"I hate that kid. He never has any intention to fight. He wants to end the fight as soon as possible instead of feeling a real fight," Sven says.
"When he knows it's a safe sparring session, he will fight. But he won't really go all out. And when it's a real battle, he will choose a way to win quickly. I guess he's really a coward. He even admitted to it himself," Jaden says.
They both are talking about me. They're standing there crossing their arms while looking at me after they both beat me up to the ground. But they also received a huge sword wound from me.
Their plan worked. Keith was indeed near my father but the scream was because Keith realized my father's weakness. Spiders. That scream was from Keith releasing a spider and my father saw it. Not because Keith broke my father's finger.
Angry, I finally manifested my Aura for the first time. And as the two Aura users over there were talking, I didn't really fight. I targeted their vitals with the intention of killing them while trying my best to not use magic.
Well, they're more experienced in battle than me so when I targeted Jaden, Sven protected Jaden so I changed my target to Sven and after wounding Sven Jaden pushed me away. But I also managed to wound Jaden in the same time.
After that, they both worked well together and beat me up so much saying that I have to get used to Aura by using it to protect myself or I will be killed. That's how I ended up on the ground in pain as Rosalinda is healing me.
"Don't blame me for it. I only used long distance communication magic to contact Keith. It's those three men who planned it," Rosalinda says.
I don't care at all what she says because what's more important to me is that my father is still safe. And also my father knows Keith now. I don't think Keith is a bad guy so I can feel better knowing that my family over there will be safe.
"Haaa… I don't like sparring with this kid. Jaden, I won't spar with him again. You'll do it instead," Sven says.
"He did fight a bit though. You don't like it?" Jaden asks.
"Even as we beat him up to the ground he was just enduring it all. I know the look of his eyes. He's letting himself get hurt so he will give a single fatal strike that will kill his target. I'm not good with that kind of people," Sven says.
That's true. Before knowing about the truth that my father was still safe, I really thought of killing those two. If I could use slip magic I would have killed them already.
I finally become an Aura user despite not having any talent related to combat. It really is possible.
Let's just forget this hatred to them. There's no point in holding it in. They did it for me so I should feel grateful to them.
"So, the training finally ends? I can leave the Training Zone now?" I ask.
"Training never ends. You just gained the ability to use Aura. The rest is up to you how to improve it," Jaden says as he grabbed a cigarette and put it in his mouth.
It's not just me who is the smoker here now. All the seven Holy Knights are smokers now. It's because during their free time they secretly studying how to use magic not from me because they still didn't want to admit that I was right and they were wasting their time before.
Now, even Sven and Jaden use magic. Just some simple magic but they're experts in battle so they picked magic that they can use to help with their battle. The others also learn useful magic for their lives. And now they're no longer shackled by their talents anymore.
As for Rosalinda, even though she is great with magic and has a lot of mana, she still smokes a pack a day. I guess it's natural for her. Even her teleportation magic can only be used once in a while. If she improves her mana even more, she can do it a few times in a row. Maybe many times in a row in the future.
As for how they got the cigarette, it's Duchess Johanna who contacted Gunnar to make more. And she paid for it unlike me so Gunnar is fine with it. At least that's what Duchess Johanna says.
Maybe he was just being intimidated by her because after all she is a Duke and he lives in her territory.
"So, how long have I been here?" I ask.
[You have improved a lot in other areas as well. It's because you have trained for a year and a half after all. Since you learned to use Aura, the Training Zone will disappear,] Asdis says.
I see. So I have been training for a year than a half.
"Fuck! That means I missed the entrance exam and it has been about half a year since the main story starts!? Why didn't you tell me about this!?" I ask.
[Because it's unnecessary to tell you. The demons haven't appeared and Felix, Sabine, and Duchess Johanna have used their power and connection to watch over Dahlia Academy so you can ask them to learn more and find out if it's still the same as the future you know or not. What's more important is not for you to go to the academy but this world's safety,] Asdis says.
