No pain, No gain

[Wings of Thunder]

Description: Sprout electrical wings from your back. Enables the user to glide in the air and be used to attack. Can be used in conjunction with [Discharge]. Evolves with the user.

I could almost feel the tears running down my face. This was it. What I had dreamt of for so long, my ticket to be able to fly. But I quickly got a hold of myself, not losing to the fantasy of soaring through the sky, free from all of the world's demands.

There was a much more urgent matter to attend to, something that became more urgent the less numb my body got. My nose had noticed it before my eyes and my nerves, a certain smell that came from my own body.

Letting my eyes inspect my body on the floor I finally noticed the state I was in.

My training wear was in tatters, scorched from what I assumed to be an electric discharge, and my skin was so burnt that I could almost see smoke rising from my arms.

I was used to pain, a lot of pain, but the surge that started to emerge was something I knew was beyond what I could manage.

As my muscles started to contract and my body started to spasm a little, I opened my mouth in a hurry, "Master... Argh!.. Could I please... Nggghhh!... Get a potion... FUCK!"

It felt like he moved slower than ever before, but instead of bringing out a potion, he stood up from his chair and put his hand on my head.

"You did well, little hare. Now sleep for a bit."

His mana entered me, almost feeling like a prick of a needle, forcing me to let go of my consciousness.

****

[James's Pov]

For the first time in a long time, I felt lost. For the first time in my life, I questioned if I had done the right thing.

Almost everything I had set out to do had somehow worked out, even if it might have been hard at times. As long as I never gave up, I would triumph, even managing to take down a 5-star demon, something most 3-stars would never think was possible. But this time, my hard work hadn't paid off.

I had lost the duel against Miren, no, I had gotten completely demolished by him as soon as he activated his skill. He didn't even have to use his weapons to take me down. Even if I could in hindsight conclude that his skill probably had an insane backlash, as shown by his absence from class, he had proved that he was stronger than me. At least in a one-to-one battle.

There wasn't even anything I could do about it anymore, I had signed the mana contract which made it impossible for me to fight him again. It pretty much forced me to accept the situation so, after a week of introspection, I managed to come to terms that I wasn't the most powerful. And, weirdly enough, it felt sort of good.

It was as if a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders, knowing that one of my peers was more powerful than me. I didn't have to be the strongest in comparison to others, I just needed to get as strong as possible. It was still something I wasn't completely adjusted to, but I felt more comfortable with that thought for every day that passed.

However, this led me to another problem. Theia had already told me that I needed to find the most suitable students in the academy to become my party members in the future, which meant that there was a need to try and get Miren on my side.

Maybe it was a conclusion that I made because I desperately wanted to try and go back to how we used to be, he was, after all, the first real friend I had ever made. Even if I didn't accept his view on combat, that didn't mean I hated him or was afraid of him. So with the excuse of recruiting him, I approached him.

However, things didn't go as planned once again. I did get him to accept to help me but not because of the reasons I gave him, instead we had made a deal. He would help me, and I would help him. Almost as if we were business partners or something. I didn't like it, but at least I fulfilled my goal.

What had gone wrong for real was when I asked if we could ever go back to how we used to be. I already knew that Sarah had asked the same thing, to which his answer had been maybe. So for some reason, I assumed that his response would be the same this time, which would have acted as an entry point for me to start hanging out with him again.

However, this had not been the case. His answer had been absolute, that there was no way for us to become friends again, and it hurt. It hurt so much knowing that I had ultimately been the reason why he couldn't trust me.

Even during my plan of defeating him, I had never let go of thinking that I could make everything right after, that I could just talk with him and explain why I had acted as I did. Even when Sarah told me to talk to him, I dismissed her because of this absurd kind of reasoning.

In the end, not only did I lose the fight, I lost the chance to reunite with my first friend.

"Are you listening to me?!"

Sarah's loud yell brought me back to reality. I had somehow managed to get lost in my thoughts again while we were walking around the academy grounds on a small afternoon date. Looking at my girlfriend who was wearing a very cute flowery pink dress, I couldn't help but admire her abundant form.

"Sorry, sorry! I was just thinking about some things..."

"Were you thinking about Miren again?"

She wasn't wrong, and it had probably not been hard for her to guess that it was the reason for my mental absence. Even after another week had passed since our conversation, it was still etched in my mind. As my face clearly showed that she was right, she couldn't help but get a bit agitated.

"Geez! I'm almost starting to think that he is the one you're in love with and not me. Maybe I was right in the beginning after all..."

Before she could finish her sentence, which I knew would end with something stupid, her eyes seemed to notice something. "Hey, isn't that the principal?"

As I turned my eyes from her I also saw the old white-haired man walking on the academy grounds. It was a rare sight to see. Having spent more than six months at the academy, I had never seen him just walking around. "It is. I wonder what he is doing?"

As we were walking in opposite directions, his figure became clearer and clearer as we got closer to each other. "Isn't he holding something, James?" It did indeed look like he had something in his arms, but it was hard to see what it was.

As we closed the distance, even more, I could feel my pulse speeding up a bit. It was so incredibly absurd, and Sarah seemed to think the same as we got into talking distance with the old man, "What happened with Miren?!"

Yes, the thing he was holding was Miren, his clothes tattered and his skin black and disfigured. It was a horrible sight, something that was more suited for a horror movie than reality. However, unlike Sarah who seemed to have forgotten social cues and hierarchy, I kept myself calm. It was hard to not show that I was worried, but there was no helping it. We weren't friends after all.

The principal himself was completely collected, not panicking in the slightest over the state of his disciple, and his face was warm and gentle, "Well you see, young lady, there was a slight accident while he was training and thus he ended up this way. Don't worry there will be no danger to his life as long as we get to the infirmary in time."

And then he kept walking, leaving us alone with our thoughts.

There were so many questionable things about this situation. Like why was he so calm, considering the situation, and why didn't he just teleport them both to the infirmary? It was no secret that teleporting was one of the principal's specialties.

But the most important question was something else entirely. What the fuck kind of training was Miren going through to end up like that?!