The Demon's Free Gift
The training session had just wrapped up when something felt off.
I could sense it before Ray even spoke—she was hovering a second too long, and when she did, the words came out clipped, like she was forcing them past a lump in her throat.
"Hey, time for a quick word? No, actually, I need a minute."
"What?"
She grabbed my arm, yanked me away from the main group, and steered me toward the shadowed corner of the training yard where the shadows were thickest.
Wait… Is she about to hit me with some payback for yesterday?
"You said you had something to say to me."
"I did?"
Ray leaned one shoulder against the wall right beside me, her fingers tapping once like she was checking if the wood was solid.
Her left side was sealed off.
Body enhancement was one of those skills that made front-on attacks a nightmare—most people couldn't even scratch her with raw force.
Only the right side was open.
I pulled in every last drop of mana I could hide from prying eyes and answered coolly, "What exactly did you want to say?"
"You really don't know?"
Her tone sharpened, the usual blunt edge turning into something that felt suspiciously like an interrogation.
'If I push mana through my whole body at once and create a gap, she won't have time to react.'
The moment she showed her hand, I was already braced to counter.
"Ray… no matter what, that thing you just said…"
"We made a bet."
"You… what?"
"And you even called me names."
"Well… yeah, I guess I did."
"…?"
"Why are you looking so shocked? I was just going to let it go."
Even through the deep hood, her eyes burned with an inner fire.
"I've never heard of letting someone insult me and then pretending nothing happened. Whether I was there or not doesn't matter. The important part is that someone insulted me and I heard it."
Aah. So that was what Leaf meant when she muttered about Ray and her whispering in corners.
"Leaf told you, didn't she?"
"You know how to do body enhancement, right?"
"…Yeah."
"Then follow me."
The training hall she dragged me to was nothing like the one I'd used every day—the private facility where individuals or small teams trained in isolation.
Technically a building, but it was mostly just grid-walled rooms with the usual training dummies and mana crystals scattered around.
"What do you think is the most important thing for beating the bet?"
"Speed?"
"Exactly. So what do you need to catch up?"
"Body enhancement, of course. Or learn acceleration magic."
Seir's power adjustments would make the latter way too slow anyway.
Which meant the answer was right there in front of us.
"Body enhancement, then?"
"…Yes."
No room for refusal.
Ray gave me that silent, steel-eyed stare that said everything her mouth wouldn't.
Well, she probably wouldn't have used it if I hadn't pushed, but still.
§
Ray and I hit the training hall without another word.
We faced each other right where she usually trained, and she started explaining like she was reading from a manual.
"Think of mana as being stored inside the bones. Each bone becomes a support, and you spread the mana through the muscles."
"Bones?"
"The body can turn any part into a mana organ, but bones have the highest volume-to-density ratio. Unlike organs, you can reinforce the whole body at once."
She was basically describing the final bastion of defense, and I could already see the appeal.
"Try it once."
"Got it."
Just like I used to hold mana in my palm… now in the bones.
Clang!
"Ouch!"
"Are you insane? Using demon mana during practice? What if it actually hurts?"
Ray's nerves were clearly shot after I ruined her concentration with that accidental hit.
Real demonologist and arch-enemy…
Any time demons or demonologists came up, she went into overdrive.
"Again. This time use your own mana."
"…Can't."
"What?"
"I only know how to use demon mana."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Ray let out a dry laugh that said she couldn't believe it herself.
Well, I couldn't argue with facts.
"The cost isn't life, right?"
"Is there a price?"p>
"Yeah."
"It's not life."
"Then let's just do it. Last time you blew through mana like it was nothing—do it within what you can handle."
Ray took a step back, voice defeated.
"Again."
"Sure."
This time I wasn't holding mana in my hand—mana went straight into the bones.
Thanks to all the daily movement practice, storing it in bone felt almost natural.
Plus, I already had a rough idea of human skeletal structure from all the books I'd read.
Bones weren't just solid calcium—there were cartilage, joints, periosteum, and marrow.
I couldn't memorize all 206 bones, but knowing the general layout of the skeleton made channeling mana into them way less awkward.
"Next step?"
"…Huh?"
"I got the bones. Now how do I spread it? Through the muscles?"
"Already? Ah, right. The tricky part is that muscles and bones…"
"Are connected by tendons, so send it through the tendons?"
"Exactly. Ah."
Basic plan locked in.
Primary: bones, then tendons, then muscles, then create a mana barrier under the skin to strengthen everything.
This felt… familiar.
Like I could finally wear the perfect set of compression shorts and feel unstoppable.
"Heh? Feels a little tingly, doesn't it?"
Ray's expression gave it away.
"Then let's test it."
She flicked a table out of the corner with casual strength and set it down right in front of me.
Probably the same heavy table we used for resting during breaks or reading grimoires.
From the way she moved it, her skill level was clearly off the charts.
Thud.
Ray planted her elbow on the table like she was challenging me to an arm wrestle.
"You know how to arm wrestle, right?"
"…Duh."
Of course she did—pure strength test, no fancy moves.
I took her hand.
The texture was rough, callused, and somehow soft at the same time—an oddly perfect mix.
