"How bad is the situation? My memory is full of holes..." Iris said while holding her head with one of her hands. Then, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Even after the time I lost my memories... There are a lot of days I can't remember anything about. What is that..? Why would I spend a couple of days sitting in my room without doing anything?" she mumbled back to back, causing Evan and Alec to frown.

"It's better if you stop. Don't spiral down and remember something you shouldn't," Alec said while patting her shoulder. His touch seemed to break Iris out of her trance as her eyes shot open.

"I see... How much have you progressed?" she asked, before turning around to walk to the window. She seemed to be annoyed by the crimson lights.

"Don't," Alec stopped her, this time with even more force. "Don't look up. It won't end well for you."

"What do you mean?" Iris demanded an explanation. Fortunately, thanks to the journal, Alec wouldn’t have to explain everything by word. Casting the memetic magic that tied him to the journal, he pulled her along to his table.

"Read this..." Alec said while riffling through the pages. "...From here. Don't read the older entries."

"Alright," Iris took the journal. She then placed it on the table, sat down, and tied her white hair into a ponytail before continuing. It took her less than a few minutes to read through the entire thing. The mana eye on her forehead increased her peripheral vision a lot. Coupled with her relatively high mind stat, she was able to read a page every few seconds and contemplate it before continuing to the next.

Once she reached the entries of the last day, she closed the notebook.

"I don't exactly understand your motives behind today's events," she commented. Alec was waiting for this question, so he started explaining.

"I assume you understood the part about Professor Andrew? I was trying to save both of our reputations," he started by saying. Iris nodded along and added.

"But that wasn't the entire shtick."

Evan settled about three meters across, sitting on his own table while Alec called over a chair using gravity magic.

"Of course. We just decided that it was about time we started moving," Alec said. "We assume that the current cycle will end around the end of this term. Give or take one and a half months. Considering the events at the end of the previous cycle, there's a good chance something we can't deal with will pop up," he went on to explain.

"What was today supposed to be then?"

"It was a probing strike," Evan suddenly joined the conversation from his own table. "We wanted to see what the anti-memetic entity would do in case Alec attracted such attention."

"I see... Why were you closing your ears during the entire event, by the way?" Iris said with her brow raised.

"Oh, that? The anti-memetic entity was wiping Alec's memories of gravity magic whenever he left the library. We weren't sure if it was doing that simply because he researched it in the library or because it wanted to block us from developing magic further."

"Huh... That's pretty smart of you two," Iris said with her arms crossed. She pushed on the table with her feet and started balancing her chair on its two back legs. "That way, if there was anything weird, Evan would be able to notice it without being affected. Though I have noticed you two addressing this thing as an 'anti-memetic' entity, that might not be entirely true."

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"What do you mean?" Alec and Evan asked at the same time.

"It's at least partially wrong. The feats of this entity... It isn't only anti-memetic but uses a shit ton of mind magic too. In fact, some of its mind magic seems stronger than the anti-memes it creates."

"We thought about that too, but we weren't sure what to make of it," Alec said truthfully.

"We will think about that further later," Iris said while flipping a few pages of the journal. "For now, your action seems to have confirmed the fact that the anti-memetic entity isn't sentient. At least not entirely. You would have been prioritized as soon as you brought up the new atomic model."

"The new atomic model?" Evan suddenly asked. Iris and Alec turned to look at him before remembering the fact that he was completely oblivious to what Alec had done.

"I will brief him on the situation," Iris said with a sigh. Then with vigor in her eyes, she walked up to Alec and held him by the collar.

"W- What the fuck are you doing?" Alec asked with a stutter. However, Iris started unbuttoning his shirt without answering. Her hands a blur, she revealed Alec's upper body for everyone, namely her and Evan, to see.

"These names... Ariel... Why didn't you look more into her?" Iris asked expressionlessly.

"I... How would I?"

"Are you stupid or something? Isn't she supposed to be where the infirmary is?" Iris pressured Alec further. He couldn't help but take a step back with a frown on his face.

"Why not just drink that... Cleansing potion of yours and go there to bring her to the library? It is already mentioned in the journal that she has a permanent library pass. With how much you resist the anti-meme here, you should be able to interact with her," Iris quickly explained. Hearing her plan, Alec's mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to think of a reason why he wouldn't be able to do that.

"I- That..."

"Shut up and get to it."

"Yes, ma'am!" Alec said with a salute. He inhaled a good chunk of the incense, feeling its invigorating effect before putting it back into his sleeve. The incense was long-lasting, even if not as effective as the potion. Hopefully, combined with the little amount of potion he had drunk, he would be able to keep his goal in mind for the longest time.

As Alec left the library, Evan and Iris were left alone.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Iris asked.

"What is?" Evan reflected.

"All of this... Even though I know how dangerous anti-memes can be, I can barely wrap my mind around it," she muttered. Evan felt a bit irked by her words. If this was her barely wrapping her mind around it, what would it look like if she fully understood? "And it feels cold... Metaphorically, I mean. How did he bear with it by himself for such a long time?"

"Alec? Oh, he's just crazy," Evan said nonchalantly.

"Crazy?"

"Yep. He is absolutely unhinged. He just hides it well," Evan said in answer. Then, he thought for a second and continued. "Didn’t you see the scars he left on his own body? I’m sure you have read the story behind them from the journal. How can a person who has barely any memories disfigure themself so easily? Is that something a normal person does? It is as if he doesn't care what happens to himself as long as he achieves his goals."

"I think I get it..." Iris said, watching the now-closed door. She shivered at the memory of those carvings on Alec’s statue-like body. Imagining him cutting himself, shaking in pain and terror all the while trying to understand his surroundings, knowing that he would forget once again… Iris couldn’t help but feel pity and admiration at the same time.

"I get it..."

***

'Everything seems to be fine for now,' Alec thought to himself as he dashed past his fellow students, causing quite a bit of ruckus in the process. With how high his stats were, he had become incredibly fast. So fast, in fact, that the ground seemed to hiss beneath his feet. The friction between his shoes and the ground had become so much that he could see sparks flying around.

Fortunately, he had bought himself a new, more resistant pair of shoes with the credits given to him by Evan.

'Still, the air friction seems like it will become a problem in the future. I wonder how people of other classes solve this problem?' he couldn't help but think. 'After all, over level 100 warriors or hunters would probably have more than a hundred points in agility... Maybe gaining a certain amount of points in that stat makes you magically aerodynamic?'

Pushing aside the thoughts, Alec took a few turns – kicking off a good bit of dust – and reached the place where the infirmary was supposed to be. Taking out a paper, he started thinking.

'What was it again..? A... Alice? No that's not it,' Alec forced his mind to remember. "Ariel..." he finally muttered after a few seconds. He wrote down her name on the paper and held it out toward seemingly nothingness.

[Ariel, follow me to the library.]

After waiting for about ten minutes, he decided it was enough time and turned around to leave, hopefully leading his imperceivable ex-girlfriend to the library...