A faint blue glow appeared around Kyle followed by the blue chains that criss-crossed over his skin whenever he used magic as he cast Mana Skin the glow sinking into his body reinforcing its defence.

Seeing the blue chains covering his body the watching students gulped, even the sole human among them Will looked nervous. Growing up they had all heard the tales of the blue demons that had laid waste to the enemies of the Empire and seeing one using the magic they were so well-known for in front of them for the first time sent chills running down their backs.

The only one that wasn’t affected that way was Sasha who was convinced that Kyle was a good person. This was because of Fi, Sasha may not have a Soul Companion of her own, but they were something that interested her greatly and seeing such a beautiful Soul Companion at Kyle’s side was enough to convince her that he was a good person. Soul Companions were shaped by the subconscious of the person they were bound to and while Sasha might have a slightly different perspective than a human would upon seeing Fi most people would still agree with her.

Reginald smirked upon seeing this, it seemed that Kyle was going to be taking a conservative approach after the beating he took when he tried to grapple with Reginald in the previous fight. Not that Reginald disagreed with the decision, even with his magic Kyle was massively outclassed but this would keep him active for longer than if he didn’t use it.

Kyle’s mind was moving a million miles a minute as he tried to come up with a way that he could actually last more than a few minutes against Reginald and quickly came to the conclusion that melee combat was out. Reginald’s mastery of Unarmed Combat was leagues above Kyle’s own and although he didn’t know what other tricks Reginald might have up his sleeve, keeping his distance and attacking with his chain and magic was still his best bet.

Hesitating slightly, he made eye contact with Fi and nodded holding out his left hand towards her. Fi nodded in reply opening up a hole in space that spat out a small sack towards Kyle who caught it and took out the object inside.

“Oh?” Reginald grunted as Kyle removed the object that the sack contained. “Dual Wielding huh?”

Keeping a close eye on Reginald Kyle equipped his second chain, he hadn’t been using it before due to his lack of the Dual Wielding Skill, as one might expect using two weapons at once decreased the accuracy of both especially if you didn’t have the Dual Wielding Skill which was why he hadn’t been using both chains in the previous fight. It just wouldn’t look good if he accidentally hit one of his classmates on the first day especially considering how most of them seemed to view him.

A notification popped up in front of Kyle stating that his base accuracy with the chain in his right hand had dropped by 25% and by 50% with the one in his left as he didn’t have the Dual Wielding Skill making him grimace in annoyance, he already knew that this was the case so he sent a glare in Fi’s direction as she watched him worriedly. He knew that she was just making sure that this was what he wanted to do but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

Ice flowed down the chain in his right hand before both chains flew at Reginald who dodged the first one only to discover that the second was moving far faster due to Kyle activating Lash and he threw up an arm to block the attack gritting his teeth from the impact before realising that this too was only a part of the attack that Kyle had launched at him as two Mana Darts that had been hidden behind the first two attacks lodged themselves into his chest.

The others watched in amazement as Kyle easily landed a more serious hit than all of them working together and he wasn’t done, it was rapidly becoming clear to them that Kyle had been forced to hold back in the previous fight out of fear of hitting them by accident and one by one the wary expressions on their faces faded.

Reginald gritted his teeth as Kyle continued his barrage of attacks pummelling his arms and lower body with his chains. If he wanted this fight to continue much longer, he would have to use one of the Skills that he had been holding off on using turning his pained expression into a feral grin as he realised that his belief in the training, he knew that Kyle’s parents had put their son through paying off.

Kyle felt like he was on the verge of understanding something about fighting with chains that would massively increase his power. By using continuous attacks, he could feel the momentum of his chains increasing becoming a blur of whirling metal that not only continuously attacked Reginald but made it more difficult for him to fight back by placing him on the defensive…

But as Kyle was coming to this realisation Reginald made his move his body blurring to the right before disappearing from Kyle’s vision entirely before something slammed into his side with enough force that Kyle felt his ribs crack even through the protection provided by his jacket and Mana Skin.

Kyle instantly cast Mana Barrier just in time to intercept a second attack that smashed thorough the defensive spell as Kyle leapt to the side turning to see a grinning Reginald charging at him once more.

Kyle quickly activated Dodge Roll diving under Reginald’s attack before firing a Mana Bolt behind him that splashed across the Beastman’s muscular back as Kyle spun back towards him as he started up the barrage of attacks once again, his chains pummelling Reginald from multiple angles.

Kyle’s ribs creaked with every swing of his chains, but the young man simply gritted his teeth and kept attacking, he knew that Reginald had used some sort of movement Skill to close in on him but without one of his own this was the best that he could do right now but he prepared another spell just in case and sure enough Reginald disappeared again.

