Prota stared at the two figures emerging from the shadows. She'd have to beat them all on her own, or at least stall for time until someone came to help.

Based on the way John had been acting, it seemed the latter would not be happening. Thankfully, the two people were more focused on the now-unconscious John than they were on dealing with Prota.

"You. You were getting in our way. We just wanted to send a message, but look at what you've done to us," a male voice sighed.

"...hey. Doesn't he fit the description?" The companion's voice was feminine in nature.

"Who?"

"That guy that cleared out our division in Solaris. Doesn't he fit the description?"

"...this is a kid."

"So?"

"Why does it matter? We're gonna send him back anyway. It's annoying, but at least we got our message across."

The man pulled out a sword, raising it high.

"No!" Prota yelled, sending a burst of wind to send the man flying.

It was only enough to force him to take a step back. He looked to his left, mildly annoyed.

"You. Why don't you just wait your turn, little girl?"

She couldn't let them know that John wouldn't be able to get sent back. They'd kill him. She couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

"Hold on… shouldn't that kid be gone by now? He looks like he's about to croak."

"Maybe he can't. Who knows? Just kill him anyway. We wanted to kill them all anyway, right?"

Prota's eyes went wide. She couldn't let it happen. In desperation, she took off her safety pin that'd been attached to her wrist, throwing it at the enemy. They momentarily stopped, looking as if they were about to say something, but then paused as they picked up the item.

"A teleportation device… interesting. Is this what was protecting the kiddos?"

They both looked at Prota, crushing the magic circle that'd made the device useful.

"That was stupid. You just lost your only way out of here."

Destiny was gone. John was pinned to a tree, broken and bleeding. Prota was against two enemies, likely just as strong as that creature they'd faced before, and there was no one coming to save her.

"Well, since you so kindly let us know what was bothering us for so long… we'll play with you first, ok?"

Prota swallowed, but there was no saliva to run down her throat. Her mouth was completely parched. Could she defeat these powerhouses? How? With what? She didn't know their abilities, didn't know their fighting style, who they were, how they—

[Wow! This is cool! Hey, Zero, how long has this thing been here for?]

[Forever. You just didn't know about it.]

Prota could hear John's voice ringing in his head. She looked over at his unconscious body. No movement.

[Man, old me thought of everything, huh? Why would I ever need a recording system?]

[Just record the message, man.]

[Ah- oh, right. Hey, Prota. Zero said he'd drop this into your system when it's needed. Apparently, he's not allowed to say this himself or whatever-]

[Get on with it!]

[Right, right. Anyway, I'm probably unconscious or missing or something. If that's the case, and you're up against someone super strong… go all out. Survive. Run, escape, hide, whatever it takes. If you have to fight… use whatever you want. Normally I wouldn't say this, but if I can't help, and the alternative is death, then being found out is way better than having to [Reset], got it?]

She looked at John one more time.

[What I'm saying is: don't hold back. I'm sure you can win if you do that.]

Prota's eyes widened. No more holding back.

While the enemy's magic was undetectable, they had a lot of it. While this was usually a bad thing, that also meant that there was a near-infinite amount of mana to use in this fight. In one go, she reached out and took all she could, instantly filling her staff and replenishing her core, casting mana recovery several times.

"What the- hey, careful!" one of the cloaked men exclaimed. "This one knows Soul Steal!"

"Soul Steal? I thought we never finished that experiment? Wasn't it scrapped?"

"Who cares? Maybe she's a dragon. Just get ready!"

Damn. It was like fighting that dwarf all over again. She tried Soul Steal again, but they seemed to have put up some kind of mental barrier. Well, she had her staff. It was enough to cast several of her larger spells, and if that wasn't enough, well, she was doomed anyway.

Frost began to gather as several Blossoms of Ice began to bloom in front of her, but the enemy wasn't just going to sit still and watch it happen. One withdrew his bow and fired an arrow, but Prota was ready. One of her Blossoms was smashed, but the other two kept forming, forcing the other cloaked figure to charge forward, dark, purple magic forming claws at her fingertips.

