It's currently Friday morning, and I'm standing on the training field of the Hero Department. The first class is Physical Fitness and Martial Arts. I'm wearing a sports outfit provided by the academy: a white T-shirt covered with a blue and white jacket, and blue sports pants. The shoes are white.
Two professors are introducing themselves and explaining something about physical fitness and martial arts alternately, sometimes simultaneously. They are very coordinated. One is an Orc named Balzaq Horatius and the other is a Hobgoblin as tall as the Orc named Alzor Naegir. I can see that they are both muscle and martial arts enthusiasts. People like them are actually the kind of people I like. But sometimes they can be quite noisy when discussing muscles and martial arts.
It's not a bad thing, in fact, I think it's great. The academy placing them as professors of Physical Fitness and Martial Arts is appropriate. However, even though they explain with enthusiasm, I'm currently not in the mood for it. I am so damn tired.
As usual, I'm standing at the back with Ishma, to her left. Honestly, I wonder why Ishma always stays close to or beside me. Yes, I know she is interested in me but, well... forget it. I don't mind it either. Besides, we are in the phase of getting closer as friends and... fake lovers.
While standing, I hold back from yawning. I remember that Ishma has quite a high detection sense. It's not impossible that the two professors in front also have it. After all, they are combat specialists. I guess their detection and combat senses are stronger than Ishma's.
"What's wrong with you? You look very tired today." Ishma whispered softly without looking at me. She was focused on watching the two professors in front. But I could hear her even though she was whispering.
Glancing at her briefly, I then focused forward.
I then answered in a whisper as well, "Someone drained me dry yesterday."
Ishma's expression remained flat and she looked ahead.
"Oh, someone drained you...? What?" Ishma realized it a bit late and frowned while glancing at me with a confused and disgusted expression. This time she looked slightly to the left.
Not only Ishma, but the girl beside me also seemed to hear it. She widened her eyes slightly while glancing at me. Her expression seemed to say, 'New gossip? Edward cheating on Ishma after just dating?'
I sighed while glancing at the two of them, then I focused on the professors in front again.
"Exactly." I replied with a tired whisper.
Ishma shook her head slightly and her expression returned to being flat as she looked forward.
She then responded, "Did you fight with a succubus or something?"
"No, it was my older sister, Yolina. You know her, right?" I asked in a low whisper.
"Oh? You fought with your sis...ter? EH?" This time, Ishma widened her eyes and turned her head towards me.
"AKH!!!" The girl beside me, who overheard our conversation, screamed cutely. Her body froze and she almost fell backward.
I immediately held and caught her body, "Are you okay?"
Her face looked strange with a forced smile. Besides, her scream attracted attention. Many students focused here, including the two professors.
"The human girl over there? Are you alright?" Alzor asked loudly in a friendly tone. Balzaq beside him nodded.
The girl I caught answered nervously, "I... I'm fine."
"Really? You're not hurt or anything?" This time, Balzaq asked.
"Yes, professor!" The girl I caught immediately stood up.
"Well then, good, I will continue the explanation." Balzaq replied without scolding while nodding. Then the professor's explanation continued.
This cute girl then glanced at me with an awkward smile and gave a thumbs up. Then she whispered, "D-Don't worry. I'm a good secret keeper."
Hearing this, I patted my forehead and stood back in my place. Meanwhile, Ishma stared at me strangely. Her gaze was really blank.
Ishma then said, "I won't say anything because such relationships were quite common in the past for nobles to maintain the purity of their bloodline. I'm not-"
I immediately cut her off, "I'm joking. I was just training with my sister and got beaten up by her. She drained my stamina completely while beating me." My whisper was a bit loud so it could be heard clearly and accepted by these two girls.
'Damn, my fault for joking excessively.' I thought.
Then I remembered Yolina's words about me needing to maintain my fake relationship with Ishma.
"I told my sister about our relationship. I also told her about our duel. Hearing that, she wanted to train me to be more worthy of being your boyfriend." I continued.
I glanced at the girl beside me, she looked relieved and patted her chest. As for Ishma, she still stared at me flatly. She then smiled and focused forward again.
"It's your own fault for answering ambiguously." Ishma replied.
I felt relieved. Next time, I won't joke like that again.
And about yesterday, actually, Yolina draining me dry is quite true.
...
Yesterday night, at 1 AM, well, actually it was already Friday but, whatever. At 1 AM, I woke up after I asked Anetta to wake me up. My Arkium was quite replenished again. So I got up from my sleep on the floor with Yolina above me. At that time, she was still unconscious. I then carried Yolina to her room with a princess carry.
Before I channeled Arkium into her body, I remembered that I hadn't contacted Alfred or Mia that I wouldn't be coming home. Well, actually the old Edward never contacted them either even if he didn't come home, but I wanted to inform them. So I went down to the ground floor and exited the building to meet the gatekeeper who might have changed shifts. I wanted to ask him to contact the dormitory guard or the gatekeeper of my dorm with a communication orb, because I didn't bring my communication orb and contact card.
When I exited the dormitory building, I saw Mr. Brad, not someone else.
He saw me walking like a zombie because even though my Arkium was half recovered, I was still exhausted.
"Hey, kid? Going home already?" Mr. Brad asked.
"Oh Mr. Brad, you're on the night shift? No, my sister fainted today, so I have to accompany her until morning." I replied.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brad didn't answer and stared at me strangely. He saw my exhausted figure and muttered, "His sister... fainted and in the dorm?" Then he jerked.
"Kid... you... with your sister." Mr. Brad said awkwardly.
I tilted my head slightly and thought about what Mr. Brad said.
