Dream (Reina POV)

I slowly opened my eyes. In front of me was emptiness... An endless expanse of blank white spread out as far as I could see and a quiet peace blanketed the surroundings as I took a moment to reorient myself.

… Where am I?...

I glanced around, hoping to find something to help me understand my current situation, but there was nothing. Nothing except empty, white space.

… What?...

Still in a groggy daze, I stumbled forward, but as soon as I took two steps… it was like reality itself shattered.

The endless white around me shattered like glass into countless pink fragments of light to reveal a brilliant night sky filled with twinkling stars. I stared blankly into the darkness that stretched infinitely in every direction before finally, I snapped out of my stupor and looked around in a panic.

Then, gravity changed. It spun, swirled, reversed. And I desperately reached forward as if I was trying to grasp at something that could save me from the chaotic weightlessness, but unfortunately, there was nothing. Pink light started to ripple outwards from me as I tumbled aimlessly through the almost abyss-like sky. I opened my mouth to scream, yet the only thing that came out was silence before gravity shifted once more.

I was suddenly propelled downwards again as I looked up and saw the moon of this endless night sky, faintly radiating with a gentle moonlight as it floated peacefully amongst the stars. Pink flames suddenly ignited from the nothingness around me. They enveloped me as the turbulent wind rushed past my ears, making my hair and clothes flutter while I started to accelerate. Then, I spun around in midair before starting my descent from the heavens headfirst like a pink meteor streaking through the night sky.

But as I shot downwards, it was like the sky started to rotate. The moon slowly lowered, hiding behind the horizon on my left side while simultaneously, the sun slowly rose from the horizon on my right side. I raised my arm to shield my eyes from the radiant sunlight as it illuminated the clouds below me with a faint mixture of pink and orange.

It was strange.

I should’ve been terrified. After all, I was in an unknown, incomprehensible sky all by myself, falling from an unknown height. Yet, for some reason, none of it mattered to me. All I could think about was how warm the gentle, ethereal sunlight felt, how breathtakingly beautiful the endless night sky above me looked, how soft and fluffy the clouds below me seemed.

What filled my heart wasn’t fear, it was surreal tranquility.

And after a moment, I gave in to that tranquility.

I lowered my arm and slowly closed my eyes as I continued my freefall towards the clouds. The tender warmth of the sunlight, the faint sound of the wind brushing past my ears, the quiet, mellow serenity of the sky, I just absorbed it all for a moment before gradually losing consciousness again.

The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Ritual Grounds (Reina POV)

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was the clouds floating in the afternoon sky and I sat back up before glancing around at my surroundings. Then I heard Master Sera’s voice ring out again.

“Oh, you’re awake, Reina. How do you feel?” (Sera)

I was currently in the middle of the ritual grounds and crouching by my side was Master Sera. In her hands was my staff, and the feathers lining the hook of it were softly glowing with a vermillion red as she stopped inspecting them for a moment to stare at me with a slightly curious look on her face.

“I feel… calm.” (Reina)

A sense of serenity filled my mind as I took a deep breath. Fresh air entered my lungs and energy spread out to every last inch of my body before I stood up.

“... Like my body is somehow lighter.” (Reina)

“Good. Try casting a spell.” (Sera)

Master Sera pointed towards the empty field past the ritual grounds. I turned towards the empty field and held my hand out in front of me.

A spell, huh?... How about【Storm Arrow】then?

The mental image of an arrow made of wind filled my mind as I was about to cast the simple, second circle wind spell, but as I stared out at the open field, something inside me told me to stop. Then, as if by some unknown instinct, I closed my eyes and stood still. The gentle breeze blew by, making my silky hair flutter lightly as I started to gather wind-element mana inside of me before inhaling another breath of fresh air. And after a moment, I released it all. I exhaled, and the wind-element mana inside of me surged into my arm almost instantaneously.

Strange. It’s never flowed this smoothly before.

The mana rocketed through my shoulder and straight to the tips of my fingers like a raging stream as I finally opened my eyes again to see three light-green circles in front of my open hand. They spun rapidly before a spear composed entirely of wind-element mana emerged from the center of the three magic circles and shot into the distance at an incredible velocity. After a moment, it struck the ground and an explosion of air burst outward from where it landed.

