Destiny pulled John aside, taking the two of them into the shade of some trees, where nobody would hear their conversation.

"Alright. There's no one nearby. Tell me, now."

John grimaced. Technically speaking, there was no harm in letting him know what had happened this summer. If Destiny had connections, it might even help them with something related to the Demon King and her experiments.

He explained from when he'd fought Draco to invading the Wynton household. He left a few details out, only explaining that he'd finished things involving the household. Things regarding slaves or Hikari weren't verbalized, but he did explain that the noble was involved with the cultists.

"You what?!" Destiny exclaimed.

"Relax, they're all gone. The entire household. Your king backed me up on this, and now the people in authority or whatever are dealing with the matter. It's past what I can do. I'm not getting involved with politics."

"John, I-" Destiny started, but then he stopped himself.

"You good?" John frowned.

To his surprise, Destiny began to laugh. Not a laugh of fatigue or insanity, but a genuine, joyful laugh.

John frowned, suddenly concerned. "Hey, are you crazy? What are you-"

"We were talking about this, weren't we?" Destiny said, calming down. "Back in the Town of Beginnings. I told you it was crazy to take on a noble household. You told me it was crazy. But then you went and did it anyway. I- I don't know what to say. John, you… I don't know."

John just sighed. "Look, I can't just ignore Draco turning into a demon and telling me he got some weird medicine from his dad."

"That's a fair point," Destiny nodded. "Ok, but what does any of this have to do with Hikari?"

John sobered up, his body stiffening. He looked around, but it seemed that everyone was still moving back into the dorms.

"Destiny, you absolutely cannot tell anybody what I am about to say. The school is already investigating this, so just listen and take things calmly, ok?"

Destiny frowned. "The school- what?"

"Promise."

"I- you know what? Fine. If you're telling me not to say this, then I'll protect the secret to my grave."

John grimaced, but he had already resolved himself to explain things anyway.

He explained from the point where they'd killed Emotor. Hikari showing up, revealing his connections, his backstory, and his betrayal, all of it.

"Wait, stop right there. Hikari was a cultist?" Destiny hissed. "John, do you understand what this means?"

"Huh? The cat had their reasons for whatever, and the cat is now dead. Who cares? What's done is done."

"What's done is- John, that's a Mystic! A Mystic betrayed our continent! Do you know how bad that is?"

"Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" John said, visibly annoyed.

"...sorry."

He finished by explaining how Lupin and Leora had shown up, and then finally explained how Lupin and Leora had killed the demon-enhanced Hikari. That last part was a lie, but he couldn't exactly say that he or Prota had done the deed.

"That's all. Do you understand why I didn't want to tell you?"

Destiny frowned. "Frankly, no. I don't."

John had been about to leave, but upon processing Destiny's words, he flinched.

"What?"

"John. You were comfortable telling me about Doctor, about souls, and you were open about it. You told me you had information that doesn't exist in this world. You've shown me modern Earth weaponry, you pre-emptively told me that I'm the hero, and so much more. This shouldn't be something you were afraid to tell me. So what are you hiding?"

"Since when did you get so perceptive?" John said, raising an eye.

"Since I started dealing with you. It's a requirement, it seems. And I have a feeling I know what you were lying about, too."

John raised his eyes. "Oh? Prove me wrong, then. Let's see the newly made detective."

"Tell me the story again. Specifically, the ending. Tell me how Hikari Dormier died."

John stared at Destiny, not moving an inch.

"What's wrong? You couldn't have been lying, could you?" Destiny said, stepping forward. His eyes were glowing golden. "Is Hikari really dead?"

"Who knows?"

"That's not an answer. Yes or no, John."

"...yes."

"Then who was the killer?"

There was no way out of this. John could refuse to answer, but Destiny wouldn't let this go.

Shoot. John had been hoping Destiny wouldn't question something like this. After all, almost all of the story had been completely truthful. There was no reason for the hero to doubt John at the moment.

But Destiny's intensified doubts were beginning to be an issue. If there was even a single flaw in John's story, it would show. Did he really have to be completely honest from here on out?

