Hello there! Thanks for checking out the fourth chapter too! Another side chapter will be released shortly, and remember to take a look that that too, since it focuses on another character!

So let’s begin the fourth chapter, and remember to comment!

Chapter 4

Another year has gone by since Lemir last heard the voice of whom he believes to belongs to Emily. He has not seen her again, despite stopping at the house at the exact same time every single day. Today was the last day he had decided to make stops near the house.

As usual, while waiting, he did some stretching while keeping an eye on the door of the house. It was about the same size as all the houses he had passed by on his path, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Lemir [Japanese] : “Today… again, I don’t get to see her. I should stop stopping here; my training will probably get harder again soon.”

Lemir turned to focus on the rings, and felt their weight was greater than before, but the strain was much less. He still has not figured out that he was tricked by his grandfather.

Lemir [Japanese] : “At this rate, I should be able to reach my old peak condition by my mid-teens. Alright, time to get moving.”

Lemir started jogging back home. But 10 minutes before he had stopped at the house…

Familiar Voice [Japanese] : “I’m going off to school! Bye mom! Bye dad! I don’t want to be late again!”

The owner of the familiar voice clearly was a girl in elementary school, with the same brownish hair Emily had.

Female Adult Voice [Japanese] : “Emiri(?), don’t run and get hurt! Remember to eat your lunch pack in school!”

Male Adult Voice [Japanese] : “Emiri(?), don’t injure any of the other boys again. Just chase them away, no need to chase them down.”

Emiri(?) [Japanese] : “Fine, but if they keep annoying me, I’ll break their arms!”

This “Emiri” girl was clearly extremely violent. Had Lemir seen this, he would have felt that she was completely unlike the Emily from his old world. In his eyes, Emily was a gentle girl, who happened to have great talent for healing magic. But Emiri seems to specialise in doing the opposite, causing great injury to others.

But alas, this was not something Lemir would know until he enters elementary school.

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Another half a year has passed, and today was the day after Lemir’s birthday. During the past 6 months, the rings were increased in weight once, and today, he finally gets to take the rings off.

Lemir was very happy to be rid of the rings, but did not took them off until his grandfather had said to. It was now 5.29am, almost at the usual timing for his training to start. His grandfather was standing in front of him all this time, with his eyes closed. One of the usual disciples was also standing next to him. Only when it finally hit 5.30am, he opened his eyes and spoke.

Ryuugami [Japanese] : “You may take off those rings. Today, we are going to teach you the different forms of the Dragon God Style. But before that, you must understand what a dragon is. A dragon may be an imaginary creature, but in all depictions of a dragon, a dragon is a symbol of great power and strength. A creature worthy of being a final boss in a game, or at least during the end game.”

Lemir had long gotten used to Ryuugami’s usage of gaming terms. Lemir had learned of games during the times when he just started training due to Ryuugami telling him about it. Ryuugami had played some games during his free time and greatly enjoyed some of them, especially the Virtual Reality games, though it’s still in the early phase. Ryuugami continued.

Ryuugami [Japanese] : “But the Dragon God Style is mainly based on the Eastern Dragon. There are a few stances based on the Western Dragon, but the Dragon God Style had its origins based on the Eastern Dragon. The Eastern Dragon is like a snake, moving freely through the skies. If there are obstacles, avoid them! Same thing for unwanted hindrances. Thus, the first thing I’ll be teaching you is a body manoeuvring technique. It is called Flowing Dragon.”

A body manoeuvring technique! To avoid attacks was something Lemir had thought of before. But to avoid all attacks was difficult, and most attacks were unable to hurt him very much in the past due to his armour of mana anyway. But this world had no mana, and thus he can be hurt very easily.

Ryuugami got into the stance of the Flowing Dragon, and told the disciple who had joined in to attack him. To see the master in action was very rare, and the disciple was honoured to do so. But punches, kicks, chops, all his moves were either re-directed by Ryuugami’s hands, or avoided with minimal movement. None of the moves were blocked. Lemir was shocked at this sight, as he would be unable to do the same thing at the moment. Eventually, the attacks stop. The disciple bowed and spoke while slightly out of breathe.

Disciple [Japanese] : “Thank you very much!”

Ryuugami [Japanese] : “You need to work on your stamina. You should have been able to continue those attacks for another 10 seconds. But, I’ll still give you a passing grade.”

Having said those words to the disciple, Ryuugami turned to face his grandson.

