Chapter 46 – First Dungeon (24)

POV: Asani Martin

Once my watch was over right before dawn, I left the camp and decided to walk around after giving Julius a random excuse.

Finding a small stream, I rolled my pant legs up before soaking my feet in the water, crafted a mana potion in a beer bottle, and began sipping the bitter liquid while watching my status screen as if it were a TV. All I needed was a bag of popcorn, and I would be set.

Was I doing all this just to have fun?

Absolutely not.

There was one simple reason.

My mana was being drained.

Rapidly!

It wasn't a continual drain but something that happened in bursts.

The culprit was obvious, as it was the same situation as when Onyx was being destroyed and used my mana to reform itself.

To make matters worse, another field was being updated on my status sheet as well.

[Crimes Committed: (1/1) Manslaughter]

[Crimes Committed: (2/1) Manslaughter]

[Crimes Committed: (3/1) Manslaughter]

...

[Crimes Committed: (13/1) Manslaughter]

What the hell was that mimic doing?

Was it waging a war by itself or something?

I had told it to stay hidden for the most part, so why did it seem like a terrible battle was going on?

It was good to know that I could send it to commit crimes for me, but this wasn't an ideal situation. What if it got exposed to other students? I knew for a fact that Cassandra Mirage was watching the Lighthouse, and I had no assurance that the mimic could beat her even if it could repeatedly reform its body. And if it was followed back to me, I didn't want to have to start explaining.

Mentally reaching out for that tenuous thread between us, I mentally commanded it to come back to me secretly.

The result?

A resounding feeling of No!

I could feel a vein throbbing in the back of my neck.

They did say your children would eventually rebel against you once they felt they were all grown up.

However, this wasn't that kind of household. Onyx wasn't grown up, and rebellions would be quelled expeditiously.

Taking another gulp of the mana potion, I began sending over threats.

No food for you.

No mana for you.

No more pets and good jobs for you.

You dare talk back after you chained yourself to me unwillingly and drained my mana? Absolutely not.

Come back home immediately, Onyx Martin, and receive your punishment for being disobedient.

At the barrage of threats, there was a slight hesitation before a quivering no was sent out, followed by a sense of determination.

Determined huh? Fine. We would see what that little blobby punk was planning.

For now, I would just continue to make sure I kept supplying it mana.

Dunking my head in the cold stream, I watched absentmindedly as the fish scrambled away from me.

Should I grab some for breakfast? If Julius helped me manage the heat, we could have some nice grilled fish. I had vegetables that could be roasted as well. Although eating meat with every meal was good, it would be good to diversify what I ate.

Random thoughts floated through my mind as I had a rare moment of peace.

As I lazed away while occassionally taking a drink of a mana potion to replenish my mana, I finally felt a sense of satisfaction coming from Onyx as the mana drain stopped. Feeling the mimic approach me, I closed my eyes and waited for that little criminal to show up.

"Squeeeeak"

Glancing up, I saw something circling around me in the sky before diving down.

That would be Onyx.

As its chubby black bird form dove at me at a high speed, I crafted a large flyswatter and slapped it straight into the water.

'Squeaaaaak! Squeak, squeak, squeak!" as the bird flew back up and began pecking my head angrily, I laughed before snatching it up out of the air.

"You dare tell me no when I tell you to come back? Shall I educate you with physical training here and now?" I asked with a gentle smile while squeezing it like a stress ball.

Liquifying itself into a blob, Onyx reformed into a bird and pecked at me angrily, sending a barrage of emotions.

The gist was after all the suffering I've done for you, all the pain I went through to listen to your orders, you do this to me. Today is the day I show you hell.

Piercing beak attack!

Oh.

I guess it was a teenager now? It could argue back. How amusing.

"Hmph." With a very human sound, it turned its back to me in a huff, and I laughed before petting its head.

"Okay, sorry, sorry, my bad. It was a reflex. I'm sorry, okay? I won't smack you again, but don't dive at me like that. And did you get chubbier? What have you been eating?" I hefted it up and down, feeling a slight increase in the weight.

