Recap of the previous chapter Hikigaya Hachiman's only goal is to find the wife and daughter of his deceased guardian in a wasteland filled with powerful monsters. For him to do that, he must become a knight and bond with others, but the first person he was forced to approach is a noblewoman who wants to do research with the power of science. The biggest challenge for the young mage's adventure begins.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Oregairu series as it is respectfully owned by the author and studios.
Chapter 2: The Path Is Clear, Yet the Light at the End Flickered
A name is a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to. It is a term used for identification and it is the greatest connection to their own individuality. Whether the name is long or short, or in a different language, the value and what represents is formed when it is etched into the being.
Everyone gives names to each other and to themselves to represent their individuality and identity. It is a norm for all living things, especially social creatures. The manner of how or what to name a person, place, or thing that displays the relationship between the giver and the receiver. For example, a nickname. A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place, or thing to express affection in a form of endearment and amusement. Or, a nickname can be used to harass someone, a form of verbal abuse and bullying. Others give nicknames as more of a habit. People can judge a person's relationship with someone based on how and what he/she called that someone, along with the reactions when being called by that name. However, it is not entirely accurate to tell relationships.
As such In Hikigaya's case...
"I never met this girl before so why did he call me 'Hikki'? Ah, she might be referring to someone else. Yeah, that must be it. Or maybe she got my name wrong."
"Yuigahama Yui. Student of Class 2-F in the Knight Course," Yukinoshita stared at the orange-haired girl while holding a book and then turns to look at Hikigaya. "I never expected you two would be acquainted with one another."
"Because we're not," HIkigaya immediately denied her claim. "I don't know this woman."
"Eh?! Even though we're classmates?!" Yuigahama shouted in surprise by his lack of memory.
"I don't see the importance of remembering classmates who I won't bother interacting with." Hikigaya said while closing his eyes.
"Or maybe your memory is that lacking." Yukinoshita teased with a smirk.
"At least I don't waste my time remembering every student in the academy like you. It's kinda interesting you didn't know me since yesterday. Must be a hard case of memory overload with learning useless stuff."
"Yes, yes, forgive my frail mind for not bothering to remember an insignificant insect such as you, or rather not acknowledging your existence since it's impossible for a top 3 student in an exam to not have the brain capacity to memorize something as simple as at least your classmate's faces."
"Do you seriously think that's any consolation at all?"
"It is called sarcasm."
"More like venomous words. I wouldn't find it surprising that you're a Nagin in disguise."
"This place... seems kinda fun!" Yuigahama said with glee.
"What?" Both science members thought the same thing as they are confused by her response.
"By the way, Hikki, you sure running your mouth right now."
"What?"
"Uh, well, y'know! You act a lot differently here than in class," Yuigahama said shyly while twirling her hair. "And it's uh... kinda disgusting how much of a snob you are..."
"This damn whore..." He mumbled quietly but both girls heard his words in which Yuigahama widened her eyes and then made an angry expression.
"Hah?! Who're you calling a whore? I'm still a vir-" Suddenly she covered her mouth in shock and frantically shaking her head. "Nevermind! Forget what I said!"
"It's not a big deal, is it?" Yukinoshita said while holding her chin. "It is a must at this age to pursue marriage after all. So it is fine if you're a vir-"
"UWAAAAHHHH! What are you talking about?!" Yuigahama shouted to stop her from completing the sentence. "I'm still young so it's a little embarrassing. Shouldn't my lady...ness? Be hardcore,... or something."
"I do not understand what that means but I believe you're clinging to such worthless values."
"Reeks of slut to me." Hikigaya said as he picked up a book and read it out of curiosity.
"Slut?! I can't believe you can run around calling people sluts! You're a total creep, Hikki!"
"What's calling you a bitch got to do with me being a creep? Also, stop calling me Hikki, you bitch."
"Guh!" Yuigahama looked annoyed and embarrassed by his words. Just as she was about to shout at him at the top of her lungs, Yukinoshita interrupted them to ask the important question.
"So, is there anything we could do for you? Yuigahama-san?"
"Ah! Oh, yeah. I... want to i-improve my magic prowess..." The orange-haired girl stuttered while twiddling her index fingers.
"That sounded too vague, care to elaborate?"
"Ah, what I mean is my elemental magic."
"I see, what element."
"Earth."
"Weapon of choice."
"Sword."
"What style?"
"Uhhh... Kazaruken style..."
"Huh, I didn't expect her to be a swordswoman," Hikigaya thought. "Much less, a knight but looks can be deceiving."
"Okay, let's go to the training grounds so you can show us your combat skills." Yukinoshita stood up and went out of the door.
"O-okay..."
The training ground is an area located behind the academy where students from the Knight course can practice combat and magic spells. They can only enter the area during physical fitness class but students can pay the faculty to use the training ground but the price depends on their purpose for using it. If it's only for combat practice such as sparring in swordsmanship and martial art, it will be the cheapest one with 1,000 Volas as the cost. If it's for sparring via magic battle, it will go up for ~V~1,500. If it's both, ~V~2,500. Very expensive but for a good reason. The payment will cover the damage expenses on the training ground and as health insurance for possible injured students training. Another reason is to prevent students from harassing others by hiding in the training ground. Even if they're from a noble family, paying the cost would still be wasteful and the faculty would know who used the area as a playground for bullying since they held the list of people who paid for it.
"S-so what kind of training are we going to use?" Yuigahama asked as she looked at the wide empty field surrounded by walls. Even though there is no roof, there is a special barrier spell to prevent any intruder from entering from above. The training ground has two gems at the center with different functions: One is called "Favored Adversary", a special feature within the training ground that can summon enemies ranging from monsters to humans and other races by injecting mana in a red gem and focus on imagining the desired enemy or let the gem decide what kind of enemy the students will face; the other is called "Nature's Rule", in which the landscape and temperature of the area changes. It can turn into a forest with the temperature similar to a hot summer, or an icy land similar to Shuddjhal, The Aquatic Frozenland. This can be done by injecting mana in a blue gem and imagined the desired landscape, but the walls and the barrier still remain and the cost will be extra with each use.
"We're just sparring," Yukinoshita explained as she held a wooden sword. Both ladies wore cowhide suede leather vests over white long-sleeved blouses and black pants. Meanwhile, Hikigaya still maintained his black kimono with its right sleeve completely torn off, revealing his muscular right arm and plain black, hakama. He removed his tattered academy cloak in case he would be needed for training. "Just the two of us. Use every skill at your disposal. Meanwhile, you will be observing the match and evaluate her overall abilities, Hikigaya-kun."
"Fine with me," Hikigaya agreed with a bored tone and sat down. He is a little curious about what the orange-haired girl and the Ice Queen could do.
"Then let's begin." Yukinoshita commenced by posing a fencing stance.
"Okay!" Yuigahama spun her wooden sword until she pierced it into the ground and chant a magic spell in her mind. After a few seconds, the wooden blade glowed an orange light and then posed a stance with her wooden sword raised above her head and pointed at Yukinoshita, and raised her knee to stand with one foot.
"Kazaruken Style," Hikigaya analyzed Yuigahama's stance. "A sword style created by an Earth mage who was a close friend of King Alexander in Villfalt. As far as history class told us, it is a mixture of the usual military swordsmanship and traditional dance in festivals. The techniques alternate between fast and deadly attacks to heavy and brutal swings. An unpredictable sword style that enemies can't follow the rhythm of the dance."
