Peoples say talents are inborn onto peoples. Your emblem, your life, your worth, all already determined the moment you are born. Your future, already determined the moment you are born. Born as the strong or born as the weak. This was the answer the world had taught us, this was how the world grew up to be. Anyone who broke this rule would be seen as an outcast, a threat, and different. However, none of these actually matters.

The word talent comes from the cowardice of others, peoples who failed to dedicate their life into working hard. In short, someone who already gave up on themselve. A destined fate comes from the cowardice of mankind, afraid of the future to step forward. Someone who had accepted a fate that is non-existent. A trivial joke, not even funny. Talent is nothing more than a word for jealousy, and fate, is nothing more than a show of fear. True talent comes through hard work.

“Hmmm… but still… I wonder why Lynn had told me to come early,” Isaac spoked out loud. It was not like Lynn would be in the room and greet me with open arms either. He was sure he’d be resting from yesterday’s incident. We’d tied him down even if we had too. It was actually surprising how Lynn was able to render the man unconscious. As far as I know, he was a level 4 in the academy.

It was right after his match yesterday when he had heard what had happened in school. He was hoping both Haru and Lynn would come together and watch his match. When he had found both of them not here, he had thought they had something important to do. Saying that it did not bother him would be lying. It was proved true when Isaac had started his first match and found it difficult on focusing.

From what Isaac had heard from the school’s medics, it seemed like Lynn was completely dried off his mana, in a mana drain state. There were two stages of self-mana drought. First one was mana zero, where you simply ran out of mana. Being in a mana zero state would usually render your conscious away, but would still be manageable as long as you did not lose all your mana in a quick session. Second, the mana drain state, where you had lost all your mana but continued forcing your way through casting spells. Instead of using pure mana, it takes the raw ether in the air and force it into the body. It would give the body the necessary mana, but in exchange, it forces the body to increase its conversion rate. It was a huge burden onto the body.

“No surprise…” Isaac whispered. It was strange to not notice his experiences in combat. At first, he thought it was strange how Lynn was able to support Haru in a well-manner fashion during our first mock battle together. All Lynn strikes were too well timing to consider him as a simple level 2. He had supported Haru when she had needed it most and in the most efficient manner. Between each of Haru’s strikes, Lynn’s support soon followed after, to fill in the blank between Haru’s offense and defense. It was as if he already forecasted the events that would happen.

A true genius Isaac had thought, but it was clearly a mistake. Lynn had to have been the same as him. His movements were polished. Every step he took, it was in the most efficient matter. Instead of moving in random patterns, he conserved his energy and only moved the minimum amount needed. It was obvious it was trained through hard work. While it was more difficult to notice Lynn's movement, Haru's was most noticeable. Her movements were agile and experienced. If Haru was the light in that battle, then Lynn was her shadow, always right beside her.

“Ughhh!! This rain sure is annoying!” Isaac screamed in tantrum as he raised both his arm.

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While Isaac was engrossed in himself, the rain did not quite down. It had started early in the morning when showers of rain fell onto the area. It was loud enough to feel as if there was no building between us. Because of this, it was clear that Isaac failed to get any good sleep as his eyelids were shadowed. As soon as Isaac was at his classroom’s entrance, the door was swung open.

“Ah!” Isaac had spoken out loud startled. Isaac was not expecting anyone in the least in such early mornings. Before the strange meeting had gotten awkward in any way, Isaac had greeted both the women a front of him.

“Morning ladies.”

“Ah... ummm... Morning.” One of the lady spoke as she lowered her head slightly. She then immediately followed by exiting as fast as she could. Seeming that the other lady was still surprised, she was able to hastily bow her head slightly and quickly chased after her friend.

“I guess Lynn isn’t the only one.” Isaac had thought to himself scratching the back of his head.

“Strange…” Isaac had whispered to himself as he made his way towards his seat. As Isaac entered the classroom, he had realized that the ladies whom he just met were not part of his class.

“Maybe they’re interested in joining the class like the others,” he had thought. Soon however, Isaac would realize how naive he was.

As soon as Isaac had gotten to his seat, his eyes shot wide open. If he was dead just now, Isaac now was alive, revived from the dead.

“Seriously… Not even funny...” Isaac whispered as he made his way back out. It was obvious Isaac was furious. His steps have gotten louder, his eyes were beaming with hate. His anger however, was not directed at what he saw, or at who did it, but at himself. He resented himself for being blind. He resented at his oblivious self to not notice. He had thought he could comfort another by being in their present. He had thought he could shield others with his title of the Lion’s First. In the end… it was senseless to think that he could.

It was not long before Isaac had came back and when he did, he had came back with a bucket of water and a towel. It was for obvious reasons. As Isaac continued to wipe the table, Isaac was unable to do anything besides to take all the hate written to heart. It was not for Lynn, it was not for Haru, but for himself. If all he could do was feel the malice of others through word, then so be it. Isaac had wanted to shoulder other’s burden, but it was obvious he was doing a poor job. If all he could do was this… then he had hoped one day, he'll understand the pain of others.

“Demon...”

“Go to hell…”

“Go back where you came from demon...”

“Black hair devil...”

There were many other scribbles, some even unreadable, but the one that stood out the most was, “Black Demon!“ The term black demon was referred to a plague that had killed many of us humans. It was not just a normal miasma outbreak, but it had also turned us humans into undeads. As soon as the host would die, the infection would take control of the body, sometimes even changing its form; those undeads were referred to as the black demons. It was not long ago in class where Professor Luden has lectured us on this subject. Since that history, the color black was referred to as a bad omen.

“Come see us behind building #2 after school. This is your last chance,” A message on the table was displayed.

Even so, Haru was probably unaware of her situation. Even then, it was better if she was not aware of it. All Isaac could do was thank Lynn from the bottom of his heart.

“Serious… If you have so much time, go train…” Isaac whispered.

“Damn it... Damn it! Damn it!” Isaac started cursing as moments passes by. At the same time, Without even realizing, Isaac had started wiping the table harder than necessary. Even if he had realized, surely he would have done it himself.