"Yes, it was quite common among high-ranking nobles to maintain the purity of their bloodline in the past. Well, good luck, kid." Mr. Brad averted his gaze and gave me a thumbs up.
"You should talk it over with your family. If-"
At that moment, I caught Mr. Brad's meaning, my confused face turned flat and I raised my left hand, "Stop, stop. You misunderstood something, Mr. Brad."
"My sister is just sick and fainted. You saw her exhausted when she returned to the dormitory this afternoon, right?" I asked.
"Yes, I noticed that." Mr. Brad nodded.
"After we talked, her body temperature became very high and then she fainted when she was about to take me home at 9 PM. Because her fever kept getting higher even now, I had to take care of her." I explained in detail to avoid further misunderstanding.
Mr. Brad immediately showed a relieved expression. "Kid, you scared me. So, what do you want to do now?"
"Maybe it's late, but I'm asking your permission to stay in this women's dormitory until tomorrow morning. Also, can you contact my dormitory? I didn't bring my communication orb and contact card. I'm from Glivemont Chateau dormitory." I asked.
"Oh? You live in a luxurious dorm, kid." Mr. Brad replied while taking out a communication orb, notebook, and contact card book from his drawer.
Then he continued, "I can contact the gatekeeper at Glivemont dormitory. And for permission, you should ask the dormitory guard, not me. But well, she might be asleep now and I'll inform her that you're asking for permission. I'm sure that old lady will agree."
I lightly patted his back and replied, "Oh? Thank you, sir. I'm counting on you."
"So, what do you want to say to the Glivemont gatekeeper?" Mr. Brad asked while taking out a pen, ready to write in his notebook.
"Tell Alfred, Edward Kazan Vallois's butler, not to wait for me to come home. I'm staying at my sister's dorm." I replied while watching Mr. Brad write.
Mr. Brad wrote what I said and then said, "Okay, kid."
After standing there while Mr. Brad called the gatekeeper of my dormitory with the same message as mine, I immediately returned to Yolina's dorm unit. I walked to Yolina's room and sat beside her bed. I watched her sleep soundly.
I then held her hand. Then, I channeled Arkium into Yolina's body while doing a soul connection.
I kept channeling Arkium until 2 AM. Of course, I didn't just channel it, but I also circulated Arkium throughout my body faster so that Arkium regenerated faster. This is draining my stamina. I'm extremely sleepy.
'Anetta? Can this Arkium gathering be done without using my stamina, but by using the neutral mana in the surrounding air?' I asked Anetta while yawning.
(It can be done. However, you have the Trait, Mana Disability. Therefore, you won't be able to convert mana into Arkium because, essentially, you cannot sense mana. This prevents you from interacting with mana. Before you can convert mana, you must first interact with it.)
Such a shame. Of course, I can train and increase my Arkium through meditation, but with the aid of mana, it would be much faster.
'So, I really can't, huh?'
(Actually, if you could sense mana, you could absorb it. However, any mana entering your body would split and leave your body as neutral mana again. This is caused by Mana Disability, which not only prevents you from interacting with mana but also prevents you from gathering and converting neutral mana into body mana. It's like layered prevention reaching your mana core. The root problem lies in Mana Disability.)
Listening to Anetta's explanation while sending Arkium into Yolina's body, I thought of something. I remembered the simulation battle. Anetta simulated an avatar, Liang Jianwei, the Magian Knight. Even though she used Arkium for the simulation, Anetta could simulate the Magian Knight's mana-based combat.
'How about you, Anetta? Can you sense mana?' Honestly, this was a rather wild question.
(I can.)
As if to add more information, Anetta continued.
(I can act as your mana sense. You can absorb mana. And...)
I grinned, interrupting Anetta, 'And, I can convert mana into Arkium. And if I form a new core as my Arkium core, Arkcore, I can have a larger Arkium reserve. However...'
(However, your new body has not yet fully adapted to Arkium. Forming an Arkcore at this stage would be dangerous. But it is still possible to convert neutral mana into Arkium using me as your mana sense.)
'How fast is the conversion?'
(Currently slower. But your stamina won't be sacrificed.)
I smiled victoriously. Today's mishap could turn into a blessing for me.
'Why didn't I think of this earlier?'
(You didn't ask.)
I was a bit annoyed by Anetta's answer. But it was true, I wasn't very observant. So I just accepted it.
And so, I managed to develop a new method for gathering and converting mana into Arkium. With Anetta's help, I could sense the thin neutral mana around me. I gathered mana with my intuition. As mana entered my body and moved towards my mana core, it would indeed split. So I redirected it to the heart, where Arkium regenerates. After some attempts, I finally succeeded.
'Can you handle the gathering and conversion while I sleep and maintain the soul connection? Honestly, I'm very tired,' I asked while yawning.
(I can. But I suggest you do it yourself while awake because it is more efficient if you do it yourself than having a skill entity do it. This means when you wake up, you will still be exhausted because the Arkium you transferred to heal Yolina's soul exceeds what you converted.)
'That's fine. Then I'm going to sleep.' I yawned and buried my head in Yolina's bed while holding her hand.
(Goodnight, Master.)
After that, I fell into a deep sleep while Anetta worked. Having a skill like Anetta is a blessing. I hope she doesn't complain when her 'emotions' arise again.
I slept until 7 AM on Friday. I didn't wake up on my own, but because of Yolina's slap. I got slapped on the cheek and fell to the floor. When I opened my eyes, I could see her angry with veins popping on her forehead. Her red eyes were glowing, and a red aura emanated from her body. Her long hair floated freely. Honestly, she looked like a demon.
"You said you weren't a siscon, damn it!!" Yolina screamed.
Well, it seems she misunderstood.