Combat Class 1A.
It went without saying that I landed myself in the classroom for elite students. Despite my low stats, anything that exceeds the abilities of a seasoned professor to understand would obviously indicate exceptional talent.
As mentioned before, there are two classes, A and B, and the number in front represents the year. As a Class A student, I would receive extensive support and resources throughout my education here, provided I maintained a certain level of performance.
Setting aside how nice it is to be treated like someone important, I needed to be in this class if I wanted the most opportunities to get close to Thaddeus and other important characters like Prince August and Princess Diana.
Standing in front of the doorway to the classroom I couldn’t help but realize that things were finally about to get started. While nothing was scheduled to happen today, the moment I walked through that door, I would officially enter the main cast of the story.
“Little man. You are blocking mine advance.”
An enormous man with four arms and deep red skin interrupted my moment. He met my annoyed glare with six brilliant crimson eyes forming half circles from his forehead to his cheeks. His chin was flat like the edge of a square, and small, dark horns jutted from the edge of his hairline. A thick mane of black hair rested over his shoulders. His chest was bare, displaying thick, well-defined muscles, while his lower half was covered only by an oily, tight-fitted loincloth, not unlike a dirty pair of tighty-whities.
‘Who is that?’ I wondered.
By his features, he clearly belonged to the subrace of demons called ‘fiends’. They were characterized by having red skin and four arms. However, I had several named fiends in the story, and I wasn’t sure who this one was. Since he landed in Class 1A, he had to be an important character, which meant I almost certainly wrote about him at some point.
He smirked and said, “If you will not clear the path, then I will clear it myself.”
I hurriedly stepped into the classroom and moved aside to allow him to pass by. There was a time to grandstand, and there was a time to not piss off a really buff fiend. The fiend strode past me, his heavy thudding steps sending a shiver down my spine.
‘Yeah, let’s stay on his good side,’ I silently vowed.
Looking at the rest of the classroom, it was much the same as I remembered when I was here yesterday:
There was a large plaque on the front that said [1A - Combat] in bold, silver font. Beneath that was a screen that spanned half the length of the wall and a desk for the professor to use. Facing the front of the room were three rows of seats, each with its own personal desk space. Each row had ten seats, though there wouldn’t have ever been a case where there were thirty whole cadets using this classroom before.
Searching for a place to sit, I noticed a few of the cadets who arrived before me having already claimed their spaces.
A man with a pretty face and small build met my roaming gaze and nodded. Sitting in the back left corner facing the front, his blonde hair barely reached his shoulders, just long enough to accent his slightly feminine features.
Second Imperial Prince August of the Western Empire.
Rather than calling him part of the main cast, he was more of a primary supporting character. As the second prince, he was an invaluable ally and a terrible enemy to have.
Sitting next to him was Thaddeus who waved when he noticed me. I returned the greeting and resumed scanning the room.
The young woman who claimed the center of the room had to be Princess Diana. With her smooth, black hair, lithe grace, and haughty expression, she perfectly matched the image I had of her: an arrogant queen.
Her role in the story was a bit more complicated. She was an ally of humanity, but, as First Imperial Princess of the Eastern Empire, she was antagonistic toward Prince August. Since Thaddeus was a citizen of the Western Empire, she didn’t treat him very well, but she always fulfilled her duties to the human race.
When she met my gaze, she narrowed her eyes, probably wondering ‘Who does this kid think he is?’
As her creator, I consider that a fairly good guess at her thoughts.
Including myself, there were a total of eight cadets in this class, and all of us were here. I didn’t recognize the other four: the fiend from before, a woman with silver hair, and two generic, NPC-like characters who were probably aliens from how generic they were.
When I wrote about Class 1A before, the only important characters I included were Thaddeus, August, and Diana. I did mention a few other people as background characters, but none of them had enough of an impact for me to make them important to the story. From what I could tell, Gramma replaced those background characters with aliens and demons. It was possible that there were cyborgs here as well, of course, but I couldn’t see any visible augments, so it seemed unlikely.
I decided to sit down on the second row three seats from the far left. This placed me in front of Thaddeus, close enough to speak to him, but not directly in front so I could comfortably turn my head toward him without having to turn all the way around. This unfortunately placed me only two seats away from Diana, and if her fierce glare were a sword, I would definitely have died a dozen times over on my way to the seat.
