The Mana-Deficient Mage and the Run
Back in my high school days, there were three distinct groups. There were the bullies, who thought they were adults just because they shoved cigarettes in their mouths and acted tough. Then there were the nerds, who lived and breathed studying as if their families were all doctors. And finally, there were the weak, impoverished kids who served as the bullies' errand boys. Naturally, I belonged to the last group.
While I was busy running errands, I learned a bit of "alchemy." If I was given a one-hundred-won coin made of metal, I’d perform a little alchemy to turn that metal into paper—a thousand-won bill. During the IMF crisis, when my family was struggling, my monthly allowance was exactly one thousand won. Actually, no, it was zero. Whatever allowance I did get was always extorted by those bullies anyway.
Yet, there were people even those bullies wouldn't touch: the elderly, women, children, and the disabled. At the very least, the bullies I knew had some semblance of a conscience. "But how is it that these guys don't know the first thing about respecting the disabled?"
"Hey, you! Did you trip me on purpose earlier?"
The guy who had tripped me, one of the punks surrounding me, slammed his palm against my desk. I wanted to ignore him, but he kept thrusting his fist toward my face. "Blind man, are you deaf too?" a guy next to him chimed in, his voice rising in a mocking tone. The jeers from the surrounding group pierced my eardrums. My high school PTSD was starting to flare up.
"He's a special student, you know. You keep acting up like that, you're gonna get hit," someone warned.
"Special, huh? Yeah, he's disabled. But if he hits us, are we supposed to pretend it hurts?"
I smiled faintly and lifted my chin. As I stared at the guy who had tripped me, he flinched. 'Look at this.' Is this guy a coward and a sycophant? There was always one of these low-lifes who only clung to the strong. He had a mediocre look that kept him off the bullies' radar, but he was the type who couldn't study to save his life and only used his head for petty tricks. I could see right through him.
It turns out my experience as an errand boy was actually coming in handy.
"S-s-stop it...!" A girl's voice trembled nearby. She had summoned the courage to speak up, her body shaking visibly. "Why are you picking on him!"
"Picking on him? Who? We aren't picking on him, we're just asking him a polite question." The guy pointed a finger at me. "That guy tripped Lian. Didn't you see it?"
"He didn't trip him, he got caught... You guys were the ones who stuck your leg out first..." Her voice grew smaller as she spoke.
"You're being harsh, Lucy. If you say it like that, it makes it sound like we're looking for a fight. I told you, we're just asking politely."
"Ugh..." Crushed by the pressure, Lucy stared at me, looking completely withered. "S-still, just stop—"
BANG!!
The guy slammed his hand against the desk, a clear threat. The loud noise drew the attention of the entire classroom. "Are you taking his side just because he's disabled?"
Screech-
Just as I was about to push my chair back and stand up, the classroom door swung open.
"Hey, you guys! What are you doing?! It's time to move for the next class, are you not coming out?" A boy whose voice hadn't finished changing filled the room with his angry shout. "The next class is with Professor Rowen, you have no idea what'll happen if you're late!"
"Tch." The guy who had slammed the desk grumbled and left his seat. Once he cleared out, the others followed him out of the room.
'So that guy's the ringleader.'
"Did you say your name was Lucy?"
"O-oh?"
"Thanks for the help. But what's that guy's name?"
"N-name?"
"The guy you were just fighting with."
"You mean Damian?"
"Damian?"
"Yeah..."
"Hmm."
So he was just a third-rate thug. The kind who picks fights with everyone, gets beaten to a pulp, and then exits the story. I recall he was the second son of a wealthy family. His older brother probably attended the academy, too. 'I remember both brothers being absolute pieces of work.' They only knew how to throw their weight around using the power of their Relics, but they had no real substance—just a bunch of nobodies. How should I take them down?
"Th-that... we have to go too... you don't know what will happen if we get on Professor Rowen's bad side..."
"Ah, right, moving class."
"Yeah..."
Ding-dong, ding-dong. At the sound of the bell signaling the start of class, Lucy jumped to her feet. "Oh, what do I do!"
"It's fine. I have a good plan."
"A good plan?"
In front of the Class C students gathered at the training grounds, the fierce-looking Rowen glared at Lucy and me. He strode toward us with his massive frame, his shadow swallowing us whole. His biceps were so thick that the buttons on his shirt were trembling, practically screaming that they were about to burst.
"You two, why are you late?"
"Ah... w-well..." As Lucy stuttered, the man's eyebrows shot upward.
