As it turns out, having a benefactor is quite handy.

  More so if that benefactor owns the entire school.

  “Put this on,” Verinaldo said, holding up another steel circle. “This is a resistant brace.”

  After Xoiae’d given me her approval, Verinaldo took me down to the workshop, where I received a ridiculous amount of equipment.

  Although the bracelets looked fairly normal, a truly ridiculous amount of power lurked within.

  “Stop gawking,” Verinaldo stated. “Just put it on.”

  I snapped it around my wrist, noticing the change in an instant. Numbness filled the back of my mind, steadily expanding until I felt exhausted, despite a lack of any afflictions.

  Verinaldo handed me another brace, increasing the pressure even further.

  “As you’ve surely noticed, these make it harder to use your mental power. But by making it harder, you’ll train your mind to become stronger. More forceful. They are the mental equivalent of training weights.”

  “And when I take them all off, I’ll be incredibly powerful, right?” I asked.

  Verinaldo smirked. “Try slipping those off.”

  I scrabbled at the wristband. Despite how easily they’d come on, the enchantment had tethered down, through skin, muscle, and bone, preventing even the slightest movement. “Uhhh…”

  “Metal power grows best under pressure,” Verinaldo stated. “And if you could just remove the bands to solve all your problems, then you’re not really learning, are you?”

  He cleared his throat. “Besides, a sudden expansion of metal power can cause severe brain damage.”

  I blinked. “What?”

  “Nothing. You’ll be fine. Just make sure that when you become strong enough to remove them, you go slow. One at a time.”

  “Alright, ” I said. “How long will that take? A week?”

  “Years.”

  “A month?”

  “I said years, kid.”

  “I know…” I grumbled.

  “Good.” He laid a gauntlet and a bag of gemstones in my hand. “That is a focus gauntlet. It’s used to make more specific enchantments. And the gemstones magnify mental power for a brief period of time. When you reach Iron, their use will become obvious.”

  I started pulling up the screens.

  {Xoiae’s blessing}

  [This is an enchanted crystal.]

  [The enchantment within this crystal can be spent four times.]

  [Remaining enchantment boosters : 4/4]

  “Headmaster Xoiae made these?” I asked. “She’s putting in a lot of effort for just one student.”

  “That is what a benefactor does,” Verinaldo stated. “Though I will say, for someone of her caliber, a bag of gemstones is light work.”

  Finally, Verinaldo pressed a small card into my hand. “You have an exam tomorrow, at 6 am. If you pass, you will join a party and begin dungeon hunting in order to pay off union debts.”

  Before I started speaking, he cut me short with a raised hand. “The gifts of a benefactor are gifts, and have no impact on debt, so you needn’t worry. With that in mind, do not ever consider selling or giving away a gift from a benefactor. It is for you and you alone. Also nobody in their right mind would buy one from you. Is that clear?”

  I nodded.

  “Good.” Verinaldo’s smile crinkled his cheeks. “And good luck.”

  By the time I reached my apartment, the weights had begun to hurt.

  I plopped, unceremoniously, facefirst into bed.

  {NOTICE}

  [Your mental power is being suppressed.]

  [It is no longer possible to weaponize aura.]

  There was still something nagging at me. I rolled over, tapping a bracelet.

  {Xoiae’s Cursed bracelet}

  [A bracelet imbued with Xoiae’s will. While worn, it resists against your own.]

  [Full Resistance : 0.0000001%]

  [This Curse may increase if more willpower is imputed.]

  This was another summoned, enchanted piece of equipment. If I was getting these kinds of gifts before I’d even passed my first exam, what kind of future gifts would I get?

  And what would happen if I failed?

  “I guess that’s tomorrow’s problem, right?” I asked. The room was empty, so no one responded.

  Obviously.

  “I need to get more friends,” I groaned. Exhaustion hit like a train, and I fell asleep.

  ~

  That morning, I woke up with a pounding headache. After rooting through the cupboards in search of painkillers—finding nothing—I decided to live with it.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  I checked in on Sharon—still in the fairy heart—ate the first piece of food I saw—still weird squashes—and checked my screens.

  [Day of the Week : Saturday]

  Exam day.

  From what I heard, each exam is a union-monitored dungeon. They trap cores inside, get them however strong the union wants, and then send in trainees to kill them.

  Sort of like raising cattle.

  Or maybe raising dogs, since Cores need monster Exp, which would require raising other monsters as their food—unless the union could trap the naturally spawning ones?

  Cows don’t eat other animals, do they?

  No…no I’m pretty sure they don’t. They might eat a bug if it went in their mouth—

  What am I talking about?

  Must be tired.

  I sniffed my armpit, gagged, and took a quick shower, changing into the ‘combat uniform’ the union issued its newest students.

  While you could have any gear over the uniform, just having a uniform was a must, due to the various life-saving enchantments they’d baked into it. Of course, without any mental perception, I had no idea how strong those enchantments actually were.

  My stomach growled, so I made a squashy sandwich and stuffed it in my mouth, flinging the front door wide open.

  “OW!” Ardenidi hissed, grabbing the side of her head.. “Do you mind?!”

  I blinked. “What…are you doing.”

  She snorted. “You beat me, remember?”

  “So?”

  “In a fight to the death?” She hissed.

  “It wasn’t really a fight to the death,” I said. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to kill you even if I could, although now that you mention it, there’s another—”

  “Yeah I’m aware of that, coward,” Ardenidi hissed. “And because you won’t take my life, I’m forced to become your student.”

  “You’re—”

  “I’m in a life debt to you now,” Ardenidi stated.

  “You really don’t—”

  “There’s no getting around this.”

  “Actually, I wanted—”

  She glowered.

  I massaged my face. “What on earth do you expect to learn from me?”

