“Seriously, I can’t help but say it again, but she’s improving at a crazy rate.”

“Crazy? I was crazy once. They locked me in a room. A rubber room-”

“Don’t start again.” Kit glared at John venemously. “I’ll seriously rip out your tongue if I hear you talk about rats one more time.”

Only a day had passed since Prota’s new training regiment with Kit had begun, but the Mystic was already impressed with how far Prota had gotten. Her new spell was something to behold. She was technically at the level of an archmage, with the talent to create multiple unique spells that she’d never seen before. Kit was sure something of similar calibre existed out there, but would Prota have ever come across it? No.

To top it off, she wasn’t just a one trick pony. No, the sheer amount of elements she was comfortable with was insane. She still primarily used fire and ice magic, seeing as she’d awakened them on her own and was more comfortable with them, but there was a whole arsenal of other magic at her disposal.

Wind. Shadow. Poison. Water. Earth. At the young age of eight, she already had seven elements in her arsenal.

How ridiculous.

While Kit was familiar with all of these elements, she wasn’t very well versed in them. It seemed that even Mystics had affinities. For now, Prota was actually working backwards. Ever since John had learned of how uncommon chantless casting was, they’d been working on teaching Prota some common spells so she didn’t stick out like a sore thumb. John frowned as he remembered the conversation.

“...we’re bringing this up now?”

“I mean, there just wasn’t a good time to bring it up earlier.”

“What do you mean, not a good time? You could’ve just said ‘hey, John. Your sister can cast without chanting? That’s pretty cool!’”

“We weren’t that friendly before, and then everything happened so fast!” Fate protested.

“Prota literally trained with Kit for how many weeks?!” John exclaimed. He took a deep breath and sighed. “No, no, it’s not your fault.”

Kit and Fate stared at each other quizzically, puzzled by John’s sudden change of mood, but what they didn’t know was that John had suddenly realized something.

“Ah. The [Author] forgot that they wanted a chant based system. And forgot to teach Prota chanting. And they’re implementing it only now, and they’re trying to backtrack. What a great [Author] I have.”

So now that Prota was off practicing, Kit and John had very little to do. John had inquired at some point whether or not it was alright for Kit to be in her human form, but the fox had simply shrugged and confirmed that there wouldn’t be anyone who would notice them.

“Hey,” Kit said suddenly. “You seem pretty knowledgeable in artifacts.”

“...not really? I just picked up a few things I read and stuff. Engineering interested me for a bit.”

“You don’t look like you’ve studied a day in your life,” Kit scoffed.

“That’s true,” John shrugged. “I’ve never really studied, but when you live for a while, you pick up at least a few things.”

“You know, you’re also supposed to mature with age.”

“Pot calling the kettle black over here.”

“Hmph! I’ll have you know I’m very mature!” Kit said, turning her nose up.

“...yeah. Sure.”

“What is that supposed to mean, you little…”

Kit sighed and looked at Prota again. However, her focus wasn’t on the girl.

“Mm. Hey.” Kit seemed a bit bashful, but she managed to push her next words out. “Could you teach me?”

“...what?”

“Artifacts. Come on, barely anyone knows anything about them, even Mythics. But you really seem to know something. Just like Fate, but he wouldn’t say anything.”

“You really are a massive nerd.”

“I don’t care what I’m called, as long as I can learn more.” A dreamy but sad look appeared on Kit’s face. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

John’s face remained neutral, but he was curious. This probably had to do with her backstory, but it probably wasn’t his place to hear it yet.

“Hm… well, Fate might know a lot of what I know, too. You know we come from essentially the same Earth, right? Stuff like magic doesn’t exist there.”

“Yes, he told me that science has replaced what magic does for us here,” Kit nodded. “So I was curious, but he’d always refuse to tell me anything…”

John sighed and leaned back. “It’s probably because technology sucks on Earth. I’ve been to a lot of different Earths, and I don’t really have full memories of any of them, but they seemed to all have one thing in common: technology made things a lot easier, but it also made things a lot worse. Besides, our technology was made to be efficient. Well, for the most part. But artifacts and science are a little different. I doubt we could replicate true artifacts from dungeons, but I’ve got some ideas here and there. Things that might work, and not even in theory.”

Kit stared at John. What did he mean by “full memories?” “Lots of different Earths?”

“I use technology because it’s convenient. Also because I have no mana, but that’s a different story. Look. This world has magic. Earth has technology. There’s no need to put the two together. That would make this a whole different genre, and I’m not interesting in doing that.”

“Hey, what did you-”

“I’m not gonna answer that.”

“I didn’t even finish the question!”

“You’re gonna ask about my memories, right? Different Earths?”

Kit didn’t answer.

“What, you think my tongue slipped or something? I’m not that stupid. No, I know what I said. I just don’t want to explain.”

