I dim the fire that was lighting our way as we approach the voice. Rachel immediately warns us that CZ saw 9 figures in the distance. We raised our weapons and ready ourselves. I could faintly see a passageway in the distance where the voices were coming from.

“Jude, can you shoot a fireball in the air to try and blind the enemies.”

I nod my head as I concentrate the mana in my hand. This magic was based on the one I’ve been using to light up our path but this time I was going to increase the intensity and the lingering effect of it.

“Shining Flare.”

My magic flies into the passage as a shining white light blinds the enemies. They were monsters like I had expected. There were 8 humanoid lizards and one injured human on the ground. William and Gareth begin to take shots at the lizardmen as they were the best sharpshooters but it wasn’t doing much damage.

“William, our bullets aren’t doing anything.”

“Ok, everyone get in there and save the injured.”

Gorou leads the charge with his shield and bashes one of the lizardmen away. Although he put all his strength into it, it didn’t send the lizardmen flying. Now that they were in front of us, the size of the lizardman was quite large. All of them were the same height as Gorou and just as muscular.

“Chains of Flame, bind my enemies.”

I bind 2 lizardmen and their flesh begins to burn but I could see that it wasn’t doing too much damage. I jammed my sword into its stomach but the lizardman dodged it so I was only able to make a small cut.

“Jude, watch out for its tail.”

Hearing Fifi’s warning, I quickly block its tail with my sword and it was bent into a V shape due to the strength of the lizardman’s tail. I jump back and quickly take a glance at the others. Gorou was currently blocking two lizardmen with Mako supporting him by lessening the impact of their attacks with wind magic. Ken was attacking the other lizardman I had in a bind but seeing that his attacks weren’t working, Rachel assisted him by draining the lizardman’s energy.

Gareth and William grabbed the injured man and was running back to where we came from. Jill was currently chanting magic.

“Everyone get back!”

“Block the enemies from harming my allies. Earth Wall.”

I grab Ken and Rachel before using Fire Blast to fly away from the lizardmen. Earth magic emerges from the ground and blocks the passage we were previously fighting in. The lizardmen cause a ruckus and attack the earth wall but they couldn’t get past it so they eventually left.

“Th-thanks.”

“Thank you.”

I could feel their bodies trembling a bit as I let them down. I check if any of them were injured but it seems like we escaped the battle with minimal damage. My arm was still shaky from the lizardman’s attack and Gorou’s arm was only sore from blocking the attacks. Those lizardmen were a lot stronger than I had expected them to be.

“Gorou, come quickly! Do you think you can heal him?”

“I’ll try.”

Looking at the injured man, he was wearing a similar uniform to us but it was in rags. Underneath his rags, I could see that he was bruised and had many scars, but they were still relatively fresh. But those weren’t his worse injuries, he had a hole in his stomach and his right arm was ripped off. He was breathing but he was barely hanging on.

Gorou tried to heal him but the injuries were too severe. William looked at me but Fifi confirmed that saving the man was a lost cause. The man suddenly opened his eyes and grasped William’s shirt with his remaining arm.

“P-please, save them.”

“Where! Where are they!?”

“C-captured…”

The man coughed up blood as he stopped breathing. William let out a deep sigh as he closed the man’s eyes. He then began to inspect the man’s clothes and body for any clues to find the others. The injuries on his body were worse than I had thought, the wounds on his back were festering with yellow pus and were not treated for a long time.

“H-how could someone do something so cruel?”

Jill stared in horror before she couldn’t hold the contents in her stomach down. These kinds of wounds were definitely inflicted for the torturer’s enjoyment. None of the wounds were deep enough to be fatal and was meant to make them suffer as long as possible.

William covered the body with his coat and began digging a grave for the man. Gorou, Ken, Gareth, and I helped dig the grave and set the man inside. After covering the grave with dirt, everyone gave a small prayer for him.

“I’ll definitely save them, I won’t let your sacrifice go to waste.”