Suddenly, the beak disappeared, and a mouth appeared. It began speaking in a familiar discordant tone that somehow sounded proud.

"I ate everything."

Oh? A full sentence? Our little onyx was growing up so fast.

"What is everything? People? Animals?"

"The good stuff!" at the unexpected reply, I paused for a moment before asking once more.

"What is the good stuff?"

"Everything!"

At the circular reasoning, I paused for a moment before asking.

"You ate everything inside the lighthouse?"

"Yes!"

"Mimics like you?"

"Yes!"

"And people? Humans like me?"

"Yes!"

At the proud response, I glanced at the bloodthirsty little mimic. No wonder the crime count had gone up. This little glutton had been devouring the students that had been brought there. This was…concerning. I couldn't have it going around eating students once we got back to the academy.

"Were there people you didn't eat?"

"Yes! Angry golden boy! He hit me! It hurt!" as it lodged a complaint, I patted its head in consolation while hiding a laugh. In an odd way, it was kind of cute.

"Did you get caught while eating people?"

"No!"

"Good job. Were they talking? Did they mention any names?"

"Robby! Duet! Zero! Sha Sha! Little lion! Swallow! Solomon Nova!" Onyx dutifully reported.

Robby was probably Robin, and Swallow was obvious. The little lion was clearly Lionel. But who or what was Duet? What was a Zero? What was a Sha Sha? Could it be the robed figure? And why was Solomon there?

"Did you see Solomon there? You've met him before."

"Hot one?"

The hot one…?

Remembering that Onyx frequently tried to eat Julius' flames, I realized it must be him.

"No, that's Julius. The boy who chained you down."

"He wasn't there!"

Asani: "…???"

Sighing, I took a seat and began asking clarifying questions.

"Was Lionel there?"

"Yes."

"And a person named Duet?"

"Two!"

"It's two people named duet?" I asked in confusion.

The mimic tilted its head in confusion at me before turning into blob form.

It changed its form to mimic a robed figure before splitting it into duplicate people.

"Okay, a person that split in two. Was Sha Sha there?"

"No!"

"…..I wish I could just hear the conversation. It would make this much easier." I grumbled.

Onyx reassembled itself into a blob before turning into two figures. Then its mouth opened, and a whole conversation was played out.

When Robin was mentioned, it formed into a shadowy figure that looked like the man before collapsing itself back into its blob shape.

"Huh. I didn't know you could do that. You're an excellent spy you know that?"

"Good job?"

"You did a very fucking good job. What did you eat? Can you show me? Actually, don't. Let's wait until we leave."

Onyx nodded before collapsing into a puddle with just lips.

"Tired. Sleepy." The little discordant voice grumbled with a sigh.

Holding it up, I Analyzed the little thing and widened my eyes in surprise and couldn't help but whistle.

[Shadow Mimic*]

[Name: Onyx Martin]

[Rank D]

[ Strength: D]

[ Intelligence: C ]

[ Perception – D]

[ Speed: D ]

[ Magic power: C ]

[Abilities*: ▷Spawn (D) ▷Devour (B) ▷Shapeshift(D) ▷Storage (D) ▷Disguise (D)]

[*Shadow mimic has eaten the core of its nest and is in the process of metabolizing it. Stats will continually increase, and new abilities will be created.]

How the hell had it eaten the core of the Shadow Mimics Nest, whose information I hadn't been able to see?

It had really been working hard. No wonder it was tired. And no wonder it was draining my mana like there was no tomorrow.

It made me really curious.

I really wanted to make it spit out the item that Lionel and the Darwinist had set up this whole thing for, but it would be prudent to wait until later. After all, there were sneaky people around and someone who liked to peep.

Petting Onyx once more, I spoke to it gently.

"Hide in my pocket or under my shirt and get some rest. You need to stay hidden for the rest of this, okay? Good job again. I forgive you for draining my mana."

"Okay."

With a very wide yawn, Onyx liquified itself and slid around my torso, wrapping around me like a t-shirt before solidifying into fabric indistinguishable from one.

As the little mimic silently went to sleep, I patted it softly before crafting a black hoodie and putting it on. Crossing my legs as was my habit, I began tapping my chin as I thought.

