‘How long is she going to take? We have been waiting for two hours already…’

It was a bit chilly on the bridge as we were still in the dead of the night. While I was looking through social media looking at funny memes, Gramps was busy reading another book. The silence didn’t bother the two of us as we already tried to small talk which only lead to a more awkward silence. It seems he now started with philosophical books. Where does he take out his books?

"Gramps, how can you take all this stuff out of thin air? I don’t believe you write your own interpretation of Nietzsche’s works in a matter of seconds so where do you keep them?"

It’s not that I don’t believe it but I didn’t want to believe such a thing. This old man could be called a god if he did that as well…

"Hooo~ interested in artefacts now? I told you that you can get different effects with certain runes from some runic alphabets and that there are artefact crafters for weapons, armour and accessories that could each create artefacts that people would kill for. Well, this ring on my left index finger is an artefact that has exactly this function. A compact space."

"Hey, why don't I have one then? Could have given me that so I could store all my other weapons at least."

"A weapon bound with the soul is far better than one which isn't and if you bound them to your soul with your so-called Armory, then the rest isn't worth it. Also getting one of these is so expensive that I’d rather make you learn how to do it yourself! You think I'd throw away a couple of hundred million for you to have a way to store weapons you will never use?"

"Don't you have the money to say that a couple more times!"

"Then drink my blood as well, you leech!"

"Hey!"

And the bickering began again for another twenty minutes with me getting the upper hand before gramps destroyed my argument with the sentence “If you want one so badly, work for that money and don’t ask me to buy you one just like that!”

…

I can’t say anything to that. Gramps does have a point. He has no obligation to buy my stuff and train me but here he is doing it. And now we wait for the second person to go under him. Honestly, I feel sorry for my junior… she will be under so many hardships that it honestly makes me tear up a bit. This tear is definitely for her future and not for my past.

And speaking of the devil…

Wow…

Black wavy hair flew back with the wind, showing her beautiful face with little to no imperfections. Her hazel eyes with a slight golden tinge that made anyone looked at by them feel honoured and the way she was dressed and presenting herself was like she was on a date.

…

I’ll not be the one to say it to her. I just hope she has something she can wear after those clothes get burned in the lava pit.

I’ll not help out. That’s your own fault, little junior…

“Hehehe~... Ínteresting…”

“What does that mean, old man?”

“Look at her. She isn’t awakened yet she is already leaking a bit of Will from between her body and soul. If that dream you talked about is the reason, then I’m even more interested in the one who made that dream. Awakening someone without them going through life-threatening events is a blessing for humanity.”

“Oh wow now that you mention it, I can feel a slight bit of Will under that aura of a doll.”

“... boy… a piece of advice. Don’t say anything bad about her attire. A piece of advice from men to men.”

“You had it that rough?”

“No one would like to hear that after spending so much time working on it.”

Is that so? I’d like to hear how to improve though? Is that really not the same or are people just overreacting when people tell them their point of view? I’m not sure and I’m not even sure if I understand it really so I just let it slide. What’s really impressive is her Will leaking a bit already. I thought that could only happen after awakening but now I understand what Gramps means. It feels like her Will is focused at one point unlike awakened that can now use their Will and let it flow through the whole body. The difference is that thanks to her Will leaking slightly, I know where her Will is accumulated or else it would be impossible to find the focus point.

Wait…

“Alyssa… is there perhaps a weapon in that bag?”

“Oh! Don’t worry about it, honey. It’s just there so if there would be anyone threatening our date, I’d have a way to deal with it.”

“Gramps! Meeting! Now!”

Pulling gramps by the wrist, I dragged him to the side to ‘talk’. Why do I have to regret my choice after seeing a yandere stare from her…

“Gramps. Status report.”

“She clearly is crazy. Why did you call her here anyway?”

“I thought it was a good idea since she saw the dream as well and my powers. She already knew that I was really inside the dream so I had to explain myself one way or another.”

“I bet your hormones went wild seeing such a beautiful girl right in front of you~. Hehehe~. The poor boy is scared of a potential girlfriend~.”

“You want to switch places?”

“No, thank you! I had my fair share of yandere experience. You think I’ll repeat that agony again?”

