17 days after the last attack.

"Sigh. So~ bo~red!"

"I came out for a drink simply because you were annoying me and now you're still not satisfied?"

"But I can't help it! This is so boring! Flinn, since when did you lose your thunder?! I was hoping we could do something more interesting! Did something happen in school?"

His brows twitched. "Drop it. Rather than that, what do you suggest we do?"

"Let's go pick up some girls!"

"................. Fine."

"Aye, that's more like my buddy Flinn!" he wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder. "And if I may suggest, how about that girl over there?" He pointed behind Flinn, on the other side of the road. "She seems to be waiting for someone. Well? You wanna get her now or do you wanna wait for her friends to show up?"

Flinn turned around and his breath got stuck in his throat when he laid eyes on her. True, she was a stunning beauty, and normally, Flinn would've easily made a move without a second thought. But right now, his hair stood on ends and he felt extremely embarrassed when he was reminded of the past.

He had already met this girl before. The same girl he made a move on the first day of the semester, and ended up being tossed around like a ragdoll. A girl with practically white hair, fair skin and red eyes.

Flinn thought in remorse, "If she's here, then she's probably waiting for that group. And judging by her clothes, it's… a date? Those two are finally getting at it, huh…"

Flinn wasn't surprised. "Don't," he said.

"Oh? Are you perhaps worried she's waiting for a guy? Don't worry, it's probably some scrawny rich kid. But if you want, we could wait and see, hehe!"

"No, I'm serious. Don't. At least not her." He gulped a mouthful of saliva.

"Hmm? That's quite odd of you, Flinn, passing up a chance of hitting on a girl like that. Do you perhaps know her?"

Flinn simply stared at the glass he gripped on the table.

"Ah! Is she perhaps from your school? I see, I see, she's from Twinsoul, huh… She must be pretty skilled then. But don't worry! No matter how strong, girls are always maidens at heart! Once she's enticed by our charms, she'll be following us around in no time!"

Flinns heart shook. He must stop this idiot before he does something stupid!

Immediately, he grabbed his arm as tightly as he could and stared at him with a scary expression. Seconds later, his proud and carefree demeanor subsided and he retracted back into his seat.

"Tch! How boring." He crossed his arms. "Things are getting so weird lately! First that rumoured 'fire pillar', then the Rose being conspired against and now I see you acting unlike yourself. I hate it!"

The reason why he said 'rumoured' was because his apartment faced away from Diavolo' direction, so he didn't really feast his eyes upon it. To him, it's just something people are exaggerating. They were making it sound more spectacular that it actually was.

While they waited, the person being waited for came running out of a corner in a panicked state. He rushed towards the girl and seemed to apologize while panting and sweating. He was also carrying something long in a cloth bag over his back. Judging by the small shiny rod that poked out from the opening, it was probably a weapon of some sort.

"See? I told you it was some scrawny rich kid! C'mon Flinn! Let's go! Look, he's even carrying a weapon out in the open like that. It's clear he doesn't have confidence in himself! We can take him on!"

Flinn didn't answer and simply stared at the two from the corner of his eyes. Light sweat trickled down as the two seemed to have already finished their greetings and started to walk away.

"Flinn!!!" he stood up.

In response, Flinn immediately returned a scary expression at him. It clearly expressed his disapproval of his actions.

At this moment, Flinn's friend had an utterly disgusted look appear on his face. "Since when… did you become such a weakling?!"

Flinn took a last sip from his glass and sighed. "It's true that normally, I wouldn't hesitate. However, that guy… if you underestimate him, you might regret it."

"What are you trying to say?"

"He's.... responsible for that huge fire."

"...Huh?! That scrawny brat?! You're kidding!"

"I wish I was…"

"Even if that's the case, so what?! He just blasted out a bunch of energy, that's all! What's the big deal? You expect me to back off just because of that?!"

"You haven't seen it, that's all. That's why you can spit out stuff like that."

"Huh?"