Without knowing it, Onyx bought me a nice present. There was no need for me to go to the lighthouse now with everything and everyone inside gone. As they say, there was no point robbing an empty house and I would rather avoid Cassandra and Lionel.

It would be better to tag along with Solomon and see what he was up to as he went after Robin, who was at the tower. If I was lucky, I could rob that location too.

Instead, I had a different problem now.

How to sneak Onyx back to the academy.

With everything that was going on and everyone that died, I figured that we would be thoroughly searched and questioned when we got back.

I could maybe get Professor Lee to cover up for me about Onyx, but I was skeptical if she would do so. After all, she had no reason to, and if she knew about it, as someone from the 9 clans, she would want Onyx destroyed.

But I couldn't just leave him behind, either. It had inadvertently gotten my hands on something that was fucking up the story that I knew. Something that would make Lionel and the Lionhearts do something like this had to be a juicy item, and I'd be damned if I'd let it slip away.

I really, really wanted to know what the item was.

The urge to make Onyx spit it out was strong, and I wavered a bit.

But if I took it out now, who knew who would come for it, especially if it wasn't supposed to be missing? And if it was in my pack, and I was searched, who knew if our lovely dean would seize it and if I would get accused of facilitating this whole thing.

No, the only option was to leave it in Onyx and sneak them both in somehow. Maybe Lina would have a suggestion. Worse comes to worse, I would stick it to Solomon and owe him a favor. I'm sure he would be interested in the information, but that would be a last resort.

No.

Let's think about this.

How could I sneak Onyx in without owing anybody any favors? There were other students who were mimics whose status was fully assimilated into their hosts. Unfortunately, Onyx was bound to me, and I wasn't quite sure how to remove it without having my head blown off.

Pulling up Onyx's status sheet, I went through the abilities before my eyes settled on two.

[Disguise (D)]

[Shapeshift(D)]

That would do it.

It was a gamble but it just might work.

"Oi Onyx. Wake up." I tapped my chest to wake the mimic up and wiggled against my skin.

"I know you're tired, but I need you to disguise yourself."

"Disguise?" a tired discordant voice sounded as Onyx flowed down my arm and onto my palm.

"Yep. Turn into this. Exactly this. Then you can sleep." Crafting a regular, very plain metal fork, I waggled it.

"Okay."

I felt a bit of mana drain from me as Onyx slowly formed itself into a brick.

At first glance, it looked the same as the one in my hand, and Analyze showed the same unless you looked deeper. It would do.

The next step was to craft hundreds of extras and pack them, figuratively hiding a needle in a haystack.

Human nature is inherently lazy. I was willing to bet money that they would only check a few and assume that the rest were the same. After all, nobody wants the tedious job of going through the same item one by one. Especially if it was as mundane as cutlery.

And naturally, it wouldn't be in my pack but Lina's. Who would be suspicious of a person from a clan known to create things having duplicates of the same object? Added to the fact that her family was influential? She would be searched lightly and be let go.

Stuffing the fork Onyx in my pocket, I took a moment to relax, breathing in the crisp air.

It had started off rough but today was looking like a good day so far.

It could only get better from here.

I guess my luck was finally turning around.

Satisfied that the day was turning out so well, I climbed a tree and watched the sunrise and birds fly around before finally heading back to camp.

I would make a nice breakfast for Julius and me before telling him to scrap our plans. Regular Lionel was back and would be behaving himself and diligently attacking what was left of the lighthouse to recover his precious item. I would leave them to it and make myself scarce.

Whistling to myself, I found myself to be in a very good mood.

Unfortunately, as I got closer to the camp, the good mood left as I caught the gaze of an annoying bastard who waved cheerfully with his splinted arm before gesturing for me to hurry up.

Rolling my eyes at him, I took my time walking over.

When I arrived, Solomon began speaking.

"I have decided not to kill you," Seeing him announce it as if he were doing me a favor, I gave him a dry look before replying in a monotone voice.

"Wow. Amazing. Thank you so much, your Highness, for your benevolence. I am so overcome. Whatever shall I do with myself."