Just after I claimed the seat, the classroom door slammed open. Every eye in the room focused on the massive figure looming in the doorway. Professor Lincoln ducked under the frame and made his way to the front of the classroom.
Nobody dared to make a sound as we collectively held our breath.
Lincoln Linker, the Destroyer. He was infamous for his ability to cause wide-scale destruction purely with his physical ability. A fun fact that I never managed to include in the story: Lincoln’s current record on the bench is fifteen thousand pounds.
He placed a tablet-like device on a pedestal sitting atop his desk before turning to address us.
“I will now take attendance.” His deep, commanding voice was strangely calming, despite his authoritative presence. He tapped on the tablet a few times and then called out, “Rank 8: Vaevrel Sudaegszuc.”
“Here,” the generic human-looking female answered. She had the most NPC-like features you can imagine: an average face, an average hairstyle, an average hair color, and a blank expression.
‘She’s definitely an alien…’
“Rank 7: Asura.”
“Here,” the fiend answered.
I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles turned white. ‘Asura?’
“Rank 6: Brick Layer.”
“Here.”
“Rank 5: Luxjo Wokrut.”
“Here,” the generic human-looking male answered. He also had NPC-like features, so he was probably an alien.
‘Luxjo Wokrut… the Great Gebnir of Fonol…’
“Rank 4: Eden.”
“Here,” the silver-haired treader said.
“Rank 3: Diana East.”
“Present.”
“Rank 2: August West.”
“Present.”
“Rank 1: Thaddeus.”
“Here.”
With each name called, Professor Lincoln recorded our attendance. I listened to the names and ranks of each of the other cadets with interest. Now that I knew all their names, I realized just how ridiculous this classroom was.
Every single name except mine was a major character in their respective drafts of the story.
Thaddeus was the main character.
August and Diana were reluctant allies in every draft.
Vaevrel was a mid-boss in the 2nd draft.
Asura replaced Vaevrel as a mid-boss in the 3rd draft.
Luxjo Wokrut, the Great Gebnir of Fonol was an end-boss in the 2nd draft.
And Eden…
I never got far enough in the original story for her character arc to resolve. She had a few appearances as an antagonist, but she was supposed to become an ally before the last arc in the 2nd draft.
A bead of sweat formed on the back of my neck and I forced myself to maintain a disinterested expression.
It didn’t hit me until just now, but…
‘I’m surrounded by monsters…’
Every person in this room was an absolute powerhouse. Somehow, the academy evaluated me as being comparable to them.
Having finished roll call, Professor Lincoln tapped on his tablet a few times to connect it to the screen behind him. After a few seconds, the devices synced and a presentation appeared on the screen.
There was only one massive word on display:
Hero.
“What is a hero?” Professor Lincoln asked.
“A Hero is a symbol of power, integrity, and responsibility. These three concepts are inextricably linked. This is a concept that many fail to understand in our modern era, but at Horizon Academy, we uphold a higher standard. One of the most fundamental truths is that your power is directly proportional to your integrity.”
He tapped on the tablet and the word on the screen changed.
Monster.
“If a Hero is a symbol, then what is a monster?”
One student raised her hand. Her silver hair, darker skin tone, and pale blue eyes marked her as either an eccentric human, an alien, or a treader. My money was on ‘treader’.
“Eden.”
“A monster is an extradimensional entity usually taking the form of a hybridized animal or a mythical creature. They spawn naturally in dungeons and have an insatiable hunger.”
“A rather textbook definition. Excellent start. Anyone else?”
I raised my hand.
“Brick.”
“More specifically, monsters are gestalt entities that are sorted into one of several categories, two of which are hybridized animals and what we would call ‘mythical creatures’. Furthermore, there are two greater classifications of monsters—dungeon minions and dungeon masters. Minion-class monsters are mindless creatures with an insatiable hunger, whereas Master-class monsters are the intelligent commanders behind the invasion of our respective realms.”
Every eye in the room turned toward me as I recited the lines from my setting. I couldn’t see those who were sitting behind me, but I knew Thaddeus and Prince August would be interested in what I was saying. Princess Diana’s hard gaze was even more piercing than before, but I knew she would be flustered by my words.
The existence of Master-class monsters had long been theorized, but nobody had managed to prove it yet. There was only one person aside from myself who knew they existed and he wouldn’t come forward until the third arc of the story.
Everyone else seemed more confused than anything else. Eden was clearly miffed that I undercut her explanation with a better one.
