Promise

Their hideout was inside the library, specifically, in a hidden room. When we got there, every single door was locked, but luckily, Yuno had already pulled the passcode from the professor’s memories. Their technology surprised me; it was similar to the security system we had back in my original world, but only powered by magic. It was strange seeing a fantasy world with modern technology.

Once inside the library, we took a moment to look around. This was my first time setting foot in the library, and I hadn’t realized just how massive it was. The ceiling stretched impossibly high with multiple floors towering above us, and the rows of bookshelves felt endless, vanishing into the shadows like a forest of paper and wood. We followed behind Yuno as he moved with purpose, weaving through the shelves until he stopped in front of one pressed against the far wall.

“This is it,” he said flatly.

“Is it behind the bookshelf?” I asked, scanning the rows of dusty spines.

“Yeah. From his memories, he used negative mana to unlock it. Yakusei, you see that little X mark etched on the wood? Channel negative mana into it.”

“Okay.”

I pressed my palm against the shelf and let my mana flow into the mark. Immediately, a low rumble echoed through the library floor. The bookshelf trembled and then began to sink, groaning as it lowered into the ground and uncovered a narrow stone hallway. The air that escaped was cold and stale, tinged with dust and damp stone. The passage stretched long and dark, with only a few flickering torches providing faint light. As we stepped inside, the bookshelf rose back into place behind us with a heavy thud, sealing off the exit.

Walking down that corridor set my nerves on edge. Every footstep echoed too loudly, and with the faint torchlight, the shadows clung to the walls like they were watching us. I half-expected something to leap out at any moment. At the end of the hallway, a simple wooden door stood waiting. There were no ominous symbols, no glowing wards, just a door.

“This is it.”

We exchanged glances, then reached for the handle. I hesitated with my hand on the handle, bracing myself for what might be waiting. Corpses of the missing students? Piles of ash? Maybe some sinister altar dedicated to the Demon King? I wasn’t ready, but at least I knew everyone had my back. The door swung open and froze.

It was plain and empty…

It couldn’t have been bigger than a high school classroom. The walls were lined with empty bookshelves, and a few candles gave the space a weak, uneven glow. That was it. No ritual circles, no tools of sacrifice, not even a stack of papers, just emptiness. For a group called the Demon Worshippers, I expected something elaborate, something terrifying. Instead, it felt almost disappointing, like we’d stumbled into a forgotten storage room. Still, it couldn’t be this simple. There had to be more.

“Yuno, did you find anything else in his memories?” I asked.

“I found out that the three remaining professors were the last members of the group,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. “But as for their hideout, I only pulled the entry method and a glimpse of their meetings. Nothing beyond that.”

“You didn’t find out about anything else?”

“My ability only lets me extract so much before the memories fall apart. I had to focus on things we needed at the moment.

“Damn, that sucks.”

“So what do we do now?” Hinabi asked.

“We wait,” Tsubaki said firmly. “They’ll come here eventually. And when they do, we ambush them.”

“Ambush?” Yuno frowned. “I thought we were going to fight them head-on?”

“Why take the dangerous option?” Tsubaki shot back. “Fighting them openly would be reckless.”

“'Cause it’s fun.”

“Definitely not,” Tsubaki said flatly.

Eventually, we hammered out a plan: once the professors arrived, Akiko would nullify their attacks while the rest of us overwhelmed them. We’d try to knock them out before they could self-destruct. I’d go first since I could suppress my mana and strike without being noticed. Once I landed the first blow, we’d all turn on the others. With the plan set, we waited.

Every passing second wound my nerves tighter. The professors had absorbed blessings from students. That much we knew. But there was no way they could’ve taken more than one each. A body couldn’t handle more than two ascended elements, let alone multiple blessings. Even knowing that, I couldn’t shake the unease.

Finally, the doorknob rattled. My pulse spiked.

It’s time.

As the door opened, I launched forward, choosing not to use Split Step since that would tip them off. Face-to-face with the first professor, I moved too fast for him to react. My fist connected with his jaw, and he crumpled instantly. The second professor leapt back, charging mana for a counterattack.

“Akiko! Nullify her blessing!” I shouted.

But instead of unleashing some divine ability, the professor only fired a basic mana blast. Akiko waved her hand, snuffing it out like it was nothing.

Why wasn’t she using the blessing? It doesn’t matter; we can take them out once and for all.

Everyone lunged. The professor was swarmed, her body battered by blows, thrown around like a rag doll. She barely got a chance to fight back before collapsing under the weight of fists and kicks.

