Familiar Presence

We are into a corner, defending ourselves from the squad captain’s attacks.

Sergey is growing exhausted, thus dwindling the barrier.

“Sergey, ease off the shield!”

Jericho might have a plan.

The minotaur stops concentrating his magick on the barrier, and the pale lady rushes towards us with her aqua spear.

I try to stop her with my fire fist.

Unfortunately, her spear washes my flames upon contact.

I’m forced to retreat.

She doesn’t hesitate to kill, attempting to stab her spear into me.

Jericho assists me, throwing rocks at her.

He hits her spear, then targets her feet.

While her attention is on those rocks, I take this opportunity to strike.

I charge towards her with scorching fists.

She notices me, but she doesn’t have enough time to react.

The attack succeeds.

Or so I thought.

I thrust into her chest.

Her entire body melts into a puddle, and an aquatic spear rests near my shoulder.

An army of our squad captain places their spears at my teammates too.

I should’ve known this would happen.

A squad captain wouldn’t let herself be defeated that easily.

“You three worked well.”

She lays down her spear.

“Come back here tomorrow. Our first mission begins.”

“You mean to say that was it? What’s the point of this to begin with?” Jericho asks.

I’m just as confused as he is.

“To test your skills, what else?”

“I think she’s trying to emphasize that we need to work as a team if we want to succeed.” Sergey comments.

That would make sense.

It looks like I did learn something after all.

Something about this reminds me of my previous life, working at that grocery store.

Dealing with customers, working together with the cashier as the grocery clerk, and vice-versa when the roles were reversed.

I remember teamwork being applied, but this feels more intuitive.

Sergey protected us with his barrier, Jericho opened a gap for an opportunity to strike, and I took it.

“What’s our first mission?” I ask.

“I told you guys that your nobility means nothing on the battlefield. However, there are contradictions to that notion if you can apply fear to morale.”

“Fear? How?”

My brows raise.

“Let’s use Akimitsu as an example. He’s a formidable knight, and a valuable one. His title alone, the Beast of the Eight Clouds, is enough to strike fear to all neighboring kingdoms.”

“Is he really that strong?” Jericho asks.

She nods.

“Yes, as much as I hate to admit that. He is incredibly strong. Stronger than you think. His unique bloodline and affinity mastery defeated an entire army of one-hundred thousand. This was done all by himself.”

I can vouch that feat.

I saw him beat Rin to a pulp.

Remembering him ridicule me still haunts me.

Frankly, it irks me to hurt him when he least expects it.

But I need more power.

As much as I hate to admit, Rin is stronger than me.

When I gain that power, I will put him to his place where he belongs.

“You want us to build our names. How do we do that?”

“I’ll explain in more detail tomorrow. For the time being, enjoy the day however you like.”

“So…do we head back to our class, or do we actually have the day for ourselves?”

Jericho makes a point.

If Rosaria says to enjoy the day, then I’m going to do just that.

What else do we have to learn from class?

More history?

“I’m heading back to my dorm.”

Sergey murmurs some words I cannot understand.

“What about you, Jericho?”

“I think I’ll do the same too.”

He walks alongside me.

His presence somehow brings warmth to my heart.

Why do I allow this?

Why does this man bring me comfort?

What makes him so different from the rest?

He can’t be…

“H-Have…”

I’m at a loss for words.

“Hm?”

“Have you ever had that feeling when you've seen someone somewhere?”

His brows raise, and he arches a smile.

“Oh, most definitely! I know that feeling all too well!”

His reaction suddenly makes me giggle.

I can’t explain why.

Eventually, I just had a smile on my face the entire time as we continued to our dorms.

His company certainly brought comfort.

Our eyes were glued to each other, and we continued to gaze at each other until we parted ways.

My desire for him to stay lingered in my heart.

How long have I missed this feeling of being wanted, to be acknowledged by someone with a pure heart.

I can’t wait for tomorrow to see Jericho again.

Lucky for me, it looks like I have the room all to myself.

Who knows where my roommate went…but that doesn’t matter…

I went to my closet and changed; however, I stopped.

My peripheral vision caught a shadowy figure to the left.

I am immediately alerted, my fist engulfs in flames (of course I gave myself some room—I didn’t want my clothes to catch on fire).

“Who are you?!”

The intruder walks closer, revealing themselves from the shadows.

Her long strands of hair and outfit blended well in the darkness, so it was difficult to detect her with the naked eye.

Hell, I’m surprised I didn’t pick up any magick presence from her at all.

“Thou carries a wound in the heart, thus I waited and spawned from thy call.”

I have no clue what she is talking about.

“I am called Amarith. A messenger from thy wound heart.”

She opens her eyes.

So beautiful…it glows like the moon…

“Should I refer thee as Juliana or Jennifer?”

I almost become speechless, but I catch my composure.

“How do you know that?!”

“A messenger, I mentioned. What doth thee wish to be called?”

Her speech pattern irritates me, protesting any longer would keep us here forever, so I answer her.

“You can call me whatever you want!”

“If thou remember the life as Juliana, should I continue to refer thee as Jennifer?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hast thou ever wonder wherefore thy life spawns into anew? A reincarnation, mentioned by thee.”

How long have I spent in this world?

I don’t remember.

But at last, I finally found the person with answers.

I hope to intimidate her with my fire, but a sudden migraine throbs into my head.

The pain grows, and visions of an unfamiliar life blinds my sight.

I don’t recall these events.

“What did you do to me?”

“Thou art slowly remembering the life of Juliana. What if I told thee of thy former life hast entered into another instead of reincarnating? All to preserve thy former soul.”

Then these memories are…

“You’re telling me I didn’t reincarnate at all? I-I’m…I’m…”

I hate to admit it, but from what I am experiencing…

We can’t stay in this world.

“Doth thou—”

“How do we get out of this world?!”

The longer she speaks makes me go insane.

I can’t handle it anymore.

The pain won’t go away.

How long would this transformation last, I don’t know, but my heart is beating really fast.

“The task is simple. Slay the Destroyer of All Worlds.”

“What?”

It’s like a generic isekai plot where the main character reincarnates into another world and has to defeat the demon king to return to their previous life.

“Unfortunately, as much as I wish to direct thee to the target, the All-Creator limits my abilities as the messenger. Should I defy him, thy comrades and thy life may be in danger as a whole. All according to the Destroyer’s desire.”

Why would this so-called “Destroyer” want us to live in a fake life that would eat us from the inside?

“So answer me this, why are you telling me this? And why choose me of all people?”

“I merely choose arbitrarily. This message is up to thee. Should thou keep thy tongue to thyself? Or spread the message among her fallen comrades?”

She slowly vanishes into the darkness, my question left unsatisfied, but my goal strengthens.

I know what I must do.