Eh? Wait, wasn’t that supposed to just be a【Storm Arrow】?

The last bits of my previous calmness finally disappeared as I stood there in shock for a moment while Master Sera walked over to my side.

“Alright, it looks like you’ve successfully refined your body, but I do have something to ask you, Reina.” (Sera)

“Eh? What is it?” (Reina)

Master Sera stared at me again with the same curious look she had before.

“Have you ever used fire magic?” (Sera)

“Eh?” (Reina)

I stared back at Master Sera with a blank face before immediately jumping to the worst conclusion.

Wait, I’m learning wind magic, right? C-Could it be? Is my affinity with wind so bad that it isn’t even worth it to teach me wind magic!?

After a moment, I collapsed to my knees with a despondent look on my face.

“N-No... I-Is my affinity to wind that terrible?” (Reina)

I raised my head to look up at Master Sera as tears began to form in my eyes, but what I saw was a confused Master Sera.

“Terrible? What are you talking about? Your affinity to wind is one of the strongest I’ve seen in a while.” (Sera)

Eh?

“S-Strongest!? (Reina)

I slowly got up again before staring at Master Sera with my own mixture of anxiety and confusion.

”T-Then why are you asking me about fire magic?” (Reina)

“Because somehow your affinity to fire is even higher.” (Sera)

“E-Ehhhhh!?” (Reina)

“I have no idea why, but your affinity to fire is incredible. In fact, I think yours is on par with some of my heroic spirits. I was wondering why you wanted me to teach you wind magic.” (Sera)

“W-Wait!? It’s that high!?” (Reina)

“Yeah. At the level your affinity to fire is at, it should be significantly smoother for you when casting fire magic. How have you never even noticed?” (Sera)

How have I never noticed?... Ah.

Umm… now that I think about it... Have I ever really tried studying fire magic?...

“Err, well, everyone in my family specializes in wind magic, and my mom and dad always told me I was great at it. So... I always just kind of thought it was my specialty too... I mean I’ve used some basic, first circle fire spells before, but every first circle spell is kind of easy to use, isn’t it?…” (Reina)

I twiddled with my fingers in embarrassment for a moment as Master Sera’s expression slowly shifted from being at a loss for words to pity.

“W-Wait! Don’t stare at me like that! I swear, I’m not stupid!” (Reina)

My eyes started to water again as Master Sera let out a disappointed sigh before suddenly tossing my staff back to me. I caught my staff in a fluster and the glow faded from the feathers as her voice rang out again.

"Well, whatever. I heard from Olivia that the reason you wanted to learn wind magic from me was to get stronger." (Sera)

“Y-Yes!” (Reina)

I immediately snapped back to my senses and plastered a serious look on my face as my grip tightened on my staff.

“... I need to get as strong as I possibly can." (Reina)

“Then, I guess we’ll change the lesson plan a bit. You’ll be learning fire magic, and I guess we can work on your wind magic too later. But with your affinity to fire, you should have zero problems understanding everything even if I just show it to you once, so it’s less work for me anyway.” (Sera)

Master Sera shrugged nonchalantly as I answered with a determined look in my eyes.

“Yes, Master Sera!” (Reina)

Outskirts of Adventurer Town Siel, Training Camp (Sophie POV)

I slowly sunk towards the bottom of the small pool of water as I felt mana slowly seep through me followed by a strange warmth. It spread outwards from the center of my body to the tips of my fingers as the warmth melted away the fatigue, and after it completely enveloped me, I gently opened my eyes again. Rays of faint sunlight shone through the crystal clear water as I floated peacefully for a moment before finally snapping back to my senses.

…. Eh? Wait...

Despite the tranquil scene and how refreshed I felt, my current situation was... a bit of a difficult one...

My mouth opened, releasing what little air I had left in a burst of bubbles as I immediately started to panic after realizing I was underwater again. And after flailing around for a bit to regain my sense of balance, I started swimming upwards. The sound of splashing water was the first thing I heard after I surfaced, and I hacked out a few coughs before glancing around.

It was currently sunset and everything was illuminated with a soft lavender sheen as Professor Kyle stared back at me with a relieved look on his face while crouching at the side of the pool.