William swore to himself as he gave us all a break. It should only be noon right now but so much has already happened that everyone else needed a break. Gorou and Mako were comforting Jill while William and Gareth were discussing something. I head on over to where Rachel, CZ, and ken were sitting because I needed help from Ken.

“Oh, Jude. Thanks for the help earlier. We wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you.”

“No problem.”

“Did you need something?”

“Yeah, I have a favor to ask of Ken.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, can you help me repair my sword.”

I show him my bent sword. It wasn’t usable in this state.

“What, do I look like a blacksmith? I don’t know how to fix a sword.”

“Come on, Ken. You can at least try to repair his sword. He did save us after all.”

“Tch, ok.”

I look at Rachel and thank her for negotiating with Ken for me. I don’t really know how to deal with an ally who’s hostile against me. If he was an enemy I could just kill him but he was a teammate. I hand him my sword as I closely observe him use his ability.

I discussed it with Fifi before and she’s confirmed that Ken’s ability was a type of magic. Ken was able to manipulate metal because he has an innate talent for metal magic. If it was a type of magic then I assume I can learn it. I watch as the mana within the sword increases as it absorbs mana from the atmosphere. It was absorbing the natural mana in the world and converting it into metal mana.

“There, that’s the best I could do.”

“Thank you.”

It was similar to Earth magic, maybe even more similar than I think. Would metal magic just be a branch path of earth magic like how ice magic was made from water magic? I see, if I think along those lines then I should be able to use metal magic with some training. What about other types of magic?

“Why are you smiling?”

“Hehe, I just like seeing you grow, Jude.”

“Thanks.”

I head on over to Gorou and ask if I could see his shield. He gave it to me and I began to inspect the differences between it and the sword in my hand. I copy Ken and was able to manipulate the steel sword’s shape but when it came to Gorou’s shield, it didn’t work.

“I see, metal magic is more complicated than I thought.”

I thought metal mana would all be the same but I was wrong. It wasn’t easy to notice but the metal mana within the steel sword was different from Gorou’s shield which was made from different metals. Now that I dive into metal magic, it’s really amazing how Ken is able to manipulate all kinds of metal with no effort.

He has such an amazing ability but he doesn’t know how to use it. I was thinking about telling him about his potential but there were multiple factors why I decided not to. The first one is that he doesn’t like me and probably wouldn’t take my advice. I stare at Fifi as I think of the second reason. It’s Ken’s ability so he should be the one to explore and discover his own potential. If I teach him everything then he wouldn’t learn.

“Wow, did you fix this, Jude?”

“Yeah, can you guys keep it a secret from the others.”

“Sure.”

“No problem.”

“Ok.”

Mako, Gorou, and Jill are really good friends. They didn’t even hesitate to keep it a secret or ask any questions. I’ll talk about metal magic to them once I learn how to use it more proficiently. I think I played too much with metal magic but I was feeling pretty tired.

“Alright, I’ve decided that we should rest up for the rest of the day. Get as much rest as you can because tomorrow we’re going to go exploring for Unit I’s members.”

William finished his speech and I said goodbye to Mako, Jill, and Gorou. I went into the truck and laid down on the seats before dozing off.

|……|

“Yawn, I’m feeling pretty tired. I’m going to go take a nap.”

“Are you sure you don’t want lunch?”

“Its fine Gogo, I’ll cook something later.”

(I leave Gorou and Jill so they can have some alone time as I head for the truck. I enter the truck and I was presented with Jude’s adorable sleeping face. Jude was calmly sleeping and so was Fifi. It made me jealous that she was sleeping on top of him but I calm myself down as I’ll be in that position one day.)

(I couldn’t help but smile as I remember what happened yesterday. Not only did I get to go on a date with Jude, but it was also the first time I have ever seen him so jealous. Like a knight in shining armor, he intervened and saved me from having to interact with Ken. It’s not like Ken is a bad guy but he’s been persistently trying to get closer to Mei 3 and I. Whenever I was in control of the body I would reject his invitations but Mei 3 didn’t.)

