Triangle Academy, Class A1. Friday.
I sat in my usual seat, trying to focus on the teacher's voice.
Today's lecture was about magical energy.
One of the few topics I still had actual doubts about.
After the distribution of spirit weapons, the school finally opened up official challenges and the public ranking board.
Lucas cemented his place as 7th overall, just below the S-Class monsters.
And me?
I didn't fight at all.
Not because I was scared.
Because I didn't want to show my ability yet.
I'd prepared a bunch of excuses for how my skill worked, but the moment I revealed it, people would start digging. Asking questions. Staring. Testing me.
I didn't want that.
Not yet.
I glanced around.
The "popular" students were getting bombarded with questions. Lucas, in particular, was surrounded even during the lecture. People whispered to him, poked his shoulder, asked for advice, tried to get closer.
He smiled and answered everything easily.
And somehow still followed the class.
"Damn protagonist memory…" I muttered in my head.
All he had to do was glance at a textbook and it was burned into his brain. No studying. No stress. Just convenient, plot-powered perception and retention.
Being the protagonist had its perks.
Didn't make it feel any less annoying to watch.
"Alright, that's it for today," the teacher said. "Class dismissed."
As soon as he left, most of the students stayed in the room.
Half of them swarmed Lucas.
The other half pretended not to, while still listening in.
I slipped out quietly.
I'd been going back to my dorm a lot more lately.
'Damn it… I told that girl to come by my room and she never did. What is she doing?'
It had been two days since I last saw Maya.
I'd tried giving her a bit of space. I didn't want her to become completely dependent on me. But now I needed to check on her.
Something felt off.
I left the dorm floor and headed to the main building, making my way to the only classroom on the E-level.
When I reached the door, I paused.
'If she hasn't been coming to see me… maybe the bullying didn't stop. Maybe something happened.'
I pushed the door open.
The smell of cheap air freshener and fear hit me all at once.
The classroom was… interesting.
The first thing I noticed was a guy completely wrapped in bandages. Arms, legs, torso, even part of his face — only his eyes and nose were visible.
"You must be the idiot who bullied Maya," I thought.
He looked like he'd fought fifty people and lost.
Blaze must've done a thorough job.
I scanned the room.
Some students in the front row saw me and immediately went silent. No one dared say a word.
My eyes moved from row to row.
Then I met a familiar gaze.
Black eyes, wide with shock.
Black hair.
Her hand unconsciously drifting to her stomach.
Class E uniform.
Victoria.
The girl who had been beating Maya before I intervened.
Her entire body stiffened the instant our eyes met.
I ignored her and kept looking.
No Maya in the first row.
None in the second.
My anxiety climbed with every empty seat.
"What the hell…" I muttered under my breath.
Then, at the last row, I found her.
A small group of girls were laughing around a table.
At the center of them, a redhead covered her mouth while giggling — her laughter soft but real.
Maya.
I let out a long breath I didn't realize I'd been holding and walked toward her.
"And what's a Class A student's room like? Is it really that different?" one of the girls asked, eyes sparkling as she clung to Maya's arm.
"Yes, Maya, you're the only one who's seen it! Tell us!" another said, leaning forward.
Maya fidgeted, repeating quietly, "Do I answer or not…?"
Before she could decide, I spoke.
"So you make new friends and forget about me?"
I crossed my arms and sat in the empty chair across from her.
The girls whipped around, eyes wide. Immediately, I felt the weight of their stares.
Maya jumped to her feet.
"W-what are you doing here?" she stammered.
I looked at her for a moment, then stood as well as the girls began to subtly pull back, giving us space.
"You didn't come to my room yesterday," I said. "So I was worried."
Her cheeks turned pink instantly. She opened and closed her mouth several times, failing to form words.
Her friends weren't any better.
'Cute…'
'They're definitely a couple…'
I heard one of them squeal in a whisper.
Maya's eyes widened. Panic flashed across her face.
She suddenly grabbed my arm.
"L-let's talk outside!"
She practically dragged me out of the room.
"Hey— hey! What's going on?" I said, letting her pull me.
Just as we reached the hallway, I heard one of the girls shout behind us:
"See you later, lovebirds!"
…Yeah. I understood now.
We stopped, and Maya quickly let go of my arm, her face red.
