John sighed as he looked at the sheet of paper Katheryn had handed him.

"I know I said it'd be him. But, like… I didn't want it to be him."

The past two weeks had passed without anything of importance. There was training. And more training. And not much else. And since training was one of the many things John refused to do, he kept himself busy with other things. One of these things was checking on the list of participants daily; today, that list had new names.

The son of the noble was coming.

"I don't want to deal with him… I don't like reading about these characters, so why do I have to personally deal with one?"

John slumped onto the counter, ignoring the strange looks he was getting. It was enough, however, to remind him that he'd made a request and that there was a receptionist still right in front of him.

"Um, thanks," John coughed awkwardly, getting up and pushing the sheet of paper back. "Do you know when others will sign up?"

"Likely within the next week," Katheryn nodded. "I've been informed to tell you that we do expect some solo adventurers to be registering as well."

"Great. See you later."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the ground as he and Prota left the building. She offered John a piece of jerky from the bag she'd been snacking from, but he shook his head.

"I'm gonna fucking end it all."

~~~

Draco smiled as he sat in the mercenary guild building, his two attendants behind him. They weren't in their usual outfits to stand out less, but the build of the knight was unmistakable.

"So you want us to kill those guys?" a man with a scraggly beard grunted.

"Precisely," Draco nodded. "You will register as adventurers for the dungeon raid. From there, I don't care what you do, as long as you get the job done," he sneered. "Surely you're capable of that much, right?"

"Capable? Boy, you just better have the money ready."

"Half now, half once it's done. That's the deal."

Draco pulled a bag of gold coins out and pushed it towards the mercenary. "Do we have an understanding?"

"You got it." The man snickered as he took the bag, but Draco was unconcerned as he left the building.

"Sir, are you sure about this one?" the knight said.

"Sure? Marcus. Do you not understand? Those peasants don't understand their place. They don't have the right to interfere with me! And yet… and yet, they continue to stand in my way. This much is just the bare minimum. It's what they deserve, understood? They need to learn their place!"

"...yes, my lord," Marcus said.

"And you, Elena?"

The caster nodded. "I understand. But sir, are you not worried-"

"Of what? They can't possibly do anything to me," Draco snorted. "They're peasants. Since when could mortals touch a god?"

~~~

"I see you saw the news," Fate said.

He, too, seemed disappointed.

John sighed. "Yeah, well, it is what it is."

"Was this the bullshit you were expecting?"

"Yeah."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

John shrugged.

Fate sighed in frustration as he leaned back against a tree. He'd been planning on seeing how everyone had been doing, but it seemed that this would be a venting session instead.

"Mm… this does raise a small problem, though. It would be best if we tried not to associate with Danjo," John muttered.

"What?" Fate said.

He turned to look at Danjo, who started trembling. What did John mean?

"Come on. Big smart boy over here. Can you figure it out on your own?" John said.

"...what?"

John just shook his head. "Look. There's a decent chance that people are going to be trying to kill us. I'm not saying they will, but it's very possible. Danjo is not "us" at the moment."

"H-hey, hold on!" Danjo protested. "What's this about people trying to kill us?"

John turned to Danjo, frowning. "What? You thought we were gonna go and have a picnic?"

"This is a dungeon, right?" Danjo stammered. "Then why are people trying to kill us? Isn't the dungeon dangerous enough?"

Fate rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Ah, that… we got involved with a noble, maybe," John explained. "Um… yeah."

"You got on the bad side of a noble? How- what-"

"Don't worry about it!" John grinned. "Like I said. You're not "us." Yet. So, how about we keep it that way for now?"

"But…"

John paused, waiting. Danjo looked like he was really struggling to get this out.

"If you guys are letting me join your team… then… shouldn't I be a part of the team?"

John's grin dropped in an instant.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get all sentimental," he muttered to himself.

Fate, on the other hand, looked touched. "Danjo. It's up to you. I'm not going to blame you if you want to take the safer route, ok? You were told the risks. What you do is up to you. You want to save your sister. Any more than that isn't necessary."

"I… I'll think about it," Danjo said quietly.

"Great. We've got it all figured out. I'm going to sleep," John said, lying down.

With that, he really did close his eyes. Prota got up as if this was to be expected and started casting spells as if it were routine.

"Come on, Danjo, let's go," Fate sighed.

