Jiran woke up when he felt Olive stirring in his aura. He quickly came fully awake, his brain feeling refreshed from the catnap.

With an evil grin, he stood up and lightly padded over to stand next to the twitching girl. He bent at the waist until his face was just a centimeter from hers, their noses almost touching. He carefully observed her facial muscles, wanting his timing to be perfect.

Just as her eyes were about to open, he pounced.

“How are you doing that?” Jiran’s voice echoed loudly inside the room.

Olive jerked back from him so hard that she lost her balance. Her arms flailed in the air as gravity accepted her invitation. The chair tilted beyond the point of no return and promptly deposited the squealing girl into a tangle of arms and legs on the floor.

Jiran’s laughter rang through the air as a breathless Olive stared up at him with an uncomprehending, open-mouthed expression.

“W-what? Jiran? What are you doing in my lab?”

Jiran laughed harder at her continued confusion. While Olive looked around and finally began to come to her senses, Jiran was wiping a tear from his cheek.

“Oh, wow,” He said with a long sigh of release.

That was awesome. They’re right. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

“Good morning, Princess. You’ve got a little drool right here,” Jiran wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb.

Olive’s facial expressions contorted through a range of emotions as she processed his words and hastily wiped the drool from her lips. Her cheeks were a blazing inferno as she jumped to her feet and faced him.

“I fell asleep? Oh no, your class! I missed the second half of your lecture. The Colonel, did Colonel Oushatt give you any more trouble?”

“I’ll be teaching the same material every day for the rest of the week so don’t worry about missing anything.”

“Thank the fathers, I still think about how fun it was to learn from you when we were kids. You’re an excellent teacher, Jiran. I’m glad you decided to teach here as well.” Her honest and open smile took him by surprise.

“You said you were denless, was that before we met? That must have been very challenging.”

“Yes, just before we met. I had only been able to access my mana for a few days before I was captured and thrown in that cage with you.”

“What?! How is that possible? That would mean you went from denless to fighting people two tiers above you in just a few days.” Her eyes held such a fervent desire to understand that Jiran didn't have the heart to not explain.

“Before I was cured, I spent most of every day in Samris’s library coming up with ideas on how to use shaping in creative ways. I also managed to form a very deep connection with the little mana I had at the time.

“When I was finally able to use mana, I quickly tested some of my more promising theories and that's right when we met.” Jiran shrugged his shoulders.

He hoped his explanation would be enough to sate her curiosity. The beautiful girl had been steadily inching closer to him with a fervent gleam in her eyes that made him distinctly uncomfortable.

“You are a very abnormal person, Jiran of Felyon,” She said while shaking her head.

Wanting to change the subject, Jiran responded to her earlier question.

“As for Colonel Asshat, he didn’t talk to me again after you scared him off. Thanks again for getting him to back down.”

“Colonel A-asshat?” Olive’s eyes widened and a girly giggle escaped her lips at the scandalous moniker.

“Oh my, that is hilarious,” They shared the grin of two bandits in cahoots over a clever theft gone off without a hitch.

Flowing smoothly with the jovial mood, Olive teasingly brought up his previous prank.

“You should be careful waking me up like that, Jiran. You really startled me. What if I had accidentally punched you in the face?” Her grin faded into the professional pout of a princess.

Yikes, that’s the face that makes fathers want to spoil their kids. Turn that thing somewhere else!

Jiran’s hand formed a karate chop and landed directly between Olive’s eyes. The playful attack hit just hard enough to force the Tier five girl’s head to reel back in surprise.

“Ow. What was that for?!” She shouted in surprise.

“For always being so weird! What were you thinking, attacking me last week? Then in The Garden yesterday, giving everyone the impression I’ve done something heinous to you. The entire academy, hell the entire city probably thinks I’m some kind of rapist!”

Olive looked at him with naked horror painted on her face. She covered her open mouth with her hand as she backed two steps away from him while shaking her head back and forth.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“No, that’s not what I meant! I-I didn’t mean it like that!” Tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.

Jiran stepped after her and reached out his hand, gently patting the top of her head.

“I forgive you, so no tears. I would like it if we could have normal conversations from now on, okay?” He softened his tone to match the calming head pats.

Olive nodded her head meekly. She quickly calmed her emotions before responding.

“I can do that. My apologies, Jiran. I didn't mean to cause you trouble.”

“Good,” Jiran smiled brightly at her.

“By the way, why did you attack me? We could have at least had a conversation first,” Jiran maintained his bright smile, but the warning in his eyes was clear. If Olive’s answer wasn't acceptable, she would be in for another chop.

Olive stared blankly at his smiling mouth for a couple of seconds before responding.

“You’ve been fighting for the last year non-stop. I-I’ve been getting reports on you from the army so I know how much you like to fight. I just thought you would appreciate it if I showed interest in something you enjoy.”

Olive nervously tapped the ends of her index fingers together as her voice tapered off into a whisper.