"Hah!" Yuigahama stroke first with an upper swing but didn't hit Yukinoshita since the distance is still far from the wooden sword's range. Instead, a pillar of rock erupted from the ground the Ice Queen was standing but she jumped away in time. The orange-haired girl charged toward her with a downward swing and Yukinoshita blocked it with the wooden sword. Yuigahama tried to thrust the sword straight into her chest and Yukinoshita turned her body to the right to evade the attack. However, she didn't notice two diagonal columns of rock rose from the ground in sync with Yuigahama's thrust attack. Yukinoshita raised her hand in front to cast a barrier and blocked the magic attack. Yukinoshita swung her wooden sword aiming at her side but the earth mage saw that and blocked it with her own. Yukinoshita leaned back to evade her sword swing aiming at her left temple, but then saw a rock column on the same direction rose from the ground aiming the same spot. Fortunately, she cast a barrier in time to block it.
"Elemental Casing, a basic magic spell that envelopes the caster's weapon with his/her element," Yukinoshita said in her mind while dodging another column of rock. "But for earth mages like Yuigahama-san, the spell doesn't cover the weapon with rocks but it lets the caster control the earth on the ground corresponding to the moves and swings of the weapon."
"Her swordsmanship is decent and her physical prowess is not bad, but I can already see two problems," Hikigaya noticed Yuigahama's grip on the wooden sword is shaking. Yukinoshita saw this as well and evaluate her performance in her mind. After dodging another swing from the earth mage, they noticed Yuigahama's movements are slowing down. What's weird is that she doesn't appear to be that exhausted and the magical feedback is not that intense. Hikigaya and Yukinoshita concluded that she's casting a spell in her mind.
"That settles it." Hikigaya thought as Yuigahama pierced her wooden sword on the ground that released a magic circle under her feet. Suddenly, many pebbles and rocks from the rock columns Yukinoshita shattered by blocking are slowly floating.
"Earth Magic: Scattered Shot!" The rocks flew towards the Ice Queen at blinding speed. She cast a barrier but some hit her body before it appeared to block most of the magic rocks. It was as if she was punched multiple times in the chest, abdomen, and arms but she can withstand the pain. She was ready to attack but then noticed the fight is already over as Yuigahama looked like she was in pain. She could barely lift the wooden sword with both hands and her legs shook. Her fingers become white and swollen.
"Guess it's over," Hikigaya stood up and approached the two girls.
"What's your verdict, Hikigaya-kun?" Yukinoshita asked.
"I'd say terrible," He answered without hesitation. "While she has decent combat skills, her magic is just bad. She's still on casting a full incantation of an elemental spell despite being pass that at the end of the first year, and the Equal Feedback took a toll on her too quickly."
"You should at least be considerate of your words but I have to agree with you regardless."
"Aw..." Yuigahama let go of the sword and sat down. "I hate it every time I cast elemental magic! Why is Equal Feedback exist anyway...? It hurts a lot..."
"To answer your question, you need to define the term." Yukinoshita suggested.
"Uh... It's uh..." Yuigahama touched her lip with a finger to think but she couldn't remember the exact words. After thinking so hard that a drop of sweat appeared on her forehead, she looked at Hikigaya with an embarrassed expression. "What was it again?"
"Oi, that's one of the first lessons everyone learned during childhood," Hikigaya said while looking a little annoyed at her silliness. "You at least understand what it means, right?"
"Of course I do!" The orange-haired girl pouted. "I just don't know how to put it in words!"
"When using magic, we have a large but limited amount of mana to put into every spell," Yukinoshita explained. "Even if we can recover our mana by meditating or with a potion, our bodies cannot withstand too much mana usage. That's why we have to be mindful of how much mana we should pour into that spell and how many times we can cast the same or a different spell. Overuse in magic will result in extreme exhaustion and fatigue in the body. However, using elemental magic has different, more dangerous consequences than using normal magic. This is what we call Equal Feedback."
"The consequences of overusing elemental magic depends on your element," Hikigaya continued the explanation.
"For fire mages, the consequence is burning of the skin starting with the arms.
For lightning mages, their limbs will become numb and tingle as if they were struck by lightning.
For wind Mages, their skin will become dry until it withered.
I don't know much for water mages but for earth mages like you, it's that." Hikigaya pointed at her fingers. "The reason why the equal feedback exists is that long ago, one of the first wind mages in this world abused his elemental magic for evil means. His power grew and almost none could stop him. The gods were angry by his senseless destruction and so they sent a beast who is immune to all magic to defeat him. After removing the evil mage, the gods decided to curse all races that when using too much elemental magic, the consequence will become worse. It is in order to prevent another evil mage like him from appearing in this world ever again."
"So it's a curse..." Yuigahama mumbled while looking at her white and swollen fingers.
"I highly doubt it." Yukinoshita rejected the story with her arms folded.
"You're saying that equal feedback is not a curse?" Hikgiaya asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes and no," She answered. "I believe the gods did change something to create this feedback but I doubt that it's in the form of a curse. There is a more logical explanation."
"Really?" The orange-haired girl asked in curiosity.
"Yes, for fire and lightning mages, it is because our mana is conductive, so the heat and lightning spreads into their arms and then the bodies if they push too far. Even if they cast a magic circle from a distance, the feedback would still occur because the heat will be conducted through mana that is poured into the magic circle to your hands. Like igniting a long invisible, flammable string. In lightning mages' case, they're using mana to attract the energy from the clouds to the magical energy in their hands."
"Ooohhh, so that's why they raise their hands and cast the spells." Yuigahama sat down in a seiza position with a look of realization. The lone dark mage listened to her claims as it intrigued him.
"Yes, anyways, once the lightning is formed in the sky and released, the energy in the lightning is conducted to the mana that is released from your hand. For wind mages, the magic circles they release from their hands absorb the air from behind the circle and then released the spell to the front. Their hands are exposed to the intense wind being absorbed and so it results in drying their skins."
"Oooohhh... But don't wind mages use their magic with their breath?"
"My guess is that it is to absorb more air and faster at that," Hikigaya answered. "If that's the case, then their throats would dry up and wither instead of their skin."
"That's even worse..." Yuigahama wore a disgusted expression when she imagined that happening.
"An alternative method for wind mages to cast more powerful spells is to cast magic circles on their mouths and inhale as much air as they can," Yukinoshita explained while pointing at her own throat and tracing it down to her chest. "The magic circles will also absorb air along with the inhalation but some of the huge amounts of air will go inside their throats and into the lungs."
"Guhhh... I can almost imagine their lungs about to explode from breathing in too much..."
"Damage in the lungs can be possible. After all-"
"Uwaaah! Please, don't put it into detail. I don't wanna imagine that!" Yuigahama clutched her head to remove any gory images of that scenario.
"For water mages such as me, our mana becomes 'soggy'."
"What does that mean?" Hikigaya asked with a confused expression.
"The flowing of water shakes the flow of our mana inside our bodies. It doesn't necessarily stop us from using magic, it only makes our magic spells, whether normal or elemental, weaker and less efficient. We also suffer from dizziness and a stroke should we push ourselves too much. Earth mages are the easiest to understand. In order to cast the elemental spell, you need to hit the ground with your hand or weapon, correct?"