  Ardenidi blinked. “Oh gee, what do you think!? You’ve got magic powers. I want those.”

  Why was she being so insistent about this?

  “Okay, fine, but I want your stats,” I grumbled.

  She just stared at me. “My stats?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What are you talking about? I can’t give those.”

  “You just have to concentrate them into the palm of your hand and then…” I frowned. “Ah…well I’ve never seen it done before, but I know it works with Exp.”

  “Yeah I don't know how to do that.”

  “I guess you wouldn’t,” I sighed. “And if you don’t know then I can’t really take it…okay, I’ll just take all your money.”

  Ardenidi flushed. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Of course I’m serious,” I said. “You have money, right?”

  She looked at the ground.

  {Ardenidi}

  [Union Debt - 100000 Qualms]

  “So you really don’t have anything?” I asked. “How’d you get that much debt?”

  “I dunno,” she grumbled.

  “Well then I’m not taking you as a student,” I said, crossing my arms. “It’s not profitable.”

  Ardenidi glowered again. “This is happening. Okay?”

  “Seriously—”

  “Okay?”

  I frowned.

  “Fine,” I huffed.

  “Thank you.” She paused. “Teacher.”

  “Just call me Grind,” I grumbled back.

  “No.”

  “But—”

  “No.”

  I smirked. “Okay, student. I order you to call me Grind.”

  Ardenidi opened her mouth, then shut it. “Thank you. Grind.”

  “Thank you too.”

  I pushed past her, down the stairs and out of the hallway. She followed a ways behind, stepping briskly with her hands behind her back.

  And she just wouldn’t stop scowling.

  I spun around to face her.

  Ardenidi blinked. “What is it?”

  “I…” I huffed. “Nothing. Cheer up a little.”

  We continued walking. From that point, I just tried to ignore the withering glare aimed at the back of my neck.

  The Exam building was close to the training grounds, with a small Centiride station attached. We would be taking the train to this Exam's dungeon.

  Sip whistled. “Grind! I knew something was going on between you two, and might I say, you’re a fabulous couple—” Ardenidi moved toward him, and he cut off in a squeal. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “It’s not like that—” I sighed.

  “Grind is now my tutor,” Ardenidi said in a cold, flat tone. “And I am at his service.”

  Sip hesitated. “Then why are you interrupting him?”

  “I—” Ardenidi bite her tongue. “Apologies. Teacher—Grind.”

  “Okay, seriously,” Sip whispered. “How’d you do that? She hates you!”

  “I’m aware,” I said. “And I didn’t do anything. It was her idea.”

  Sip pursed his lips. “Maybe she likes you. You know, some women—”

  Ardenidi punched him in the face. “Don’t make assumptions. They’re hurtful.”

  I swallowed. “Ardenidi—”

  She glared. “What?”

  “Don’t hit people.”

  She gritted her teeth, looking at me, then to Sip. “Apologizes.”

  “It’s alright.” I said.

  The other students were starting to stare at us, so I ducked into the crowd, hoping to blend in.

  Most everyone stopped looking in our direction, except for Brie’s group, who continued to whisper aggravatingly loudly, followed by incessant giggling.

  Ardenidi clenched her hands into fists. She saw me looking, stuffed her hands in her pockets, and sulked away.

  Sip chuckled under his breath. “She’s head over heels for you.”

  “She looks about ready to kill somebody.”

  “Love is expressed in many ways.”

  Ardenidi shot a glare in our direction.

  “See?” Sip whispered. “She’s looking at you!”

  He laughed again. “Seriously though. Get a bodyguard. She will kill you.”

  “This is a mess,” I groaned.

  Master Lock finally began to speak, silencing the crowd.

  “Today, we will split the first-weeks into three groups.” He began. “A, B, and C. Group A will take the northern dungeon on Centiride 1023. Group B will take the southern Dungeon on Centiride 2021. Finally, Group C will follow me to the eastern dungeon, which is within walking distance. It’s about…” He pointed to a speck on the horizon. “...There. Are there any questions?”

  A student—Mikie—jabbed a thumb at Ardenidi. “What do we do with her?”

  She pointed to me. “I’m with him.”

  Little gasp fluttered through the crowd, before Master Lock shushed them. “No attacking monsters in the dungeon. You may stay with him as an observer.”

  “Understood.”

  “Good. We leave in four minutes.”

  Officials started calling out a list of names, followed by each player’s matching number.

  Sip got the A dungeon, while I was sent to the B dungeon. Fortunately, there were a bunch of people from the eighth court heading to the B dungeon, all of whom I’d seen before.

  Maybe I could make some friends on the way.

  Instead, I sat in my chair, massaging my forehead while Ardenidi stared daggers at me from the seat across.

  The two of us were all anybody could talk about, which wasn’t to say anybody would actually talk to us.

  In fact, every single person in our Centiride kept a good ten feet of distance, in addition to avoiding eye contact. It wouldn’t have been so bad if our fight wasn’t seen by as many people, and if I hadn’t used such flashy moves. But now, I was becoming popular, and because of that, what I did was everybody’s business.

  It was insufferable.

  But all that idle talk vanished the moment we arrived.

  These people had some marginal amount of experience. They knew what it was like inside a dungeon. They knew the risks, and they knew they had to focus.

  This was much better.

  There was a metal door standing in the middle of a wasteland, devoid of color. Rust stained its hinges and there were thin lines of oil running down the side. Noticeably, it had no handle, swinging open at the slightest touch, before snapping closed.

  A boy in a silk robe was the first to enter, followed by a steady stream of the twenty-five participants.

  I sucked in a fresh breath of air.

  This was it.

  “What are you waiting for?” Ardenidi hissed, kicking the door open. She vanished in an instant.

  I rolled my eyes, following close behind her.

  Some student she was turning out to be.

  // {Notice} //

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