"Prota. Have you ever been interested in fighting?"

Prota tilted her head to the side. Fighting? Ah, John meant fighting in the magic sense, like a fighter instead of a caster. She shook her head. Sure, she was resistant to pain, but that didn't mean she had any intention of fighting with weapons or her fists. Her fighting style could be considered similar to that of a fighter, but that didn't change the fact that she didn't plan on using mana reinforcement as her primary form of damage.

"No?"

Prota shook her head.

"What if we learned to fight a little better?"

Prota's eyes curved downward into a frown. What did John mean?

"Look, normally I wouldn't care, but [Resets] are gone and stuff. You learning to fight a little better would mean we're both more likely to survive, right?"

Prota nodded. John grinned in response.

"I picked up a little something interesting during one of my classes today. Thought you might be interested."

Prota's eyes widened as she nodded excitedly. She'd been getting bored during lessons.

Aside from that one lesson with Ms. Dawn, she'd been trying her best not to fall asleep. So if John had something for her once again, she'd take it. After all, while Kit's magic skills were helpful, it was John who'd taught her the most out of everyone. And if he had something unusual for her yet again, how could it be anything but useful?

"Alright. Quick biology lesson. Your body is made up of billions of things called "cells." There's some science and shit, but I'm not a teacher at the moment and don't plan on becoming one. The point is, can you picture your body being made up of billions upon billions of little balls?"

Prota frowned, looking down at her hands. First, she was a [Character] in a [Story], and now she was made up of a bunch of tiny little spheres?

John realized what she was doing and sighed. Well, in a world where science was relatively primitive, this likely did sound as ridiculous as being a fictional character.

"Ok, it might sound really stupid, but it's how people work, even in my original world. We're made up of these things called cells, Prota, unless this world's biology is completely different. From what I've seen, I don't think that's the case. So try to picture it."

She squeezed her eyes shut as she concentrated intently on the mental image of her body being made of these things called "cells." It didn't matter. She just couldn't do it. Well, it made sense. Even John, who knew exactly what a cell was, couldn't picture such a thing. Eventually, Prota fell back with a gasp.

John just shook his head. "Well, that's fine. To be honest, I didn't think you'd get it first try. The point is this. Mana reinforcement is applied to your body, right? But what does that mean? What is your 'body'?"

Despite her fatigue, Prota was beginning to see where this was going.

"In other words, what counts as the target of your mana reinforcement? Sure, you're spreading mana throughout your body in order to reinforce it, but to what level? What if you could reinforce each limb? Each hand, each finger, each bone, every muscle and nerve in your body… down to your individual cells?"

This was what John had theorized. He'd hit Lupin with a sword, and despite doing no damage, he'd felt the softness of Lupin's skin. But his blade hadn't pierced any flesh. How was that possible? If one were to gain durability, this was usually accompanied by some kind of sturdiness that could be felt. The skin hardened. The muscles became more dense. A layer of armour was applied.

But John had felt none of that.

But what if Lupin had somehow managed to reinforce the cells and their bonds themselves with mana? The elasticity and softness of the flesh would remain, but each cell would be unbreakable. The bond that connected them would be moulded not by proteins but by mana and magic. No sword would pierce through. No blade would cut away at the skin. And no one would notice that he was protecting himself.

It didn't matter if Prota wasn't a fighter. It didn't matter if she had no plans of using her fists. If Lupin wanted to teach this to the students before they earned the status of Master, then it might not be a technique limited to fighters. It might just be a better way to use mana reinforcement.

"Alright. Take a look at this," John said, tossing a book onto the bed.

It was a biology textbook from Earth.

"Here. Right here. This is what the human body looks like."

Flipping through the pages, Prota stared at each system of the human body. The skeletal system. The nervous system. The muscular system. She didn't understand the paragraphs upon paragraphs of text, but something was clicking.

"Each organ. Each bone. You should try to start by protecting them, one by one."