‘Sucks to suck, smart girl. I know everything, so you can’t pretend to be smarter than me. Even if you actually are smarter…’
“That…” Professor Lincoln hesitated. “Your name was Brick Layer, correct? That was a very good explanation, but I have never heard evidence that the so-called ‘Master-class monsters’ exist.”
“Because…”
“They don’t exist,” Eden interrupted. “My people have been fighting the monsters for millennia and we have never encountered one with intelligence.”
“That’s because they usually leave at the same time that the dungeon manifests on the surface,” I explained.
“Do you have proof?” Princess Diana asked, her tone indicating curiosity while her furrowed brow and narrowed eyes told me she was sounding me out.
‘Perfect.’
I dropped that hint because I wanted to get her attention. I also wanted August to take notice of me, but his personality meant he would investigate me using more indirect methods. Most importantly, I wanted Thaddeus to take an interest in me. Alongside Professor Lincoln, they had no choice but to take notice of a wildcard like me.
“Of course not,” I assured her. “I was just stating a theory that I’ve developed.”
She visibly relaxed and smiled. “Is that so?”
Eden was still glaring at me, but she wasn’t a main character so I wasn’t too concerned about it.
Thaddeus followed the whole exchange with a conflicted expression. He opened his mouth and said, “I fought a Master-class monster once.”
My eyes widened with surprise. ‘He’s revealing that now?!’
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Every eye in the room immediately shifted from me to the main character.
“...what?”
I couldn’t tell who asked the question, nor did I particularly care.
“It was a few years ago. Setting aside the details since it’s a long story, I met an intelligent monster capable of speaking English.”
My jaw dropped halfway to the floor. This wasn’t something that Thaddeus revealed until the third arc in the story, and he only revealed it to a few people close to him, like Prince August, Scarlet from class 1B, and his childhood friend Hugo.
‘Why did he reveal it this early?’
A screen popped up in front of my face and I flinched. Diana and Eden gave me curious glances, but I ignored them in favor of reading the popup.
=Setting Change=
Thaddeus has no reason to hide information critical to the survival of mankind. He will reveal the fact that ‘dungeon masters’ exist at the earliest opportunity. To facilitate this change, Thaddeus is slightly less jaded about his negative experiences in high school, making him easier to approach.
Enjoy the change!
-Gramma
=============
‘...’
Okay, so Gramma changed his setting. This…
Was this a good or a bad change? It was hard to tell. This seemed likely to accelerate the pace of the story. Some of the later arcs were triggered by Thaddeus finally revealing the secrets he held close to his heart after going through excruciating character development arcs that forced him to learn to trust others again. If he revealed the information early, then that would move those arcs up in the timeline.
It was fine for me to reintroduce a dying idea since I was a nobody to these people and I had no proof. However, Thaddeus was different. He was the rank 1 cadet for our year and already had a track record of fighting monsters. While he wasn’t yet at the level where every word he said would be treated as gospel, a lot of important people—such as the Western Emperor—placed a lot of value in him, even if they didn’t fully trust him yet.
“Thaddeus, we will speak more on that subject after class,” Professor Lincoln said. “For now, let’s return to the discussion.”
We all pretended to refocus our attention, but I saw Princess Diana, Eden, and Luxjo stealing glances at Thaddeus as the professor continued speaking.
He tapped his tablet again and the word on the screen was replaced with an image.
It was a row of four humanoid figures with plastic skin, red cone hats, white beards, and plastic clothes of a variety of colors. Both the clothes and the skin tones of each figure ranged from vibrant blues, greens, reds, and yellows to varying shades of gray and brown.
“To start with a simple question, can anyone tell me what type of monster these are?”
Eden raised her hand. “Homo gnomus, Ser!”
“That is correct. Monster researchers use that name to refer to the species as a whole. What is the common name?”
She hesitated. As a treader, she wouldn’t be familiar with the terminology used by humans.
“Gnomes,” I answered. “Specifically, the four on the screen are a Dark Gnome, a Garden Gnome, a British Army Gnome, and a Flesh-Eating Gnome from left to right.
Their characteristics were pretty easy to tell apart despite me only having imagined them in the past. I spent a lot of time on my monsters ‘cause monsters are cool. For the record, my favorite type of gnome is the British Army Gnome. The imperialistic little redcoats are great at using AK-47s.
Also, you may be wondering why they are called ‘British’ when there is no Britain in this world. And why did I give them AK-47s?