"Maybe we should capture you and turn you into a pet," the figure snickered as she slashed away.

Prota was barely keeping herself safe, her mind straining at using both wind magic to propel her away while continuing to form the Blossoms. Block, dodge, jump, duck, heart pounding, head ringing, the thick smell of lush greenery and wildlife filling her senses. A single hit meant death. A single mistake would cost her everything. Her mind was straining as her body moved for her while she continued to finish her spells.

Finally, they were done. Prota threw them forward with all her might, catching one of her enemies off guard.

The ice made contact with her arm, and despite the high level of mana reinforcement on it, some of the ice managed to penetrate and freeze the limb, causing it to slow down.

"Ha! That's what you get for slacking off!"

"Shut up and shoot!"

Two Blossoms had barely made a scratch. Prota immediately replenished her core, constantly moving while she tried to figure out what to do next. Frozen Flame took far too long to form, and she wasn't even sure if it would hit. The opponents were going easy. They were underestimating her. And even still, they were overpowering her.

She didn't have the means to break through.

This was the first fight she wasn't using any other spells. Her usual fireballs and icicles were nowhere to be seen. They wouldn't do any damage, and it was both stamina and mana wasted. She had a feeling they wouldn't distract the enemy, either. All she could do was dodge.

"You're a nimble little runt, aren't ya," the one with the bow laughed. "Well, it's nice to see one student survive for so long. The others went off before they even knew what was happening."

Prota didn't hear his words. She could barely hear anything, her brain filtering out everything but the sounds necessary for her to survive. There was no John to bail her out here, no [Resets] to guarantee a victory.

Sweat began to pour down her face, her hair tangled and matted with dirt and sweat. Blood had yet to be drawn, and yet she couldn't shake the feeling that she was fighting a losing battle. Even with stacks upon stacks of mana recovery holding her body up, it was slowly crumbling down. Even still, she pushed forward.

Defeat was not an option. Death would not be allowed.

"Give up, little girl," the one with claws hissed as she took yet another swipe. "You should be grateful you've survived for even this long."

Again, she was too focused to hear the taunt, let alone be baited into a rage. She couldn't find a single crack in their defences. Her mind was so busy tracking the archer's shots and predicting the fighter's moves that there was little room to come up with a strategy.

Suddenly, something came to mind. The new spell she'd just learned. Surely that could breach their defences, right? But how would she get enough time to set it up?

Time. There was one thing she could do to buy herself time, but it was incredibly risky. Her ability to use mana reinforcement on her nervous system was powerful, but it could also go terribly wrong.

Twice.

She could use it twice, and then she'd run out of energy, and if her opponents weren't dead, then she would be the one to die instead.

What other choice did she have, though? She bit down on nothing, fists clenched as her breathing turned into panting, her body desperate for air.

"Looks like you have something up your sleeve."

Prota flinched as she barely avoided a fatal hit. The one with claws had taken off her cloak to reveal a beautiful woman with long, red hair.

"Aw, look what you've done!" the other one complained. "Now she knows what you look like!"

"Does it matter? Dead men tell no tales."

"...yeah, whatever. The cloak was getting stuffy, anyway."

The man threw his hood off to reveal spiky green hair. Suddenly, Prota recognized them. They were professors in some of her classes. What were they doing here?

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"See? She recognized us!" the man sighed.

"Then make sure she dies."

Now. They were slightly distracted, and Prota doubted she'd get another opportunity like this. Channelling mana to her nervous system, time seemed to slow down. She compressed the ice and formed the vortex, aiming the spell not at the woman, but at the archer. The mana was there. The spell was ready.

All she had to do was fire.

"Watch out!" the woman yelled, but it was too late.

Prota's spell fired off with a boom, splitting an arrow in half as it spiralled toward the man, splitting his bow in half and piercing right through his arm, shooting out the back and piercing the tree behind him.

Again. Time once again stopped as she channelled her second bullet, once again letting it off toward the woman. She was getting the timing down, and the less time she spent in this hyper-focused state, the less energy she'd have to spend.

The bullet wouldn't miss, though. This one was aimed right for the head.

