The afternoon sun lit up the large medical room, shining on the white-painted walls.
After Touka left, only Hoshiharu and Kanata remained in the room.
Hoshiharu glanced back.
Even though he didn't see any passersby, Kanata carefully closed the door.
Not only that, Kanata also walked to the window and closed all the open windows, turning the entire hospital into a secret space.
NO.
Why did she close all the doors and windows?
Was this an attempt at murder?
Hoshiharu looked at her with an uncertain expression.
Although his physical strength was almost exhausted, his magic power had nearly recovered.
'Haha, the advantage of having low magic power is that it recovers very quickly... Damn, I'm smiling, and tears are starting to flow.'
"Don't worry, I just want to tell you something and don't want anyone to disturb us."
Kanata walked to the bed, saw the Apple Bunny next to the bed, took one, and put it in her mouth.
"Thank you for showing mercy during the competition."
She chewed the fruit and sat on the edge of the bed, looking calm.
"For that last stab, you should have turned your Device into Illusion Form in time, otherwise, my situation would have been dangerous."
Kanata's expression became as soft as before, fitting her status as a wealthy lady, and the noble aura from the battle was no longer visible.
At the end of the match, Hoshiharu's zero-distance sonic bomb directly shattered her defenses, but when the blade pierced her body, it only caused a sting and did not harm her.
"It was nothing. After all, you are also Senior Sister's best friend. I couldn't kill you, Senior Sister would have blamed me."
Hoshiharu didn't care too much about it.
If the sword had pierced the body, it would have been no joke.
If Kurono hadn't reacted in time and failed to stop the moment, Kanata might really have died.
"I'm so envious."
Kanata looked stunned, with envy for Touka appearing on her face.
"Why?"
Hoshiharu was a bit confused.
'What's there to be envious of? I'm envious of you, okay, my family is so poor that I only have paper money!'
"No, it's nothing."
Kanata shook her head, as if she didn't want to talk more about it.
"What I want to ask is, why can you fight against fate without fear?"
She looked at Hoshiharu with burning eyes.
It seemed like she wanted to get the answer to this question from him no matter what.
"Why do you like discussing fate with me so much?"
Hoshiharu was very confused.
"I heard about your childhood from Touka, so I'm very curious… and I also want to know if you can be my role model."
Kanata fell silent for a moment.
She seemed to be thinking about whether she should share such a secret, but after thinking about it, since she wanted to know someone else's secret, she shouldn't hide anything, so she told Hoshiharu about her doubts in recent days.
"I see, a family engagement, this really is a third-rate plot that can be found in any novel."
Hoshiharu lay on the bed and moved his sore shoulders.
He immediately thought hard, bowed his head, and thought about how to explain it.
"...Senpai, do you know what it's like to be weak?"
After a while, Hoshiharu lifted his head.
His expression became very serious, and the previous nonchalance vanished from his body at this moment.
"No, I've never experienced such a problem."
Kanata shook her head, and her soft golden hair flowed.
Everything had gone well for her since she was born, and she had never encountered any real trouble. Sometimes she was crushed by her family's power and her own strength.
Hoshiharu's mouth twitched slightly, as he was inadvertently slapped by Kanata.
"It's different for me. I deeply understand how terrifying it is to feel weak."
Hoshiharu turned and stared straight at the snow-white ceiling, his expression filled with memories.
"Being weak is a very painful thing, as if life is no longer in control. Such fear and anxiety have turned the only sleep that can be considered rest into a kind of torment for me, fearing that while I sleep, I might die unconsciously and not be able to open my eyes the next day..."
Extreme weakness was enough to push people towards death.
In the first few years after time traveling, he lived in pain and panic every day.
"At first, I hated everything."
Hoshiharu, immersed in his memories, seemed to recall his past experiences, his eyes slightly lowered.
"..."
For the first time, Kanata realized that the handsome boy who was always healthy and active could show such a dark and hateful expression, as if the whole world had abandoned him.
That's right.
Hoshiharu wasn't initially cheerful.
In the years after he had just time-traveled, when his body was still immature and he couldn't train at all, he hated everything in his heart.
Self-pity was his normal state at that time.
