Days went by as Loter Spawman became proficient with the oblique dodging.

Days went by as Key Rayth completed the entire high school mathematics curriculum and began suffering through the literature course. His arm fully healed.

Days went by as Ramiron Veilora finished a black-and-white doodle sketch of her, Key, and Loter.

Days went by as Glacia Quakeheart kept sticking to Hiroku in a less showy yet mellow way.

Days went by as Hiroku Kayama stayed the same.

Loter got used to the schedule and woke up at around 6:50, even without his alarm clock howling. He wore his hooded white pullover and a gray pair of short khakis.

Exiting his unit, Loter saw Kiznaq DoLock walking ahead of him. "Hey, Kiznaq. Good morning."

"Morning, Loder!" Kiznaq slowed down his speed for Loter to catch up. The two went to the vestibule and stood before the elevator, waiting quietly. Although Hiroku was probably still depressed, Loter was feeling somewhat delighted today. He lightly bounced and swayed as he waited for the elevator. Abruptly, Kiznaq asked, "Uh, Loder, are you coming do d'e baskedball courd do blay baskedball doday?"

"I don't really have any plan. Sure, yeah, I'll go."

"Good, good." Kiznaq scratched his head and looked away with a hand firmly shoved in the pocket of his leather jacket. "I wand do ask if you can dell Ramiron do come doo. There is nod'ing weird aboud id. The reason is, uh, d'e, d'e, d'e—"

"Okay, no problem. I bet she's great at it. She's so strong." Loter entered the elevator and agreed before Kiznaq could finish his sentence. He was thoughtful enough to assume Kiznaq was having trouble saying long sentences, so he saved him the trouble. After all, Kiznaq and his sister Mina were from Fouqoise.

Kiznaq, in response, just nodded quietly and followed into the elevator. The two parted as soon as they arrived at the first floor. Kiznaq almost sprinted away. Loter thought of chasing yet decided not to step into others' business as he recalled Hiroku's reaction. He went to the dining hall by himself and got the cheeseburger he pre-ordered last night. Right before he took the first bite, he saw Key walking in.

"Key." Smiling, Loter waved his greasy hand, greeting his teammate as he approached.

"Yo, Lot. Nice burger, pal." Key stopped by the table, dropped a comment, and headed off.

"Oh, wait. Kiznaq said he wanted Ram to join the basketball game today."

"For real?" Key rhetorically asked, scuttling to the food counter.

While jogging back, Key said under a suppressed volume, "Are you sure 'e wants to play basketball with Ramiron? I'm not saying anything. It's just…" Key paused and squinted his eyes a bit while looking aside.

"A bit random?" Loter finished Key's sentence.

"Exactly."

"He probably just wants to make friends with Ram. She is a cool person." Loter took a huge bite from his burger. Grease slid down his hands.

"Nuh, you are too naive. 'E would 'ave asked Ram by 'imself if 'e really wanted to. There must be something behind it," Key asserted. He nibbled a corner of his sandwich.

"Yeah," Loter replied and shifted his eyes away from the food, suddenly staring at Key.

"What?" Key, surprised, paused chewing. The look from Loter was so serious that it felt strange on him. Key put his sandwich on the plate, reciprocating with his own sight.

"But it can be awkward meeting new friends. He won't know what to talk about. He can't even introduce himself because Ram already knows who he is. I think he just needs a little aid, and we are friends. My father told me we should help people in need, especially when they're our friends."

Key turned away and turned back to face Loter. He appraised Loter's serious stare and sighed. "Alright, I still suspect 'is motivation, but sure. I will give 'im the benefit of the doubt."

"Yay!" Loter bounced on the seat and began eating his burger.

The two soon finished their breakfast. They saw Hiroku and Glacia already in the computer room. Hiroku was gazing into his screen with his deeply depressed gloominess. Waving, Glacia casually smiled at them. She was not hugging Hiroku, but her chair was unnecessarily close to him.

Key gave Glacia an up-nod. Then he looked away. He and Dowii shrugged shoulders when they met eyes. Loter waved politely at Glacia, glancing at Hiroku several times just to pull his eyes away instantly. He felt bad when watching Hiroku suffer, yet he could not disrespect Hiroku's decision. Therefore, Loter chose to focus on his screen, allowing the course videos to take his attention away.

During one of the three break times in the morning, Loter scuttled up the stairs to the third floor, bouncing at each step. Kirane was the only person in the hallway when he arrived. Loter grinned, said hello, and waved at Kirane.

In response, the white-haired brat glared at him in contempt. Loter awkwardly turned away. His grin faded, and his scuttle became a constrained stride. He entered the art room.

"Ram," Loter called Ramiron from behind when her brush was not on the canvas.

