“Good work, Jude.”

“T-thanks.”

I’m on the ground out of breath. My entire body was drenched in sweat after what Mako had put me through. I was forced to run towards the entrance gate and when I got back she would make me do sets of push-ups, sit-ups, and lunges before making me run back towards the entrance gate. This was repeated five times and I’m honestly surprised at how I could actually keep up.

My heart’s pounding but it wasn’t hurting at all. I guess my heart has become even stronger due to all the experience I’ve gained these past few weeks.

Mako grabs by hand and helps me up before we head back inside the mansion. I’m really surprised at how athletic Mako is. She was able to run the same amount as I did and she didn’t even break a sweat. Even her training was way harsher than mine but she didn’t even seem tired.

The moment we enter I could see a group of guys walking towards us. From the way they were walking, they were definitely hostile. The one in front was the guy with a perm from yesterday.

“Lightning Boy, you didn’t follow my orders! You think you’re so tough now that we aren’t in high school.”

Lightning Boy? I haven’t heard someone call me that in such a long time. It was one of the nicknames I was called back when I was being bullied in high school.

“Let’s go, Jude. It’s just another shithead from Chad’s faction.”

Mako grabs my hand and we walk up the stairs. I wonder who that guy with a perm is. I don’t really remember much from high school, not even the bullies. If he knows that nickname then he must know me from high school. I just can’t seem to remember his face.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, Lightning Boy. We aren’t done talking yet.”

Perm guy grabs my hand and it felt disgusting. I was fine with Lisa, Mako, Jill, and even Gorou touching my hand, but this guy felt absolutely disgusting. I need to wash my hand later.

“Don’t touch me. I don’t even know who you are.”

“Oh shit!”

I whip my hand out of his grip and as a result, he falls back. He stretches his hands out towards his friends but none of them catch him. Instead, they all get out of the way and he begins to fall down the stairs. Step by step, he falls and the sound of bones cracking could be heard.

By the time he was at the bottom of the stairs his right arm was bent backward and his legs were twisted in an unusual direction. A pool of blood begins to build up from his motionless body. His friends go down and check on his condition but he doesn’t respond to any of them.

“Holy shit! He’s dead.”

“His head cracked open!”

“I feel sick.”

It seems like the guy with a perm was dead. His friends were causing a commotion and people were starting to gather around.

“Let’s go, Jude.”

Mako holds my hand tighter and hurries me to leave. We rush up the stairs and head straight for our room. When Mako opens the door Lisa was about to head out.

“What’s wrong, Mako? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Let’s talk inside.”

……

“That guy is a fucking murderer! Get him out of here.”

“I saw the entire thing happen. They were all walking up the stairs and that murderer suddenly pushed the other guy down. I heard and saw that guy’s head crack open.”

“Get him out of here. I can’t be living in the same house as a murderer!”

“Yeah, kick him out!”

“Kick him out!”

“Kick him out!”

“Please calm down! It was an accident! Jude didn’t mean to push Perme down the stairs. Perme suddenly grabbed at Jude’s hand which spooked him so he pushed Perme back.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t Jude’s fault! I was with him.”

I guess that guy’s name was Perme. I vaguely remember someone named Perme from high school. I think he was one of the lackeys of those who bullied me. He was meek around those bullies but whenever he saw me, he would always try to intimidate me.

He wasn’t being bullied but because he was slightly rich, the bullies would use him to buy them stuff. The way he acted around me was his way of trying to seem strong. Maybe bullying me was his way of gaining confidence.

I feel bad for inconveniencing Lisa and Mako. The two of them were outside of the room trying to defend me for what happened and I can’t do anything. I was ready to head on out to defend myself but Lisa didn’t let me go outside. She told me to stay here because no matter what I said, the people wouldn’t believe me.

They would be too scared of me to think straight. In this apocalyptic world, the scariest thing was death so a person who killed another person was terrifying. The others would be too terrified of me to even give me a chance to talk. They might even force me out of the mansion if I say something wrong.

“Fifi, do you know if there’s any sort of body strengthening magic.”

“They exist but I personally don’t know any. Fairies don’t really use their bodies to fight so I haven’t learned any.”

“I see. Do you have any ideas on how to use body strengthening magic?”

“Hmm, if it’s magic then just imagine it.”

I’m an idiot for even trying to ask Fifi for help but now that I know body strengthening magic exists then it’s just a matter of trial and error. I wanted to learn body strengthening magic because this is one of my biggest flaws at the moment.

My mana pool has increased a lot since I’ve met Tigurka but that doesn’t help me when it comes to physical activities. Training with Mako has made me realize that my physical strength is really lacking. When I had distracted those zombies for Lisa, I would have been done for if I didn’t have Tigurka’s protection. My mana was spent and my body was exhausted. If I had trained my body more then it would have absolutely helped me run more.

Training my body will take time so until then, I want to figure out some sort of magic to support my physical capabilities. Well, maybe support magic in general. In games, there’s usually support magic like heal or defense up. Fifi confirmed that these types of magic are possible but how do you create them. Would defense up or attack up magic even be categorized as elemental magic? Would I use fire element to increase attack or is there some other kind of system to create this magic.

“I’m outraged, Lisa! One of your men killed an innocent person and you won’t even punish him. Aren’t you playing favorites too much? I demand retribution!”

