“Did you know this was going to happen?” Brendu elbows me in the ribs without warning.

  “Not really…” I hold back the pain, and a small smile escapes me—one that she clearly doesn’t appreciate, because the moment I look at her face, she is not amused. I straighten up instantly like a statue.

  When we arrived, the owl group was a bit more lively. Losing a companion is terribly painful, but in this world where people can die so easily, one must learn to live with pain.

  I remembered reading in a book something like: “Don't stop your life because of someone’s death. Learn to live with that pain as strength.” The owl group was sad, but they were already doing everything necessary to move to my territory.

  I look again at Brendu, who is still slightly angry. Even I was surprised by the team’s reaction—when they learned her identity, they froze like statues. Their behavior took a 180-degree turn, becoming the most polite and service-oriented group on the continent.

  She liked it even less when I told them to treat her like a princess. Her whims are something I must endure daily. I’m sure she will get revenge somehow… and the moment that thought crosses my mind, I remember the meetings with nobles, and all the happiness drains from my face.

  We spent a couple of hours with them. We ate at a luxurious restaurant, walked around the city, and returned to the apartment. This morning, I received a letter summoning me to meet Susan in the afternoon, so we cancelled the rest of our plans.

  When I enter Susan’s office, I feel a tense atmosphere. She is staring out the window at the clear sky. I sit down and wait for her to turn around on her own—she knew I was here before even looking at me.

  “You know, Maki.” I concentrate so I don’t miss anything. Susan takes a few seconds before continuing. “I hate everything complicated and messy. Why can’t the world just stay calm? Every few years something new appears to shake everything.” Susan walks slowly to her chair and sits.

  “Are we in danger or something like that?” Fear runs through my body—if even Susan, someone so powerful, is complaining, people like me are just flies.

  “No, not at the moment. According to the analysis of the dungeon remnants, the cores, and all the information, everything matches. This was planned by someone—or a group. We haven’t found much, honestly. It seems these projects are just the beginning of something bigger.” Susan lets out a long sigh.

  “The beginning of something bigger…” Thousands of bad scenarios cross my mind. I’ll have to be very strong in a few years so I don’t depend on anyone. “I hate complicated things too. We’re in the same chapter.” A smile escapes her lips, and I smile back.

  She throws two objects at me; I catch the cores in my hands. “Use them to improve yourself. They’re incredibly condensed—better than several grade 4 cores. Every core in that dungeon was altered in some natural way, but these two reached the limit.”

  I look at the two large spheres in front of me. “How do I use them? How will they help?” I raise my eyes to see Susan staring at me in disbelief.

  “Sometimes I forget what a strange phenomenon you are. I totally forgot your situation—you’ve never used elixirs or cores to improve yourself. Everything you’ve achieved is pure fate and hard training.” I feel a current flying toward my legs—I can’t do anything to defend myself and only react after the spark hits me.

  “Why did you do that? My skin is tingling, and the internal buzzing is unbearable.” She shocked me with electricity. Moments like this remind me of our power gap—I’m a fly compared to her.

  “Just keeping your feet on the ground.” I can’t help rolling my eyes while resisting the urge to scratch myself, knowing it won’t help. “You can use it more or less like this.” The electric core in my hand disappears before I can react, and suddenly Susan is holding it, smiling smugly.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  She manipulates her Imra and mana gently, trying to break some sort of internal lock. The defenses of the poor core break like paper in water—they don’t even last a blink. “First, you enter carefully. Then you take each part slowly, like eating a fruit from the inside.”

  I imagine the basketball-sized core as a fruit—it looks like a huge, round mango. She stops her demonstration and tosses the core back to me.

  “I see. I’ll try it later.” A bit anxious, I store them in my bracelet. If Susan thinks they’ll help me improve, then surely they will.

  “That’s not all the rewards—don’t think we’re stingy.” At that moment, I remember the dungeon rewards. Thinking about Gator’s death and spending the day with Brendu made me forget.

  Susan throws me a bracelet. Upon closer look, it’s a dimensional bracelet far superior to mine—likely with first-rate enchantments. I’m a complete novice in runes and enchantments, but I know when something is good or bad.

  “The rewards are inside the bracelet. Well… you can consider the bracelet itself a reward too.” She glances at my wrist. “It’s on a completely different level from yours.” I look at my bracelet and remember my family—it was a gift before my first tournament.

  “Before checking them, I want to try something. Can I do it here?” Susan looks at me with curiosity and gives her permission.

  I take out the black armbands with purple marks. When I put them on my four limbs, they adjust instantly to my body—I feel no discomfort or pain. They feel light and natural, as if I were wearing gloves or socks.

  “What is that? It’s not a common item—I’ve never seen anything like it.” Susan comes closer, grabs my arm, and examines the armband carefully.

  “It’s the dungeon reward I mentioned—I received it upon completing the dungeon.” She steps back and urges me to try them.

  I pause for a second, not knowing how to use them. “I don’t know how… do you have any idea?” Susan bursts into loud laughter, mocking me.

  “It’s a reward for clearing the dungeon. If you focus, you should receive some information.” Following her instructions, I close my eyes and concentrate on the armbands. A few seconds later, a notification from the omnipresent voice rings in my mind.

  “Floating Bracers: Use pure mana and gravity mana as fuel, allowing the user to float or levitate.” A flash of images showing how to use them appears in my mind.

  I explain the images to Susan and repeat the text word for word. She creates a cube of mana and Imra around me. I stare at her.

  “This office has powerful enchantments. I just don’t want to watch you break any decorations.” I thank her, slightly offended.

  I inject pure mana and gravity mana exactly as shown in the images. My limbs begin absorbing it simultaneously. Injecting mana is easy—I already have practice distributing it evenly; that’s how I obtained my movement skill.

  In less than a second, my body starts levitating. “Why is this so complicated?” My body twists around in the air—one moment upside down, the next spinning, then suddenly stiff like a statue. Susan laughs so hard she clutches her stomach.

  The gravitational energy allows me to float, and with the same push I can perform different movements. I remember a famous superhero from my past life and use him as reference—he uses thrusters on each limb to remain stable.

  After several minutes, I finally manage to stay still like a tree. I can remain stable as long as I don’t attempt anything else. If I try to move or change position, everything falls apart and I spin like a top again. I don’t want to be Susan’s joke any longer—she’s been laughing for far too long.

  I inject a bit of mana to test power—my body moves at high speed. I misjudge the amount and slam into the top of Susan’s barrier. Panicking, I cut off the mana flow, fall from the ceiling, and crash into the floor. My whole body splatters against the ground.

  All I hear is Susan laughing and laughing. I stand up as if nothing happened, brush my clothes—which miraculously have no dust—and sit on the sofa.

  I wait several minutes until Susan calms down. “Thank you, Maki. If you ever get tired of training or trying to be strong, come live with me—I promise to be a very good grandmother.” She wipes the last tears of laughter from her eyes.

  “The experiment didn’t go too well… at least I figured out how to use it and what it does.” I try to get a reaction from her.

  “Didn’t go well? It was a complete success. I haven’t laughed this hard in ages.” She must have noticed my serious expression because she stops teasing. “It’s a unique, special reward. Very few items allow flight, and only the most skilled mages on the continent with the right affinities can fly at the sapphire rank.” Yes, it is certainly valuable.

  “You must practice until you master it. One day you’ll need to chase monsters or people in the air, use it to escape, surprise attack, or simply to fly.” Susan is right—there are many ways to use it, and it will give me far more options for different situations.

  We keep talking for many more hours, refining details and chatting casually. I say goodbye, and it’s time to go home—tomorrow I return to normal life.

  It’s time to resume school life!