Ramiron started and turned around during her flinch. "Oh, Lot. Shouldn't you be busy with your literature or whatever subject?" A smile appeared on her face the moment she saw Loter.

"Oh, it's break time now," Loter said and scurried beside Ramiron, enthusiastically admiring her work. The painting was an uncolored doodle of him, her, and Key:

He was standing in the center of the canvas doing his iconic wave, which he fully stretched his entire right arm upward. Ramiron stood beside him, looking straight forward with her head tilted up and crossing her arms before her chest. Key, separate from the two, was in his full kit, aiming the "U" on his vambrace with another hand on his upper arm.

"What wind brought you here?" Ramiron asked. She got back to her drawing while Loter was watching.

"Who is this one?" Loter pointed at the unfinished character at the side. His finger was almost touching Ramiron's brush.

"Be careful with your fingers."

"Oh, sorry." Loter drew his hand close to his chin, still pointing, "So, who's this one?"

"It's Hiroku. I'm planning to draw Glacia after I finish, but I am a bit low on inspiration."

"I hope you make a breakthrough soon."

"Thanks, Lot."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"I'm actually here to tell you that you should join us to play basketball today, Ram."

Visibly Surprised, Ramiron put her brush back on the palette. "Why? It sounds so random."

"Kiznaq asked me to ask you. I think he wants to be friends with you but is a bit shy, so I am here as the, hm." Loter took a second to find the right word, "Emissary!"

"Huh huh, fancy word." Ramiron stuck her head up to look at the hallway through the windows. Loter mimicked. There was not a single person. Ramiron turned to Loter and asked, "He is literally on the same floor. Why didn't he ask me by himself?"

"Like I said, maybe he's just shy and awkward. He did sound awkward when he was telling me about it."

"Fishy," Ramiron commented as she picked up her brush. However, she abruptly cracked a short, faint laugh and smirked, "Aye, I will join you. What can go wrong, anyway?" She smirked.

"I'll go tell Key about it," Loter dropped the words and rushed out of the art room.

"Door, Lot!" Ramiron friendly yelled.

"Okay!" Loter halted before the stairs and went back to close the door.

When the morning period finally ended, Ramiron was already standing outside their classroom. She and Dowii greeted each other with a "yo" as Dowii strolled away. Loter dashed to her, and Key reluctantly followed, walking slower than usual.

"Are you sure, pal?" Key scratched the back of his buzz head while asking. Reluctance was written on his face.

"Come on, Key. It will be so fun, and I bet Ram would be great at basketball."

"Aye, there's nothing to fret about," Ramiron seconded.

"Sure, 'ow bad can it be?" Key shrugged.

"Alright, let's go then. No need to wait for other squads." Ramiron held Loter and Key by their forearms, teleporting them all the way to the basketball court. They arrived within half a minute.

The place was still empty after waiting for two minutes. Not a single person was presented except them. The hot sun had Loter fanning himself with both hands. Beside him, Key stretched his back and neck. Ramiron held her hands around her waist, smiling confidently. Abruptly, she yelled, "Hey, it's time to come out! We are here and ready."

"Wait, what?" Loter started.

"Hm?" Key quit stretching immediately.

Twenty or so meters away before Ramiron, in the center of the court, a pastel blue paint emerged from the ground, swirling upward like leaves being carried by a whirlwind. As the twirl of paint quickly faded in the air, A white-haired boy was revealed. He wore a full set of kimono with a lemon-colored skirt outside his white robe and a light blue coat on top of them. Images of golden wyrms and a thundering phoenix were embroidered on his robe.

"Kirane Kayama," Smiling, Ramiron said his name.

"Ramiron Veilora." Kirane glared at her. His voice was intentionally low. The rage on his face was as peaceful as a sitting hunter or a crawling sniper.

Contrasting the girl's playful attitude, Loter was surprised, and he could tell Key was the same.

"I can already guess why you're here, but I do want to hear you saying it out loud yourself."

Kirane asserted in his deep tone, "The technique of Kayama was the strongest, and I am the heir of Tribe Kayama. My familial technique will not be humiliated by a woman like you, and neither would I."

"That's enough talking. Let me just very quickly put you down now so we don't delay the basketball match, aye?"

As the sentence ended, a violet light shined from Kirane's black irises. Ramiron's smugness held on for an additional second and completely vanished. She frantically held her palms before her eyes, staring into them.

She raised her head and said, "I can't teleport." The faint panic in her voice was not well-hidden.

"You can't." Kirane giggled and burst into laughter. His head shook up and down violently, and his body quivered. Yet, he was holding his gaze on Ramiron, not moving a single bit.

"That ability must rely on his vision," Key murmured to Loter, "my ability is marking his eyes. I think it is telling me to block his—"

"This is one of Kayama's strongest techniques: Lock Watching! No one in my sight gets to move a step," Kirane suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.

