“You’re doing great, Ev.” Cristopher said with a smile as he looked at the small girl that was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room.

He was currently inside his room in Cube, sitting on the floor while leaning back on a wall, looking at Evandel meditating and training her energy.

“Purrr…” Shina, who was resting her head on Cristopher’s lap as she saw Evandel train, purred with a nod.

“Um.” Evandel, trying her best not to lose focus, only nodded while letting out a small sound of approval, as if to tell them that she did hear.

He could see different types of energies flowing around Evandel, even going as far as moving out and in her body. There were, white, yellow, cyan, and even rainbow-colored energy.

It’s been almost an hour since he came back from training with Rachel, Olivia, and Hajin, so it was quite late, almost 1:00 AM.

When he came back to the room, Evandel wasn’t sleeping, she was trying hard to use her powers, and was really focused on doing so. Seeing her trying so hard to train, and with the thought in mind that he wouldn’t be able to see her for almost a couple of days, he thought it would be good to give her some direction.

Soon, Evandel was completely exhausted, and lay on the floor, trying to catch her breath.

“That’s it.” He smiled. “Remember, you have to do this at least once every morning, for as long as you can keep it. Now, go take a shower and go to sleep, remember that you’re staying tomorrow in Locket of Hope.”

“Ha… Ha… Y-Yes…” Evandel said as she sat up. “I-It’s… really tiresome….”

“Yep, I know, but it’s the basic way to train your energies and your control.”

“Yes…” Evandel nodded before standing up, turning to look at him. “Um… daddy, why can’t I go with you tomorrow?”

“Because I promised Antonio that I would present him a good teacher.”

“But it’s not fair!” Evandel pouted as she crossed her arms. “I can also use that Net… Nau… N-Natural Energy…? Why can’t you present me to the same teacher!?”

“…” Cristopher looked at her before shaking his head and letting out a deep sigh. “So that’s it? You don’t want me anymore?”

“...Ah?” Evandel stopped and looked at him. She noticed how he turned to look down with a sad face.

“It is that, isn’t it? You don’t want your dad anymore… So you’re looking for someone else to teach you… I’m so hurt right now…” Cristopher said as he let out a deep, slow sigh.

“I-I-It’s not that!” Evandel suddenly said as she rushed towards him. “I still like you, dad! I love you! I didn’t mean that!”

“But… you want someone else to teach you… when I’m more than capable to teach you myself… doesn’t that mean that you just don’t want me to train you?” Cristopher shook his head and covered his face with his hands. “Ha… Life’s so hard… My daughter doesn’t love me anymore and she’s not even in her rebellious phase…”

“I-I-It’s not true! I love you, daddy! I love you so much!” Evandel said as she tried to take his hands from his face. “I-I don’t want anyone else teaching me! You’re a good teacher! The best teacher!”

“He… Is that so?” Suddenly Evandel froze as he could look a smirk under the dropping hands of Cristopher. “It’s good that you know it.”

“...Ah?” Evandel just looked at him as he smirked. “You were lying!”

After realizing what happened, Evandel started punching him on the chest while pouting, her cheeks red in anger.

“Hahahaha.” Cristopher laughed at her. “You’re too young to even think of fighting me kid. Take this!”

“Wah!” Evandel shouted in surprise as Cristopher started tickling her on her ribs. “No! No! Stop! I surrender! I surrender!”

“I know no mercy!”

“Noooooo! You villain!” Evandel shouted as she laughed.

As the night deepened, both father and daughter kept playing before the bored eyes of Shina for a little while, before both of them went to sleep after Evandel took a shower.

***

3:00 AM, inside Hajin’s Cube’s room.

[Victory]

Looking at the window that appeared in front of him, Kim Hajin sighed. He won again.

[Wow, you’re amazing as expected, hyung-nim. I went all out this time as well.]

Suddenly, another message appeared in front of him, but this time it came from Jajangman, his friend in the game.

He smirked awkwardly before answering.

