THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

"Can we start?" It's better to ignore her.

"Yes. Thanks to you, I am in a rather joyful mood so I will be it."

"No, I will be." Esteressa says with a cold, no, an icy tone. Yup, she is mad now.

"Okay." We all disperse and start running everywhere but of course, there is no reason for you to chase the others, right.

Esteressa immediately pounces on me and tries to punch me. Her speed and the way she moves are nothing compared to the dolls earlier but still, I have no problem with it. I dodge her the first time, then the second and the third.. I could block her attacks and counter them but then I would become the it so I must only dodge and avoid being hit.

"You fucking pervert!!"

"I am not." You are the one who showed me your underwear. How am I a pervert?

"Even though you keep looking at Lan's skirt every damn time?!!"

"What?!"

"What?!"

Both Lanuvel and I are surprised by Esteressa's remarks, though I guess it is for different reasons.

"I-I don't look every time!" I evade another of her attacks. It was closer this time.

"WHAT?!!"

"See!!"

I use Disperse to evade another of her attack and reach Lanuvel.

"And I know you look at my abs sometimes too."

Though she tried to hide it, I noticed Lanuvel sometimes looks at my chest and stomach with yearning eyes. Just like that day when she kissed me until I fainted. I never tried to read her thoughts but I will next time, just to know what she thinks every time she does that.

"WHAT?!!!" Lanuvel screams while looking at me with a shameful red face.

"You are mine now!" Esteressa has already covered the distance I created between us. She is fast indeed.

"I am not…" Before she reaches me though, Lanuvel stands up and I see her aura being released.

"I am not a lewd girl!!" She releases her Angas aura so much Esteressa is stopped. "I am not a lewd girl, okay?!!!" She turns toward me with scornful eyes and an angry face.

"Huh…Okay." I never said you were and I don't even know what that means.

"Okay. You are the it now." Keltia brings us back to reality, after watching the whole scene with a smile.

There are three rules to the tag game: if you touched, you become the it. if you use Angas you become the it, if you touch the chest or butt of somebody, you still stay the it. Though the last rule was made solely for me.

Lanuvel, just like Esteressa, immediately turns to me and starts chasing me around with crazy eyes filled with bloodlust. I guess Keltia won't be training much this morning.

***

"Huff…Huff…" Finally, after five minutes, Lanuvel sits on the floor, all sweaty. She chased me around all this time without rest. I used Disperse a few times and normally, I should have become the it since I am using Darkness Angas but since they don't know that, I don't have to worry.

"Well, you have gone and done it now. I hope you will follow through later. You know you are in Samson's team, right?"

"Meeh!" Lanuvel does a weird face while looking at Esteressa and showing her tongue then wipes off the sweat off her face. "I will be just fine. My body is in perfect condition now."

She stands back up and we all walk upstairs. Everybody should be up now so we can have breakfast.

***

"It is soup again today…"

"They are torturing us…Damn."

Ever since we started our training, the maids who were assigned to this mansion have been giving us the same meal every morning and evening. The breakfast is composed of bread, two eggs with a piece of fried ham, a soup loaded with potatoes and carrots, and a fruit.

I personally really like the taste of the soup and the fact we eat the same thing means I won't have weird stomach aches later on. But it seems others aren't as happy about it. The gamma students seem to be especially reluctant about it. Though Keltia doesn't mind much. Or maybe she does, she is gulping the food down with her eyes closed.

"Hey, Kevin, you don't want that apple?"

"I do." Lanuvel is sitting next to me and she has already finished as well. It seems I am the only one who wants to enjoy his meal.

"Right." She just takes it and bites into it. "Nom…Nom…" She eats while looking at me with provocative eyes.

"You are angry, right?"

"Nom…I ham mot." Don't speak while you eat.

"Okay." I finish my meal while the others are leaving.