John was truly the strange one, but it was even stranger to see someone used to John's antics.

~~~

Prota was starting to understand why her brother slept all day and read books at night. Everything was getting boring.

It wasn't like she didn't know what to do. She was training. She was improving. Her response time, her ability to control magic, her chanting, it was all improving, but still, something felt wrong. She wanted to do something. She was getting tired of sitting around without doing much.

There just wasn't anything to do, though, so she kept chanting.

"Prota," she heard.

Kit changed into her human form and walked toward her pupil.

"You've learned quite a bit, right?" the Mystic smiled. Her tail swung back and forth as she looked at Prota. "But this is really just the beginning."

"Beginning?"

"Most people would consider you a genius. But you have the power of the dragons inside of you. So really, you're just a fletchling."

Lightning flickered between Kit's fingertips.

"Magic, at a certain point, becomes what individuals create on their own. 9th circle mages are also known as "creators." They do not master magic. They create it."

A second tail appeared behind Kit. Then a third, and a fourth.

"John. Are you sure no one is watching?"

There was no response. Prota sighed and walked over, frost gathering at her fingertips, which was more than enough to snap John out of his rest.

"Wh- hey, whoah, hold on, what? What do you want?" he stammered.

"Is anybody nearby?" Kit repeated.

John frowned. "Why are you asking me that?"

Kit stared at John. "Well, I just thought, with your-"

"That's not how this- well, actually, are you just trying to teach Prota?"

Kit nodded.

"Then yes, I can guarantee nobody will come by."

Kit frowned. "And how will you do that?"

John shrugged. "Turn back time if something goes wrong."

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Kit stared at John. "You'll do what?"

"Turn back time. It's not that complicated."

Kit looked at Prota, hoping for some kind of ally, but she just shook her head. Kit frowned. Was John serious?

"You can't just say something like that so casually," Kit said cautiously.

John shrugged. "What? It's pretty easy. Just carry on, will you?"

Kit shook her head, trying to forget what she'd just heard.

She turned back to Prota. "Remember. Mana is what binds the universe. We can reshape reality with it. Our minds are merely too small to do so."

A fifth, then a sixth tail appeared. The lightning intensified, sparking all over Kit's body.

"Fate is a talented boy. But he is not a magician. He is a mage. He deals with mana, but he is not a creator. You are."

Prota nodded. [Creation]. Was that something unique to her? She'd always thought it was just an ability. But was it something more?

"Just as Fate is meant to push the limits of mortal beings. You… you can push the limits of magic."

A seventh and eighth tail appeared. As the ninth finally formed, there was a giant flash of light, and then nothing. Prota rubbed her eyes, trying to recover, only to find that there was a crown of flowers resting upon her head. A petal fell in front of her face as she breathed in, causing her to shake her head and sneeze. The petals fell all around her, landing on the ground in a perfect circle.

What? Where had this come from? Was Kit's power creating flowers?

She turned her head to see John nodding slowly, seemingly impressed.

"Hm. Pretty good," he said, his tone one of approval.

"Please," Kit scoffed. "As if you understood what happened just now."

Prota spun around to find Kit sitting on the ground behind her, holding a group of flower stems. When did she get there?

"What, you mean moving at slightly sub-light speeds to effectively stop time?" John shrugged. "We've had the theory of relativity on Earth for a while now."

Kit's eyes widened in curiosity. "You- does this have something to do with the 'science' you mentioned? How did you know?"

John shrugged. "I guessed."

Kit frowned.

"I mean, you summoned lightning and stuff. That's usually synonymous with speedsters. Speedsters tend to move so fast they stop time. Don't worry about it too much," John explained. "Wait, hold on. If you don't know about the Theory of Relativity, how did you figure this out?"

Kit smiled proudly. "Trial and error. Experimentation. Trying over and over until finding out what accomplished what. This is a spell few can use."

Prota was listening, but she was also staring intently at her hands. Trial and error. Experimentation. Creation.

The rules of the world.

What did her ability really do? The ability to absorb mana. The ability to copy magic. The ability to create brand new spells and manipulate mana freely. It made her strong. But was that really all there was to it?

"Prota. Do you understand?" Kit said softly, her tails vanishing. "That was lightning magic. And yet, what I did is almost unrelated to lightning. I simply connect that type of magic with speed, and that is what allows me to visualize what I did as "possible." As long as your brain can comprehend it… you will be able to do it."

[Your understanding of your creation ability increases]

[Level up! Creation: Lv 3]

The level-up messages were never consistent, but Prota wasn't thinking about that. As long as she could comprehend it, she could do it.

Wasn't that ability kind of like playing god?

"I see. You've figured it out already," Kit smiled.

She summoned a flame in her hands, the light dancing around in her eyes.

"The ability to freely manipulate mana is something that has traditionally been reserved for the Mystics, the dragons, and certain Heroes who chose to excel in magic. You, however… You are different. An irregularity in existence could almost be called an anomaly."

Prota looked down. Yeah. That was right. No matter what, she was always out of the norm.

Demon. Orphan. Alone.

"That's what makes you strong."

Prota looked back up to see Kit looking at her proudly. Right, she wasn't alone anymore. Her power was allowed her to protect John. She would bear the burden of demon, of monster, if it meant she would accomplish her goal.

"Prota. Your ability is something no one would have ever seen before. What you choose to do with it ultimately depends on you. Got it?"

Prota nodded. The ability to create and play god.

Something about that sounded familiar.