But then—

The professor I’d knocked out began to glow.

“Akiko! He’s lighting up!”

“I’m not it,” she replied. As she took her first step towards him, we heard a

SNAP

We all froze. The glow vanished as his neck twisted with an unnatural crack. His body slumped lifelessly to the floor.

SNAP

Whipping back to the other professor, we saw her neck had snapped too. She dropped like a puppet with its strings cut, eyes glassy. The silence was suffocating; we were all shocked by their deaths.

“…Was this their new way of suicide?” Tsubaki asked quietly.

“It must be,” Kenta said grimly. “They must’ve known we could nullify their explosions.”

“That doesn’t make sense, though,” I said. “We never did that trick till a few hours ago. And even then, he tried to blow himself up.”

“Maybe he wasn’t in on it,” Yuno suggested with a shrug. “Either way, that’s the end of them. Looks like we win.”

“…Yeah,” I said, though the word felt hollow.

A few days had passed, and I still couldn’t get what happened out of my mind. Everything just felt too strange; it felt like we were able to defeat them way too easily. For something a deity had to warn me about in my dreams, it didn’t make sense for them to go down that easily. Especially since he used his last message to warn me of them. On top of that, how was the guy who was knocked out able to kill himself like that? Either he secretly woke up, or someone else was controlling him. Either way, this whole situation seemed suspicious. No matter how much I turned it over, it didn’t make sense. But with no new curses or attacks happening, I had no choice but to accept the victory, no matter how wrong it felt.

From that day forward, we all focused on training, with no more distractions, and the tournament slowly approached. We all wanted to get stronger. Haruki and Tsubaki occasionally joined me and Akiko, and on those days, we’d all grab food together at the dining hall after. Then they’d split off while Akiko and I trained into the night.

It became our routine, so natural that I barely noticed how much time we spent together. The more time I spent with her, the fonder I grew. She wasn’t just a partner; I was lucky to have found a friend like her. At least, that’s what I thought, until a conversation with Haruki made me second-guess myself.

“Hey, we’re like totally best friends, right?” Haruki asked one day.

“Huh, why do you ask?”

“Tsubaki was teasing me for not having many friends, so I told her you were my best friend. She laughed in my face. So, what do you think?”

“I mean, we’re friends, but I would have to say that Akiko would be my closest friend.”

I felt kind of bad telling that to Haruki, especially because of how close we were. Because I had lived with him, I naturally got close to him. He would constantly act like an idiot around me, so that was amusing, and he would always try to talk to me. He was a really close friend of mine, but I had to be honest and tell him that I was closer to Akiko.

“But that’s your girlfriend, though, so it doesn’t count.”

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah, like you’re dating her.”

“I’m not though…”

…

“You’re not?”

“No.”

…

“Huh?! But you two are constantly together and stuff.”

“Yeah, training. She’s a good partner.”

“But don’t you feel happy when you’re around her?”

“I mean, yeah, but doesn’t that mean we’re just good friends. Like how I feel happy when I’m around you.”

“Aw, thank,s man. But anyway,” Haruki sighed dramatically. “Yakusei, you poor man. You don’t know the first thing about romance.”

“Not really, no. My love life in my old world wasn’t exactly… alive.”

“Then don’t worry, friend, I’ll guide you through your feelings.”

“My feelings?”

“Yup.”

“I don’t know, I don’t think there’s much ot unpack.”

“Just trust me, I’ll find something.”

“Okay then, I trust you. So where do we start?”

“First, tell me what you think about Akiko.”

“I mean, she's nice.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, I like being around her, and she’s kind of silly.”

“Silly?”

“She has this habit of accidentally insulting me when she’s trying to compliment me.”

“Uhm, are you sure she’s not just bullying you?”

“It may look like it at first, but her insults are never intentional. She would be trying to compliment me or say something about me, and it would come off as an insult.”

“And being insulted is fun?”

“No, it’s the fact that I know that she doesn’t mean it is funny. And when I call her out on it or pretend to be hurt, she would immediately get embarrassed and apologize. Every time she does, it makes me a little happy.”

“Mhm. And when she’s flustered like that, would you say she’s… cute?”

“Cute? Like a cat?”

“No, I mean like, does she glow? Become more attractive?”

I pictured her embarrassed face, cheeks pink, eyes darting away while she stumbled over an apology. Something twisted in my stomach, not unpleasant, but unfamiliar. My voice cracked as I muttered, “I guess… You could say that.”

