“...”

Raphael put the medicine tube he had just created into a cardboard box, one he created himself. He then walked out of his laboratory, slumping down on his living room sofa. He heaved a heavy sigh. His medicine still counted as magic, and it started taking a toll on him. He promised Carol that he wouldn’t push himself, but what could he do now?

He looked out the window. Out there, far away in the Ranger’s training hall, she was fighting for something as well. He didn’t know the details of her job, but he assumed it had something to do with her graduation. Out there, she did her very best to keep up, to push her own boundaries, challenge herself.

Just until graduation…

Carol had said that when they parted ways earlier this morning. It was a weekend, she should have been free from her tasks. After all the things they talked about last night, he hoped to be able to spend the day with her. Alas, she had something important to do. He could only wait patiently until she completed her tasks.

Looking at this now empty manor, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that after a while, it would be the home to the both of them. They had been together since they were little children, so in all honesty, Raphael found it hard to believe that things would change the day they gave each other their vows. Yet, he found himself thinking about it nonetheless. The good, the bad. The joys, the troubles. They would be together until the end of their lives.

It felt like a weird thought to have. It would still be a while until that thing happened, but the last few years passed in the blink of an eye. These days, too, would soon pass.

He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket all of a sudden. He rose from the sofa and took it out, reading a notification from Koski.

It had the latest information regarding the Mount Moluart Tournament. The first round would take place on the last Saturday of the eight-month, six days from now. It would be held in various locations, including Mount Moluart.

Raphael's first fight wouldn't take place there, however. His name was registered under group D, registered under the Kalstaetein family as a representative. There would be four groups in total, A to D. The preliminaries consisted of four rounds of fighting and would result in a single contestant from each group.

The semi-finals would have the winner from each group battle it out, with the last two going on in the finals.

Those fighting in group D would be battling in Orotta Stadium.

'Apparently, there are rumors that there will be more humans participating. All thanks to you, Sir.'

'Me?'

The only thing Raphael remembered ever doing was agreeing to fight, nothing more.

'I did nothing.'

He meant it when he typed that.

'Many people wanted to have a chance to fight against the Great Mage, so they insisted on joining. The organizers had been thanking me for getting you onboard.'

Am I really that famous?

Regardless, this only meant increased hopes for Raphael. People came from all over the world just to have a chance to fight him. No one forced him to honor those wishes.

He's a medicine maker, not a fighter.

Yet it didn't feel nice, either. People trained themselves to be able to go up against him. They spent hours every day pushing themselves, trying to be the best version of themself, yet he spent none.

It felt unfair. A person who never trained yet had never been defeated. The top of the university without even trying. Object of envy and admiration at the same time. Truly, he deserved none of this attention, yet he received them nonetheless.

To honor those hopes, he should at least try fighting. Just a bit. Just enough to fulfill the expectations of those around him.

'Koski, can you get me to Mount Moluart's crater?'

'I'm on my way, Sir.'

* ••

Towering high above its surroundings, Mount Moluart was the highest object on Moluart Island. From its peak, the flat round crater that once housed all volcanic activity, Raphael could see all sides of the island. Kaleya on the west, Orotta to the east, various smaller settlements to the north and south, the sea that surrounded them, even some of the neighboring islands.

A stunning view, yet he wasn't there for sightseeing. Stepping off Koski, Raphael took a step forward, standing at the center of the crater. The crater had a diameter of one kilopeb, the walls of it looked far in the distance.

"If you don't mind me asking, Sir, why did you come up here?" Koski asked, standing behind him.

"I'm here to train," Raphael replied, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

"You, Sir?"

"Yes."

He closed his eyes, calming his nerves. He inhaled, then exhaled. His mind cleared itself of all his thoughts. Koski saw him and sat next to him, his massive figure, relatively small by dragons' standards, looked surprisingly large when compared to the small human next to him.

As Raphael's mind dove deeper, he started feeling the magic around him. The elements in the air, the magic flowing in his veins. The very world that moved around him. A living, breathing, planet. He didn't need to think about them when he used magic, unlike some who needed that level of concentration just to fire a spell.

A training he once studied during the early months of university, allowing students to connect to the world around them. He never did this practice ever since he graduated, but he still remembered the procedure.

He took another breather, before opening his eyes and standing up. He glanced at the dragon sitting beside him, still concentrating. He took a step back, turned around, and walked away, heading for the western point of the crater.

Kaleya sat silently down below. He could find his manor, the town's shopping district, and even the Ranger's headquarters he visited earlier that day, all laid out before him.

Thousands of people went through their daily activities down there, everyone with their own hopes and dreams, their own wishes. Their own separate lives and their own futures. Standing this high above gave him a great perspective on how different he was from the rest of them, his magic acting both as a blessing and a curse.

"Sir?"

Koski caught up to him. As a dragon, he could fly the five hundred peb distant from the center of the field within a few seconds. Having physical wings was an undeniable advantage to the dragons, so Raphael decided that it would be where he started.

"Race with me."

"Very well." Koski turned around, the two facing the eastern point.