Well, Destiny was already aware of John's strange energy. He'd told something interesting to the Mystics. It was fine if he leaked a little information now, wasn't it?

"You can't tell anybody this, ok?" John sighed. "Look. Seriously, this time, I'm not playing around. You absolutely must keep this a secret. Please. The only other people who know this are Lupin, Leora, and Prota.

"Leora and- what? They were really there?"

"Yeah. Look, I'm dead serious right now, ok? Use your lie detector, use whatever, but I tell the truth here on the condition that you tell this to absolutely nobody."

"...fine."

John took a breath, trying to calm himself down. Once he said this, there was no going back.

This would open up a whole can of worms. Once somebody truly understood how strong he was, more people would find out. He didn't care if Destiny was trustworthy. Things like Draconic Speech existed, and mind control was also a factor.

A secret only worked if it was kept.

Once it was leaked to even a single person, it was no longer a secret. But then again, hadn't he been preparing for this eventuality? He couldn't afford to take people by surprise anymore. He didn't have the means to.

He had to fight properly.

"You're right. Lupin and Leora didn't kill Hikari. They actually lost to the cat. That bitch powered up with some kind of demon crystal, and it worked pretty fucking well."

"They- they lost? Then who did it?"

Destiny felt a shiver run down his spine. What kind of monstrous being beat a Mystic capable of defeating not one other Mystic, but two?

"You aren't allowed to ask any more questions after this," John said quietly.

"What?"

"You can't ask any more questions after this. What I say next is the last thing I'm telling you, ok?"

Destiny shuddered. "Fine."

John looked Destiny in the eyes, red and black meeting gold.

"It was me."

John turned to leave, the conversation now finished.

Destiny recovered from his shock and called out once more. "What- hey! What do you mean, it was you? What-"

"That's a question. We're done."

"John, you can't just- John!"

"I said we're done. I'm not answering any more questions."

Destiny watched as John left, staring at the symbol on his back. He had almost forgotten that John was hiding something. It'd been a long time since John had displayed proper fighting capabilities aside from his strange gimmicks, but Destiny remembered now: John had some strange energy he had yet to tell them about.

The strange energy from the Cave of Trials. The mystery of what had happened to Doctor. The lack of information regarding Birdie's death.

A conversation he'd had with Kit came to mind.

"He said something about… not being able to lose." Kit looked at Fate. "I don't think he was bluffing or joking. He wasn't talking as if he had some secret weapon or hidden strength. It was as if he were stating a fact. As if the world itself would never let him lose."

John was a powerful force. Destiny didn't know how, or what power John wielded, but he had to keep in mind that his strange ally was someone who still held a lot of secrets.

And now, he'd just confessed to killing a Mystic.

