I should've mentioned this earlier, but in every one of John's regressions, the world has been slightly different than he knew it.
Everything major: his friends, the events he experienced, the weapons he wielded, were all the same, left untouched.
So while the part about John eating porridge was written in the original novel, there was never a Dignitas Qwerdan who approached him.
Meaning to John, this was just another interaction with someone he had just met. He wouldn't pay any heed to the differences in his lives, much less something as trivial as this.
Thankfully, Rokas did not notice me subtly implying we should head to get porridge. Perhaps the situation earlier worked in my favor.
"By the way, the sword that you carry…" John's eyes looked at the leather sheath hanging on the edge of my waist.
Ah well, there's no harm in letting him see Dainsleif.
"My sword?"
"Yes, I can feel a strange aura coming from it. It's like two forces, both of light and darkness, fighting to gain control over its blade."
Dainsleif was originally a holy sword and was procured by Duvari's teacher.
Eventually, it landed in the hands of Morwen, who used it to slay countless beasts.
Maybe the time it has spent in the cave has caused it to pick up a demonic aura. The skeletons there were pretty deadly for simple skeletons.
Surely, Dainsleif still has a good amount of holy mana inside it that allows it to fend off the darkness and stop it from completely turning into a demonic sword.
"And I feel that it can further evolve into something else depending on what you use it for."
"Whatever it is, one side is bound to win. I hope at that time, it is light that survives the onslaught."
John's expression darkened for a short moment.
John had always detested the monsters, believing something of such horror should exist on the planet.
The same went for demons. They believed humans were a race that should be wiped out and removed of all their traces.
But seriously…
He knows more about Dainsleif than I do. Since when was this a thing?
"Oh! I'm sorry. I let myself get a bit caught up in my sword talk. My apologies."
As an avid user of swords himself, John would blabber about the weapon for hours on end. I'm quite lucky that this one lasted only a few seconds.
"No, that's okay. Want some more porridge? We'll have to head out soon, but there's still time."
"I will take you up on that offer one more time. I can never resist more porridge!"
***
The battle between Sister and Mister Wang Jin was quite the sight. Out of all the matches today, they were the only ones to have slightly damaged the arena.
And I heard the arena was made out of really strong material. For two D ranks to cause that much damage… I need to get stronger, quickly.
As I walked across the hallway, my eyes turned as a familiar figure passed me.
It was Donna Arison, the one I had fought. She seems to have been nursed back to full health already, thanks to the Academy's medics.
She was currently watching something on her phone and was quite into it. I almost bumped into her, grabbing her attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" I turned to leave immediately, but…
"Wait."
"...yes?"
"Our battle. Why didn't you finish it? Was I really in such a pitiful sight that you allowed me to win?"
"...sorry?"
"Our battle! Why didn't you end it?!" She lashed out.
"I… couldn't. Something was stopping me from casting my last spell."
"...hmph."
That was all that was said between us, and Donna soon left.
"Come on, Alter dear!"
Huh? Was that Wang Jin's voice?
***
Fuck, my stomach still hurts. Alter really did a number on me, hah. Even after the medics completely healed me, there's still a bit of an itch left.
I had woken up around half an hour ago when the medics were still carrying me to the infirmary.
There was an urge to close my eyes and rest, but I pushed through it. I'd feel bad if I woke up later than the person I pissed off.
Speaking of pissed off, I wonder how Alter's feeling right now. I might've gone a bit too overboard there with my teasing, but I was really curious to see how much power she could output.
In the week I had been with Digni's party, she had never gone over a certain limit of power, always sticking to a certain spell.
So you could imagine my surprise when she decided to get serious with me.
"Damn… this bed is fucking uncomfortable." I stretched myself.
"Shut up."
"Oh, you're awake already, Alter. Good morning."
It seemed like Alter was placed in the same room as me.
"..."
"That's not very nice. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize. I didn't mean to get you so riled up."
I'm afraid that Alter seemed to have gone over and beyond just to win the match. That was just how much she hated it.
That being said, I probably wouldn't have been able to beat her even in her base state. Chaos magic is a tough nut to crack.
Alter didn't reply, and instead just lied with her back toward me. She seemed to have fallen asleep already. I could hear her slow, calm breaths.
She's really tired, huh. Maybe I should leave soon. I feel well enough to train anyway.
And I wasn't about to miss Digni's battle just because of some small stomach cramp.
I got up and made my way to the door. As I reached for the doorknob, I heard Alter whisper,
"I enjoyed our battle."
"...I did too."
I left the infirmary after that.
***
After finishing up my talks with John, Rokas and I headed back to the main campus, taking a short ride via the tram.
I never really got to travel around the Academy District as much as I wanted to, but from the short time we were out, I was able to appreciate its distinct beauty.
Everywhere there were students who had gone outside of the campus to search for places to eat. Groups of friends would walk around, talking loudly.
The buildings themselves were reasonably lavish as well. They all perfectly encapsulated the feeling of being in a world that relied on mana.
That was because quite literally everything did.
We entered the Academy from the front gate and headed for the infirmary right away.
The porridge was beginning to cool, and no one liked cold porridge.
It was then that we bumped into Wang Jin, who seemed to be wandering the halls with a confused expression on his face.
Ah… right. This guy is bad with directions.
"What are you doing?" I called him.
"Oh, Digni. Was trying to find the exit so I could head to the Colosseum. Your battle's the very last one, right?"
"Yeah. And there's still a good amount of time before it. Quit walking around like a chicken without a head and just follow us back to the infirmary. We've got porridge for you and Alter."