"I saw it happen… right in front of my eyes…"

Ever since he was treated like a ragdoll in front of the whole class, Flinn was living in shame. Although people around him playfully teased him, that too, occasionally, to him, it was as if they were attacking him.

But things weren't all bad. He was apparently the only one to have approached her. He did remember this newbie Diavolo saying something to her, but he didn't really bat an eye at it. Although he didn't like how things were, they weren't entirely unfavorable for him. If he couldn't have her nobody could.

Literally nobody called out to her because of the rumours surrounding her. And that was good. He simply waited. Waited for the moment she would feel lonely enough. Then he would provide a shoulder and make her his! That was the vague idea, but…

All of a sudden the three newbies he didn't give a shit about got famous for their results in the review test. Not only that, but the next day the Diavolo kid seemed to be protecting her from Claude's verbal abuse and even challenged him to a fight while injured! He felt really uneasy seeing that.

In the fight, he won, but then Claude used some underhanded surprise attack and knocked him unconscious. Flinn was frustrated seeing Diavolo rise into the spotlight and win, but when he was knocked out, he was relieved. 'Serves you right!' was what he thought. In the end was a shaky draw.

Claude left and so did the spectators, but he hid himself and kept observing the group. And what he saw made him want to tear his own skin off!

Suzume Shiro placed Diavolo's head on her lap and tended to him until he woke up. And judging by the group's conversation, he seemed to have gone to her house the previous day.

Blood surged and his face turned red with anger. Just what in the world happened while he took his eyes off her! That silent girl, who was abandoned by her peers had already found a community behind his back?! She was actually being that nice to him?! What the shit! Just what's going on!

Flinn could not accept this. Not one bit. What's so great about him?! So he beat the most hated student, big deal! Flinn's line of thought was exactly like his friend at the moment.

Once Diavolo came to, they parted and the two seemed to go somewhere on their own accord. Flinn naturally followed them. He had to know exactly what was going on between them. Was it just a misunderstanding or…

Tailing behind, Flinn noticed they came to a thinly populated neighbourhood. He was confused as to what sort of business they would have here, but then he had an idea. This was perfect! If he could just find the chance he could beat up Diavolo without her knowing!

Later he found they went into a small armoury. But before they came out someone or something blasted the whole thing away! Flinn was stunned, but that was when he realized that they weren't just a normal group. Something weird was going on.

A fight broke out and Diavolo died. Should he have been happy or sad? He didn't know. He could only see the walking despair making its way towards a crying girl.

He was afraid. What should he do? His mind was a mess! But then when he finally thought of standing up to the scary man, something incredible happened.

That rookie rose from the dead and flared up...literally! Talk about a grandiose revival! Even at such a distance, Flinn could still feel the intense heat from the fire tornado. That was when his entire mind was flipped upside down.

Forget beating him down, he probably couldn't even drag Diavolo into a corner. Was his fight with Claude really a draw? With this, it's completely obvious who the stronger one is! Flinn thought of himself as crazy if he ever felt like he could beat him!

"That day he fought the Claude bastard, I followed him. And that's where I saw him dishing out that ridiculous campfire. What the heck was that? It was probably a middle, no, maybe even towards the higher end of the 1-star stage!"

"1-star...?" when he heard that, the sky seemed to fall on him. "Stop screwing around! 1-star is fine, but… towards the end is ridiculous! You guys are still in highschool aren't you!"

"Calm down and sit," Flinn said with a frustrated expression. "It's been, how long? Seven to eight years? Well it just means we can't expect to enjoy being in the top half for that long."

"He's a newbie, right? Was he like that when he first entered?"

"Nope. That's the most frustrating part. At first this guy didn't even know what Natura was! And then just one month later we see him in the 1-star realm not with Natura but with fucking Raze!"

"Kuh!" he was about to flare out, but stopped. There was nothing he could say anymore. "Dammit!" and he slammed the table.

"This just shows how easily replaceable we are. The ones who were taken in that expedition… if monsters like him, no, all three of them can just appear like that, then…!"

