We are inside the training center, but we are underground. I didn’t know that the training center expands underground.

“Only 24 people showed up, huh… Well, let’s just get this over with. I will first demonstrate the Spells, and I’ll have to let all of you feel the mana as I construct the Spells. Which after, you will try to replicate the Spells with that reference. It’s similar to the first two Spells that I taught.”(Mr. F)

We’re inside a medium-size room, about a basketball court. Smaller than the one on the first floor, but this one was also for us. So while Mr. Fernandez talks in the middle of the room, we spread at the side of the walls.

At the other side of the room were a couple of doors but the wall between is a glass. So we can see through it, but I don’t know if it’s the same on the other side.

“Sir, what were the Spells again? I forgot.”(Josh)

Mr. Fernandez made a complicated face, but he does not seem displeased. But instead, he looked concerned.

“Ahem. First, we will be using Flare, then MuffledBoots, and lastly, Heal or Healing Spell. The reason we’re underground because there is a specific room for using the Flare Spell. And that room is for the lower class students. We don’t want to burn the whole building with us after all.”(Mr. F). He smiled, but it was quickly retracted. He then points his finger towards the two doors going to the rooms with glass walls.

They’re glass, but they should be strong, right?

“Oh! I almost forgot to mention, but since all of you had managed to improve your Spells, you are now able to take missions from the board.”(Mr. F)

“What kind of missions can we take, sir?”(Mark)

“Simple ones, such as, looking for a missing object, helping a staff, cleaning, that kinds of stuff.”(Mr. F)

“No hunting missions, sir?”(Mark)

“There are, but I would recommend for all of you to avoid them. It would be for the better.”(Mr. F)

“Why?”(Josh)

“Because all of you are weak. Too weak. Unlike the higher classes, all of you are still below them. Even you, Daniel, you’re still weak. Even if you’re the strongest LP student, you’re still weak compared to them. You wouldn’t be in the lower class if you were any stronger than them.”(Mr. F)

Well, I grew stronger since I levelled up. So I definitely can take one or two of them at once. I won’t, though, not yet.

“Okay…”(Daniel)

“Too bad Julia isn’t here.”(Cassey)

“I’m pretty sure she’s already learning more Spells than we would in a few months.”(Daniel). Of course, it would be weird if she weren’t.

“Ughhhh, I envy her. But at the same time happy. I wonder if I have a secret bloodline. I wish I do.”(Cassey)

“Well, you don’t have to have a bloodline if you’re going to be an AE soldier. Being an Enhancer is good enough for us.”(Daniel)

“Yeah, dude, think about the normal folks out there. They definitely want to be at least an Enhancer, but they’re not.”(Mark)

“Damn it, I want to refute, but that’s true.”(Cassey)

“Okay, let’s just shut up for a bit since Mr. Fernandez is actually teaching us today. And we had this conversation over and over already.”(Daniel)

“Okay, okay.”(Cassey)

Unlike the last time, it was easier for me to learn the Spells. I thought that I would have a hard time understanding the Healing Spell, but it wasn’t hard at all. I don’t know if it’s because I got stronger or because I have the system. Maybe it's both, but this is a good start.

“This is killing me… Daniel, how did you manage to comprehend them this fast?”(Cassey)

“Dude, I’m exhausted. I’m gonna die.”(Mark)

“The Healing Spell is a bit too complicated. Maybe I should train mana flow first before trying again.”(Josh)

Right after Josh talked, I remembered that his bloodline is a Manipulator type that controls the fire. I wonder how his progress is with the Flare Spell.

“Josh, your bloodline’s related to fire, right? How’s the Flare Spell for you?”(Daniel)

“Fortunately, it’s going great. I’ll show you later after I got into the room.”(Josh)

Right now, we are not allowed to use the Flare Spell, not until we are in the fireproofed rooms, which are the rooms that have the glass walls or window?. It isn’t precisely fire immune, but both of the room was built to withstand high temperatures. And I’m pretty sure that there’s only a chair inside each of them to minimize the things that may catch on fire.

I feel my mana and construct it to form a fire but withdraw it at the last second before fully casting the Spell. It would leave my palms warm, but not enough to burn something.

