"Ah... That sucks," Roberto sighed annoyed at that failure. His manner changed once more, as he stared at his guinea pig with much less interest than before. As much as he took for granted that any Skill would be able to give some advantage to the team, or at least would be only minimally useful, what mattered most to him was to know the limits and costs that could hide beyond the Mana.

For now, only Camilla had obtained a Skill without any drawbacks, while he, Sabrina and Mario had to give up something to activate the Skill. Losing consciousness had become the cost to pay for both Roberto and Sabrina, without considering the fact that at the moment the girl didn't even have the necessary Mana to activate her Skill even once, while Mario had started with a general passive enhancement but no specific ability. In a sense, his penalty was not possessing any real 'super power'.

The other unknown was Alex's own Personal Skill, which however needed his Mana to be reduced first in order to restore it, but that almost certainly had to come at a price as well. Roberto, after all, had always seen life as a matter of cost and benefit, so for him to make that connection between the miraculous abilities of the Skills and what they seemed to be hiding was even too easy.

"Your girlfriend has managed it one way or another, hasn't she? Could it be that you're having all this trouble doing the same? Come on, come on, quick. Hop! Hop! Come on darling, we have other things to do." The kind Roberto then continued to say from close range, choosing to behave like an asshole a little to push his companion and a little to chase away the bad mood.

However, not even the insults were of any use and, in just one or two minutes, the poor Alex began to throw in the towel, slowly lowering his arm and moving his gaze towards his own hand. His efforts had been quite useless, just as it often happened to him. In fact, he almost didn't feel surprised about it.

Indeed... He thought, standing still on the spot without listening to the probable bullshit that Roberto was saying, clenching his fist until his knuckles became lighter. Actually I must have asked too much of myself. Shit, why can't I ever get shit done? That's not how it goes in anime! I should be able to kick everyone's ass by now, right? Isn't that how things are supposed to be? I felt in the clouds earlier because I thought I'd gotten a chance to... He resumed thinking, stopping the moment his mind got to the reason behind his previous state of mind.

Sure, he knew he was an imbecile; he was born that way and didn't need anyone else reminding him of it. The answer couldn't be simple though, could it? That imbecile Roberto had taken him by the ass one more time, up to that point he was able to get there; so maybe that excitement had come from the fact that he had entrusted him with the first Skill Book they had ever found?

Maybe, deep down, he had felt satisfied to be recognized by that strange guy who always seemed to know what to say? Hell no, that guy could get fucked. He discarded the idea immediately, however, not wanting to give him the tiniest bit more credit than necessary. After all, he'd pulled Camilla into his bullshit as well and this... Ah, right. Yes, I'm an asshole and at the end of the day I even had to remind myself.

Call him stupid or a kid, but that euphoria of his had simply originated from the thought that he might finally be able to protect his Camilla. Or rather, the prospect alone had been enough for him. After all, ever since they'd met again as teenagers, she'd always been taller than him, stronger than him, and more than capable of beating the crap out of him. In fact, now that I think about it, did she ever need my help? Even here, she was the only one who got a power that could protect others. It seems to me that nothing has changed at all from when we were children down in the very South of Italy...

When he reached that point, he felt a mixture of shame and fear tighten his chest. Because, if nothing had really changed, as soon as the situation would have become dangerous maybe he would have been again...

"Get it over with!" Before he could fall even deeper into self-pity, however, the same girl he so desperately wanted to keep safe came to his rescue. It would have been hard not to notice her, even leaving out the volume of her voice, considering how loudly she was stamping her feet on the ground with every step. Even in his condition he only had to stretch his ears to hear her approach, moving his neck as if by a call.

Roberto meanwhile was continuing with his attempt to 'encourage' Alex with insults and provocations, as he had learned long ago, since it was the only way he knew. Camilla's shout was in fact addressed to him, but he ignored her hoping that the agitation she would add would be useful to make the experiment more profitable.

Instead, the only practical result he got was a well-placed punch to the jaw thrown with all the impetus that a short burst of speed and a great anger could give.

"Ah, damn I feel better now!" She then screamed one more time as soon as her target splashed away in perfectly scenic fashion, leaving the girl wondering if the bastard had voluntarily leapt in that direction for some reason that she had no intention of investigating. In any case, the slight but very sweet burning that was soliciting the first two knuckles of her right hand satisfied her sufficiently; at least for the moment.

Like hell, in fact, she'd forgotten that she'd been put on the same status as a commodity in a barter, so if the opportunity arose, she'd have no hesitation in giving him another couple of punches. Also because, as bad as it would have sounded if she had said it out loud, physically hurting someone like Roberto had already changed her day for the better.

In the meantime, however, the victim of that diplomatic incident stopped tumbling and regained a human-like posture, staying with his ass on the ground and his back against one of the columns nearby. His post-match comment was a simple: "Ouch," said without much art nor part, while he was massaging his sore jaw with one hand.

At first, he thought about getting back on his feet and rekindling the flames of Alex's stubbornness by arguing with his wife, but he quickly abandoned the idea. Although he would have liked to know as much information as possible about the Skills before the next day dawn, it was unlikely that what he would be able to learn would counterbalance the whorehouse he would probably necessarily have to set up.

Maybe. He thought as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a quick flick of his hand. Maybe if we were all men I could have... Well, I could have been more bitchy and brutal but I'm trying random things anyway. I've already run out of practical ideas that I could work with, so I might as well give up. Too bad though, I feel like I've thrown away a good resource. What a waste.