"Are you saying that if they were here eight years ago, then they'd be taken in the expedition too?"

"Probably. The ones who were taken… if they were that strong back then, then how strong are they now? They were continuing their training even during it, right?"

*Sigh* "Thanks a lot. I feel way worse now." He stared at the sky. "Let's just forget about them. Those guys in your school… they're born to be fighters. We're just… regular civilians, aren't we…"

"Yeah…"

…

..

.

"Let's follow them."

"Yup."

In the meantime, Diavolo and Suzume were making their way towards the store they bought his sword from.

They had promised to go buy a scabbard once before and it was now that they actually came out.

"Diavolo-kun, you don't really have to be that high on alert, you know." Suzume awkwardly smiled.

"I don't have a choice! It's been, what, two weeks? Maybe more! And yet there's no sign of any attack! How do you expect me to stay easy right now!" he twitched and fidgeted as he said so.

It was true in what he said. Even after 17 days from the attack, there was no longer any sign from them. Even after the first attack, they had attacked again the very next day, now they were taking more than two weeks. This made Diavolo uncomfortable.

It was not just Diavolo, but all of them. Shin had been desperately trying to control his weapon and improving his familiarity with Material Natura. Yukio was primarily trying to improve his raw power. Occasionally, he would also try out little tricks here and there.

It seemed that without others noticing, he was actually constantly thinking about himself. Since he was well aware of his lack of strength, he knew what he had to do. Even with the tricks he already knew of during battle were quite effective, they still had limitations. Limitations that would be decreased or even lifted if he was simply stronger or more proficient. And that was what he aimed for.

Diavolo of course, since then, has been practicing Natura. It was very essential for him to learn to sense his surroundings for him to advance further in Raze. other than that, there wasn't much he could do.

In terms of greatest 'powering up' improvement, the best was Yukio's whereas the worst was Diavolo's. The tables basically turned now.

Shin's progress with Material Natura was in no way small either. Everybody in the second year yearned to learn their Material as soon as possible. Although all three of them could use it, Shin's improvement was more flashy.

Learning Material Natura by the end of the second year was a necessity for all students, so it was only in due time until they too would learn it. Shin simply had a head start. But witnessing him use it right at the beginning and knowing that he was further improving upon it already made students quite envious.

This would mean that by the time using Material Natura became the same as breathing for Shin, the rest of them would be newbies in that domain. How ironic.

In contrast, Yukio's improvement was quite dull looking.

Oh, you're improving your power and techniques? Okay, nice.

It sounded underwhelming. However, Yukio's improvement was most prominent in actual combat. In fact, while Diavolo and Shin were busy improving in very specific fields, Yukio's evolution was actually by far the most practically useful.

He had also actually won a few practice matches against both of them! Even Yukio couldn't believe it!

When it first happened, he assumed the two were going easy on him. Especially Diavolo. However Hannah, who was observing really closely, concluded it was genuinely a win for him!

Diavolo and Shin were so surprised and shocked that they started to reevaluate their stances on being the only two rivals of each other. If Yukio continued to improve like this, it would be very soon when he surpassed them… and they wouldn't even know it!

"Really, it's okay even if you relax a little…" Suzume calmed him down. "By the way, how is your training coming along?"

"Hmm? Ah, it's fine I guess. Although I'm not nearly as good at it compared to Raze, I'm getting the hang of it."

"I see. Well I can't blame you if your progress is slower than usual. You've started with Raze after all. Raze is more difficult to tap into than Natura, but once you get used to it, people almost never get back to Natura. Compared to the usual cases, since you've never even felt Natura, let alone use it, it's normal to think it would be many times harder than people who initially started Natura, then moved to Raze and then again tried to use Natura.

Even so, if you think you're getting the hang of it, then it's good!"

"No, it's definitely not good! Did you know?! Yukio… that guy beat us in a match! Fair and square!"

"I… see?"

