Slowly, Sura opened his eyes. There was a moment of bleariness, a brief moment of hovering on the edge between sleep and wakefulness. His mind, not yet truly active, felt at ease. He felt calmer, lighter than he had in years. It was a blissful feeling, one he had forgotten. Hazy, he allowed himself to revel in it, for all of a few fractions of a second. Then, like a dream, it vanished. His eyes fully open, he sat upright in bed. There was no drowsiness to the movement. It was smooth and natural, yet perfectly measured, precise. For Sura, this was the border between the sleep and the waking. He had crossed it now, as he did every morning. Gone was the haze. Yet, for some reason, the feeling of comfort did not vanish with it. Turning his head, Sura looked at the reason why.

On the bed next to him, still asleep, was a familiar face. He took a moment to simply sit and take in the sight. While he had noticed it long ago, he noted it again now: Asuka truly was beautiful. Her cute, plump lips were slightly open as she breathed lightly. She squirmed, wiggling a little closer to him in her sleep. As she did so, the blanket rolled off her, exposing her breasts, which heaved with every movement. Sura felt his already hard groin grow even harder. His cock was standing at full attention, forming a tower almost a foot high under the blanket. Throwing the cloth aside, he reached over and gently brushed a bang of hair away from Asuka’s cheek,

… This certainly turned out different from expected.

The events of last night had been so sudden, he’d had no choice but to act quickly, and he’d trusted his feelings while doing so. Now, as he sat in bed, he felt he owed it to the both of them to think a little about what had transpired. It went without saying that his primary (and only) goal in coming to Elysium had been to destroy Mages. Making friends hadn’t even been a possibility in his mind, let alone meeting his classmates in 3F. Yet, met them he had, and they had changed everything. Looking back now, he realized that everything truly had changed, from the very first moment he had run into them in that classroom. He’d come here for the personal satisfaction of beating people half to death with his bare hands. Yet, the mission of destruction had turned into one of protection. Before he knew it, he was looking out for his classmates. He felt his mind drift once more to memories of middle school, and his face darkened.

That was a long time ago, he told himself. History doesn’t always need to repeat itself.

Even as he thought that, he couldn’t deny that what had happened back then had put him on his guard, for a long time. Just when had that changed? Had he really allowed himself to get caught up in these girls’ pace? He frowned slightly for a moment, but felt the annoyance fading quickly. No matter what, he could never blame them for being themselves. They’d come to Elysium, despite the danger, in order to chase their dreams. He couldn’t fault them for that. He had chosen to trust them, chosen to trust Asuka. He would just have to continue to trust them.

Even so, that didn’t mean I had to get into… this with her.

But, as he looked at Asuka, he couldn’t find any regrets in his heart. He did like her. That part hadn’t been a lie.

Going forward, I’ll just have to do right by her.

With a rustle of movement, she squirmed, yawning slightly and opening her eyes to look up at him.

“Morning,” he said.

She blinked a few times, a slightly puzzled expression on her face, which cleared up soon enough. The moment it did, her cheeks practically glowed red and Sura could all but see the steam coming out of her ears. It seems she was just remembering what exactly had happened the previous night. He had a feeling what was coming next, and sure enough, she immediately made a move to jump out of bed and bolt for it. Of course, she never even managed to get up. Sura grabbed one of her wrists, gently but firmly.

“Oh no. You’re not running away from this one.”

Asuka grabbed a pillow and covered her face with it.

Sura rolled his eyes.

“Little late to be embarrassed, you know? You were pretty damn forward last night.”

Immediately, the pillow came swinging out to meet him in the face. He saw it coming from a mile away, but decided to do nothing. Asuka kept hitting him with it, until eventually he burst out laughing.

“Okay, okay, you win,” he wheezed. “Damn, everything about you is soft, even your attacks.”

She glared at him, pouting.

“Stop making fun of me!”

“I’m not,” he said, honestly. Reaching over, he pulled her closer to him. He relished the feeling of her soft, warm, flesh, running his hands down her slim waist to her back, and lower down, until he grabbed her ass, and gave it a squeeze, feeling his fingers practically sink into her massive cheek. “I love your body. It’s so frigging hot. Makes me want to touch you all day. It’s driving me crazy right now.”