“I’m sorry but what are you two talking about?”

“HIIIII!!”

“HIIIII!!”

That scared the shit out of me! How did she move behind us without the two of us know about it? We were supposed to be the superhumans! If she can already do that, won’t she be too powerful in the future?

“Ah… nothing. Anyway… I’m sorry to say this but…”

“...But?”

That glare. No. Don’t kill me yet! I have a father and a mother that need me by their side! Please spare me!

“...But I called you here not to hang out but… to train.”

“Train?”

“Is it fine to talk about it while we go there?”

“To where?”

“The place where I trained for the last month.”

“...alright.”

Why does she look so dejected! I didn’t do anything! I may have forgotten to tell her why I called her but still!

We kept walking inside the forest as our pace was slower than usual. Alyssa was still a [Mortalis] stage Human. This makes our speed slower than usual but we didn’t have any rush.

"I called you here because of the dream. I wanted you to be ready for anything in the dream since I understood how it feels to die by these monsters… And we are going to-BONK Hey! The hell was that for?"

"Let me, the master, explain, boy! Now, my dear. I have a question for you before I start explaining. You saw what the kid was capable of in the dream. You should know there are a lot more and more of them are way stronger than that boy. But that strength lies behind a torture most won’t be able to handle. So do you really want to be stronger? And if yes for what?"

A confused expression.

She was contemplating the words the old man said. It was different from the first meeting I had with the old man. The old man already knew my decision when we first met but this time, the two of us didn’t know what she would truly say. I’m not sure what she was thinking about, but I guess this time it was something serious and not another yandere thought. Please let it be something serious.

"The dream was torture for me at the beginning. I was dying way longer than probably Laith did. And I felt powerless because of that. Until something clicked inside me and I started to fight back so much that I could slaughter ten thousand monsters by now. But the thing is that if there are more than just you two out there that will have powers on the same level, then I'll be powerless once again. I don't like that feeling. I don’t like that feeling of being the one to be protected like a helpless princess that has to rely on her knight in shining armour. No. I want to fight back. For my own pride."

“Pride, huh… a slightly concerning but honest answer. I like it. Humans keep telling me that they want to be strong for the good of this world or to become the ruler of this world but pride that was born out of the disparity of your own death… is something new. Alright, next question. What do you think we will do?”

"Magic and martial arts? Learning how to fight properly? Getting stronger? As long as it isn’t regular history class, I’m fine with everything."

"We have to awaken you first. Awakening is the process of bringing forth your innate ability that's in your soul. You, dear, have already started your slow way of awakening as you already started to leak a bit of Will. This Will is Human energy that we have to set free fully. Understood?"

"Yes!"

'I have a mad Deja Vu right now!'

"We have two options to get you awakened. The first is to put you in such danger that your instincts kick in and you will be awakened for self-protection. The second is to find a goal tied to such a strong emotion that you awaken out of a need to achieve that goal. Now…"

"Give me your bag, Alyssa! "

"Oh! Thank you gentle…"

"He won't take your bag."

"Oh no!"

"Why not?"

“Old man! I swear, if you will do what I think you will, I’ll one day beat you up so hard that you will regret all of this!“

“Too late.”

Guard! Step! Praesidia! I need as much armour as I can get! The chest plate itself won’t be enough so having my gauntlets and boots may help me.

But I was too late…

That palm slowly laid on my chest and all I saw before ‘it’ happened was a worried girl and a middle-aged man with a sadistic smile on his face. I swear…

"Hehe… It's too easy!"

BOOM

"LAITH!"

The last thing I heard before being thrown away like a cannonball was the girl next to Gramps screaming out my name. It's kind of nice to have someone care for you. Even if that person is yandere…

BOOOOOOOM

Fucking shit… that still hurts even after all that training!?! I need to dodge the dangerous branches! Even if I have the body of a weapon, those branches aren’t ordinary themselves if they could withstand the might of this old man!

‘Up… up… down… down… left… right… left…right… this is a cheat code!’

And before I knew it, I was already approaching the ground while not being ready to land. Houston! Houston, we got a problem!

BAMM

“Ugh! Argh! Shit!”