“Come on, even to a pretty lady like me?” Kit said, grabbing onto John’s arm.

John gave Kit a glance. He acknowledged that from an objective standpoint, she was pretty. He wasn’t affected at all, though.

He’d gone through this once, with Zero, back when there’d been a particularly pretty customer at his bar. He had no intentions of making any romantic relationships, but she was the attention of a lot of male customers, and because John didn’t really feel anything towards her, it was inevitable that she’d try to make a move on him at some point.

He’d rejected her right away.

That’s brought up the point of relationships in this world. John had fague memories of his time on his original Earth. There were an awful lot of readers that were incredibly degenerate for fictional women. Women that would never exist, women that were simply ideas or art, drawn by someone to be physically appealing.

So if he ever got into a relationship with someone in a [Story], would that make him equally degenerate? Or would he be envied for living the romantic life so many [Readers] couldn’t?

A chill went through his spine. He didn’t want to think about it.

“Seriously, though. Maybe Fate can’t handle what you know. But I’m not exactly young. I’m not all that naive, either. Is it really so bad?”

John didn’t say anything. Was it so bad? The knowledge that your life was a lie? Your emotions and relationships existed for the entertainment of others?

“Yeah,” John said quietly. “It really does suck. Learning is fun. But there’s a reason they say ignorance is bliss. You can go too far, and then you find that you can’t turn back.”

Kit’s playful expression slowly faded away as she let go of John’s arm. His words seemed to indicate regret, but John’s tone gave no indication that he regretted anything in the slightest. He spoke as if he were simply stating that apples were fruits, or that he was going to wash the dishes.

“Would you at least show me your strange power?”

John laughed. “Are you even gonna give up?”

“I’m a stubborn fox,” Kit said proudly. “What’s so bad about it?”

“Nothing. Well, it’s annoying.”

“For you.”

“Yeah, for me. Not you, I guess.”

Kit nodded and turned to look at Prota again. Even in the brief moment they’d been talking, Prota had already continued to improve. Her understanding of mana was just too good.

“I’m curious, though. Just answer this, at least. In a fight. If we both went all out. Who would win?”

“I don’t know how strong you are,” John shrugged. “How am I supposed to answer that?”

Kit grabbed John’s head and forced him to look her in the eyes. Her fox like pupils narrowed as she stared him down.

“You’re avoiding the question. Answer me honestly.”

John didn’t flinch. “If I went all out… honestly? You would win.”

Kit let go of John’s face with a disappointed sigh. “Seriously, you can’t be honest, even now. Don’t you know not to toy with a woman’s feelings?”

“No, I’m serious.”

Kit didn’t move, but she was listening.

“What’s going all out? What’s winning? If I set up a field of traps and invite you to fight on it, is that going all out? Let’s say I have a comically large anvil tied over your head, and the fight doesn’t start until I say go. Then I drop the anvil on you and crush you. Did I win?”

“Oh, shut up. You know exactly what I mean.”

John just shook his head. “Here, I’ll put it this way. If we were fighting, just for the sake of fighting or something, you would win. Every time, probably. But if I had to win, if I needed to win… well, I’ll put it this way.”

Kit listened eagerly. Was he about to reveal something?

“If I need to win. If it’s a fight to the death, where you won’t back off, no matter what. It’s not possible for me to lose.”

John said it as a matter of fact. There was no arrogance or ego in the statement. He didn’t even seem proud of the fact. Rather, he seemed almost disappointed. And Kit didn’t understand what that meant. It wasn’t possible for him to lose? Didn’t he just say he’d lose every single time?

However, she wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. All it meant was more mysteries for her to solve.

“Hm… you really are quite interesting.”

John nodded. His usual slight grin had come back onto his face.