“So you do think she’s cute.”

“I—yeah, I guess.”

“Seems like I’ve discovered something amazing!” he sprang up from his seat and exclaimed. “You, sir, may like Akiko.”

“What, how do you know?”

“Just look at yourself right now. Case closed.”

“You sure that means I like her? I think it was just that I was getting embarrassed answering a question like that.”

“Maybe, but who knows? He struggled. You two do seem really close.”

“Hm… maybe. But I’m not really sure if that means we’re dating, though. But thanks for… whatever you were doing though.”

“Of course, any time. I’m like a professional at this.”

“Your romantic life must be crazy since you know so much about this then.”

“Uhm… yeaaaah. Sure,” he said with a blank smile.

I wasn’t convinced, but his words stuck with me. And sometimes, when it was just me and Akiko training, I’d catch myself thinking about it or even taking an extra glance at her. Maybe he was right. Our bond felt special, like I could trust her more than anyone else. But I didn’t want to overthink it. Not with the tournament looming. As much as I did like her, I couldn’t afford to be distracted. Especially since this could determine our survival.

The day of the tournament arrived.

It was held far from the academy, so carriages had been arranged to carry us there. The tournament would be split into three groups, each producing a winner. The groups fought in separate arenas, and we’d stay at our assigned location until the competition ended.

Luckily, Akiko, Yuno, and I were in the same tournament, so I had at least one person to hang out with while I wasn’t fighting. When we arrived, a massive colosseum dominated the landscape, with a tall building nearby that would serve as our dorms. Each room held two people, and we were free to choose our roommates. Akiko and I immediately agreed to room together. Yuno found a friend of his, which was surprising. But honestly, I thought he’d scared off everyone with his habit of picking fights. I would've expected him to randomly pick a fight with them like he did with me throughout these months. I only accepted his fights when I felt like sparring, but on the other days, Kenta had to take my spot in fighting him, and he would always apologize for the inconvenience. Both of them were really capable, so I always stayed ot watch their fights. I knew that I had a chance at fighting them, so I wanted to watch how they fought.

That first day was just settling in. Later, they explained the rules: each group was broken into brackets. Matches were single-round eliminations. If you lose once, then you are out. Defeat was declared when one fighter was knocked unconscious. Losers would be sent back to the academy immediately.

When the brackets were revealed, I saw that Yuno and I were on the same side, while Akiko was placed on the opposite. side: Meaning the only way I’d face her was if I made it to the finals and defeated everyone, including Yuno.

“Looks like we’re in the same group,” Yuno said, smirking. “Don’t you dare lose. I want a real fight, not just another spar.”

“Right back at you. I still haven’t gotten my revenge for that time you ambushed me.”

“You’re still mad at that?”

“Who wouldn’t be!?”

“Then you’d better not lose before I get my chance,” he said, already scanning the board. “Anyway, I’m off.”

“Why?”

“I need to look for my opponent.”

“What? Your fight isn’t till tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but I want to see if this is worth getting excited for.”

I shook my head as he disappeared.

Then Akiko tugged at my sleeve. Her eyes were softer than usual, almost timid. “Hey. Don’t lose to him, okay? I want to fight you in the finals. Especially after our last match ended in a draw.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t. Just promise me you’ll do the same.”

She didn’t answer right away. Instead, she held up her pinky. I smiled, knowing exactly what to do next. I hooked mine around hers, sealing the promise.

“This means you have to promise that you’ll win too,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said with a smile.

“And if you break that promise… I won’t tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

“I can’t say. Not yet.”

“Huh!? You can’t bring something up and not tell me.”

“I’ll tell you… eventually,” she said, smiling faintly.

“When’s eventually?”

“When we fight each other. If you make it that far, you’ll have earned it.”

“You’re going to make me wait that long?”

“Yup. So don’t you dare lose.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I promised you, didn’t I?”

She smirked. “You’ve broken a promise to me before.”

“What!? What promise did I break?”

“Remember when you said you’d always tell me what you were going through? Then you didn’t.”

“Oh yeah… that’s only because—”

“Nope. Broken promise. End of story.”

“Wait! That doesn’t count! We didn’t do the pinky thing back then.”

“Why?”

“We never did the pinky thing, so yeah. I never broke a big promise with you.”

She paused, considering whether to accept my excuse or not. “…Fair point. Then I’ll trust this one.”

“I trust you too,” I said with a grin. “Let’s give it our all tomorrow.”

Her cheeks reddened slightly as she nodded. “Yeah. Let’s.”