Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: I Hate Training (2)
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“Teacher.”
“Ah, you're here.”
Unlike before, the staff room was perfectly ordinary—no cauldron, no hazy smoke. Ray Meyer waved her hand in response to Zenon's greeting.
“Where'd all that stuff from earlier go?”
“To another space.”
The same staff room, but another space? It was impossible to make sense of it. On top of that, adapting to her attitude—which was completely opposite from the Leysha I knew—was no easy feat.
“...But I've got a question.”
“What is it?”
“That time you came to me crying—was that for real?”
I could still picture Leysha's face, sobbing pitifully in my arms. Her nose running, her eyes and face flushed bright red... that person was Ray Meyer. I frowned at the sheer dissonance for a moment, but Ray Meyer opened her mouth with utter nonchalance.
“Yeah.”
“Huh?”
“People cry sometimes. Can't a Top Hero shed a few tears?”
“...No, it's not that, but...”
“Inside the academy, in front of anyone who's not you two, I'm still the airheaded 'Leysha.' Plus, you didn't even know I was Ray Meyer back then, so of course it was sincere.”
Why go to such lengths just to become an academy professor? Sure, she'd said it was 'just because,' but no matter how I thought about it, it didn't add up.
“Anyway, I suppose I should explain why I had you coming to me after school every day.”
“...You're not talking about that thing from when we were kids, are you?”
“That's exactly it.”
“Sigh...”
Zenon looked puzzled by our private exchange, but he swallowed a groan upon seeing his own darkening expression. It was the first time I'd seen him look so unwell. From what he'd told me, this was probably about whatever she was going to put me through next. What on earth could provoke a reaction like that?
No sooner had the worry crossed my mind than Ray Meyer spoke up.
“I heard Aisha fought villains in B District, and the unidentified villain you ran into in A District was Hera Carmen. I don't know the details of the fight, but I also heard you have enough skill to buy time against her and get away.”
“...Yeah.”
“You know that if things stay like this, one sudden ambush from them and you'll die without even screaming, right? Hate to say it as someone who used to know the Carmen family, but most of them are twisted in one way or another.”
I nodded limply, and Ray Meyer let out a hum, as if pondering something.
“...Anyway, you've got a decent level of skill, so no need to drill you the same way as Zenon. Better to train you two differently.”
“Training?”
“The club's basic goal is to turn students into heroes aiming for greater heights.”
But it was hard to imagine her actually training anyone. Her ability was magic—I got the cauldron-filled space and teleportation, but it was all so abstract that I couldn't picture exactly how the training would work.
“Easier to show than explain. Zenon, get ready.”
“...Okay.”
With that limp reply from Zenon, the magic club's after-school session began.
Kaboom—
“This... is training?”
A meteor shower rained down, slamming into the clearing. Every time one hit the ground, two more spawned in the sky. Zenon dodged the rapidly falling meteors while blasting them one by one—with his sword, his body, and sometimes even his head. All I could do was mutter in disbelief.
Ray Meyer wore a satisfied smile, clearly pleased with the training.
“This is my ability: magic. As long as my mental strength holds out, I can make pretty much anything I can imagine reality.”
“...At first I wondered what a 'magic club' even meant.”
“Magic is real. I exist, after all—and your ability is kinda like magic too, isn't it?”
It was true. Magic was one branch of superpowers. Abilities and superpowers meant the same thing in the end, so in a way, this ability-filled world wasn't so different from one with magic. My own power over ice? It manifested through imagination—a kind of magic.
“Yeah, it's similar.”
“My take is, you're not student-level anymore.”
No, you're better, she added, floating a small ice crystal on her hand.
“Handling ice isn't easy. Shaping it requires real expertise, and that needs an artist's level of sensitivity. Then using those shapes in combat? No walk in the park. Oh, and you know swordsmanship too, right?”
“Yeah... more or less.”
Though it was the body's ingrained technique, not something I'd learned myself. Still, she had a point, so I nodded—and Ray Meyer beamed with satisfaction.
“Just as I thought—the perfect pick for me to raise. I love it.”
“Th-thank you.”
She patted my back enthusiastically, leaving me dazed for a moment. Then her expression turned serious, and a small wooden stick appeared in her hand.
“This is my wand. One of my support items.”