"Urgh, you don't seem very surprised…"

"Ehehe, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Aren't all three of you really talented?"

"That's not the case. Even among us, Yukio has been the weakest. For a very long time, too. Till now it was kind of like a showdown between only me and Shin. Yukio was basically someone who would take the back seat. But now, to think he actually beat us…"

"Is that really how you should be talking about your friends, I wonder."

"Eh? No, don't misunderstand me. I wasn't looking down on him. It was just a hard fact… till now that is. Although it's surprising, I'm actually kinda impressed. Enough that I'm wondering if I should start thinking of him as a rival too…"

"I see, I see. That's nice, huh… such a friendship!" she delightfully smiled.

"Speaking of friendship, what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"In school… Is everything alright now?"

"Ah, yes. It's all thanks to Miss Hannah. With her guidance, the people of our class are slowly acting normally with me. It's only a few people right now, but… I really appreciate her effort. It seems she doesn't plan on stopping until all the students get to know me, but I think that's a little excessive. I mean, wouldn't you be a little overwhelmed if the whole school knows you on a personal level?

Even so, I… really want to thank her…" she spoke her most sincerest thoughts.

Diavolo stared at her for some time and chuckled.

"W-what is it? Did I say something weird?" she became flustered.

"Just now, you reverted back to 'Miss'." He hid his curled lips with his hand.

She thought back for a moment and squeaked, "Ah!"

"Even if she told you to drop honorifics from the beginning… you're still... hehe!"

"I-i-i-i-it's not what you think! I'm not distancing her like before!" she blabbered in panic, "I-i-it's just...that's right! Respect! I really respect her! She's a close friend, but the effort she's putting for me really moved me, okay! This was just a sign of respect from me! This and that are different!"

"I got it, I got it. Relax," he kept chuckling. "You don't have to panic like that. I won't tell her."

Suzume pouted. "Diavolo-kun, you bully…" And after pausing for a few moments, she continued, "But still… I don't think Hannah could've done it on her own. I think… the main reason she was able to do it, is because of you."

Diavolo's cheeks went slightly red. Rubbing his nose with a finger, he said, "You're exaggerating. I just did what I wanted to. The rest just happened."

Suzume was only slightly exaggerating. Although it's true that the main trigger for the change around her was Diavolo, it was not like Hannah would've completely left her alone if he hadn't been there.

Hannah disliked injustice, but she needed to be very wary of her position and circumstances as well. Even if she was an influential person, there are many instances where someone of high status ends up being rejected simply because s/he defended a notorious individual.

She needed to handle it tactfully, but then again, she also couldn't figure out exactly when would be the right time. Basically, she felt as complicated as the situation was itself.

But that was not the case for the boys. They were free to do what they wanted. Initially, nobody really knew that they actually 'lived' in the Rose mansion, so it wasn't much of a big deal. In people's eyes, they were just enviously friendly with her.

As soon as the three rose to be a star on the stage, they witnessed him defending the student they were all avoiding, which gave them really conflicted feelings. Not only that, but the one known to use Raze was also heavily injured.

What was going on? Why would someone like Diavolo go as far as to challenge the Claude for someone like Suzume? They could not understand.

But one thing's for certain. If he defended her even after so many injuries, he must know something that no one else did. Maybe it's… not really her fault? There were few who thought this. And it's those people that Hannah introduced Suzume to recently.

Other people had various other theories. Aside from the speculation of Diavolo liking her, there were others who thought there might be a deeper meaning.

When it was revealed that the three boys were actually hired by the Rose, it started to make sense to them. Basically, it was the boys' original job to protect Hannah from conspirators and assassins, they thought. However, they must be in the pretence of being regular citizens who just happened to end up freeloading in the Rose mansion.

Also, secretly, Hannah wished to do something for Suzume, but it was probably a vague order. But because of the freedom the boys were given, they executed their order splendidly. Since they built up a reputation it would be easier to ease others into approaching her.