~~~

Breaker and Doctor were in a room full of large tubes filled with potion liquid. Inside were various disfigured corpses and flesh. Despite the gruesome scene, the room itself was quite clean and quiet, with stainless white walls and floors, a soft hum emitting from the electrical light that hung overhead.

Breaker didn't like this room, but Doctor didn't like being ordered around, so Breaker had to go to him.

"So you're telling me we should eliminate the coreless boy first?" Doctor said.

Breaker nodded. "Yes. While he's not strong, they seem to hold his opinion in high regard."

"Mm, alright."

Breaker frowned. "You're not questioning why?"

"I don't really care why, as long as you meet my one little request."

Breaker didn't like the way Doctor said that. "...which is what?"

"Capture him alive."

Breaker frowned. "You have dozens of test subjects already."

"Ah, but this one, my dear Breaker, is special. He's coreless. No mana."

Doctor opened his arms wide as if trying to embrace someone.

"Do you see all this, Breaker? Do you know what it takes to extract a soul?"

"...do I want to know?"

"The will to live. You need to remove it."

Breaker felt his heartbeat quicken. Did he really want to know this?

"Do you know why I put these people through this? It's fun, definitely, but I also believe it to be necessary. Because it is only when they've truly given up that we can use them properly."

Doctor's words didn't reflect his facial expression. He was grinning ear to ear, like a child on Christmas day.

"It's quite the art. You have to give them hope. "Maybe I can escape. Maybe I can live," they think in their cells. They feel fear. But that goes away, eventually, so you have to reignite it with pain. That, too, eventually goes away, so you have to do it in bursts. It's a long, slow burn, Breaker. But it's so delicious. They need to stop praying for escape. They need to start praying for death."

He walked up to a certain test tube with a relatively normal-looking dwarf, tracing his fingers on the glass.

"And even that needs to be removed. You need to remove the ability to feel. You need to give them a little bit of hope before burning it all away. No matter how much we try, we are beings of hope. And once all hope is gone, what is left?"

The man pushed a button, and the potion liquid began to drain.

"Pain and suffering. They need to struggle to the point of exhaustion, only to hope for death, but death will never come for them. Then, they snap. But no matter how much they break, they're still there, in their souls. And that's what makes them valuable, Breaker. A meat doll is of no use to me. A soul, on the other hand…"

"Hold on, you're telling me they're alive?" Breaker cried out. "I thought they died once they were extracted!"

"What? Of course. How do you think they're moving around?"

Breaker shuddered. Why was Doctor telling him all this? He didn't want to know this. He didn't like it.

Doctor didn't notice the discomfort of his subordinate.

"That boy… someone who is already hopeless, manaless… what will happen if I break him? What kind of toy will I get next? What kind of soul will I get? This is new. Exciting."

He giggled to himself.