"Put everything you've got into it."
Ray grinned, confident as ever.
She'd never lose to someone she'd only met today.
'But I won't lose easily, either.'
"Start!"
As soon as she shouted, I exploded mana through my entire arm and yanked her hand forward.
'This is insane… she isn't moving at all!'
That couldn't be right.
I was furious.
'Focus more on body enhancement…'
My consciousness sank deeper.
Inside, through the skin, into muscle, bone…
I poured mana into every single cell, as evenly as I could.
"Huuuuh!!"
"Huh?"
Her hand was sliding.
But her knuckles never touched the floor.
At some point, Ray's entire arm froze—like it had become a solid statue.
"Up to here. Impressive. First time, right? The enhancement level…"
"Not… finished."
Still not.
If it worked with palms and fingertips, it should work with the back of the hand too.
'Not shooting, but pushing…'
I rewrote the image in my mind.
Instead of a bullet, I pictured a booster rocket.
Not firing, but shoving forward.
BOOM!!
A torrent of mana exploded from her knuckles, slamming Ray's enhanced hand down and forcing her frozen arm to drop.
"Ha…?"
Done.
Ray stared at her own hand on the table, then let out a dazed laugh.
"I won, didn't I?"
I released her hand, stood up, and started massaging the arm that screamed from the sudden mana release.
Body enhancement plus mana expulsion—my unfamiliar power management had left my arm crying.
While I was still recovering, Ray shouted in pure panic.
"Hey! Hey! That's cheating! This doesn't count—do it again, do it again!"
"Huh? I won. Who told you to hold back?"
She kept yelling from the side, but my mind was already somewhere else.
'What if I use the bones as the barrel instead of the whole finger when firing a shot? Surface area drops, output should go up.'
"Sorry, but I need to test something else. Arm wrestling can wait for next time."
Of course, who knew when "next time" would actually happen.
§
Day five inside the facility.
Another full training day had just ended when I heard the softest voice I knew too well.
"I'm… so sorry…"
Leaf Yusglimt—completely deflated.
Team performance: 2 wins, 1 loss.
Combat training, duel rankings.
Three matches, one victory to go, and the team had ended with their first defeat.
But it was Leaf who felt like she'd committed the worst sin.
She kept her head bowed toward Ray and me like she was apologizing for the entire world.
Oddly enough, today's loss was our team's very first.
"You don't need to be so upset about it. The opponent was strong too."
"But…"
"It's fine. Better to pull back than throw your life away like that demonologist."
"What? Am I the one you're talking about?"
"Of course. Where else would you find a demonologist willing to throw their life away?"
"Um…"
Is there… really none?
Leaf kept nodding, so maybe she agreed.
"Anyway, I know you trust me, but dial it back. Even if the price is unknown, don't count on demons staying on your side forever."
Why was Ray suddenly worrying about me?
Was the team finally feeling like a real unit?
The fastest way to bond seemed to be either training together or making a common enemy—Aleandra, I suppose.
Now that her grand plan was out, all those high-minded thoughts were just noise.
Still, the three of us kept training together and somehow felt like we were getting closer.
"You're worrying about me? That's touching."
I gave her my warmest smile.
Ray's reaction was pure chaos.
"…S-screw you!"
Bang!
Ray slammed the table hard enough to make the whole thing jump.
It was almost like a free counterattack.
She looked exactly like a cat who'd seen an cucumber and jumped.
Thud!
She shoved the chair back, stood up trembling, and balled her fists.
Then, without a word, she spun and left at a near-run.
I just stood there staring after her until she vanished, then let out a long breath.
"What was that? Did I say something that bad?"
"N-no… it's not that I thought…"
"It's not?"
Then what was the problem?
"…Maybe it's her face?"
I glanced sideways at Leaf, waiting for an answer.
Leaf said nothing.
§
From the break room, Ray bolted out and ran like she was fleeing from something she couldn't see.
'Damn it… what am I doing? I've already…!'
Was it worry?
Whose?
Heat flushed Ray's cheeks—shame and self-loathing mixed together.
Guilt toward herself tightened around her chest like a vice.
She wasn't someone who could just befriend them.
'Not now.'
The self-blame turned into a weight that crushed her thoughts.
She had things to do.
She couldn't waste time on this nonsense.
But why…
'Because of that word. That single sentence.'
It was barely worth saying.
But it was the word that mattered.
Krunch!
Her fist slammed into the training dummy, shattering the barrier spell and burying itself deep into the wood.
Still holding the fist in place, Ray let out a deep sigh.
"Up to here. Just using each other."
Teaching body enhancement, learning demon mana properties—nothing more was needed.
On the contrary, it was poison.
It would harm not just Ray, but everyone around her.
Yet here she was, still beside them.
"Only until the trial ends. Then…"
She'd go back.
Back to being strangers.
Back to the time when they didn't even know each other existed.
That thought made the frustration too much to bear.
Ray yanked her hood up and covered her face in the empty training yard.
No one saw the platinum-blonde hair, the deeper silver-gray eyes, or the small round ears that still hadn't fully grown.
Her face, still a budding flower, held deep regret.
Whether it belonged to the past or the present, she didn't know yet.