"...just who are you?"

~~~

Aside from the one little conversation between John and Destiny, things passed quite peacefully during the first half of their third year at Scholaris.

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Everyone was growing quite adequately. Destiny was stepping into the realm of a Master at this point, learning how to coat his sword with aura. Combined with all his other skills, he was quickly becoming quite the formidable force. John was watching with satisfaction as the [Hero] was being built before his own eyes.

Celestia, surprisingly, was also showing some very impressive results. She hadn't shown up very much, at least in John's eyes, but apparently she'd done quite a lot at the cabin that summer. She'd managed to keep everyone alive despite some pretty bad wounds, and that had to be worth something.

Danjo and Briar were coming along well. They, along with Arthur and Aurora, actually made something for John in an attempt to try and help him fight a little better, but he had turned it down. As it turned out, armour made of metal was somewhat heavy, and it simply interfered too much with John's fighting style.

"It's good," John said apologetically as he returned their project. "Like, really good. But… it just doesn't work on me."

"Oh. Um… sorry," Danjo said dejectedly.

Briar slapped the back of his head. "Don't be an idiot, dwarf-boy. He just means it's not good for him. Doesn't mean we did a bad job. John, what was wrong?"

"Too heavy," John explained. "I can't use mana, remember? With no mana reinforcement, I can't nearly as fast as I want. It's a little, uh… you know."

"Even though it's this thin?" Danjo said, surprised.

The armour wasn't full plate armour; it was thin yet durable, with magic circles to help with strength and stamina. Unfortunately, it simply didn't work. With zero mana, John couldn't activate the runes, something the others likely wouldn't have been aware of. Thus, although it was less than a fifth of the weight of normal plate armour, it was still weight John had to bear.

Ultimately, it just wasn't practical enough for him to use. It seemed he wouldn't be getting the usual buff protagonists got. He couldn't just ignore a difference to his body like that.

Then, shouldn't his age regression have made his fighting worse?

…it was best to not think about such things.

"Yeah," John said apologetically. He really was sorry. It looked like they'd put effort into this. "If I wasn't so used to my current fighting style, it would be helpful, but… yeah."

"No worries," Briar grinned. "It was fun to make."

She probably wasn't lying, either. The human blacksmith looked like she genuinely didn't mind this whole thing.

John felt his grin grow a little wider.

These were definitely important [Side Characters]. It probably wouldn't be too much of a stretch to call all of them Destiny's [Companions]. Despite knowing this, John also saw them as friends. Sure, he didn't interact with them all the time, but they were growing on him.

Even stranger was the fact that Lilith and Ryan were beginning to grow on him. They barely interacted with Destiny, making it apparent that they were nothing more than [Extras], but John was also enjoying his time with them.

Speaking of the twins, it seemed that they'd grown quite a bit as well. John hadn't seen much of them since their exam together, but most of the flaws he'd pointed out were now gone.

He'd skipped out on class to go watch the Casting class, just out of curiosity, and was fascinated to see Prota sparring with Lilith.

The blue-haired girl had improved quite a bit. Her fighting style was a mix of a traditional caster with a bit of Prota's movement thrown in for variety. Lilith obviously couldn't react and dodge the way Prota could; after all, she hadn't died hundreds of times in real combat. Still, she'd done her best to imitate Prota's agility, and it'd resulted in a skill that surpassed the average student in her class.

More than allowing her to evade more attacks, it made Lilith feel more confident. You could see it in her eyes. She no longer panicked when faced with a spell, no longer stumbled when interrupted. The girl simply moved to the side or ducked and carried on.

She was holding her own against Prota quite well. Obviously, Prota wasn't using mana recovery or Soul Steal, nor was she using any of her signature spells like Frozen Blossom or Frozen Bullet. Still, she was a formidable fighter even without those spells, and for Lilith to be standing her ground was impressive nonetheless.

"Mister Quarta," a voice said, causing John to jump a little in his shoes.

Sofya Ohrein stood behind him, her arms crossed as she looked into his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I- um-" John stammered.

"Haah… I've heard you were a bit of a troublemaker, but you should at least hide it a bit if you wish to remain in this school." The dragon poked John in the chest, a small smile forming on her lips. "Still, I have heard good things from Lupin and Leora. I will overlook this once if you do me a favour."

"Um." John pressed his lips together. He wasn't fond of making deals with higher beings. "What kind of favour?"

"I'd like you to spar with one of these students. It would be good to get an early lead on how various types of combatants should fight each other. From what I've heard, you have ample experience in this field, so it shouldn't be an issue for you, right?"