“Oh. You’re awake, Sophie. You took a while this time so I was starting to get worried that something had happened.” (Kyle)

“If you were so worried, then why did you dunk me completely underwater in the first place!? I almost drowned this time! Can’t you at least leave my head above water next time!?” (Sophie)

“Err, well, if you aren’t completely submerged, then the effects of the pool won’t affect your whole body. After all, the pool only works when you come into contact with the water. And besides, the drowning isn’t even that bad once you get used to it.” (Kyle)

Professor Kyle nodded to himself as I pushed my wet hair out of my face before crying out in indignation again.

“Can’t I just keep my head underwater for a bit after I wake up then!? All I have to do is come into contact with the water, right? So what’s stopping me from just taking a small dive after I’ve woken up?” (Sophie)

“Ah.” (Kyle)

For a moment there, I repressed my urge to strangle Professor Kyle as he abruptly stopped nodding to himself like he suddenly had an epiphany before answering in a slightly nervous tone of voice.

“A-Ahem… As expected of you to come up with such an ingenious plan the moment I mentioned the problem, Sophie, but I’ve definitely, one hundred percent already tried that before, and uh... it didn’t work well. It was… too slow! Y-Yeah, it was too slow since you had to wake up first, then keep your head in the pool for a while, effectively doubling the time it takes to recover! B-But after thinking about it again, we’re not in too much of a rush. So starting tomorrow, how about we try using your method instead. Haha…” (Kyle)

Professor Kyle let out a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

You definitely just realized, didn’t you!?

Water dripped off my body as I pulled myself out of the pool with an angry look on my face before suddenly, the growl of my stomach echoed out.

Ah.

It seemed like reality finally caught up to me as I felt a wave of hunger spread through me despite my body being full of energy. My anger faded as a bit of embarrassment took its place, and a slight blush spread through my face while Professor Kyle got up and stared into the distance behind me.

“Oh, right. It’s been a few hours. You two should be getting hungry about now.” (Kyle)

Professor Kyle turned back to me with a strangely passionate grin on his face.

“Well, you’ve been working hard non-stop, so I guess it’s my turn to put in some effort. Just go dry yourself off and take a break for now. I think you’ve earned it. I’ll go get Regnis then make us some dinner. Don’t worry, even if we’re out camping in the middle of nowhere, I swear on my pride as a chef that it’ll still be delicious. The least I can do is feed you two well after you’ve given it your all today.” (Kyle)

Professor Kyle swung his arm around to loosen his shoulder as he walked past me before making his way over to Regnis who was still running, but looked like he was on the verge of collapsing.

“Alright! The passionate flames of my chef’s soul are burning bright again!” (Kyle)

“What?” (Sophie)

***

It was like time slowed down to a crawl for me.

Each second that ticked by felt like minutes, no, hours as I sat there in agony, and even the exhausting pain from running until I collapsed earlier was nothing compared to the torture I was currently experiencing.

Reflected in my eyes was the soft, orange flicker of the campfire, a stark contrast to the beautiful purple twilight of the night sky, yet I couldn’t care less about it if I wanted to. The entire world around me could have crashed and burned at this very moment and I probably wouldn’t even have noticed. The only thing on my mind right now was the campfire right in front of me. The simultaneous source of both my endless torment and my fondest hope.

Set up around the campfire were a few fish skewers. Drool leaked out from the side of my mouth as the fragrant aroma of grilled fish filled the air around me, making my hunger pangs feel more like punches directly to my gut. With every breath, my stomach was screaming at me to just give in to my instincts and rush over to completely devour the fish, but somehow I was just barely able to restrain myself for what seemed like an eternity until finally, my salvation arrived.

“Three. Two. One. Perfect.” (Kyle)

Professor Kyle’s voice rang out as he pulled out some light seasoning and sprinkled it over the fish skewers, making the aroma just that much more enticing. And before I could even let out a word, Professor Kyle handed the freshly seasoned fish skewers over to me and Regnis with a confident smile.

“Sorry to keep you two waiting. Unfortunately, it’s a little simple, but I still tried my best to make it as delicious as possible, so here, eat up. I’ll make some more in the meantime, so don’t worry too much about running out.” (Kyle)

I stared at the fish skewers in Professor Kyle’s hand like a predator eyeing its prey as I slowly wiped my drool away before finally snapping and giving in to the rumbling of my stomach. Every muscle fiber in my arm tensed up as I immediately swiped two fish skewers and finally took the long-awaited first bite.