[It was a tough fight. You’re getting stronger by the day… I might not be able to win against you in a few months.]

[ㅋㅋㅋ That’s true, I’ve been getting stronger quickly ㅋ ]

Hajin smirked at his friend’s message. The both of them have become closer through the game, as they spent most of their nights gaming.

[Why are you up so late?] He asked him.

[Oh, well, something happened today… I can’t sleep ㅋ ㅋ ]

[What happened?]

[It’s not really something that I should say… ㅋ ㅋ ]

Hajin looked at the message and lifted an eyebrow.

{From the looks of it… It seems like it might be a relationship problem. He’s quite young, from his age, half of his life should be about his friends, and the other half about girls…}

After thinking to that point, he frowned.

{I’m jealous…} He thought, before letting out a sigh.

[Tell me, I’m 8 years older than you, so I have more life experience.]

[Well, it’s nothing big…]

[Just that...]

[Um…]

{Just let it out…} Hajin thought for a moment.

[Yeah?]

[It’s like... you don’t really want it, but you don’t want someone else to have it either.]

{So it was indeed relationship problems… I get it! This son of a bitch! He’s the popular type!} Hajin thought while gritting his teeth for a moment before letting out a sigh. He suddenly froze and frowned. {Why do I feel that I’ve been sighing too much lately? It must be my idea.}

After shrugging, he turned to the smartwatch again.

[So you’re the one on the receiving end?]

[Kuhum, well, I can’t say that I’m experienced with giving things out~]

{This kid… Why does he sound like such a dick today?} Hajin smirked with a twitching eyebrow.

[But why so suddenly?]

[No reason, just that it’s been on my mind recently.]

[On your mind?]

[Yes ㅋㅋ ;; a little bit.]

[Really? Well, you’ve gotta have a reason, right?]

{Ho… This is getting really interesting.}

[Yes, so um...]

[That person sang in a talent show we had today. I think the song was aimed at me.]

[Whoa…]

{A girl appealing to a guy with a song? She must be quite the assertive one. Or is it this guy that’s really handsome?}

[Then can’t you accept her feelings?]

[No, I don’t think that’s right.]

[Why not? What if someone steals her away? You might regret it later.]

[Wow, you’re saying the exact same thing as my friend. ㅋㅋ But I don’t really think I’ll regret it.]

[Of course you don’t feel that way right now, but you will later. Plus, didn’t you say that she was on your mind?]

[Just a little bit. No, a tiny bit.]

{He feels like quite the prideful guy, not wanting to lose even once…} Hajin chuckled.

[But doesn’t the fact that you’re staying up late because of her contradict what you’re saying?]

[Yes?]

[Uh, no… right?]

Hajin chuckled.

[Trust me. I’ve been through the same thing. From today, you’ll suddenly only see her good points. Once she gets a boyfriend, it’ll be too late.]

After sending the message, he waited for a while, but no answer came back from Jajangman.

“Did this guy fall asleep? Damn… It was getting interesting…” He sighed before he too went to sleep.

***

The next morning, on the way to the archery range.

“Remember that we’ll go to Locket of Hope today.” Cristopher said as he stretched.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t have anything else to do after the archery competition I guess.” Hajin nodded. “You’ll be leaving Evandel there? Why don’t just leave her with me?”

“I thought so at first, but then I asked, why not.” I shrugged. “I mean, there’s the risk of Olivia going there on Sunday, but it’s not that I’m worried about her spreading rumors. She knows better haha.”

“Yeah…” Hajin smiled awkwardly. “Still, I would prefer if we kept it at a minimum… There’s Yoo Yeonha too, with her going there for the reformations and all that, it’s not improbable for her to see Evandel.”

“She already knows about Evandel, I guess the only one I’m worried about finding out would be Rachel… But…”

“But…?” Hajin turned to look at him and frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re planning on telling her?”

“Not yet.” Cristopher shook his head. “But sooner or later, she’ll have to know… Also, I plan on leaving Evandel with Rachel once I go out of Cube.”