Instead of attempting to dodge the attack that he knew was coming Kyle simply finished casting the spell he had prepared causing several orbs of magic to surround him, it had taken him a long time to develop this technique which his mother had explained was the first part of gaining a sub-skill that would allow him to force extra Mana into a spell to increase its effects.

Reginald’s eyes widened as the Mana Orb that he accidentally came into contact with exploded sending him flying back as Kyle turned to face him once more. To Kyle’s surprise Reginald had a strained look on his face, the expression wasn’t quite one of pain more one that suggested that he was struggling to hold something back.

“I almost can’t believe that I was right,” Reginald said through gritted teeth as steam started to rise from his body which was rapidly turning red. “To think that you could actually push me this far.”

Kyle’s face paled as he recognised the signs of a Berserk type Skill activating. A Berserk-type Skill increased the damage that the user could deal as well as several other things depending on the specific Skill but could only be activated once certain conditions were met; namely when the users HP dropped below a certain point. But what was even more terrifying was that Reginald was somehow able to remain in control -at least for now- normally when a Berserk Skill activated the user would only be able to act on instinct, attacking anything that they deemed a threat but despite the wild look in his eyes Reginald seemed remarkably calm as he walked slowly towards Kyle.

Kyle opened his mouth in the hopes of surrendering before getting beaten down but as he did Reginald’s face twisted as he finally lost control and disappeared in the same way that he had before when Kyle had been attacking.

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The next thing Kyle knew he was lying down in a comfortable bed in an unfamiliar room with his body groaning in pain with every breath he took.

Hearing a familiar sound, he slowly turned his head to see Fi sleeping next to him her tongue flickering out of her mouth with each breath then flinched as the small movement sent a spike of pain running down his back.

“OH! You’re awake!”

Kyle started at the sound of an unfamiliar voice before groaning at the pain the sudden movement caused before turning towards the source which just so happened to be a short girl with a long blonde braid running down her back.

“Good morning!” the girl said giving him a bright smile.

“Well actually I guess it’s the afternoon now,” she continued placing a finger on her chin before shaking her head. “Anyway, I’m Claire nice to meet you Kyle!”

“Nice to meet you too Claire,” Kyle groaned. “But would you mind keeping it down a bit, my head hurts.”

“Oh! Sorry,” Claire replied in a much quieter voice as her face turned red.

“Claire is he awake yet?” another voice echoed throughout the room which Kyle quickly realised was the infirmary just as a short woman with intricately stacked honey-coloured hair atop her head walked into the room.

Kyle frowned slightly at the sight of the second figure, who was the first female gnome he had ever seen up close, like Drenn the gnome he had met the previous day she was a similar height to a dwarf but unlike them was slender with sharp features.

“How’re you feeling kiddo?” she asked brusquely as she bustled around the room picking several bottles off a nearby shelf and carrying them towards him.

“Sore, but otherwise fine,” Kyle replied eying the odd woman, despite her business-like tone it was clear from the look on her face that she was in fact worried about him.

“That’s to be expected after what happened to you, I suppose,” she sighed shaking her head. “Reginald always forgets that lowering his Willpower makes it harder for him to control his Berserk Rage. Anyway, these potions should help with the pain you’re feeling.”

“Thank you…” Kyle said as he warily eyed the bubbling liquid in the bottles that she was holding out to him.

“I’m Zerah, I work here as the school nurse and the trainer for healers and some other schools of magic,” the gnomish woman explained. “I’d prefer it if you called me ‘Aunty Zerah’ though if you don’t mind.”

Kyle cocked his head to one side at the strange request, as Claire giggled to herself.

“May I ask why?”

“As you may know Gnomes usually live in large family groups known as clans and all the members are family,” Zerah explained giving her patient a gentle smile. “This school is the only clan I have left.”

“Aunty Zerah it is then,” Kyle said finding himself unable to deny her request after seeing the sadness that lurked behind her kind features causing her to break out into a smile. “May I ask why I have to drink the potions instead of just being healed with magic though?”

“Of course, you can dear,” Zerah replied. “It’s safe to assume that you will be getting injured a lot and having healing magic cast on you too often can be dangerous, especially for someone whose body is still growing. What’s more is that its far easier to treat the injuries you still have with potions instead of magic.”

That’s fair,” Kyle nodded taking the potions offered and removing the corks before quickly downing the contents knowing that they would taste vile. He was not disappointed, if you asked him what the potions actually tasted like he wouldn’t be able to put them into words but for some unknown reason the better the potion was the worse it tasted which meant that the filth that was currently making its home as a strangely solid feeling lump in his stomach was a very high quality potion he had ever used.

Groaning as he felt warmth spread from the lump in his stomach throughout his body he soon broke out in sweat as the warmth settled in the areas where the pain was worst before slowly fading away leaving him breathing heavily.

