- Michael -

Yum yum yum, some nice fluffy clouds. What does the treasure chest have in store for me toda-

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

SLAM

…

Ughh, what a headache.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, observing my bedroom passively. There was the same TV, the same wardrobe, the same coffee table, and the same old room in front of me. Ah yes, another peaceful morning. Another day I must get up to go to school.

Man. I hate Dakeer Harv, lcith Medteau, or anyone else who decided to get themself featured in my daily History textbook.

“Hey!” Julia yelled outside my door. “Get up already!”

“Yeahh…” I groaned. I pulled my blanket aside and jumped out of my bed, slapping my cheeks to wake myself up. I looked down and spotted my alarm clock that I knocked to the floor.

“You sit there and think about what you did.” I berated. I slipped off my pajamas and quickly dressed myself as I sensed an impending threat coming towards my door.

“Michael.” My door shot open and Julia intruded into my room. “Are you ready yet? We gotta leave now.”

“Can’t you see I’m done?” I snatched up my bag and we rushed out the door of our domain. Taking the usual ride to school, we arrived at the school building and parted ways at the entrance.

Walking the usual route to Magic Theory class, I yawned and stretched my arms, wincing at the daggers of pain stabbing my nerves. Between the training and class activities, the past few days of school have left my mind and body ravaged. Yesterday alone consisted of nonstop physical and mental work, burning both my physical energy and Essence pool dry. At this rate, I might collapse before the end of the week.

Before I knew it, I reached the door to the lecture hall. The door was open so I simply walked in, only to find a classroom devoid of people.

“Huh? Is this the right…” I backpedaled and checked the door plate. After reading it over multiple times, I confirmed that this was indeed the right room.

Where could the entire class be? There’s no way that everybody’s late…

Don’t tell me. I checked my datacard and it flickered on, reading eight-ten. I immediately began sprinting down the hallway, ignoring any school rules that I may be violating.

They’re not the ones that are late, I’m late! I rushed through corridor after corridor until I reached the transport dock minutes later. I ran into the station platform and desperately searched the area with my eyes. Every class has different authorization periods for usage, so ours should be the only one here.

My eyes locked on to a train a few meters away from me. I heaved in relief and paused to catch my breath, but it was too soon to celebrate. The train doors closed and it began to accelerate at a frightening speed.

“Hey, Wait,” I struggled to run as the train holding my class bounded down the tracks. This is the only time that I’m ungrateful to revolutionary technology.

There’s no way I’m going to catch that train on just my feet alone. No, even using my algorithm, I’d probably lose track of it once it reaches full speed. There’s no other choice.

I activated my algorithm and focused the power on my legs and core, preparing the rotational dampeners on my joints. My speed steadily increased as I bolted down the platform onto the dirt ground.

I was beginning to catch up to the train, but it was quickly gaining speed.

If I go any faster, my body won’t be able to keep up. One misplaced foot and I’ll be tumbling in the mud. There’s other no choice then.

This was dangerous but I had no other option if I wanted to catch up. I jumped forward, boosting my velocity as much as possible. I zipped through the air at an unbelievable speed, faster than my body could adapt.

In combat, my usual weapons of choice are my Augmentation Algorithm and my Wind Magic. In my training with Eric, he insisted that I use them more flexibly, combining and adapting them.

I straightened my body and outstretched my arms, scripting and activating Wind Magic around me. A dome of wind encapsulated my body, protecting me from the blistering wind and guiding me down to the train. I glided above the roof of the rear car and barely managed to grapple onto a protruding bar.

The thought suddenly struck me. If I had messed up this landing, there’s a great chance that I would’ve died or ended up seriously injured. Really? I’m in a life-or-death situation trying to catch the train. With my body being protected by my Wind Barrier and my strength augmented by my algorithm, I held on for dear life for the last few long minutes of the ride.

The train finally slowed to a stop, the change in motion making my stomach do backflips. Once we fully stopped, I deactivated my scripts and laid there, permanently glued to the top of the train.

“Uuuhhhh, I’m spent.” I argued to myself whether I wanted to join the class or become one with the metal sheet I was laying on. How am I supposed to fight after all that? I’m both Physically, Mentally, and Essentially exhausted beyond comparison. Missing one little activity couldn’t hurt, right?

“Wait, is that someone on top of the train?”

And despite all my long deliberation and efforts to remain in hibernation until the spring, it seems like the end is nigh. Screw it all. I want to sleep. You remember that bed I woke up in this morning? Yeah, I should have stayed in those sheets, ignoring that wretched alarm clock for the rest of this tiresome morning.

I heard someone climb up the side of the train using the attached ladder. Their head popped over the edge and they made eye contact with me.

“Hey, what’s up?” I greeted plainly. I didn’t recognize the person but regardless, I didn’t have the energy to hide or make up an excuse.

The guy’s face perked up and he turned away from me. “It’s Michael! Michael’s on the top of the train!”

I released the frame of the train and crawled towards the edge of the train car, sliding off the edge and flopping onto the ground.

Ahh~ the grass is nice and soft.

I lavished in the comfort of the cool ground until I saw a familiar figure looming over me.

“Quite the entrance you made there.” Creeth commented. “Yikes, you're a mess.”

I stared up at him and sighed longer than I’ve ever done.

“You’re more right than you think.”