"But it means that I can only guess what will happen for the next three years! I don't even want to go to the academy but I have to stay in the academy one year longer than the main characters? There are many things I can do in just half a year… maybe not. The main story during that time didn't tell anything too important. It's mainly just the protagonist improving. But there's one important thing. I asked you before about your reincarnation magic, right?" I ask.
[Yes. You asked me how many times I can use the power of reincarnation until I can't use it anymore. I answered two,] Asdis says.
That's right. She can use that power twice. And she lost her power after my reincarnation. It means that she has used the power one more time before she reincarnated me.
And I know who the other reincarnator is. She's an important character in the game. Her name is Cornelia.
Before the game was even created, there's another story about this world. And the story is a novel. Not a game. And people who have read the novel said that the game is based on that novel except that there's a huge different called Cornelia.
So in the game, Cornelia is a reincarnator but she doesn't know that the world she lives in is the world of a video game. She only knows that she got reincarnated into a world of a novel she read in the past. And she's the reason why the story of the game has differences compared to how the story should be in the novel.
But I don't know anything about it. I have never read the novel before. Even when someone was selling the book, it was so expensive because it's so thick. And because it's so thick, I don't feel like reading it so even after becoming a working man I didn't have any intention of buying one.
The first time I played that game was in the early 2010s. Cornelia was already in the game then so she should be dead before then. She should be older than me but in the game the character profile said that she died as a teenager. It means that she's not an adult.
Because she's a reincarnator and possibly came from the same world, I want to look for her. But I couldn't find her. And now I have missed half a year of the main story and couldn't interact with her.
I hoped to find her to tell her about the future that changed after her intervention. But I got something better instead. I met the Goddess who reincarnated me and seven Holy Knights who should be able to help during the demons invasion.
Still, getting Cornelia's help will be good. Because her talents are better than mine.
"You reincarnated Cornelia before me. Have you watched her?" I ask Asdis.
[Her birthday is the same as you. Maybe that's the furthest back I can go to the past twice. Maybe because she knew the story in the novel, she put a lot of effort to get stronger. But not as much as you did. By the way, even if I have the power to turn back time, it's useless if no one can remember it anymore. And now that I don't have the power to reincarnate anyone ever again, there won't be a second chance,] Asdis says.
I never thought that there will be a second chance anyway. That doesn't matter.
What matter most is that Cornelia can be an important ally in helping me survive this shitty world's future. And we have something in common in that we should be from the same world.
But I lost half a year of getting closer to her. Even if we're both reincarnators from the same world, it will be useless if we can't get along. But I lost half a year because of my training.
Well, there is still a way for me to make a contact once I leave this temple. I'll do it right away.
[Wait. Before you leave, you need to be another Holy Knight. This way you can summon me. Since you smoked a lot, you should have enough mana to summon me on your own but it won't be for long,] Asdis says.
That's true. I told her about my intention of becoming a Holy Knight before. And I have informed me that I will exploit my status if I do become one. I guess she doesn't mind it.
I raise my right hand and extend my middle finger. Showing the Storage Ring I put in that finger to her.
"Turn this into the ceremonial item needed to summon you without changing its original effect. I can summon the item you pick as the ceremonial item even if they're away from me, right? So I want this Storage Ring to be the ceremonial item," I say.
With this, even if the Storage Ring is missing, I can summon it back whenever I want. That's neat.
[Sure. But why do you show the ring like that?] Asdis asks. The three Holy Knights who are still here are also curious. Rosalinda, Jaden, and Sven were just watching but they're curious about my gesture.
"This is how we say "Fuck You" without actually saying it. And yes, fuck you for reincarnating me to this chaotic world," I say.
[…With this, I assign you as the new Holy Knight. Also, if you have that ceremonial item with you, once you meet Holy Knights other than the seven people you know, the ring will react. Maybe you can convince them to work together. Good luck with your quest of survival, cowardly Holy Knight, Miroslav] Asdis says.
Is that my title? It's true though.
Now, I think it's best to make a contact with Cornelia first. I know how to meet her and how to convince her to trust me that I came from the same world as hers.