Chapter 25: Internal Conflict

“...you guys took down a golem?”

Fate, John and Prota had been called to Albert’s office after having reported the subjugation of the stone golem. The head of the adventurer’s guild stared at them with a tired look.

“You’re not supposed to be taking a quest of that level! Do you know how dangerous- no, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to have you all take a re-evaluation test with Elfin.”

Albert held his head in his hands as if he had a headache. He probably did have a headache. John was well aware that he had that effect on people.

“When’s the test?” Fate asked.

“Two days. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on changing your ranks or anything like that. Consider it a personal curiosity.”

Fate nodded. John waited for someone to say something else, but it seemed there was nothing left to be said.

“Alright, we’ll be off, then. See ya later,” he said, picking Prota up.

He carried her out the door, holding her like a doll, and she seemed quite comfortable with it. Paired with how she looked, one might’ve assumed he really was carrying a life-sized doll with him.

“...those two are odd, no matter how often I look at them,” Albert sighed.

He took another look at the one remaining in the room with him. Fate had stayed behind, just as he’d hoped.

“I gave you special permission to take whatever quest you want. I’ve got to say, I’m surprised you went on that one.”

“The boy chose it, sir.”

“The coreless one?” Albert said, surprised.

“Yes.”

“Do you know why? That shouldn’t be within your skill range yet. Any of your skill ranges, for that matter.”

“...he was looking for something ‘fun.’”

Albert shook his head. “Crazy bastard.”

He stood up, pacing back and forth. A man of his size didn’t belong in an office. He already looked cramped in that chair and looked like he’d fit better wrestling bears or climbing mountains.

“Now. Fate. What do you really think of them? I’m going to have to come to a decision soon. The re-evaluation isn’t meant for you. I’ve received numerous letters from your king. I want to know about them. Especially that girl.”

Fate thought for a bit. Was he supposed to tell the truth? John wasn’t regular. He was incredibly weak. He’d never win in an honest, one-on-one battle. But he was clever. Deviously so. And more than that, his weapon. His clothing. That had to be from there, right?

Earth.

Could they be trusted?

“From what I’ve experienced with them… yes, they can be trusted.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not entirely. But I would risk my life going into a dungeon with those two. That, at the very least, I can do.”

His golden eyes flashed. He wanted to trust them. He wanted to ask John about his weapon, about Earth, and he hoped that John wasn’t an enemy. It just didn’t make sense, though. Why hadn’t the goddess told him about John? John was older than he was. That would mean that he would’ve arrived before Fate, right?

So many questions, so little time… and it would all have to wait.

~~~

John had taken apart his revolver, inspecting it piece by piece, then put it back together and sighed.

“This isn’t gonna cut it.”

After seeing the stone golem, it was safe to assume that adventurers would also have similar levels of durability. This revolver wasn’t going to work on anything. It would work on small fries, but if Fate were really the [Protagonist], then they’d soon be working with stronger opponents.

Reaching into thin air, he pulled out a rifle and a shotgun.

“Ooh.” Prota approached the new weapons with shining eyes.

“Hey, don’t touch,” John said in a panicked voice.

He didn’t want the shotgun going off and blowing a hole in the wall. Now that he thought about it, did this thing have a safety switch?

“Ok. Sorry,” Prota nodded, backing off.

She looked at John with confusion. Where had he gotten these weapons from?

“Um… weapons… where?” she asked, pointing

“Where did I- oh, that’s right. I never explained the pocket dimension.”

John waved his hand, and a shimmer appeared in the air. He motioned for Prota to come over, and when she looked directly from his perspective, she could see a room full of… stuff. A giant pile of things. Food, weapons, furniture, things she’d never seen before, all sitting in a massive pile. She didn’t understand why it was so messy, but she was starting to understand where everything was coming from. She watched as he threw the rifle and the shotgun back in.

“Pocket dimension. It’s pretty standard. I’ll tell you more about it someday.”

Prota nodded. There was still so much to learn about John. Just when she’d thought she had him all figured out, he did something else that just defied common sense. But maybe that was what it took to adapt to this kind of world. A mind that couldn’t be comprehended by anyone else. A mind that constantly adapts to the situation makes the best of the resources one has.

But what about her?

How was she supposed to catch up? She’d barely received any instruction. She didn’t know how to teach herself. She didn’t know how magic worked. All she knew was what raw combat and experience could teach her, but she’d been thrown into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. She might eventually learn how to stay afloat, but no one enjoyed drowning.

She remembered her fight against the golem. Fate. When she’d seen him, she couldn’t help but stare in awe. His sword, drawing perfect lines through the stone, his movement, so much like a dance… but most of all, his confidence. He was strong in a way John wasn’t, but both were still titans in her eyes. She couldn’t picture herself catching up to either of them.

Was she going to stop here? Was this her limit?

“Mm…”

But how? What was “strength?” How good was good enough? She felt like she’d never reach the level she wanted to. Every time, she was relying on someone else. During the fight with the goblins, she couldn’t finish the job on her own. The bandits, too, were a fight she needed help with.

When they’d fought the golem, she’d been delegated to support, and when she’d had a chance to do something impactful, she fumbled the ball, and John had to step in instead.

She couldn’t protect herself. How was she supposed to protect others?

She clenched her fists tightly, so hard that her hands started to shake. She hadn’t felt this hopeless in a long time. She’d gained a goal only to discover that it was practically unreachable. Was this it?

What was the point then? She’d been given a string, a bait, and she’d taken it like a fool. She’d reached out for something, but it hadn’t been a rope to pull her out of her pit.

It was a bait, and she bit the hook.

Prota didn’t want to show her frustration. If she was going to be useless, then at least she shouldn’t worry John about it. It was unfortunate. Had she expressed her feelings, she would’ve understood that she was far stronger than anybody her age should’ve been, but her goals and ideals were so unrealistic that it almost made sense that she was so dejected. Regardless, she went out of the room, determined to hide her emotions.

On her way out, something else came in. John stiffened. The presence was well hidden, but it wasn’t well hidden enough.

“You stink of blood. Consider investing in a better shower.”

There was no reply.

“Oh, we’ve got a comedian, a real funny guy. Are you gonna come out or not? You were there in the old guy’s office, right?”

A man emerged from the shadows, dressed in an impeccably clean suit. His hair was neatly combed and washed. Had John really smelled blood?

“Your senses are… abnormal. Are you really manaless?”

“My senses aren’t abnormal. You just stink.”

“Only those who are accustomed to the smell of blood would be able to detect this little,” Bren said, coming out of the shadows. “My apologies. I am Bren Brer, second in command at the guild. I apologize for the smell, as you put it. I had to take care of some… business.”

“Uh… sure.” John intentionally ignored the more subtle message being delivered. “So… are you just here to visit, or…”

“Please follow me. I will be escorting you to the re-evaluation test.”

