"I don't know what you're complaining about. It serves you right."

"This is targeted racism! They should be executed for this!" John yelled, swinging his blade.

Destiny sighed as he easily parried the attack. "Racism? What are you even talking about? Look, as crazy as you are, even you have to understand that your guns are a little unfair. The point of the exam isn't to win, John."

John had asked to spar against Destiny, but it'd really just been an excuse to complain to someone. Prota was someone who would listen, but she'd probably just nod along without saying anything, and he needed someone he could really let his frustration out on. Prota didn't say nearly enough words to fit that requirement.

"Ok, but seriously, if I don't have- ah, what the fuck. Look, all I'm saying is that without those weapons, the only option I have left is to get stabbed and die," John grumbled.

Destiny frowned. "You're not that bad with the sword, right? You did take on those five nobles. How did you do that, by the way? We never really-"

"That was pure luck," John said awkwardly, cutting Destiny off. "Look, I'm just saying, I'm boned. Cooked. We started by making mac'n cheese and finished by burning the kitchen down."

"...what?"

John sighed. "I just want to win, man. Is that really so bad?"

John's words were slow and deliberate, as if trying to explain something to a toddler. Despite this, he continued to swing his sword.

He wasn't good at swordsmanship. His guard was open. His swings were clumsy. His technique was poor. He was distracted, more focused on complaining about the upcoming midterm. And yet, despite all this, he continued to parry every one of Destiny's attacks. Not well. It didn't look clean. But he was doing it. And at that, Destiny couldn't help but be a little impressed.

"I want it to be a free win," John grumbled, completely unaware of Destiny's opinion.

"What's the point in that?" Destiny sighed as their blades clashed again. "Don't you want to reap the rewards of your hard work? Don't you want to feel the joy of improving for once?"

"Oh, come on. Don't I get a few freebies for all the shit I've been through?"

"...what?"

There was a pause as one last clash knocked the sword out of John's hand with a massive clang. The silence was quickly filled in with the ambient noise of yelling and fighting as the voices of the other students reached their ears.

"Never mind," John sighed, bending down to pick up the blade. "I'll figure something out, probably."

"How's Prota holding up?" Destiny said, trying to change the topic.

It seemed John also welcomed the diversion as his eyes lit up.

"She's doing pretty well, I think. Well, she doesn't just hole up in her room all day, so that's better than me, at least."

"...what are you even doing in your room all day?" Destiny froowned. "You don't want to join any clubs? Make any friends?"

"Reading. Playing video games," John shrugged. "I'm just killing time, really. And no, I'm not interested in meeting other kids. I'm, like, over a bajillion years old, remember?"

"I- whatever. At least she's doing well. She's made some friends, right?" Destiny smiled.

John nodded. "Yeah. Those twins, Ryan and… ah, whatever. Boy and a girl. They're pretty good kids."

Prota was doing well, but it wasn't nearly as well as John thought.

While John had established the idea that messing with him meant getting a beatdown, Prota had yet to assert any such dominance over her own class. And this meant that there were still tons of annoyances she had to deal with.

It wasn't as if she were constantly getting bullied or being put through large amounts of stress. In fact, only a few incidents could really come to mind. The first had been a tussle with Draco, who'd "accidentally" let a fireball slip during practice. This usually wouldn't have been an issue. It was something easily reportable, easily catchable, and therefore wasn't something that Draco would've tried on anybody but Prota.

The teachers were watching the students, but when it came to dozens of students and only a couple of teachers, especially those willing to personally tutor said students, it wasn't like they could all be monitored all the time. That meant that an "accident" could very possibly occur. The reason this didn't happen often was that it was easy to counter. Even if one was being threatened by nobles, all you had to do was quietly speak to a teacher, maybe on a different day, and have someone watch the troublemaker from afar and wait for it to happen again.

Essentially, from the bully's perspective, it was a trick that wasn't worth the effort.

However, Draco knew Prota. She was a girl who wouldn't speak up no matter what was done to her, not because she could put up with it, but because she was a girl too shy to speak. So when he let his fireball slip and hit her, there were no repercussions despite the commotion, all because she refused to say anything about it.

It wasn't all that bad, though. Her training with John had allowed her body to react instinctively and brace herself just in time, and her resistance to pain made it so it didn't hurt at all. So it wasn't her body that was getting damaged.

It was her pride, slowly chipping away.

It wasn't as if she had that much of an ego to begin with. She never considered herself to be a fast learner, talented, or strong. Hell, just one year ago, she'd been struggling with the fear that she wasn't good enough to keep up. It'd taken weeks of character development to break through that irrational belief. Even still, she considered others to be far superior compared to her.

