Chapter 545 - Beach Episode

I forcefully stop myself from training and let my mind rest. The orbs I was using for practice disappear, and I deactivate the Restrictive Training Emblem. I even reduce the effort I’m putting into Mana Cycling.

It all becomes so eerily still. So quiet.

Once again, I check the clock on the wall and close my eyes, staying on my bed for a while longer. Only then do I stand up and change into black swimming trunks. They fit perfectly, ending somewhere slightly below the midpoint of my thighs. They’re very comfortable and fit so well that I’m afraid to ask who got my measurements and how.

Glancing at the mirror, I throw on a loose shirt before heading outside. The manor is already empty, and it’s a nice, quiet day.

It isn’t very hot, but I’ve overheard Sophie and some others planning to create some kind of effect over the lake that would intensify the light, making it stronger and warmer—more reminiscent of a true summer. They even planned to add a slight breeze. Looking at the mana web over the lake and the way the light interacts with it, it’s safe to say they succeeded.

The feeling is almost alien as I walk slowly toward the lake about half a mile away. I don’t use kinetic energy to fly, nor do I run or teleport. I just walk at the speed I used to on Earth.

A planet inside the tutorial. Here, on the surface of a planet that will likely be destroyed by the mimics, or by someone else trying to stop them. A planet where war rages even at this moment. But there are no signs of war here. The sunrays are warm; the breeze is calmly cool. The grass and the leaves sway in the wind.

The memory of Champion Feroy dying not that long ago now feels so distant, almost unreal. It’s so melancholic. He died, yet there are countless people who never met him, never knew about him. Just over a month after his death, here they are, about to sunbathe and blow off some steam. And he wasn’t the only one. A lot of people ended the same way.

I don’t even use my senses as I pass under the trees. I don’t try to read mana or sense vibrations of kinetic energy or heat signatures.

It’s interesting how, in just two years, I’ve gotten used to all these things. I wonder what I’ll be like after the tutorial. In ten years? Twenty? A hundred?

I push these thoughts away as I begin to hear voices, leaving the patch of trees with a clear view of the lake. The temperature increases immediately. I wonder if it would be hot enough to boil a normal human alive.

“I thought you would just train?” Tess greets me first, walking ahead. As she likes to do, her hair is styled differently, tied at the back top of her head, and she’s wearing a light yellow bikini.

“I decided this would be good training for my mental resistance with so many people screaming all over the place.”

“Oh, you did?” she smiles. “I’ll be glad to help.”

Together, we head toward the sandy part of the bank and then Tess leaves towards the lake. Part of me wants to start wondering how Sophie created all this, but I stop those thoughts.

After removing my shirt, I lie down on the sand and close my eyes against the bright sun. The warmth on my body is pleasant, and soon enough, I hear someone sniff next to my ear. Biscuit licks my face before running off somewhere else.

I can hear the twins and Maya talking about cooking some meat. Min-Jae asks Sophie if she can make the drinks colder. Izzy uses her enhanced stats to jump very high into the air and lands with a huge splash in the lake, laughing excitedly each time.

“Feral one,” I hear Myrra whisper after she sits next to me.

Still keeping my eyes closed, I ask, “What?”

“There is a dangerous predator eyeing you,” she continues quietly.

“I’m sure there are no monsters around.”

“It’s something worse.”

I can hear the smile in her voice, and I feel sand on my body as she starts piling it on me.

“I will help you hide you, feral one.” She continues covering my legs, chest, and shoulders with the sand.

“Are you having fun, Myrra?”

“A lot, feral one. Even Lady Lissandra is slacking somewhere right now, so why shouldn’t I, just for a bit? That little human, Isabella, told me something similar. She might be the scariest among you—after Tess. Are all human girls like that?”

“Why Tess?”

“She watches and sees through people. She adapts her behavior so often to fit each person, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel fake or like she’s putting on a mask. There’s a raw, untamed purity to her—reminiscent of the noble Champions or Absolutes from stories. A queen. A leader. Someone who judges, rewards, and punishes, unafraid to make the hard choices.”

“What about me?”

“You? You’re feral. At first, I thought you had become tamed and that your group was making you weaker.”

“But?”

“But I was wrong. I think you’re far more feral than before. You just control it much better, and that’s scarier.”

I give it some thought, but I can’t imagine being too scary when only my head is poking out of the sand Myrra piled on me. I open my eyes to meet her gaze and see her typical fanged smile. Unsurprisingly, she’s also wearing a bikini—black in color.

She notices me looking and emphasizes her figure by striking a pose. “What do you think? My beauty was well-known in Virelia. Many would have fallen at my feet if I asked.”

“As thanks for protecting me from a dangerous predator, I’ll say you look pretty.”

“More than I expected from you, feral one.” She pats the sand on my chest, then stands and rushes toward the nearby table of food.

I sit up, letting the sand on my chest slide off, and watch as Min-Jae creates some sort of field around part of the bank and the lake that allows others to jump much higher than they normally could. That field doesn’t extend very far, so they land at normal speed, plunging into the water before swimming.

After I stand up, both twins rush over—one on each side—and pull me toward the table. They’re wearing swim trunks like mine but in blue.

I think the twins are around nineteen now, and I notice they’ve grown taller. Their bodies are slim, but like everyone here, there’s defined muscle. Unlike me, their skin isn’t pale. With their blond hair, blue eyes, and facial features, they’re undeniably handsome—maybe not to the point where you want to punch them on sight, like Channeler, but still.

