A Hero of the... Stars?

「To be… a her-HAHAHAHA!」[Reischneid]

He couldn't even keep his laughter to himself.

「Hey, what the hell are you laughing for?!」[Nova]

「Nah..aha… it's nothing.」[Reischneid]

He quieted down a bit, as if looking back at something.

「A hero… huh?」[Reischneid]

「Yeah! I've always wanted to be a hero! Got a problem with it, old man?!」[Nova]

「Well, you've got one of the best heroes throughout history as your mentor, so I guess it's fitting, is all!」[Reischneid]

「...One of the best heroes throughout history is a video game, slice of life addicted training fiend.」[Nova]

「...Oi, you idiot descendant, show grandpa some respect. Also, if I could stay at home and play video games while watching cartoons all day, I would have.」[Reischneid]

「...Well, whatever. I'll take your challenge on. I… don't understand what happens outside of the walls of this country… hell, I'm not even that good with geography, but… I'll make this world a place of peace! I promise.」[Nova]

「...Good! I'll help you as much as I can. I'm really limited for now, but hopefully, we can break some of my seals and unlock more of my powers soon.」[Reischneid]

「...Right, thanks. What was… is being sealed by those seals?」[Nova]

「My abilities. Random bits of my memories. I should change appearance once I unseal some too. I know for sure my Raiment is blocked behind one of them, and hell, I can't even use my damn Seed's abilities.」[Reischneid]

「Huh? I thought that you used your Seed for like some kind of thing with the necklace before?! What do you mean?!」[Nova]

「I used something that allows me to freely manipulate the essence of my Seed. Since your dream is something like "Hero", it sort of… explains a little. But I'd say you have a strange fascination with the "Stars" and "Space" as well. Your flame is… kind. It heals and helps you be the strong hero you want to be. But… Stellaris. It's probably your first "Star" ability. Area is like the very concept of "Space". So… your dream must be something like… "Becoming a Hero of the Stars".」[Reischneid]

「...It sounds so cringy when you put it like that, but… okay. What should I do?」[Nova]

「What? For how to manipulate the essence of your Seed? What the hell is the power of a Star or a Hero anyways? I don't know. Space is better, at least we can just assume that you use spatial abilities. Raiment are an extension of it, or a basic part of it. If you can understand that.」[Reischneid]

「...I don't, at all!」[Nova]

Reischneid sighed and changed topics.

「...You need to recuperate your mana for now. I doubt that eating will replenish your mana normally… maybe you can absorb some mana from the surroundings? Maybe someoneeee… will be willing to share their mana with you?」[Reischneid]

「...Who?」[Nova]

「...They're almost here, but still- You picked up that Perpetuity spell that you used earlier from your dream, right? That's not a part of your Seed… something is off about it…」[Reischneid]

「Wha-?」[Nova]

No sooner than he replied, the door slammed open.

『NOVA!』

He turned his head to find Freyana in his room, rushing in after closing the door.

『I heard about the fight from Granny! What happened?!』[Freyana]

She ran over to him, examining his body.

『...Granny?』[Nova]

He was a bit confused how Granny managed to hear about it, but Reischneid cut that line of thought.

「Tell her your situation. Explain it all. She's your little girlfriend, let her share your burdens.」[Reischneid]

『You're bruised up! What happened?!』[Freyana]

Nova struggled with himself for a moment, wondering whether or not he should te

Nova struggled with himself to decide whether or not to tell her but gave in eventually.

『...Hah… I accidentally stumbled into one of them and they got really mad once they heard I was houseless…』[Nova]

He hadn't even realized a bruise was forming but felt too lazy to heal himself with his flame.

『That's awful! They challenged you to a full-on battle, too! Have you heard the rules?』[Freyana]

Nova realized that he had no idea what the rules were, so he shook his head.

『...Nope. It just happened a couple minutes ago.』[Nova]

『They set it up in a way that allowed you to change your team as you wish, but… they basically "limit" themselves so they'd look better!』[Freyana]

『...Huh?』[Nova]

Nova was starting to have a confused look on his face.

『...Uh… Nobles have battles to settle debts. In this case, however, they are challenging you for honor. They're stuck in as "Noblesse", whereas you haven't even been announced as the opposite team yet!』[Freyana]

『Uh… to be honest, I don't even know what to do… but I know… I don't want to run away from this fight.』[Nova]

『...Since I'm technicalllllllly…. school staff, I was told some info. The only Noblesse participating are the first years, but they all have a reputation for being extremely strong!』[Freyana]

『...Well, guess I couldn't get through school without a bit of hazing, could I? Haha…』[Nova]

『...That's not funny! They have 7 people on their team! Your team is Leo, Rai, Andrew, and Jack, right?! You'd be down one person!』[Freyana]

Nova thought about that for a moment before counting for a second.

『...Two people, right?』[Nova]

『I'm joining! They can't just push you around because you aren't a noble!』[Freyana]

『Hu…huh? I saw you use some spells before, but- I don't think I've ever seen you actually-』[Nova]

She firmly spoke, shutting him down.

『I can fight!』[Freyana]

『...Can you show me later?』[Nova]

He shifted over on the bed, making space for her to sit down.

Once she sat down, she slid close up to him.

『Why not right now?』[Freyana]

『...I forgot to feed Sir Fluffles dinner.』[Nova]

Her face suddenly went blank.

『...You what?』[Freyana]

Nova reached into his ring and brought out the groceries he bought.

『...Why did you buy so much?!』[Freyana]

『I wanted to make some steak…』[Nova]

She grabbed Nova by the hand and pulled him off the bed.