Something ridiculous was being cooked up.

~~~

Another week passed. Then another. And another. Tests were taken and aced, despite John's initial concerns about receiving low grades.

"I was gonna golf," John had explained.

"Golf?"

"Golfing. You ever play golf?"

"No, I don't think so," Destiny frowned.

"Well, it's this game where you try to put a ball into a hole. That- I didn't think that one through. That describes a lot of sports, I think. Well, whatever. Regardless, the point is that the hole is far away, and you hit the ball with this club. The fewer times you hit the ball, the more you win."

"So you were trying to get the lowest score possible?" Destiny frowned.

"Without failing, yeah."

"...you're weird."

After getting good grades, though, John didn't want to go back. A perfect score was a whole fifty tokens, and with tests in each subject weekly, those tokens started to stack up. To put that into perspective, any item at the bakery they'd been at during the entry exams was just a singular coin. Even luxury items, such as fancy clothes, decent armour and weapons, or even fine dining, never amounted to more than ten tokens per item.

Of course, students weren't supposed to ace tests. Even nobles who received early education weren't able to consistently ace tests. For John and Prota, it was simply the advantage of otherworldly education.

For example, the first math test consisted of twenty addition and subtraction questions. However, the final question was something like "add the number 5, and repeat this 7200 times."

Something like this wasn't really within the scope of most students. Of course, some students with an instinct for math understood the "shortcut," but for John and Prota, who grasped the concept of "multiplication," it was a straightforward calculation. In this manner, they quickly became the top of the class. Destiny, too, was there, by similar logic.

They weren't geniuses, though. It would be more accurate to call them cheaters.

While Prota did have an advantage, this description fit John far better, who was a cheater in the literal sense. His system had a sort of cheat engine built into it. The thing literally gave him answers to the questions on the test. Prota wasn't as comfortable using such a thing, but John had no such qualms.

Every test, he'd close his eyes and thank his previous self for implementing such a feature into the system. No matter how many memories he had, the existence known as "John" must've hated studying.

"Seriously. Do you study in secret or something? Math, language, trade, sure. I get it," Destiny grumbled over lunch. "But how do you ace the history tests? The bestiary tests? Literally anything that requires knowledge of this world?"

"Secret :3"

Destiny flinched. "What the- how'd you do that? What was that sound?"

"What sound?"

In contrast, though, John was nearly flunking his Fighting classes while Prota was acing her Casting classes.

John couldn't use mana. It was something he'd never be able to change unless he [Edited] himself to enable the usage of mana, and a power like that would consume far too much [Deus Ex Machina] energy for something so insignificant. He tried to make do with [Infinity], but since that power had no defensive properties, replicating mana reinforcement was difficult.

Prota, on the other hand, wasn't even focusing on her casting classes. She spent most of her time practicing the idea John had suggested. She was so naturally talented at the lessons' content that she had no need to practice it. Instead, she'd move into a more secluded corner, summon a fireball so as not to be questioned, then close her eyes and turn her attention inwards. It was hard to visualize these things called "organs" and "nerves" inside her body, but it was necessary.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After a week, though, she was starting to get it. It was her nerves first, surprisingly. At least, that was what she assumed. After all, she'd noticed the difference immediately.

While trying to apply mana to her nervous system, she'd suddenly felt something similar to a jolt of electricity run through her body. Her eyes snapped open, and everything felt so, so clear. Every little sound, every breath of air, every particle of light, every scent wafting in the air, all forced their way into her brain, overwhelming her with information. Her fireball went out as she fell to her knees, bile rising up as an immense wave of nausea overwhelmed her.

"T-teacher! Over here!" she heard, but the sounds were faint.

Everything was dull compared to the sensation she'd just experienced. It'd been overwhelming, but everything had seemed so bright. So vibrant. So colourful. She could hear voices, but they were dull, dim, almost quiet compared to what she'd felt earlier.

"...I don't know what happened, she just fell to her knees and threw up…"

It was Lilith's voice. What a nice girl. Prota tried to thank her, but found that her mouth wouldn't respond. She couldn't stay conscious for long. Her eyes closed as she succumbed to sleep.

~~~

Prota sat up to find herself back in her dorm room, John sitting on a chair in the corner. He noticed her as she woke up and sighed. There was no visible change, but he must've closed something in his system, because his eyes suddenly went from glazed over to focused.

"So. What happened this time?"

"Too… too much," Prota mumbled.

Her head ached. She didn't even know that was possible. When was the last time she'd had something as pitiful as a headache? She'd been through way too much to be affected by something like that.

"Too much what?" John frowned.

"Too many colours. Too much feeling," Prota muttered, sitting up. "It was, um… nervous system."

John's eyes shot open. Prota was confused. Had he not expected this to happen?

"Oh. Oh, you got it to work? On your nervous system?"

"Nn," Prota nodded weakly.

"Holy shit, then that means you- oh, my god! That's sick!"

"John didn't know?"

John's eyes widened in surprise. "Know? No, I wouldn't have known. I mean. I could've guessed it, I guess. But I wasn't expecting it. I should've been, but I just didn't think too hard about it… still, that's so cool."

John frowned, rubbing his chin. The basis on which magic existed was unknown to him. He'd always assumed mana reinforcement was… well, what? It enhanced things like durability, strength and stamina, but the means by which this worked was a mystery to him.