"Well, I am technically a Lord, so it would officially be your Lordship. But I'll take your highness too." He gave me a wide grin as I rolled my eyes at him before turning to Lina and Julius.

All three of them were sitting in a row like ducks, with Julius in the middle separating them. They all stared at me expectantly, like baby chicks waiting for a mother bird.

"What?"

"We're hungry. Feed us." Lina immediately began complaining.

Asani: "...."

When did I become the nanny to a bunch of kids who were technically older than my current body? Did they not have hands and legs?

"You have food in your packs. They have points. My pack also has food and utensils, and even though one person is useless, the other one can make fire. What's the issue?"

"I can't cook." Lina raised her hand and cheerfully announced.

"I'm injured." Solomon smiled brightly, holding out his arm that was still in the splint.

Turning to Julius, I arched my brow at him.

"I offered to cook, but they both said no."

"Because he wanted to eat steak in the morning! Who does that? I want Belgian waffles! And french toast! Chocolate chip pancakes! And whip cream! And berry compote! And a double espresso shot, extra whipped cream, extra cinnamon, with a caramel drizzle!"

"This is why you're a midget, shorty. Not enough protein and too much coffee."

"I'm not short; I'm average height!"

"In dwarf land." Solomon openly laughed at her before turning to me.

"If you're taking food requests! I want fresh scones, jam, clotted cream, some tea, and four eggs over easy. And some sausage, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, and beans!"

"I want some cigarettes. I'm all out." Julius chimed in.

Et tu, Brutus?

Asani: "..."

Looking at the two entitled people shouting out their orders as if I were a waiter in a restaurant, I held my throbbing head before chucking a pack of cigarettes at Julius.

There goes my good mood, ruined by two brats.

But these were my current allies. One was an annoying bastard, and the other was my bank account. It would be bad to shoot them, so I could only hypnotize myself with these thoughts of the gift Lina had given me.

"We're having steak and eggs and potatoes. If you don't want it, make your own goddamn food."

"You," I pointed at Lina, "I'm adding it to your tab."

"And you," I pointed to Solomon, "Give me my watch back."

"I refuse. Finders keepers." Solomon didn't even hesitate.

"Why am I on a tab? After all, I've done for you. That's not fair. I refuse to pay since Julius is not paying. I'm hungry." Lina whined.

"Me too. I'm starving!" Solomon chimed in.

Tired of their whining, I crafted a cast iron frying pan and smacked Lina on the head before swinging at Solomon, who calmly created a barrier to block it while laughing wildly.

"Julius is useful. He takes night watch, he can help me cook while the two of you are not only useless, you're annoying. Shut up and move out of my way. If I hear you talk nonsense, you can both find your own breakfast."

"Is this puberty?" Lina fake whispered behind her hand to Solomon.

"I think it is," Solomon whispered back just as loudly.

"My little boy is growing up so soon. Sniff." Lina dramatically wiped a tear with a handkerchief she pulled out from god knows where.

"I know. Soon we'll have to marry him off. Snifff."

Asani: "..."

"I thought the two of you didn't get along? You look like best friends to me."

As if explaining, Lina raised her hands while smiling brightly, "Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly hate this guy's guts. He's a self-righteous, rainbow-haired, arrogant, entitled, elitist, mana-worshiping prick. If he was on fire, I wouldn't spit on him."

"Oooh, are we trading insults? Firstly, if I was on fire, I would put it out myself. I don't need help from a dwarf like you. Secondly, I don't like short, mass-produced gadget creating, gadget-using, untalented, cowardly, short girls who don't even have enough mana to use their own abilities correctly."Solomon shot right back at her with a shrug.

"Mass-produced? Gadget using? How dare you? Asani, don't feed this useless bastard!" Lina glared at him as her fingers tightly gripped her staff.

I swear I saw a blade forming as its length extended.

"Don't be upset because I spoke the truth, Lina Meraki. What you make are gadgets. Trinkets at best that imitate what I can do naturally with my amazing talent."

