Chapter 8
Today's training had ended for the day.
For some reason, Rei didn't leave immediately as usual but stayed behind to speak to me, "Do you have a moment? No, make some time for me, dammit."
"What is it?"
As if it wasn't something to be discussed in public, Rei grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a more secluded spot.
Could it be?
Is she planning to vent her anger about yesterday's incident now?
"You have something to say to me."
"Something to say?"
Rei placed her hand firmly on the wall next to me, who had my back against it, with a forceful gesture.
My left side was blocked.
It would be difficult to break through Rei, who could use physical enhancement, head-on.
The only escape route was to the right.
While discreetly drawing up mana, I calmly asked back, "What do you have to say?"
"You really don't know?"
Rei's tone became harsher.
Her usual indifferent tone turns slightly accusatory.
I'll release all the mana at once to push her away and create a gap to escape.
Preparing to counterattack the moment Rei showed signs of aggression, I opened my mouth, "Rei. No matter what, that's—"
"I heard you made a bet with someone."
"You... huh?"
"And that someone went as far as to insult us."
"How... do you know that?"
"What??? Why are you so flustered? I was going to let it slide."
Even though it was hidden by the hood, I could feel her piercing gaze.
"I've never learned to just let insults slide. Whether I was there or not isn't important. What's important is that someone insulted me, and I found out about it."
Ah, I thought I saw Leaf whispering something with Rei earlier.
Leaf must have told her.
"You, you don't know how to use physical enhancement, right?"
"...Yeah."
"Follow me."
The place Rei took me was none other than the training building.
It was a building with training grounds for individual or team practice outside of regular training.
Though calling it a building might be generous, it was more like walls hastily erected in a grid pattern.
"What do you think is the most important thing to win the bet?"
"Speed?"
"That's right. What do you need to keep up with that?"
"Physical enhancement would be necessary. Or learning acceleration magic."
The latter case would require adjusting Seir's mana, so it would be difficult to acquire immediately.
Then naturally, the answer was...
"Physical enhancement, I need to learn it, right?"
"...Yep."
I didn’t have the right to refuse.
Rei silently expressed her strong intention.
Well, I wouldn't have used it even if I had it.
§
Rei and I came straight to the training building.
Not to the training ground I usually used, but to the one Rei mainly used. We stood facing each other.
"It's the bones. Think of storing mana in your bones. Then use the bones as support and spread the mana through your muscles."
"Bones?"
"While every part of the body can become a mana organ that accepts mana, bones are one of the parts with the highest capacity. And unlike internal organs, they're throughout the body, so you can instantly strengthen any part."
Rei explained the advantages of physical enhancement based on bones, saying it's like having a last line of defense.
"Try it once."
"Okay."
Like storing mana in my hands... in the bones...
Smack!
"Ouch!"
"Are you crazy? How can you use devil mana for practice? Do you have that much lifespan to spare?"
Rei, who flicked my forehead, breaking my concentration, irritably pointed out.
Did she really become enemies with Devil Sorcerers…
She gets so worked up about anything related to devils or Devil Sorcerers...
"Do it again. This time with your own mana."
"...I don't have any."
"Huh?"
"I only know how to use demonic mana."
"Really?"
"Really."
Rei let out a disbelieving laugh.
Well, yeah, yeah.
It might be hard to believe, but that's the truth.
I can only use demonic mana.
"It's not your lifespan, right?"
"The price?"
"Yeah."
"It's not my lifespan."
"Then let's do it as is. You were using it freely last time, I'm sure you'll manage within your limits."
Rei spoke as if giving up and took a step back, "Let's try again."
"Okay."
Store mana in the bones, not the hands.
Maybe it was thanks to practicing moving mana every day.
Storing mana in the bones wasn't difficult.
Above all, I have a rough understanding of the bone structure of the human body.
Bones weren't just hard osseous tissue.
Cartilage, joints, periosteum, bone marrow...
While I couldn't memorize all 206 bones in the human body, having a rough idea of the skeletal structure was a big help in recognizing the bones and storing mana in them.
"What's next?"
"...Huh?"
"I've stored mana in the bones. What do I do next? Spread it to the muscles?"
"Already...? Ah, right. But you need to do it well because muscles and bones are..."
"Connected by tendons, so send it through there?"
"That's ri— Wait."
I got the gist of it.
First, the bones then spread to the muscles through the tendons, forming a mana membrane under the skin to enhance the body's functions.
This feels kind of exhilarating.
How should I put it?
It felt like I could bench press 300 kilograms and proudly wear Under Armour right now.
"Heh? Seems like you're feeling it."
Was it showing on my face?
"Then let's check it out."
Rei coolly said and lifted a table from the corner of the training ground, moving it.
I remember it being quite heavy, probably meant for eating or reading magic books during breaks.
Just seeing her move that so easily showed that Rei's skills were definitely considerable.
Thud—
Placing the table in front of me, Rei casually rested her elbow on it.
"You know how to arm wrestle, right?"
"...Of course."
Since we couldn't have a duel, I guess she wanted a pure test of strength.
I grasped Rei's outstretched hand.
It was a strange sensation, a mix of rough calluses and something soft and squishy.
Rei spoke confidently, "Give it all you've got."
Well, she probably didn't think she'd lose to someone who just learned physical enhancement today.
But I won't lose easily.
"Ready— Go!"
With Rei's signal, I spread mana throughout my arm as if exploding it and pulled Rei's hand.
Damn... it's not budging at all!
