Classmates?

"Clothes, clothes... where's my clothes?"

Kazuma strolled around his usual training ground as a Crimson Demon, it wasn't much, only a spacious space in the middle of the forest, with a log as the resting space and a small stream of water for drink.

It seems like choosing to become a warrior has its own advantage.

Unlike a mage, who's required to learn spells first, a warrior could defend themselves with brute force. The requirement for Crimson Demons to learn spells is to learn the basics and the principle of mana first, which took approximately 7 years for them to reach a high-degree mastery. And they started learning at the age of 7. Which meant that an average Crimson Demon could only go on their own when they reach 14 years old.

Some Crimson Demons are exceptionally talented and could reach high-degree mastery in the basic for only 6 years. Some even only took 5.

Because of becoming a warrior, Kazuma was merely 8 years old when he started to go out. His peers were envious, but mages are like that, the requirement to reach the peak as a mage is tough. But their status is far, far more superior than a warrior.

If Kazuma is an ordinary warrior, that's it.

His footwork is exceptional, his sword-play is unimaginably sharp and powerful. His sight is sharp and his hearing has reached a terrifying radius at the age of 12.

Despite being a warrior that has no strict requirements, the amount of work he put in is no less than his peers. No, it's even more than that.

Kazuma Satou could understand how this guy became prideful and arrogant. He is, indeed qualified. But he has one flaw.

He absolutely refuses to learn how mana works.

It was a massive problem. Mana is fundamental, essential. No one could become powerful without knowing how mana works. That's why Crimson Demons are deemed as one of the most powerful races. It's because they reach such a high degree of mastery in mana.

Indeed, it's a fatal flaw of the prideful Kazuma, the Crimson Demon.

That's it, until Kazuma Satou merged with Kazuma. Until Kazuma merged with Kazuma Satou. They are the same existence, yet different.

Kazuma Satou's thoughts are Kazuma's thoughts. Kazuma Satou's desires are Kazuma's desires. Kazuma Satou's goal is Kazuma's goal. And reverse.

Kazuma picked up his sword. He went to a tree filled with horizontal scars on its log and motioned his right hand to leave a scar on its log with his sword.

Slash!

A 7 inches deep horizontal scar similar to other scars on the log appeared. But if one inspect closely, they could see that there's a slight difference. The newly-formed scar is slightly deeper. Showing a slight improvement of the force of his sword. Or his.

And it wasn't even a full force. Merely a slight slash.

Kazuma tried many different moves.

Cut!

Stab!

Thrust!

Swing!

Looking at the result, Kazuma staggered backwards and took a deep breath.

Kazuma, a Crimson Demon, is an absolute monster to possess such a force and an even more monstrous improvement rate at the age of 12. The thick log was completely obliterated, and while it makes sense because he used his full force, no, it doesn't make sense at all, how could a thick log got easily destroyed by a few assaults of a 12 years old boy?

It's impressive, but what makes it even more unusual is that his training regiments are so... limited, yet he possessed such strength.

Merely assaulting logs with his sword with slight force continuously for hours until he's out of breath. Rest, and continue. Such a waste of time. It works, but the progress is absurdly inconsistent and irrelevant. Other than that, he could not flexibly utilize his strength, merely able to utilize it with his sword, with only fundamental moves as a movement to make it more inflexible.

It's weird that he possessed an incredible sword-play created solely based on his analysis yet merely training fundamental moves. For years.

It's because Kazuma had no guidance. Crimson Demons are mages, so a warrior is not something they could nurture effectively. No matter how prodigious, a guide, or at least a manual was needed. And while his sword-style is sharp, it has no base, merely a bunch of moves being combined to create a flashy show, so it was incomparable to a simple full-power thrust. While it was true that the sword-style is sharp and powerful, if an expert observed it, they would find countless gaps. And Kazuma, noticing such a thing, decided to give up on his sword-style and focused on fundamental moves, such as slashes, stabs, swings, cuts and thrusts.

Kazuma, the prideful Crimson Demon, must have a base, a foundation to train. It was already impressive for him to possessed such a force without any foundation such as a teaching or a manual.

But now, he possessed a helper.

Kazuma Satou is here.

Breaking limits and training until he feels like he was dead was merely a thought of Kazuma Satou. He didn't have the guts to do it, and with the judgemental gazes of the citizens around him, his guts have gotten even smaller. So it was merely an insignificant idea that resided at the corner of his mind.

But now?

With this kind of environment and facilities, while lacking, it was enough. And there's Kazuma, a prideful, arrogant Crimson Demon. At some point, it affected him, boosting his confidence to an unprecedented height.