~~~

“Hello again.”

Once again, Elfin stood at the center of a field, but this field was underground, in a private facility. There were no spectators this time either; just Fate, Prota, and John.

“The results of this test will be completely private. Only the boss, Bren, and myself will be able to see the results. So please, be free to go all out.”

John didn’t quite understand why Elfin was telling him to go all out when there was no good reason to trust anybody yet, but it seemed that the statement wasn’t really directed at him in the first place.

The examiner was eyeing Prota and Fate. It made sense. John might’ve been suspicious, but it was impossible to fake not having a core from what he knew, so regardless of how talented he was, it was impossible for him to grow beyond a certain point.

Prota and Fate, on the other hand…

[Prota. Do whatever you want.]

Prota’s eyes widened as she saw the message. Hadn’t he told her to hold back?

[It’s fine]

The message came as if he’d read her mind. Well, it probably wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking.

“Who wants to go first?”

Prota immediately stepped forward. Elfin nodded and took his position at the other end of the field.

“Don’t hesitate to use your full force. If I am injured, that is of my own fault.”

Prota nodded and immediately closed her eyes, summoning two spells. She’d land at least one hit. Just one hit. If she couldn’t do that, then she might as well just give up here.

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A small gust of wind formed in one hand while a flame appeared in the other. At the same time, unnoticed by anyone else, a third spell was being summoned, a pillar of fire underneath Elfin’s feet. All at once, the pillar erupted, forcing Elfin to dodge. He’d been caught off guard, but then was forced to immediately raised a barrier as Prota’s fire and wind bomb was thrown, creating a massive explosion.

Although she was spent, Prota knew how to recover. Quickly casting mana recovery, she reached her tendrils out toward Elfin. A thin stream of mana started to flow to her, but then suddenly, it was cut off.

“...!” Prota’s heart practically stopped in fear.

This was the first time this had ever happened. Focusing harder, she sent out more tendrils, and the mana flowed to her as usual.

Unfortunately, this ordeal had taken her focus off the battle, and Elfin had time to recover and was now rushing in with an attack. Prota’s body went stiff as her vision swam back into focus, but she quickly recovered, dodging just in time to avoid taking a serious hit. With that, the battlefield seemed to even out. Her mana core now full, a few icicles were summoned, hovering just around Prota’s head. With a flick of the wrist, they rained down on Elfin, but the elf deflected the projectiles with his sword and charged forward.

Once again, Prota was cursing her lack of power. She’d been able to perform well against many weak opponents, but now, faced with one strong opponent, she was helpless. As Elfin got close, she fell back, trembling.

“...the evaluation is concluded.”