“What…? Why...?”

“I don’t want to leave her alone, you know?” Cristopher sighed.

“Then leave her with me.”

“Yeah… no. You’re going to be occupied with all your mercenary tasks and all that stuff, and will be leaving her alone in an apartment.”

“Right…” Hajin nodded, before sighing. “I really think it’s not a good idea… But there’s no stopping you once you decide on something…”

“It took you so long to realize that.” Cristopher chuckled.

“You’ll really go out there to hunt those guys, huh?”

“Yeah.” Cristopher nodded. “For the moments I’ll wait until we’re out of Cube. Then… I guess I’ll just go out hunting. And it’s not really something I want Evandel to experience, so I can’t take her with me.”

“Of course you don’t want to… She’s just a child.” Hajin said as he shook his head. “But, isn’t it going to make her sad? Leaving her behind?”

“Oh, come on. She’ll be with her mother, I know she wants to meet her.” He shrugged. “Also, it’s not like I’ll be going to another world or something. I’ll be able to visit her every now and then. Actually, it’s not really as if I would stop seeing her for a long time, a month or so at most.”

“That’s true, International Portals make things a lot easier than in our world.”

“Precisely.”

“By the way, have you thought about what you’re going to do on the magic duels? They’re right after my competition.”

“I’ll just use fireball.” Cristopher shrugged.

“Really…?”

“Pfft… No, or well, I’m not sure. I’ll have to see what magicians can do here. I haven’t seen many of them fight, actually.”

“Ha… They just use the typical magic from web novels…”

“It might surprise you, but magic is quite the curious thing.” Cristopher said. “I guess it depends on a lot of factors, but magic can quite literally break a lot of rules, or mold them into whatever the user wants, it’s just that some factors are required.”

“Like?” Hajin asked as he turned to look at him.

“A source of suitable energy, knowledge, control, a medium, among some other things.” Cristopher rose a finger each time he mentioned a variable. “Again, it depends a lot on the school, type of magic, or even the type of magical energy used, but all in all, they are more or less the same thing.”

“Sometimes I simply forget about how overpowered you are.”

“Oh, come on… I’m just instructing you with a tiny bit of knowledge.”

“Yeah… As if everyone could know any of that.”

“Dude… Any wizard, magician, mage, or whatever you want to call a magic user, knows it. The only difference is that they’re limited to their world’s knowledge and their own power.”

“So you’re saying that if you teach a mage here, they can use magic from other worlds.”

“Depending on what magic I teach. It’s not like everyone can have Natural Energy or Draconic Energy, the same thing with Mana or Spirit Energy. Depending on what you have, you can use some magic or others. I can’t teach Draconic Magic to someone that doesn’t have the required type of energy, and even if I do, at most, they might be able to do a rip-off version of it, which will be highly cost-inefficient. And that, only if they waste a lot of time trying to figure out how to do it in the first place.”

“But most of the magic I know use Magic Power, from web novels and all that…”

“Well, yeah, Mana is the most common energy used to use magic because it’s also the most common type found in humans. Just like how elves are supposed to be good elementalists or good at using Spiritual Magic.”

Both of them kept talking on their way until they finally reached the archery range that would be used for the competition. Once there, Hajin went to the waiting room while Cristopher went to Olivia and Rachel, who were already saving a spot for him.

{Is it really a coincidence? Or do they just like to be close to others from the same class?} Cristopher thought as he sat with Rachel and Olivia, who happened to be sitting close to other classmates, including the usual Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, Yoo Yeonha, Yi Yeongha, and Shin Jonghak.

“Hey!” As Cristopher sat down, some energetic girl greeted him. “Long time no see!”

Turns out that Olivia’s friend, Emma, was also sitting with them for today’s event.

“Yeah, long time Emma.” Cristopher said as he took out his usual bottle.

“You remembered my name!” She said.

“You stand out too much.” Cristopher shrugged as he took a sip.

“Hey, isn’t it too soon to be drinking that?” Olivia frowned. “It’s only 11:30 AM...”