I glanced at Julius, and he snorted before pointing at the two of them respectively,

"Worships mana like a god. Only the talented should use it. Everyone else should be in awe or try harder."

"Believes mana should be dissected, digested, and understood down to the smallest particle before being reproduced so everyone can use it."

"Science vs religion?"

"Something like that. Ignore them, and don't get involved. Let's make food."

"How dare you reduce the pursuit of becoming one with mana to religion! Mana is a wondrous thing that allows us to shape the world."

"And science, Julius? What we're doing is beyond that. It's research! Its innovation! It's brilliant. Understanding the mechanics of mana and the system is beyond science; it's discovering the truth."

"Brilliant? Mass producing goods for commoners is brilliant? You're using mana like a carpenter, just hammering things together without understanding the finesse and beauty in it."

"You're telling me runecraft isn't intricate? Last time I checked, you used a portal to arrive from your dreary little island to attend the academy. And you even used one to get here. Is that intricate enough for you, Solomon Nova?"

"Please. That was-"

"Hey hey hey." I clapped my hands to interrupt them, "I don't really care about this argument one way or another, but can you take it elsewhere? You're noisy."

"No!"

"No!"

At the simultaneous response, I looked between the two of them before changing the subject into something more productive.

"Then, if one of you can teach me basic mana reinforcement in, say, 30 minutes, I can make your breakfast of choice. Within reason. And listen when I say this, the only reason I'm asking you two is because Julius can't teach me because apparently I'll burn myself into charcoal."

There was dead silence for a moment before Lina raised her hand up as if she were in class.

"I'll go first! This loser here will probably just say 'ask the mana nicely and it will do what you want. Use your senses and figure it out.' That's how you end up with broken bones, Solomon!"

"It's not my fault you don't have talent. But since you insist, I'll let you go first." Solomon shook his head mockingly as Lina began scrambling in her giant pack, pulling out all sorts of posterboard and markers.

As she began drawing some diagrams, Solomon sidled up to me with a wide grin.

"Guess what I did yesterday?"

Wanting to burst his bubble, I replied blandly.

"You killed mimic Lionel?"

"What? How did you know?" His smile immediately disappeared as I felt him scan me and then create two transparent barriers around us.

"I'm stalking you. Obviously." I gave him a wide grin as I analyzed the barrier.

[Sound Proof Barrier]

[Visual Distortion Barrier]

"How dull. Taking away my fun." Solomon grumbled as he sat down awkwardly.

"I'm so sorry, your lordship. It's very unfortunate. Since you did that, I have no interest in heading to the lighthouse. Mind if I come with you? Even if you say no, I'm tagging along anyway."

"Why? Didn't want to continue your investigation from last night? Did you see something interesting? Flirted with somebody's girlfriend, maybe?" at his teasing tone, I couldn't help but laugh. Seems Cassandra had snitched, that little liar.

"Let's say I had a change of heart. Plus, I want to see you get beaten in round two of your fight."

"I'm not going to lose this time. I know his trick."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I replied neutrally before reaching out and smacking his side. As a small barrier blocked my hand, I gave him a lazy look.

"You've been favoring that side of yours, and your face looks paler than yesterday. What's wrong with you? Did you pick another fight while stalking me last night and get injured again? Is that why you're so calm this morning? I haven't even gotten a single death from you. You don't have the energy to be rowdy?"

"…you are stupidly observant, you know that?" he grumbled while I reached out and patted his head while I could.

"I try. What happened to you? You can tell me and I won't tell the others. Isn't that why these lovely barriers are around us? Pretty nifty trick."

"It's a secret, but you can bet it won't happen again. Speaking of secrets, are you the love child between a dragon and a Meraki clan member?" Solomon suddenly changed the subject.

At my dumbfounded expression, he looked smug as if he had figured something out.

I could only snort in disbelief. Wasn't he supposed to be a genius? What kind of thoughts were circling through that brain of his? A dragon? Did those even exist?

"Well, are you?"

"Dunno. I'm an orphan. Why?"