John considered the proposition. He'd heard that the classes would be having joint lessons in order to teach the topic Sofya had just mentioned, so this wasn't a trick or anything. He shrugged. It was easier to fight against casters than it was against fighters, at least for him, so this wasn't all that bad.

"Sure," he shrugged. "Sounds like fun."

"Very good."

She clapped, gathering the students' attention.

"Everybody!" Sofya called out. "We have a volunteer from the Fighting class. As an early lead in our next unit, would anybody like to spar against him?"

The crowd murmured as they saw John. Rumours of what he'd done in his first year were still spreading around, and nobody wanted to fight the boy who'd gone and beaten up five nobles at once.

To everybody's surprise, one hand went up.

"Ryan! Very good. You two, take your positions on the field."

John grimaced as he stood on the coarse dirt that made up the sparring grounds. The rest of the class gathered nearby, kept safe by a barrier Sofya had erected. Prota looked at John, worried, but then saw the look on his face. John was annoyed. Well, that was better than nervous. She gave him an emotionless thumbs-up.

"I've improved since we last fought," Ryan said, a confident smile on his face.

John nodded. "Yeah, I can tell."

"You won't win so easily this time."

"Yeah. I can tell," John muttered to himself.

Great. The [Author] thought they were funny, didn't they? John had just been thinking about Lilith fighting Prota, and now, the [Author] had pitted brother against brother. The problem was, with how much Ryan and Lilith had improved, he wasn't sure he could win anymore.

"I will interfere should things get dangerous. Then, you two may begin."

Sofya took a step back, leaving the combatants to size each other up. John had been given a sword, but what the hell was that supposed to do? He couldn't risk using even a single bit of [Infinity] here, lest Sofya detect something strange. His talk with Destiny had reminded him that a Mystic had already deduced that he had some strange energy about him. There were the pills, but he wasn't using something like that in a fight like this.

Should he just take the loss? No, that would only raise more questions.

Crap. He knew he shouldn't take deals with higher beings, but he'd done it anyway.

"I'll make the first move, then," Ryan grinned.

His mouth began to move, but as soon as the first word of his chant came out, John pushed off the ground, sprinting at full speed. To Ryan's credit, he didn't flinch. He just kept up the spell, and it was done before John was even halfway across the arena.

"Go!" the red-haired boy yelled, firing a volley of fire arrows at John.

"Are we for real?" John muttered, his eyes darting back and forth furiously. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

He hit the ground rolling, dodging two arrows, then immediately sprang to his feet and dove forward, dodging another one. Rolling to the side, he avoided two more, and he raised his sword to block the last one.

Unfortunately, with no aura, this resulted in a now half-molten sword, rendering the weapon half-useless. It could still be used to bludgeon or block, maybe, but its main purpose was now gone.

John wasted a second looking at his blade. If the arrows could do that much damage to metal, what would they do to him? He didn't want to find out. Sofya was likely under the assumption that he knew mana reinforcement, which meant she wouldn't stop a spell from reaching his body.

Great. Absolutely wonderful. If he'd known he'd be getting into a fight like this, he would've taken a mana pill. But no, now he was screwed with very few ways out.

"So? How is it?" Ryan said. "Still have criticism for me?"

"You still remember that?!" John exclaimed, trying to recover his breath.

"You remember it, too, if you're saying that. So? How about it?"

"You know, people don't usually talk this much while fighting," John frowned, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You talk way more than this. I've seen you fight."

"...yeah, you've gotten a lot better," John admitted.

"Good. Cause you haven't seen it all."

John's eyes widened as Ryan began chanting once more. Shoot, he'd gotten distracted while talking. He continued to dash forward, but Ryan's chant was faster. A volley of fireballs flew toward John, who easily dodged them, but they circled around and went in again.

"Are we deadass?!" John yelled. "What the fuck?!"

"Do you like it?" Ryan grinned, but he still wasn't done.

Unlike the first time they'd fought, he didn't just stand there and watch his spell do its thing. He was already preparing another attack, and this one wasn't fire-based. John didn't have time to listen to the chant, but he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary once Ryan had finished chanting.

He knew what it was once it took effect, though. One of the fireballs blew up midair, knocking John off his feet. It didn't burn him, but the shockwave was enough to send him tumbling.

"Did you summon balls of air to increase the size of the explosion?" John exclaimed, scrambling to his feet.

"Miss Dawn taught me that one," Ryan grinned. "Come on. I've seen you fight. You've done way more than this."

"That's… that won't be happening right now," John grimaced.

"What, think you can take it easy on me?"