Although a hindrance, Diavolo was probably attacked by those who wished to harm Hannah while he himself was getting to know Suzume. This was what resulted in his injuries the day after the exam. But Claude misinterpreted it and accused Suzume for being responsible.

Then the very same day, another attack happened and Diavolo was hospitalized. Since the case could no longer be hidden, it was revealed that they were in fact hired by Rose.

If that was the case, it would mean Hannah already had plans to befriend Suzume. It was all planned by her? The whole shunning was just an act? But why?

The answer was simple. Hannah was the future leader of the Rose faction. As such, she wished all her subjects to get along with each other. Rumours are rumours, but utterly shunning can ruin one's life. She could not accept that and thus decided to do something under the hood. That was what some students concluded.

Because of this many students felt guilty and made amends. Although they didn't befriend Suzume, they no longer looked at her like a monster. Conversely, there were also many students who didn't like how Hannah did things.

She went so far as to trick the entire student body for just one individual? Is that the quality of a leader? This would mean Hannah would grow up to be someone who would risk the majority of her followers for just one person. That was not something to look up to.

For better or worse, the students' views of Hannah changed after that.

On the other hand, if the trio were indeed specially hired guards of Rose, wouldn't that mean they were more capable than what they displayed to be? Unknown to anybody, an unspoken anticipation began to grow within their hearts.

"Whoa, they actually did fix the store already…"

Having finally reached their destination, Diavolo stared at the newly repaired armoury. The paint and the build quality were better than before, but it was still the same small store.

"You sure it's okay for us to order a scabbard here? I mean, we're kinda responsible for his store getting wrecked and yet we haven't made any contact with him since."

"Ufufu! It's okay. Let's get in."

Entering the building they saw completely new furniture and stands for the weapons. And the number of weapons on display was actually less than before. Were the weapons destroyed in the previous attack or did he purposely not keep them here?

"Welcome. What would you--... oh, it's you again. What do you want? Is something going to blast up from the floor this time?"

"See, I told you he'll be pissed at us!" Diavolo whispered to Suzume.

"It's about the weapon we bought the other day. Do you have a scabbard he can put it in? It's quite unsafe like this."

"Let me see."

Diavolo was a little surprised at how the store owner didn't care, but he still went with the flow and handed him his sword.

Taking it out from the bag, he observed the sword for a moment and rested it on his table.

"Not possible."

"Eh? Why?"

"Are you an idiot? Just look at it yourself. The blade widens as you go further away from the base. If I design a sheath of the exact shape, you won't be able to put it in nor pull it out. Conversely, if I make one that's wide in the base, the sword will wobble about and will make it difficult to carry."

"O...oh…"

"But what if you use springs?" Suzume intervened.

"Hmm? What are you saying?"

"It's like this." She gestured around the sword. "What if you make it wide, but align a series of springs attached to small rods or plates that hold the sword in place? That way it can be easily taken in and out while not wobbling."

"It'll work, but only temporarily. Using springs in such a tiny space would mean they'd have to be made really small but considerably long. It's prone to quick damage. It won't be long until you need replacements and it'll just be a hassle.

Besides, how many scabbards do you even see with springs? A scabbard is just supposed to be simple and well built. Well, unless you're using some sort of high tech weapon like those third generation ones. I know I said it's impossible, but it's actually impractical and I don't recommend it."

The room stayed silent as the two stared at the weapon and thought about alternatives.

The owner sighed. "Either way, why do you even need a sheath for a first generation weapon? Why don't you just use your aura connection?"

"Eh? Aura connection?"

"That's right. First generation weapons choose their wielders, right? Then they already have a taste of what his/her energy is like. Depending on how proficient you are, if the weapon is within range, you can simply command your weapon to fly towards you with your energy.

A plus point for this aura connection is that you don't really need a holder. Even if you don't grab the weapon, it can still stick to a part of your body, like your back or waist."

"Eh? You can do that?!" Diavolo looked at Suzume.

"I didn't know about that either…" she confessed. "But even if it can be carried, it's still unsafe!"