This shit hurt more than I remembered…

The old man didn’t do anything to the ground, right? Because if he did, he is an asshole through and through.

If he didn’t then I am fucked as having Alzheimer's this early in life is something I do not want.

COUGH COUGH COUGH

Fuck.

This old man doesn't let me rest even once! Why did I have to be thrown like that? And what's this discrimination? Why didn't she get thrown away as well! Why is no one here a believer of true gender equality!

“Laith! Are you okay, Laith!

I had to wait for 5 minutes before I could see Alyssa that ran towards me right away upon arrival. But her worry didn’t last long as she was only followed by the devil. This fucking shithead of an old fucker! You… YOU…

“Laith… let me he-”

“YOU THREW THE WRONG STUDENT, YOU OLD FUCKER!!!”

“eh?”

“Oho~… I guess someone wants another beating~.”

“I don’t give a shit about beatings anymore! You don’t even need an excuse to do that anyway! But I knew you’d pull this shit again when you used the same speech you used when I started my training! I swear, there is no true equality with these old fu-BAMM FUCK!!”

"Shut up, will ya lad? Didn't you learn anything about treating a lady fine like a true gentleman? What's this nonsense about gender equality! Now, lass, we will start our training first to bring you to the peak of a normal human and then we have to find a goal for you with deep emotions. What we will also do…"

I don’t have to listen to this shit… I’ll just go back to the forge and do some weapons. Since I could technically make [Uncommon] weapons at the moment, I thought of making a lot of common potentials [Uncommon] grade weapons.

But then I heard the devil moving his tongue as he showed a smile I really don’t like.

"Boy, where are you going?”

“I’m going to talk with my grandma. What do you think I’m gonna do! I’ll go back to the forge and do some weapons… this day wasn’t what I expected…”

“WOW! You are a crafter! Can you make me a weapon?”

“Do you know how to use a weapon?”

“Maybe a rod?”

…

So you used the same weapon I used inside the dream, huh…

“Both of you, shut it! Boy, for the next 100 days, you’ll be fighting with me to polish your weapon movements. Even if you can use your weapons better than most [Discipulus] stage Awakened, it doesn’t mean that you are perfect. Got it?”

“Yeah… just don’t get too overwhelmed teaching two students now.”

"You think I'm that incompetent to not be able to teach the two of you separately? And also this lass makes it much easier than a certain someone. Lass, please be focused while training as you won’t have the luxury to get too distracted."

“Yes.”

“This is gonna be fun…”

I had to make a sarcastic remark.

What do you mean I can’t forge weapons? This is how I grow! I appreciate the thought of making my foundations stronger but really now? I fought with you for 4 hours after I was in the forge for 12 hours.

And why is Alyssa so casual about it? Does she not have any questions? Does she not think that it’s incredible to become superhuman? That you could become like gods from old mythology? That at the end of this journey, you could become the strongest?

Am I the odd one out? I want to believe that being surprised about getting superpowers is the norm.

Please let it be the norm…

Day 3.

I started to write down everything that happened on this 100-day training as I wanted to have evidence of how unequal my treatment was compared to what my new ‘junior’ gets.

Could you believe it? She was actually using a 50 Kg rod and did downward slashes with it. She was already strong enough to do that, huh…

And not to mention that the old man started the training easier than I thought.

Me? Oh, don’t ask…

Seriously… don’t ask. As this was horrible.

The old man beat me up every time I failed to see through a special Martial Art or when I failed to execute a perfect [Phasing Flash Step].

Saving grace? Alyssa stopped everything she was doing and threw herself between me and the old man, making the latter stop with a ‘pure’ smile on his face. But once or twice, I could have sworn that he used his will to hit me in the guts…

Bastard!

Day 34.

It is time! The balance is on a thin rope with 30Kg weights on each side of a bar. And all this while the rope is bound to two cliffs over hot lava…

Wait… you are telling me no hot lava? Yes… yes… aha… alright thanks.

The news has changed! Instead of being bound on two cliffs that could break at any moment over hot lava, the rope has been bound between two trees while any mistake gets punished with what I like to call, a tap on the shoulders.

The most frustrating part is that whenever I got beat up, she was now jumping from the rope and reaching the old man and me in a matter of seconds.

