Sip fanned himself with his robes, wilting under Headmaster Xoiae's immense presence.

  “Be a dear and explain it again, would you?” Xoiae asked me, flicking through my screens.

  “Jujud kidnapped us,” I stated, nodding to Ardenidi and Sip, who were in the room. Xoiae sent everybody else home, since they were too exhausted to stand, much less fight. “Actually, she took a look at my state, criticized my current treatment of my system integrity, and then kidnapped us. We were stuck in a dungeon, and the core had this one really insane move—”

  Ardenidi perked up. “The one in its third phase?”

  “Yeah, the thing with the fire. It was the craziest move I’ve ever seen.”

  Sip groaned. “Don’t remind me. Especially when the dungeon started—”

  Xoiae cleared her throat. “To clarify, Master Jujud forced you to fight a three-star core?”

  We nodded.

  “Well.” Xoiae positively beamed. “I wish I’d thought of that!”

  Ardenidi choked. “Headmaster! We were supposed to get the week off!”

  “Oh, Grind’s alright, isn’t he?” Xoiae chuckled, like shrill metal bells. “His mental state has already demonstrated substantial improvement.”

  I glanced up.

  {Grind : Shock - system_integrity 84%}

  [Disruption effect : 0%]

  [Edge case : 95%]

  [Regulator : 2%]

  I hadn’t even noticed, which was probably the most disturbing part about losing my mind in the first place. What would happen if I went totally off the rails?

  “No matter. There’s something else we should address. About Union Park.” Xoiae smoothed her dress as she adjusted her seating. “You had an episode?”

  “Yeah,” I let out a sigh. “Sorry about that. No one was hurt, right?”

  “No, but it was a bad idea.” She shook her finger at me. “As a silver, it is your responsibility to learn how to take care of yourself. In particular, you need to control your senses better, though that’s partially my fault. I truly am sorry I didn’t send you through training yet, but I felt you needed the time off. Enhanced senses is a skill most potent in Silvers and above, but useful at every level regardless.” Xoiae clapped her hands, summoning a sparkly glass jar with pills no less than an inch thick. “And then there’s your mana channels! Goodness me, I had no idea you had them completely severed. While brave, that was extremely reckless.”

  She wagged her finger at me.

  “But I saved a whole bunch of people,” I muttered.

  “Yes, yes, so I’m not really upset. But it is a shame you lost such a potent ability! A silver with True damage! Imagine that.”

  Sip tried not to stare at the jar. “H-headmaster. What’re those for?”

  “Painkillers.” Xoiae beamed. “They’re for Grind, not you, so don’t worry.”

  Ardenidi kept relatively calm, though her eyes widened. “Why would he need that many? He seems fine now.”

  Xoiae was suddenly at my side, whispering in my ear. “Grind, are these too close to you?”

  I nodded.

  “Ah.” Headmaster Xoiae cleared her throat, gesturing to the door. “I would ask that you two please leave. This will only take a few moments.”

  Before they could protest, Verinaldo appeared, whisking the two out of Xoiae’s office.

  Xoiae pressed the jar into my hands. “Take these.” Her expression was suddenly hollow. “You’ll need them. All of them.”

  I spent the next several minutes taking medicine.

  [You have been afflicted with : Numbing MMLX : [2:00]]

  My whoel body felt dead and distant.

  Xoiae placed a hand on one of the gold bands. “Grind, these bands aren’t necessarily suppressing your mental power. I made some slight modifications, which, in light of recent events, have been…unsuccessful. I’m sorry, but I grossly underestimated how much your mental power has grown. It’s all part of maturing into a full-fledged Silver.”

  She melted the first band.

  There was a moment where I felt absolutely nothing.

  Then I felt everything.

  Excruciating pain seared my skin like a thousand needles, piercing vein, muscle, and bone as the heat in the room exploded, cooking my body from the inside out. I bit my lip to keep from screaming, tasting blood.

  She formed a new, thicker band, slipping it over my ankle, and I felt nothing again.

  Xoiae looked up at me. “Are you okay?”

  I clapped my face, unable to feel a thing. “That sure stung.”

  “Good.” She said, smiling. “I know you must crave an easy life after all you’ve been through, but I’m afraid there’s still a good deal more fighting before I’ll let you go easy.”

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  “I don’t mind.” I sighed. “I’ve got things I need to do. Getting stronger is just a part of that.”

  Headmaster Xoiae nodded. “Good. Good. Tell me, do you know why Masters are all Silvers? They could be leads or golds, couldn't they?”

  “No, not gold.” I wiped blood from my lips. “The stronger the people in an area, the stronger the monsters get, right? So the strongest people in each area should be the strongest for their stats, which implies Silver has a sustained increase in maximum potential power per stat.”

  “Were you always this clever?” She smirked, summoning a cloth and jamming it in my mouth. “I’m removing the next band in three…two…”

  The band vanished from my wrist.

  Frost bit into my skin, drawn by flesh-cutting hurricane winds, snarling and snapping like gunshots, ringing around in my head.

  And then, my new band was on, snug against my ankle.

  “Though were the worst of the two, so you can relax a little. Now, the second area is the area of the mind, but what use is mind power?” Xoiae shrugged. “Mental force, summoning and such isn’t present in any other areas, so why practice it at all? You must’ve noticed it isn’t very popular.”

  “There’s another power,” I whispered. “Something with senses? It’d have to carry over through the areas too.”