"It also stops Ramiron's teleport, so it must be stopping any attempt to change one's position." Key murmured. Sweat slid down his skin.

"Now, are you ready to meet your end, Ramiron Veilora?" Kirane screeched out his question. He reached out his right hand. A glass ball emerged and floated above it. Inside the sphere, a storm wrecked a boat on the roaring ocean, and then a flash of lightning filled the entire ball.

"You fucking cheat—Ah!" Ramiron grasped her head with both hands. "Ahhhhhhh!" She screamed as loud as she could.

Ramiron was about to slump, but her soles were adhered to the ground. She was forced into sitting and quickly curled, burying her face in her thighs as her voice turned hoarse.

"Ram!"

"Ram!"

Loter and Key yelled at the same time.

Kirane lowered his voice back to normal. "This one is called Torturing Sphere." He giggled.

"Ram! Ram!" Loter crouched down, trying to reach Ramiron, yet his feet just wouldn't leave the ground. "Ram!" Loter yelled as if he himself was the one experiencing the torment. His tears quickly went down his face.

No, no, no, no, no. I have to do something. I have to do something! I can't just let that bastard do this to her. I can't allow him to treat my friend like this! I, I, I have to try!

Loter pressed his palms on the ground, pushing as he pulled his legs. "Ahhhh!"

His face slammed into the ground, but his feet did not move a bit. He held his breath and proceeded. He shoved his hands, shoulders, and even face onto the ground, pulling his right foot while pressing down his left foot. The knuckles on his hands arched up and reddened in force. "Ahhhhhh!" The strenuous uttering drained halfway as he ran out of air.

Just as his strength began weakening, he felt a pair of hands on his ankle. Loter opened his shut eyes, seeing Key holding his right ankle.

"Key," Loter called his name.

"Don't give up. Let's do this!" Key Rayth said and began pulling Loter's feet like uprooting a stake on the ground. "Ahhhhh!" he screamed.

"I won't give up. I won't give up!"

Loter shoved his cheek on the ground and hauled. There was a tearing pain in both his back and knee. He bashed his face on the asphalt again. "Ahhhh!"

I won't give up!

Then, he did it again. He could sense his flesh stretching on his back. "Ahhhhh!"

Power Activation: [unknown]

Suddenly, his right sole came off the asphalt floor. His right foot was swung into the air. Following, he freed his left foot effortlessly.

He charged toward Kirane. He sprinted at Kirane. He saw Kirane's look of surprise, and he saw Kirane reaching out his left hand. He pounced forward.

Just before Loter could land his punch, Kirane spread his left palm.

Then, a gust sent Loter meters backward until he stepped on the ground again. His eyes squinted and closed in the ferocious gale. He blocked his arms before his face, turning sideways.

When Loter opened his eyes again, he saw Kirane holding the sphere with his right hand and reaching out his left hand. He could spot Kirane's sweat coming down his frightening face. Loter's view was so clean that he realized something was off.

Where, where are my arms?

Loter looked down. Not a single body part or piece of cloth was presented.

Am I invisible? I am invisible! This is how I break Kirane's spell! I don't know why I just gained the power, but it sure came in handy. I just have to get close to Kirane right now. I just have to approach him.

Loter tried to trudge forward, yet the gale knocked him further back.

He fell onto Ramiron.

The moment they went into contact, Loter's invisibility was shared with Ramiron.

"No!" Kirane screeched.

Ramiron slumped on her back, and Loter rolled off her. His arm still lay on hers, remaining the sharing power through contact. Ramiron ceased her scream while panting with her eyes closed. Loter crawled up and knelt beside her, shaking her.

Meanwhile, Kirane stopped all three spells at once. A burst of smoke appeared beneath and grew to cover him completely in an attempt to get him away.

Key dashed into the smoke without hesitation, holding his right fist in the air.

As the smoke busted away, he gave Kirane a left hook after his previous punch. Kirane's brows twisted in rage. Regardless, Key gave him no time to rest. His next jab flitted through the air.

Kirane deftly stooped down, backpedaled, hopped forward again, and kicked out his right foot in the air.

Key Impeccably parried the kick. Yet, his arms could barely hold against the force.

Before landing, Kirane lashed out his left sweep. Despite Key's timely defense, the kick forced through Key's arm and knocked on his head. He fell unconscious right away.

"Fucking magicless loser," Kirane murmured. Not wasting any time, he summoned the smoke again. It spurted from the ground and elevated.

Right as it wrapped around Kirane's face, it busted again. This time, there was stardust surrounding it. A female palm appeared before Kirane's eyes, clutching his face. She hauled the white-haired brat up and struck his head onto the asphalt floor.