I was worried that I might hurt myself from my flames, but Mr. Fernandez told us that it wouldn't hurt its user as long as the fire was built from my mana. But if the fire spread to the surroundings, it creates a real fire that can harm the one who initiated it. The only ones that do not get harm were if that user was Dominator. Not only that it can’t hurt that person, but it also strengthens them.

Mark, who was behind me, suddenly appeared in front of me. His mouth was opening, but I can’t hear what he’s saying. This is, MuffledBoots?

“Hahaha, you look stupid!”(Josh)

He was opening his mouth and waving his hands. It’s not that we can’t hear his voice, but the sound coming from his mouth was so tiny that the noise around us covers it almost completely. He was also stomping his feet, but the sound made from them was also reduced. All we can hear was tot tot tot sound that sounds like when you hit your finger on the desk.

This got me thinking, is there a way to cancel one’s Spell? I know that interrupting a Spell while it is being cast can cancel the Spell before it even appears, but how about dissolving an already casted Spell entirely? I’ve never heard of anything like that happened before.

“Ahh! Oh!, my voice is back!”(Mark)

“Mr. Lee…”(Mr. F). Mark immediately went silent.

“S-sorry, sir.”(Mark)

“That was hilarious, do it again.”(Josh)

“Dude, that was scary, you know, I thought I’d stay like that forever.”(Mark). He held his chest with his right hand.

“Ahaha, I doubt that. It’s a miracle that you managed to cast that in the first place.”(Josh)

“Ugly, you want to fight?”(Mark)

“Careful, I might burn you.”(Josh)

“Don’t worry, I got used to it. My eyes were already toasted the moment I laid my eyes on you. It wasn’t able to handle your ugliness.”(Mark)

“Pffft.”(Daniel and Cassey). I couldn’t keep myself together and laughed. It’s always fun watching these two interacts.

“You murdered him.”(Cassey). She was holding her mouth with both of her hands. And, like me, she wasn’t able to resist laughing.

“Daniel, stop laughing. You’re like worse!”(Josh)

“Agree to disagree.”(Daniel)

Afterward, we went to the room where we can cast the Flare Spell. We were outside while two people would try and cast the Spell inside. Everyone’s Flare Spell looks like a regular flamethrower. But his was incredible. It's like the flaming breath of a dragon.

I’ve never seen a dragon before as I heard that they mostly live in hazardous places, such as volcanos, deep underwater, and some at the top of the coldest of snow mountains. Although his fire wasn’t as intense as a real dragon’s, it was still incredible to see.

“I didn’t expect him to be so strong.”(Cassey)

“Yeah, dude…”(Mark). Mark, who is, you can say, Josh’s best friend, was also watching him in awe. Both of them might tease each other from time to time, but they’re almost always together.

“That’s so cool.”(Mark)

Right after he said, Josh fell on the ground and made a thumbs up.

Mr. Fernandez checked him, but he said that Josh was fine. He only exhausted his mana. He was told he could sit for the rest of the class as he won’t be able to cast the Healing Spell in his state.

As expected, when it was my turn, my Flare was almost identical to the other students. The difference was only that I could hold the Spell longer. But the firepower was significantly lower than Josh’s flame.

And, after, those who had already recovered their mana has to cast the Healing Spell.

Fortunately for me, I had the system help me learn the Healing Spell. Not only that I learned it faster than anyone else, but I had also almost successfully cast it just right after. But it seems like I could only learn a Spell or a skill immediately if they came directly from the system.

With a few more tries, I had successfully used Heal, but I didn’t expect to consume a lot of mana. With my current mana capacity, I’ll only be able to cast this continuously for about 11 seconds. It was taking six mana per second. But if I train this every day and level up its proficiency, this wouldn’t be a problem.

The other students looked at me with shock, while Cassey, Mark, and Josh were smiling as if they had expected this.

“Haha, look at their faces.”(Mark)

“You never cease to amaze me, Daniel.”(Cassey)

“As expected. Unfortunately Julia’s not here to see their reactions.”(Josh)

“Stop it, guys, you’re making me blush.”(Daniel)

“Hahaha, show off.”(Josh)

I exhausted my mana from just the Healing alone and took a bit of rest. Then, after 10 minutes, I cast Healing again until I spent my mana, and I did this about three times.