She was improving madly fast. So fast that my improvements seemed like nothing…

The worst part of this story? I didn’t see any green goo yet…

Day 78.

Alyssa was training with 50 Kg weights on her legs while doing 3000 handstand push-ups. At this point, I gave up on gathering evidence for the ‘unfair’ treatment.

Since what I got wasn’t even treatment. I was just the sandbag of a certain old fucker. Gramps really wasn’t pulling his punches while giving me a beating…

At least now I was finished with doing a perfect [Phasing Flash Step] without the phasing. Seems like as long as I can’t use the Space element, Phasing as it was described in the booklet was impossible. The old man wasn’t great at teaching how to the Space element.

I bet he thought that I was a genius with my 100% Affinity. But guess what! Even a math genius won’t understand calculus after only learning addition and subtraction. So he suggested that by the next week, someone that could actually teach that would come here.

For now, I was finally able to forge weapons. I was currently trying to create [Uncommon] grade weapons with common potential. Well, I wanted to.

“Uhm… Alyssa? Would you mind stopping hugging my right arm so tightly? I can’t swing the hammer and start smithing if you are holding it like that.”

“Nuh-uh! I need to charge my mental strength!”

“And that is… by hindering at training?”

“No! It’s by hugging my honey tightly! You radiate such a strong aura, I just can’t let you go now!”

I radiate a strong aura? But I don’t leak Will at the moment…

“Look, if you want, you can hug me from behind witho-”

“Okay!”

‘Let me finish!’

Sighing, I gave up on teaching this dumb yandere that moderation is needed as well. Let’s just start with…

Ah, fuck! I can’t concentrate on forging if she is here. Not that she would distract me because believe me, she won’t. But there was one thing that I remembered while forging.

I unconsciously let out Will while forging. And that is a process I have to do as the Will helps in concentrating the materials’ Will accumulation. But if I release my full Will, I will most likely harm Alyssa.

“Hey… you know about pressure, right?”

“Yes?”

“You see… while I forge, I kind of has to release my pressure. So it would be better if you-”

“I’m fine if you want to release it.”

A vein bulged on my forehead. Are you… fucking serious? Or are you just here to make fun of me? You fucking stupid bitch! As if you don’t want to hinder my work!

“Fine… I’ll slowly release my Will. if it gets uncomfortable at any moment, I’ll call the old man and make you leave, okay?”

“Yes! I’ll withstand it!”

How come she has the time to be here with me anyway. It’s only day 78 and yet she has already finished her training? That fast?

Old man! I hope you aren’t playing around anymore!

“Alright… I’ll start now.”

VUUM

I released bits of my Will and I could already hear her heart beating faster as the twitching of her fingers were impossible to miss as they moved around my body. Alright… this was enough…

“Alright, I’ll stop no-”

“Keep going!”

This stupid…! GAH!!! Fine! Have it your way! I’ll raise it a bit again!

VUUM

“Haaa… fine. Here. can you take this much?”

“Hah… hah… yes! Come on! I’m not a… burden. Just release … hah… your full pressure…. hah…”

I… was releasing three-fifth of my full pressure. Amazing! She already has this much determination to fight against the pressure of a higher stage.

But… life isn’t filled with miracles! Saviour your life, you stupid girl!

“It is clear to me that you can’t go o-”

“I said release all!”

“Listen to me! Any more of this and you will fall unconscious with most of your body malfunctioning out of shock! Just let go and let me work in peace!”

“If I let go, I’ll lose my peace so no! Just keep going!”

ARGH!!! THIS FUCKING… ARGH!! SCREW IT!!

VUUP

BAMM

Smacking the door of the forge wide open as I took back all the pressure I was releasing just moments ago, I stormed out of the little hut with the stupid junior on my back hanging like a koala. She will drive me insane one day! Insane, I tell you!

“What are you doing?”

“I won’t do any forging.”

“No! You have to! Come on! I’m not a burden!”

She is too stubborn for her own good. Being headstrong is all right but this much will only make…

“If you stay so stubborn you will give the two of us a heart attack later on.”

“Oh! Are you worried ~? Don’t worry though. I’ll become the strongest so my dear husband and the old man don’t have to be worried anymore~.”