Lanuvel waits for me and we leave together for the second basement. Right after breakfast, we have meditation training. I don't know who thought of that but it is unnecessary in my case. Most of the time, I just go to the inner soul and talk with Cissa.

"Okay. Everyone, please, take a seat and we will start."

MNEME FEDELM. The only female teacher among the three that are following us. She is in charge of the meditation class and assists the other teacher with the teams training as well. I never saw her at school though. The beta students seem to be extra friendly towards her though.

"Good morning, madam."

"Good morning, I hope you all slept well."

"Yes, we did."

"Good, your meditation will be way better then. A rested body will have an easier time connecting with nature and itself."

She has been repeating that ever since the first day. Apparently, the goal of this meditation thing is to increase your proficiency with Angas. Though the book already talked about it so I can't really say it has a great effect on me anymore.

We all seat in a circle of pillows she had already placed there for the purpose and close our eyes. While I can hear the others trying to breathe slowly, I go to the inner soul and enter the house.

"Hello, Cissa."

"Good morning."

"What did you eat this morning?" Cissa looks at me with interrogative eyes. "Ahaha! You always react the same way."

"Because you keep asking the same question. I am starting to wonder if you are really joking or not."

"Don't worry, I am just joking."

Cissa told me that this house is just the representation of my most profound desire. Something I that yearned for so much that as I gained more power and awoke the dragon heart, I became the foundation of our soul. I didn't really understand what she meant but I think it is a good thing.

"Is that so…Also, you haven't talked with the guide at all. Shouldn't we focus on finding my brethren?"

"They told me that guy is busy as hell right now. And anyway, if they are related, I don't think he will agree to let me see him. Even more so knowing that he will die."

"He won't die. His soul will be with us. We dragons don't die, we just pass on our memories and experience."

"Good luck explaining that to him."

"We must find a solution. You may not sense it, but the corruption brought by the Longinus is growing stronger. Your world was already in a dire situation but it is getting worse."

"I know. That Longinus prince was crazy strong."

"I am not talking about him. He was but a simpleton as far as I am concerned."

"What?! You mean you guys fought stronger Longinus than that?!"

"Of course. I told you that your world is at the far end of the universe. The war here isn't even worth mentioning. But I am talking about something else. In our world, something worse than Longinus happened and caused us way more damage."

"W-what was it?" I have seen Cissa with such serious eyes.

"Betrayers."

"what? Just that?" I thought it would be something way more impressive.

"No, you don't understand. I have told you all of us have the same mother so to speak, right?"

"Yes."

"Which is why all of us are connected. It is therefore impossible for any of us to betray his own."

"Why?"

"That's just the way our mother wanted it. However, some of us got corrupted during the war, because of their anxiety, their desire for more power, their worst fears, anything that could have been a weakness to their hearts…They got corrupted and turned into Longinus as well. But not normal Longinus. They were able to use both draconic energy and Regas."

"W-wow. That's… that's really bad."

"It is. Fighting Longinus was already hard but our own even more so. I sadly don't remember what method we used against them but I believe we had to kill them in the end."

"I see. I am sorry."

"There is no need to be. We did what we had to in order to vanquish. And I hope you will do the same when the time will come."

"I will try to, at least."

"Trying won't be enough. Trust me. You will have to steel your heart."

"I…I will do it, Cissa, I promise."

"Good. They are calling you outside, you should go."

"What? Already?" Has it been twenty minutes already?

***

"Hrngh!!" When I open my eyes, everybody is already up and chatting. The teams for today's training have been formed as well. That was fast.

"As usual, you manage to concentrate easily and for a long time."

Mneme is behind me, still holding a wooden stick. She uses it to strike us when we aren't focused enough or if we somehow fall asleep. She used it on me the first day, thinking that I was actually asleep. Though she realizes her mistake pretty fast.

"Teacher Linos hasn't come yet?"

"No. But we can start since he will have you do the same thing anyway."

"Okay." I stand up and goes to my team. Let's see how good we will do today.