Ryuugami [Japanese] : “Do you understand?”

Lemir had not expected such a question to be directed at him. But he answered by nodding his head. Ryuugami smiled at this sight.

Ryuugami [Japanese] : “From today onwards, you are to come to the dojo for training. Watch your elders as they spar, and learn the 9 stances and forms of the Dragon God Style.”

Ryuugami then walked off, having said his fill. “If he doesn’t understand that he must learn the moves himself, then he isn’t worthy. I might as well pass the dojo rights over to Akami in that case.” Ryuugami thought, secretly having high expectations for his only grandson.

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2 years have almost gone by, and now Lemir is entering elementary school. Lemir was secretly excited as he had never been to school before in his previous life. Proper education was a luxury in his world, but he had learned to read and write from his friends while they were adventurers.

He would no longer have as much time as before for training, but in return, he may get some new friends. Friends that won’t suddenly be killed, in this peaceful country. Right now, he was walking to school with his third sister, Kiiromi.

However, people seemed to be avoiding them, which stupefied him. What he had not realised was that the hell training his grandfather gave him made him grow faster as well, and right now, to the eyes of other 7 year olds, he looked like an 11 year old. He was taller than most of them by more than a full head.

Kiiromi was feeling slightly happy, as she had no need to deal with the kids as they naturally gave way to the “tiger” walking beside her. After all, she did not like dealing with troublesome stuff. However, the “tiger” did not scare away a girl. That girl walked up to her.

Fearless Girl(?) [Japanese] : “Hi, Mi-chan, you sure are early today! Who’s this guy walking next to you? He has a cute face, but he is scaring off the other children with his height.”

Kiiromi [Japanese] : “Stop calling me Mi-chan, Kagami. This is my younger brother, Lemir.”

The fearless girl seemed to be called Kagami, and Kiiromi had introduced Lemir to her.

Kagami [Japanese] : “So it’s Nikado Lemir? Wow, what a random name!”

Lemir, hearing this, was shocked and suddenly stopped walking. It had been a long time since he last heard someone say he had a random name. He wondered, “Did that damnable god do this?! Everyone thinks I have a random name, when it’s a name I hold dear!”

He could have reordered the letters for his name, but he didn’t. It was in order of when he first met that person, starting with Luke, and ending with the twins Ilnor and Rionir. However, he had to live with it; it was the name he chose after all.

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Lemir, now slightly depressed, started walking again and caught up to his sister.

Kagami [Japanese] : “Ah, he recovered. Sorry I said you have a random name! I, er, think it’s a very nice name!”

Lemir could see past the lie but he decided to not let it bother him. He was, after all, speaking to a 10 year old.

Lemir [Japanese] : “Thank you. But am I scaring everyone after all?”

Lemir turned to look at the other children but when his gaze met theirs, they immediately ran off with a bit of tears in their eyes. Lemir himself was nearly on the verge of tears, as he had wanted some friends, even if they were kids.

Kagami [Japanese] : “Ah! Don’t cry, Lemir-chan! It will be fine! Later, when you introduce yourself in class, some people will naturally approach you! You can still make some friends!”

Kagami tried to calm him down. It strangely had an effect which Lemir noticed after calming down. “I was about to cry in front of 10 year old girls… and I was coaxed by a 10 year old…”, and he got depressed again, but did not stop. He still has not shed the mentality of a man in his thirties.

The reason why there were mainly first graders on the streets at the moment was because it was their first day of school, and homeroom started a bit earlier for them. Kiiromi came along to bring him to school, while Akami was already in high school and Aomi was in middle school. Kagami was early because she always was.

Eventually they split up when they reached the school. Kiiromi and Kagami headed off to their classroom in another building, while Lemir headed towards the building where his classroom was. But suddenly, an adult walked towards him.

Adult [Japanese] : “Are you lost? This building is for first, second and third graders. Fourth graders and above are supposed to head to that other building.”

Lemir examined the adult for a bit, and recognised her as a teacher. The only adults in school are usually teachers after all. He then spoke.

Lemir [Japanese] : “Ah, I’m a new student here. I’ll be in the first grade this year. Please take care of me.”

Lemir bowed as he said that, and the teacher had not expected such a mature response coming from a 7 year old. She promptly recovered and spoke again.

Teacher [Japanese] : “Is that so? You look a bit tall for a 7 year old kid, but alright. Which class do you belong to? I’ll bring you there.”