"I can't wait to find out."

~~~

After Kit's speech, Prota felt like she understood her ability a bit better.

First, she was capable of seeing the mana around her a bit clearer. When casting spells, if she focused hard enough, she could see the movement of energy gathering to form spells. Different elements had different styles. Fire, for example, was fast and chaotic, while ice was slow but sharp.

As a result, her spells were capable of forming faster. Her Blossom and blue fire were no longer spells that took over a minute to prepare. They still took enormous amounts of mana, but they were far more practical than before.

Best of all, though, her new spell was capable of forming under her control. It took her nearly two minutes to make it even in calm conditions, but that wasn't the point.

It was under her control.

"You have to name it," Kit told her. "It's important."

"Yeah, for what?" John grumbled. "So she can yell its name out before casting it? That's real smart. Let your opponent know what you're gonna do, what a genius strategy."

"You're really hopeless, you know that?" Kit sighed, her ears drooping. "Really, if you were any less attractive, I wouldn't even consider letting you stay here."

"...what? Hey, why're we bringing my looks into this?"

Kit ignored him, her tail swishing back and forth.

"Mm, you've got potential. Unfortunately, I don't think it's possible to bring any of that potential out. You're quite average-looking. Not a single interesting thing about you."

"What the fuck- what, you're hanging around because I look decent?"

Kit winked, giving a flirtatious flick of her tail. John frowned and shook his head. She was getting into his head. She was winning. Dammit.

With John subdued, the Mystic continued.

"The name of a spell is important because it confirms what the user wanted it to be. If you have to picture the movement of mana every time you cast a spell, the time you'd take would be incredibly inefficient. You need a label to associate a certain movement of mana with."

Kit picked up a stick, tracing some words on the ground.

"Think of it like this. If I want to write the word "hello," I could do it one of two ways. I could think of the letter h, then e, then l, then l again, then o. Or, since I know the spelling, if I just think of the word 'hello,' then I could let my body do the rest. That is the basis of chanting."

John nodded. He was starting to get the idea of how this worked.

"Similarly, if you have a name you know will work for your spell, it'll be much easier to cast. The quality of the name doesn't matter. All that matters is that you know what it'll do. This is better than a full chant, but the principle is the same. Just because you can perform chantless casting doesn't mean you need to."

Prota nodded once, but she was stuck. She wasn't good at this sort of thing.

Name… name…

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of anything. In the first place, the name "Blossom of Ice" was pretty straightforward. It was a blossom that was made of ice. Besides, the name had been given to her back in the cave. What was this? A burning blossom of ice? That was a little too long.

"Prota. Think about the nature of the spell," her teacher said quietly. "What did you make? What do you feel when you cast that spell?"

Feel. She'd made the spell from the verge of unconsciousness. She thought back to that time. Her body was cold. Numb. She couldn't move. It was like she was freezing. Yet, at the same time, inside of her was a burning flame. A flaming desire. One to protect, to save.

Freezing. Burning.

"Frozen… frozen flame," Prota muttered.

[New user! Would you like to make a list of spells?]

This. It felt like the old system, not a voice speaking to her. She'd ask John later, only to learn that it was apparently to make the system feel more "gamelike." What this meant, and why he'd had such a look of disgust when saying so, she'd never know, but it did feel somewhat helpful.

He'd never known it would come in handy like this.

[Confirmation confirmed. Compiling list…]

[Spellbook: Blossom of Ice Frozen Flame]

"Blue fire?" Prota said, cocking her head to the side.

Why wasn't that there?

"I wouldn't say that blue fire is really a spell, per se," Kit said, misunderstanding Prota's question. "More like a better version of spells that already exist."

She'd answered the question, though. Blue fire wasn't a spell; it was simply a different state of an element that already existed. A hotter fire was still fire, no matter how you looked at it.

"What is… stronger ice?"

"Stronger ice… dunno," Kit shrugged. "I've never really looked into ice magic."

That was disappointing, but things were going well. New spells. New abilities.

What was next?

~~~

Prota would continue to play around with her spells for another week, but unlike before, she was no longer bored. It was odd to see her enjoying herself with such a blank look on her face, but she responded positively when asked about it, so she was definitely enjoying it to some extent.

Interestingly enough, she was also far more comfortable with Kit than she'd been before. She was opening up. Good. But she wasn't fully healed. Her trauma was still there. John had noticed that while she was better at hiding it, her fear of other people was still there.

He thought back to her past. She was afraid of killing others by accident, and she was scared of being hurt. She didn't want to touch others, and she didn't want to be touched. He was an exception, and so was Kit while she was in her fox form, but still…

John sighed as he walked towards the guild building. It'd get resolved eventually.

"Ah, hello," Katheryn said as John approached the desk. "Are you here to check on the remaining applicants?"

"Yeah. Can I take a look?"

"Of course."

He was alone today, leaving Prota to practice with Kit. She didn't like it when they were separated, but it was only for a little bit, so she'd be fine.

"Hm… Kenina, Azar and Cyrus…"

They had last names written down, but John didn't care about that. He just needed to be able to identify his targets.

"Good to know… and there won't be any others, right?"

"That is correct. The roster has been filled."

John nodded and turned around.

"Good to know."

He walked slowly, muttering to himself as he pushed the door open. He knew the way back to the forest, so he wasn't paying attention to where he was going as he walked down the streets.

He was too busy thinking.

Prota wanted to protect him. But in her current state, the most she could protect him from were monsters and petty attackers that held no significance.

Monsters might be strong, but a strong monster could be dealt with.

A tricky person, on the other hand, was far, far harder to deal with. Someone with a working brain would always be more of a monster than any beast.

John was deep into the forest now, and with nobody around, he pulled out his gun and checked the barrel, wiping the metal down with his scarf, observing his reaction in the reflection. He raised the weapon and took aim, firing off one single round into a tree trunk.

Monsters were better off dead. Fate wouldn't strike first. Prota… well, there was no need to make her do the dirty work.

"Hm…" John shook out the casing and slid in a fresh bullet, spinning the barrel before cowboying it back in.

In the end, the person best suited to killing people was him, after all.

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