“Well that packed a punch,” he gasped as he sat up suddenly jolting Fi from her slumber.

“Oops, sorry Fi,” he said as his companion gave him an angry glare.

“Why do you always do this?” she growled.

“Sorry Fi but if you weren’t sleeping right next to me, I wouldn’t have woken you up,” Kyle replied quickly hoping to calm her down but to his surprise she hissed at him and smacked him on the nose with her tail.

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” she shouted. “You always push yourself too hard against your opponents, even when you know you’re going to lose.”

This was a bad habit that Kyle had picked up over years of fighting his parents and his friends. No matter what happened he always knew that they wouldn’t hurt him too badly, but didn’t mean that it was the correct attitude to have here, especially considering the attitudes of some of Kyles’ classmates towards him though Fi had noticed that most of them had softened slightly towards him when they realised that he had been trying not to hit them with his chain in the earlier fight, though a couple of them had seemed annoyed that he had been holding back.

“Ah,” Kyle grunted as he rubbed his sore nose causing Claire to giggle in amusement.

“Yeah, I should probably try and do something about that,” he admitted shooting a glare at the still giggling girl.

“Alright, you’re better now so Claire will show you to the cafeteria,” Zerah said. “It’s after lunch now but I sent word ahead that you would be late so I’m sure that there’ll be something for you. But don’t take too long, you still have more classes today.”

“Thanks Aunty Zerah,” Claire chirped happily. “Come on Teddy!”

A large brown mound next to Kyle’s bed moved causing Kyle to flinch in surprise as it revealed itself to be a bear that came up to his waist.

“My name is Theodore,” the bear grumbled in annoyance but to its dismay Claire ignored it.

“Kyle, Fi this is my companion Teddy,” Claire introduced the sleepy looking bear who scowled at her incorrect use of his name.

“Nice to meet you Theodore,” Kyle chuckled as the still grumbling bear made his way to his partners side and was echoed by Fi who was happy to see another companion as she hadn’t quite been prepared for how rare they were outside of Farholt.

Even in Greenhearth itself it had seemed like less than half of the residents had Companions, even among the humans which were the ones who had invented the ritual that summoned them which still surprised the both of them even now. Kyle and Fi had been together for so long around other people with their own companions that they considered not having one to be unusual.

“You as well,” Theodore replied politely pleased that they were using his proper name instead of the nickname that Claire had given him when he had been summoned. To this day the long-suffering Companion had been unable to convince her to use his proper name.

Bidding Zerah farewell the four left the infirmary and Claire led the way down the hall towards the cafeteria.

“Kyle,” she said suddenly. “You’re an Aethereal Human right?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re not from the empire?” she asked frowning slightly. “Cause the only Aethereal Human I can think of who’s not from the Empire is the Snowstorm Witch, I mean there might be others who are laying low but…”

“Ah, the Snowstorm Witch is my mother,” Kyle admitted.

“I knew it!” Claire shouted at the top of her lungs grabbing Kyle’s shoulder as she did so. “Then your father’s the Phantom Warlord, right?”

“Yeah,” Kyle sighed wearily. It was a little weird for him that everyone was so excited by his parents, to him they were just mum and dad.

“Ooh, my friend Ulrich’s going to want to meet you, he’s a big fan of your dad,” Claire continued excitedly. “Although…”

“What is it?”

“Well, his father was killed by Imperial troops, so he might react badly at first,” she told Kyle sadly. “But he’s a nice guy I promise!”

Kyle raised a hand, “It’s fine Claire, really. I’ve dealt with this all my life and it’s not like I can blame him for hating the empire.”

Claire smiled at the earnest young man it was already clear to her how much he wanted to be accepted for who he was instead of being judged by the actions of people he didn’t even know.

“Thank you, Kyle,” she said. “He shouldn’t be too bad but please bear in mind that his father’s death was recent.”

“Well I’m sorry to hear that,” Kyle replied. “I’ll be as patient as you need me to be.”

Kyle didn’t have that many friends, so he was quite happy that Claire seemed willing to be his friend and introduce one of her own to him. If he had to wait while of them dealt with some of his issues, then that was fine.

“Alright,” Claire said happily turning towards a large door on their right. “Here we are.”

“Excuse me! We’ve been stuck in the infirmary and we were told you would have a quick meal that we can eat before we head off to our next class!” Claire shouted as she walked inside the large room which had several large tables and about five smaller ones dotted around the outer edge.

The room was empty but down the far end there was a large opening in the wall and behind it stood a figure that Kyle was quite familiar with causing him to stare in shock.

“Hello Kyle, how are you doing?” asked Yuliah as she smiled gently at the young man. “I heard Reginald beat you up pretty bad in class today.”