"Remember how I said it isn't recommended to have a container for first generation weapons? I mean that in the truest of meaning. Since it's a highly personalized weapon, it changes according to the user's necessities. What are you going to do if it evolves again? You'll need something different."

Diavolo gulped hearing that. Wasn't weapon transformation a one time thing? Did he hear that right?

"It can transform again?!"

"Hmm, depends. It may or may not. But here's my suggestion. One of the main points of having a first gen weapon is for it to always be ready. A scabbard would just get in the way. But you can do one of two things.

If you absolutely have to cover it, use a cloth or a bag. But if you're fine with not covering it, you should be able to dull it's edges.

Remember that these are personalized. If something is inconvenient, you can command a small change. This isn't the same thing as an evolution though so don't think you can completely change how it looks or what it does. Try it now," he said and he handed Diavolo his sword.

Diavolo took it and pointed it forward. He then aligned it in front of his eye and slowly infused Raze.

Command it to dull. Command it to dull.

As a thin layer of Raze flowed and swept across the edge his vision fell on, he pictured the blade becoming more dull and flat.

At first it didn't seem to work. Then he remembered. First generation weapons were in fact living beasts in the form of arms. Back when he fought, he could feel the essence of a roaring monster within it. Perhaps, for him to make an order like this, he needed to feel the 'presence' of the weapon as well?

He tried it. There's no harm there. He closed his eyes and felt his sword as he breathed in. Soon enough, he felt… 'something'. It wasn't the same as when he fought in the past, but there was definitely something familiar.

He tried commanding it again, putting its longer axis through his line of sight. Energy swept and swirled once again and he imagined it dulling.

In the quiet room, under the smell of fresh paint and wood burnish, very faint metallic clanks could be heard.

And then it happened. The sharp edge of his sword, as if melting under some sort of heat, reshaped into the likes of a toy sword.

Diavolo let out a breath and put the sword back down.

"Well? Did it work?" the owner asked.

"Yeah, although I'll need to practice a little."

The edge that Diavolo dulled was only a small portion of one side of the blade. He was no expert and had yet to grasp the concepts of these weapons. As such, a small part was the most he could do right now.

Unlike Shin, Diavolo hadn't been practising using weapons ever since. He needed more time. There were too many things to learn. If he didn't take care of his current bottleneck, then his 'rise to fame' would be treated as a mere fluke.

Either way, it seemed that a scabbard really wasn't necessary. However the travel wasn't wasted. He got to learn something. Seems like even in the beginning stages there were things Suzume didn't know. But that's to be expected since first generation weapons were kind of an enigma. Right?

Thanking the store owner, Diavolo and Suzume exited the building.

"Thanks for the help! And really sorry for your store!"

"Don't let it bother you. Just don't repeat it and put me in debt. I had to go through a lot to rebuild this place," he grunted. "Take care on your way back."

"Will do."

Leaving the building, the two made their first turn around the corner, when suddenly Diavolo felt an uncomfortable glare from a certain direction.

On impulse, he flung his sword straight towards what looked like a roadside bush, where it pierced through and lodged into the ground.

"Gyaaah!!" "What the heck!!"

Two figures jumped out in opposite directions like when a cat sees something appear behind it out of nowhere.

Diavolo glared back at them at first, but observing the two, he noticed he recognized one of their faces. "You… you're the guy who sits at the back, right?"

"I'm so sorry!" "We're so sorry!" "We'll never bother you again!" "Please spare us!" they continued to yelp one after another, panickingly bowed several times and made a run for it.

"Ah, wait! I wasn't--!" but Diavolo was too late in calling them.

"Diavolo-kun, if you suddenly throw a sword at someone like that, anybody would be scared stiff, you know?"

"Still, why were those guys stalking us?"

"I think…" Suzume observed her surroundings. "They probably just happened to see us heading towards this place again and were just curious. You know, since you're kind of famous now."

"Weird bunch…" And he pulled his sword back out.