Of course, he hated himself, but while playing life simulator, no one thought of making an extreme account to play, so such things could be understood, and what should be more hated was actually the time travel itself, no one told him to create his character would travel through time, and "taking something without telling them" like this was the real cause.
But what he hated most was his own weakness.
Weakness was the source of his pain.
In the years after his rebirth, he was immersed in pain and panic, exuding an aura of hating everything every day, as if the whole world had abandoned him.
However, sometimes hatred can be a blessing.
Unwilling to accept the reality that his life could be taken at any time, Hoshiharu, who was immersed in negative emotions, slowly began to train himself desperately after his body gradually grew.
The anger and reluctance, the panic and fear in his heart became the bridge for him to motivate himself, overcoming the pain and groaning of his body time and time again, and surpassing his limits time and time again.
Anyway, it wouldn't get any worse, so there was nothing to worry about, just try his best.
At first, every movement he made would cause muscle fibers to tear and bones to break. Every training required a doctor to accompany him for a long time and use the Healing Capsule to repair his body in time.
But as time went on, he gradually got used to such desperate training.
His hard work paid off, and the encouraging thing was that after years of exhausting training, his physique gradually recovered and his body became closer to normal people.
Just a year ago, he finally could get out of bed, and in the past year, he had restored his body to the level of normal people. Now, with Nene's help, he was heading toward extraordinary physical health.
"...It's amazing you could endure it."
Kanata listened carefully to Hoshiharu's narration and remained silent for a long time before shaking her arm with goosebumps and sighing in admiration.
"Because I have a bunch of good people around me."
Hoshiharu shrugged and pretended to move his body.
The luckiest thing in his life was being taken home by the God of War.
He was an old man who treated him like his own son. Although he looked unusual, when Hoshiharu began to do his best to train himself, he immediately found the best doctor in Japan to accompany him all the time.
For more than ten years, he spent money, effort, and many connections to allow Hoshiharu to grow successfully.
The same was true for Touka, who always took care of him gently without any complaints.
"I hate weakness, no, I hate the weak."
Hoshiharu said, "Even now, I still hate the weak."
Kanata found that when he said these words, his face no longer had the haze of the past.
It might be proof that he had emerged from the darkness of the past.
She continued to listen to Hoshiharu's words, things started to become clear in her heart, and the thoughts in her mind became increasingly clearer.
"—So I want to be the strongest in the world."
The words that came out of Hoshiharu's mouth were very shocking, attracting Kanata's attention back, and she stared at him blankly.
"—Because the strongest in the world is the furthest from the weak."
Hoshiharu hated the weak very much.
So pursuing strength became his obsession.
And becoming the strongest in the world was the ideal he wanted to achieve with all his might in this life.
To become the strongest in the world, he had to constantly surpass his limits, continuously surpass impossible opponents, and continually absorb all knowledge and skills to develop himself.
Defeating Kurono felt very bland to him.
But after defeating Kanata, he was very excited and felt very satisfied.
Because defeating an impossible opponent meant he had surpassed himself again and allowed him to develop.
His previous life had left him.
In this life, he had found a new ideal, honed his strong will, and possessed effective talents and talents, so he couldn't leave himself behind no matter what.
What he aimed for was the strongest in the world!
Then when he became the strongest in the world, or even reached the realm above it, and found the culprit who allowed him to time travel, he would punch that person's face and directly ask why they arranged such a difficult second life—if there was indeed a culprit.
"...Do you know about the power of fate?"
Kanata was slightly silent, and her eyes were filled with a strange color as she looked at Hoshiharu.
"The idea that magic power symbolizes fate?"
"That's right."
"I know."
In this world, magic power doesn't refer to vitality but to innate spiritual energy.
The total amount of spiritual energy doesn't change according to the will of a Blazer. It cannot be increased after birth. The amount present at birth will always be the same.
Therefore, there is a saying that "the magnitude of a person's magic power represents the extent of the fate they bear and their influence on the world."
This is a very negative statement. Hearing such words alone would make a person feel that they have compromised their destiny.
However, this statement is very true. According to statistics, all Blazers who have left their names in history have very high magic power. Conversely, Blazers with very low magic power are almost non-existent in historical records.
Therefore, the idea that magic power represents the power of fate is also very popular among Blazers.