"Y-yes." The female earth mage answered.
"When casting the spell, a wave of energy will suddenly spread to the ground. The wave will travel through your hands and cause vibrations in them. It's like you are holding the earthquake itself. You use the force of when you hit the ground to manipulate the earth but the force spreads into your hands and body as well."
"It's not only vibration," Yuigahama interrupted to give them information. "When I hit the ground to cast my spell, I felt my sword suddenly being pushed back. My father said I need to keep my sword on the ground even if it was painful to fight it."
"I see, the sudden release of energy that creates waves is like an explosion of a sort... A recoil?"
"So to put everything you explained in one sentence," Hikigaya said while scratching his head. "the gods didn't put a curse on all living beings but they changed the quality or characteristic of mana itself?"
"Yes," The Ice Queen answered.
"It does make more sense, but one question: Do you have any proof of your claims?" He asked with a scrutinizing gaze.
"There are professors who made various thesis papers on that subject. However, they were all rejected and regarded as research with no substance."
"They don't have evidence?"
"They do, it's just that the directors refuse to accept the validity of the evidence. I still do not know what the directors' argument on why the papers were denied but my guess is-"
"it would cause a stir among the public," He answered before she could finish and she nodded in confirmation.
"What do you mean by that?" Yuigahama asked.
"Everyone is faithful to the gods. They believe in all of the stories regarding them that were told in ancient times and even took the myths and legends at face value. If someone tried to invalidate on one of the stories-"
"They will see it as blasphemy," Yukinoshita finished his explanation. "Enough about that, let us start improving your elemental abilities."
"Oh, right! Okay!"
"We'll start by improving your endurance along with your physical abilities." Hikigaya suggested as he grabbed a wooden sword. "From your reaction and how much you were whining earlier, you're too weak. While increasing your magic capabilities is fine and all, but it will be twice as efficient if you build up your body more."
"Eeehhh~? I don't wanna have muscles."
"I'm not saying you're going to build muscles. We're just going to increase your strength and endurance."
"And you're gonna train me?"
"Yeah, and don't expect any mercy from me." Hikigaya meant that seriously. Yuigahama tried to see that as a joke but his terrifying expression and his stance proved otherwise. Cold sweat began dripping on her forehead. She looked at Yukinoshita with puppy eyes to help her but the Ice Queen closed her eyes as an indication of her agreement to his suggestion. Earth is an element that symbolizes stability, groundedness, and solidity. Yukinoshita thought that the lone mage's physical training is necessary. Yuigahama's body shook as she slowly turned her head to see Hikigaya with the same expression and stance.
"C-Can I rest a little?" She asked him with a nervous tone.
"No, now get ready," He responded without hesitation and charged. He swung his sword and Yuigahama quickly guarded against it. Hikigaya didn't stop with the barrage of sword swings and punches while Yuigahama tried her best to evade and guard his attacks. And thus the torturous training lasted for hours until sunset.
"Well, at least it wasn't a waste of time," Hikigaya mumbled to himself while walking in the streets in the time of early night, carrying his cloth-covered sword and big pouch on his back. The training gave a small improvement in Yuigahama's physical capabilities but she could still only cast two elemental spells before she couldn't resist the equal feedback. The result of the physical training was Yuigahama able to fight longer if only a minute, after exhausting herself from casting the elemental spells. It was indeed small but there is progress. Yukinoshita suggested to train her for a week until Yuigahama could adapt the routine by herself. After that, he and the Ice Queen would make an invention.
"A busy and hellish schedule... I can't complain though," He thought as he went inside the sewers once again to return to the forest with his beast friends. The process was the same: find the dead-end; touched the wall, and open to reveal a ladder to climb. After climbing to the top and opened the ceiling door, what awaited him in the forest was an alvarez deer, sitting on the ground staring at him. "Were you waiting for me?"
The deer stood up and ran into the woods.
"Wait! I don't have my mask!" Hikigaya shouted but the deer ignored him. He had no choice but to follow it quickly to see what sort of trouble was happening. An alvarez deer is a magical beast that acts as the guardian of the forest. Other beasts will not attack the deer as it emits a powerful aura to trigger their instinct to run away. The alvarez deer oversees its territory should any dangers that might ruin the nature of the forest. The deer is not that strong compared to other beasts but it is persistent, fast, and the only beast that could use magic. If the deer assessed the situation that it is too much for it to handle, it will call a worthy creature capable of resolving the issue. In this case, the deer reached for Hikigaya for an issue unknown to him, but seeking help from him would mean a serious problem such as a monster or mages wandering around the forest doing who knows what. Hikigaya dropped the pouch and removed the cloth covering his sword while running after the deer.
"He's running so fast and he didn't give me a ride. It's like he's panicking. This must be big." He thought as he tried his best to catch up to the alvarez deer. He could use hearten to propel himself but it might alert the enemies and so he had to run with pure physical effort. They ran very far away now from his home and close to the mountains. Both of them stopped as they look up to see the head of a giant monster behind the trees. From what he could tell, it appeared to be 18 feet tall and had brown muscular skin with long messy hair. Its human-like teeth were all yellow, dirty, and looked uneven. Wrinkles everywhere and its left eye is bigger than the right. Its face was one of the ugliest Hikigaya had seen.
"A gogmagog?" He mumbled in shock. He then looked down to see the corpses of many dark-furred beasts on the ground covered in blood, perhaps their own blood. One of them lost its head as if it was forcefully ripped out and the other lost the entire upper half of its body. The faces of the beasts were beyond recognition while some of their faces were eaten along with their heads. However, Hikigaya recognized the scent of their blood all too well.
"Massis wolves..." His right hand formed into a fist while the other held the sheathed sword tightly. His face didn't look angry nor sad, it was just a face full of indifference with his dead-fish eyes focused back on the giant. Yet, he emitted a frightening aura that the birds and all innocent creatures near the area ran away. The alvarez dear retreated with slow steps and hid behind the trees in fear. The gogmagog seemed to notice since it turned its head to look at his direction, but it was too slow. An explosion echoed throughout the forest and what the giant saw was Hikigaya flying towards its face with his unsheathed sword. The gogmagog lifted what appeared to be a club and swung it at the mage with full strength. Hikigaya blocked it in time and he crashed back into the ground.
"Okay... got careless and just charged right in like an idiot." He stood back up from the crater. His expression didn't show any pain from that fall or even blocking the gogmagog's swing, but blood dripped on his head right down to his right cheek. "Few of my ribs broke and my left arm hurts. Really bad move on my part."
The gogmagog started running towards him, destroying the trees at his charge. Hikigaya jumped to the side to avoid being crushed by its club. The ground beneath his feet glowed as he used the Hearten spell until it exploded under him which propelled him upward to the giant's face at amazing speed. The gogmagog tried to block him with the club, but it didn't reach in time which resulted in its hand cut off clean and Hikigaya about to pierce its eye. However, it tilted its head to avoid the attack. The dark mage couldn't stop himself from flying forward due to the momentum of the explosion and so he cast a purple magic circle on his sword and dark energy enveloped the old, unclean blade. The gogmagog tried to catch him with its other hand, but three of its fingers were cut by a black crescent projectile that also cut its nose.
