The applicants were weak. Incredibly weak. Prota hadn’t really paid attention to the average mage in her previous life, but it seemed that she was, in fact, considerably stronger than the average individual in this world. That wasn’t to say they were incompetent. Well… maybe they were. She hadn’t seen any of these people fight in her past life, but this time, she was noticing that the way she fought was truly unique.
Fighters typically rushed in with no plan, their dodges clumsy, their blocks full of openings. Their swings were wide, and it was a surprise that any of them got close to Elfin at all.
In short, these were the actions of the untrained. The actions of those who fought purely off what they assumed to be correct, those who assumed they could fight but had barely been in any true fights themselves.
Of course, Prota had been equally weak at this point in time. She had yet to learn how to move properly, her only training being that against the bandits. It was a miracle that a girl her age had been able to fight at all, but that didn’t change the fact that she’d been incredibly weak the last time she’d taken this test.
This time would be different.
“Prota Char,” she heard, and she promptly stood up.
There was a faint breeze that blew through her cloak as she stood on the field. She looked at Elfin for a moment, then moved to the side, putting her staff down.
“Oh?” Elfin said in surprise. “You’ve registered as a caster. Do you not need your staff?”
“No,” Prota said quietly. “We can start.”
“...very well. You do realize that I cannot take it any easier on you just because of your age, correct?”
Prota nodded. This time, however, she was confident. She didn’t quite remember how Elfin fought, but that was no problem at all. If she was going to rely on a crutch like memorizing his moves, she should just give up here and now.
Elfin unsheathed his sword but made no further moves, waiting for Prota to initiate the fight. Similarly, she refused to make a move, instead taking on an aggressive stance while analyzing the battlefield. Her eyes, normally half-closed, were wide open, focused intensely on her surroundings. There were a multitude of ways she could start the fight. Dozens of strategies she could employ.
In the end, though, simple was best.
Five icicles formed above her head, hovering and waiting to strike. Elfin raised his sword a little more defensively, prepared for a ranged attack.
That would be his first mistake of many.
Prota dashed forward, much to Elfin’s surprise, firing off two of her spells at the same time. To his credit, he managed to deflect them, but such an action had allowed Prota to close the gap, getting within melee range.
“What is this?” Elfin exclaimed, instinctively leaping back.
That was the correct decision. The other three icicles flew forward, this time taking strange trajectories, forcing the elf to use his wind magic to knock them away. That wasn’t the end of the assault, though. Another icicle. Then another. And another. One by one they flew, each timed perfectly to make sure Elfin could never truly rest or recompose himself, but not so overwhelming that Prota would tire herself out.
It was a strange sight to see. A caster was overwhelming a fighter, forcing the fighter to try and back off to make distance. And, despite how absurd the statement was, it was distance Elfin needed. With the spells firing off in such close proximity, he barely had time to react or block properly, meaning much of his focus needed to be spent on defending.
“I see,” he gasped, a smile on his face. “I should not have underestimated you.”
Suddenly, the wind surrounding him grew stronger, knocking away all the first-circle spells Prota had thrown. He leapt back faster than Prota could keep up, successfully regaining much needed tempo.
“Then, I’ll step it up as well.”
Prota, unfortunately, would not be giving him time to step it up.
Elfin’s second mistake was assuming Prota could only use first-circle spells.
She reached out, flicking her fingers up as a large icicle shot out of the ground, nearly impaling the tester. He leapt out of the way in time, but another icicle shot out of the ground, then another, and another. The battlefield soon grew treacherous, large pillars of ice making it hard to maneuver. Elfin smashed one with his sword, but Prota was already moving again, an arrow of ice forming before her.
“Hold on-” Elfin started, but it was too late.
He needed to fight harder.
The wind surrounding him picked up as he charged forward, his movements now incredibly swift, becoming increasingly harder to track. Then again, Prota’s movements were also quite nimble, her small frame weaving between the icicles she’d created, now serving as barriers to Elfin’s onslaught.
It must’ve been a shock to the elf that this small child was keeping up with his movements. To add insult to injury, this was clearly a caster. She had yet to use a single form of magic that enhanced her attacks, and had used purely ranged attacks instead. Of course, he definitely wasn’t using his full strength, but still…
“Alright. We should end it soon,” Elfin panted, narrowing his eyes as he locked onto his target.
Prota took a deep breath. She was once again in her element. A whole year of training. Of thinking. Of worrying.
Elfin was nothing. Her sights were set far higher than this man.
She could not lose here.
Not because she couldn’t afford to. But because she was confident in herself. In her abilities. Going against a god and a being anomalous to this world had put things into perspective. There were far bigger fish to worry about.