Destiny's abilities as the hero were obviously an unrealistic standard. Danjo's crafting skills were something she couldn't even begin to comprehend. Celeste, someone she'd only met, could heal others, a skill that would've come in handy multiple times when trying to protect John. She was almost envious of the Elvin princess.

And John. Objectively, he was the weakest and least talented of the entire group. Unless he were put under extraordinary circumstances, he would never meet everyone else's standards. But he always found a way. He never berated himself, never sold himself short. Sure, he called himself weak, but never once did he doubt his victory. He'd yet to enter a battle he'd "lost."

In a sense, that was the most unrealistic standard of all.

But she'd improved. She'd taken fights she thought she'd lose and turned them into her victory. She'd made her own magic, learned to fight, learned to survive, understood stupid concepts John tried to teach her, even when they didn't make sense, and there was some pride to be had in that. There was satisfaction in Destiny's compliments, Kit's approval, Danjo's amazement, and most of all, John's support.

It was safe to say she'd grown to the point where she could at least be somewhat satisfied with herself. And were she to live a simple, quiet life, that would be enough. But Prota was someone who needed to grow. She needed to constantly improve, to push past her limits in order to reach the goal she'd set out for herself, to climb so high up that she'd never see the pits she'd been thrown into.

But each fireball was just a reminder of where she came from. A reminder that she was once less than human, less than livestock, just a pest that was hated by the world itself. Even though Draco uttered no words, each hit took her back to the days when the only thing she could do was take the beatings given to her.

Even now, that was all she could think of doing. Take the hits. Don't fight back. Although her fear of death had been removed, her fear of others was still loud and strong. The rule that had been engrained so deeply into her body was still taking over.

It was a bit of a shame. Had she had the courage to interact with the teachers, her confidence might've been bolstered just a bit more. She was, after all, a genius when it came to mana. Not because she'd been born with the talent, but because of the strong foundation she'd built as a result of her abilities.

But she was too afraid to communicate, too afraid to show off, and so she could only maintain what fragile ego she had left. It was a stained glass window, and each of Draco's fireballs was a pebble being thrown, the crack in the glass growing bigger with each toss.

There was just one saving grace.

Prota was practicing her magic, as usual, and yet another fireball was coming her way. Mana instinctively seeped through her veins as her body reacted to the coming threat, but this time, it never reached her.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Lilith protested, lowering her ice shield. "You could've hit her!"

Draco snickered. "Oops. Sorry. Mistakes happen, you know."

"This is the fourth time your stupid little mistake has gone too far! Or are you suggesting that your magic simply isn't good enough?"

Draco's sneer dropped. "You dare suggest I am inferior?" he spat out, leaning in, getting in Lilith's face. Despite this, the girl didn't back down. "You dare suggest your commoner magic outstrips mine?"

"I know tons of commoners who could do better than you," Lilith said, her smile as bright as ever. "If you're so bad at controlling your magic, then maybe you don't really deserve to be here."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Pah," Draco grunted in disgust.

He probably would've taken it further, but the commotion was drawing attention, and even he couldn't go against the teachers. He didn't forget to shove Lilith as he walked away, but the girl managed to stand upright.

"Seriously, the nerve of that guy!" she grumbled, looking at his back in disgust. "What does he think he's doing? Hey, are you ok?"

She turned to Prota to find the younger girl staring up at her with shining eyes. She'd been handling it relatively well, but never before had someone stood up for her like this. Sure, John and Destiny had protected her in the past, but those were life-and-death situations. They weren't petty squabbles like this. There was no good reason for Lilith to have done what she did. It simply wasn't logical. She stood to gain nothing from it.

But she'd done it anyway.

"Why…?" Prota muttered, but didn't get much farther than that.

"Why? Why that idiot was targeting you is the better question. Seriously, the nerve of some people! Anyway, you let me know if he keeps bothering you, ok?" Lilith huffed, visibly annoyed.

"Lilith."

Out of nowhere, Ryan appeared, putting his hand on his sister's shoulder. The blue haired girl sobered up, her proud grin slowly fading.

"Right. Well, I'm sure you'll be fine, Prota. Keep it up!" she smiled, leaving as Ryan pulled her away.

Prota watched as the twins walked away, mindlessly reigniting her fireball. She wanted to tell John about what'd happened, but for her to tell him about the twins would require her to tell her about Draco, and she absolutely could not have that happening. Just as John could read her, she, too, was learning to read him, but it didn't take a genius to know what John would do in this situation.

He wasn't one to care about the consequences of his actions, after all.

From that point on, the attacks were less common, but other things started to happen. Sometimes, her desk would have scribbles, insults that she mainly ignored. After all, things far worse than name-calling had happened to her.

Other times, trash would be left on her desk, stuff she could easily incinerate with fire, or a splash of water would come out of nowhere, soaking her through during practice. They were all under the realm of "pranks," things that couldn't be traced back to any specific offender, but it was obvious who was doing it.