"GGRRRAAAAHHHHHH!" Its deep roar echoed while a dark aura surrounded Hikigaya and formed a black sphere to protect himself from the fall. He crashed into the trees and to the ground. He immediately removed the dark field and stood up to see the gogmagog's appearance was suddenly changing. Black fur was growing everywhere in its muscular body and the injuries in its hands regenerated and grew the same fur. The nose also regenerated. Its fingernails turned into claws and the legs transformed into that of a dog. The giant turned its head to Hikigaya and he saw that its teeth sharpened and eyes glowed red.
"Half-giant, half-massis wolf?!" He said in shock. A gogmagog is one of the gigantic race monsters that eat beasts and other monsters. It has a habit of challenging humans and other races in a one-on-one duel for the sake of testing its own strength and prove to all that the gogmagog is the strongest. The gogmagog's special ability is to take the traits of whatever it ate. In order for that to happen, it needs to eat a certain amount of only one type of monsters or beasts until its stomach is full and then inherit its characteristics and other abilities. In other words...
"GRAAAAHHHHHH!"
The gogmagog Hikigaya was facing now can move and attack like a massis wolf.
"Not good!" Hikigaya readied himself but the giant was too fast. it moved fast towards him in all fours as if a wolf was chasing its prey. The speed of the half-giant, half-massis wolf increased. The dark mage quickly propelled himself away from the monster with the explosion from Hearten on the ground and then dodged a claw attack. He blocked another claw attack with his sword but the force was too strong and so he was sent flying while casting a dark magic spell.
"Dark Magic: Black Protection!" He enveloped himself in a dark sphere as he crashed straight into the trees. The giant chased after him and started attacking him relentlessly, clawing every side and punching the sphere with all of its strength which made the sphere bounce away from the force. The gogmagog didn't stop attacking the sphere, hoping it would break so he could kill the human mage. However, nothing was affecting the sphere and the giant's irritation grew every time its attacks would knock the black sphere away from the giant. Its claws didn't even scratch the sphere protecting him and its irritation grew further from Hikigaya's cowardice. As the gogmagog chased the sphere in all-fours, its nose picked up a scent from behind and quickly turned around to see Hikigaya running to him from behind. The giant faced him to attack but its hands were stopped by something. Two black tendrils were tied around the gogmagog's wrists. It turned its head and saw the black sphere was still there and black tendrils came out of it.
Apparently, while the gogmagog was attacking the black sphere, he sneaked out the moment the sphere was knocked away and then slipped past under the monster. When it charged towards the empty black sphere, he quickly but quietly followed the monster from behind until it smelled his scent.
"Tch, it inherited the massis wolf's sense of smell." Hikigaya propelled himself forward with the explosion of Hearten and went for the monster's feet as he noticed the tendrils could not hold out for long. He successfully cut its right leg and was about to cut the other one. However, the gogmagog freed its hands and hopped with the only leg it had to evade his slash. The monster did a front flip to attack him in which he guarded with his sword. The attack was strong and could send him in the air again, but this time, he stood his ground and ready to attack while the giant still in mid-air. Hikigaya jumped to pierce its head but the gogmagog moved to evade before it landed. The gogmagog couldn't stand up with just one leg, its guard should have many openings.
And yet, Hikigaya couldn't find a single window of opportunity for a fatal strike. He ran a simulation in his head of every move he would make against the one-legged gogmagog, but all results led to the giant guarding the attack or dodging and went for a counterattack. Its attacks wouldn't kill him, but a battle of attrition would put him at a disadvantage.
"Also, my vision is getting a little blurry. Looks like the equal feedback is kicking in. I used three dark magic spells with the last one lasting longer than it should have. Not to mention, controlling the black sphere to create tendrils. Add all that and you could say that I used up five dark magic spells... or maybe six. I can probably do two more spells before I get another near-death experience."
Hikigaya looked around the forest to find something that could break the monster's guard until he made a look of realization and then formed a smirk. The gogmagog formed an irritated expression as if it was reacting to his confident smirk. Both took their stances and waited for the right opportunity. The dark mage slowly walked sideways while the giant kept track of him with its red eyes. It stretched its hands and claws to prepare for his attack. That was when it saw the ground beneath his feet glowed and then exploded in which propelled him forward. The giant raised its right hand to flatten him but Hikigaya quickly put his foot on the ground to use hearten and dodged. He then cut a nearby tree and touched under it. The cut part of the tree glowed until it exploded, propelling the tree towards the gogmagog like a humungous spear thrown to kill a giant monster. The gogmagog crossed its arms to guard but it was surprised at how the tree was harder and more painful that the monster originally thought. Suddenly, more trees were flying at the gogmagog with the same speed and hardness and all the monster could do was guard because they're too fast for the gogmagog to react.
Hikigaya then launched one last tree aiming for its leg and it hit. The monster roared in pain as he was about to fall. The dark mage did one final propulsion with hearten and flew towards the giant's forehead. He finally pierced his sword through its skull and ended the battle.
"Using the trees as spears by enhancing them with hearten," He said in his mind and then fell on his back into the ground. "My legs hurt badly from propelling myself too much. And enhancing the trees made me used all my mana. Exhausted, and in pain, honestly, it's better than getting equal feedback."
Hikigaya heard footsteps of an animal and saw the same alvarez deer that guided him lowered its head and his whole body glowed green. The pain around his body slowly disappeared along with all the fatigue that was built up from attending academic classes, training Yuigahama, and now added with the battle against the gogmagog. The deer healed him completely with its magic. He sat up and inspected his entire body.
"Huh, it's like nothing happened at all," He caressed the alvarez deer's cheek and head as an appreciation for its help. However, in his mind was the giant monster that he killed earlier. He did kill it on his own but it was all because of the advantages he had with the surroundings. In the end, it was a very difficult battle that would have gotten himself killed with one hit from the gogmagog. "And there are monsters like that in the Heartless Ash Wasteland?"
A week later
"Hey, did you see the chronicles?" A male student asked. He had long orange hair tied to a ponytail, a white long-sleeved shirt under a black vest, the academy cloak, and black pants.
"The one where the knights found a dead giant monster near the mountains?" Another male student said. He had slick black hair, brown fancy tunic, the academy cloak, and green trousers. "I read it before I came here, it said the giant's all hairy and had claws."
"You think its a sasquatch?"
"They said it's a gogmagog with the traits of a massis wolf."
"Did the monster got killed by beasts?" A tall male student with broad shoulders asked. He wore a sleeveless black tunic and brown pants."Or did the Guardian took it out?"
"That's what the chronicles speculated since the knights found out the gogmagog's injuries looked like they come from a blade." The slick black-haired man answered. "If the Guardian of the Forest did kill something like that monster, then you got no chance of beating him, Tobe."
"Pfft! As if!" The orange-haired man named Tobe said with an arrogant smirk, "I bet he got help from someone or that gogmagog was too weak."
"Hey, a gogmagog is as strong as three high-ranking knights combine," A female student mocked. She had blonde hair with curly tips at the bottom. Her attire consisted of a red lightweight two-piece gown with a sleeveless bodice. The bodice had gold rope lacing in the front and the short skirt that had gold brocade paneling. Under the dress was a white blouse with bell sleeves. "A complete team of five is necessary to kill one normal gogmagog. If the guardian killed that giant by himself plus a transformed one? You're out of his league."
