Side Effect

“Hey… hey. Wake up.” Alet shakes Io’s body.

“Uhh… what’s up Alet? I’m still tired…” His eyes barely opens.

“It’s time for training. This is our last match.”.

“Training? Oh right, the last match. But, her eyes… still glowing a little. Better stops her.”.

“Are you coming or not? Can’t wait to try the training demo.”.

“Umm… Alet, can’t we just rest for today? You know… Watching TV or playing some video games… I’m not feeling it today.”.

“That is very unusual. Usually you are full of spirit before our match. What’s wrong?” Alet is confused.

“Nothing really. I think a day break might be a good idea. There is still a week anyway before our last match.”.

“Hmmm… Okay. I think you are right. A day break is what we might need. Very well then, I’ll be playing some games on my laptop.”.

“Okay… I’ll go back to sleep.”.

Before Io can close his eyes, Alet yanks his blanket and forces him to wake up.

“No no. You have to help me to defeat this difficult boss.”.

“Heeee…! But your character is already overpowered. I always help you with one or two healing spells and with a blink of an eye the boss is already defeated.” Whines Io.

“Yes. But since you are in your season, I have to keep an eye on you. No alone time.” She quickly folded the blanket and made the bed.

“Hey! I’m not going to do anything weird. Besides I never-”.

“Shush now and go take a bath. I will prepare your laptop as well.”.

“What is this? Is this also the side effect? Phew whatever, at least she didn’t touch the dueling field.” Io walk toward the bathroom.

The side effect after being born back from the afterlife realm might vary from person to person. Some of them become reckless, fearless people, and some of them gain calming personalities. If a person becomes frenzied, he or she will become bloodlust and looking for a way to get into a fight. Some of the frenzy people sometimes walk outside from the Living Circle to fight anything they can find. Wild beasts and their special curses are the only enemy outside the living circle.

After Io done taking a shower, they started playing the game. It’s a co-op game where you fight a difficult and unfair boss. There is also an achievement for those who can beat the game without dying. But Io and Alet do not really care about it since they aim to have some fun together. After an intense four hours they finally beat the boss that Alet mentioned earlier.

“Damn what a boss. Who made this game anyway.” Alet eye brows are meeting each other.

“Well that is the part where it gets fun.” Io gets up and stretches his body upward.

“Yeah, you are right. Okay… what now?”.

“We go for a walk? There are some malls that I want to explore.”.

“Uh huh… Wait… I just noticed… Since when did you wear those hot pants?”.

“Oh this? I found it online. They were on sale a few weeks ago. What do you think? Does it look good on me?”.

“Hmmm… yes, it does look good on you” “So CUTE!” Alet screaming inside her head.

“Thanks! Okay, let's head to the mall.”.

Inside the mall, they did some shopping and grabbed some lunch. They spend almost the entire day there.

“That was fun, we should go there again sometime.” Says Io as he unlocked the apartment.

“I agree, okay let's get some rest and prepare for our last match in the tournament.”.

“About that… What about we do that tomorrow? I still want to refresh my mind from it.”.

“Alright, what is happening here? Why are you trying to avoid anything related to our last match?” Her voice sounds angry.

“Look Alet… I like your spirit to prepare for that match but there is something I’m afraid of.”.

“Well, what is it?”.

“After we get back from the afterlife realm in our last match, I can see that you activate peak during that match. Ever since then, your eyes have not stopped glowing until now. This condition is pretty dangerous. If you get into combat for a long period of time, you might go into a frenzy.” Explains Io.

“So you want me to stay at home and do nothing about our last match? You know that is not going to happen.”.

“Yes, but please Alet. This is for your own good. So please--”.

“You know what. If you want to sit still here you can do it. But tomorrow I’m still going to go training with or without you.” Her tone still rises up.

Alet went to the bathroom to get some baths. Io is trying to find a way to stop her but he is running out of ideas.

The next morning Io found out that Alet is not at home. He quickly took a bath and rushed toward the dueling field in Quinn University. There he found a lot of students gathering around the field. He found Ms. Claire also watching from the spectator seat.

“Ms. Claire! What is happening here?”.

“Io, there you are. Alet is offering a challenge to every student from Intermediate to Expert class with a good amount of reward if they manage to defeat her.”.

“Oh no, no. This has to be stopped.”.

“Hmmm? Why? Aren’t you going to join her team?”.

“Yes and no, how many students are already up for her challenge?” Asked Io as his face shows a panic expression.

“Hmmm… let's see. Now, the fourth team is already getting prepared.”.

“FOURTH!? Ms. Claire, can you please stop this challenge? Something bad is going to happen if this challenge continues.”.

“That’s- I’m sorry Io, but principal Shepherd is also watching this match. He likes to see how strong Alet become and he wants to observe as many fight possible.”,

“What? Why?”.

“He says that this data could be used to improve the university quality.”.

Hearing Ms. Claire answer, Io can’t do anything to stop this fight either. He walks outside the dueling field and makes a phone call inside the main building.

“Hello, Flyn.”.

“Yes? What happened Io?”.

“Can you reschedule our last match with Reine as soon as possible?”.

“What? That is impossible. Wait, why do you sound so scared?”.

“Alet. She challenged every student from the Intermediate class to Expert class to fight against her. I think she is doing this to get prepared for that last match.”.

“Huh!? Are you serious? She does it all by herself?”.

“Yes. I woke up this morning and found out that Alet had already left the apartment. I just get this information after asking Ms. Claire what happened in the dueling field.”.

“Not good. Okay, I will try to reschedule your match with Reine. I will let you know for any updates.”.

“Thank you Flyn. I owe you a lot.”.

“Don’t mention it. Just keep an eye toward Alet okay?”.

“Will do.”.

Io closed his phone and went to the nearest bathroom. He uses his shape shifting ability to blend with other Capla students. After changing his appearance, he heads to the dueling field to watch over Alet. He has to do this since he doesn't want to rise Alet’s temper where it is going to sped up frenzy even more. After about an hour, the challenge still continues. Io is getting more and more anxious looking at the fight. Alet is getting stronger, she outnumbered every single pair that fought against her. A message enters Io’s phone.

“Hey, I want to let you know that your match is already rescheduled to be tomorrow. I hope Alet can manage her temper before the match. If she gets into a frenzy, it can be dangerous for you and everyone around her. Good luck for tomorrow, I hope everything will be alright.”.

“Flyn you really are the best. Okay, now I just need to manage Alet’s temper until tomorrow comes.” Io felt relieved but also worried at the same time.