Over thirty minutes of this repetitive action, and finally all the other students had finally managed to grasp and cast the Healing Spell, though, unlike me, who has a lot of mana capacity, their Healing would only last for about 3 seconds before exhausting their mana.

“Dude, how is it possible that you’re already this good. 10 seconds? That’s a lot, right?”(Mark). Mark, who was lying on the floor, asked me as he catches his breath.

“Luck? I guess? How about you, Cassey, how is it going?”(Daniel)

“Uh, well. 2 seconds, but, almost 3, Okay?... I’m almost there.”(Cassey)

“Weak, I can do three already.”(Josh)

“My strength isn’t my mana capacity but my magical power.”(Cassey)

But after an hour, I was stopped by Mr. Fernandez.

“Daniel, Ms. Cruz was asking for you. Go to the infirmary. She said it was about an injury or something.”(Mr. F)

‘Ms. May did?’(Daniel)

Ms. May was one of the teachers that I had met just after I got into the Academy. She specializes in healing magic and teaches and advises the students with medicine or healing type Spells. She’s also one of the Academy’s doctors or nurse. So I sometimes go and see her and get my injuries healed.

She has white medium-length hair, and she’s also beautiful. Her face was spotless, and even from a distance, you could tell how smooth her skin is.

After coming to the infirmary, I knocked and went inside just right after.

“Ms. May, how are you doing?”(Daniel)

She was looking out the window, seemingly dazed from the view.

“Uh… Ahem… Daniel. You’re here. Take this.”(Ms. May). She gave me an envelope.

The envelope was white with nothing on the front and the back.

“What’s this? Could it be you’re proposing to me, Ms. May? Ahaha, I’m still a kid, you know.”(Daniel). I tried to joke around as usual, but this time she didn’t move, not even a flinch. Instead, she stared at me with her serious face before gazing out the window again.

“Open, and read it.”(Ms. May)

“Um, okay?”(Daniel). So I opened the envelope, and inside was a letter.

__________________________________________

Daniel, from now on, your nickname will be The Janitor. This is totally not from Jenny.

The nickname was already approved and cannot be changed.

Tonight at 8 pm, come to the café. Your mission had been decided.

Anton will be waiting for you.

__________________________________________

“What?! Ms. May?”(Daniel)

I can’t believe it. She, of all people, is a member of Null? It never crossed my mind that she could possibly be one of them. Not only was she kind to all students, but she was also one of the rare teachers that don’t discriminate against us LP students.

“I never expected for you to fall in this side of the world, Daniel.”(Ms. May)

“This is… I didn’t…”(Daniel). I was lost for words.

If I was asked who I could trust the most in the Academy, then Ms. May was definitely in the top five.

“You don’t have to say anything. Just leave now, we can talk later… And… No, nothing… You can leave now. I already talked to your teacher that you’ll be excused from today’s class.”(Ms. May)

I left the infirmary room without uttering a single word.

Honestly, I was still shocked. I go to her to talks and ask for advice every now and then. Never even in a second of knowing her that I thought of her differently, but now. I don’t know. I’m not hurt, nor feeling deceived, no, maybe a little. But I’m mostly just shocked.

Feeling confused inside, even though it was only three in the afternoon, I decided to go to the café early.

As usual, there were not a lot of people inside, but I saw a familiar face.

“Jenny.”(Daniel). I really don’t want to talk to her nor let her see me. Not only that, but my nickname was The Janitor? It sounds strong and cool from the outside perspective, but I know exactly why she nicknamed me that.

“Yo!”(Jenny). As soon as I got inside the café, she greeted me.

“Don’t yo, yo me. What’s The Janitor about? Out of all nicknames in the world, that?”(Daniel)

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Oh! How about Piss instead?”(Jenny)

“…”(Daniel). This woman. It will not be easy talking to her.

“Didn’t expect you to show up early. I thought you would show up at the last second. But this means you’re excited, right?”(Jenny)

Excited? No way in hell I’ll be excited. But. I can’t change anything anymore. They know everything about me and can use it against me. So if they know me, then I have to know them.

“Yeah”(Daniel)