Good questions.
Eden glared at me and I smirked while wiggling my eyebrows.
‘Why am I antagonizing her?’ I found myself wondering, but I couldn’t help it. It was fun to mess with people like her.
“That is correct, Brick. Since you seem to be well-informed, I have another question for you. What should a Hero be wary of when facing gnomes?”
I considered the question for a moment before answering.
“There are three characteristics of gnomes that can turn them into dangerous opponents,” I answered. “Those are ‘cooperation’, ‘intelligence’, and ‘variance’. The first two are easy to understand—a single gnome is generally not a threat to a well-trained Hero; however, a group of gnomes can coordinate ambushes and use guerrilla tactics against you.”
Professor Lincoln nodded. “And the ‘variance’?”
“Gnomes have a high number of subspecies. There are currently seventy-three subspecies that have been discovered and it is expected that there are many more. Each subspecies can have different traits, including elemental affinities, weapon specialties, varying levels of intelligence, and so on.”
“Excellent. I was impressed when I saw your answers on the entry exam, and you continue to deliver. With some more study and training, I have high hopes that you will better our understanding of this world.”
I resisted the urge to snort. ‘Man, you have no idea.’
“That being said, you should apply yourself better in your study of history. There was… room for improvement in your answers.”
My mood instantly plummeted.
“Right…”
Eden snickered and I shot her a glare. ‘I doubt you know any more about this world’s history than I do!’ I wanted to shout.
“Is there anything anybody would like to add to Cadet Layer’s answer?” Professor Lincoln asked. “Or are there any questions?”
Nobody volunteered.
“Since there are no questions, I trust that you all have a perfect understanding of gnomes. That is good, as you will be fighting them next week on Monday.”
I didn’t react since I already knew about it, but everybody else reacted with surprise.
Professor Lincoln grinned. “On Monday morning, we will be clearing a dungeon in an undisclosed location. There are two paths in the dungeon and you will be working in teams of four to explore each path. Two professional Heroes have already scouted the dungeon and confirmed that it is at a level that Class 1A cadets can clear. The primary monsters are gnomes.”
“What subspecies of gnomes are they?” Prince August asked.
The professor shook his head. “That information is available in channels that are accessible to all of you. This is a test of sorts. What information you are able to gather, the extent of the preparations you are able to make, and the abilities you show in the field will all be evaluated. Your current ranks are a reflection of your ability to perform when all the variables are known and provided to you. Now, you will be assessed on your ability to discover and react to the variables. Your results will be considered during the rank evaluation at the end of the term.”
Horizon Academy was the foremost Hero training facility in the world. It goes without saying that they understand that textbook knowledge and practical knowledge are not exactly the same. Similarly, they are more than aware that people grow and change as they obtain experience. Every ten weeks or so, there was a rank evaluation and it was possible for people to gain or lose ranks depending on their performance up to that point.
This particularly mattered in my case. I was evaluated high enough to land myself in the royal class because Professor Lincoln couldn’t understand what I did and how I survived. However, I couldn’t use my explosion magic effectively yet. It was entirely possible that I would be forced to drop down to the general class if my performance was poor over the next ten weeks.
At the very least, I needed to somewhat match the mid-bosses Asura and Vaevrel who were ranked lower than me.
“Ser, can I ask a question?” Eden said.
“Go ahead.”
“Is this gnome dungeon on Horizon? I was not able to detect monsters when I arrived.”
“It is not on Horizon. There are no monsters on Horizon. The location of the dungeon is obtainable information, but I will not be providing it at this time. That is part of the test as you are expected to use the teleport gate and meet at the dungeon Monday morning at 7:00am UST.”
Everyone else nodded with serious expressions.
I was going to put in a small amount of effort—just enough to determine that my knowledge of the location was still correct. But I already knew everything about the dungeon, including the types of gnomes that were present and the dangers each group would face inside.
Eden raised her hand again and I sighed. ‘Is she a teacher’s pet?’
Did I really design her like this? I never put her in a classroom setting, so I didn’t know she was like this.
“Ser, my people have long wondered about the decision to host this academy on this island. While we understand that inhabiting an artificial landmass eliminates dungeons on land, this place is subject to invasion by sea monsters.”
“That is an excellent question and one that is difficult to answer as it is not my field of expertise. There is an invisible barrier around Horizon that emits a frequency that affects the minds of wild monsters in some manner. While I am not well-versed in the matter, my understanding is that monsters are afraid of this place.”