If, merely training until exhaustion could have such a result on Kazuma's ability. Then imagine, what could possibly happen, if Kazuma truly train with breaking his limits as its only purpose?

Ordinary warriors will have Kazuma's previous training regiments as their routines. But Kazuma Satou's thoughts and ideas are but ordinary, and coupled with Kazuma's will and arrogance...

"Let's try it."

From there on, the suicidal training regiments begin. With the idea of Kazuma Satou and the will from Kazuma, Kazuma believes he will pass this training regiments. How could mere training block him?

It wasn't a foundation or a teaching. But Kazuma learnt that while a sword-style is important, the foundation of a warrior is everything. A foundation that could overcome anything and everything, that could overcome any type of weapons, no matter how long, sharp, tricky, fast, hard and flexible it was.

And that is power.

So it's not really different to the previous routine. But this time, his potential has truly unleashed, it's getting fished by the intensity of training as if one disregard death itself. It's like a broken dam that surged with power, flooding the land with an unstoppable momentum. Like a build up charge before it was flaunted, resulting in devastation.

"RAAAGHH!!"

He hit the log on the ground with full force, merely utilizing his bare knuckles.

Merely 3 hours have passed, yet he feels like his muscles had turned into jelly. Sweats churning from his pores like showers, his entire figure is shaking. But there's one thing that Kazuma discovers from this hellish training.

He feels alive!

The surge of excitement and heat burned his chest, and he continued the training regiments, despite his brain screaming at him to stop and pain scrunching his muscles all over his body.

It's different from his previous training regiments. If it was put into an analogy, it was like comparing a notorious, repetitive routine to a thrilling, exciting discovery. Incomparable!

Another one hour passed by.

A sweaty, bare-chested handsome youth is laying on the ground, a look full of exhaustion yet excitement shined on the shade of his dark, red eyes. The light of dawn warmly shined on him, glistening his sweaty figure. A sword silently lay beside him, numerous marks could be seen on its blade. The youth took several heavy breaths before peacefully looking at the ceiling of the forests, filled with shades of green, with warm orange rays coming out in between.

Many holes on ground and logs conspiciously appeared after the training session ended. Some smaller trees even collapsed. Showing the intensity of the training session.

Running, punching, slashing, kicking...

The amount of training he'd done is incalculable, as he cannot focus on such a trivial thing when he was training as if he disregard death itself. But he felt alive, and excited, that is enough.

In the first place, training to break limits is a training regiment that has breaking limits as its purpose. So how could it be limited by a certain amount of training? There's no need to limit it. Just train until you couldn't feel anything.

It's full of consequences, it's inconsistent, it's unverified, and it's stupid. And yet he did not care. That's what they said when he choose to become a warrior, thought it was true.

Well, talking about that... It seems like there was no need for them to say it anymore.

"Tomorrow, let's attend the class."

Kazuma is prideful and arrogant, stubborn and straightforward. Kazuma Satou is spineless and docile, open-minded and calculative.

Kazuma thinks subjectively. Kazuma Satou thinks objectively.

Kazuma refused to budge. Kazuma Satou accepted conditions easily.

And now, their souls merged into one.


"My home..."

Kazuma is an orphan, growing up with the help of his clan. He lives in a tiny one-story house made out of logs at the corner of the Crimson Village. Kazuma Satou, while having parents, was on the verge of being abandoned. So in this aspect, they're sadly similar.

He wore a simple black shirt and a pair of black trousers. Strangely, with just a simple set of clothes, he stand out when he was on his way to his home. It's understandable, after all, while his peers always reading books and learning theories, he was out there, training his body and strength. Resulting in his refined figure. Different from his colleagues, who still possessed their childish physiques.

He just took a bath at the nearest river, so his skin is still glistened by the leftover water on his body. And with his handsome countenance, it's inevitable for him to stand out. And of course.

"Hey, that's Kazuma right?"

"Yeah."

"Why does he seem to look different?"

"Yeah, I get what you're saying."

"He always looked overbearing. But now..."

"He's really pleasing to look at."

"It's weird but I agree."

The change of his attitudes was the main reason. Kazuma sighed.

Kazuma is conceited and selfish. Kazuma Satou is a loner. So neither have any interest in this kind of thing. He could only treat it with indifference.

With a sword in hand, he entered his home. It merely has a single room, yet it felt comfortable for Kazuma. A bed out of wood and fabric lay in the corner of his room, there's a chimney made out of stones for him to warm up the room and cook some meals at the front of his bed. A wardrobe that stored his clothes was placed beside the bed at the other corner of his room. And there's a table and a chair beside his wardrobe.

