A day had passed since I attended the King’s summons. The mories of yesterday still lingered in my mind, and I had scolded Envi for his antics. But as usual, he just grinned and kept teasing about building a harem. I was already tired of hearing it and decided to ignore him.
Graduation was in five days, and a week after that, I would face the Hero’s Trial. I couldn’t afford to relax—I had to train and get stronger.
That was what I told myself as I lay in my dorm room in the morning, staring at the ceiling.
My thoughts kept circling back to my confrontation with King Aslan. The gap between our strength was overwhelming.
When King Aslan attacked , his power was imnse—far beyond Cain’s, and even my own father, the Patriarch of the Blackmore family. And yet, he had only used the first form of Braveheart Swordsmanship. Even with just that, he completely cornered . If not for [Power of Incarnation] activating in ti, I would have lost one of my lives.
That battle also made realize a fatal weakness of Dark Magic—it was incredibly vulnerable to Divine and Light Magic. Given that my current body, Naoki, was fundantally attuned to Dark Magic, I was at a major disadvantage.
For now, I could counteract it using [Resonance], but that consud too much mana and left open to significant damage. If my opponent was below my level, I could manage, but against soone stronger—like King Aslan—I would be in serious trouble. I couldn’t rely on Dark Magic alone.
I needed to push my [Aura Force] to the Supre level, but I was struggling. Maybe I needed a proper teacher, soone other than the Patriarch.
For now, I had to focus on what I could improve—like my newly acquired skill, [Future Sight]. During my battle with King Aslan, I had been unable to control it properly. That needed to change.
As I drowned in my thoughts, my head felt like it was going to explode.
Then, Marius—who was lying on the lower bunk—spoke up.
"What’s up, Naoki? You look pretty serious this morning. Still thinking about your eting with King Aslan?" he asked curiously.
"...Yeah, but I’m fine. No need to worry."
"Ahh, Naoki, I can’t just sit around like this. Let’s go train!" I declared, suddenly motivated.
"UWWOH! Now that’s the spirit! Let’s gather the others!" Marius shot up from his bed, flexing his massive muscles. He looked so damn proud of them.
We quickly made our way to Julius’s room. But when we knocked, there was no response—his room was empty.
"Where the hell did that guy go this early in the morning?" I muttered. "I know it’s a break before graduation, but did he go ho?"
The third-year students were given the option to return ho or stay in the dorms until the graduation ceremony. I had chosen to stay—I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of returning ho.
"Hmm... who knows?" Marius shrugged. "Maybe he went on a date! HAHAHA!"
"A DATE? No way that guy has a girlfriend," I scoffed.
"Hahaha, maybe not, but Julius is way more handso than both of us," Marius said with a smirk. "And he’s from the Starlight Family, one of the most famous noble houses. He’s been an academy heartthrob since year one."
"Not to ntion, there’s a rumor that he’s dating Termina von Stormheim... You know they’ve been pretty close lately, right?"
I thought about it. Julius did look like the perfect protagonist of a manga, light novel, or RPG. With his noble background and natural charm, he was the kind of guy everyone—especially the girls—loved.
And if he was dating Termina, I wouldn’t be surprised. They were practically inseparable.
That thought made Marius and a little jealous.
Was Julius really out there having a romantic mont with Termina right now? We couldn’t allow that!
Then, Envi spoke up in my head.
"Hahh, you hypocrite, Nao! You’ve already been on dates with Serena, Lyra, Alia, and Freya! Don’t tell that’s not enough?!"
I snapped back at him ntally.
"That’s because YOU gave a dumb quest that forced to go on those dates! I’m not even in a real relationship with any of them yet!"
I was so busy arguing with Envi in my mind that I didn’t notice Marius suddenly stop running.
I crashed right into his back.
"Naoki... we found him..." Marius said, stunned.
I followed his gaze and saw it.
Julius and Termina—both drenched in sweat, panting heavily, their faces red with exhaustion.
...Yeah. They were training together at the academy’s training grounds, which were empty this morning.
Marius and I sighed in relief.
For a second, we had other thoughts.
"Yo, Naoki, Marius—what are you two doing here? I thought you’d still be sleeping," Julius greeted us, looking surprised.
"Ah, good morning, Naoki, Marius~" Termina smiled warmly.
"HAHAHA! Honestly, I was going to sleep in all day," Marius admitted, scratching the back of his head. "But Naoki suddenly wanted to train, so we went looking for you."
"That’s right, Julius," I added. "But I didn’t expect you and Termina to be training so early... I thought you two were on a date, you know—like, shopping or—"
Before I could finish, Termina cut off.
"Aah, but Naoki, this is a date! Lately, we’ve been spending our ti together like this," she said cheerfully.
"WAIT. A DATE? SO YOU TWO ARE REALLY DATING?!"
Marius and I shouted in shock.
Julius and Termina blushed, looking flustered.
"Y-Yeah, so what?!" Julius admitted, embarrassed.
Marius and I stood frozen.
We had been left behind.
Julius had officially beaten us to getting a girlfriend.
"Since when?! Explain yourself, Julius!" Marius demanded, fake tears in his eyes.
"Ahh, since before the final academy exam. Before we entered the dungeon, Julius confessed to . It was really cute~" Termina giggled.
I grumbled internally.
Damn you, Julius. You never told Marius and about sothing this important?!
At least inform your best friends about it!
Then, Envi chid in again.
"HAHAHA! Julius, you lucky bastard! You’ve got good taste!"
Ugh. My perverted system was acting up again.
Setting that aside, I asked about their so-called date that looked more like a sparring session.