This won't do. It's too unfair!
Focus me. More physical enhancement...
My consciousness sank.
It burrowed inward, into the body.
Skin, muscles, bones...
As much as possible, as evenly as possible, with the feeling of filling each cell with mana...
"Hnnngh!!"
"Huh?"
It was moving.
I saw Rei's hand starting to tilt.
However, Rei's hand never touched the table.
At some point, Rei's arm just stopped as if it had become a fixed sculpture.
"That's it. I'm surprised. Is this really your first time? The level of enhancement..."
"It's not over yet."
Not yet.
If it was possible with the palm and fingertips, why not the back of the hand?
Not with the feeling of shooting but with the sensation of pushing out...
I changed the image I was drawing.
Keep the image of ejection, but imagine a booster instead of a bullet.
Push out rather than shoot.
Whoosh!!
A torrent of mana bursts from the back of my hand.
Pressing down Rei's physically enhanced hand, the stopped hand started to go down.
"Huh?"
And that was the end.
Rei blankly chuckled, looking at her hand touching the table.
"I won, right?"
I let go of her hand and stood up, massaging my arm that felt like it was cramping.
Physical enhancement plus mana release.
My arm was screaming from the double strain of unfamiliar mana manipulation.
Meanwhile, Rei, having regained her senses, shouted as if having a fit, "Hey, hey! That's cheating! This doesn't count! Again, let's do it again!"
"Well, I won. That's what you get for letting your guard down."
Rei kept yelling beside me, but my attention was already elsewhere.
I wonder what would happen if I used the bones like a gun barrel instead of the whole finger when firing magic bullet. The output might increase with the reduced surface area.
"Sorry, but there's something I want to test. Let's arm wrestle again some other time."
Of course, I wasn’t sure when the next time might be.
§
Day 5 of enrollment.
It was when we had finished all of today's training as usual.
"I'm so sowwyyyy..."
Leaf Youthglint, sinking.
Team Lowest Three.
Combat Skills training, duel results.
An impressive 2 wins and 1 loss.
It was a class that ended with a regrettable last-minute defeat just before achieving a clean sweep of 3 wins.
But Leaf, the one responsible for that 1 loss, bowed her head to Rei and me as if she had committed a mortal sin.
Surprisingly, Leaf's defeat today was our team's first loss.
"Don't worry about something like that. Don't stress too much. The opponent was tough too."
"But still..."
"It's fine. It's better to do moderately and withdraw than fight like that guy."
"What? Are you talking about me?"
"Of course. Is there another Devil Sorcerer who fights in a way that's practically suicide?"
"Well..."
There… isn’t?
I guess not.
Seeing Leaf nodding vigorously too.
"Anyway. I know you have something you're relying on, but take it easy. Whatever the price is, don't believe the Devil will always be on your side."
Why is Rei worrying about me all of a sudden?
Has she developed a clear awareness of being a team?
Indeed, there was nothing better than exercising together and creating a common enemy to become close.
Alexandra.
Now I understand your grand plan... just kidding.
Anyway, we had become somewhat close as a team, continuing to train together.
"Are you worried about me? I'm touched."
When I spoke with a sincere smile, an explosive shout burst from Rei's mouth.
"...S-shut up!"
Bang!
Rei slammed the desk.
It was almost at the speed of a reflex action.
It was like a cat suddenly startled by a cucumber.
Thud!
Rei stood up, pushing her chair back, and clenched her fists, showing a slight tremor.
Then, without a word, she turned sharply and left quickly.
I stared blankly in bewilderment, and only after Rei's figure disappeared did I part my lips.
"What's wrong? Was it such an offensive thing to say?"
"I, I don't think that's it..."
"Right?"
What is it?
What could have been the problem?
"...Is it my face after all?"
I looked expectantly towards Leaf, hoping for an answer.
Leaf remained silent.
§
Rei, who had rushed out of the lounge, walked almost running aimlessly wherever her feet took her.
That appearance was like a fugitive struggling to get away from something.
Damn it... what am I doing? I’m already falling apart...!
Worry?
Who's worrying about whom?
Rei's face flushed with heat.
It was the color of embarrassment, and, at the same time, the color of self-reproach.
Self-loathing towards herself tightened around Rei's chest.
Rei herself wasn’t in a situation where she could become close to them.
This is not the time for this.
Self-reproach became a millstone weighing heavily on Rei's heart.
She had things she needed to do.
She didn't have time to waste giggling around like this.
But why on earth...
That word. It's because of that word.
A sentence that was barely even one line long.
What was so special about those words?
Thud-!
The fist extended toward the wooden training dummy broke through the defense magic and sank deep into the wood.
With her fist buried in the dummy, Rei let out a deep sigh.
"...This is as far as it goes. We were just using each other."
A relationship between teaching physical enhancement and understanding the characteristics of demonic mana.
Affection was unnecessary there.
Rather, it was poison.
Harming not just Rei herself, but those around her too.
Knowing that well and still staying close was deception.
"Just until we leave the training center. Once the exam is over, then..."
We'd go back to being strangers.
To that time when we didn't even know of each other's existence.
Thinking that, Rei pulled back the hood covering her head, unable to bear the stifling feeling.
In the middle of the training ground, where no one's presence could be felt, Rei's face was revealed.
Platinum blonde hair and darker silver-gray eyes.
Two round ears swayed at the top of her head.
On her face, like a flower bud not yet in full bloom, a deep light of regret lingered.
Whether that regret was for the past or the present was still unknown.