THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Yawn…"

It's has been one week since we started training for the schools' tournament.

Ever since the start of the training, all of us sleep in a small mansion apparently built for this purpose outside the city. There are only two rooms used for sleeping, one of the guys and the others for the girls. The gamma students weren't too enthusiastic about the idea but Keltia's masterful speech apparently convinced them.

The room is big enough to contain a bed for each of us. There are two bathrooms inside as well and a large cupboard that goes from one of the wall to the other. It stores everything: books, clothes, armors, and weapons for those who want and so on.

When I wake up, somebody is in the first bathroom seeing as the door is closed. It is still the early morning though. The sun isn't even up yet.

"Don't care." As usual, I clean my face and go to the first basement of the house.

This place has been constructed for the sole purpose of training. I wonder if it actually not just an old knight's training center, like the order of knights of Flolerl. Though, I don't think there was a basement there.

Anyway, the first basement is filled with metallic dolls. They are shaped like humans and there is a crystal stuck on their forehead. To activate them, you press the crystal and they start moving around, executing simple movements. It isn't very practical for training but I just like pounding them with Lightning fist in the morning, it's the best way to wake up, especially since they don't break from it.

"Okay, let's go with a nine-against-one today."

I activated the first doll and it immediately tries to punch me, though, these are really normal rate movements at best, I dodge it easily then activates a second one to its side. There are twenty dolls in total here.

So far, I have reached up to the eighth doll without trouble. But after I activated the ninth one last time, I got careless and one of them managed to punch me. Though it wasn't enough to make me stop, my objective was broken so I left it at that. But I have fought against numerous more people so fighting those dolls can't be called a challenge.

I keep evading the dolls while activating others without trouble. The whip-like sounds they make when they strike are really weird. I mean, they are slow in their movements so why does it make such a sound?

"And nine. Okay, now, let's start."

I activate the ninth doll and immediately jump back, out of reach to all of the dolls. They all look at me with their faces lacking eyes or anything else. How do they even know where I am? I guess Smith and the guy who made them are really geniuses.

He told me that he built those in collaboration with another scientist, as he called himself, saying they were able to do whatever, I didn't listen since it got boring at one point. I am sure Mom would have be…Mom…Mom, huh. I can still call her my mom. I am surprised.

"LIGHTNING FIST!!" I punch the first doll which jumped on me while I was lost in my thoughts.

For bodies made of metal; they are still pretty agile, I try lifting one in the beginning and they were quite heavy. Heavy enough for me to use Physical Angas in order to lift it up.

The doll flies away after taking my fist my fist head-on but the surface of his chest, which I stroke doesn't bend or anything. The doll even lands on its feet and restart running to me like nothing.

"They are really sturdy, eh…" This won't end like yesterday. I won't let you guys even graze me.

***

"Damn, you guys are persistent." Ten minutes later, I have only managed to calm down two dolls. Once they take in enough damage, they stop moving and return to being statues. That's about the only thing I remember from Smith's explanations and it seems it was true.

"Only seven more to go. Come on!!"

I jump on two dolls and while they raise their hands to catch me. I grab them before and using my momentum plus physical Angas, I raise them while I am falling down and smack their heads on the floor. It vibrates a little from the impact. Still, they didn't stop. I release them and use Disperse to evade another doll which tried to punch me from behind and landing behind it, I give it a good lightning fist without holding back. It flies forward to another one and collides with. Thankfully, that stops at least one of them while the others push it to the side and resume its course towards me.

I haven't used much of my skills but still, I remember them, they are engraved in me. I use Disperse on the one earlier, ignoring the others coming at me from the side, and land on its right side. Maybe it detected that I was coming or maybe it is something else, but still, it raises its hand and almost get me.

I dodge by a hair's thread and lean forward. As its side is completely open, I use a technique I haven't used in a long time, since it was pretty difficult to use even back then.

"SHADOW STAB." I punch the doll's ribs area almost without thinking about it. Like I knew from the beginning that I would punch there. I see. The assassin did say that I must strike without killing intent. So that meant it should be as natural as that, eh…

The doll stops right after that and returns to its stand-by position. What is the critical blow? Though I can call this a stab since it was a punch.

"Let's say shadow punch then."

***

After that, I put all the doll back to sleeping mode and conclude my morning training. While I am busy carrying them back to their initial, I hear somebody coming down.

"Oh, you are already done. You took less time than yesterday." It's Keltia, Lanuvel and Esteressa.

The three have been waking up early as well ever since we came here. I don't know where that motivation comes from but it is admirable.

"Well, they aren't strong so…"

"I see. Then you don't mind if we do as usual then."

"Of course."

Also, ever since we came, they spar against me in the morning, right before everybody else wakes up. It's only a five-minute spar but they go full out and fight without using Angas or elemental scripts. Lanuvel explained to me that it is to increase their endurance. For Lanuvel and Keltia, I could understand but for gnoll number three, I don't see the point since she can keep up with Farner.

Even so, it was also a good opportunity so I agreed. We all go to the second basement. The second basement is a completely empty room covering the whole building, there are pillars here and there that we were ordered not to destroy if we don't want the whole place to fall down on us but that's about it. Also, the whole place is cemented, the floor, the ceiling, and the walls. Though with our numerous strikes and fights, there are already holes everywhere.

"Okay, so, what do we do today?"

"Same as usual. Tag." Esteressa is the one to answer.

The others are already stretching. Lanuvel's skirt lightly goes up as she waves her back and hips around. It is a bit shorter than what she normally wears. We talked about what they did with Farner and they only told me that I shouldn't ask answers for everything they do. Excafol, you can't possibly imagine how much I thought about what you said hearing that, women aren't made to be understood.

"Then, can we-"

"Let us stretch first. I had problems running yesterday because you were too hasty."

"You always say that make-up freak. You are just too slow with your fat ass."

"Ah…How I wish to answer you right now. You are lucky I am not in the mood."

"You just know it is the truth. You have gained weight since your cute little rabbit feeds you whatever."

"You don't say. What about you and your oh so gentle squickety hamster?"

"You think he is like you two. See that?" Esteressa raises her shirt and reveals her stomach. Her abs are well developed and stick out naturally.

"He doesn't let me slack off like you."

"Right, you are just a muscle freak, then."

"What?!! You are just jealous, that's all. Hey, Lanuvel, don't you think it is better to have abs like this?!!"

"Hm…Estes…" Lanuvel smiles awkwardly at Esteressa while looking at me. It's only at that moment that she realizes that she was showing her bra as well the whole time.

"Kyaa!!" Esteressa or Estes like Lanuvel just calls her, screams with the most feminine voice you could hear while bringing her shirt back in place. "Why did you keep looking?!!"

"You shoved it to my face, what else." Don't act like it is my fault.

"You bastard!! What kind of gentleman are you?!! Even Cordel would have closed his eyes right there!!"

"And so what?" I am not Cordel. "If you show something, I should obviously look, no?"

"Grrr…" Yup, she is angry now.