Chapter 11: A little training.

— People are forced to be strong, but despite that, most are just good actors.

____

Riley Yuki

A month has passed since the day I entered into a teacher-pupil relationship with Aria. My days haven't been very... fun, so to speak.

My daily routine consisted of: waking up, exploring the forest, hunting, returning to the cave, talking to Aria and training magic. As much as it was interesting at first, now, it was getting tiring.

Ironically, I never got bored in my old world because of the internet, and I even dared to fantasize about what it would be like to live in another world, thinking that "my current one is boring, and now, I'm in another world, but bored. The magic, once enchanting, became part of my daily life, inverting what I previously saw as incredible, into something boring.

Well, not as boring, but not as exciting as it used to be. Almost everything becomes boring when it becomes commonplace.

At least I have learned many meditation techniques, and I know much more about my mind-reading power; now I can read minds twice a week, and use my emotion reading twice a day. It is a remarkable improvement.

Despite this, I didn't discover any more nonsense powers. God was probably lying about me having more than one, but if she really was telling the truth, then my second nonsense power would be advanced regeneration and absorption of monsters' power.

“Good. Now, concentrate the mana in your body, manipulate it, make it flow through your veins. Now, concentrate it on a single nail.”

I followed all of Aria's instructions, and my nail grew. I tried to make it sharp and hard, and I succeeded; after that, I manipulated the mana in such a way as to bend my nail, and it twisted.

“Great! You learn really fast. Now, try doing a nail like that, just with your sister.”

"Try."

Almost immediately, a light appeared in the air and a floating, crooked, and sharp nail appeared.

“That’s it! Congratulations, you’ve improved a lot!”

“All thanks to you, Professor Aria.”

I thanked Aria; not only out of gratitude, but also to generate that basic dopamine rush in her brain system; if you inevitably outshine your teacher, you must necessarily acknowledge your success as “only thanks to him”.

Most people are very happy when part of someone else's success has a part of you, because it means two things: that the person needs you, or needed you, and that now, they probably owe you a debt. Of course, in regular classrooms, such debt is almost nonexistent; your parents pay the taxes that support the teachers' salaries, and if it's in a private school, even better. Nevertheless, it is an effective strategy.

People feel threatened by people who seem too independent. Of course, it is impossible not to depend on anyone, because there are things you don't know how to do that other people will do, and even if you know how to do them, you still need someone else to help you because you can't multiply. Furthermore, if you feed yourself, then you depend on the environment around you to live, and on food...

Imagine, someone who doesn't need you can abandon you at any moment. Ironic, isn't it? That's why people who are too talented end up with few friends, because it's hard for someone above average to have a true friendship with someone below them. It's almost inevitable that they'll part ways and go their separate ways.

"Ah."

I sighed, immersed in absolute boredom. Even though my evolution is fast, and I discover new parts of the forest every day, I'm still bored.

Maybe… I should play something?

“Want to play a game?”

With a bored expression on my face, I questioned Aria, who looked at me with a serene expression.

“What kind of game?”

“Well… just a moment… how about the opponent’s game?”

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“What is he like?”

Basically, the opponent's game is tic-tac-toe, only with different signs. I no longer wanted to hide the fact that I was a reincarnated; Aria herself knew about it; she found out three days ago; I just pretend that I'm not and that I don't know that she knows that I'm not and she pretends that she doesn't know.

“The rules are as follows: there are two types of symbols, the dot and the x. There are two intertwined lines; two horizontal and two vertical. The X or dot must be placed on the limits of these lines and in the squares between them. When you make three dots, that is, place three of your symbol in a row, whether diagonally, vertically or horizontally, you must draw a line between them, and you win.”

"I understand."

“Great, let’s get started… oh, and even though we normally start with the x, I’ll start with the dot because I want to and because I can, and because yes.”

“Ok….”

I drew four intertwining lines, two horizontally and two vertically using nectar and drew a ball in the center of the board.

"Your time."

“X em c-2.”

I immediately understood that she had mentally arranged the squares into columns a, b, and c, and the rows into 1, 2, and 3, and was referring to the center part of the last row of the board. I placed it there, and then made my move in column A, square 3.

Aria blocked my attempt to win by placing an x on the c-1 square, and I placed a ball on the B-3 square.

She lost; if she had placed it on any other square, she would have lost. If she had blocked it on B-1, she would have lost to C-3. And vice versa.

“I prefer chess; it depends more on intellectuality, and not just on whoever just moves the first piece.”

“So be it.”

I modified mana on an artificial chessboard; I did it instantly; I had already become accustomed to materializing mana.

“Do you start, or do I?”

Aria smiled: I'll start.

***

Virelai Air.

I played white pawn E4, and Riley Yuki, pawn E5. Almost immediately, I played white-squared white bishop C4. And Riley Yuki quickly responded to my move with black pawn F5.

The main reason I used the Queen's Pawn Opening was because it allows me to have great control over some central squares, expanding my territory and limiting my opponent's moves. My bishop on c-4 has several reasons, but the main ones are: to put pressure on the f7 point, since the bishop on c4 is directly targeting Black's f7 square, which is a vulnerable point because it is poorly protected at the beginning. This can create opportunities for quick attacks if Black makes mistakes, since f7 is crucial in defending the king.

I also want a fast development with the bishop already developed and the pawn on e4 controlling the center, White has the chance to quickly develop the knight to f3, prepare for castling and bring other pieces into play. This fast development allows White to seize the initiative and impose pressure early on.

Not only is this a strong opening, it is also positional and flexible: The bishop on c4 allows for a game with both attacking ideas and solid positional options. White can continue in a variety of ways, such as preparing to castl, moving the knight to f3, or advancing d3 to hold the center and protect the pawn on e4.

Preparation for Center Control: The idea is to keep the center firm, with plans like d3 or even d4 in some variants, creating a balanced game of center control and attacking possibilities.

These factors make the bishop on c4 a classic and powerful move. It is an opening that can lead to dynamic play and allows White to adapt his strategy according to Black's response. That is why I applied this tactic.

From then on, our game went smoothly. He made a strong play, and I returned it with another. After 20 minutes of playing, the game finally came to an end.

“Tie.”

I honestly don't know what to say about him. As if being a monster when it comes to magic wasn't enough, he's also talented in intellectual terms? A monster with his magical aptitude only appears naturally every 50,000 years, imagine one who can play chess at this level as a beginner... or not.

During the month I spent with him, I realized two things: the first is that he is reincarnated, and the second is that his ability to read minds only works a few times a week.

I realized that he was reincarnated when he demonstrated knowledge of various things that a mere animal that only acquired consciousness would not know because it had never studied such subjects.

Noise.

A loud noise abruptly interrupted my thoughts. I quickly looked back only to see a dragon flying… while fighting a… Unicorn?

Do unicorns breathe fire?!

“Fuck!!”

For the first time in my life, I saw Riley look so surprised; it was probably the only expression other than boredom, amusement, or interest that I had ever seen him make in all the time I had spent with him.

However, his expression was not limited to surprise; it was a huge mix of surprise, contemplation and… fear.

I was scared too.

I want to run, but I know I can't because of my soul trapped in a worthless gold medallion. I wish I could have real power, not the futile one, which only seems to be, but is nothing; it is only something in the fragile and flawed human imagination.

I want to run, escape, slip away, feel my feet touching the ground and hear the sound made by a quick step and get out of here, but I can't.

So Yuki had to run for me, and he did indeed run for me; he ran thinking only of himself, and yet, he ran for both of us.