That was Chad’s voice and he was stirring up the people again. The people’s voices became even angrier while Lisa and Mako’s voices were being drowned out. I really don’t like him at all. He’s always trying to find a reason to cause Lisa problems.

“Fine, we’ll come up with a punishment for Jude tomorrow. If you guys aren’t satisfied then I’ll allow all of you to create a punishment for him. I’d like for this to be done for now and we should all get back to our posts.”

I’m really troubling Lisa. Why couldn’t Perme be a tougher person and survive that fall? He’s creating so much trouble even after he died. I’ll have to make it up to everyone who’s been trying to protect me.

After a while, the commotion quiets down and the sounds of people leaving could be heard. Lisa and Mako enter through the door and locked it behind them. I could see the tiredness in their every action. Their faces were devoid of energy.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t your fault, Jude.”

“Yeah, it was just an accident.”

“Even still, I’m sorry that you have to clean up after me. If there’s anything I could do help then please tell me.”

“It’s really fine. Just let big sister take care of it.”

“Just give me a massage or something.”

“Ok.”

Lisa heads on over to the bathroom and I could hear the sounds of water. She was probably going to take a shower. Since Mako wanted a massage, she laid down on the bed.

“I’m sorry if this doesn’t feel good, it’s my first time massaging someone.”

“It’s fine. My body’s been pretty stiff lately so anything is welcomed.”

I begin to massage Mako’s back and I can feel her well-defined muscles. I can tell she’s been working hard to build these muscles. Goldie was on the side watching me while Fifi was helping me massage Mako. She was walking on Mako’s back and stomping wherever she could. Instead of helping, Fifi was just tickling Mako.

“Ahahaha, that’s enough Master! Stop, it tickles too much.”

“Heh, I didn’t know you were so ticklish, Mako.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being ticklish. Ahahaha, Master, I’m dying!”

“Hehehe, take this Mako!”

Fifi continues to walk on Mako’s back as Mako tried to control her laughter.

“Hey, Jude.”

“Yes?”

The atmosphere around Mako changes. Fifi also sensed it and stopped walking on Mako’s back.

“I just wanted to apologize to you.”

“What for?”

“For putting your life in danger. When you came to save Fifi and me, you put your life in danger to distract the zombies. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry you had to do that for us.”

“It’s fine. It was my decision to put myself in that position to save you two.”

“No, that isn’t what I meant. I’m sorry for not being able to help you! Fifi explained it to me that my mana is special and I could have saved you, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to use my magic to save you. I’m sorry!”

I guess this must have weighed on her mind for quite a long time. Fifi had already explained to me that Mako wasn’t able to use magic. It isn’t her fault that she isn’t able to use magic so I would never blame her for not being able to help me.

“I would never hate you just because you couldn’t help me back then. Even though you couldn’t use magic, you still thought about saving me, right? Just the thought of you wanting to save me is good enough.”

“B-but you could have died! Don’t you blame me at all for putting your life in danger! I-I could have still done something but I didn’! All I could do was wait and hope you were alive!”

Mako grabbed a pillow and buried her face in it. Was she crying for me? No, that’s wrong, she’s frustrated at herself. Being powerless and unable to save those precious to you. She is experiencing the same things I felt when I couldn’t save Tod.

“Don’t blame yourself, Mako. Look, I’m alive and well right now. Don’t regret the things you couldn’t do and don’t let them hold you back. Just do whatever you can to live your life without regrets. This is what I’ve learned from a very precious person I met during the time we were separated. He was an old man but he wasn’t a human. He was a 10,000 year old tree person.”

“10,000 years old!?”

“Yes, it may sound unbelievable but he was that big tree on the campus. The time we spent was short but I learned a lot from him. I learned so much about magic but that wasn’t the most important thing I learned from him. He spoke of his life and the countless amount of stories he’s heard in the past 10,000 years. Some of these stories were joyful, scary, or even sad. He was trying to teach me a lot through these stories, some of these lessons I understand and some I don’t, but there’s one thing I will never forget: “Live a life you will never regret.” His words carried so much weight from the countless years he has lived. The amount of time I could see regret in his eyes from his stories was plenty.”

Mako was silently listening. Even Fifi and Goldie were off to the side quietly listening to me.

“This is why you shouldn’t worry about regretting not being able to help me. I’m not saying to forget it but to not let it take over you. I still regret not being able to save Tod but what’s happened, has happened. I wasn’t able to save him but I won’t let this hold me down anymore. Instead, I’ll use this as fuel to become stronger. Stronger so I can protect those precious to me.”

Mako was silent and I wasn’t sure she understood what I meant. I’m not very good at explaining so I’m not sure my words got through to her. I just wanted to tell her to not regret over the past and move on.

“Thanks, Jude. You too, Master.”

Fifi was trying to comfort Mako by patting her head. I was done with the massage and at the same time, the sound of water from the bathroom stops. Mako was silent but it seems like my words got through her. Now she just needs time to think over her feelings.

“Oh yeah. Mako, give me your hand.”

“Ok.”

She gives me her right hand as I take out the Mana Flow ring from my pocket. Looking at its size, the only finger it will fit is the pinky finger.

“Here, Mako. Fifi calls this the Mana Flow ring and it will help your mana flow better. I’m not trying to force you to learn magic but I do want to see your magic. The flames you made when we were in prison was beautiful and I hope I can see it again.”