With that in mind, a fire lit in her heart. She was capable of more than this, but… well, this spell was already enough. She wasn’t meant to develop it until later, anyway.
Using it like this was more than enough.
“Blossom of Ice.”
The ice around the battlefield shattered, gathering before Prota, melting and refreezing into shards, layering themselves one by one, forming the petals of a rose.
Everyone went silent. Even Elfin paused, momentarily consumed by the beauty of the spell.
In that moment, all eyes were on Prota. Not a single soul dared to breathe. Not a single word was uttered.
For a brief second, Prota was truly living up to her name.
“Go.”
The spell flew forward, and the trance was broken. Elfin was forced to defend, a blue light surrounding his sword as he activated his aura.
He swung his blade, smashing the flower, but it was meant to be shattered anyway. The petals scattered, shooting out everywhere, some scraping Elfin and drawing blood. He was forced to bring his mana reinforcement to its limits, and only then did he no longer take damage.
Prota, still standing still, was unfazed. She wasn’t even out of breath. Of course, this was only thanks to her years of combat experience, but those watching didn’t know that.
All they saw was a genius the likes of which this continent had never seen.
Suddenly, there was a roar of cheering. Prota stood, stunned, confused as to what was going on. Why were the onlookers suddenly cheering? For her? No way, right?
“That was incredible, young girl,” Elfin said, walking up to her. “I have never seen so talented a mage as you. Disregarding your age… you may become one of the greatest mages to ever exist. I wish you luck in whatever you do.”
The spotlight was on her. For a brief moment, Prota understood. An elation she had never felt before coursed through her body, filling her with joy.
She was strong. She was powerful.
In a sense…
This was victory.
“Very well. I will be sure to include your performance in my report. Please, take a rest.”
“Are you… ok?”
“Hm?” Elfin laughed. “Are you asking if I’m alright? You may have injured me a little, but this isn’t anything I can’t take care of. I’m sure going all out like that must have tired you out even more. However, I must express my gratitude at the thought.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Nn… ok. Then… be careful.”
Right. She’d almost forgotten the whole point of this. The reason she was showing off in the first place.
She didn’t look at the boy, but she had a feeling it’d worked anyway.
Her talent and powers had to have intrigued Destiny. After all, it was something he had often complimented in her past life. But now, she was feeling a little nervous.
The things Anta had said were coming back to mind. This wasn’t the Destiny she knew. Just like with Jinae, things might end up very different than before. It was possible that, without John’s smooth talking, he wouldn’t even approach her, let alone form a relationship with her.
She wasn’t John. She didn’t know how to bait people into doing things for her. But if she knew anything about Destiny, she knew what got him going.
And that was revealing information without his consent.
“One of them… very strong. Stronger than me.”
“Very strong?” Elfin frowned. “What do you mean?”
“De- Fate. He is… strong. Be careful.”
With that, Prota went to sit back down, but not before casting a glance at Destiny.
Just as she’d hoped, he was looking right back at her.
Trying her best to ignore his glare, she took her seat, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Somehow, saying a few lines had been infinitely more nerve-wracking than fighting Elfin. Well, she was used to fighting.
She wasn’t used to scheming.
Thankfully, everything else proceeded as normal. Draco once again had his ass handed to him after being overconfident, and Destiny put on a good display of strength and skill. In the end, everyone was assigned the same grade as before. Destiny was given a B-rank grading. Come to think of it, such a thing was a little odd, but she was sure everything was fine, since that was what he’d had before.
The only difference, then, was Prota.
“Prota Char… A-rank,” Elfin announced.
Prota nodded. That was good enough. All she needed was to get into dungeons. Other than that, she couldn’t have cared less about her grading.
For now, she would head home. Then…
She would let fate decide what happened next.
~~~
“So, what did you think of today’s applicants?”
Albert had his hands clasped behind his head, feet kicked up on his desk as he puffed away on his cigar. Elfin, seemingly familiar with all this, just smiled and nodded.
“Most of them were standard, as usual. The son of that noble… exceptional, as expected of that household, but his temper is not to be desired. However, due to his conditions…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Damn nobles, fuckin everything up.” Albert grumbled. “Why can’t they teach their kids some goddamn manners?”
“That’s neither here nor there, boss,” Elfin sighed. “Now, as for the others…”
“There’s that Fate kid, right?”
“Yes, sir. However…”
Albert raised an eye. “Oh? Was there someone more exceptional than him?”
“Yes, sir. An anomaly, to be exact. This ‘Fate’ was quite skilled, but then…”
“Yes. Then you’re saying-”
“The girl exceeded all of my expectations in every possible way. Sir. You weren’t there, so you didn’t see her, but… she didn’t look like she could’ve been older than five, maybe six. She was tiny, to the point where I considered whether or not she was a dwarf.”
