I had pulled all my muscles and also bruised everything.

Still, it was manageable. At least it wasn't throbbing pain, just when I moved.

"...Could be better."

Sophia's eye twitched.

Ah, right. Most eighteen year olds wouldn't be so calm. 

Welp, too late for that.

Sophia sighed and then said, "You did a reckless thing. I won't ask you how or why you did it. However." She narrowed her eyes and said, "If you wish to continue at this academy, you mustn't use it ever again. Understood?"

Lady, if I have to use that thing again while I'm at this academy, you're probably dead.

…But sure.

"Of course." I gave a slight nod, wincing at the sudden pain that came along with the motion.

Dammit. This would be annoying.

Sophia stared at me for a bit, and then she nodded. "Then I'll leave you to rest. The nurse will be out in an hour to check on you, and she has an entrance card to your room. If someone else arrives, you will be prompted on who the visitor is and whether or not to allow them."

"Got it."

"Then rest well. …You will need to recover quickly if you wish to remain a student here."

Cold and callous words. With those, Sophia left.

And then it was me alone, in pain, and laying on my bed.

On the bright side, I wrote the infirmaries to be places with complete privacy. Not even Sophia could look inside without permission. 

So…

"Hey. Open the RPG app."

Immediately after my request, a familiar but slightly changed screen popped up in front of me.

===

[Menu]

> Magic

> Arts

> Traits

> Inventory

> Upgrades

> Inbox

[Status Screen]

Name: Alex Smith

Age: 18

Strength: 5

Agility: 5

Vitality: 5

Endurance: 5

Mana: 0 

Stamina: 5 

Mana Pool: 5

<Magic >

Rank 1: Basic Elemental Magic

Rank 6: Divine Spirit

<Arts >

Mana Circle Overdrive: By shattering your mana circles and performing a forced fusion, can perform one Rank 6 spell at the cost of all stored mana and halving physical stats.

<Traits >

Stellar Mana Storm - All physical stats increase by 10% of your total mana state. Physical attacks may be imbued with magic. Stamina and mana pool are combined.

King of Drama - You have an instinct for dramatic flare! Your actions will often be timed for dramatic effect. You can speak any line without a hint of shame. Your emotions are inscrutable to others, but your actions will be seen in the best light.

Mana Boost (Minor) - Your mana stat will be increased by 10% of its total.

<Inventory >

Artio - A rank 5 artifact. Fashioned after the bear goddess of the same name, it allows summoning a rank 5 familiar with the appropriate mana cost.

Total SP: 30660

===

First of all, there was the addition of the <Menu >. And in that menu, there was a new inventory option.

Imagining clicking on that button brought up a menu where <Artio > was listed. And imagining tapping on it prompted me on whether I wanted to remove it from my inventory.

In addition to <Artio >, there was my rank-up voucher from earlier, and… that was it.

The <Magic > tab showed me an expanded list of my spells, while <Arts > just showed me <Mana Circle Overload>. <Traits > did the same thing.

Basically, other than adding those tabs, nothing had changed.

Although there was a new notification on my inbox.

…Imagining clicking stuff was straining my eyes, so I gave up and just started using voice commands. "Hey Siri. Open up my inbox."

There wasn't a response, but the inbox opened.

Neat.

As for the new message…

===

> You're getting the hang of things! Let's try to keep the story beats while making things more exciting! Here's another gift to help you out! - ROB

===

That son of a…

I hated him. I hated that guy who was willynilly screwing up my story.

I had a perfectly designed and neatly connected setting, plot, and cast of characters! Throwing overpowered monsters and stuff was just ruining everything!

Ugh. Hated him.

As soon as I figured out how to get to where he was, I was definitely going to punch that guy in the face. 

But whatever. What did he give me this time?

===

[Talent Awakening Ticket]

Awakens a talent that suits the character using it. 

NOTE: Traits are not talents, although they provide similar effects. 

===

…WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT THE SAME?!

That's just making everything redundant! 

Aaaahhhh!

@$##@$@

I silently raged for a bit. But then I let out a sigh and calmed down.

Well. Whatever. 

I guess it was better that my traits were different from talents.

Considering how Sophia didn't notice anything odd even though she passively scanned people's abilities, it was a good thing.

…And Talents *did* sometimes awaken under stressful situations. So…

"Fine. I'll play along for now, Rob."

I grumbled and activated the <Talent Awakening Ticket>.

===

> Beginning Talent Awakening!

> Scanning character records.

> Alexander Smith. A young man with a harsh background and a mission to eradicate all gates and monsters. However, training started too late and he faces an impossible wall. Max potential is Rank 5 at the age of 60.

> Analyzing… Main obstacles: Lack of time for development. Subpar stats. Low max potential. 

> Solution: Increased growth rate.

> Awakening talent!

> You have obtained [At the cost of my life]!