“You are pushing it… well, whatever…”

“So? Why are you out then? Get back inside and forge!”

“No. I think today, a bit of Will control training is better. And besides…”

“Besides?”

Don’t make that cute expression! I’m not falling for that, you crazy yandere! Just stay natural like you always do!

“Besides, we didn’t have the time to talk that much. So… what I’m trying to say is… let’s just relax while talking.”

I said this while forming shapes with my Will. first a ball. Then a cube. The hut in mini. A dog. Maybe a bear and let it walk around like an actual bear.

“Oh my~. You finally started to get conscious of me~.”

“I didn’t.”

“This is such a great moment! We could talk about our future kids!”

“We won’t.”

“Which cities I can go to with you.”

“You can’t.”

“And how much ‘Fun’ we will have just the two of us~.”

POP

COUGH COUGH COUGH

You crazy yandere! You almost gave me a heart attack! And made me lose my concentration.

I will remember this as the best concentration training ever as it took all my nerves to resist strangling this crazy girl while controlling my Will.

I take back what I said at the start… having a junior is the worst decision in my life. This wasn’t what I imagined would happen when I would get a junior to help in training.

She was crazily obsessed with me! To the point where I believed I was her husband in her past life. This can’t be explained otherwise. Where does this obsession come from?

But the old man was also acting weirdly. Mainly in his way of training that crazy girl.

Where is the lava pit?

Where is the rope on a cliff?

And most importantly…

…where is that disgusting goo I had to swallow for more than 200 days!!

'UNFAIR TREATMENT BY THE PERVY OLD MAN AGAIN, LADIES AND GENTLELADIES! HE STRUCK AGAIN IN ANOTHER SHOCKING WAY, TREATING HIS FIRST DISCIPLE LIKE GARBAGE AND THE SECOND LIKE AN ANGEL!'

This was just unfair on so many levels that I could title my 100-day journal ‘the difference of a disciple by Laith “beaten” Arslan’ and everyone would agree to that title.

I had to go through so much hell when I was starting out and my improvements weren’t as fast as hers! How? I did the overtime! I was starting from the bottom. But when I asked the old man about it, he gave me a reply that made me only more hurt.

“Boy! She started with the greatest foundation I have ever seen and could work without complaining at all. You on the other hand were a mess at the beginning. If I would make a comparison, I’d say while she was a blank CD with about 50 GB to load onto which is this training. You on the other hand were a broken CD that could hold about 60 GB of memory if you were fixed. The goo was the material and the extra harsh training the method to fix this CD that is your body. It only took so long because you were not looking after your body well enough. If your body wasn’t such a mess at that time, it would have been much easier for the two of us. But that would also mean that we couldn’t make you into a CD that holds 70 GB now instead of the original 60 thanks to the remoulding of your body.”

Or so he says… but honestly, Alyssa was almost as strong as I was right before awakening. This isn’t a difference of 7-5 but more of a 70-65 difference!

It’s day 100 and I just woke up from bed. And not surprising anymore, I felt something heavy on my body pressing down on my chest. Lifting the blanket, I could see Alyssa sleeping so peaceful on top of my body. Seriously, this isn’t good for my own future if she gets used to this!

“I know you are pretending so get up”

“...”

“Haaah…”

I knew she was pretending because, since the first day of her training, we would enter and leave that dream world together. It was like a synchronised dream. And the moment that dream ends, we would both be awake.

But this girl, like always, doesn’t listen when it is about her own comfort just like right now. So I did what I always did when she played around like that. I picked her up and brought her to the kitchen on my back. Even if it was annoying, this girl got a bit attached to me since not only was she next to me while I did Will control training but also fought side by side with me in my dreams.

“You made something special again! Any occasion?”

“None. now let the girl down on her seat and eat your food.”

“Mhm… but I don’t wanna…”

“Awake already, sleepyhead?”

“Good morning, honey.”

“Moin.”

If she wasn’t pressing herself so much on me, I’d actually feel treasured by this hug. But no. this is too much of a norm for me now… is it sad that I have so many distorted ideas of common sense now just because two mad people live with me for almost half a year?