  She tapped her nose. “Very good. We allow two groups into the third area. Citizens and officials. An official must serve as a silver in the second area for three years minimum, before entering the third area to claim land and a position of power. It’s a shortcut, in a sense, albeit a difficult one. Because of the second area’s natural increase of mental activity, senses here are tied to mental power—” she inspected the band before removing it. “Close your eyes.”

  Before I had the chance to obey, a sheet of metal enveloped my entire head.

  She removed the next band with a sharp catch in her breath.

  “Apologies. I made a mistake on this one. Though…”

  I heard the individual cells in my body as they moved, bumbling over one another in a murmur. I heard the streets outside for miles, even beyond those into the desert, where animals chirped to one another. And yet, the enchanted sheet kept each sound at a bearable volume, resulting in a nearly indecipherable cacophony of noise.

  Xoiae set the new band around my wrist, removing the metallic blindfold.

  “It’s possible you may be warping the enchantment on these.” Xoiae squinted at me. “You haven’t been using mental energy, have you?”

  I glanced away. “N…no.noo…no. NO.”

  “Don’t.” She exhaled. “You are certainly gifted, Grind. Seeing what you’ve done, I may assume you have the mental power of a thousand people.”

  “So my senses have increased by a thousand times?”

  Xoiae laughed. “Haven’t you been listening? Yes, in other areas, it would only be a thousand times normal. But the average person feels ten to a hundred times the magnification of their senses, even with only a single unit of mental power. And that’s just as a base! With any semblance of training, you could sense a hundred thousand to a million times what a regular person ever could.”

  She replaced the last band of mine faster than usual, but not before I could taste five layers of the floor beneath my feet.

  Not actually painful by any means.

  But…

  I twitched. “Ack.”

  Xoiae chuckled. “Your senses sometimes get jumbled together. It’s nothing a little training can’t fix. Now. Go home and REST! Given the progress you’ve already shown on missions, I think it’s only fair to let your team leave for the wilderness a little earlier. Next morning, in fact. Just make sure to have fun, okay?”

  And just like that, I was outside her office, standing behind Sip and Ardenidi.

  [Affliction ended : Numbing MMLX]

  They glanced at me.

  “What’d she do to you?” Ardenidi grunted. “Your skin is red and your hair’s all messed up.”

  “I need to take a nap,” I whispered.

  I attempted to move, flinching back at the shocking tang of sore muscle. Apparently, the burning sensation hadn’t been internally in my head. Or more likely, the mental power I had caused fake pain to become actual pain.

  Wasn’t that handy.

  I grit my teeth, wobbling toward the door.

  “I really need to take a nap.”

  Sip rolled his eyes. “Alright buddy, I’ll take you home.” He glanced at Ardenidi, smiling politely. “Could you take care of Screech while Grind sleeps? Please? Pretty please?”

  Ardenidi scoffed. “All you.”

  “There go my plans for the evening,” Sip groaned. “And given all the money we spent on potions, we barely made a profit from the dungeon. Today was such a bust…”

  I went home and slept for the next ten hours.

  That was, until the fairy arrived.

  Something bonked on the window.

  My eyes shot open. Sharon was sitting outside, rubbing his head. I let him in.

  “What sort of an idiot keeps their window closed?” Sharon growled. “You ought to be more considerate of your fairy elders.” He puffed out his chest, flashing sharklike teeth. “Speaking of which, I’ve been busy collecting some of the most valuable information in the monster world.”

  I nodded along. “Hey, Xoiae mentioned Silvers and above use heightened senses to fight around here. Do you know anyone particularly good at that?”

  Sharon withered. “That was…I was going to tell you about that…stupid Headmaster.” He plopped into the couch beside me. “But yes I do. In fact, there’s a guy who can split a mountain with a single point of strength. He knows how to use senses and crits and all those sorts of things.”

  I let out a whistle. “How does he do that?”

  “How should I know?” Sharon growled. “But it’s not mental energy, apparently, so it should work in every area. Just listen, his name’s One.”

  “Because he only needs one hit?”

  “Sure. He lives in the eastern desert.” Sharon summoned a map, marking several sections with a charcoal. “Once you finish your time at the academy, see if you can pay him a visit.”

  With that, he rose from his seat, returning to the window.

  “I’ll…uh…see you around.”

  “Screech misses you,” I said. “I’m going to be gone for a couple days, so if you want to stay it’d be a big help—”

  “No.” Sharon’s wings extended from his back, bonking against the walls. “I’m happy helping a friend, but this place…” he gestured toward the city. “This place isn’t my home. Guess I’m just sick of the second area.”

  I smirked. “Going home?”

  “Something like that.” Sharon sighed. “There’s nothing else to learn around here. All the smart monsters have already been killed off and the humans are all wrong. It’s a wasteland compared to the third area. Besides, I don’t remember my family.” His throat choked. “A fairy can’t live, isolated like this.”

  He’s put thought into this. A lot of it.

  He glanced briefly over his shoulder. “See you then.”

  I offered him a smile, which he slowly returned.

  Sharon chuckled. “Good luck dating the human.”

  He left in a trail of shimmering dust, disappearing with the stars over the horizon.

  I walked over and closed the window, before I returned to bed.

  All in all, I’d spent half a week without the slightest hint of progression. Maybe I’d learned some stuff, but I hadn’t gotten stronger. If anything, I’d regressed.

  But, for a time, I considered those days the best of my whole life.

  I was stupid.

  // {Notice} //

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