Let's Fight!

The reality really started to sink in for me when we faced directly across them.

Their side had four people. Bune’ari. Johann. Alex. And another beast-kin I didn't know the name of. His main characteristic was that he was huge.

While on my side, I had myself, Piper, and Uriel.

For some reason, I didn’t like our chances considering the beastkin staring daggers at me was 150% of my size!

“We both know you’re not good enough to stand up against me,” Alexandria said, brushing away her thin dirty blonde hair from her cone of vision.

“Look, if it gets you to stop escalating then okay—I’m weak!” I pleaded.

“Oh, nonono." She smashed her fist into her open palm. For a young girl, she sure had some muscles put on! "It just makes it all the sweeter once I see you writhing on the ground.”

Shit!

Where were the rest of the nuns when you needed them?

Oh, right. Morning mass. 

Figures!

Damn you, Posteria!!

Johann sighed. “Who exactly is umpiring this match-up?”

“Don’t know, you tell me,” Piper said. “You guys are the ones who are taking things too far.”

“Suppose whoever has the balls to punch first, huh?” Alex quipped.

A crowd that must have consisted of every kid from the orphanage was gathering. I hadn’t even noticed at first, but now they spilled out across the gravel. Some called Alexandria’s name. Some Piper’s!

If there's a rift between factions in the same orphanage, and it's because of my silence, my cowardice…

I felt that familiar surge inside of me again.

~Negotiation Skill: Strategic Concession!~

“Alex, please! You win, okay? You win. Can we please talk through what exactly I did wr—”

“Nah,” Alexandria snarled. “We settle this here or we don’t settle this at all!”

SKILL FAILED!

Alex proceeded to charge right at me! I don’t even know what spell involved the act of physically moving toward someone!

Still, I kept my distance—barely. I moved as fast as I could, sure, but calling it graceful would’ve been generous.

Then I got a closer look at what she summoned.

It was a conjured weapon!

“Where’s your bravado at, elf?!” she shouted with wild eyes.

She lunged again, blade-first. I ducked, barely avoiding the swipe, the heat of her magic whistling past my ear.

What else could I do?! Think!

Right! Martha’s advice from earlier! She always said drawing magic physically made it stronger. Rooted it... gave it form.

And I had already proven I could cast fire.

I just needed space. Enough distance to breathe, to focus, to aim.

Idly, I spotted Piper slipping and sliding between two of them. If anyone could handle a two-on-one, it’d be her. Despite her long frame, she moved with startling agility—ducking under a swipe of claws, twisting past a flurry of flame orbs.

But even then…

Piper was tiring. Her tailwork was growing heavier. It was clear to me she couldn’t keep this up forever.

"RAU!!"

Elsewhere, Uriel was squaring off with the salamander-kin. Of all of us, she was the closest to holding her ground. Every movement was calculated.

But there was no ignoring the obvious—the raw strength of a teenage boy outmatched her, and each blocked blow pushed her back a little more.

Right then, the most unexpected thing appeared.

Out of the corner of my eye, someone had decided to join in the fun.

“Cease this!”

That verbal demand came just before the blast; a violent, howling thing! We tried to stand up only to be slammed back down!

Blearily, I tried to guess at who could've intervened, hoping and praying it wasn't a guard who decided to barge in thanks to our ruckus...! 

Lo and behold, it was Daisy. Or should I say… Malmitres?

Okay, so she seemed to have three modes.

First: moody and cute with just enough anxiety to make it endearing.

Second: half-corrupted, eerily composed, with a penchant for murder threats.

And third—thankfully rare—fully Malmitres, memories intact, power unchecked.

Blessedly, she definitely seemed less unhinged this time around, even though she demonstrated this surge of power. 

Right now she was somewhere between modes two and one.

“Why are you doing this?” Daisy demanded. “We’re supposed to be family.”

Alexandria’s voice snapped back. “When a Crystal is trying to actively sabotage and manipulate Mother Martha into doing his bidding… yeah, why wouldn’t that be cause for concern?”

“He saved me,” she said. “He could’ve walked away. Let me rot. And no one would've blamed him.”

Alexandria’s boots shifted in the dirt. “How do you know he isn’t just fattening you up for something worse?”

A gust of wind slammed into her like a divine slap. She skidded backwards, boots carving trenches into the soil.

“What does someone gain from saving a worthless, pitiful thing?” Her lips curled. “Nothing. He saved me anyway.”

I searched desperately for the sarcastic girl within her eyes, but came up with nothing. And that’s when I noticed a shift in Daisy’s attention.

It was a cheap shot at my character; she had to have known that. But that little bit of doubt hit harder than I would have liked… because just for a moment, her wind faltered.

And that was all Alexandria needed.

The girl rolled fast and low. Came up on one knee, something glowing and blue forming in her hands.

An icicle-looking projectile that was struggling to form!

Daisy’s eyes widened, her arms trembling as she willed the wind to hold.

"Give up!!" Alex cried. "Let me do what is necessary!"

"NEVER!"

But in that heartbeat between the spell breaking, their dialogue, and the strike forming, I felt something within me shift.

Heat stirred in my chest. Confidence bloomed.

I was manifesting what I’d been building in preparation for this exact scenario the whole time. 

That, if that icicle launched, I was ready. It helped to plan ahead well in advance!

~Ultimate Crystal Power: White Flame!!~

The spell burst from my hand; searing, blinding!

And it slammed straight into Alexandria’s abdomen.

“ARGH!!!!!”

The blast lifted her clean off her feet.

Her body flew backwards and crashed into the courtyard wall.

CRACK!!

Dust exploded around the bricks she slammed into.

I don’t think I will ever forget the sound as she slid back onto the snowy ground.

Even if Alex was our enemy and the one that started this, she didn’t deserve a life full of injuries. 

As I was running toward the girl, I saw a shape charged into the edge of my vision.

Daisy didn’t hesitate to act first. 

Her hands hovered just inches above the scorched fabric of Alexandria’s shirt.

Soft red light began to bloom from her fingertips. It was messy... but the intent was there.

The girl’s pressed her hands down gently as the glow deepened in sync with Alexandria’s shallow, ragged breaths.

Alexandria coughed blood a couple times throughout all that... but she was alive.

In any other world—one with physics that actually made sense—that girl should’ve been dead.
Thank god people were built sturdier here.

[SALARYMAN STATUS SCREEN]

[The Orphanage] Reputation gain! +20; Reputation loss! -10

New status unlocked! The Neighborhood Drifter

DESCRIPTION: People here are unsure of what to make of you. You've done good and bad alike, and you lean into neither extreme.

NOT HELPFUL, MALMAGOS!!

Comically on cue, I heard the shuffling of footsteps and the chafing of fabric from the doorway into the courtyard

The nuns were back!

“By Posteria, Mother Matron!”

Some of the nuns had gasped as if she’d just walked in on a massacre. They only scanned the courtyard once to pin their eyes squarely at me. 

Cue the dramatics.

“You,” one of them snapped, voice sharp. “All of you! Yes, Johann, even you! You all will come to the Head Office. You will not argue.”

Well, I wasn’t going to argue with that judgement, despite my impendent misfortunes.

I probably deserved it.