He took a breath of his room. It smells like a forest. He loves it.

The sun was ready to set. According to his routine, he will fall asleep and wake up in the middle of the night. And he did just that.

He put the sword and his boots besides the bed before striding to the bed.

When his body lifelessly lay on his bed, he could feel the churn of his muscles and the crams. It's quite painful. Yet it feels incomparably pleasuring. Rest after hard work is always the most satisfying one. And he was, by no means, just doing hard work.

With no effort he falls asleep.

'Tomorrow, study, tomorrow after tomorrow, training again...'

Subconsciously, a set of schedules implanted itself within his mind. For a person who pursued power to seek this wonderful world, it was indeed the best kind of schedule.

And who knows, perhaps he will have another purpose that drives him even more forward to train in the future.


Kazuma opened his eyes and his sight catches nothing but pitch darkness. Of course, it won't affect him as he was already familiar with his home. The things within his home are pretty few too, so his place is quite spacious, despite its tiny size. Decreasing the chance for him to stumble in the darkness.

His throat feels dry and his eyes are still hazy, a splash of water to the face will do.

Standing up from his bed, he strode to the door and open it slightly, letting the moonlight into his room. He checks out his room and saw the chimney. Kazuma merely sighed.

'If you learned how mana works, I'm sure a small spark of fire is enough to light up the chimney, making the process more efficient.'

For taking the path of the mage, Kazuma actually needs a guide. But since the current time was inappropriate for him to study at the academy, he could only study with the available books and knowledge.

He wanted to study, so he needs light. So he must go outside to pick up a few rocks and some woods and sticks. Before, Kazuma did not need such a thing, except for sleeping, he was always out in the forest, doing whatever he saw fit for himself. So the time he spent in his home is so small.

The chimney was rarely ignited, so there weren't fuels to light it up.

Kazuma sighed again.

He equipped his boots before going out. The village is serene, it was midnight, everybody here had fallen asleep. Both Kazuma Satou and Kazuma have this kind of atmosphere as their favourite, so instead of feeling lonely, they only feel peaceful.

Cold breezes passed by, yet they feel so warm to him. The night sky is his best friend. The stars are his light. The moon is his guide.

Kazuma likes it merely because it was silent. But Kazuma Satou loves everything about midnight. It's serene, peaceful and beautiful. It's only him, and the midnight sky.

Kazuma slowly walked through the path that leads to the forest. It was a path created by Kazuma so he could easily enter the forest, because the main path needs him to go through the village. It was annoying and inefficient, so he created this path.

It was crude, but it's acceptable.

'Huh, I didn't realize it yesterday.'

The nocturnal wildlives' activities made the atmosphere quite mysterious. The moon shined upon his path and the stars glimmer to show off their existences. Other than gathering stones, woods and sticks, Kazuma intended to enjoy this scene pretty much.

In the middle of the path, there is a flowing stream of water at the side of the path, coming from the west. It seems like Kazuma used this to refresh himself when he woke up.

Kazuma crouched and wash his face, simultaneously drinking the cold, fresh water. He took a couple more with his cupped hands before standing up. The midnight breezes touch upon his moist skin and the feeling is incomparably fresh.

Such an exciting lifestyle.

Going back to his original objective, he found a couple of rocks and woods. As for the sticks, he could just snap the branches. This was common knowledge to spark a fire but Kazuma, the Crimson Demon, is too conceited to learn it. Too narrow-minded indeed.

Kazuma merely shook his head.

"AAAAAHH!"

A screech so suddenly ring his eardrums, ruining the peaceful atmosphere he pretty much desired. Kazuma felt annoyance, but the screech seems to be filled with fear, so he couldn't help but accept the desire to check it out from the depth of his heart.

There was no need to help a stranger. But Kazuma Satou always wanted to act according to his conscience, but it always got blocked off by his cowardice.

The reason? For helping a person, Kazuma Satou always asked himself. But what he got is nothing more than a "Does he need to?"

He has no urgent business anyway, so he doesn't really lose anything.

With his superior physique, Kazuma shoots off like an arrow towards the direction of the source of the screech. Many bushes are blocking his way, but he penetrated them with his body, blocking them off with his crossed arms. He squinted his eyes, to decrease the possibility of stinging his own eyes by dust.

Kazuma's decision of becoming a warrior didn't affect his body. So it could be said that the attainment of "Warrior" was solely by his training. There are no external forces. So it was genuinely amazing that he could attain such speed and strength solely depending on training. Based on his memory, he heard that an external force outside the Crimson Village exists.

