Chapter 22 - Victory Part 1

[Place: Inside Marc's Soul, Throne Room]

Lily was crouching in the corner, in a gloomy mood. Her hand was lifelessly tracing the golden symbols carved into the floor. She was a perfect actress, and that not only meant she could hide all her emotions but also express all her feelings easily. When she was around those she trusted the most, there was no need to hide them at all.

[--Calla--: Lily? What's wrong?]

[--Lily--: There are so many cool hero phrases... Like: "I'll protect her with my life!" or "I'll guard her forever." Why did it have to be "Today, you all die."? *sob sob*]

Guilt pierced through Marc.

[--Calla--: ... But that was totally m'lord-like...]

***

As far as she could remember, Celina Za was always in the shadow of her older brother. He was also a gentle brother who always spoiled her, so she didn’t hate him at all. It was also thanks to him that their household escaped poverty. The White Tiger. He was hardworking and showed great talent in leadership, even obtaining the Swordsman title at the age of 18.

Praise was always directed towards him, but she didn’t mind. True, she was a little jealous, but that was all. It was also thanks to him that she was accepted into Athena's Institute.

When her psychic ability of Mind appeared, she felt totally down. The ‘obsolete’ ability. However, her brother praised it and strongly encouraged her.

An Ace, one of the Strongest Trio Swordsmen of the Lower Division of Mars' Academy. He was like a shining star that she looked up to in the night sky.

So she didn’t give up and tried her hardest. If it were any other place, she might have been ignored, but at Athena's Institute, her project was accepted. A way to utilize her Mind ability to control bots. It sounded ridiculous, but Headmistress-sensei smiled warmly and provided her with a chance and funds. To others, it seemed a simple waste of funds, but Claire-sama laughed it off, saying that she liked to waste credits (currency).

Four years. It was four years of fruitless labor. In a normal school, her project would have already been scrapped a long time ago, but she was continuously receiving the funds—for bots, for Energy Crystals... And after four years, she finally made a breakthrough. Her very first Controlled Bot was made when she turned 14. Thanks to the much higher speed and efficiency of her bot from that time onwards, she was thus called a genius engineer...

And she then realized that genius was just a word... As she looked around, she realized that at the Institute there were many UHigh sub-races, but only a few of them were hailed as geniuses, and all of them were simply hardworking individuals... It was hard work that produced results; talent was just a bit of help!

This year, a new existence joined Athena. Her name was Mersa. Another so-called genius. Celina had seen a lot of those. At first hailed as geniuses, then quickly forgotten. There was also a case of the boy who came with her. There was an uproar because not only was he a male but also a Neo-Aris called 'powerless.' At first, Celina was a bit sympathetic towards him...

On the day of their arrival, her attitude changed. She saw him arrive and his arrogance as he walked... He was just leeching off the girl! And she hated types like that. In fact, there were a lot of those in classes C and D. They just went with 'Soldier' and lazily spent their days doing nothing.

Mersa’s M-Armor was assigned to her.

When Celina saw her on the practice field, she realized that the little girl would be what they really called a genius. Abundance of talent, incredible motivation, and all the hard work she poured into her small body... However, Celina pitied her, because it was all for that useless boy.

Later that day, she met him.

The rumored ‘powerless’ came to try her Controlled Bot. Many had, and all of them failed. Even other Mind Psychics gave up because the amount of hard work needed to learn the controls of the bots was simply mountain-like. With an indignant look, she let him have a try...

Of course, he’ll fail...

He didn’t...

...

...

‘Genius’? What is a genius? What is talent?

From that day onwards, during every morning practice, Celina couldn’t help but glance at the boy who stood there with a relaxed and passive expression. She also had to revise her opinion about him. She heard that rather than just enjoying the benefits granted to him by the White Wolf Princess, he decided to start Engineering and Alchemy...

What is aptitude?

Celina’s aptitude wasn’t bad; she was Mid, but for example, she knew that Low aptitude was quite limiting in Engineering. One needs to provide nano-photons for bots to repair and script crystals. Once again, she started pitying the boy...

That led to offering him help.

She was shocked. A genuine genius. It took her only one afternoon to understand that. At first, she was teaching him about things, but halfway through, the roles were completely reversed. He even introduced several shortcuts she had never heard of...

What is a genius?

It’s just the amount of work, and the amount he did every day when he was with her actually scared her. She spent just an hour with him, but in that time, he helped her with thousands of tasks without asking for a thing in return...

In the morning, he had a relaxed, passive, and carefree face; then in the evening, he had that hardworking, focused expression... She found that gap... cute... Awww...

...

...

Celina was the first one to see Vorst move.

Vorst had been standing outside with a difficult, strained face. She recognized Renves, and when she saw him assaulting Mersa, she felt incredibly sorry for the ‘powerless’... As she turned her head to look at him, she saw him make his move.

FAST!

So incredibly fast!

Her gaze followed him as he arrived in the nick of time to blow Renves away...

Wow... Wasn’t he supposed to be weak?

...

...

...

On one side was her idol brother with over 500 others; on the other side was a boy she had been working with for the past several weeks. Both of them were quite similar to each other... Vorst was not only incredibly hardworking but also very gentle. Every day without fail, he would reserve time to spend with his Wolf Princess.

Somehow, although it was her dear brother that he was fighting with... right now she wanted the Golden M-Armor to win... For the hardworking Vorst to win... Although she admitted that she was envious of Mersa, she still wished for that boy to win... Because she didn’t want him to lose... What was this feeling?

Her small mouth was still wide open when he engaged with his opponents. Was that really Vorst? *doki, doki*

***

At first, for Mersa, Vorst was like a little brother she wanted to protect.

With his childish episodes.

With his childish outbursts.

With his childish dreams.

...

Everything changed with those green eyes...

That day when she first saw them, they radiated incredible seriousness.

For the first time, Vorst made a truly mature face... Her soul stirred.

He nearly died for her...

With tears, she threw herself at him.

Then she felt his embrace...

Somehow, she felt incredibly secure in his arms. In these arms of the so-called 'powerless.'

As she looked upon those green eyes that this time radiated gentleness, she felt the need to protect this moment. To protect him. A pure resolve was born... She felt that her body was filled with willpower.

...

She will lose.

And with this, he will also lose.

What happened that day... Would it happen in the future? Would she be able to win when she needs to? No. Not with her current power. She needed more.

She needed way more strength. More. More.

She closed her eyes. Red Bear... Next time we meet... I'll crush you.