“You’re one to talk, Olive! Are there even three other Tier fives our age in the entire empire? I doubt a single one of them is at the peak of the tier like you are. You must have been fighting nearly non-stop.”

“That’s not a fair comparison. I had all the resources of the empire to help me. Not to mention all the tutors, party members, and the best hunting grounds. Comparing me to others, especially you, makes me feel like I barely achieved anything.” Her fists clenched in a frustration so strong that Jiran could feel it bleeding into her small aura.

Jiran scrambled to think of something to cheer her up and keep the tone of their conversation pleasant.

“Well, what about that lance and armor? I’ve never seen anything like that before. How did you get the mana channels to mimic a skill?

“I’ve figured out how to convert a beast core to a mana core, I’ve also created a material that can function similarly to a mana channel. However, I have no clue how to turn the stored and channeled mana into a useful effect.”

Jiran couldn't hold back the excitement bubbling in his chest. Before he realized how far he was leaning toward Olive, there were only a few centimeters of distance between them.

“Wait, you actually created a material that can channel mana? I’ve had to use beast veins extracted from corpses. The veins are incredibly difficult to harvest and store and installing them in any material is nearly impossible.” It was Olive’s turn to let her enthusiasm for the subject get the better of her.

They both had such sincere expressions that the moment the corner of Jiran’s lips cracked into a smile, the tense atmosphere shattered. The two teenagers laughed loudly at themselves and each other as they realized how serious they had been.

“Let’s discuss this more another time. Maybe you can show me this lab of yours and I’ll bring some of my materials for you to run some tests on.”

“I would like that a lot,” Olive’s smile was genuine as she replied.

“So you really only attacked me because you thought I would like it? That seems a little excessive, don’t you think?”

“No, no not at all! I wanted to tell you to keep a low profile and not reveal anything about you being the Fireling. But then you did, you completely ruined all of my plans, Jiran!” She stomped her foot gently for emphasis.

Jiran’s hand rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he laughed nervously.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to do that. Not only is Fireling the worst name in existence, but I also kinda wanted to maintain a low profile,” He shuddered in embarrassed agony.

“I think this way is better though. Because word got out, a lot of people came to my lecture today. I was able to help almost everyone who tried to instantly convert density into mana.

“It felt really good to improve the empire's future even a little, you know? You probably get that a lot though, being a princess.” Jiran watched as a twinkle formed in her eyes while she listened to him.

He did not expect her to jump forward and grasp one of his hands between hers.

“Isn’t it the best feeling to improve the lives of the people?! My mothers always laugh at me when I tell them how great it feels to help. They don’t understand at all.”

“M-mothers? As in more than one? How does that… Never mind, I can absolutely picture your dad pulling that off. Cheating giga-chad,” Jiran looked down at his hand, still clasped between her soft fingers, and pulled away while nervously looking over his shoulder as if the living nightmare would appear behind him at any second.

“I’m sure you’ll have many wives as well, Jiran. Now that everyone knows you’re the Fireling, I wouldn't be surprised if a thousand women are begging you for a chance by the end of the moon.”

It was Jiran’s turn for a look of horror to cross his face. He unconsciously took a step away from her as the terrifying possibilities played out in his mind.

No no no no, this can’t be happening. I don’t want to hear that name ever again and now they are going to be screaming it at me every five seconds. This is a nightmare, I’m going to wake up soon and never have to hear that name again.

Wake up, wake up!

Olive’s delicate laughter brought him out of his ruminations.

“I’m glad you realize how great a responsibility multiple wives will be. But you are allowed to turn them down, Jiran. You don’t have to marry every single one of them, you know?”

Jiran rubbed his temples at just how badly she had misunderstood his reaction.

“No, that’s not it. I just don’t want them to call me the Fireling constantly. I really dislike that name.”

Olive took a step toward him in a way that set off alarm bells in Jiran’s skull. Her right hand was clenched into a tight fist. With the power and durability of the empire's strongest Tier five, that fist was not a joke to be taken lightly.

“I see. Since you don’t plan to turn any of them down, there are certainly about to be a great many happy women in the city, aren’t there?” The stony glint in her eyes and the set of her jaw let Jiran know he had very little time left to correct her continued misunderstandings.

“I’m not going to marry anyone, Olive! You’ve got it all wrong! Please, relax,” Sweat sprouted on his back as he patted the air between them in a calming gesture.

Olive’s face shifted from anger to outright ruinous fury.

“You’re just going to use them and then discard them without marrying a single one?! I was wrong about you, Jiran.

“Prepare to die, scum!”

Jiran barely rotated out of the way of her kick that would have stolen his chances of ever reproducing.

The blastwave of her attack tore through the room, knocking over furniture and sending books flying through the air.

Luckily, it also flung open the doors. Jiran wasted no time as he dashed out of the room at full speed. A demon of rage and destruction hot on his heels.