(She thinks that Ken is just trying to become friends but I know he’s trying to be more than just friends. With her accepting his invitations to go eat or go training, Ken still thinks that he has a chance with us. I want to reject him because I already have Jude, but I have to think of Mei 3’s feelings. I’m sure she would get angry at me for ruining her friendship with him.)

(This wasn’t the only reason why Ken has been so annoying to deal with. Neither Ken or Mei 3 has realized it yet but I can tell that Rachel likes Ken. Rachel’s a nice girl and I don’t want to hurt her feeling so I’ve been giving Ken hints that we don’t like him, but he’s way too dense. What makes the situation even worse is that CZ likes Rachel so she’s been trying to set us up with Ken so she can have Rachel all to herself. I just want to spend more time with Jude but I have to walk through this minefield of complex relationships.)

Is something wrong, Mei 3? You’ve been awfully quiet.

‘I-I have just been wondering if we could have saved that guy.’

Don’t think too much about it, Mei 3. It was already too late for him when he rescued him. Even Fifi confirmed that his injuries were too severe to be healed.

‘But even still...Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry for leaving the battles to you Mei 1. If I could use magic then I wouldn’t hesitate to fight.’

Don’t be so down in the dumps, Mei 3. it’s fine if you can’t use magic right now, just slowly work on it.

‘Yeah.’

(It’s already been two weeks since we’ve left Ostempal but Mei 3 still can’t use magic. Even with Fifi or Mei 2’s teachings, Mei 3 couldn’t use magic even though she could feel mana. Now that Mei 2 was asleep I’ve been trying to teach her what I knew but that also didn’t work. Without being able to use magic, Mei 3 decided to leave the fighting up to me because she knows that her fists aren’t effective against monsters.)

‘Jude is amazing, isn’t he? It’s only been two weeks and I’m impressed at how fast he’s growing. His muscles are coming in nicely, his control of magic is rapidly improving, and he even learned how to fight with a sword in just a few days. I can’t challenge him at this point, I need to get stronger.’

Yep, my Jude is a hard worker. Hehehe, is my little sister finally going to approve of my relationship with him.

‘Hahaha, in your dreams. I won’t give in that easily and besides, you need the approval of Mei 2. And don’t think I haven’t realized you taking pictures of Jude.’

Haha, what do you mean?

(I put away my phone as Mei 3 decided to go back into the white room and train. I lay down on the bench and think about what Mei 3 had said. Jude’s growth is rapidly increasing as the days pass by. Not only has he improved physically, but he’s also growing as a person.)

(When Fifi had negotiated Jude’s wage with William, I had already concocted a plan to make him wholeheartedly dependant on me for all of his necessities. With William’s explanation of FUUI, I already understood that the wage they paid us was the only support from the government and everything else we had to buy with our own money. We had to find our own jobs whether it was office work or odd jobs to earn more money than what the government paid us, which wasn’t much. From the information I gathered, most Units earned money from completing missions that were assigned through the government or FUUI, but newbies like us couldn’t do those missions yet.)

(Just like I had expected, Jude was completely penniless for the next few days. He was too awkward to interact with others to find a job and the citizens didn’t trust him. That was when I swooped in and covered Jude’s expenses. He was shameful that he had to depend on me and just remembering his face gets me excited. He was like a lost little lamb.)

‘Get your hand out of there.’

Tch, I thought you were training.

(I remove my hand from the inside of my pants as Mei 3 instructed. I’m still disappointed that Jude stopped depending on me after a few days. Not only did he find jobs he could do, he even paid me back in full. After that, he stopped depending on me and we interacted less and less. I was even afraid that we were drifting apart but what happened yesterday showed me that he still cares for me.)

(But even that may not last long. Every day Jude’s growing stronger and stronger to the point that he made not even depend on us in battles anymore. I don’t want that to happen.)

(Drowning in my own thoughts, I eventually fall asleep as I watched Jude’s cute sleeping face.)