Accepting his failure, he quickly changed his plan for what to do; but from the outside, with the look on his face, it was more like he was plotting a revenge against the girl. Those would be unfounded rumors, however. Face punch or not, he didn't blame her at all and, in fact, understood perfectly well how natural it had been for her to get angry like that. The hit at the end of the day was nothing more than a collateral cost and, as long as it was within the bounds of reason, then he could accept it without a problem.

That said, dear Camilla instead interpreted his fixed gaze and his carefree smoking as a sort of challenge, almost an invitation to come forward to beat him up again. And, it must be said, she almost found herself willingly accepting the offer. However, the unsuccessful Alex had also had time to think about his little things and, at an early hour, managed to get himself together.

Noticing his change, she let Roberto go for the moment and instead focused her attention on her boyfriend, or would-be boyfriend. In any case, putting semantics aside, she mentally prepared herself to hearten him and, perhaps, spur him on a little to try again and not throw in the towel, even though she didn't have much confidence in her own ability to provide moral support.

Unexpectedly, however, the imbecile, I mean Alex, seemed to have gotten back on his feet with his own strength, grabbing with a surge of strength and determination the girl's trembling hands. "H-Ah?" she even found herself stammering, faced with such a change in attitude. Not that it displeased her, quite the contrary.

"Explain to me again how you managed to activate your Skill! Last night you were saying something about some kind of energy, weren't you? What were you thinking at the time? Your state of mind? From the outside you seemed more pissed off than anything else... Wait, that's the secret? Should I be pissed off? Then we'd better call Roberto again. Well? Come on, I want to try again!"

Alex showed a rather wild side of himself, almost impetuous I dare say, with that machine gun of burning questions and the total lack of shame in seeking physical contact. Even if he remained similar to a child trying on his daddy's pants, his stance slowly drew a hint of a smile on Camilla's face. Because, well, it had certainly been a long time since she had seen him behave like that. Maybe, she needed to go back to when they were still children to find that Alex again.

"All right, all right..." She repeated a few times to get him to stop talking, later beginning to explain to him as much as she could about her experience the day before. She spoke the whole time, while he silently nodded from time to time looking for inspiration. He didn't find much, but she helped him anyway. After that, the two resumed with the attempts, still unsuccessful unfortunately, ending up in their own little world.

"Oh... We certainly never get bored here. Don't you agree, eh boss?" Mario went to say after several minutes of waiting to the dearest Roberto, still standing still and busy making two healthy lungs as strong as duck liver before it became pate. He, not too interested in a chat between best friends, replied with a sigh overflowing with acrid smoke: "Boredom would be the last thing on my mind. I'm already feeling low and now those two are going to spend the rest of the day getting nothing done, or at least that's my prediction. I would have preferred to finish the tutorial with more resources at my disposal."

Mario echoed the sigh, observing the bursting pair for a moment and then turning back to his interlocutor. Unlike him though, he personally didn't find the situation all that dramatic. Sure, they might have been in deep shit for all they knew about it, but some times the best response is to stop overthinking and move straight ahead with your head down. The pylons, the front-line rugby players, on his team had taught him that many times.

So, after bending down with a squat, and still remaining taller than the other boy, he said: "You can't expect miracles. Already having a relatively warm bed to sleep on and food in your stomach is an excellent first step. We should celebrate. Do you really think we'd be able to use these magical abilities in a real situation anyway? It would be like putting a gun in the hand of a vegan during a zombie invasion. A useless waste of good metal."

Roberto understood what he meant, but disagreed. From his point of view it was easier that a person, even mentally unfortunate as in the case of the vegan just mentioned, if put in a dangerous enough situation would, probably, pull out his own nails just to get his ass home. The way he made decisions, or made bets, had that preconceived notion at its base, which is why any addition would always, always add up.

"I'm having a hard time figuring out if you're being overly optimistic or pessimistic. We've only known each other for a short while but I already would have preferred not to have to deal with someone like you," he then continued, pulling out yet another cigarette from the pack and motioning to the giant next to him to take one as well to keep him company.

He, however, refused the kind gift, causing a, "Fucking salute," briefly said through clenched teeth by the other. Mario, however, showed a grin similar to a smile. "Among crazy people I guess we understand each other. But do not worry, the feeling is mutual," he commented with the same expression, moving shortly after the attention back to Alex and Camilla and asking with a harder voice this time: "Rather. How come you chose him? I'm not saying this out of self-interest or anything, but I don't think that one will be very useful in the future; Skill or no Skill. Although it would have been an overly predictable turn of events, I would have preferred you to learn [Supergravity] by exploiting me and Alex to stable a numerical superiority in order to silence the likely complaints Camilla would have had. You wouldn't have had to worry about Sabrina, and you knew I would have gone along with you. So, I ask you one more time, how come you made such a choice?"

The long question came clear to Roberto's ears, but not for this reason his answer was quick. Concerned, apparently, only with his smoke, the boy took as much time as he wished to remain silent. When he reached the filter, however, he finally decided to speak, saying without putting any emphasis on his words, "I have a theory. Or call it hope if you want. If this is a game then that means we've been given ways to win, the important thing is to make the correct moves.And, in our case, Alex was the only one with the ability to fully recharge Mana and Energy. In addition, his total amount of Mana is a cool twelve. Convenient, no? [Supergravity] costs exactly twice as much, and if he were to use his [Quick Recovery] here he is magically able to double the available uses of [Supergravity]. I don't know to what extent all this bullshit has been planned, but I always prefer to take risks when it's worth it. So... Well, let's just pretend for simplicity's sake that I did what I did because I believe in Alex's future potential. Fuck though, I find it hard to believe in such a bullshit myself," he then concluded, scratching his head and exhaling deeply with what remained of the semi-lit filter between his fingers.