『...Then, let's worry about the extra person later! Let's go and cook dinner together!』[Freyana]

She flashed him a smile that caused him to start smiling.

『Hehe. Sure.』[Nova]

They began to walk off to the cafeteria, taking their time.

While they were walking, Nova decided that maybe he should let her in on more secrets.

『...Right. My mana isn't working properly, by the way. I'm not quite sure, but I figured I should let you know.』[Nova]

『Huh? What's wrong with your mana? I haven't noticed any-』[Freyana]

Her expression suddenly turned pale.

『...Why is your mana's presence so weak?! What happened to you?!』[Freyana]

She grabbed his hand and closed her eyes.

『...Huh?』[Nova]

『...I have an innate sensitivity to mana. I'm most comfortable around your mana, but I didn't notice until now…!』[Freyana]

She opened her eyes and stared at his hand.

『...It feels like you're a black hole of mana… It's like there's something inside of you that is absorbing mana endlessly… I think that your Seed might be gathering mana for something!』[Freyana]

『...It can… do that?』[Nova]

「....Can it?! I was just gonna skip over the seal because I didn't want her to know that I went on that mission! What if she gets the wrong idea?!」[Nova]

『Yeah! But if it needs this much mana…』[Freyana]

A mist of viridian green mana exit from her hand, flowing up Nova's arm.

The moment it got to a certain point, it began to dissipate slowly, causing a strange feeling inside of Nova's body- almost like one of anxiety or discomfort.

『Huh… What are you doing?』[Nova]

She broke concentration and flashed a smile.

『...I'm sharing my mana! I have more than enough to spare anyways!』[Freyana]

True to her word, Nova felt his mana reservoirs fill up and a bit of his original strength return.

『...Are you sure?』[Nova]

She cheerfully nodded before dragging him off by the hand again.

『Of course! I've been slacking off on training my mana to be honest, so I have to find a way to get rid of it somehow!』[Freyana]

Nova felt a bit touched that she was thinking about him this much, but decided to not say anything about it.

『...You actually have been doing some crazy things with mana… making a bunch of things float with precise control… sharing it with me… is this something you were born with?』[Nova]

Her ears twitched a bit before she stopped in place.

『...It is…』[Freyana]

He took a little mental check of that before noticing that she seemed a bit uncomfortable about it, so he moved on.

『...Huh. That's really cool! Do you think you could teach me to make my control better sometime? Or maybe you can teach me how to share my mana with you, too?』[Nova]

She still stood in place, but Nova felt a light breeze from somewhere on his right side.

He subconsciously looked over, only to find that her wings were out and flapping back and forth.

「...It's flapping…? Kind of… like a dog's tail!」[Nova]

『Will you… share you mana with me, too?』[Freyana]

Her voice had a tinge of excitement and embarrassment in it.

『Yeah, of course!』[Nova]

『...Well, you have to imagine your arm's pores opening and mana exiting the pores. Once you do that, you should control the mana to some extent. The further it is away from you, the less control you have of it, however. After a bit of time or distance, it begins to disappear into the air.』[Freyana]

『I'll give it a try.』[Nova]

Nova focused on the visualization of the task, not noticing Freyana's wings flapping faster and faster.

He suddenly felt mana exiting his body, and saw it crawling down his arm.

『Oh…!』[Nova]

He willed the tiny stream of misty mana onto Freyana's arm, slowly.

Once it reached her arm, he imagined it linking with her and entering her body.

She made a shrill moan the moment it began to dissipate.

『Ahan..?!』[Freyana]

『Huh?! Are you alright? I can stop if you wan-』[Nova]

『No! Don't! Keep going…!』[Freyana]

She turned to him, her face completely red.

『...Ah…』[Nova]

「...Impure thoughts, begone! Impure thoughts, fade away to nothingness!」[Reischneid]

「...Shut your mouth!」[Nova]

Nevertheless, he gradually increased the mana flowing into her body.

『...It feels kind of like when I'm training…』[Nova]

Freyana suddenly looked like she recalled something.

『Oh! I remember! I think this is a training method after all!』[Freyana]

Nova's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard training mentioned.

『It is?!』[Nova]

Freyana pulled him along as they went down the hallway.

『Yeah! The mana enters the other person's body and yours exits, and your body doesn't recognize their mana- or something? 』[Freyana]

『Uh… like a foreign object? Don't people's bodies normally not react well to that..?』[Nova]

She started pouting and pretended to be angry at him.

『No, no, no! Mana contains emotions! As long as you have no malevolent intent towards them, their body takes it and swirls about before being reconstructed into their mana! It then learns to take on some positive properties or something… and… 』[Freyana]

Her face flushed as she slowed down her pace of talking.

『...That's why sharing mana is something that only the closest of people do…』[Freyana]

Nova was caught off guard by that line she threw in.

『...H…Huh?』[Nova]

『...If my mana enters your body, you have absolute trust in me… If yours enters mine..it's the same.』[Freyana]

Nova scratched the back of his head awkwardly, before putting a hand on his face to hide the blood rushing to his cheeks.

『...And eventually, the mana learns each other's presence and they both make each other better.』[Freyana]

Nova tried to laugh, but couldn't force himself to.

『...That's… quite romantic… A..ha…』[Nova]

Thankfully, some barking noises broke his awkward silence.

「NOVA!!! I'M HUUUUNGRY!」[Sir Fluffles]

『...Looks like Sir Fluffles is starving. Shall we go…?』[Nova]

Freyana nodded and pulled him along.