I let go of this sleepy yandere and made her sit on a chair at the table. But seeing the messy clothes she was sleeping with, I went behind her and tidied up a bit of her.

This really isn’t any good for my hormone-filled body. But before I could take my own seat at the breakfast table, I was surprised for a moment. Because what I heard at that moment was the voice of the old man while he didn’t say anything with his mouth.

-Boy… listen to me well and if you agree, just nod.

I nodded. This wasn’t like hearing his voice in my head but more like hearing it inside my ears. Was he manipulating the air inside my ears to make me hear his voice? Or did he trigger some nerves inside my ears to make me think I hear his voice? But whatever it was, it seems that our little junior shouldn’t hear it.

So I had to act normal. But my sudden twitch didn’t go unnoticed by the yandere next to me.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah…”

I sat down while listening to the words of the old man without making any sudden facial expressions. But that was hard as the content of his words made me want to say no to it. Screaming no out loud at that. But…

I looked at the girl next to me and she just smiled back while eating her sausage…

I guess I have no choice but to nod. And so, I did. I didn’t want to do this but the old man’s arguments were solid as well. So after eating up my hash browns, I stood up, going out of the hut.

I was followed by Alyssa and the old man. I bet she expected ‘harsh training’ now but…

I looked at the old man, looking him dead in the face. Alyssa most likely curious by my actions did the same, only to see one thing on his face.

A sadistic smile. This old man grinned.

Like a madman.

The next few moments were moments I could hardly remember. But what I remember was Gramps vanishing from my sight, appearing right behind me with his hands on my neck. Alyssa saw this with widened eyes, shouting out loud.

"Laith! Master, what are ..!"

KNACK

Akira broke Laith's neck and threw him away as fast as possible.

BOOM

Laith's body got thrown to the ground, creating a small crater where his lifeless body can be seen. Alyssa's eyes went blank looking at Laith's body. She wasn't believing what was going on. But it was nothing but the truth as his body paled and his dilated eyes were only signs of his death.

"M-master… W-w-why?"

"Hm? Oh! I don't that brat anymore. His growth was slowing down and that kind of thing is unacceptable for someone who'd call himself my disciple! I’m Akira Hashimoto! While your speed was way faster than his at the beginning, he only became slower and slower. He should have worked harder for that!"

'his growth was slowing down… What…no…no! No! No! No! NO! IT WAS MY FAULT! IF I DIDN’T WAS A BURDEN, HE COULD HAVE GROWN STRONGER FASTER THAN NOW.'

Alyssa’s mind jumped from thought to thought, forgetting to run to the corpse that was Laith Arslan. Her mind was in shambles. The only one for her. The one that could understand her the most. The one that was looking after her more than even her own mother did in her whole life. She was always on her own, not knowing who her father was and her mother never being there for her.

She wasn’t obsessed with Laith because he was handsome or because of something convenient like that. The reason was that he was the only one that could understand her lonely self inside that damn hell. He was the one that gave her true hope for someone who could understand her position fully well. And now it was because even after how unreasonable she was, he never rejected her.

She didn’t know why but he didn’t. It was like he was too stubborn to reject her now. Something she couldn’t explain herself. But now…

He was gone…

"But…BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL HIM! HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN HIS SPEED BACK! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THAT?!"

"Because he'd have been a burden to you, my dear."

"STOP BULLSHITING ME, OLD MAN! WHAT BURDEN!!! YOU MAKE NO SENSE!!! THIS WHOLE SITUATION DOESN’T MAKE SENSE!!! I SWEAR IF THIS IS JUST A JOKE, I'LL KILL THE TWO OF YOU FOR REAL!!! "

"It's true… If you are as powerless as you are now, you'd not be able to protect that guy in the future. You'd be fine on your own but if you put dead weight on, it will only bring you death."

Powerless.

Alyssa’s mind blanked. Powerless. This damn word. She didn’t want to hear this word anymore. She didn’t want to be powerless. She didn’t want to be a burden to others. She didn’t want others to die for her as well as she dying for others. She just wanted to be able to protect herself and her future husband from anything that may come in her way.