"Ready, set, go!" The two dashed as fast as they could. Koski's two massive wings flapped, bringing him into the sky, pushing him forward in the air.

The sight of a dragon taking flight was magnificent, but not as exciting as the human dashing next to him, barreling down the empty plot of land at a few hundred pebs a second. Raphael spent his entire concentration on using magic, enhancing his body's own capabilities. He combined it with wind magic which pushed him forward. Within seconds, he crossed the one kilopeb distance between the east point and the west point.

A truly outstanding sight.

“Hup!” Raphael pulled the brakes, making sure to stop before he went over the edge. Koski caught up to him ten seconds later.

“Phew… you’re really fast, Sir.”

“Thanks, but aren’t other dragons faster than me?”

“I am not sure, but I think you have a faster acceleration.”

“Makes sense.”

Raphael using wind magic gave him a massive boost in leaping from one point to the other, but that meant a constant top speed. Control was also a problem. Dashing in a straight line was fairly easy, but he found braking quite troublesome. He couldn’t imagine dodging and changing directions on a whim. Other than that, nothing stopped dragons from using magic. By dragon standards, he was still slow.

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“I’ll focus on that, then,” he muttered to himself. He turned around, facing the south point. He formed a route in his head, going from south, to north, then east as quickly as possible. He dashed forward, using wind magic to help him accelerate. With a large step and wind boost, it took him around forty-five seconds to complete the route. Much, much faster than a normal human, but in no way comparable to a dragon that had been flying since they were young.

Koski flapped his wings, flying above the crater, clearing the space for Raphael. Raphael dashed, leaped, dodged, doing everything he could to sharpen his movements. Koski could only watch, impressed at this show.

"Magnificent." Despite flying ever since he was young, even Koski couldn't reach this level of agility.

"How did I do?" Raphael asked after twenty minutes of just going all over the place. With his large arms, Koski clapped and nodded in approval.

"A truly wonderful display, Sir. This is the first time I have ever seen a human go like that."

"Really?"

Considering that dragons didn't see humans all that often, it wouldn't be surprising if Koski was telling the truth, but Raphael knew that his opponents weren't humans. Well, most of them, at least. There were some entering, as Koski said, but to him, they didn't pose that much of a threat movement-wise.

Moving with magic and with physical limbs were two entirely different things. Raphael paused for a moment, taking this chance to move his limbs. He felt the end of his hand, his fingers, his body parts moving according to the will of his brain.

It came to him as something natural. His steps, his movements, a part of him ever since he was born. The same could be said for magic, but because he didn't use movement-based magic much before this, it required him to actively think about it.

Where he wanted to go, how he wanted to move, how fast, which direction, which foot goes first, everything needed him actively thinking about it to use it. In the tournament, he must be able to both move, attack, and defend with magic. When fighting against humans, the movement part was more often than not unnecessary.

He looked at the center of the crater. He ran up toward it, going as fast as he possibly could. He concentrated, and created a magic sword on his right hand. The sword disappeared two seconds later, and he lost his balance and fell.

"Sir!?" Koski chased after him.

"Are you alright!?"

"I'm fine." Raphael sat up, looking at his palm. He still needed a lot of training to be able to juggle both movement and attack magic at the same time.

For now, he could only hope that his first-round opponent wasn't someone strong, while also hoping that his body wouldn't suffer from doing both medicine and training at the same time.

He checked his phone, realizing he still had some time.

"Can you fly to Proteorno?"

"Proteorno? Yes, I can, but a trip there would take a long while. I'm sure you can fly faster than me, Sir."

"About that…"

If speed was the only issue, then yes, Raphael could definitely fly faster than Koski. But again, having real, physical wings definitely helped. He couldn't imagine concentrating on flying when looking down at the deep ocean underneath him.

He shook his head at the idea. He wanted to go to Proteorno to look for his teacher, to sharpen his magic. If he could fly on his own there, then he probably wouldn't need a teacher in the first place.

Fraone's plane would be twice as fast, but he couldn't come for another three days. That meant the last option was to take a commercial flight from Orotta, the more costly option, assuming they had a free seat, of course. He would be alright if he could secure free lodging, though. He contacted Mr. Rodger, asking if there was any empty spot in the dorm he could borrow.

"Koski, let's head back for now," he said, storing his phone in his pockets.

"Yes, Sir," Koski turned around, setting his tail down on the ground. Raphael climbed onto his back and the two set back toward Kaleya.

* ••

"Carol dear, do you have any medicine left?"

Milyane, her future mother-in-law, asked through a call. Carol rushed past the hallways forming the Rangers’ headquarters, heading to the detached training hall. The hall was empty, primarily because this being a Sunday, very few came in the first place.

She turned on the lights, before heading to the box on the side.

"How much do you need?" she opened the top, finding five left.

"Just one is fine."

"Alright, I'll be right there." Carol took a medicine tube and rushed to her car. She greeted Lerus, the branch commander, on her way out. After buckling up, she pushed the gas, speeding slightly above the speed limit, heading to the Kaskis’ family home.