“Ah. Wait! Careful, it’s hot!” (Kyle)

My teeth sliced through the incredibly tender fish with ease as I tore a chunk out of its side like a frenzied animal before suddenly, my sense of taste was overwhelmed. It was like time froze for me as a tsunami of deliciousness surged through to every last corner of my mouth.

The taste was beyond heavenly. It was on a whole other level compared to anything else I had eaten before.

The subtle blend of seasoning perfectly complemented the succulent taste of the grilled fish which was cooked to perfection. It was like everything melted together in my mouth, and the only thing that kept me from instantly devouring both skewers in my hands was the burning sensation left behind after I swallowed it. I immediately opened my mouth and stuck my tongue out to try and cool it down, but after taking only two quick breaths, I couldn't resist my stomach anymore.

One more bite… Just one more bite!

I started to bring one of the fish skewers closer to my mouth again, however, this time I felt someone stop me. Professor Kyle grabbed my arms and held me back as my stomach let out another rumble while I tried to chomp at the fish skewers in vain.

“Sophie! Stop!” (Kyle)

“Let me go! I just want another taste! Just one more!” (Sophie)

“You’ll burn your mouth! You can eat as much as you want in a bit! Just let it cool off first! Wait! Regnis, not you too!” (Kyle)

“I’m sorry! I can’t help it!” (Regnis)

Professor Kyle’s grip on me loosened as he presumably shifted his attention to Regnis before I finally managed to wiggle one of my arms free and take another bite of fish. I tore another bite of fish off the skewer before experiencing heaven once again as I couldn’t help but shed a few tears from finally reaching the end of my arduous torment.

Although admittedly, maybe a bit of it was from the burning sensation in my mouth...

Eventually though, I swallowed the second bite. And it was then that I realized I wanted more. Just one more bite wasn’t enough. I needed another one, no, another two! My grip tightened on the fish skewers in my hands as I stared at them before strengthening my resolve.

I don’t care if my mouth is on fire, I’ll cool it down with the taste of fish!

Outskirts of Adventurer Town Siel, Training Camp (Kyle POV)

It was another beautiful sunny morning. The sun was shining high, making the water sparkle like diamonds, the morning dew still clung to the grass around us, and a breath of the crisp, cool mountain air entered my lungs as I stared at Regnis and Sophie lined up in front of me.

“Alright, how do you two feel?” (Kyle)

Regnis stretched his arms a bit while Sophie looked down at her legs.

“Honestly, much better than I thought I would.” (Sophie)

“Yeah. After all that running we did yesterday, I was expecting to be much more exhausted.” (Regnis)

Well, looks like the pool is still working fine so plan A is a success. Kicking the training up a notch and pushing them to their physical limits multiple times a day shouldn’t be a problem. I guess I should give them a little more motivation though, otherwise, they’ll reach their mental limit fast.

“Good.” (Kyle)

I smiled at them and was about to continue when suddenly, Sophie raised her hand.

“I have a question though.” (Sophie)

“Eh? What is it?” (Kyle)

I stared at Sophie with a slightly confused look on my face as her eyes twinkled brightly for a moment.

“When are we having breakfast?” (Sophie)

Regnis’ eyes sharpened the moment the word ‘breakfast’ was mentioned as both of them started to emit an aura of raging curiosity.

“Eh? Breakfast? Well, I was planning to start cooking it after you two did some warm-up exercises.” (Kyle)

“Warm-up exercises? No problem. What are we going to do?” (Regnis)

“Heh heh. Well, yesterday, I went a little easy on you two to help you get used to the type of training we’ll be doing for the next week, so get ready to constantly be reaching your limits starting today. We’ll start it off with some more running. Just run around another 100 times or so like you did yesterday. You two should be faster now, so it shouldn’t take too long compared to yesterday. And don’t worry if you collapse, I’ll throw you into the pool right away so give it your all again.” (Kyle)

Just running around again shouldn’t be too hard, right? I mean, judging from the width of the clearing, it’s only a little more than what I used to run every morning back when I was training.