"You can make things and are too good at using mana not to come from the 9 clans, not to talk of your little pet. Though you're not as good at using mana as my little pinky. In fact, you really should listen to me if you want to learn mana reinforcement. In case you didn't know, I'm a genius at using mana—the best in our age group in the world. Lina is going to present a whole anatomical diagram of mana points and other such nonsense. I can tell you how it really works."

"Okay. Tell me." I replied with interest.

I had posed the question randomly because I didn't want to be lugged around like a potato sack any longer and wanted to stop the two of them from arguing. I didn't actually expect them to teach me anything since I planned on asking Professor Lee once we got back.

But, if they wanted to teach me, I would learn it anyway.

"It's pretty easy. Just ask the mana to infuse your body. It's like a puppy that wants to help, you just tell it where to go. Of course, if you can't control it, your body will shatter into bloody bits, and you might die, so you have to use your head to gauge what your body can take." Solomon replied with a bright smile.

Asani: "..."

He actually gave out the stupid answer, just like Lina said. There was no way I would listen to the advice of someone who just insinuated that my body would splatter to bits. The bastard didn't even believe in planning and just ran around doing whatever.

Risk my life and trust his words?

Never.

I would just wait for the professor.

"Never mind. I'd rather listen to Lina." I quickly rejected him and tried to stand up, but he pulled me back.

"I'm serious. We have a similar skill so you should be able to tell. Use those golden eyes of yours and watch carefully. I'll give you a little lesson since I've decided not to kill you. Be thankful." Standing up and dusting off his pants with one hand, Solomon dissipated the barrier.

As he did, Julius glanced over at the two of us.

"What are you two sneaky bastards plotting? By the way, we have a guest."

"I know. I was just planning on teaching your little owner a little lesson." Solomon turned and looked in a particular direction.

"Coming out, Lionel? Long time no see. You're looking well." Although the words sounded friendly, the tone sounded vicious.

Like a ghost, Lionel slowly walked forward from behind a tree, surprising me.

Where the hell had he come from? I had been keeping watch and hadn't sensed him at all.

He was dressed simply in a white button-up shirt, black pants, and combat boots. His hair was slightly wet, dripping down on his shirt, making it transparent in some places. He had his sword out, and his scarlet eyes were narrowed as he stared at Solomon.

"Nova. Lina. Julius." Lionel greeted each of them before turning to glare at me.

"You."

"Yo." I stood up and waved lightly, my hand immediately going to my gun.

"You broke my leg?" it came out like a statement as he glared at me.

Sigh. There went my peaceful morning.

"Did I? It looks fine to me." I intentionally glanced at his perfectly fine leg before glancing at his face.

"Very good. I'll take one of yours in return."

With an expressionless face, Lion swung his sword at me, sending a blade of golden aura flying directly at me.

Quickly rolling to the side, I crafted a barrier in front of me, but it wasn't needed.

"Lesson in mana usage starting now." Solomon crafted a small, multilayered hexagonal-shaped barrier angled upward that deflected the golden mana slash upward, temporarily creating a vacuum in the air and causing the wind to whip all around us.

"When fighting someone who is a close combatant with great destructive skills like our dear Lionel, you will want to create multiple-edged barriers stitched together that are small to deflect rather than take it on head-on. As you know, barriers being destroyed is a headache, so that's a big no-no. Deflecting and removing it before it breaks is the way to go."

As Lionel began stalking forward, a golden aura surrounding his body, Solomon continued talking like a sports commentator while standing in front of me.

"Lionel here is quite the physical fighter, and you can see him rapidly closing the distance. Of course, the right way to defeat him is to attack from afar, but that's not the lesson right now. Mana reinforcement, right? It's pretty easy. Talk to the mana in your body, move it to the part you want, and reinforce an attribute. Take a clear look."

As I watched, my eyes clearly observed the rainbow-haired boy. It felt like a veil dropped from around his body, and I could see a large pool of mana swirling throughout his body—his head, chest, stomach, and arms. There wasn't an area that wasn't saturated with free swirling mana.

In my vision, light-colored mana wrapped around his entire body in a thin layer, while internally, it coursed through like a whirlpool before focusing mainly on his legs and reinforcing his torso, where I assumed he was injured again.