Besides him, Rachel also looked at him with a questioning glance.

“I’m of the opinion that’s never too early to drink. Besides, it’s not like it would actually hurt me or something.” He took another sip as he shrugged.

“Ha… You’re unbelievable sometimes…” Olivia sighed as she shook her head, while Rachel also let out a small sigh.

“Oh come on! I don’t think it’s that bad.” Emma said with a chuckle.

“See? You should learn from your friend. She’s supportive.” Cristopher smirked.

“Ha… Em, I love you girl, but please, don’t give this guy wings to keep doing things like this…”

“Haha.”

Soon, noon came, and people were excitedly waiting for the competition to start.

“…Why are there so many magicians?” Chae Nayun murmured as she looked around.

As she said, currently many robed magicians were present on the archery range, something that didn’t make sense to her.

“An 8-Star Magician is coming today. They’re probably here to see her face.” Yoo Yeonha, who was sitting beside her, mentioned as she pointed towards the VIP observatory that was a little bit away from them.

“Huh? Ah, that’s right, Magician Ah Hae-in?”

“Yeah.” Yeonha nodded.

Ah Hae-in was a French magician and an 8-Stars Summoning Magician who was born in France. She moved and became a naturalized Korean at the age of 11. She was one of the only 300 8-Stars magicians in the whole world.

“I heard she was coming. So this is where she was.” Chae Nayun looked at the VIP observatory. “I wondered why I could feel the earthquake from so far away.”

During archery competitions, the archers won’t only have to compete against each other, but they would also have to face external factors. Earthquakes were one of the most common ones, followed by summoned monsters, plants, and even some meteorological phenomenons. All those, of course, were summoned with magic.

[Next is Veritas class’ representative Kim Hajin, and Virtue class’ representative, Baire Moren.]

“Oh, it’s our class’ turn.” Nayun said as she looked at the range.

“Go! Hajin!” She suddenly heard someone shouting from behind and frowned when she saw a red-haired girl with a punk cut shouting with her arms raised.

“Who is she…?” Nayun muttered with a frown.

“Mm? She? She’s Hajin’s teammate.” Yeonha who looked at this smirked. “Didn’t you know? She is in their team for the group projects.”

“What? Really?” Nayun turned to look at Yeonha.

“Yes, really.” She nodded. “It seems like they are really good friends now, she’s quite easygoing and isn’t afraid to show how she feels.”

“W-What do you mean?”

“Nothing.” Yeonha smirked and focused on the match again.

“Tsk.” Seeing Yeonha ignoring her, she simply gave another glance at the still shouting girl. A glance that was more close to a glare. {Why would I care if they’re friends or not.} The thought as she slightly gritted her teeth.

Before she turned around again, she met eyes with Cristopher, who was sitting close to that girl. He smirked.

“Grr…” She gritted her teeth stronger now. {Why do I feel he’s making fun of me!?}

“Hmm…” Yeonha suddenly hummed. “Looks like we have nothing to worry about.”

“Ah?” Nayun, still with a glare on her face, turned to look at Yeonha. “What do you mean?”

“Hajin, he looks confident.” She smiled.

While Nayun was glaring at Emma, Yeonha could see Hajin enter the range with a confident posture and walking leisurely. For her, this was a clear signal that he would do his best to at least win. At least for the freshmen year, Class Competitions were a matter of pride, which is why the event gathered so much attention.

With a confused face, Nayun turned to look at Hajin, only to frown moments after.

“...By the way, what is he mumbling?” She asked.

Yeonha’s gaze focused on Baire Moren, and she could see that he was indeed mumbling something.

“...Trash talk, I guess? Baire Moren is supposedly sly and ill-tempered.”

“Oh, really?” Chae Nayun thought for a moment, but decided to believe her and focused more on them. {Now that I look more closely, it does look like he’s provoking Kim Hajin. I see, Moren is a piece of shit.}

She started to glare at Moren without realizing it herself.