“Hey, do you know telepathy by any chance?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You should learn this spell I know. It’s called testicular torsion…”

~~~

It didn’t seem like it, but Prota was listening in on their conversation. She’d almost lost it when Kit had grabbed John’s arm, but she’d managed to control herself. Now that she thought about it, why was she so upset at something like that? It wasn’t wrong for John to have companions. She never felt that way about Fate.

With a small frown, she went back to practicing her magic. She’d noticed that her [Creation] ability had levelled up again when checking her status, but when she’d told John about it, he’d been confused rather than proud.

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“You… can check your status?”

Prota nodded.

“Hm… then why is mine…”

John patted Prota on the head and gave her a thumbs up, but she could tell that he was deep in thought.

It didn’t matter, though. She still needed to get stronger. She was mindlessly chanting to cast fire bomb, a third circle spell, but she didn’t really understand what fire bomb was. She saw Kit cast it and saw that it was a bigger, stronger version of fireball, so why not just do that?

No, in the first place, why not just use blue fire?

Her understanding of magic was inherently different from everyone else’s. Others saw chants as a means to summon magic. Prota visualized magic and brought it to life. She couldn’t understand the difference between a large fireball and firebomb, because she didn’t know what a “fireball” and a “firebomb” were in the first place. She only understood that she could summon fire, and from there, it was just a matter of how well she could summon it.

Still, this was necessary for her to blend in. On top of that, she was supposed to be learning something, but she wasn’t sure what. She remembered something about learning the flow of mana, but she was already doing that without chanting.

She could feel it now. The way the mana spread from her core to the tips of her fingers, then the way it accumulated in the air and reacted to what she wanted. Her [Magic] level had gone up too, resulting in the following [Profile].

[Character Profile: Prota Char

Gender: Female

Age: 8

Abilities: [Soul Siphon], [Soul Copy: Level 2], [Magic: Level 4] [System] [Character Profile] [Creation: Lv. 2] [Plot Armor... [Expand?]

Traits: [Character: 100%] [Anomaly]

Status: Alive]

Magic seemed to roughly correspond to the level of magic she could use, although she now understood that circle magic didn’t apply to someone like her.

However, what was important that her magic proficiency was increasing. Her Blossoms were forming at a much faster rate, and she was finding ways to decrease the mana usage for them as well. Blue fire was also condensing quicker, and she was looking for ways to be able to summon it instantly. Some of this meant trading power for efficiency, but that was fine, right?

She didn’t understand what was so difficult about magic. She just had to be able to see it in her mind. Basic spells or spells she already knew how to cast were simply the result of her picturing the spell forming in front of her. If she didn’t know what to do, she just had to picture how the mana would flow in order to create it.

But how was she supposed to explain something like that?

She didn’t know. She just kept chanting while casting fire bomb.

~~~

“Sir. Did you receive the report?”

“Yes. It seems there are other things brewing in town.”

“Hm…”

Breaker rubbed his chin as a small girl handed him a sheaf of papers. He nodded, and the girl turned to leave without a sound. He didn’t really like dealing with the husks that Doctor made, but he had to admit that they did their job well.

Humans with modified souls. They were essentially golems. Doctor had somehow managed to figure out how to remove the sense of “self” while keeping the energy of a soul the same. Doctor had once told Breaker that he didn’t know where the personalities went, but these husks still knew how to think for themselves. They just followed orders because Doctor made them.

The ability to remove and reprogram a soul. How terrifying.

Breaker was glad he was on Doctor’s side. But at the same time, there were things that he felt he needed to take care of himself.

“Hm… an issue with the son of a noble… the church dealing with the prisoners… what’s this?”

Breaker showed his subordinate a sheet of paper. “That John guy. People think he’s doing some kind of shady deals?”

“Yes,” the man nodded. “He’s manaless, after all. How could he be a B rank adventurer?”

“...look into that more,” Breaker said. The man made a note and nodded.