What if mana reinforcement was really just the mana reinforcement of muscles and bones? What if the default was just augmenting the bigger, easier bodily systems? If that was true, then mana reinforcement wasn't just as simple as reinforcing parts of your body: it was upgrading them.

Upgrading was something he was familiar with.

"...take it easier for now," John said, frowning. "Maybe… if you can try to use it on your brain, and only your brain, then theoretically your thought process should speed up…"

He began to pace back and forth, running his hands through his hair as he muttered to himself, trying to reason things out.

"Yeah. That should work. Prota, if you can somehow reinforce only your brain… and get used to it… then that's a good start for now."

She nodded, closing her eyes. That brief moment. The brightness of a world she'd never seen before. The smells, the noises, the way the wind felt on her skin… even if it wasn't useful for fighting, she wanted to see that world one more time.

~~~

Prota continued to train, but it wasn't just her training that was giving her problems.

To begin, some good news. She'd been growing closer to Lilith and Ryan. She hadn't meant to, but she couldn't stay alone forever, even if she wanted to. Casting classes often included group sessions where students could practice against one another. Even though they were trying to understand mana at a fundamental level, they still needed to learn combat.

This, too, was something Prota was familiar with, but since they needed sparring partners, she found that she was more comfortable with the twins than anyone else.

It wasn't all that bad. By watching them, she could try to imitate their magic and chants. It was convenient that their specialties were fire and ice magic since that was what she used herself, and it would be hard to explain why she knew how to use all sorts of other elements.

However, while she was off in her little party, she didn't realize that there were other issues that she'd have to deal with.

Namely, other problematic students.

"Well, well, well. I didn't even realize you were in my class."

Draco Wynton, the boy who'd given them so much trouble over the past year, was here to plague them once again. For some reason, he'd only really noticed her after a month, but all that meant was that Prota had been free of him for a month. Now that he'd caught her, she couldn't get rid of him.

Even though he'd tried to kill her, though, she didn't see him as anything more than a nuisance, like a fly in the room that you couldn't swat or chase out no matter what you did.

"If it isn't the stupid little girl from the Town of Beginnings. How did you even end up here?"

She didn't respond.

"I bet you stole someone's application, didn't you? Little thief. You should be grateful I don't report you and get you expelled immediately."

Still, Prota didn't respond. She wasn't trying to make a point or anything. She just hated talking to people in general. But in the eyes of the young noble, this was a blatant show of disrespect.

"Listen to me. I can ruin your life, you understand? So you'd better listen to what I-"

A teacher began to approach, noticing the commotion that was unfolding.

"What's going on over there?"

"Tsk! I'll be back, you hear?"

He backed off as the teacher noticed something going on. For once, John's perspective of the world was coming in handy. By seeing him as an obstacle, she couldn't help but see him as nothing but a minor annoyance, a childish fool throwing a tantrum.

Hopefully, that was all he'd ever amount to.

~~~

John was going through something similar in the fighting class. Unlike Prota, though, he was antisocial by choice. Unfortunately, his characteristics often led him to respond to provocation, which is how he'd ended up in this unfortunate situation.

"So, we heard you can't use mana?"

A squad of young boys surrounded him like a pack of hyenas, with grins befitting the analogy. John groaned. The situation was just absurd.

"Where'd you hear that from?" John frowned.

"Everyone talks about it. And it's not like you've shown anything different, so it seems you're just dead weight, right?"

"...your point?"

The boys smirked. "So unless you wanna get beat up, you'd better do as we-"

"Hey! What's going on over here?"

Instead of a teacher, it was Destiny who came to John's rescue. Unfortunately, this meant that the group of bullies weren't so quick to disperse.

"It's none of your business. Scram," one of them grunted.

Destiny stood his ground. "Not until I figure out what's going on."

"Hey, do you know who I am?"

One boy with a stupid-looking haircut lifted his sword, pointing it so that it rested just under Destiny's chin.

"I'm the son of Baron Hugstein, you got that? I could ruin your life, you hear me?"

"Hey, I thought all that noble shit was banned in here," John said, confused.

He'd been immensely relieved when he'd found out that the abuse of status was banned in Scholaris. He'd be free of this stupid plotline. But what was this? Why was the boy still using his family's name to get what he wanted? Wouldn't that just get him expelled?

"In here, sure. I can't do anything to you. But what happens when we leave?" the boy sneered.

"I'll be sure to make sure your life's a living hell."

John would've been annoyed had he not been so terribly confused. "All I have to do is report you, though? I don't get it. Are you stupid?"

"Yeah? All we'll have is your word against mine. And since they won't just kick out students without solid evidence, I'll be sure to send your family back home a little gift."