“...afraid?”
“So I am told.”
I raised my hand once again, unable to resist the urge to explain how my world works.
“Yes, Brick?”
“It's difficult to explain mechanically, so I’ll illustrate how it works with a story.”
“...Do go on.”
“Once upon a time, there was a fish monster. He was swimming menacingly through the ocean in all his dastardly monsterness. One day, he chanced upon an artificial manmade island. Just before he crossed the border, a realization struck him like a divine revelation from the heavens:
“‘Shoot, that’s the border!’ he thought.
“Turning around while mentally wiping sweat from his scales, the fish breathed a sigh of relief. This unexpected experience of courting death made him reevaluate his life choices. He swam home to be with his kids. The end.”
“”...””
“So that’s why sea monsters don’t approach Horizon.”
Ah, that explanation reminded me of a review I once got from LinuxMasterRace:
The author doesn’t understand his own world.
BY LinuxMasterRace
I enjoyed this story for the first ten chapters or so, but it is becoming increasingly obvious that the author has no idea how any of the mechanics in his story work. I pointed out in multiple chapters that it makes no sense why all the future ‘Heroes’ are gathered in one place and none of the so-called ‘intelligent’ enemies decided to eliminate it.
The style of this work is okay, I don’t really have any complaints, but it doesn’t stand out in any way. The story is a mess. I’m convinced the author is writing without an outline or some kind of plan because he forgets things he mentioned just a few chapters ago and retcons every little problem all the ****ing time. Don’t even get me started on the characters. The only one with any personality at all is Thaddeus, and he has less personality than a piece of cardboard.
I didn’t find any grammar errors, at least. I knocked off half a star because there were probably errors that I couldn’t find.
This is a work in progress. If that’s your thing, I guess you can waste your time. I’ve had enough.
Overall 2.5 / 5
Style 3 / 5
Story 2 / 5
Grammar 4.5 / 5
Character 1 / 5
Well, that was a bitter memory. I took his critique personally and wrote the above story as an explanation for the barrier mechanic, but he didn’t like it all that much. It’s not my fault that some picky readers hate creatively weak mechanical explanations. They just don’t understand true art.
Satisfied that I gave a comprehensive explanation of a mechanic in my world, I leaned back in my chair and motioned for Professor Lincoln to continue.
“That does align with my understanding, though I question the necessity of personifying the monsters…” Professor Lincoln muttered. “Be that as it may, let us continue.”
What followed after was further discussion about gnomes and dungeon exploration. It was all information that will inevitably be shown when I clear the gnome dungeon, so I’ll skip over the rest for now.
When class was finally over, I waited patiently at my desk while observing the other students. Asura and Eden were talking to each other while Thaddeus approached August. Diana promptly left, as did Vaevrel and Luxjo.
“Thaddeus, if you could report to my office after classes, I would like to hear more of that story you mentioned earlier,” Professor Lincoln said.
“Yessir,” the main character replied.
Once the professor left, the remaining students stared at me.
Eden huffed and looked away, clearly peeved, while Asura smirked. August was expressionless, as expected, and Thaddeus smiled and waved.
“Hey… Brick, was it?”
“Yeah.”
“You hitting the gym again today?”
“I went there this morning; I'll be practicing magic in the training fields next.”
His eyes widened slightly. “Magic? Are you studying to be a wizard?”
I shrugged indifferently while trying to put on a mysterious air. “I dabble. Y’know, an explosion here, a… well, I do explosions from time to time.”
Asura laughed, his booming voice resonating in my bones. “Fantastic! I did not expect to find an explosion mage amongst the little men. You were evaluated to be a level higher than me, yes? Let’s have a match!”
‘A match…?’
Perhaps taking my hesitation as a sign of insult, the fiend said, “Oh, I forgot my manners for a moment. Little Man Brick, mine epithet is Asura and I challenge you to a duel.”
‘No way! I don’t want to die again!’
I obviously rejected his challenge.
“Maybe another day. Dueling on the first day of classes isn’t a good idea.”
In fact, it was expressly forbidden. There was a minor villain who got expelled a few years ago for accidentally killing another cadet in a duel on the first day of classes. He wouldn’t show up for a while… hopefully.
“Oh, so you were a coward.”
I half-turned and glared at him out of the corner of my eye.