Lemir told the teacher his class and she mentioned that she happened to be the homeroom teacher for his class, and was heading there right now. They then went to the classroom and entered together. He quickly went to find a random empty seat and sat down quickly, though the entire class has noticed him and started whispering, though he could still hear some of them.

Voice A [Japanese] : “Hey look… why is a fifth grader coming to our class?”

Voice B [Japanese] : “Maybe because he is an idiot and got held back?”

Voice C [Japanese] : “Why would someone be held back for 4 years?! He must be an idiot among idiots for that to happen!”

Voice D [Japanese] : “Maybe he is just extremely tall for his age?”

Voice C [Japanese] : “No no, that is unlikely. He can match fifth graders you know!”

Voice A [Japanese] : “My older brother in third grade said fifth graders are terrifying… And behind them are an even more terrifying existence called sixth graders…”

Voice B [Japanese] : “That’s a myth, you know. Anyway, we will find out when we talk to him.”

Voice C [Japanese] : “Eh?! But that’s scary! What if he really is a fifth grader? He might eat us!”

Teacher [Japanese] : “Okay, that’s enough! Take your seats everyone. We will promptly change the seating arrangements according to your height! Lemir, you should just head to the back row immediately.”

The moment the teacher called out Lemir’s name, whispers started again.

Voice C [Japanese] : “Eh? His name is Lemir? That’s one random name.”

Voice D [Japanese] : “Indeed it is.”

Voice A [Japanese] : “I agree.”

Voice B [Japanese] : “But we shouldn’t say it to him. How would you feel if someone said your name was completely random?”

Teacher [Japanese] : “HEY! STOP WHISPERING AND START MOVING!”

Unexpectedly, the teacher started yelling and everyone started moving. In 5 minutes, everything was settled.

Teacher [Japanese] : “Alright. Now, let’s begin with introductions. I’ll mark your attendance as you introduce yourself, so no sneaking out and not giving your introduction! Starting with you.”

Lemir was at the other end of the classroom, next to the window. He has gotten a bit more used to the damage from other people saying he had a random name, but still got a bit hurt anyway.

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As the introductions continued, he remembered the names of all his classmates so far. He always had a pretty good memory back in his old world, and it seems it applies here as well. The four kids who were discussing about him at the start of class were actually 2 pair of twins who were neighbours as well, so they got along very well.

The first kid who spoke earlier was Yamagi Makane, and her brother, who spoke second, was Yamagi Yakane. Makane was a timid girl, and Yakane seemed to be an intelligent boy. They were almost indistinguishable from each other, had it not been for their different hair styles.

The third kid who spoke earlier was Hong Mei Lang, and her brother was Hong Shuai Lang. Their family were foreigners from China, but they spoke Japanese very well. Mei Lang was an active girl, who was similar to Akami. Shuai Lang had sharper eyes, but his features were very similar to Mei Lang otherwise and were a quiet boy.

Right now, a girl in the front of his row was giving her introduction. She seemed to give off an overbearing presence, as though everyone else was a lowly being in her eyes.

Overbearing Girl [Japanese] : “My name is Kurokami Malaixa! That is all you need to know.”

The name caught his attention, as it was very similar to the name of the demon lord he had slain. “It must be a coincidence, after all, there were things called mythology and I saw the names of some of the demon generals among them after all.”, he thought. After all, even if she happened to really be the demon lord, there was no mana for her to utilise against him, and he believes he is among the strongest in his age.

After thinking for a bit, the next person stood up and began his introduction.

Until it was finally his turn to introduce himself, he made it a point to remember everyone’s names. This would make a good first impression on anyone who speaks to him. And now, it was finally his turn to speak, and he had planned his speech perfectly.

Lemir [Japanese] : “Hello, everyone. My name is Nikado Lemir. I am going to be a first grader this year. I am not some scary monster who will eat you. I want to make friends with everyone, but everyone is afraid of me…”

Lemir spoke as he slowly got softer, he looked down and tears threatened to flow from his eyes. As everyone saw this, they started shouting.

Classmate A [Japanese] : “Don’t worry, Lemir-chan! I’ll be your friend!”

Classmate B [Japanese] : “We’ll all be your friends, right everyone?”

Classmates [Japanese] : “Yeah! Yeah!”

It seems his plan worked a bit too well, as the teacher hugged him as well.

Teacher [Japanese] : “Aw, you’re so cute! Don’t worry; I’ll be your friend too!”

And thus Lemir’s first day of homeroom ended.

End Chapter 4