She could feel Sura’s huge shaft rubbing against her stomach, the thick head of it against her ribs. She gazed downward at it, and felt her eyes widen. It looked even bigger than last night.

“See? I’m not lying.”

“Then prove it,” she said.

He grinned, and placed one hand on her chin, pulling her into a kiss that quickly became heated as the two entered each other’s mouths. Asuka moaned slightly as Sura’s tongue attacked every corner of her mouth, moving with incredible dexterity. Within moments, it wrestled hers into submission, licking it all over before pulling it all the way out of her mouth, where he sucked on it for a moment before finally relinquishing his hold on it. When they finally came apart, a thin string of saliva connected both of them. Asuka panted, eyes half-lidded and tongue out as she gazed at him with desire.

“As much as I want to continue here,” Sura said, “We do have classes.”

She nodded slowly. As he was about to get up, however, she stopped him, grabbing one of his wrists.

“Sura…” she asked, a note of uncertainty in her voice. “What are we to each other?”

He blinked at the sudden question, but it was an important one, one he would have to answer properly.

“I believe the official terms are ‘dating’, ‘lovers’ or ‘partners’,” he managed to say, his own face getting redder with each word. But he forced himself to make eye-contact with her. He wasn’t going to half-ass this. “But you don’t need to put a label on it if you don’t want to. I’ve already said it, haven’t I? I like you. And as long as you want me around, I’ll be right here… with you.”

Surprisingly, Asuka wasn’t the one blushing anymore, as she gazed into his eyes intensely.

“Then, if I said I want you to stay forever? Would you be all right with that? With me?”

The last question hit hard, because Sura could feel in it every bit of the fear and doubt he had wrestled with, for years.

“As far as I’m concerned,” he said, “You’re already too good for me. If anything, I should be the one asking if you’ll really be all right with me.”

“Of course I will,” Asuka answered, with surprising force. “There’s no way I wouldn’t be!”

Sura’s eyes were unexpectedly gentle as he looked at her.

“I’m not as nice of a person as you believe I am,” he said. “I came here to hurt people. And that’s not something I can give up on yet. If you stick around, you’ll have no choice but to see it. Because I’ll fight again. And again, and again.”

Slightly afraid of the answer, he looked at her, and was surprised to see her smile knowingly.

“I like you knowing all of that, stupid” she said simply. Ruffling his hair slightly, she got up off the bed and headed towards the door. Right when she was about to leave, she paused and turned around.

“I think you’re a better person than you give yourself credit for, too,” she said. With that, she exited the room, leaving Sura to sigh, then look once more at the still raging boner between his legs.

“... How am I supposed to train like this?”

Shortly afterwards, Sura walked into the dining hall, having showered and put on his uniform. Much to his surprise, he found that the damage to the hallways was gone, and there was no evidence left that a scuffle had taken place just the night before. He put it down to some kind of automatically triggered Magic function that had been cast on the house. It didn’t seem out of character for Mizuki at all. Normally, that kind of function needed the combined strength of several Mages to cast. More commonly, the Mages provided the structure of the function, while the energy was provided by Crystals. This ensured that no one was unduly taxed by the demands of these functions, which could often be quite intense. But Mizuki could do it all by herself. Not only that, she could casually leave a function like that running while not even being in the vicinity.

Sura shook his head. His teacher was in a league of her own.

He needed to be making progress too. It had only been yesterday that he’d been given his new goal of surpassing Level Fours with his base strength. It wasn’t an easy target. The gap between Level Threes and Level Fours was exponential. He could ragdoll any given Level Three Enhancer with his raw strength, without needing to amp himself with his Ki. Level Fours on the other hand… as much as he hated to admit it, he needed to enhance his strikes with Ki, as well as fight smart in order to beat them. And even then, it wasn’t a certain victory. As in the case of that blond bastard, a confrontation wasn’t only about power. It was very possible to have specific skills that gave one the advantage. In Alphonse’s case, that skill was his mysterious Magic ability, that gave him increased mobility, the ability to hover in the air, and attack simultaneously from various angles. Given what had happened in that fight, the other objectives Mizuki had set him made perfect sense.

Increase my physical abilities. A strong body is necessary to a fighter. Coupled with this, he must have flawless martial arts technique and skill. Along with these fundamentals, I need three things: an instantaneous movement technique, a technique that allows me to elevate myself and get high ground, and a certain-destruction technique that needs only one hit to end the fight.

Sura already had one of those, though he was uncertain about using it in Elysium. The power was difficult to control. He needed to improve, until he could regulate it as desired. Besides that, he still needed to develop the two other techniques.

He laughed.

“I need to learn how to teleport and fly. How hard can it be?” he said aloud as he grabbed a plate and loaded it with eggs, bacon and bread.

“What are ya talking about?” asked Fiona, who was already at the table with her meal in front of her. She glared at him while stabbing at an omelette with a fork. Sura made his way over and took a seat.

“What’s got you in a bad mood this early?” he asked.

She made an exaggerated show of backing away while covering her chest.

“Hey, personal space,” she said. “I can’t trust you anymore after last night, creep.”

He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t play it off like nothing!” Fiona said, pointing dramatically at him.

“Play what off?” he asked, taking a bite of the bacon slices.

“Ya corrupted Asuka’s innocence!”

“... You’ve read way too much hentai.”

“Don’t deny it!”

Sura sighed and looked at Fiona. This issue was probably going to be blown out of proportion if he let it go unaddressed, so he might as well say something.

“Look, she was a bit… more open last night than usual. She had her reasons for it. She’s embarrassed enough about it as it is, so you two better not add to it.”

Fiona’s mouth opened and closed a few times as she struggled to formulate a sentence.

“But but but… are ya seriously telling me we’re going to ignore that the two of ya spent the night together?”

“... Consenting adults do often sleep together,” Sura pointed out. “Though, to be fair, a lot of what happens isn’t actually ‘sleeping’.”

The usually suave tomboy’s face grew bright red.

“Y-ya pervert! Ya have corrupted her innocence.”

“Of course he has,” added Alice, who chose that very moment to make her own entrance, plate in hand. Like Fiona, she made an exaggerated show of keeping her distance, taking a seat at the very opposite end of the table from Sura. “I can’t believe you would do this. Though I can’t say I’m surprised either.”

“Yeah, tell him! Just how do ya plan on making this right?” asked Fiona, piling more wood on the fire.

Sura chewed his bread in dignified silence for a while before looking up, about to answer. However, he didn’t have to.

“There’s nothing to make right,” said Asuka, walking over to the table with her own plate. In direct contrast to the other two, she pulled her chair over until it was right next to Sura before taking her seat. “We’re going out now, I don’t see what the big issue is,” she said. She may or may not have had a satisfied smile on her face as she said that. Alice and Fiona both gaped for a moment, jaws wide open, before they managed to cover themselves up, protesting furiously.

“Hmm. I’ve long believed that humans waste more energy than needed, but this is a little too much, even for my tastes.”

The pair both nearly jumped in surprise.

Sitting on the table right in front of them was a large black feline with prominent green eyes that glowed slightly. In shape, it resembled a leopard, though it was smaller and sleeker. Too large to be a housecat, not quite large enough to be any of the big cats found in the wilds. Its voice when it spoke was unmistakably male.

“I was wondering where the cat went,” commented Sura drily. “Slightly surprised he didn’t show up earlier, to be honest.”

“Upon my host’s request, I decided to give the two of you privacy for mating purposes. An opportunity you both wasted, but I suppose that’s none of my-”

“Shut it, cat,” said Sura, swiping at him, making him leap lightly off the table and on to the ground.

“Sura!” protested Asuka. “Don’t hurt Nya. He’s a friend, remember?”

“Annoying insect, more like,” the fighter muttered, though he didn’t press the point.

“And you,” Asuka said, looking at the feline. “Behave.”

“I’m very well behaved. In fact, I think you humans would gain a lot if you were to adopt our ways. But that’s too much to hope for, at this point, so I suppose I’ll concede.”

“Big words from someone who literally has to live in the shadow of others”, said Sura.

“What is that?” asked Alice, looking at Nya warily.

“I am a seeker of knowledge, bringer of guidance, a visitor from another-”

“Shadow Dweller,” interrupted Sura. “Feline imp from another dimension.”

Nya shot him an annoyed look before sighing.

“A disappointing introduction, but true nonetheless.”

“You’re from another dimension?” said Fiona, leaning in. While theoretical physics had some ideas about the existence of other universes, there were no proper records of any concrete proof of this. So if this creature was telling the truth, it would mean a never-before-seen breakthrough for science. Of course, some amount of experimentation and testing on the cat might be required (to see how the physical structure of matter from another universe varied from her own, and how it continued to exist in the different rules of this universe). But it was a small price to pay for science.

Nya, not entirely liking the look in her eyes, backed away, putting some more distance between himself and Fiona.

“Yes, and before you get any ideas, I have no plans of becoming a lab specimen.”

Fiona was about to protest, but Alice cut in.

“What would a Magical Beast be doing inside Elysium?” she asked, looking at him with a mixture of caution and curiosity.

“Long story. Some people from your oh-so-great school happened to come along and destroy my home and host, so I needed to find a new one. And as luck would have it, the mistress here proved quite welcoming.”

The duo stared at Asuka, comprehension slowly dawning on their faces.

“You’re his host…”, said Alice. She had read fragmented bits and pieces about Magical Beasts that entered into contracts with humans, offering them power in exchange for a price. While she hadn’t known about Shadow Dwellers in specific, it wasn’t hard to see what must be happening here.

“That’s how you had those powers last night,” she said, glaring at Asuka.

“Have”, she corrected, summoning a shadowy tendril to grab a bottle of water from ten feet away and bring it to herself.

Fiona threw up her hands.

“Fan-fucking-tastic. Number of monsters in this house went up from two to three.”

She finished her meal and stood up. “Well, I’m heading to class. Ms. Muramasa isn’t here, but I have a feeling someone’s gonna sub in for her, so we don’t want to be late.”

With that, she walked away. Alice, who had also finished eating, picked up her bag and followed, but stopped briefly to glance seriously at Asuka and Nya.

“If you’ve lived in this world for a while, I probably don’t need to tell you, but Magical Beasts aren’t welcome within human territories. I’d stay hidden and avoid drawing attention if I were you. Flawed don’t suddenly develop Magical powers. If people find out, they’ll be curious how you got them. And if they find out a Magical Beast is the reason…”

“They’ll hunt me down. Yes, yes, I’m quite familiar with the drill, thank you,” said Nya. “As the breeder stallion here” (Sura swore) “has pointed out, I hide in the shadows. I won’t reveal myself unless I need to.”

“Just stay with me,” said Sura, looking at Asuka. “I’ll take care of any problems that come up. As you are right now, you need training. You need to learn how to use your powers properly. Until then, avoid fighting.”

Asuka nodded, leaning slightly closer to Sura, causing Alice to roll her eyes in annoyance.

“We’re getting late. Hurry up.”

With that, she left, and the trio decided to follow, Nya slipping back into Asuka’s shadow, out of sight.

Elsewhere in the school, a group of students sat huddled around in a clubroom.

“You’re fucking kidding, right? He’s a goddamn Flawed. How is it people using Enhancement Magic are getting wrecked by him?”

“It’s not just physical strength. People have tried other forms of Magic too. He no-sells elemental Skills. And that’s assuming anyone even manages to hit him, which, mostly, they don’t.”

“Tch… the only one who’s managed a win against him is Alphonse.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Don’t ever forget: we aren’t in the same league as the Stu Co. If it takes one of them to beat him, it means he’s the same as them. A proper monster.”

“Fuck! So we’re supposed to sit around on our thumbs? We’re Mages! This is Elysium, it’s supposed to be our turf! This son of a bitch Flawed is going to run around like he owns the place? Don’t we have anyone who can put him down for good?”

No one answered that question. They were all well aware of what an encounter with said opponent would be like.

Finally, a voice spoke out quietly.

“You guys have never played video games, have you?”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you see, in games, there’s something called a ‘gimmick boss’. It’s an enemy you can’t beat the normal way. It doesn’t matter how much you level up. You’ll still get one-shotted. But here’s the thing: gimmick bosses aren’t difficult at all, once you figure them out.”

“... And you’re saying you have that Flawed bastard figured out?”

“He’s invincible in a straight up fight. You’ve all seen it. You’d have to be stupid to take him on fair and square. And that’s precisely why you shouldn’t.”

He held up his cell phone, and on its screen was a photo of 3F, zoomed in to focus on its three girls.

“This is the gimmick boss’ weakness. So this is where we have to strike.”