“Idiot…” I muttered while channeling my mana. With a flick of my finger, a small cantrip explosion split the tight seam of his loincloth. The oily piece of cloth fell to the floor. Asura looked down in surprise.
“Oops,” he muttered. “I knew I should have replaced it a month ago…”
Eden moved away and turned her head, while Thaddeus stared at me in shock. August casually looked between the loincloth on the floor and the fingers I used to channel the spell, a faint glimmer of interest behind his otherwise emotionless blue eyes.
The fiend casually leaned over and picked up the loincloth before refastening it, tying a new knot where the fabric split at the seam.
“It seems I need to find a new loincloth. Little men, direct me to the nearest and finest loincloth shop!”
Thaddeus and I exchanged glances. A brilliant idea crossed my mind and I spoke up before someone else could give him actually good advice.
“So there’s this place called Victoria’s Secret…”
Both Thaddeus and August flinched at the mental image my statement inspired, while I couldn’t help the evil grin spreading across my face.
***
After giving Asura directions to the nearest Victoria’s Secret, I left the classroom and made my way over to the training fields, stopping by the dorms to pick up my new magic staff. Today was an introductory discourse—we had to enroll in our classes sometime tonight and we would officially start the semester from tomorrow onward. Since I had some free time, it was obvious that I had to spend it training.
Training Fields 1 through 6 were all occupied with classes at the moment, probably from second or third years, so I made my way over to Training Field 9. Why did I choose 9? I dunno, I just did.
The field was empty when I arrived. Moving near the center of the field, I recalled the feeling I had before I accidentally exploded myself in the exam. When I was practicing in the time between stealing the Magic Bomber trait and attending the academy, I hadn’t experienced anything quite that violent.
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and felt the mana flowing through my body. The violent storm had calmed somewhat since my ‘accident’, yet it remained volatile; untamed.
Tapping into a small segment of that mana and gathering it at my fingertip, I flicked my wrist. A small trail of explosions followed the trajectory of my hand, singing the skin on my fingers about as much as tapping a hot pan. It stung, but it wasn’t unbearable since it was momentary. Something on the level of cantrips was useable.
I never wrote a character who used explosion magic other than the Magic Bomber, so I was not intimately familiar with how this type of magic worked. That being said, I did know a few explosion-type spells that I should be able to acquire easily by owning this trait.
The magic type’s signature spell, Explosion, would be out of reach for a while, and Chromatic Explosions were definitely out of the question. However, if I kept it to the much simpler ‘Decoy Bomb’, ‘Remote Bomb’, and ‘Blast’, I should be able to gain a few spells within the next few weeks.
Of the three, ‘Blast’ was the one I intended to learn first. In simple terms, Blast is a spell that emits ‘explosion energy’ from an origin point. In real-world physical terms, I cause a shockwave full of heat (using magic) and then direct the entirety of that force toward my target (using magic). Basically, magic do magic things because magic.
This ‘trail of small explosions’ that I managed to pull off was the result of a week of painstaking effort, and it was nothing compared to what I actually wanted to accomplish. Pushing the boundaries of what I was currently capable of, I channeled mana to my fingertip once again and tried to push it out. A little spark formed and fizzled away as it spiraled toward the ground.
“It’s okay. Real OP characters have to put in a little effort in the beginning…” I muttered to comfort myself.
Mustering the willpower to give it another go, I spent the next several minutes sending pitiful spark after spark to its fluttering death. The flickering fiery flowers had a faint beauty. They were ephemeral moments; glowing memories fading into dark ashes. At first, the charred darkness scoring the ground was solitude, yet my repeated efforts yielded dozens of companion scars.
After an hour of intense effort, my shirt was soaked with sweat and my fingers were red and blistering from repeated burns, yet I pushed on.
Nothing would stop me from creating a beautiful explosion.
Another hour passed and blood trickled down my fingers. My nose was bleeding, but I didn’t care.
Fifteen minutes after that found me on my knees, gasping for breath. Tears formed in my eyes involuntarily, and the world spun as I fought lightheaded dizziness. Raising my hand to try one last time, a dreadfully familiar voice called out to me, causing my long-dead heart to twitch in pain.
“What are you doing?!”
Craning my neck to look behind me, I saw her. A pain shot through my chest and my breath caught in my throat.
“...Jessica?”
As my consciousness faded, my ex-girlfriend ran toward me with a panicked expression.