Mune

『Just one?!』[Nova]

Saeyeon nodded.

『Actually, he's probably done with his missions for tonight, shall I call him?』[Saeyeon]

Nova stepped back a bit.

『I… I don't know about that..?』[Nova]

Sarena seemed a bit deep in thought.

『...』[Sarena]

『He sounds like he's picky… I'm not sure if he would...』[Nova]

Saeyeon flaunted her ID.

『I already called him!』[Saeyeon]

Sarena's hands dropped down to her side.

『...Huh?』[Sarena]

Even Anri put down her book.

『...What?!』[Anri]

『He's on his way here, right now!』[Saeyeon]

Sarena scrambled to clean up the room.

She picked up many miscellaneous items and organized them where they belong.

『The room is a mess! What are you gonna do if this influenced his decision to accept Nova or not?!』[Sarena]

Nova turned to Sarena as she dashed around the room throwing things where they belonged.

『Huh?!』[Nova]

Anri quietly placed her book on the table.

『...How did you get him to come here, leader?』[Anri]

Saeyeon looked over at Anri and gave her a giant grin.

『He told me to let him know if I found any promising students, but so far he's rejected them all!』[Saeyeon]

『..Promising?』[Nova]

『...If someone I know looks like they get along with them, they're promising! That's all.』[Saeyeon]

She began to cackle as the doorknob began to twist open.

『...Please excuse my intrusion.』

The door cracked open to reveal a boy with flowing black hair with a ponytail with a side braid on the left side of his face.

His eyes weren't visible due to the length of his bangs.

He walked into the room and stared at Nova.

『...』

The room remained quiet, as if the person was analyzing something with the utmost delicacy.

After a long period of time, he broke the silence.

『...Right. And why is this one any different from the others you recommended, Sae?』

『I don't know, I just met him! Hahaha!』[Saeyeon]

Sarena suddenly gave a glare over to Saeyeon.

『...What's your name?』

Nova tried to look him in the eyes.

『My name is Nova! I was at the training grounds when I saw a monster come in, so I came here as a witness.』[Nova]

After a moment of silence, the person who hadn't even introduced himself put his hand out.

The others in the room looked on at Nova with increasing interest.

Nova reached out and grabbed the hand, but suddenly felt a large amount of pressure crush down on his hand.

「...What the hell?! Is he trying to break my hand?!」[Nova]

Nova gradually placed mana into his hand and strengthened his grip.

Gradually, Nova had enough power to be on the same level with the person in front of him.

After a moment, the man put less power into his grip.

「...Is he satisfied?」[Nova]

『...My name is M-u-n-e. Pronounced moon-a. I'm going to begin to ask you questions.』[Mune]

He maintained the grip on Nova's hand, so Nova kept his grip in kind.

『Please go ahead.』[Nova]

The three women of team Lotus silently stared on.

『What weapon do you use?』[Mune]

Nova was taken aback.

Now that he thought about it, he didn't really know which one he used.

He used martial arts, Reischneid, and used his magic.

『...I would have to say that I use what I have.』[Nova]

Mune didn't particularly have any reaction to this.

『Why do you want to join my team?』[Mune]

Nova also had trouble answering this.

『...I actually don't really know. I was just told about it a moment ago.』[Nova]

Mune didn't even hesitate for a moment and kept asking questions.

『If I forced you to go on missions with me at this hour every day, would you?』[Mune]

This one was easy for Nova to answer.

He nodded.

『Without a doubt. I'd even go right now, if I had to.』[Nova]

Mune nodded as well.

『If I forced you into doing a brutal training course, would you try to get out of it?』[Mune]

This time, Nova hesitated a bit.

He knew what Mune would want to hear, but didn't know if he should accept or not.

『...I would, depending on the circumstance.』[Nova]

The grip on Nova's hand began to gradually tighten again.

『I wield a katana, but I am not a stranger to hand to hand combat. Nor am I a stranger to spellcasting.』[Mune]

The grip returned to what it once was before.

『I have many people who dislike me in this place.』[Mune]

Sarena began to stare and grip at a mission paper she had, seemingly concerned for Nova.

Nova stared at Mune's bangs even as the grip continued to get stronger.

『I am the number one of this school. The blood, sweat, and tears I put into being that are immeasurable.』[Mune]

He gripped harder onto Nova's hand, causing an audible cracking noise to sound out.

Sarena tried to make a move, but Saeyeon stopped her.

Nova poured mana into his grip, but it was getting hard to maintain the grip.

『That is not me bragging. That is the only thing I can say to describe the hell I've been through.』[Mune]

A strong mana pushed throughout the room and caused the others to take cover.

The mana flowing around caused the bangs that were covering Mune's eyes to begin to float, revealing crimson eyes.

『Are you prepared to do what I had to in order to stand at the top?』[Mune]

Nova stared straight into Mune's eyes, but didn't feel intimidated by the way he stared at Nova.

Nova's eyes suddenly seemed to shine as he nodded his head.

『...Yes.』[Nova]

Mune nodded, before he pulled something out of his shirt pocket.

It was a small crystal that fit into his hands.

『...I'll have you prove that, then.』[Mune]

Suddenly, he smashed it into pieces.

『W-Wait!』[Sarena]

That was the last thing Nova saw before he was eclipsed by another bright explosion of light.