Prota got up shakily and shook her head.

“...more.”

“You’ll get-”

“More.”

John frowned. He couldn’t hear what was happening, but he could tell she wasn’t coming back. What was going on?

“Really, I can’t-”

“More.”

It didn’t look like she was going to budge on this one.

“Haah… well, I can’t say you lack spirit.”

Elfin pulled out his sword once more.

“Ready?”

Prota closed her eyes and prepared one more spell. This would have to be it. She wasn’t going to win in a war of stamina. It was all or nothing.

“You think an opponent will let you stand still and cast?” Elfin exclaimed, charging forward, but Prota didn’t move.

In the next five seconds, an extraordinary sequence of events occurred. First, the ground became covered in ice, causing Elfin’s footwork to slip just a little. Next, and pit of icicles erupted from the ground, forcing the elf to jump back. As he did so, a pillar of fire rose up behind him, limiting his movements. A fireball followed up, striking the ground near his feet, causing a cloud of dust to kick up.

They were all simple spells. None of them were high in firepower or complexity. It was simply the creativeness of Prota’s spells that was giving her an edge. A creativity that could only be obtained through dozens of battles.

“Good! Very good! But it’s not enough!”

Elfin amplified himself just a bit more and charged through the dust, but Prota was already gone.

“Kh-!” Elfin gasped, as a single icicle flew at him.

He jumped and twisted, barely dodging in time. He turned around to see the dust settle.

“...you really gave it your all, huh?”

Prota was lying unconscious on the ground, having overexerted herself. Elfin’s lips subconsciously rose just a bit, but then his expression stiffened as he felt something trickling down his cheek.

“...blood?” He reached up and wiped the wetness away, and sure enough there was a streak of red on his fingers.

“Ha… incredible.” He couldn’t stop a grin from emerging on his face. “To think she’d be able to do something like that. Even if I wasn’t giving it my all… no, that is no excuse.”

He turned to Fate and John.

“So. Who’s next?”

John’s eyes opened in surprise. Elfin wasn’t tired? Even after all that?

“Hey. What rank adventurer would you be?” John called out.

“S rank.” There was no hesitation in the answer.

“Damn,” John muttered.

Clearly, there was a large gap between B and S rank adventurers.

“I’ll go next,” Fate announced.

Like before, he put down his sword and walked onto the field. This time, however, his body almost glowed as mana reinforcement wrapped around him. Taking a deep breath, he summoned three balls of fire to wrap around him, then coated his hands and feet with flames.

“Let’s begin.”

John watched the fight with interest. Fate clearly wasn’t going all out, but it was a good opportunity to see his combat potential.

Fate fought with caution but proficiency, something a child definitely shouldn’t have. He seemed to have an instinct for danger, dodging attacks that were in his blind spot and countering with ease. There were multiple instances when he pushed Elfin’s blade aside with his bare hands, then delivered a mighty blow that was accelerated with a small explosion from behind.

Most interestingly, however, was the combat style without magic. Fate’s movements were similar to that of a trained professional. A trained professional from Earth, that is. John recognized some of those movements. His combat style was more suited for survival. His moves ensured he’d live, even if the fight would carry on a bit further.

If his own fighting style aimed to win at all costs, even death, then Fate fought to survive, even if that meant the opponent got away. How interesting.

“...soldier? Mercenary, maybe?” John thought to himself as he watched the fight. “All possibilities…”

Still, the fight wasn’t anything extraordinary. It was entertaining, sure, but nothing of particular interest. Eventually, Prota stirred, slowly waking up.

“More-” she started, but then realised that her head was in John’s lap.

“...”

Did she fail again? She looked up to see Fate fighting Elfin. There was a scratch on the elf’s cheek. Fate had already injured Elfin? When she couldn’t even touch him? She didn’t know the truth. Had she asked, she would’ve known, but since no one was thinking to tell her of their own free will, she would continue to remain under that misconception. Still, her feelings were hidden behind that emotionless expression of hers.

Soon enough, Fate’s fight was finished, and the boy left the field panting heavily.

“Well, there’s only one contestant left,” Elfin said, panting.

John gently lifted Prota off of him and got up, dusting his pants off.

“You sure you don’t need a rest or something?”

“I’ll recover in a bit,” Elfin assured John.

That was worrying.

How strong was the elf? If John had to, would he be able to defeat him? It wasn’t that there was anything suspicious about him, but it was something he had to consider when he met anybody.

Was this a fight he could win?

If the answer was yes, take the fight. If not, then run. This time, he wasn’t so excited. This wasn’t just a fight for fun. This was a fight that mattered. And while he wasn’t sure what the consequences of his actions were, it was probably better to win than it was to lose, right?

“A weapon this time?” Elfin said, raising an eye as John reached for a pair of daggers.