“Didn't you say you don't use support items?”
“I don't use ones other people make. This one's handmade by me.”
Each support item was worth a whole city, yet she brushed it off like it was nothing. I gave up trying to apply normal logic. Top Hero Ray Meyer just didn't operate on conventional thinking.
She raised the wand and drew a circle in the air. Pitch-black darkness filled the interior. She looked at me and gestured for me to step inside.
“...You want me to go in there?”
“Heh, yeah. What, you don't trust me? I cried in front of you, remember? I'm not that cold-hearted.”
Zing—
A blue rectangular shape floated up from her hand. It soon took on a fully three-dimensional form—a maze.
“That circle will send you here. We'll strengthen your ability inside.”
Ability enhancement. I'd half-expected it when joining the club, but having it right in front of me made me tense. Training under a Top Hero personally? Zenon's face earlier told me it wouldn't be easy.
He'd grimaced without fail whenever asked about his time with her, so it was probably harsher than I imagined. But wasn't Hera Carmen targeting me partly because of me? I clenched my fist, steadying my pounding heart.
“...Whew.”
“It's your first time, so just one hour today. Good luck?”
I nodded and leaped into the black circle.
The sensation of being sucked into something was anything but pleasant. Frowning through the discomfort, I took stock of my situation.
Cold floor. An endlessly long, towering ceiling. Blue walls blocking my entire field of view. Recalling the 'maze' Ray Meyer had shown me, I slowly rose to my feet.
Artificially creating a space like this—who could even call a being like that human?
Crack—
I shot ice at the wall, but it shattered without leaving a single scratch. Guess finding the path was my only option. I had no confidence in mazes, but I recalled an online tip from back in the day and groped along the wall.
...Keep one hand on the wall and walk straight—it'll get you to the exit, right?
I pressed on, hand to the wall. No sense of time. She'd said one hour before I entered, but with no clock, sun, or moon in this place, gauging it was impossible.
“This can't be everything, though.”
Ray Meyer had said this space was for strengthening my ability. Probably something would appear the further I went. With that in mind, I raised an ice pillar in front of me.
The ice shattered and crumbled, revealing a sword. The No. 1 blade: Moonlit Night Sword.
In the original story, Aisha's limit was the 7th sword. She'd only pulled out up to the 5th on-screen, though. Right now, I could draw the 1st.
Aisha had potential rivaling the protagonist's, so I had more than enough room to grow—overflowing, even. How far could I reach? I'd only known the story up to the start of Part 3, when I got possessed. By the end of Part 3, I didn't want to be just a spectator.
Rumble—
As I'd figured, a massive roar echoed from afar. I couldn't see it through the walls, but the vibrations shaking the whole space meant it wasn't ordinary.
And when I finally faced its source, a chuckle escaped my lips.
“...Fire?”
Intense heat capable of melting the surrounding walls. Walls that wouldn't break even to ice. As I generated ice bit by bit, I saw moisture forming around me. A flame with carved eyes and mouth cackled madly. Heat haze rose, and the nearby ice began melting rapidly.
“It's melting...”
Normal fire couldn't melt it, yet this was doing so without even touching. I sheathed the Moonlit Night Sword again. No point trying to slash something like that. So then...
Staring at the fiercely rising flames, I thought. Bad matchup. Even if I encased it in ice, it'd melt for sure. Yeah, if it was normal ice. My ability stemmed from imagination. The fact that the ice was melting meant the ice I imagined was something that gave way to mere fire.
Crackle—
I imagined. A chill that could smother even roaring blue flames. Ice that suppressed heat and fed on fire itself. Ice blanketed the ground. Spikes of ice climbed the walls, gaping like open maws toward the monster.
Its last gasp? Blue flames surged, smashing the ice. Shards scattered everywhere in an instant. Locking eyes with the frenzied blaze ready to devour me, I raised my hand.
Crackle—
The ice spikes piling up converged on a single point in a flash. No matter how fierce the flames, there'd be no dodging or gap. Dozens, hundreds of spikes impaling one foe—practically a hellish punishment.
The spikes that made contact froze solid. Greedily devouring the lingering flames as if they were alive themselves, the ice fused into a towering spire.
...Easy.
Muttering to myself, I turned and continued toward the maze's exit.