"Oh, come on! Ms. Miura! What if he got help?"
"It doesn't matter if he got help. You're still outclassed in terms of experience." The slick-haired man said with a snicker. "Didn't you heard what happened to those two lightning mages? They got some of their limbs cut off and said some guy wearing a deer mask did that to them. What's weird though is that they don't remember what the Guardian did but knew immediately from their battle that he's a mage."
"They're just weak."
"No, they were former elite knights who became infamous bandits."
"Have confidence in your friend, Ooka! What do you think Hayato?"
"Tobe, your skills are amazing, but I have to agree with the others..." A blonde male student said with a smile. He wore a dark green buttoned tunic with a long front slit and trimmed golden on the sleeves and bottom. Tobe lowered his head in despair while the others laughed. "Anyway, I can't believe such a monster was found near our kingdom."
"I can't believe it took the scouts a whole week to find the giant bastard," Hikigaya thought as he rested his forehead over his arms and tried to sleep until he heard their conversation. "Its roar should've reached their ears but I guess they're either drunk or just that incompetent. They were becoming more useless since stories about me being a guardian here started spreading around."
"It's a good thing the king sent an investigation force to the mountains. Who knows if there is a gogmagog cave nearby," The blonde student said with relief.
"That would be really scary!" Tobe said while pretended to be afraid. "Not like I can't handle! Haha!"
"No, you absolutely can't," Hikigaya retorted in his mind. "Get your ridiculous thought out of the gutter."
"How come you're not part of the investigation force, Hayato?" Miura asked in a fake cute tone that made Hikigaya cringe. "I bet you can help a lot more over there."
"I'm still a student, Yumiko," Hayato answered. "I have to graduate and become an official knight to be part of those kinds of missions. Besides, even if I did join, I doubt I would be any help."
"That's not true! I bet you can kill one giant with one swing!" Tobe said with a huge confident grin.
"You're exaggerating, Tobe."
"What makes you say that?" Miura said while being close to Hayama. "Your light magic is the best."
"I should've stayed in my lunch spot a little longer. I don't think I can take any of this," Hikigaya tried his best to resist the urge to get out and skip school. Lunchtime would be almost over the moment the bell on the teacher's desk ring. He just had to wait for five more minutes but it felt for him that a whole five minutes would be too long to wait before he snaps. "Two rare, and opposite elements; light and darkness, studying in the same school in the same classroom with the same homeroom teacher. What's worse is this light mage name Hayama Hayato is the most popular student in class with the power I like to call "The Zone". A possible magic spell that only people who lead fulfilling lives can use. Its most profound characteristic is that it can be used in any place and make the place better. Simply because their lives are so fulfilling, they also show the utmost kindness to those frowned upon by society. In other words, it is the special air of a charismatic and kind individual. Wherever he goes, everyone will be all happy as long as he uses that signature smile... Who am I kidding, it's just his good looks, status, and magic that makes that happen. He's not as good-looking as me, though."
He looked behind and looked up to see the loud group laughing as they shifted into a new topic. More specifically, he looked at the orange-haired girl laughing with them. Apparently and unfortunately (in Hikigaya's opinion), Yuigahama Yui was part of the most annoying group in the class. "Well, it's not exactly surprising. It is common for these fools to try to join the noble circle and make a name for themselves."
"Ah, excuse me? Is Ms. Yuigahama here?" A male student entered the classroom. He had long brown hair with the top portion of his head braided and tied into a ponytail. His attire consisted of a red open front baroque jacket with golden colored lace trim along its collar, hem, lapel, shoulders, and cuffs. Under it was a beige brocade vest, black pants, and of course the white academy cloak. The entire class whispered as Yuigahama approached him.
"O-Oliver, what are you doing here?" Yuigahama said in a shy tone.
"I only came here to see you, that's all. Did I disturb you?"
"Ah, no! No! My friends and I were just having a chat before lunch ends."
"I see, can we talk for a moment? Alone..." He said as he looked at her classmates whispering and quietly giggling at his suggestion which made the orange-haired girl blush.
"O-okay..." She agreed and they both went out of the room. The class suddenly burst into gossip about the two students.
"Is that her fiancee?"
"He's handsome. And his family is quite prominent as well."
"Ms. Yuigahama is really blessed with a worthy suitor."
"Ah, of course, arranged marriage," Hikigaya rolled his eyes. "One of the most cancerous traditions in human society. Forcing two people into a relationship is such a pathetic method of solving problems such as wealth and inheritance issues and politics. The families have to sacrifice their children's freedom of choice to selfishly climb to higher status and think of it as a social activity like it's a duty for them to get their children to marry. Using such a method for honor and duty is such a foolish excuse for hiding their hypocrisy."
"So that's Yuigahama's fiancee, huh?" A girl said while looking at the door that Yuigahama and the man named Oliver went out. The girl had brown bobbed hair and wore red eyeglasses, a long grey dress with the academy cloak. "Never expected him to be that good-looking."
"Well, he is Oliver Seerwind," Miura told her while crossing her arms. "Of course he would be good-looking. Too bad he's not my type."
"Really? He is the son of General Aiden, his grades are top-notch, and his magic is amazingly strong."
"Meh, he doesn't impress me that much along with my other suitors. There is only one man for me..." Miura then looked at Hayama Hayato who was talking to his friends. "What about you, Hina?"
"Well, no one wants to meet me. My parents are having a hard time finding me a suitor."
"I wonder why?..." Hikigaya said in his mind sarcastically.
A few minutes later
"Okay everyone, pay attention," Hiratsuka called the students to begin the lecture. "Today, we're finding out your Magic of Enziel."
"Angel?" Yuigahama tried to repeat the teacher's word.
"Enziel." Miura corrected her
"Magic of Enziel is magic that is within you," Hiratsuka explained as she wrote the blackboard with a chalk. "Mana flows inside our bodies but there is one part in the body where mana is stored the most. It is called a mana pool. A person's mana pool can be located inside four organs: The heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. You can only develop one mana pool to unlock your real selves."
"Unlocking our real selves?" One of the students along with the others were confused by her lecture. Hikigaya was also confused but was curious as this lesson could help him get stronger.
"Yes, this is magic that will compensate for your other blind spots when using elemental magic. You all know what the equal feedback is, right? The gods cursed us because of some moron using elemental magic and blah blah blah. Anyway, if elemental magic is a magic power that lets you connect with nature and the world, then Enziel magic is a magic power that allows you to connect with your spirit. Deep within your soul."
"Hey, Yumi-chan," Yuigahama whispered to Miura who was next to her. "I heard that some professors made research that equal feedback is not actually a curse..."
"Watch your mouth, Yui," Miura whispered angrily. "That's like saying the gods lied to us. And where did you heard that?"
"J-just from a research paper in the library..." Yuigahama lied.
"There's no way the librarian would keep something like that unless that old hag is a heretic. I'm telling the faculty about this."
"Yukinon and Hikki were right," The orange-haired girl stared down at the book to focus back on the lecture.
"There are four types of Enziel magic based on where the mana pool is located," Hiratsuka explained further.