Priest and Mage have mana as their external force. So Crimson Demons could still be considered to have their current attainment by being dependent on external force.

Well, not that there's anything wrong with that. In the first place, high-degree mastery was needed to utilize this external force. That's why many people don't really consider mana as an external force, but the natural fluctuation of energy of this world. And to use it, they need to learn how to amend the mana first!

Kazuma, who believes it to be an external force, was really too narrow-minded. Kazuma Satou couldn't help but lament.

The farther he goes, the voices full of fear gradually become louder. Three pitch voices and... A roar of a monster.

Monsters, the scourges of this World.

Kazuma's face turned serious. Monsters are abnormalities that many people said to come from the Demon King. But it was still just a theory. Either way, they are the embodiment of destruction, who have no sentient nor thoughts. Solely exist for destruction and demise.

A fantasy world is exciting and all but the consequences of its problems are all destructive, and could possibly result in one catastrophe. An Extinction.

"K-K-Komekko! Y-You beast, remove your grasp from her! Y-You! Eek!"

"M-Megumin, what should we do?!"

"I-I-I..."

When he saw the victims, his eyes lit up. He recognized those uniforms. The students of the Academy. Increasing the justification for him to help them. Every student in the academy is precious because Crimson Demon is a race with many females yet few males, so the children that were born every year could only be counted in dozens, despite having hundreds of members.

And not all of them could become students of the academy. So every student is precious.

Kazuma and Kazuma Satou both are people who knew how to repaid the kindness that they received. His clan, the Crimson Demon has raised him and despite not fulfilling their expectation, they still raised him. Despite his arrogance, conceitful self, they still kept him.

Perhaps this is the least he can do to repay a tiny bit of percentage of what they had done for him.

"M-Megumin, I-I will force myself to learn an intermediate spell."

"What?! You can't! It will hold back your progress in the future!"

Kazuma just arrives at the scene, but he could say that because his eyesight is immensely sharp, so while he noticed them, they haven't noticed him yet, the distance between them is still quite spacious anyway.

According to his memories, the females of the Crimson Demon are blessed with extreme beautiful appearances. It seems like it's not merely a false rumour. Despite their childish figures, their faces are already exceptionally attractive.

Unlike his solemn dark, crimson eyes, their eyes are big and exceptionally bright, like a pair of red stars. Their hair, while black, is bordering dark-grey, not like him, who possessed such a dark like charchoal hair, which was even silkier than his own. And their skin is quite pale and soft, opposite of him, who have healthy yet rough, with cream colour as his shade of skin. It's the difference between an introvert and extrovert. He often goes out and train, while they stay at their classroom all day, learning the basics and the principle of mana.

Based on the scene, both students just arrive at the spectacle. Because the monster was currently cornering a little girl, who he assumed was one of the students' little sister without noticing both students' existence.

The conspicuously taller student brought a card out of her pocket, scaring her fellow student. Kazuma took a glance at it and acknowledge it as the external force he saw within his memory.

But the taller student's movements are too slow and shaky. Even if she learn the spell, it would be too late. Because right now, the monster who looks like a bear has already swung its sharp paw to the little girl.

Thankfully, he had arrived.

"NEE-CHAN!"

"NO-!"

"EK-!"

Before the taller student could utilize the card, a shooting figure appeared. Both students froze in shock, because such a movement is absolutely inhumane. Too fast!

With his usual cold gaze, Kazuma shoots up to the bear and brought back his fist to charge an assault. Its paw was so close to the little girl when a monstrous force hit its head.

BOOM!

Despite its 4 meters height, its figure shoots to the side with extreme speed. Even trees could not withstand the force the bear monster accumulated through extreme motion and got destroyed. After it hits approximately 8 trees that it stopped.

The chance of being alive from such an impact is so close to an impossibility.

'Indeed, I break a limit of mine yesterday.'

The students and the little girl froze on their spot.

When the bear was gone as if it doesn't exist, a figure landed on the ground gracefully in a crouch stance. The figure stood up and the dust from the previously monstrous impact cleared up, showing its true form.

A black-haired handsome youth in black attire with a pair of cold dark red eyes appeared in their sights. The moonlight shined upon him as if it had chosen him, while the midnight breezes made his cold gaze even colder. Despite getting targeted by such a cold gaze, the students didn't feel condemned. Instead, they feel intrigued, captivated.

Kazuma blankly stared at their cloudy gazes and a pair of starry eyes.

"My name is Kazuma, hello there, my fellow classmates."