‘Is… this too much… to ask…’

Inside the dream, she knew that with each time, Laith was the one leading the fight. She wasn’t the main fighter in that world. She knew it and yet…

Now when she fought with Laith against the army of beasts together, a new feeling bloomed in her heart. One she felt like protecting with every bit of power she can find.

To protect her loved ones as well! Becoming stronger than any enemy that may harm her loved ones!

And for that she needed power. Yet the man who was her best chance, one of the three Great [Caelestia] stage awakened that existed in this world, said she was powerless to protect the guy that was the only one who could understand her pain. The one who lived through the same dream days and nights as she did. The one who gave her hope for the first time.

And now she is alone again. On a path she doesn't know how to walk on all alone. She could, but why should she? Why should she walk this path and not just end it here? Since this agony doesn't look like it will end soon, then end it yourself.

But before the despair on her face could spread, it changed to the expression of someone madly angry. The face of the devil was the only way to describe the anger on her face.

'no…. No! Laith was in this alone too, yet he fought this through the end! So why should I give up now! I WON'T BE POWERLESS AGAIN!'

"shut…up…I'm not …powerless…"

"Oh dear, I didn't hear you right now~. Could you repeat that again?"

"I'M NOT POWERLESS!! SO SHUT! THE HELL! UP!!"

Alyssa's eyes began to glow in a pink-violet colour and energy with that same colour started to rise from her body. She dashed towards this old man with the feeling of beating the shit out of him. Even if that was impossible.

'One hit! I'll bash this fuckers head with one hit! I don't care about what comes after! Just one hit!'

She run towards the man who started to create distance with short jumps. She ran through the woods as her energy kept piling up. She started to look like she expelled smoke of the same colour as the light in her eyes. She became faster with every step, her Soul screaming at her muscles to go beyond their current limit.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

The old man stopped in right in an open field. The girl with the face of the devil screamed as loud as she could. She rushed towards the man in this open field as she was burning in the energy that was surrounding her. And then she vanished.

To only appear right above the old man with a fist filled with her Will.

"I'LL SHOW YOU THAT I'M NOT POWERLESS, YOU FUCKER!!"

'She awakened! Now!'

SNAP

The old man teleported away while snapping his fingers right before he could get hit by that attack. But the aftereffects of that attack was nothing to laugh at. Alyssa was surrounded by her pink Will that created a barrier around her as it distorted time and space itself. She was covered in a dress out of her own Will with a small crown hovering over her head.

“Alright! Stop this no-”

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!!”

RUMBLE

“Shit… she has gone berserk already…”

The surroundings shook as the energy leaving her body was becoming only fiercer and fiercer. The lighting of dark blue and violet colour was striking all around inside that barrier. This situation couldn’t get any worse in the eyes of the old man. Even if he went in, he couldn’t stop this

SWISH

"Old man! Do you always have to provoke someone to awaken them or was that just for fun?"

Dark. that was what I remembered before waking up on the ground with the pressure on my neck slowly fading away. It seems that the old man succeeded…

RUMBLE

Or not… I have to hurry! I dashed as fast as I could towards the sound of shaking earth and lightning striking the ground. This must be the potential Alyssa is showing. Hope I make it in time to calm her down!

SWISH

“Old man! Do you always have to provoke someone to awaken them or was that just for fun?"

"A bit of both, boy! But now is not the time! She is forcefully holding her potential out like this as she went berserk! If this continues, best-case scenario, she will be crippled!"

“Worst-case scenario?”

“We both have to kill a monster. One that can distort time and space! So you have to stop her before it’s too late!”

"Why me! You are the more powerful one!"

“ you can’t transfer a bit of the space element onto me to make me resistant to the distortions of space but I can do that with the time element for you and you have 100% space affinity. With this combo, you should be able to reach her. As to what you do then depends on how to wake her up the best. Don’t worry about damage and more about stopping her!”

"FINE! What do I have to do!"

"Use [Phasing Flash Step] to cross the barrier all the way in front of her! Make her realise that you are alive and well! But remember you only have about a minute inside the barrier before your Time protection wears out."

"Alright!"

I stopped shouting and the two of us moved towards the side of the barrier where Alyssa’s face was visible. This damned barrier has a radius of 100 metres, making it look more like a dome than just a simple attack filled with potential!