"No, no. In fact, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could take it easy on me," John said nervously.

"No. I need to beat you at your best," Ryan insisted.

"This is my best! Shut up!"

"Fine. Don't try. But you'd better win," Ryan frowned, stretching his hands out as the fireballs began moving once more.

John began to run forward once more. It was all he could do. Once he got close, he'd win. He just had to get there.

The only problem was, Ryan was a lot better at maintaining a distance between himself and John than he'd been two years ago. He seemed to understand the fundamental strategy that was keeping himself safe, first and foremost.

Without mana, John didn't really have the firepower to break through this defence.

"Fine," John grimaced. "It's all or nothing."

As he continued to dodge the fireballs, he considered something. He could throw the sword. That would be a pretty good distraction. But was it worth it? It was the proper play if he wanted to win. But was that what he truly wanted?

He didn't particularly care to win right now. He'd had some moments in the past couple of years where he'd had a strange urge to win. This was not one of those moments. If anything, John just wanted to get out of here, preferably alive. If he died in a sparring match and broke his deal with the Demon King, he'd just kill himself before Diaboli could even get to him.

So, the strategy he had in mind was risky. The sword was still good for a few more blocks. But if he left it that long, he'd lose his only projectile worth throwing.

"Ah, fuck it. We ball."

John flipped over one last fireball before dashing straight for Ryan. The fireballs flew forward, ready to protect their creator, but John had noticed something.

Ryan wasn't controlling the spell. The fireballs were acting autonomously. He wasn't sure how that was possible, but that also meant that the fireballs weren't very sentient. While that meant that feints wouldn't work, that also meant that there was some kind of system in place.

And John had deduced that system just this moment.

He stepped to the side, and the fireball moved, ready to intercept him, but it wasn't ready for John to slide underneath. It kept flying forward as if John were still there.

Two more times. John just had to do that two more times. Ryan, interestingly enough, hadn't cast a spell since John had been dealing with the current one, likely due to arrogance. That worked in John's favour. It'd been a while since he'd used the opponent's carelessness to his advantage, but he was more than happy to catch a break.

However, now that he was getting close, Ryan seemed to realize he was potentially in danger. John couldn't help but be a little impressed. The boy really had grown.

Would it be enough?

Ryan's mouth began to move as another spell started up, but this was what John had been waiting for. With all his might, he chucked the sword toward his opponent, and Ryan was forced to dodge. This didn't do much. It'd only bought John a few more seconds.

But a few more seconds were all he needed.

Ryan still feared death, something both John and Prota had long since shunned. Additionally, as someone not yet used to real combat, he still hesitated in the face of danger, even if it was non-lethal. He flinched as the sword flew toward him, instinctively taking a protective stance. Even if it was just for a second, it was a second where John had free rein over the field.

The fireballs in Ryan's spell reacted to his vision. John had noticed the boy's eyes tracking the entire battlefield, and the fireballs seemed to react to whatever he was looking at. While it made sense for Ryan to watch John, it was also why they kept honing in on him.

His theory was proven correct as the fireballs stopped moving for the moment Ryan closed his eyes in panic.

By the time Ryan's eyes opened again, it was too late. John had closed too much distance.

"Dammit!" Ryan yelled.

He didn't have time for a new spell. He'd have to make do with what he had. Focusing with all his might, the fireballs began to fly back toward John at high speed, threatening to scorch his back.

"Checkmate," John gasped as he dropped to the ground once more.

Ryan was now faced with his own fireballs. With no other option, he quickly cancelled the spell, saving himself from a fiery attack. However, with the spell gone, he also lacked the ability to cast another one by the time John reached him. John got back up, gasping for air.

"Good work," John panted, leaning on his knees for support. "You got a little cocky there, but everything I said before has been fixed."

"...I clearly wasn't good enough," Ryan muttered.

"You got cocky. Happens to the best of us," John said, finally regaining his breath. "And, hey. When I say go deasy, I mean go easy, not fucking try and kill me. Do you know how close I got to dying? Seriously, dude, learn to show some restraint."

The words seemed to sink in. Ryan closed his eyes, a small smile forming on his lips.

"Thanks, John."

The students cheered and clapped as Ryan went back to the crowd. Loss or not, it'd been an impressive show of magic and mana manipulation. John watched as the students chatted excitedly, but that meant that he didn't notice a certain dragon walk up behind him.

"Come to my office later," she said quietly, passing by. "I'd like to have a talk with you."

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