I gave the two of them a thumbs up, however, it seemed like they didn’t exactly share the same level of enthusiasm as I did.

“Urgh.” (Sophie)

Sophie flinched a bit and let out a small groan of dismay as Regnis seemed to get a little pale after presumably remembering the suffering they endured yesterday.

“Um, how about we just have breakfast first? We can run at any time, but we can only have breakfast in the morning, right?” (Sophie)

“Yeah, any later and it becomes lunch instead.” (Regnis)

Sophie let out a dry chuckle as Regnis nodded in agreement while the color returned to their faces.

Oi! Where did all your determination go!? What happened to getting stronger to show everyone you can protect yourself!? What happened to catching up to Halbert and Zane!?

Ugh. Looks like they’re already closer to their mental limits than I thought… Guess I’ll have to find something to bait out their courage again. Well, they seemed to be pretty intent on eating breakfast, so let’s try that.

Sorry, you two, but since you both intend on being lazy, it looks like my only option left is to go full instructor from hell.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before plastering a serious look on my face to get into character. It seemed to work though since they immediately perked up and stared back at me in silent anticipation.

“I don’t know what kind of training you two have had before, but if you think that you’ll get through mine without putting in any hard work, then you’re sorely mistaken. If you want breakfast... then you’ll have to earn it.” (Kyle)

My cold voice rang out with a sting as I held up two fingers before continuing.

“In two hours, I’ll start making breakfast, and if you don’t finish by the time I’m done cooking... then you won’t get any.” (Kyle)

Regnis and Sophie looked devastated once I mentioned there would be no breakfast if they didn’t finish in time, and after a moment, they slowly collapsed to their knees in despair as I turned around before dropping the fake expression for a genuine, nervous one.

Crap! Was that too much? I didn’t think they would just give up so easily! In fact, with the amount of actual interaction they’ve had with main characters like Halbert and Raven, they’re, at a minimum, members of the major supporting cast! Their willpower should be the one thing they have that’s somehow endless... Should I give them more time?

I was about to turn around again and make an excuse to extend my previous time limit when suddenly, I heard Regnis’s voice ring out from behind me. It was a little quiet, but for some reason, it seemed like every word was filled with deep resolve.

“It’s just another 100 laps, right?” (Regnis)

“Y-Yeah, basically.” (Kyle)

“I see.” (Sophie)

Eh? Wait...

I immediately put on a serious expression and turned around again to see what was going on, but what greeted me was the sight of Regnis and Sophie slowly getting up with raging flames of determination burning brightly in their eyes before they both took a deep breath and started to sprint madly towards one side of the clearing. I couldn’t keep my excitement from showing on my face anymore as a victorious grin replaced the serious expression on my face while they ran off.

Yes! Hook, line, and sinker!

Outskirts of Adventurer Town Siel, Training Camp (Sophie POV)

It was like my lungs were on fire. Every breath I took just made the stinging pain in my chest worse, and my sweat drenched me as I struggled to even move my legs anymore, but even so, I strained my body to keep on going. I had to keep going because... my breakfast was on the line!

I still vividly remember the taste of the grilled fish from yesterday. The fragrant aroma, the juicy tenderness, the explosion of deliciousness! I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve collapsed so far, but I don’t care if I have to run until I collapse a million times, I swear I’ll taste that kind of heavenly flavor again if it’s the last thing I do!

Besides, I’ll be fine after floating in the pool for a bit anyway!

I grit my teeth as I pumped all my remaining energy into my legs to take a few more steps forward before finally, my body gave out and I fell over again.

***

When I finally opened my eyes again, the first thing I saw was the sun shining in the clear, blue sky. A few clouds slowly floated inwards from the edges of my vision as the morning sunlight warmed my face slightly. I silently drifted in the tranquil waters for a moment, taking soft breaths as a familiar warmth melted away the aching pain in my body before finally, I snapped back to my senses.

I immediately scrambled to stand up before glancing around. The sound of splashing water mixed in with the pleasant chirping of the mountain birds as I turned to my side to see Professor Kyle standing by the campfire with a cooking pan in his hands while Regnis was sitting nearby with an expectant glint in his eyes. I wasn’t sure about how long it had been since we started running, but looking at the current situation, it seemed that we finished in time.