"Haha… My fantasy is running wild! Even creating a Laith who is alive and looks so worried for me! "

This dumb yandere is awake!

"THAT'S BECAUSE I AM, YOU IDIOT! I’M HERE SO STOP THIS ALREADY!"

"HAHAHAHA! MY MIND HAS GONE TOO CRAZY! LAITH WOULDNT BE ALIVE AFTER I SAW HIM DIE IN FRONT OF ME!"

"Fuck… FINE! IF YOU WON'T STOP YOURSELF, THEN I’LL MAKE YOU! Gramps!"

“On it!”

VUUM

Damn! This feels so weird. Like a foreign substance was clinging to my body. It felt like I was getting hugged by gramps with more care than I ever saw him show.

Time felt… relative… it wasn’t important for the whole world to pass a second when all I wanted it to do was to stop. And so, I could see time stop. But only for a moment before the flow of time returned back, waking me up from my stupor.

I crouched down as low as I could while standing on my toes. Falling down so much that I could almost touch the ground with my nose, I bit my lip as hard as I could before pushing the ground. The Will in my body circulated through it with my mind fully concentrated on the person in front of me. I was approaching her but the distance and my speed felt so relative. Sometimes the way became longer and sometimes my speed accelerated only to stop just on time.

This hurts like hell! Why the fuck did I agree on this! With each metre passed, more and more blood left my body from one of my orifices and my body felt heavier and heavier. But I have to push through! I can’t let her turn into a monster! I won’t let her become a cripple!

“I WON’T LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU!!!”

I was now right in front of her, with her face covered in tears and snot as she screamed as loud as a banshee. She screamed for the ‘death’ of me. She screamed for the ‘Hallucinations’ of me to stop. She screamed to not get deceived by hope once again. I could strangely feel her emotions. And they almost overwhelmed me.

So I grabbed the back of her back. That back that held so much pain through all her life. And screamed.

“WAKE UP! I’M HERE!!! AND I WON’T LEAVE!!! SO WAKE UP!!! ALYSSA!!!”

"LAITH!!! H-HOW!! I-I-I-I SAW Y-YOU…"

The barrier flickered but I guess this wasn’t enough to make her stop. But she doesn’t seem like in berserk mode. Shit… I had to do the only thing that came up in my mind.

"I’M SORRY!!!"

I grabbed her by the shoulders and before I could appreciate the beautiful eyes, those cheeks that were red from embarrassment, her hair that was waving through all this chaos beautifully and lastly those perky lips…

I moved my head back and smashed my forehead right onto hers, getting her unconscious at the one moment the barrier was the weakest as she was stunned by this unexpected situation.

BAMM

“ARGH!! FUCK!!!”

I let go of the unconscious Alyssa as I myself was feeling my head hurt like shit. Is this girl made of adamantium or what? This is just too hard for someone newly awakened!

THUD

The old man appeared right before Alyssa could fully fall down. I myself wasn’t caught by the old man and fell butt first onto the broken ground.

I could see the slight guilt on the old man before making a teasing expression.

"A bit extreme, I must say~. No way of handling a lady but a job done is well done. Here!"

The old man handed me a handkerchief which I used to wipe all the blood off my face. I knew this was a bad idea from the start. But now… she is an Awakened.

"Says the guy who throws me hundreds of meeters away-BONK UGH! COME ON! WAS THAT EVEN A LIE?"

"No, but it was unnecessary! Now pick her up. You should take responsibility for your actions like a real man."

I listened to what the old man said without any remark. He was the one responsible for all of this but I stayed silent. Any more hits and I will fall unconscious as well. And I could really spare myself from that. And even with a hit to her face, her face was just sitting right.

Damn those teenager hormones! Just stop! I do not want to think about anything like that right now!

But I have to admit… she is very cute when sleeping so peacefully.

I sighed before entering ‘our’ room and laid her on the bed before entering as well. I owed her one for making her go berserk in the first place and for that headbutt.

This situation was weird in itself. But most of all this…

"What a weird junior I have…"

Falling asleep in the embrace of the girl who put me in this miserable state in the first place, I felt at peace for once. Not a training day I hoped for but a bit of rest I definitely deserve