John clenched his teeth. This was stupid. Incredibly stupid. He had to hand it to the [Author], he'd been got. What a way to get around such a simple rule. Why did the nobles have to be smart about this one specific thing?

At the same time, though, if the only thing threatening him was what would happen to him once they left the school…

"Teacher!" John called out, causing the boys to flinch.

"John, I can-" Destiny started, but John put his finger to the hero's mouth, silencing him.

"I'll deal with it."

That was what he said, but there was a sadistic glint in his eyes that suggested that he would do more than just that. The teacher came over, and the five boys stood, waiting to hear what John would say.

Nobody was expecting what would come next.

"I'd like to request a duel," John said calmly.

The teacher nodded. "With who?"

"These five."

Duels could be requested at any time. Obviously, the challenged student would have to accept the request to go through, and an adult would always proctor duels. If students were caught fighting outside of a duel, it was grounds for immediate expulsion.

So when John challenged five people at once to a duel, it was obvious what they would do. An opportunity like this would never appear again, after all. What idiot would take on so many opponents at once?

The nobles looked at each other and nodded.

"We accept."

The teacher looked back and forth, then sighed, holding his face in his hands.

"Well, since everyone's on board…"

In no time at all, they were standing in an open field, a circle forming as the students chattered excitedly. Destiny was by John's side, trying to talk him out of it.

"Come on. Are you sure? I could've done it for you, you know."

John just waved him away. "Yeah, yeah. You would've been the one to do this, normally, but give me the satisfaction, just this once, ok?"

"...yeah. Hey, you're sure you'll win, right?"

"Yeah? Why would I challenge if I thought I would-"

Destiny realized something and cut John off. "You're not gonna kill them, right?"

John burst out into laughter. "No, dumbass. I'm not trying to get expelled."

"It's just, knowing you…"

"Relax. It'll be fine, seriously."

This was one thing John wasn't willing to tolerate. If he couldn't avoid the lame "nobles looking down on everyone" trope, he could at least dissociate himself from it as much as possible. No matter how entertaining or engaging the plotline might be, he had no intention of putting up with these idiots for any more time than necessary.

This one instance was more than enough for him. He wanted an interesting [Story], but not at the cost of his convenience.

The students began to gather around the fighting grounds, whispering and chatting excitedly. The five cocky nobles stood on the other end of the field, three of them carrying swords, one holding a spear, and the last one wielding a bow with a quiver of arrows. John sized them up, letting his brain weigh the risks he'd have to consider during the fight. He stretched lazily, loosening his muscles and cracking his knuckles in anticipation of what was to come.

"Hey, are you alright? If something's happening, you can just tell us," the teacher said worriedly as he went to watch over the match. "I don't know if you're just cocky or stupid, but think about this."

"Thanks for the concern, but I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? Well, I guess someone getting bullied wouldn't be this excited…"

Excited? John froze, only to realize that his lips had been stretched into a wide grin. He couldn't stop smiling. He could feel his heart pumping so hard it was practically beating out of his chest, hot, rushing blood flowing through his veins, the tips of his fingers tingling as if electricity was sparking between them.

He was looking forward to this. Why? Why was he so excited for this?

[Determination activates! Limit: 1001x]

The [Determination] buff. Maybe it wasn't just an increase in his fighting skills. Maybe his status as a [Character] had improved just a little. He'd decided to stick around Destiny, even though the boy was no longer as useful to him. He'd convinced Danjo to go to Scholaris, even though he would be of no use against a Demon King with [Deus Ex Machina] energy. He'd befriended Celestia, who served no purpose to him.

Was this fake world becoming a little more real?

He shook his head as if trying to shake these pointless thoughts out. Right. Why was he thinking such useless, stupid thoughts? Since when had he become the thinker? This wasn't the time for thinking.

Now was the time to fight.

"It's not too late to surrender," one of the nobles called out tauntingly. "Come, you can just hand over your tokens now, and we won't have to worry about any of this."

John didn't respond. Maybe this was taken as a sign of fear. Hesitation. Panic. But he'd gone through way too much for emotions like those to affect him in this situation.

The only thing running through his mind now was how alive he felt. He could still feel his heart pounding away in his chest, the blood rushing to the tips of his fingers, a tingling, electrifying feeling spreading through his body.

"Everyone is ready? Good." The teacher seemed reluctant, but this was his job, after all. "Let the battle begin!"

The sound of a bowstring being drawn. Vibrations in the ground, followed by the stomping of feet. The smell of dust and dirt, the sun beating on his head, his scarf swaying ever so slightly in the wind.

John's eyes snapped open, his left eye glowing ever so lightly.

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