"Embracer, where your mana pool is located in the heart, you can enhance your physical attributes. The heart denotes our center for both physical, emotional, and moral activities. Our beating chests move our bodies, reviving them past our limits.
Augmentor, where the mana pool is located in the liver. Mages of this type can transfer their mana inside of objects to be used in their purest forms. The liver signifies interior purification as it purifies our blood. Pouring our mana into our treasures is like pouring our blood into our practice to use them.
Liberator, where the mana pool is located in the lungs... Well, one of your lungs. If you are this type of mage, you can release your mana out from your body and manipulate it to your will. You let out your mana like you are letting out your breath. Our breath represents the essence of life,
Last but not the least, Exhibitors. They can manifest their mana into beings or materials that represent either their strong desires, emotions, or any strong elements inside their souls. The mana pool is located in one of the kidneys. The kidneys are a spiritual symbol of living temperament, emotions, prudence, vigor, and wisdom. They are also a natural symbol of the most hidden part of man."
"Ms. Hiratsuka," A female student raised her hand to ask a question in which the teacher accepted. "Why are we being taught this now than our childhood or at least the first year in this academy? Wouldn't it be better to develop this Magic of Enziel earlier than this?"
"There are two problems with that: One was we can't find your mana pool in your childhood and above because you all don't have it at that time yet. The years of magic education was for growing those mana pools until we can see them; Two, you guys are still kids. I doubt you are smart enough to understand the meaning of 'unlocking your real selves'. Any more questions?"
"None, thank you,"
"Alrighty then, let's go to a special room to identify your mana pools. After that, all of you will go to classes based on your type of magic." Hiratsuka said as she walked towards the door.
"Wait, does that mean we'll be going to separate classes?" A female student asked.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," The teacher answered with a grin. " You'll be separated from some of your classmates and be joined with students from other classes who have the same magic type as you. Better pray that you get to be together with your best friend or crush, hahahahaha!"
The class stood up and followed Hiratsuka who was laughing in the hallway. Some of them, including Hikigaya, sweat-dropped at her last statement as they noticed how she said the word "crush" and the laugh sounded menacing. He was aware of Hiratsuka's issues in finding a romantic partner. It was easy for him to figure out after interacting with her for a long time, and seeing many suitors rejected her. Back then, it was a form of entertainment for the dark mage to see her fail numerous times in impressing her suitors and then hear the stories of her actions that led to that result. But now...
"Someone please marry her, already..."
A few hours later, after class in the training grounds
"Tomorrow will be the end of the request," Yukinoshita said while standing up straight after sparring with Yuigahama one last time. "Your progress is doing well. It is slow but there is an improvement in your physical abilities. As for your elemental magic, we need you to at least handle three elemental spells before the request ends."
"Wait, can you train me in making spells of Enziel?" Yuigahama, who knelt down in exhaustion after being defeated by the sparring match, asked her.
"I cannot," Yukinoshita rejected her request without hesitation while shaking her head. "Your request was to help you in elemental magic which involved physical and magic training. The time limit of your request draws near."
"B-but-"
"And besides," Hikigaya intervened, "The Magic of Enziel involves strengthening our magic by spiritually connecting with our true selves. You can't develop that type of magic spell by having someone else tell you what your true self is."
"He is right," The Ice Queen agreed with a nod. "We may be able to guide you but ultimately, it all depends on you alone to grow stronger in that area. Also, we can't afford to receive requests as next week I want to focus on making inventions."
"Inventions, right," The dark mage thought and his mind went back to his fight against the gogmagog. "Can we actually build something that could kill a monster at that level? An invention that is useful in the wasteland? Without magic?"
"But, this isn't enough. I-I'm not strong enough." Yuigahama said with desperation in her voice.
"We did what we could. Now it is all up to you."
"I don't think I can..." The orange-haired girl looked down in dejection.
"If I may ask, what is your Enziel class."
"I'm an exhibitor,"
"And you?"
"You asking me?" Hikigaya asked in a sarcastic tone. "I never thought you'd be curious to know about this 'pitiful brute'."
"You made two incorrect assumptions: I'm not curious but rather worried that you might use that magic for troubling purposes. Secondly, I'm not referring to a 'pitiful brute', I'm referring to a barbaric lowlife."
"And you start by asking my personal information? I know nobles can be wicked but you are more than black-hearted to invade my privacy."
"Your Magic of Enziel won't be private for long once you use it in battle. And if you are truly worried about that, then such effort is useless and befitting for your weak and twisted mind. As useless as Yuigahama-san's effort to hide her vir-"
"Can we please not talk about that!" Yuigahama stopped her from finishing her sentence with her face blushing. "S-so can you tell us your Enziel class?"
"...fine. I'm an augmentor." Hikigaya admitted.
"And I'm a liberator." Yukinoshita said as she put a hand on her chest. "that wasn't so difficult, now was it?"
"Whatever. So have you come up with a good invention?"
"Not yet. And as much as I hate to suggest this but I will need your assistance in brainstorming. Of course, I won't expect any great ideas from you."
"Then don't suggest it if you're not expecting anything."
"Hikki, can I ask you something?" Yuigahama asked with a worried expression. This confused him.
"What?"
"Are you gonna participate in the upcoming monster extermination?"
"None of your business." He answered in annoyance. "And don't call me 'Hikki'."
"Come on! How about I tell you why I became a knight and you tell me yours." The orange-haired girl suggested. Although she felt that he won't tell her, she had to try anyway.
"I can already guess that you came here to make your family proud or make some wealth and whatever."
"Well, that's part of it. I study here so I could repay a debt to someone..." Yuigahama blushed at her exclamation.
"Who? Your fiancee?" He asked while folding his arms.
"I heard you are betrothed to the son of Seerwind. Congratulations." Yukinoshita said with indifference. However, Hikigaya noticed her tone shifted when she congratulated Yuigahama.
"T-thanks, but he's not the one I'm talking about..."
"Then who?"
...
Four years ago
In the woods, there was a path that would lead to Villfalt for all travelers and important carriages. The path was simple, straight, and very peaceful. There were rare occasions when bandits would appear to raid the carriages but they only target travelers and not nobles. It was because of the nobles' gifted magic and the powerful knights guarding them that made the bandits avoid going even near them. There was also the scouts that patrolled forest areas far away from the kingdom's range of sight. The scouts knew where to go in the deep forest, at least where the safest routes were without encountering any beasts' habitats. The forest was dangerous in both day and night. Different kinds of beasts would appear at different times. It would take professionals to handle those creatures with knowledge and strength in magic. Some monsters hid somewhere in the forest, specifically caves and ruins. Some monsters would dig underground to create their home.
A combination of monsters and beasts made the woods the most dangerous place to wander and camp for people unless they had skills and magic for combat and survival. Despite the dangers, many resources could be found useful for Villfalt. Also, monsters and beasts could be considered as resources for crafting equipment, potions, and possibly food. That was the second task and third task of the scouts: To find resources and other noteworthy areas that would benefit the kingdom and watch the carriages traveling in the main path.
"Mommy, Are we there yet?" A young girl wearing a red yukata asked while looking outside in the carriage.
"Just one more hour, Yui," A woman answered. She had long orange hair tied into a ponytail bun, the same hair color as her daughter and her attire consisted of a beautiful beige yukata with flower patterns. "Once we reached the kingdom, we will wear dresses, eat different kinds of food from other cultures, and make friends with many good children."