"I couldn't see, so I missed the class time. But this friend here was helping me get here, which caused the delay."
"You're the special student the chairman brought in this time, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"If you're a special student, does that mean you're allowed to be late?"
"What? No."
'Huh?' Usually, people understand when you say that, don't they?
"On the battlefield, punctuality is essential. If you couldn't see, you should have asked someone nearby. Why didn't you?"
"I just arrived today, so I didn't have anyone I was close with."
"Is that an excuse? You don't talk to anyone unless you're close with them?"
"That's..."
"Stop making excuses."
"Yes..."
"Lucy and the special student. You two will run laps around the parade ground for the time you missed."
"What?"
"You were two minutes late, so that's twenty laps."
What is this? This guy Rowen is completely inflexible.
"Do I have to run too...?" I asked quietly.
"Isn't that obvious? If you can't see, just grab Lucy's arm and follow her."
"..."
'No, what's the point of running while holding her arm?' It would probably just get in the way. What an inflexible guy. Or wait. Maybe my way of thinking is the one that's wrong. This place is completely different from the school I used to attend. I've lived a life buried in peace, so I need to discard the common sense I know. This world is a battlefield. And Valtreon Academy is essentially a military school training soldiers to be sent to the front lines. I guess I was the one trying to pull petty tricks.
"Huuuh..." Lucy, who was running the track, began to tear up.
"What's wrong?"
"It's so hard... I... my stamina is weak... *huff, huff*... I'm not good at... cardio..."
Her heavy breathing made it hard to hear her. As Rowen instructed, I was running while holding Lucy's arm, but her pace kept slowing down, so I had to slow down too. Thanks to that, it was twice as hard. It wasn't easy running at Lucy's pace instead of my own.
"*Huff*... *huff*... l-let's rest for a second..." Lucy stopped in her tracks and bent at the waist. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm her ragged breathing.
"..."
The reason her stamina was so weak was because she was a mage. Lucy, the 4-star free distribution character. Because she was a mage with a tiny mana pool and high mana consumption, she was nicknamed "Mana-Deficient Lucy." Her lack of physical stamina was also because she focused only on increasing her firepower instead of exercising. 'This is a bit extreme.' She was already drained after half a lap? How little does she exercise? A mage's lifeblood isn't just magic or mana—it's basic physical stamina.
"Are you okay?"
"Huh? Ah... yeah... I'm a little better now."
'She doesn't look okay...' The blue lines outlining Lucy's legs were trembling like crazy. Even without looking closely, the shaking was clear. Was she really okay?
"Haa... sorry... am I in your way?"
"In my way? If anything, I think me holding your wrist and running was what made it harder for you."
"No, that doesn't matter. You were running at my pace on purpose, weren't you?"
"..."
She knew.
"Haha... I'm always like this, so the other kids feel uncomfortable. I can't even... talk properly, and I'm always holding everyone back..."
"You two! What are you doing over there?!"
Rowen's angry voice struck my eardrums from afar. Startled, Lucy straightened her back. "Run faster!"
"Y-yes!"
Lucy bolted forward. I lost my grip on her wrist. I stood in place and watched her back as she ran. Seeing her force herself to run even though she was exhausted was almost pitiful.
'Holding everyone back, huh?'
I learned something while playing the game. There was no such thing as a useless character. Especially in a new game, a 4-star free distribution character is like a hearty, reliable meal. They might get shoved into the "figure warehouse" later in the game, but it's those 4-star characters that help you survive the early stages. Especially if they're free, they act as a pillar that fills the gaps. I, too, had filled those gaps with Lucy.
'I've decided.'
Lucy. I'm going to train you to be strong, no matter what. If I have a reliable ally, I can survive anything. And honestly, with Lucy's looks, that's good enough for me.
"*Huff*... *huff*...!"
Lucy, who had been running around the parade ground, returned completely exhausted. She bent at the waist again when she stopped in front of me, but she quickly straightened up and lifted her chin. Because of our height difference, I had to lower my head.
"W-why did you let go..."
"Sorry, you started running suddenly, so I lost my grip."
"Here."
She reached out her arm as if telling me to grab her wrist. "Grab it."
Lucy's shoulders were heaving. She was exhausted herself, yet she had come back just because I had lost my grip on her wrist. "Hurry... or we'll get scolded again."
"Yeah."
"I'll run slowly, so be careful not to fall and follow me."
If I weren't in Kyle's body, I never would have had an experience like this.