She crossed her arms, avoiding my gaze.
"A-ah… d-do you have any idea what you just did!?" she snapped.
I raised an eyebrow.
"I had to work so hard to get rid of the rumor that I slept with you," she groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. "And now everyone's going to think it's true again! You—"
She started pacing back and forth, rambling under her breath.
I stayed quiet and watched.
After a few seconds, she realized I wasn't saying anything and slowly looked up at me.
"Are you done?" I asked.
She puffed her cheeks, then sighed and nodded.
"There's no need to worry about rumors," I said. "I already dealt with that."
Confusion crossed her face.
I ran a hand through my hair and took a step closer.
"But I still have a question."
She instinctively stepped back.
"…Are you ashamed of me?"
Her eyes widened.
I leaned in, just enough that our faces were close, gaze locked onto hers.
Pressing her back lightly to the wall, she swallowed hard and turned her face away, cheeks burning.
'Tsk. Cute redhead,' I thought, pulling back again to give her space.
She exhaled, clearly relieved.
"How's your training going?" I asked. "Don't tell me you've been slacking."
She straightened up, trying to compose herself.
"I haven't been slacking," she said, puffing her chest out slightly. "My magic energy is… 110 now."
I frowned.
"That doesn't add up. With your circulation speed, you should've gone past 110 in less than a day. What were you doing?"
Her confidence cracked immediately.
She lifted her hand.
A deep navy-blue glow flared to life around it.
I stared.
"What…?"
My heart skipped.
"That's metaphysical energy," I breathed. "You… evolved your core!?"
A proud smile tugged at her lips as she nodded.
This girl…
This goes beyond protagonist speed. She's a monster with magical energy.
Power cores had limits. To raise that limit, you had to fill your core completely, then compress and reshape it with magic control — evolving it.
The first evolution usually required 600 magic energy.
Maya did it in two days.
She was terrifying.
I swallowed when I thought of my own 340 magic energy. Even with fast circulation, it still felt like a mountain.
With a second evolution, she could manifest magic outside her body without using her main skill — metaphysical energy. On top of that, her stat limits expanded.
Normally, a human's natural stat peak is 30.
After the first core evolution, that cap can rise to around 50.
With a second evolution, it can climb to 100.
Of course, that depends heavily on magic control — which is why manuals are rare and stupidly expensive.
Most people in the world didn't know this.
Even the protagonist didn't know.
"Incredible…" I muttered.
Maya watched me, her eyes lighting up as I stared at the energy in her hand.
Eventually, the blue glow faded, sinking back into her skin like it was never there.
"Is that why you didn't come to my room?" I asked.
"Yeah," she said. "I felt like I was nearing the limit, so I focused on pushing through."
I shook my head and sighed.
"Fine. But next time, tell me. I was worried. I thought someone might've hurt you because of my interference."
"I'm sorry…" she whispered, scratching her left arm, embarrassed.
"It's been a long time since I had anyone close," she said softly. "I forgot how this… friendship thing works. I also got distracted training with my spiritual weapon."
Her honesty caught me off guard for a moment.
I was demanding consistency from someone who'd been alone for most of her life.
"Alright," I said lightly. "Anyway… now that you've evolved your core, we can move to the next part of my plan."
She blinked.
"Plan?"
I smiled.
"First question: how many merits do you have?"
Still confused, she pulled her student ID from her pocket, glanced at it, and answered:
"I have… 510 merits."
Relief washed through me.
"Good. You didn't waste them." I took out my own card. "I've got 1,600. That gives us 2,110 total."
"Do you… need my merits?" she asked.
"Actually, yeah," I admitted. "But I promise it'll benefit both of us—"
"You can have them all."
She didn't even let me finish.
"Huh? You sure about that?"
She nodded, holding her card out with both hands.
I took it.
"So," I said, lacing my fingers around hers and tugging gently, "since there's no problem… let's go."
She squeaked as I pulled her along.
"W-wait! Where are we going!?" she complained, stumbling a bit to keep up.
She glanced back once and caught her new friends peeking from the doorway, giggling and whispering.
She sighed.
"Isn't it obvious?" I said. "First, we're going to the merit shop."
"And then…?" she asked cautiously.
I grinned.
"Then we're leaving the Triangle."