Once again, a boom rang out as the ice broke the sonic barrier, but somehow, almost against the laws of physics, the woman flicked her head and avoided it.

"You little shit," she growled, her claws growing longer. "We were playing around because it was fun, but now… now, we just have to kill you. Get up!"

The archer got to his feet, and despite the black blood flowing from his wound, he seemed unharmed. A bow of flames formed in his hand, and a flaming arrow was notched in the string.

Everything Prota had banked on was gone. She had much more mana and energy than she'd expected, but ultimately, what else was there? She'd used her surprise attack, and it'd failed. There was nothing left for her to do.

They were glaring at her with unmistakable killing intent. The murderous glare in their eyes sent chills down Prota's spine. Still, she refused to die here. She turned around and began to run, both enemies giving chase. Arrow after arrow was fired, and each was deflected one by one. She'd stumble, but a boost of wind picked her back up. An arrow nicked her arm, but she didn't even have time to cry out. She slapped her palm to the injury and froze it, ignoring the vague stinging sensation as she forced herself forward.

"You little shit! Get back here!"

Prota didn't turn around. Sweat poured down her face, falling to the ground like rain, getting in her eyes, matting her hair, obscuring her vision, but she didn't need to see clearly. She just needed to feel the mana in the air, feel the attacks moving her way, and as long as she could hold out for a second longer, that was all she needed.

"Fine. If you won't stand and fight, we'll just deal with the other one first."

Her heart skipped a beat. John. No, they couldn't get—

"Gotcha."

An arrow pierced right through her chest, the flames of the wound instantly cauterizing the hole as it continued on its way. Claws sunk into her leg, crippling her immediately and then into her left arm, rendering it useless. She wanted to cry out in pain, but found that the air and energy for such an action weren't there.

"Finally. You were an annoying little runt, you know that? I can't believe you hit me."

Despite all her efforts, neither enemy seemed remotely tired at all. They simply got up and started walking toward where John had been left, seemingly intent on finishing him off first.

"No," she wanted to say. "You can't."

But no words came out. All she could do was lie on the ground, helpless. Blood began to trickle into her mouth, filling her senses with the taste and smell of iron. Move. She needed to move. Crawl, inch her way toward the one she'd sworn to protect, do anything other than be a useless log lying in the dirt.

But her body wouldn't respond.

"No. No."

She had to do something. Anything. Where was that voice? That voice that had helped her in the Town of Beginnings. Where was it now?

Her last hope was gone.

Her mind began to collapse on itself. Thoughts came and went, bouncing around, filling the traffic in her brain until it was so loud that there was nothing to be heard. Her consciousness seemed to shut itself off in an attempt to recover some form of control, but to no avail.

She didn't quite fall unconscious, but she was no longer capable of conscious thought. That didn't mean she was out for the count, though.

"What the- my mana!" the woman yelled, turning around.

Prota's body began to levitate off the ground as if she were a doll controlled by strings. Her eyes snapped open, glowing so bright it was almost blinding. She was taking in far more mana than she could use, and so she had to expel it somehow.

Expel it she would. Shards of ice began to form, slamming against each other as they compressed more and more. The man tried to snipe the spell down, but the attack yielded no results. A barrier of ice rose up, blocking the attack, then began to turn blue as more mana was fed into it. The blue ice was compressed. Then it was compressed again. And again. And again. Over and over, until the ice was completely opaque, and even then, it wasn't just a single icicle. No, it was a small block, and from that came a handful of projectiles, pulling themselves off the main chunk until there was no ice left to use.

Then, the wind. Swirling like a hurricane, wind so strong it was shaking the trees, like a mini-tornado in the palm of one's hand.

"What the hell is she doing?"

"I don't know!"

"Then shoot her, idiot!"

A singular arrow went out, but instead of hitting Prota, it simply fizzled out. The flames seemed to actually be drawn into her, as if she'd absorbed the mana that made up the magic.

"What the-"

It was too late. All five bullets fired off, streaking through the air, three of them catching the archer right in the chest, the other two smashing right into the woman with the claws.