“And?”
“She is not. At least, I do not believe she is. That is not the point, though. She was listed as a caster and fought like one. However, her movements were very clearly those of a seasoned fighter.”
“What?! A battle mage-”
“No,” Elfin said, shaking his head. “Not once did she use any fighting techniques. Her skills were exclusively those of a caster, shooting spells at range. However… she continued to move in, pressing the attack, not standing still from a distance as many casters do. It’s almost as if she were raised to be a fighter, only to realize she had no aptitude for such a thing.”
“Then… is that your conclusion?”
“No. The spells she used… well, for the majority of the fight, she relied on the first-circle spell, ‘icicle.’ However, her finesse with the spell was comparable to that of a veteran caster. Moreover, she used a spell I have never seen before.”
“A spell you’ve never seen before?!” Albert exclaimed, sitting up. “What kind of-”
“I do not know. All I know is that only one trained to be a caster would be capable of such a spell. So, while she is not a battle mage… she may as well be one in skill.”
“I see… but, from what you’ve said, it seems she only uses ice magic?”
Elfin nodded. “Yes. That is my belief.”
“Phew. I thought maybe the goddess herself had descended for a second or something. Still. Prota Char, huh…” He looked at Elfin’s notes, a smile forming on his lips. “Looks like the new generation’s gonna be a lot of fun. Bren. Those two…”
The shadowy assistant nodded, vanishing upon his old friend’s request.
“Alright. Let’s see how this goes down.”
~~~
For three days, Prota did nothing but wander around aimlessly. She was hoping Destiny would approach her and ask what she meant about him being dangerous, but she hadn’t even seen him after that first day.
In fact, the one who had approached her first was none other than Draco Wynton.
On the fourth day, Prota had realized she needed to make a living. She still had three gold coins, courtesy of Jinae, but she was nowhere rich as John was, and she didn’t have his pocket dimension to keep her sustained.
Thus, she approached the job board. There were plenty of requests, including the goblin one, which she promptly accepted. Katheryne had given her a strange look, which made sense considering all the strange rumours surrounding Prota, but also because it was weird for even a single A-rank adventurer to take on a quest meant for so many other adventurers.
Regardless, everything had fallen within the rules, and so Prota went and decimated the group of monsters that had given her so much trouble in her last life.
It was then that Draco had approached her. Perhaps it was due to interest, or maybe something of an inferiority complex, but the cocky noble had walked up to her with no warning and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Hey,” he said snottily. “You. Work for me.”
Prota was so stunned that she didn’t even respond.
“Hello? Anybody home? I said, work for me. Shouldn’t you be saying yes?”
Rage began to well up in Prota’s heart. Right. There was a reason she’d hated this cocky brat so much. She’d forgotten since he’d died in their second year of Scholaris, but he really was a pain to deal with.
“Fine. How about this. I’ll give you quests to take, and you give me seventy percent of the profits. Deal?”
That was it. Prota had already decided she would deal with him at some point, but now was a good time as any.
Things were different this time around. In her past life, they waited to deal with the Wyntons because John had been concerned about Prota, who had been too weak to take on a noble household. Then, in Scholaris, she’d befriended Lilith and Ryan, who had been held hostage.
This time, these conditions no longer existed. John wasn’t around. She had yet to make any friends. And she definitely didn’t need to worry about the Wyntons. To begin with, they didn’t even know who she was.
Then, once she made contact with Destiny, she’d be safe from the noble influence, and if she made it to the Elven country, they wouldn’t be able to reach her. From that point on, she’d be able to grow strong enough to take them on by herself, and they simply wouldn’t be an issue…
Ah. This was how John thought, wasn’t it? Well, not entirely. But, to a degree, there was an effect of no longer caring for the consequences. In John’s case, it was because he had [Resets], but there was also the element of power.
Even after realizing this, she wouldn’t be swayed.
“Nn. Follow me,” she said quietly, walking out of the adventurer hall.
She was still dirty from slaying the goblins, but that was fine.
After all, Draco wasn’t much more than one of those green gremlins.
“Follow- who do you think you’re ordering around?” Draco yelled, his face turning red. “You will listen to me! What are you- hey! Where are you going?!”
Prota ignored the noble and walked out, her stride calm and measured as she headed into the forest. Draco continued to follow her, yelling like a spoiled child all the way, just as she hoped.
She wasn’t one to understand politics or the power of nobles. All she knew was that, when it came to fighting, she wouldn’t be beat.
And she would no longer be looked down upon. The ones who could do that would be the ones who could prove themselves superior. There were a number of people who fit that description.
Draco was not one of them.