Professor Kyle was about to say something after noticing that I woke up, but before he could even say two words, I immediately cut him off with a sparkle in my eyes similar to Regnis.

“Welcome ba-” (Kyle)

“What’s for breakfast, Professor Kyle?” (Sophie)

“Oi, calm down. You didn’t even finish healing yet.” (Kyle)

“I’ll finish in a moment.” (Sophie)

My eyes sharpened with determination as Professor Kyle just sighed and mumbled to himself for a moment before finally answering my question.

“Well, we can’t exactly have fish for all three meals every day, so I was thinking maybe omelettes.” (Kyle)

“Omelettes are fine.” (Regnis)

Regnis nodded to himself in anticipation as I dunked my head underwater for a moment to finish recovering before leaping out of the pool and running over to the campfire with an expectant look on my face and an excited smile.

“Alright, I’m ready for omelettes!” (Sophie)

“I need time to cook!” (Kyle)

The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Ritual Grounds (Reina POV)

I slowly exhaled one last time as I finally opened my eyes and swung my staff forward while letting out a light shout.

“Ei!” (Reina)

I felt it. The flaming mana flowing through me was a relatively new sensation, yet for some reason, it was strangely familiar. Like it had always been there, but it was only now that I noticed. It raged from the core of my body, through my arm, and into my hand before finally being absorbed by my staff.

The soft shine of my unwavering, sky blue eyes contrasted brilliantly against the radiant, vermillion red glow of the feathers lining the top of my staff as I stared past my staff at the open field in front of me while mana from my staff concentrated on a single point in the distance. Five magic circles appeared where I concentrated my mana. Each one was the same dazzling vermillion color as the glow of the feathers on my staff, and they all rotated rapidly in opposite directions before the name of the spell I was casting echoed clearly in my mind.

【Ignition Burst】.

Suddenly, an enormous explosion of flames burst outward from the center of the magic circles, engulfing the space a few feet in every direction. The grass near the explosion was all instantly burnt into ashes and I held up my arm to shield my face from the wave of warm wind that followed the thunderous roar of the spell.

After a moment though, the air finally calmed down and most of the fire disappeared as I lowered my arm to see a crater with a few residual wisps of flame still rising from it.

“Oh. That was a pretty good one. I’d give it a solid nine. What do you think, Sera?” (Eliza)

“Nine? No way! That was a seven at best. Her mana control was good, but that was way too weak for half her total mana pool. She even has that staff you made with those feathers that I gave you ages ago. The explosion should’ve been at least 50% bigger.” (Sera)

Lady Eliza’s and Master Sera’s voices rang out from behind me as I leaned on my staff and let out an exhausted breath before turning around to see both of them sitting at a small table a few feet away. Lady Eliza was in the middle of drawing what I assumed was the new design for my costume while Master Sera waved towards me.

“Come on, Reina. Put a little more effort into the next one.” (Sera)

Was that still not good enough!? How much longer will I have to do this!?

“It’s already been over a day since you finished refining your body. If chantlessly casting an easy fifth-circle fire spell is already giving you trouble, then how are you going to control the natural laws of fire by the end of the week? At this rate, we won’t even get time to work on your wind magic before the tournament or whatever that you mentioned. So try a little harder.” (Sera)

“... augh… Y-Yes, Master Sera.” (Reina)

I let out a tired whimper as I shakily replied to Master Sera before Lady Eliza let out a devious chuckle.

“Heh heh. Don’t worry, Reina. Worst comes to worst, just ask your aunt to push the tournament back a week or two. After that, it won’t matter how strong you are because I’ll definitely get your new upgraded costume done by then, and I’d like to see someone even try to break through the defense of a costume that’ll be designed and enchanted by yours truly! Muahahaha!” (Eliza)

“... Thank you, Lady Eliza, but there’s just one problem with that plan.” (Reina)

“Eh? What’s wrong?” (Eliza)

Lady Eliza’s evil laugh finally died down as she turned to me with a curious glint in her eyes while I stared back for a moment with a blank smile on my face before taking a deep breath and screaming into the sky.

“There’s no way I’ll wear something so embarrassing to the tournament!” (Reina)