"Yay!" Yui jumped at her mother's lap and they hugged each other in happiness until they heard screams from outside.
"What is that thing?!"
"It's just a white tiger! Protect the mistress and her beloved daughter!"
"Gah!"
"Why is it so agile?!"
"It bit through my armor- gah!"
"Where are the scouts!"
"We can't wait for help! Defend yourselves!"
"M-mommy, what's happening?" Yui clung to her mother tightly in fear.
"It's okay, dear. Everything will be alright," The mother embraced her daughter while looking outside. She saw a puddle of blood and decapitated limbs on the ground. She assessed that the limbs looked like it was ripped off by sharp teeth which means a strong beast could've done this. The roars of other beasts were heard and then the mother saw white tigers emerged from the bushes. There were strange bumps on their backs formed in a straight line and their jaws and teeth shine gold. The white tigers suddenly jumped towards the carriages, striking it with their heads hoping that it would tumble over or break.
"Leave them alone!" A knight in armor shouted and charged at the beasts. He stabbed one of them in the head and beheaded the other with his katana. The other tigers saw this and attacked the knight. He was terribly outnumbered as he was the only one left standing with the others dead and the carriages were destroyed and invaded by the beasts."Yuigahama-sama, you must exit the carriage and go as far away from here as possible! Hurry!"
The mistress complied and ran as fast as she could from that place while carrying her daughter in her arms.
"Mommy!" Yui called her mother in tears.
"I will protect you, sweetie." The mother declared as she heard the sounds of animal footsteps and roars. She didn't know which direction they should head but she didn't care. She ran with only the sole purpose of escaping from death by the jaws of beasts. Suddenly, she saw a shadow in front of her running at an impressive speed. The shadow went past them, and both mother and daughter heard the weak whimpers of the white tigers and the sound of a blade slicing through flesh. Yui looked behind them and see a boy of her age wearing a plain green yukata that was soaked in blood. He carried a normal sword that appeared to be too huge for him to even lift and yet he held it with ease.
"I-is it a scout?" The mother looked behind and her eyes widened. "A-a boy?"
"Scouts?" He asked while tilting his head in confusion until he realized what she meant. "You mean those useless morons just littering around in the woods like a bunch of pests? No, I'm not one of them. And don't expect them to come to your rescue. They move around as they please without being an organized unit. Who knows when they'll even patrol the main path and notice those corpses."
"That's because since you appeared out of nowhere driving bandits and other dangers away, the scouts became more carefree," This time, a man appeared behind a tree. He wore a brown yukata and a conical hat over his head.
"W-who are you people?" The mother asked them but the mysterious boy ignored her as he stared down at a dead white tiger in the middle of its other fallen brethren bathe in blood. Meanwhile, the man gave the boy a head pat with a look of pity.
"You can rest now, Kamakura."
...
Yuigahama opened her eyes after reminiscing that memory of her savior. Yukinoshita just stared at her silently, interested at who she was in debt to while Hikigaya waited for her answer just they could get this over with.
"It's a secret!" She answered with a huge smile.
"What? Then I'm not telling my reason," Hikigaya said while folding his arms. "Since you didn't give us complete information."
"Because it's embarrassing!" She retorted with a blush on her cheeks and then mumbled. "Besides, you're here so I can't..."
"What was that?" He asked as he couldn't hear what she whispered.
"Nothing! Idiot! Creep!"
"Oi, All I did was ask. Are women this overdramatic?"
"Whatever! At least I told you my reason!"
"But not giving us the full story? Not a chance."
"Hikicreepy-kun, stop invading a lady's privacy." Yukinoshita intervened while giving him an icy glare.
"She's the one who suggested to tell each other's reasons for being here. That would mean it includes personal information that motivates us into going down this path."
"Are you that desperate to know everything about a girl you recently met? How perverted of you."
"It's called curiosity, not stalking."
"Please do not talk to me. Your words contain a deadly disease that could spread beyond the mountains."
"So I'm a plague now, Ms. Venom? Surely someone of your caliber isn't afraid of catching a cold."
"I'm afraid that I might catch something even worse considering you finally revealed your pervertedness. As for my 'venom', it is an instant kill against a worthless mongrel like you.
"I'm quite flattered that you would resort into such low and cowardly tactic like poison to bring me down instead of using your actual skills"
"I just see it as a waste of energy to use my power against you. Consider poisoning you as an act of mercy."
"Tch, what a poor excuse for nobles. They really are all talk."
"Careful with your words. I may accidentally cut your tongue."
"Uhm, guys?" Yuigahama tried to intervene but the pressure the two young mages emitted was so strong she couldn't let her voice out. Yet she opened her mouth to try letting out at least a single word.
"Did I finally struck a nerve on the legendary Ice Queen?" Hikigaya held his wooden sword firmly and pointed at Yukinoshita.
"On the contrary, I think I'm the one who struck a nerve on the most disgusting vermin." Yukinoshita also held her wooden sword firmly and then pose a fighting stance. Yuigahama slowly stepped back as the two looked like they will clash at any second. It was no use. The orange-haired girl's presence was fully ignored by the two calm yet angry science members. She knew how strong Yukinoshita was from all the stories she heard from her friends and other students. The Ice Queen was the top 1 after all. Hikigaya on the other hand, all she heard about was his dark magic and how repulsive he was. However, some stories about that repulsiveness were exaggerated. She didn't hear anything about his strengths and capabilities in combat until she experienced it first hand. Rough, heavy, and using punches, kicks, and dirty tricks, almost as if he didn't have a specific sword style. the orange-haired girl could see the entire school judging his fighting style as barbaric and shameful. Yet, it was very efficient in combat. She could tell that he held back when sparring against her. There was a mixture of anxiety and excitement as to how strong he could really be.
"Oi," Sadly, Hiratsuka-sensei entered the training grounds, interrupted the staredown. "It's time to go home. You guys can settle this tomorrow."
"...Yes, mam." Yukinoshita lowered the wooden weapon and walked away to grab her things.
"Alright," Hikigaya also complied and did the same. They went back to the True Science Institution room and while the three students packed everything in their bags there, Yukinoshita noticed Yuigahama's downcasted expression and so she asked.
"Are you still bothered by the training, Yuigahama-san?"
"Eh? Well..." The orange-haired girl hesitated until she answered. "I haven't really done any progress in a week of training..."
"Our training was only a week. Just follow the routine every day and you will get stronger,"
"And how long will that be?"
"Are you in a rush or something?" Hikigaya asked while tying his pouch bag. "Did this guy you're in debt to tell you to pay up tomorrow?"
"Not really... It's just that... It's been a year since I enrolled here and I haven't done anything spectacular. All my performances both in academics and magic are just average. It's not enough for me to even get close to him. And now that I know what his goal here, I feel like I can't repay him sooner or... maybe never. When I heard he enrolled here to become a knight, I thought how it fits him to be one since he saved me once. I thought that knights were so cool because there's someone like him."
"And so you came here because you want to be someone like him," He guessed and she nodded in confirmation while averting her gaze from him.
"Maybe being a knight just isn't me..." Yuigahama looked down with a sad expression. "Like I don't have the thing called 'talent'?"