It didn't stop there, though. Instead of pushing through, they shattered upon contact. The shards spread out, pushing into flesh, then expanded, shattering out like Prota's Blossoms of ice, as if each shard of each bullet was a Blossom in itself.

Such a spell immediately eviscerated the archer's body, blowing it to bits, leaving nothing but clear, bloodied ice. The woman received a similar fate, leaving both enemies reduced to flesh and bone.

Prota fell to the ground, unconscious. She'd exhausted every last bit of mana, every last bit of energy, and now, there was nothing left.

That meant she couldn't watch as the woman's flesh pieced itself back together until she was whole again.

"Phew," she sighed, staring at her body. "To think a little squirt like you had something like that… It's a good thing we're dealing with you now."

She raised her claws, ready to deliver the final strike.

"Stop."

A voice rang out through the air, and the woman froze. She trembled as if she were trying to move, but her body wouldn't listen to her. A few seconds later, her eyes went wide in fear. There was only one being she knew of who could do this.

"You. I thought we did background checks on our professors, but I suppose a few of you cultists slipped through the cracks."

Sofya Ohrein, headmaster of Scholaris, slowly descended from the skies like a godsent angel.

"Poor child. You did well. Soul Steal… to think a human could possess such an ability. It seems they succeeded. Although, the power you displayed at the end… I did not recognize it. Well, no matter."

A soft green light emitted from her hand, showering Prota as her wounds slowly began to heal. Her breathing stabilized until she went from a state of forcefully induced unconsciousness to a light sleep.

"You may speak."

"You- you think you got us, huh? Well, we know about-"

Not another word could be spoken. The woman's head went flying off, and as the flesh began to rejoin, the dragon simply extended a hand and razed the body to ash, leaving nothing left to be reformed.

"You do not know anything. Speak not of what you do not know."

Strange words to come from a girl who had the physical appearance of one so young, but it wasn't as if there was anybody to comment on such a dichotomy.

"Hm… there was another, was there not?"

She closed her eyes and scanned the island for any mana signatures, but there were no cores to be found other than that belonging to the girl next to her. What? She had sworn there was a boy as well. Had he been transported to the rest of the students?

"Argh… I can't… move…"

A voice. Sofya's eyes widened as she dashed to where the sound had come from to find John still hanging from the tree. She quickly reached up to feel his neck. It was cold. Frighteningly so. How was he still alive?

"Oh… you're…" he managed to wheeze.

His mouth continued to move, but no more words came out. The light in his eyes should be fading—

No. There was no light to begin with. Was the boy a zombie?

"Heal," he gasped out. "Please?"

Sofya shook her head. Right, she'd been so distracted that she'd forgotten why she was here. The green light shone upon John as she pulled the arrows out of his body and lowered him gently to the jungle floor.

"Thanks," John sighed as he felt his body knit itself back together.

Now that she was up close and personal, he got his first good look at her.

She bore an interesting resemblance to Prota. The same petite build, the same long, white hair, with piercing blue eyes. Unlike Prota, however, the eyes were of the same colour, and her face was far sharper and emotional. She wore a simple white dress that hid most of her body, her untied hair flowing in the wind.

Despite her build, nobody would mistake her for a child. Her gaze and face spoke years of experience and wisdom, and the aura emanating from her spoke volumes of her power. John could only stare as he took all of this in.

"You are alive," Sofya said quietly, snapping John out of his analysis.

He flinched. "...yeah? What else would I be? Dead?"

"You are awfully cocky for a boy who was just on the verge of death," the headmaster sighed. "You are not traumatized, nor are you concerned. I-"

"Prota!" John gasped.

Concerned. There was someone to be concerned about. Right, she'd been—

"Your friend is fine. She is unconscious but alive. I must commend the two of you for fighting such an arduous battle."

"You saw?"

"Only the ending. But for both of you to still be here after fighting such a powerful set of foes means you yourselves must be quite the talented students. I will be sure to mention this to the professors in charge. Your friend, especially. For her to eliminate such an opponent… we truly have some amazing talent in this school."