“I’m gonna need something to parry your blade with,” John shrugged. “Can’t really do that with my hands now, can I?”

Elfin nodded. “A reasonable assessment to make. I’m not sure why you didn’t use these last time.”

“It was fun,” John admitted. “Still, if this is a test to really go all out, I’ll need something, right?”

“No more words. Begin.”

John didn’t charge in. Instead, he started walking slowly around his opponent, watching, waiting for an opening. He didn’t like to show off his abilities, but if they needed to see that he was competent, then he couldn’t goof off forever. It didn’t matter, though. Elfin was still the better fighter.

“What the-” he gasped as he barely deflected the elf’s thin sword. “Holy shit!”

In no time at all, Elfin had closed the distance between himself and John and delivered a blow.

“...I surrender,” John said, dropping his knives.

Prota and Fate stared at him in amazement. He surrendered? After all that?

“...I see,” Eflin said. “Then, you may all leave.”

He watched them with wary eyes as they left the room.

~~~

“They’re powerful. For children, at least, but their growth rate will be tremendous,” Eflin reported. “That Prota girl used three elements, and was able to cast three individual spells. To top it off, chantless casting. They were all simple, but…”

Albert nodded. It was still ridiculous.

“Fate, too. He wrapped himself in flames and charged straight in. I had to really work to beat him,” Elfin admitted.

“Well, you were trying to keep him alive, right? That counts for something.”

“...”

“What’s the matter?”

“He didn’t go all out either.”

“Sorry, what was that?”

Albert looked confused.

“He didn’t go all out, either. Both times he’s fought against me, he puts his sword away. He’s not going all out.”

“Maybe his swordsmanship is from the royal Lunarian family. Besides, if he’s a caster, then what would he do with a weapon like that?”

“That doesn’t change the fact that he still did incredibly well. Besides, his fighting style was remarkably interesting for a caster.”

The table was silent. The implications were pretty staggering.

A child was that strong?

“Cough… well, how about the last one?”

“John?” Elfin hesitated.

There were only three noticeable things about him.

“Well, he asked if I wanted to rest. Despite not having a core, he didn’t take advantage of the situation. Aside from that, he managed to block one of my thrusts with a knife. That was incredibly impressive considering his circumstances.”

“Mm.” Albert nodded.

For a coreless person to block such a powerful attack… he was trained, at the very least. It would keep him alive.

“But also… he didn’t look scared.”

“...?” Bren leaned in.

This was something interesting.

“Normally, when someone is attacked with a lethal blow, they flinch, right? But he just looked at me as calm as always. No reaction. It was as if nothing had happened at all. The girl, too. It’s weak, but she gives off a similar feeling, likely because of their relation, but it’s especially strong with the boy named John.”

“Maybe he’s insane?”

“No,” Bren said, speaking up for the first time. “From what you’ve told me, he didn’t react to your killing intent. He faced you. More than that, though, he managed to notice my presence.”

“What?!”

Bren nodded slowly. “He said he smelled the blood on me. I just returned from dealing with a troublemaker, so I didn’t have time to change. Before inviting them to the re-evaluation, I snuck into their room to check on them, but he noticed me and called me out.”

The shock had been so much for him that he’d forgotten about the rifle and the shotgun.

“...are we sure he’d coreless?”

“We should do a better check on him,” Albert said. “Use a better orb. Bren. Keep your distance, but follow them for a bit longer,” Albert commanded. “Elfin, you keep an eye on Fate. Not out of distrust, but just make sure nothing happens to him.”

Elfin nodded and left the room.

“But you don’t trust the siblings, right?” Bren said quietly as he, too, vanished. Albert didn’t answer.

~~~

“Sir. Our spy reported.”

“Again?”

Doctor was not present for this exchange. Instead, it was the large man from before and a subordinate.

“Y-yes. There is new information.”

The large man took the paper and waved his hand, dismissing the subordinate without a thought.

[Breaker. This is for you. I don’t want to tell Doctor directly because he might throw a fit.

First, the man they sent is much more capable than we thought. We don’t yet know his full capabilities, but he’s strong.

Second, the girl is very likely a [Soul Siphon] user, but don’t report this yet. There is no demonic energy coming from her. Please wait for further confirmation.

Third. There is a young man. He is coreless, for now. But he is very, very careful. His detection skills and mental strength are no joke. It may be wise to eliminate him before he can detect us.

I repeat. Do not report this to Doctor. None of the information in this letter is confirmed. It is merely speculation.]

As soon as Breaker finished reading, the words vanished, leaving only an empty page. Fortunately, despite his looks, Breaker had a very good mind in his head.

“...assassination, huh?”

He pressed a button and spoke into it.

“Get Task Force 3 ready.”