Julius and Termina laughed and explained that this was what they enjoyed the most—training together, getting stronger together. It brought them closer.
Honestly, they reminded of Freya.
Even my last "date" with her ended in a sparring match.
Marius and I glanced at each other and chuckled.
Well, at least Julius and Termina were innocently dating. Our earlier suspicions had been completely off.
"Hey, let us join you guys for training."
"That’s right, Julius, Termina. I need to practice my new skill. Mind helping out?" I asked.
Julius and Termina noded and exchanged glances and smiled.
...
Finally, the four of us started training together.
We decided on a team battle—Marius and I versus Julius and Termina.
The mont the signal was given, Julius and Termina launched a swift, synchronized attack on , leaving Marius unable to react.
"Haha, going straight for at the start? Not a bad strategy!" I said with a grin as I activated my skill, [Future Sight], allowing to see one second into the future.
I saw Julius preparing to use [Radiant Slash], aiming for my legs, while Termina, anticipating my dodge, would fire [Lightning Power Shoot] when I jumped.
Just as I predicted, they executed their attacks exactly as I foresaw. I avoided Julius’s slash by leaping into the air, then twisted my body backward in a sorsault to dodge Termina’s lightning arrow.
All of their attacks missed, leaving everyone stunned.
"Naoki... how did you dodge my attack in midair without using magic? I was sure it would hit you," Termina asked, clearly curious.
"Yeah, Naoki. Is that a new skill of yours?" Julius looked equally surprised, as did Marius.
"Just as you guessed... It is. I can see one second into the future, which allows to evade your attacks. I obtained this skill after defeating the dungeon boss, Vaelgorath, the One Who Conquers the Ti. You all rember how terrifying that thing was, right? I nearly died several tis fighting it."
"That’s amazing, Naoki! You totally deserve it after what we went through in that dungeon," Marius said, eyes shining with excitent.
"Haha, I knew it. You just keep getting stronger, huh? But I won’t lose that easily!" Julius declared with a determined smirk, making Termina smile.
We resud our sparring session. But this ti—
"Wait, Marius, why are you attacking too?!"
"Oh, co on! We just wanna see how far you can push that new skill of yours, HAHAHA!" Marius laughed as Julius and Termina smirked mischievously.
I narrowed my eyes. These bastards had planned this!
Smirking, I accepted their challenge.
I kept using [Future Sight], skillfully dodging all three of their attacks. However, after ten minutes, a burning pain spread through my eyes. It felt like they were on fire.
Envi’s voice echoed in my mind."Looks like [Future Sight] has a usage limit, Nao. If you keep pushing it, the skill will deactivate and go on cooldown soon."
Understanding the risk, I deactivated the skill for now—
And that’s when it happened.
Julius and Marius suddenly charged at with incredible speed, overwhelming before I could react.
I barely had ti to block as their combined force sent crashing into a tree at the edge of the training ground.
BAM!
—And then, a loud scream.
"Kyaaa!"
Two female voices shrieked as they fell from the tree.
I recognized those voices instantly. When I looked up, I was imdiately smothered by a massive, soft impact, knocking flat on the ground.
Dazed, I opened my eyes—
And found Milly sitting beside , having landed safely in Marius’s arms.
Which ant...
The weight pressing against right now was—
I tried to lift my head but found my vision blocked by sothing soft and warm. When I instinctively reached out to move it—
"Kyahh! S-Stop, Naoki-senpai!"
Aisha?!
I froze as realization hit like a lightning bolt.
The thing I was grabbing...
Was Aisha’s chest.
Her enormous F-Cup chest.
Blood imdiately rushed to my nose.
Oh crap, I’m getting a nosebleed.
No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t get up. The weight of Aisha’s body kept pinned down.
My vision blurred from the blood loss, my strength fading—
And then, an overwhelming killing intent filled the air.
I turned my head slightly, only to see Milly glaring down at with terrifying fury.
"You perverted idiot of a brother!"
She kicked off of Aisha, sending flying into another tree.
BAM!
"Naoki, you absolute idiot! You perv! Aisha and I were only watching you because I was worried about you after the dungeon raid! And yet, you— you... UGH! You just had to pull this kind of crap again! Especially with Aisha, who’s way too innocent for your nonsense! You sleazy bastard!!"
Milly shouted at with a terrifying expression.
I could only laugh weakly. Hahaha... Well, at least she saved from that dangerous position. If I had stayed under Aisha any longer, I might have actually passed out.
In my head, Envi was howling with laughter."HAHAHA! Damn it, Nao! You lucky bastard! I wanna experience being crushed by an oppai monster too!"
"Shut up, you pervy system!" I groaned, rubbing my sore back.
...
After a lot of explaining (and profuse apologizing), I managed to clear up the misunderstanding. Though, honestly, I wasn’t entirely at fault.
"T-That’s okay, Naoki-senpai... It was our fault too. We shouldn’t have been spying on you. We even climbed a tree just to watch..." Aisha said softly, her face flushed with embarrassnt as she tried to cover her chest.
I let out a nervous laugh. "Thanks, Aisha... Honestly, if I had a little sister like you, I think I’d be happier— ah, I an, I’m already happy having Milly as my precious little sister! Haha!"
Milly’s sharp glare made instantly correct myself.
To lighten the mood, I invited Aisha and Milly to join our training session.
Aisha happily agreed—dragging a still-pouting Milly along with her.
And so, we resud training.
...Except now, I was up against five opponents—Julius, Marius, Termina, Milly, and Aisha.
A 1 vs. 5 battle.
This is going to be interesting, I think I’ll start getting serious.
...
..
.
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