Prota would never report any of this, though, so it mostly went under the radar. She thought she could handle it. It really wasn't that bad, she told herself.

~~~

"John?" Prota said, freezing upon entering their room.

The entire center of the room had been cleared out, and a giant rag cloth had been spread out with a bunch of materials. Strange green rocks, bits of metal, jugs of some kind of liquid, and tons of other oddities.

"Oh, hey, Prota. You're back a little early today."

She just stared at the mess. "What…"

"Oh, this?" John flashed a devious grin. "I'm going to attack with the unmatched power of the sun."

Prota tilted her head, confused. The power of the sun?

"Well, not really. Nuclear bombs aren't actually nuclear fission or whatever. But this isn't banned. And it'll kill everyone on the field!"

Prota nodded, but confusion was written all over her face.

"Well, back in my original world, there was this war called World War Two. It was almost over, but these fellows named the Americans needed a way to end it. They built ■■■■■ ■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■■ ■■■■■- oh. Can't say that, huh?"

"John…"

Prota didn't say anything else, but given her expression, it was clear she didn't approve of the idea.

"Ah, what the hell. I guess that would've been too boring, right? Well, in seven hundred million years, I'm gonna lose half of this uranium 235… I wonder if Danjo can find a use for it…"

John sighed as he waved his hand, the whole mess falling back into his pocket dimension. He got up with a grunt, getting ready to put everything back in its place.

"Well, there goes that plan," he muttered.

Prota just looked at him. "Is John really that weak?"

The question was quiet, but something about the way Prota asked the question made it seem like something had changed. She wasn't referring to John's peak. She wasn't referring to the John that had gone toe-to-toe with the Demon King, the John who had defeated Doctor in all his godly abilities. She was talking about the John in front of her. The John who was nothing more than an ordinary human.

Because that John, in his own way, wasn't exactly the weakest.

"Prota, I don't have anything this time," John tried to explain. "No guns. No tricks, nothing. There is no plan here. There is no way out."

He sighed, getting up and moving to his bed. He might as well explain this while it was relevant.

"Prota, in every other scenario we've been in, there was meant to be a way to win. We had Destiny on our side. The [Protagonist]. The [Author] wouldn't create a scenario where he's meant to lose- scratch that. Those scenarios do exist, but I would know about it. No, the point is, I'm not some kind of tactical genius. All I've done is find what was already there."

Prota was confused. She didn't fully get it. Her confusion must've shown, because John sighed again.

"You know what? It's fine. You don't need to understand. Let's put it this way: everyone is getting stronger. If this was the entry exam, maybe I'd have a way out, but you've seen how everyone's been improving, right?"

She certainly had. Some of the points John had made to Lilith and Ryan were being actively improved upon in class. Casting time, hesitation, and accuracy were all things the professors were strict on working on.

Although Prota had learned some higher-level spells, they rarely practiced those, instead opting to refine the technique and finesse of lower-circle spells. Ultimately, this made students more geared toward combat and less toward an impressive show of power.

This also meant that the skill gap between her and those students was closing fast. They were effectively learning what Prota had naturally developed. Of course, they weren't at her level of finesse, but they weren't the bumbling fools they'd been a few months ago.

If Prota did the same things she'd done during the first exam, she wasn't sure if things would go nearly as smoothly as they had before. She wouldn't be able to dispatch her enemies with a single first circle attack anymore. There would be consequences every time she fought.

In the end, she could see John's point. But still, wasn't he underestimating himself far too much?

"...John really can't do anything?" she said quietly.

"Oh, I'm sure I can do something," John shrugged. "But is it really worth the effort? Why go up against these superhumans with mana reinforcement and magic?"

"But John beat the nobles-"

"Oh, come on," John groaned, throwing his arms up in annoyance. "That was an outlier and shouldn't be counted. Those guys were the definition of stupid, and honestly, there's no way I can do that again. They were [Side Characters], idiots who were created to be punching bags. They literally exist to lose. Besides, I used [Infinity] back there, and you know I can't do that in the exam."

Prota went silent, thinking hard. Was there really nothing he could do about the situation?

"It's fine, Prota. I'll go beat someone with a bat or something, and then I'll drop out and watch Destiny fuck up everybody else."

She didn't really know how trustworthy those words were, but he seemed so confident that it was hard to doubt him. The only problem was, he was almost always this confident, and half of his ideas were always absolutely insane, which meant that her feelings were now conflicting with her thoughts.

"John-"

He put his hand out, stopping her in her tracks. "I'll think of something when I need to. I always do, right?"

She nodded, picking up a deck of cards from her desk. She left the room, feeling conflicted.

Should she tell him about what had been going on? As the days passed, the troublemakers became increasingly annoying. Thankfully, that was all they really amounted to, but just like John, she knew she didn't have to put up with it. She was only doing so because she lacked the resolve to put an end to the tomfoolery.

Well, she'd put up with far worse than this. Compared to her time on the streets, this was nothing. Surely it wouldn't get any worse, right?