"The only way we can solve things is through hard work," Yukinoshita said while taking a book lying on a desk. "Yuigahama-san, you said you didn't have any talent, didn't you?"
"Y-yeah."
"Fix that idiotic mentality. Those who don't even try don't have the right to envy those with talent. Those who fail to do so because they can't imagine the kind of effort put in by those who succeed."
"But a lot of my classmates keep telling me how a knight doesn't fit me at all. They would all ask me things like 'you're seriously enrolled here in the knight's course?' And someone would say to me 'I thought you were a cute girl lost in the building.' or something. Maybe I really am not cut out for this."
"Will you please stop listening to what other people say? It is such an embarrassment for you to just let others decide your path, it is too nauseating. Do you not see how pathetic and disgraceful you look when you have such a mindset? I do not like it." Yukinoshita's words spat venom towards Yuigahama. Hikigaya only looked at them with indifference but even he thought the Ice Queen's words were too harsh, though, he wouldn't bother trying to comfort the orange-haired girl should she cry from her words.
"So cool..." Surprisingly, Yuigahama praised her with gleaming eyes of admiration.
"What?" Both Yukinoshita and Hikigaya were surprised by this response. The Ice Queen stepped back a little and spoke.
"You don't sugarcoat things at all. That is really cool!"
"D-Did you even listen to what I said? I believe that was quite harsh."
"You did say some pretty horrible things, but it felt to me like they came from the heart. Ah, sorry. I'll do my best tomorrow!" Yuigahama said with a big smile on her face and exit the room to go home, leaving the two other young mage students to just stare at the door she exited with widened eyes. Hikigaya was the first to recover and spoke to Yukinoshita.
"Good luck with her tomorrow,"
"Excuse me?"
"Her physical abilities have improved but not her elemental magic, the main goal of this request. You're more knowledgable in magic training than me so you're on your own."
"Your aura of laziness is leaking, Hikigaya-kun. You will participate in this request tomorrow since it's only one day left. If you don't, I will make you my test subject for what we will invent."
"It's because it's only one day left is why I want to take a break. A man has to find time to rest and recover his energy. What, you can't handle taking care of her by yourself?"
"Of course, I can. In fact, I can take care of this week of request without you, both in physical and magic training. You just happily suggested to train her and so I accepted since you acted one behalf of the Service Duties we do here in the institution."
"From that tone of confidence, it sounds like you can help her better alone than when I was around."
"Indeed. The training routine you gave Yuigahama-san is decent but mine would be faster and more efficient."
"Oh, really? Please reveal this 'better' training routine that is different from mine."
"It is quite simple, actually. Nothing more than the same routine as yours except the trainees will be at death's door."
"What?"
"First, laps around the training ground until they die; do as many push-ups as they can until they die; do sit-ups until they die; practice hand-to-hand combat until they die; then practice sword swings until they die; finishing off with sparring matches until they die, maybe?"
"I'm... actually glad that I helped the girl in physical training than letting this cruel mistress torture her to death," Hikigaya said in his thoughts while looking at Yukinoshita with a deadpan expression. Yuigahama's magic training taught by Yukinoshita consisted of an hour-long meditation for increasing the amount of mana she can store inside her and controlling it for an hour by casting a single elemental spell until the equal feedback occurred and maintain that spell for as long as she can. So far, no progress in increasing the maximum number of elemental magic use. Yukinoshita's magic training was harsh and painful, but he wagered that it wouldn't be as painful as the recommended physical training that she described. "A tyrannical ice queen alright. It's getting late, I'm going home."
"Yes, we meet again tomorrow as usual." Yukinoshita said with a nod of agreement. They exit the room and went their separate ways in the hallway. However, just as Hikigaya was about to reach the stairs, a man in front of him came out of the corner: long brown hair with the top portion of his head braided and tied into a ponytail; wore a red open front baroque jacket with golden colored lace trim along its collar, hem, lapel, shoulders, and cuffs. Under it was a beige brocade vest, black pants, and white academy cloak. The man stared at the young dark mage with a normal smile and approached him.
"You are Hikigaya Hachiman, am I correct?" The man asked and raised his hand for a handshake. "I'm Oliver Seerwind."
"Uh... right..." Hikigaya hesitated but shook his hand regardless. "Oh, great. What's this airhead's fiancee want with me?"
"You appear to be quite well-acquainted with Ms. Yuigahama. Do you mind if we can have a little chat?"
TRIVIA
1) the giant monster "Gogmagog" is based on a creature named Gogmagog in Welsh and English mythology. Gogmagog is a muscular humanoid giant from the island of Albion (the ancient name for Britain). Sometimes described as more than 14 ft tall, the monster's kind was said to have descended from demons. The folklore maintains Gogmagog himself was hideously repulsive, and even draped himself in various animal skins to keep up his unpleasant and intimidating appearance. Even though he has the strength of 20 men, he's not that smart which led to his downfall in his fight against the warrior, Coineus by being pushed off on a cliff. I used the idea of "draped himself in various animal skins" for the giant's power of inheriting a beast or monster's trait by eating until I realize that this giant is a big version of Kirby lol XD
2) The whole Enziel magic was based on Hunter x Hunter with the whole Nen thing.
3) A real-life deer can run 60-80 kilometers per hour. 8man chased the deer with only his physical effort albeit struggling to keep up with the animal. Think of it as another glimpse of how physically strong I made 8man can be.
Hello! I'm back in writing this fantasy AU! It's kinda weird to update this when Oregairu season 3 recently came out. It's like I'm shifting back and forth between the original Oregairu world and this world. Speaking of which, how are you all enjoying season 3 so far? I'm happy that all the characters came back but sad at the same time cuz that will be the last season we get to see them. The LN ended and the anime will almost end too. With that in mind, a thought came to me about how long will this community last after the season finale. Years? Months? Or just the moment it ended? A shame too cuz I have a lot more ideas that I want to put into a story here. The only thing for me to do is just write as hard as I can and convey my ideas. I hope you will enjoy what is about to come and I hope you enjoy this story.
Review time!
DarkNight21: Ehhh probably. I'll keep that in mind
michael200340: I just hope I can fit some of the oregairu elements into this fantasy setting.
cell: Well, I agree but I still want to try it out anyway.
Hachiman fan: I wonder if there's a Fate fanfic about that. Is there? I would like to read that as long as it's complete or the author didn't abandon it.
DorkofaUser11: I was thinking long and hard on what kind of mask 8man should wear. I was like "should I go for a wolf head? Maybe a bird or some tiger, like King in Tekken? But nah, I think a deer would look better imo.
ArmantusCumPinae: Yeah, but one of the themes I'm aiming for here is the hypocrisy of society's principles and purpose which will make the oregairu characters fit in a little. I'll introduce the other races in later chapters but now, we're focusing more on the human's side.
So yeah, there's a lot of changes here. Way different from the source material: Yui's request and her backstory; the introduction to some of the characters; the ol' fiancee cliche since that was the norm in medieval times (I think); dialogues were moved left and right and so on and so forth. I thought trying to put Yui's cookie request was too out of place in this world so I changed her request with something else, which made me change her backstory of how she fell in love with you know who. I hope you like the changes, if there is something that bothered you here, let me know.
Thanks for reading this fanfic. Please leave a review as your opinions will help me make this story better.