As Lionel swung once more, the mana-covered sword moving in a flash, Solomon lightly kicked his feet against it and diverted its path before stepping back.

"Now, there are different ways to reinforce your body. You can make your skin and bones harder, force your body to move faster and hit harder, and even speed up your healing if you know how. It all depends on the type of mana you can use. Julius over there is a brute so he only uses flames for explosiveness in his movements."

"Shut up." Julius dryly commented as he lit a cigarette seeing that Solomon would be handling Lionel.

"Lina, over there is another brute. All she does is increase her raw strength and harden her body. Tsk tsk." Pausing to look back, he shrugged when she flipped him off.

Seeing that he was distracted, Solomon created multiple barriers around me as Lionel pivoted behind him and lazily slashed at me, his sword a blur as it targeted my leg once more.

As Lionel's sword ricochetted off the barrier, Solomon quickly swung a fist, now surrounded with yellow crackling mana, toward his face, causing Lionel to step back and bring his sword up to guard against it.

Clang!

It sounded as if two metal objects were hitting each other as Solomon and Lionel collided, each of them jumping backward. Lionel landed stably and at the ready, while Solomon stumbled a bit before grimacing.

As if he had never stopped talking, Solomon continued his lecture, "If you're talented like me, you can try out a variety of things." Glancing back at me, he grinned before counting off on his free hand while dodging Lionel's steadily faster swings or deflecting them with the little barrier that moved around.

"In case you couldn't tell, hand-to-hand combat is not my specialty, but with a little help from mana, I can hang with the best. A good mix is general unattributed mana for general body strengthening, reinforcement, and a speed boost." Light-colored mana swirled throughout his entire body while a thin layer coated the outside.

"I prefer adding a dash of wind for speed myself, as it's a bit quicker and reduces air resistance. And a bit of water for flexibility and durability. And for a little razzle-dazzle, lightning for impact. Like so." At the mention of each type, the mana around his limbs appeared, while internally it corresponded in those areas as well. Ducking Lionel's horizontal swing, Solomon stepped in like a boxer and threw a hook straight at Lionel's head while simultaneously trying to kick his feet from under him.

The other boy gracefully jumped and, using the force of Solomon's punch against his sword, retreated before landing gracefully on his feet.

There was silence as everyone just observed each other.

Lionel just stared between Solomon and me as if gauging the effort it would take to remove my leg while Solomon continued ignoring him as if he wasn't there, turning his back to Lionel and lecturing me.

"Others have to gauge how much their body can take before it pops, but you should be able to see if any particular part of your body is at capacity when reinforcing it with mana. Of course, capacity and your body's tolerance aren't always the same, but you're sensitive enough, so you should be able to hear the mana complaining in your body. Got it? Good. Lesson over. "

As if a curtain had been dropped, I could no longer see the mana inside his body, and he turned to stare at Lionel, who had a sardonic smile on his face.

"Using me as a lesson Nova? Bold of you."

"Didn't you cooperate so nicely, though? It was almost like a dance. If you really went for it, I would have to try harder. Still, I'd appreciate it if you would stop trying to slice his leg off. He's under my protection right now, and I kind of need him today. Greater threat and all that."

"He injured me. Even if I rip that leg off, he can get it fixed at the academy."

"Then do it in an official spar at the academy. I told you, I need him today to help take down the barrier and get communications working. You wouldn't be trying to sabotage me, right? Considering that you've been conveniently missing while I've been handling everything."

"When did you get close to low-ranked students, Nova? Slumming it now?"

"I'm trying it out. It's been fun, and he makes delicious meals. He might need to give my chef some tips. Take a step back will you, or shall we duke it out here? I'm ready if you are." Solomon bared his teeth at Lionel in a caricature of a smile.

Lionel considered him for a moment before laughing.

"With that hole in your lung? You better get that fixed first before you think of going against me, Nova. Either way, I'll stop for now since there's other business to attend."

Sheathing his sword, he turned to me. "You, black rank"

"Yo." I casually answered, and I could see his face tighten.