Min-Jae joins us soon, and they start taking multiple kinds of meat from the table, grilling them on some contraption they made. They’re using no skills—just coal, no magical fire at all.

“Help us, Nat,” Dennis pleads. “We said we’d prepare the meat, but we’ve either burned it all or left it raw inside.”

“Why ask me? I know nothing about this.”

“You can’t be worse than we are, and you said you made the best pizza ever for your disciple.”

“That’s true,” I admit, looking at the pot with a metal grid on top. “Aren’t the coals supposed to be white before you grill?”

“We thought so too,” Aaron sighs, “but we burned everything.”

Min-Jae folds his arms across his chest in a way that makes his hands push his biceps up. “I think the problem is that it’s high level animal meat, and the coal isn’t normal. It needs to burn at a higher temperature to even affect the meat, so I don’t think Earth’s knowledge will help us.”

I look around, trying to figure out why he's tensing his muscles so much. Nearby, Sophie and Maya are sitting with Izzy, eating some chilled fruit. Maya is wearing a white bikini, while both Izzy and Sophie have pale green swimsuits.

Maya’s gaze sweeps over me dramatically, lingering as it moves from my stomach to my chest. She then winks at me and licks her lips, causing Izzy to giggle and Sophie to scold her, telling her to stop corrupting her younger sister.

I shake my head before facing the boys again, focusing on their conversation.

“Then why the fuck did you tell the girls we could do it?” Dennis demands.

Min-Jae hisses quietly, “Keep it down. Their hearing is sharper than on Earth.”

“Well, sorry for ruining your reputation. And why are you sticking your chest out like that? You aren't a girl, no one’s staring at your tits!”

“Shut up, Dennis. They’re called chest muscles!”

“Yeah? They didn’t help you last time we sparred, you got wrecked!”

“I only lost because we weren’t going all out. I’d kill you otherwise!”

“You couldn’t even locate my real body!”

I exchange a look with Aaron, who seems to be tuning them out as well, and we start sneaking away while they’re distracted.

On my way, I pick up Biscuit from the ground and head toward the lake, sitting in the sand closer to the water.

(Food! Food!)

"You'll eat later. Did you get heavier again?"

(Sustenance! Food!)

"Don’t give me that—I saw you gobbling up the meat they threw away."

Biscuit growls cutely, but I don't let go, holding him so his hind legs swing in the air—just the way he likes it, as confirmed by his wagging tail.

As I expected, Aaron sneaks away too and sits next to me. “You’re not using any mana or detection at all,” he notes.

“Yup,” I confirm.

“Izzy?”

“Izzy,” I nod.

“A twelve-year-old girl, by the way, and probably the least messed up of all of us.”

I think about it for a moment and end up agreeing.

Aaron gazes at the lake with a faint smile. “Sometimes I wonder if this is all just a dream. Or maybe I’m in a coma, and my mind made it all up. Or maybe we actually died in the bus crash and were given another chance.”

“If this is a dream, I never want to wake up.”

“Yes,” Aaron says, smiling even more. “Yes.”

“Charred meat of unidentified origin is on today’s menu?” Tess asks, emerging from the water. Drops roll off her body as she sits next to us.

“I prefer calling it a surprise meal,” Aaron replies.

I hear footsteps behind me, and something lands on my head. Looking up, I spot a large straw hat—the kind you wear to avoid heatstroke. Another hat is placed on Aaron’s head and one on Tess’s, and then Lily sits between us.

I don’t really think we need the hats, but this almost feels like we’re roleplaying a beach holiday, so I don’t complain.

Reaching out, I adjust the straw hat on Lily’s head and follow her gaze to my left arm, which is still noticeably pale. Then I notice hers is just as pale. Still unfixed.

“What is this?” she asks, touching the emblem on my chest, right over my heart.

“Restrictive Training Emblem,” I explain. “A gift—or in some cases, a torture device—from Lissandra.”

She pulls her hand back. “I see!”

Silence descends until Tess giggles. “Nat, I think Lily might like a little compliment. She spent hours picking out what to wear.”

“S-shut up, Tess!” Lily immediately snaps. “I did not! It was a few minutes at most!”

Tess ignores Lily’s anger and lies down on the sand. “I’ve never gone to the beach with friends. Actually, none of us have, except Maya and Min-Jae a long time ago.”

“Is this how you imagined it would be?” Lily, now calmer, asks her.

“Nope,” Tess says, shaking her head. “But I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just don’t think we’ll ever experience things like we would on Earth. Sometimes I wonder if I really want all this, or if I’d rather live like a normal human. Work in a cubicle, find someone to fall in love with, get married, have kids, grow old, and die.”

“You wouldn’t want that,” I say.

“I wouldn’t?” she asks.

“You wouldn't,” I confirm again.

Before she covers her face with the straw hat, I see her smiling.

After that, I stand up and look at Lily. “You look pretty today.”

I calmly hold her gaze. I know she’s changed from how she was on the earlier floors—she’s built up some resistance. But I keep staring at her until the corners of her lips twitch, and she turns away.

Damage dealt. Happiness caused.

I’ve been teased enough here, so I stand and squat in front of her. “No compliment for me?” I ask.

“You also look good today!” she blurts out, turning her face further away.

From beneath her hat, Tess’s muffled voice reaches me. “Nat, don’t bully Lily.”

“Fine, I’ll just go for a swim instead.”

“I thought you didn’t know how to swim?” Tess calls from under her hat again.

“Yup, I don’t.”

Wading into the lake, I’m still determined not to use mana or kinetic energy, even if I start drowning.

***

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