Airi anxiously looked at her phone for the electronic results, while Sora did it with excitement residing in his face.

Tab 1: “You have won the Gender Battle Quest” - Airi

Tab 2: “You have lost the bet with Sora” - Airi

Tab 2: “You have lost the Gender Battle Quest”, “Unique Quest has been completed” - Sora

Tab 3: “You have won the bet with Airi” - Sora

Airi began to look just as pale like the chess battle not long ago, in the meantime Sora turned around to greet that pale look of Airi’s with his usual carefree smile.

“I hope you may find it most enjoyable here in 1-A with the rest of us,” Sora grinned and made Airi turn around to face him.

“Thank you, and take well care of me,” Airi stuttered a bit and put on a brave face. “See you later at lunch,” Airi added and took her leave early.

Negi and Kazuya came closer from the previous distance and looked more pleased with Sora’s victory than the fact of their lose. Sora met their awkward high fives with one of his own as a response and then hit tab on his phone to check the “Gender Battle Quest” results.

Previous test exam results, tab 2: “Male students 78.9% average test results, Female students 93.1% average test results”

Sora began to stare at Kazuya and Negi.

“You guys did not even try, did you?” Sora ridiculed them.

“We did!” Negi responded immediately. “Look I got a 87.3% test score result,” Negi followed.

Negi turned to Kazuya to attempt and help his case, while Kazuya appeared a bit down on himself.

“I just got a 73.2% test score result, sorry for weighing you guys down,” Kazuya apologized.

“It is alright, let us win the next time instead and hit them back big time!” Sora encouraged both of them with a grin.

The three of them began to socialize until lunch time like always, and commenced a new topic of discussion what the next “Gender Battle Quest” might be in the future, with a few shared laughs here and there whenever the punishment following their “victory for next time” was mentioned. Sora met with Airi as usual at the school cafeteria table that still bounded them with in regard of an older punishment. Airi launched a couple of intensifying peeks as if she wanted to eagerly ask something of Sora.

“What?” Sora broke the silence.

It took a moment’s notice before Airi had fully recuperated from Sora’s sudden intervention of disrupting the silence between the two of them.

“What was your total score result on the test?” Airi spoke with a small embarrassed tone, appearing like she was prying into something on a deeper level which was not in her own rights.

“100%, why?” Sora instantly replied and gave Airi a confused look hence her actions and words did not match or make sense to him.

“100?! How… How did you manage yet a perfect score, there were some university level questions amongst those since the principal wanted to make it more challenging and toyed with all of us?” Airi answered startled. “Even I only managed to score 98.7%, with small margin errors on every final subject question,” Airi sighed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Simple I would say, I am well versed up to three years worth of University level in most or any subjects really,” Sora responded carefree.

“Nevermind, I will never understand you,” Airi gave up on trying to figure Sora up.

“If you want to make sense of it, I can gladly oblige to the other half of our bet and let you in on my past?” Sora encouraged Airi with a smile in order to pick her spirit back up.

“And what would you receive out of telling me all this? Airi asked both baffled and intrigued.

“Well it has been fun questing with you thus far, so why not? I prefer my greatest rival to be in high hopes and spirits of beating me one day, more fun that way,” Sora grinned.

“Alright, sure, go ahead,” Airi nodded being pleased by both Sora’s answer and offer.

“You are in for a treat, I call this the tale of the great adventurer, Sora Nagai!” Sora continued to grin.

“Great…” Airi replied with immediate half hearted regret of what was about to come.

Sora began to explain and unravel his past onto Airi. The tale started with a young adventurer who had successfully passed those around him, and there was no challenge or merit in his eyes to walk down an obvious road of success. People called the young adventurer a talented academic, and that he could go to any academy he wanted to once the young boy came of age. However this fact displeased the young adventurer as it was more of a burden hence the barrage of expectations that befell on him on a daily basis, and bit by bit it dismayed the young adventurer further. In addition to his boredom in a fortress of pressured solitude to remain at the top while being both burdened and bored by the situation, he had found a new path. The new path was something he had stumbled on by accident, a simple-minded game which had persuaded him away from his very own thoughts and made all the excess noise vanish into thin air.

However those days of multitasking both tasks would come to a short end, as it was time to make a decision. To forever be outcast by his own family and friends for the sake of his newly found path that had led him astray from the previous one, or to return to the noisy background which still haunted him. The young adventurer perplexed by his own situation decided to flee and remain an outcast, a mere disappointed and enigma to his extremely successful and overly ambitious family, and later went on to change his last name. Not until long the young adventurer had found true tranquility and solitude in his new own path. No more additional lessons, or sneaking in self-taught private study sessions to be even further ahead so he would not require to study at least until after a few years had gone by, and he had arrived at a later University level. The funds of prizes or contests of one’s intellect or scholarship rewards were enough for him to start over at a new town and tavern, and he remained in that tavern for the time being.

That time was short lived in comparison to his previous path, hence the royal capital guards came barging in one day and deprived him of his newly found, tranquil and solitude life which he finally came to call home. In addition it can be seen to be put quite ironically as it put him back on a more academic path yet again which he had previously fled from. However this new path turned out to be different, as it blended both his previous paths together and turned him into a full-fledged adventurer in seek and pursuit of wisdom, knowledge and adventure in regard of the line of questing. The end.

Airi appeared to be baffled by Sora’s story, not only by its content, but the way he had explained it, in which he had fully succeeded to avoid the ordinary way of explaining things by.

“So?” Sora waved his hand over Airi’s face to snap her out of whatever thought laid buried in there.

“That was quite a story, too bad it was drafted so uniquely and explained in such a confusing fashion, which would make the normal person wonder, if one would not be able to relate to games,” Airi smiled.

“Great, I am glad. Hope you liked it,” Sora smiled back nonchalantly.

Airi nodded and arose from her seat to take her leave.

“Thanks for sharing,” Airi embarrassingly spoke out and swiftly turned to walk away from the school cafeteria.

“Why the rush? I thought we could go to the swimming class together, seemingly as it was scheduled ahead of time,” Sora put on a smug face.

Airi’s face dropped as she read the ahead of time notice from Sora’s phone which he held up for her to read, as she had turned around to be clarified on the matter which he was speaking of.

“I hope you brought your A-game on the swimsuit,” Sora sarcastically put an encouragement forth as he tapped her shoulder. “Shall we?” Sora asked and Airi nodded, leading with the two of them moving to the third floor with Sora smiling, and Airi silently following by while escorting Sora.