I wonder what's going on.

She never received a request for medicine before, especially not from Raphael's own parents. She held her questions until after the medicine worked, though.

After several minutes cruising through the empty streets, one of the charms of a peaceful small town like this, she arrived in front of the Kaskis’ family home.

She pressed the doorbell, Milyane came running out.

"Carol, thank you for coming all the way here," Milyane said, looking relieved. Carol smiled.

"Just doing my job."

"Come in." Milyane ushered her to enter. She handed over the medicine.

"Excuse me," she greeted as she passed the door, only to find her future father-in-law sitting on the living room sofa, holding his left hand.

"Sorry for making you do this," Kaye said.

"It's fine, but are you alright?"

"He decided to cook for whatever reason, but got his hand burned instead."

"At least the fish tasted great," Kaye muttered. Milyane sat next to her husband and used the paste on the burn wound. As expected, the wound disappeared instantly.

I still have a long way to go.

Raphael wasn't even here, yet he still saved the day.

"Thanks a lot, Carol. Care to join us for dinner?"

"Sure." dining with the Kaski family had become a routine at this point. She couldn't help but feel bad for her own parents with the frequency of her eating out. She took out her phone and typed in a message, apologizing for not saying anything sooner. Her mother replied with a smiling emoticon and a thumbs up, before replying with a line of text.

'I don't mind if you stay the night there. Oh, I want to see my grandchild.'

'Mom, Raphael isn't even here.'

'Oh? Too bad.'

Ever since she told her that they were dating, she had been yapping about having grandchildren every time Carol mentioned being in his house.

It's a bit annoying at this point, but at the end of the day, she is still her mom, so Carol could understand her somewhat.

That reminded her of something.

"Why didn't you ask Raphael?" Carol asked. Raphael's manor was closer to the house compared to the Rangers' headquarters located across town. Raphael didn't drive, but Milyane did. She could take her father to see him.

"He's departing to Proteorno tonight and will be there for a couple of days. He's coming back next Thursday, I think."

"He hasn't told me about that." Carol checked her phone, just to make sure. As she expected, there was no new message.

"Hmm… Something only a boy should know…" Milyane turned around toward her husband. Kaye shrugged.

“Don’t ask me. I know nothing about it.”

"Besides, hasn't he been making medicine these last few days?" Milyane looked back toward Carol.

"I don't know…"

Carol had been busy as well so they didn't talk as much as they normally do.

"He isn't seeing another girl, is he?" Milyane clasped her mouth.

"Oh, he's building a harem."

Carol smiled wryly. She was confident that her boyfriend wouldn't do something like that behind her back.

… But what if he did?

Carol imagined the possibility. Would she ever be replaced? Would Raphael try to tell them to live together peacefully? Would she reject the other person even if he was the one who brought her?

She shook her head, reminding herself that he wasn't that kind of person. The chance of something like that happening was minuscule… but not zero. Carol decided to just call the person in question.

'Carol, something up?' Raphael picked up almost immediately. Both his parents inched closer, intending to listen in on the drama. Carol could hear loud chatter in the background, followed by a girl speaking through the speaker.

"Where are you?" she asked, his answer came immediately.

"Orotta airport terminal."

"Going to?"

"Proteorno."

"You're returning?"

"No, there's just something I want to understand."

"Understand?"

"How to convey my feelings."

Carol could tell that she was misunderstanding something, yet she didn't feel like asking. He sounded so serious, determined, not the tone someone would be using if they were cheating.

Or maybe he didn't count building a harem as cheating? Still, he didn't strike Carol as that kind of person, so Carol decided to trust him. The conversation reminded Carol of something that had arrived earlier. Raphael had chosen express delivery just for that one item.

"Okay. Oh, by the way, thanks a lot for the railgun. I appreciate it.”

I wonder if that railgun has anything to do with his feelings.

It felt a weird thing to think about, given the lack of anything linking the two things together, but it did pop up in her head regardless.

A railgun… pierce my heart or something?

Well, if it was something to ask for her approval on a harem, she couldn’t say that it worked.

What am I even thinking about!?

“Glad you like it. Send me the finished pictures.”

Raphael’s words returned Carol’s attention to the phone call. Hearing him, she couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for thinking something as obnoxious as that. He wasn’t that kind of person. If he was, he would never approach her in the first place.

“I haven’t had the chance to build it, hehe. But I promise I’ll send the pics. You can take a look if you want.”

“Okay. Looking forward to it.”

“Alright, stay safe."

"Thanks, see you soon."

See you soon.

In the arena.

It didn't sound like he meant it that way. It didn't even seem that he realized Carol was fighting for the Rangers, but to Carol's ears, those words contained that meaning.

Carol gripped her phone, her motivation renewed. She would fight against Raphael. She would win, somehow. She would make sure that his heart was hers, that he wouldn’t look at any other girl that way. She was his, and he was hers.

"Carol, dinner's ready."

"Okay."

But that can wait. You can't conquer the world with an empty stomach, after all.