"I- uh- thanks?"

Did she not know about the whole situation? And why weren't the professors here? John's theory began to cement itself in his head. If the safety devices worked off of one's own mana, then Lupin had to have known that John would be in danger. And if they themselves hadn't come to help, then didn't that mean they'd left him for dead?

"Oh. A little tip for you," Sofya added.

John felt a little uncomfortable speaking to someone who looked so young, but his mind was too preoccupied to focus on it.

"Your friend, if she can be called that… she possesses quite a unique talent. A magic unlike that of any other, if I must say so myself. A power quite similar to mine. It would be in your best interests if you kept her close."

"Yeah. Uh huh."

The words took a little while to process, but when they did, they hit John like a truck. Sofya had turned to leave, but before she could do so, John grabbed her by the wrist.

"You dare-"

"What the hell do you know about Prota?!"

His eye was blazing red, his grip so tight on the headmaster that her hand was beginning to turn purple.

"You dare touch me? Release me at once!"

"Not until you tell me what you know!"

Her eyes widened as she tried to pull back out of instinct, but John's grip remained as firm as ever. Draconic Speech. Why hadn't it worked?

"You- you resisted my speech," Sofya said quietly, staring at the boy who, despite everything, was still holding onto her.

"Well, yeah, why the hell would I- oh, shit."

He let go of Sofya's wrist, recoiling in shock.

"Shit, shit, shit-" he muttered, his heart pounding in panic.

Sofya frowned in curiosity. "Just who are you, boy?"

John just stared. He couldn't answer the question. Was it all about to unravel here? With the way he was feeling, he could activate [Infinity], grab Prota, escape to some distant island and hide out until—

"I see you do not wish to answer. That is fine by me. That is, if you can answer my questions."

She snapped her fingers, and the trees around them began to assemble themselves into chairs. John felt himself get picked up and placed into one of them, while the headmaster sat in the other.

"That girl. You seem to know something about her. You know something is off. What do you know? I will not tolerate lies."

John stared. How much did the headmaster know?

"You have my word I will not tell a single soul of this."

Could he trust her? What if she were secretly an enemy? He knew so little about the headmaster that there was no info to go off of, no way to tell what the [Plot] had in store for her.

Well, she'd saved him. She'd saved Prota, apparently. Besides, she'd seen enough of Prota to tell that she had some kind of unique power, and still hadn't told John. It seemed she didn't know of the relation between the two, and, because of this, had refused to reveal more than a hint of information to John.

Surely that was enough, right?

"That's my sister," John sighed.

"Your sister?" Sofya said, raising an eye.

"...adopted, something like that."

"I see."

"Soul Steal. That's what you want to know about, right?"

Sofya's eyes lit up. "So you know. And you have confirmed my theory."

"Yeah. So… what now?"

"She is not a dragon. She is human."

"You can tell?"

The headmaster let out a little laugh. "Of course. If I were unable to distinguish between mortals and those of my own race, I would be a failure of a dragon, would I not?"

"Um… sure. Yeah."

"And what else?"

John frowned. "What do you mean, what else? That's all she has. Shouldn't that be secretive enough?"

"She seemed to possess some kind of strange power, one beyond that of Soul Steal. I could not identify it, but it is what allowed the two of you to survive for so long."

Something else? Like what? John really didn't know of anything like that. The headmaster wouldn't accept an answer like that, though, right? He frowned, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't tell what Sofya meant.

Was she talking about [Reset]? No, that wasn't an ability that could be detected, and it wasn't Prota's to begin with. Was it her status as an [Anomaly]? No, that wasn't something that [Characters] could notice. In the first place, it affected very little in a practical sense, and you'd have to fundamentally understand what this world was for you to even begin to piece together the clues.

"I… I don't know," he finally said.

"I see."

That was it? No refusal? No rebuttal?

"Then… I will not speak of either of your abilities, nor will I punish you for your imprudence, should you tell me one last thing," Sofya nodded.

John felt the pressure lift off his shoulders.

"Sure, what is it?"

"You said she was adopted. Then, do you know from where she came?"

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