~~~

It got worse.

Prota had never actually caught anyone in the act of these malicious pranks. She'd just known who it was, the same as everyone else who noticed. There was really only one group of students who would be doing it, after all. But technically speaking, there was no way of confirming it was Draco's little posse of clowns.

Ultimately, everything she knew was just an assumption.

As it turned out, her assumption was wrong. She managed to get to class early one day, only to find a shy girl running away from her desk.

The desk, which, at the moment, was filled to the brim with trash.

The connection wasn't very hard to make. The girl had done this. But why? Was it really not Draco's group? Perhaps she'd managed to garner the hate of ordinary students. It didn't make sense, but then again, she'd never really understood why she'd been so hated back on the streets. She was used to being hated for no reason in particular.

Still, she wasn't just going to let her questions go unanswered. Raising her hand, she raised an ice wall, blocking off the exit and causing the girl to slam face-first into the barrier. She spun around in panic, but her fear only grew as she saw Prota standing calmly at the top of the stairs. What came next, though, was completely unexpected.

"I- I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!"

Prota's head tilted to the side. Was the girl asking for forgiveness? Did she think this was just a silly little prank?

"I- I had no choice, you have to understand! They- they were gonna threaten my family if I didn't listen to them!"

Prota hesitated, but the girl didn't seem to be lying. Her bulging eyes were shining with tears as she held out her hands in a protective stance. She wasn't sure why the girl was so afraid of her, but that didn't matter. It seemed that this wasn't the person to be punishing. With a small sigh, Prota let the ice wall down, and the girl scurried out without another word.

As Prota got to burning up the trash on her desk, she couldn't help but be a little confused. This school was supposed to be a place where people were safe, but it seemed that she wasn't the only target of bullying. It wasn't entirely surprising, given what John had told her about the state of nobles and how far their power extended, but it still seemed a little weird that something like this was happening. Was it common? Was this just something she was supposed to put up with?

"Oh, hey, Prot- they did it again, huh?"

Lilith entered the room, Ryan close in tow as if he were her bodyguard. Her normally cheerful smile morphed into an expression of disgust as she saw Prota burning the last of the trash on her desk.

"Seriously, what's the point in all this? They're so childish!" Lilith groaned.

Prota, as usual, remained expressionless.

"I have a mind to tell-"

"Lilith."

Ryan's sharp voice cut his sister's rant off early, and she seemed to sober up. Prota had seen this strange interaction numerous times, but she wasn't bold enough to inquire any further, so she still had no idea what was going on during these times.

"Ah… right. Well, if it gets too bad, you have to tell the teachers, ok? Or, well, at least do something!"

She went off to her own seat, but Prota could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. Or… was steam really coming out? No, that wasn't possible. Regardless, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

She'd assumed she'd just gotten unlucky with Draco, knowing her and all, and that he was only targeting her because of their past. However, it seemed that wasn't the case. He was getting other students to do his bidding by abusing his status and power. But why? What was the point?

She remembered something John had once told her. Was Draco truly the type to do something like this for fun? Because he got a kick out of it?

John had never really had the conversation with her, but she occasionally caught whiffs of his rants to Zero when he thought she was asleep. The Wynton family had been a thorn in their sides long before the Town of Beginnings.

They'd been the ones to send Aiden after them, back when she'd first met John. They'd been the ones to send mercenaries after them. It was because of them that she'd been kidnapped. It was because of them that the Demon King had been attracted to John's power.

It was because of them that John had been killed.

Granted, John's death was a blessing rather than a curse. Without it, she would've never been thrown into this wild, crazy world he lived in, and she wouldn't be by his side. But that had never been their intent. The Wyntons had never meant to bring the two of them together.

So now that she thought of it, who was the Wynton family? Were they really so powerful that Draco could do whatever he wanted? Despite all the questions running circles in her head, she didn't know where to go for answers. The solution was usually John, but he was out of the picture. Questions about Draco's family would only lead to him figuring out the truth.

Then, who could answer her questions? Perhaps the library had a book or two on noble families, but she wasn't exactly looking forward to hunting for one book among hundreds of shelves in the school library. She hadn't realized how easy it was to ask questions rather than search for answers. Was this how John felt when he asked something he should know?

Wait. Right, there were tons of things even John didn't know. And when he didn't know something about the world, to whom did he turn?

~~~

Destiny looked down at the piece of paper Prota handed him.

"...what?"

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