“Where are you going?!” the noble yelled, still following Prota.
She’d wound up in the familiar clearing. How nostalgic. She had a feeling she’d be back here quite a lot in the future, but for now…
“You.”
Turning around, she glared at him with a cold look in her eyes.
“No more.”
“What? How dare you-”
Before anyone could react, a giant pillar of ice sent him flying into a tree. The young noble cried out in pain as he fell to the ground.
“You- you- how dare you?!” he yelled, enraged by the mere idea that someone else had injured him in such a way.
Prota didn’t care.
“You two. Come out.”
Marcus and Elena. Danjo’s guards.
They weren’t bad people, as far as Prota could remember. But they would also do their job. And that couldn’t be allowed to do that.
“You cannot do that to our lord,” Marus said, his helmet visor shut. “Young lady. I’m afraid you must pay-”
Before he could finish speaking, another block of ice came out. This one missed, however, as Marcus managed to dodge it. It seemed he was somewhat skilled.
Then again, he was no more skilled than Elfin, and he hadn’t been too much of an issue, either.
“Miss! You must-”
It was too late. From the floor came another block of ice, sending the knight flying into the air, where another block of ice came crashing down, sending him straight into the dirt. This was enough to knock him out.
“That’s- you never did that in your test!” Elena exclaimed, suddenly shaking in fear. “You- what are you-”
Prota ignored her and walked up to Draco.
“You.”
The noble was conscious, but it seemed he was too weak to move.
“No more.”
“Wha- what- how dare you?” Draco exclaimed, but his voice was weaker than before. “You can’t do this t-”
Prota didn’t hesitate and smashed the bottom of her staff into his gut, cutting his voice off. The noble threw up from the blow, forcing Prota to take a step back in disgust.
“You- you-”
It seemed he still had some nerve in him. That wouldn’t do.
Prota refused to touch him, but that was fine. Her staff was long enough. For a while, the only sounds in the woods were Draco’s weakening cries, and the rhythmic, steady sound of Prota bashing the noble with her staff.
Again. Again. Again.
Over and over.
She couldn’t stop until the light of defiance had left his eyes.
Time passed. The sun slowly moved in the sky, to the point where day turned into night. Marcus and Elena had long since passed out, having been beaten into submission after attempting to rescue their ward.
“No… I’m sorry… please, no more…” Draco whimpered.
“Noble. Means nothing,” Prota said coldly. “No more bullying.”
“Ye-yes! I promise!”
“And you won’t tell anyone what happened.”
“Yes!”
“If I catch you-”
“I won’t! I promise! Please, just stop hitting me…”
“...good.”
With that, Prota turned to leave without giving her old enemy a second glance. If the butterfly effect could work against her… perhaps it could work for her as well. If Draco could stay out of her way in this life…
That would be best.
She suddenly felt tired. Well, that made sense. She didn’t know how long it’d been since she started beating Draco into submission, and she’d neglected rest or food. Tomorrow would be a fresh day, and she could forget all about this. The allure of a comfy bed and a warm meal were the things driving her back home.
Home, however, wouldn’t be until a bit later.
“...you know, you can’t just do that to people.”
Prota whirled around to see Destiny standing behind her, his arms crossed. Kit was curled around his shoulders, staring at Prota intensely.
For a brief moment, she wanted to greet him as she usually did, treating him as the friend she’d known for so long. That, however, wouldn’t do. Just in time, she held herself back, returning his glare.
“...he deserved it.”
“Who are you to say that?”
“He wanted to do bad things.”
“...and are you capable of judging such things?”
Slowly, Destiny unsheathed his sword. Thankfully, there was no golden aura surrounding it, meaning he wasn’t yet using his God Slaying Sword. Instead, a blue flame coated the metal, glowing harshly in the darkness of twilight.
“And, come to think of it, there were other strange things about you. Your skill. And you knew about me, even though we’ve never met. To top it all off… you don’t look like you’re any older than seven.”
Suddenly, Prota found herself facing the tip of his blade, the heat of the fire radiating onto her skin.
“So. Tell me.” Destiny’s eyes glowed behind his mask. “Who are you, really?”
LitRPG Dark Humor Overpowered MCAI Companion
HEAVEN HAS A HACKER PROBLEM
Bash died doing what he loved: exploiting the system.
Now he's in the Shard, a gamified afterlife where the rich play god and the dead grind dungeons.
Armed with a pure INT build and really bad jokes, he's ready to BASH it all down.
"A lot of stories claim their MC is a 'glitch' or a 'hacker,' but Bash actually acts like one."
— RR Reader
"It may not have crazy aliens but it has the same kind of energy as Dungeon Crawler Carl."
— RR Reader