"Me and you, back at the academy. I'll pay you back. In an official duel." His scarlet eyes stared into mine, promising violence, but I simply blinked.

"Im. Poss. Ible." I gave him a bright smile. "The difference between our ranks is too much. It's in the student handbook. The professors will never allow it. I appreciate the offer, though."

As both Lionel and Solomon widened their eyes at me, I arched my brows, "Did nobody else read the student handbook of rules and regulations?"

Lionel: "No."

Julius: "Nope."

Solomon: "Why would I read such a thing? That's stupid."

Lina: "I read it!"

Of course you did, Lina, I laughingly thought.

"Is that right? Then you better make sure you stay down there. If your rank gets close to mine, I'll be claiming that leg."

"Aye, Aye, captain. Thank you for being so understanding." Smartly saluting, I rolled my eyes and turned away.

Damn, bastard. Hurry up and leave.

"Nova said you make good make good meals? Make me something, I'm hungry." At the imperious command, I didn't even bother responding.

Instead, I went to sit by Lina and Julius, who were just watching my reaction to see what I would do. Julius was hiding a smile while muttering about how I seemed always to attract troublesome things trying to kill me.

Lina had even dropped her marker, and it was leaking ink all over her human anatomy diagram.

Tapping Lina to get her attention, I lightly spoke out. "You heard the man. Give me your finest ramen noodles so I can cook him a tasty meal."

Lina: "..."

Julius: "..."

Solomon: "..."

What happened to French toast and berry compote? Bacon? Eggs? Sausage? At this point, they would even take the steak and potatoes. Why did it turn to ramen for breakfast?

Seeing their expressions, I laughed silently.

Mr. Rank 1 expected me to cook for him after trying to cut my leg off? Dream on. If I could, I would just poison him and watch him slowly die.

Seeing that Lina didn't respond, I went to her pack myself and pulled out several packs of ramen, bowls, and cutlery while subtly slipping fork Onyx in there. Hopefully, nobody actually used it to eat later.

After setting up the pot and fire, I proceeded to make the worst meal known to man: burnt, soggy noodles flavored with all the seasonings I had brought, dumped inside.

"Eat up, everyone! This is called the poor kid special since I grew up not having anything. I made it with my whole heart and soul." I announced cheerfully.

After serving everyone a portion, I ignored their incredulous glances and ate my portion happily.

Waste not, want not.

If scooped properly, the food went directly from my fork to my stomach, and I didn't even have to taste it.

Delicious.

I even went back for seconds.

Lionel, of course, didn't eat a single bite. He just stared at the bowl of slop in disgust before glaring at Solomon and me.

Of course, the two of us naturally ignored him, unified for once in our behavior.

After a moment of silence, Lionel announced that he was headed to the lighthouse, and quickly left.

Julius glanced over at me before incinerating the slop in his bowl.

"Are you going to make a new meal?"

"I'm full. You make it if you're hungry."

Turning to Solomon, I arched my brow at him.

"Hole in your lungs?"

"It whistles very nicely. Want to hear?" he burst out laughing at my incredulous expression.

"Don't worry about it, and let's eat and move on. The sooner this barrier is down, and communications are up. The sooner I can get healed."

Seeing that he seemed to be handling it fine, I shrugged my shoulders. It was his body at the end of the day. If he wanted to work himself to death, so be it.

As Julius made them the original steak and eggs that he had planned, I spent the time crafting more forks and dumping them into Lina's pack, much to the confusion of the others.

When Lina asked about Onyx, I gave her a vague excuse about hunting and continued crafting forks.

Once we were done, we prepared to part ways with Julius, who was headed to the Lighthouse, while Lina, Solomon, and I headed toward the tower.

Glancing back at Julius, who was watching us while smoking, I warned him.

"Watch your back."

"You too. Don't let Nova boss you around."

"Never."

As he held his fist out, I bumped it before handing him a bag filled with cigarettes and mana potions.

"Oh, potions. Nice. Is there a pack of smokes in there?" he asked as he dug through the bag

"I thought you said it tasted nasty, yet you want it. Addict."

"Shut up."

Laughing, I waved to him and began running after Lina and Solomon.