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s all. Good job.”

~~~

“Haah… what a long day,” Fate sighed, falling onto his bed. He took his mask off and stared at the ceiling, letting the fatigue in his body melt away.

“Was Danjo harder to teach than you expected?” Kit’s voice was transmitted directly to Fate’s head.

“Sort of,” Fate muttered. “He’s a genius when it comes to understanding how mana flows, but for him to get the spell out… it’s a little difficult.”

“Oh?”

“It’s like… how do I say it. It’s like seeing a boulder on a hill. If I can push the boulder just a bit, it’ll get rolling, but I don’t have the means to push the boulder. I don’t know.”

Kit jumped onto Fate’s bed and nuzzled his cheek fondly.

“Maybe you’re going about it wrong.”

“How so?”

“Instead of working on what he’s weak with, focus on his strengths.”

“His strengths… what do you mean?”

The pink fox winked. “That’s for you to figure out.”

Fate groaned in frustration, but something like that wouldn’t get anything out of Kit.

“I might consider changing my mind if you tell me more about engineering.”

“Engi- where did you hear that?”

“I asked John a few things.”

“Seriously, Kit! Knowing you, you’re going to go and replicate an atomic bomb or something, and then we’ll all be screwed!”

“A what?” Kit’s eyes glimmered with excitement.

“This is exactly why I don’t want to tell you!”

The little fox shook her head and jumped onto Fate’s chest.

“Fine. John said the same thing, basically.”

“...really?”

“Yes, he didn’t really feel like telling me about it either, for similar reasons to you. How boring,” Kit sighed. “What a dull boy. He wasn’t interested in me in the slightest.”

“...I’m not even going to ask.”

“I found out some interesting things about those two, though.”

Fate sat up and held Kit. “Huh? What?”

“Prota’s talent is more monstrous than I thought. She did the chants I taught her, but she clearly doesn’t need them. Her magic is almost stemming from imagination itself. She’s a natural at manipulating mana. It’s almost interfering with her ability to chant spells.”

“How good?”

“Better than you, at least.”

Fate frowned. “Really?”

“Fate, you’re talented in a very different way. I don’t think she’s more talented than you in general. You learn at a much faster rate than she does. Look at you. In just a few years, you’ve learned mana breathing, the hand to hand combat style of the Mystics, various elements, and you’ve even unlocked your monstrous mana and that special aura of yours. But if we were to compare your talent in mana alone… that girl outpaces you.”

Kit raised a paw and put it on her mouth. It kind of looked like she was rubbing her chin, but in her fox form, it looked a little strange.

“It’s very interesting. It’s almost as if she has the ability to play around with reality itself. I mean, that is what the power of dragons is similar to, but her ability isn’t fully awakened… regardless, she’s quite strong.”

Fate nodded. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or worried. It was good to have strong companions, but at the same time, there was no guarantee that she was on Fate’s side.

“Oh, but even more interesting was that boy.”

“John?”

“Yes.” Kit paused for a moment, thinking. “There’s… I don’t know if he was telling the truth, but I think he was. We had quite the interesting conversation.”

Fate waited, but Kit wouldn’t speak.

“...what do you want?”

“Nothing. I’m just trying to figure out how to say this.”

“How to say what?”

“Mm… well, don’t take this the wrong way, but if it comes to it, I don’t think we can beat him.”

“What?”

Fate shot up, fatigue be damned. What was this? John? They were talking about the manaless man, right?

“Remember that strange energy of his? I asked him about it, but he wouldn’t tell me about it. He did say this, though. When I asked him who would win, me or him, he said he would probably lose. But.”

Kit looked up at Fate, her playful voice turning dead serious.

“He said something about… not being able to lose.”

Kit looked at Fate. “I don’t think he was bluffing or joking. He wasn’t talking as if he had some secret weapon or hidden strength. It was as if he were stating a fact. As if the world itself would never let him lose.”

Fate shuddered. He’d somewhat forgotten about John’s strange energy. His arsenal of weapons. His strange ability to wield modern tech from Earth. His drugs, his mysterious capability to fight when needed. Somehow, the energy from the Cave of Trials had somehow been forgotten. But now, it was being brought up again.

What kind of energy overpowered the very nature of the world? What could possibly eliminate the possibility of losing? That statement went against all logic. From what Fate knew, even Celestia, the goddess of the world, was not all powerful. She had restrictions. Theoretically, someone who could handle as much mana as her could defeat her.

So why was John so confident?

~~~

“Fate would win against me, every time,” John told Prota.

“...why?”

“Prota, did I not go over this? He’s the [Protagonist]. He’s supposed to win.”

John was saying that, but he was also thinking about what Zero had told him. The power of an [Anomaly]. That he might be more in charge of his actions than he thought.

“Regardless, Fate’s going to grow a lot more,” John told Prota as he fell into his bed. “Monstrously so.”

Prota nodded, but she felt a little down. She wanted to grow, too. Why did Fate get all of this? What did being the [Protagonist] mean? Why couldn’t she be one?

“You don’t want to be a [Protagonist], Prota. At least, probably not in this kind of story.”

Prota looked over at John. He spoke as if he’d read her thoughts.

“Fate probably has his own story, just like how you have yours. Prota. Being the [Protagonist] isn’t all that.”

“...?” Who wouldn’t want to be the hero of a story?

“Prota. Would you recommend someone to go through your past, just to gain your power?”

She shook her head. Why should anyone go through what she went through?

“Being the [Protagonist] entails trauma. Usually. Stories where the [Protagonist] is powerful for no reason tend not to be very good. All that power is never free, Prota. It usually comes with a lot of pain.”

Prota nodded, but the feeling of jealousy couldn’t just disappear. Emotions weren’t logical.

“You don’t need to worry about being stronger or weaker than Fate, ok?”

Prota looked up at John.

“You’re strong. That’s all that matters.”

Right. She wasn’t weak. She was getting stronger. But it was so easy to forget. So easy to relapse into a feeling of desperation.

When would she climb out of the pits?

“Come on, let’s go to sleep. I’m tired.”

“John didn’t do anything today.”

“Yeah, that took a lot of effort. Come on, you’ve gotta be tired too, right? Let’s sleep.”

Prota nodded and put her head on her pillow, but she couldn’t sleep. She could tell John wasn’t sleeping either, but that didn’t worry her. She suspected he was talking to Zero based on the way he shifted, but that was between them.

Growing stronger. Being strong. Despite all the talks they’d had about it, she still didn’t know. What did it mean? Why was she so obsessed with it?

With one more thing to worry about, she closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep.