“Ryuga Aragi, such a lame name.”

(Ryuga Aragi was the name given to the kid that was born 17 years ago on the 21st of Jan. My friends…Ha! Should I even call them friends? Those same people who I used to think were my friends teased me over my name.)

“Oi Ryuga, get us a can of drink?”

(Ryuga Aragi…Is this name really bad? I thought to myself over and over again)

“Oi Ryuga, can you lend me some money?”

(I guess I didn’t like it that everyone except me had friends…So, I just wanted friends.)

“Ryuga, don’t worry we are friends. Just keep on doing what you are doing and we can continue being friends.”

(I was…I guess I was just happy to have people to talk to me. I was happy that people relied on me…I guess…But deep down I knew that I was just being used.)

“I bet his mother is a whore.”

(Why? Why did they have to say anything about my mother? If they were teasing only me, they just wanted to use me, I would have accepted it but to say that my mother is something so vulgar…I fucking detested that. That is why…I got into a fight with those three guys and almost beat them to death until the principal came and stopped me.)

“Please keep a leash on your son, he almost killed three students of our school.”

(Yeah, I did beat them but would you ask me the fucking reason!)

“*Slap* I didn’t teach you martial arts to kill people. It’s for self-defense! Didn’t I tell you that?!”

(Even father thought I did for the fun of it…Tsch!)

“Let’s hear him out as well, honey.”

“Not today, Kaori. Today, he crossed the line. If he had killed even a single student, I would have had to put him in jail. Thankfully, their parents didn’t register a complaint but if they did, he would have turned into a criminal.”

(As punishment, father told me he won’t teach me martial arts anymore. I got even angrier…)

“THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU GAVE ME SUCH A LAME NAME!”

(I think so that was the first time, I ever screamed angrily at my father. I just didn’t have anything to say…I ran and kept on running.)

“Lame name…Huh? I never thought that I would hear that from him.”

(I think so that was also the first time that I saw father upset. Maybe…I might have gone a little overboard.

Since that day, father and I didn’t talk to each other much. We always…Looked away from each other and never really asked for help.)

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

Ryuga woke up next to Alicia who had tears in her eyes, “Ryuga…” Ryuga looked really confused and sweated, “What?!” Alicia looked away from him, “I don’t think that your name is lame…I think it’s pretty cool.” She says to Ryuga. “Eh?” Alicia holds Ryuga’s face, “Your name isn’t lame, you got it?!” Alicia tells Ryuga. Ryuga looks away from her with a wryly smile. “Got it?!” Alicia pressed herself with Ryuga.

(What the fuck?! Isn’t she a spirit?! So why are her boobs touching my body and why are they so big?!)

Ryuga looked the other way, “I g-got it, alright?!” Ryuga said nervously. “Good!” Alicia said and smiled.

(What’s with her? Bringing my up past!)

Ryuga walked out of the door and scratched his head.

(Well…She isn’t wrong, my name does sound pretty lame.)

Remembering about his past made Ryuga feel sad.

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

After a good breakfast, everyone from Ryuga’s group gathered at the expedition board. That’s where all the citizens post missions for the expedition group.

“So, what mission should we take?” Mayumi looks at different types of missions that were posted on the board while asking everyone on what mission they should take. “Ryuga! Ryuga! I am sure this baby Octa is posted by Shura-Unfurn.” Alicia pointed at a mission poster. “I remember Shura-Unfurn, she always took care of her Octas. If she needs help, she definitely is in quite trouble. She is quite a good person always helping others Ryuga. So please, please, please, help her.” Alicia asked Ryuga to help the one who posted the mission about Baby Octa. Ryuga points at the job which tells them to heal a baby Octa.

Octa is basically an animal that is huge in size. They usually have two heads, two hands, and four legs. Apparently, the mission that Ryuga pointed at said that a baby Octa was in quite a bad shape and they needed a blue herb to cure the disease that it is suffering.

“Tsch! Such a boring mission, Ryuga.” Mayumi looked quite annoyed. “I wasn’t asking you to join me. I am telling you that I will be going to find the blue herb.” Ryuga said to Mayumi. “Wh-“ Clayton raised his hand and said, “I will be joining as well. Yuri and Mayumi can find their own job.” He told Ryuga. “Hell no! Do you guys not even know what it means if we are going on a trip with another school?!” Mayumi pointed at Ryuga. “It means that if we are making groups then the members should be of two different schools!”

Alicia who was floating sighed, “I wish I could punch her face just now.” Alicia said with a disappointed sigh. “Alright then, Ryuga you go with Yuri, I will stay here with Mayumi.” Clayton said. Clayton gave Ryuga a smile. “HUH?!” Ryuga understood and looked the other way, “I guess that’s fine too.” Ryuga said. “W-Wait! Wait! Wait! What do you mean by-“

“What’s wrong Mayumi? Weren’t you the one to say that the group should contain members of different groups? We did that. So, there shouldn’t be any problems.” Ryuga looked away and smirked. “That damn DEMON!” Mayumi gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

“Alright Yuri, let’s go-“ Ryuga looked at Yuri who was half asleep while standing. “No wonder she didn’t have anything to say.” Ryuga said and then sighed. “Oi! Yuri!” Yuri woke up, “DON’T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO ME! I WILL KILL YOU I SWEAR! I AM A GHOST!” Yuri looked as if she was going to fight with her weak and fragile body. Ryuga laughed. Even Alicia who Yuri couldn’t see laughed at her. “I-I-I-I…” Yuri didn’t have anything to say except being embarrassed.

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

By the time Yuri had come to, Clayton had already taken Mayumi to a mission to hunt for four-legged spiders for an Ogre’s delicious dish. “Let’s go, Yuri! You’re with me.” Ryuga said to Yuri. “W-what do you mean Aragi-San?!” Yuri looked quite confused. Ryuga sighed, “It’s just what I told you, you and I are the team for today’s expedition mission.” Ryuga said to Yuri. “I-if that’s the case then I will follow you Aragi-San…” Yuri looked a little nervous as she followed Ryuga to an Ogre’s shop which produced Octa milk. “Also, don’t call me Aragi-San. Just call me Ryuga. That will be.” Ryuga said as he stopped in front of the Ogre shop which produced Octa. “Alright…Ryuga…San?” Ryuga felt even weirder, “Just Ryuga please…?” Ryuga requested. “Ryuga…San…” At this point, Ryuga had given up hope.

“What is it that you kids want?!” A fat Ogre woman came with a cleaver and knife. “SHE WILL KILL US!!!!!” Yuri screamed out of fear. Ryuga chopped Yuri on her head, “Ai!” Yuri held her head and looked at Ryuga to talk to the fat woman, “Don’t mind her. Were you the one who asked for a blue herb for your Octa?” Ryuga asked the fat woman. “Indeed, it was me. My name is Shura Hoi, as you see I own this place and the ones who keep this place running are my Octas but one of my Octas suddenly fell ill. She has a heart disease called Hize. The blue herb is the only way to cure that disease but the forest we go to get the blue herb is quite dangerous.” The fat Ogre Woman explains the situation to Ryuga. Ryuga carefully takes in all the explanations.

“Oh no, not Hize…It’s quite a dangerous disease that can kill a baby Octa. It makes harder for the baby to breathe. Which means that she only has about half a day until she can live. If we can we have to save that baby Octa Ryuga…” Ryuga looks to be in deep thought as Alicia speaks to him.

“I see…So this forest is quite dangerous you say and we only have half a day or else the baby will die.” Ryuga thinks twice before taking on the mission. “Why half a day only?” Yuri asked Ryuga. “It’s because of her heavy breathing. Once a baby Octa starts breathing heavily, it means Hize has kicked in and they die in less than half a day if not treated properly.” Shura explains. “Umm…” It looks like Yuri wants to talk but she is quite nervous. Ryuga understood that Yuri wanted to say something so he said, “Go ahead Yuri, what do you want to say?” Ryuga asked Yuri. “C-can I take a look at this baby Octa?” Yuri asked. “Hmm? Sure. If you can help her then please do.” Shura says to Yuri.

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

Right after Yuri asked Shura to show her the baby Octa. Shura goes and brings a little baby Octa in her hand. The baby Octa is as small as Shura’s palm. It has two heads, two small hands, and long yet small legs. It seems that the baby Octa is breathing heavily. Yuri carefully took the baby Octa in her palm and observed her. “Limiter, observation!” Yuri had greenish specs like circle that surrounded her right eye. “I knew it, the problem isn’t with the heart. It’s her breathing. It’s her trachea. I believe it’s because sometimes, this species drinks too much milk from their mother’s womb. Some of the milk gets stuck in their trachea and I think that these baby creatures don’t vomit out the milk.” Yuri says. Shura shakes her head, “You right on that, they don’t vomit the milk given from their mother’s womb or should I say, it’s more like the mother doesn’t let the baby vomit the milk.” Shura says. “Interesting…” Yuri smiles happily.

“Well, I can heal this problem.” Yuri says and hands the baby Octa to Ryuga. “Just catch him for a while.” Yuri says to Ryuga and starts casting a spell.

“Oh, beautiful nature,

Come before me, and guide me,

Cure the ailments of this poor soul,

HEAL!”

Heal, a magic spell used by healers to heal everything. Depending on a user’s mana capacity, the user can output a huge amount of heals including mass heals. This heal needs very less energy hence why Yuri used it to cure Octa’s sickness.

With the heal spell, the Octa started to breathe naturally. She made sure to that the Octa was fully healed. She smiled and looked at Shura, “It worked, your Octa is totally fine now. Just give her a little rest and she will be as good as new.” Yuri said to Shura. Shura bowed down to both Ryuga and Yuri after taking back the Octa and thanked them. Shura also made sure to give them a parting gift, in other words, Octa’s milk.

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

Ryuga and Yuri walked together. Alicia floated over them. “I must say, this girl really is quite intelligent. I wonder if she is in the healing department at her school.” Alicia said to Ryuga. Ryuga wondered the same thing. “Are you in the healing department at Revon’s High?” Ryuga asked Yuri. Yuri got startled but she answered, “Y-Yeah…”

“Ryuga-San…” Yuri looked quite nervous. “Hmm?” Ryuga looked at Yuri. “I heard that…You did not have any kind of abilities. You didn’t have limiters or anything of that sort. Yet you were quite a violent person at your middle-school. So, were you really a violent person?” Yuri asked Ryuga. “What do you think?” Ryuga answered with a question. “I don’t know Ryuga-San, I haven’t spent enough time with you to know whether you are a violent person or not.” Yuri replied to Ryuga. “But…Unlike Mayumi-San who always yells at me for doing little mistakes, you didn’t say anything to me.” Yuri said to Ryuga. “Hmm? I didn’t see Mayumi yell at you whatsoever.” Ryuga said to Yuri. “That’s because she has to keep the good leader character in front of you two. That’s why she doesn’t yell at me in the village or in front of you two or else she’s always like, “You suck at your job, Akari!” “You don’t even know to fight, Akari.” “You are just a support, Akari.” “Don’t use your brain too much, Akari.” All that stuff really gets over my head.” Akari pouted and acted like Mayumi for all her sentences. Ryuga chuckled and even Alicia did.

“Damn Yuri, if I didn’t know you were Yuri, I would have thought that you really were Mayumi.” Ryuga said as he laughed at Yuri. “Stop it, Ryuga-San. It’s embarrassing…” Yuri said with a red face. “Anyways…” Ryuga patted on Akari’s back, “Good job, Yuri. You saved that little Octa Baby.” Ryuga said with a smile and walked in front of her. Alicia smiled as well. Yuri felt as if she had finally been acknowledged by someone.

Alicia suddenly had a call from someone through her psychic connection though, “Understood father…” Alicia said. “Ryuga, I need to go, please take care of yourself.” Alicia said to Ryuga. “Hmm? Where?” Ryuga asks Alicia. “Just a place I need to visit alone.” Alicia said to Ryuga. Ryuga nodded, “Alright, but come back soon.” Ryuga said to Alicia. “Yeah, I will.” Alicia said with a smile.

~GHOST WORLD ACADEMIA~

Somewhere in the forest, danger awaited Ryuga. “Mayumi Revons, it’s time for you to go down.” Mayumi stood in front of a white robot. The same model that appeared a few days ago when the city of Hiroyama got wiped out and on the shoulder of that robot sat Akuma who had an evil smile. “Akuma Jin…I don’t know what you are up to but if you try to go up against me, it will be bad for you!” Mayumi threatened Akuma. “If that’s the case, why don’t you try and attack me?” Akuma smirked and stood tall in front of Mayumi with his robot. The battle between them was soon about to take place.