Spinning Xara around, I tried my best to keep up with the beat as the two of us continued to dance together.

  As someone who didn’t dance very often, I considered myself lucky how easily Xara was able to adapt to my footing.

  She did such a good job, that if someone were watching from the outside, it would look like we were both graceful dancers. I guess I’ve found another reason to love Xara. She really is amazing.

  As the song finished, the two of us struck a pose that looked so ridiculous I couldn’t help but burst out laughing after we’d stopped. Xara let out a little chuckle herself and then the two of us went over to the tables covered in desserts and high-quality dishes.

  Putting some food on my plate, I took a bite before grinning happily.

  It tasted amazing.

  “It seems like you’re enjoying yourself quite a bit,” Xara said as she moved next to me and began filling up her own plate. To which I nodded.

  “Yeah. I thought this was just gonna be a boring farewell party, but you’ve really brightened it up. Thanks for that.”

  My praise clearly pleased Xara as she giggled and let her tail swing side to side while taking a bite of what I think was a boiled egg.

  Then, as if to ruin the good mood, Talia walked up to us the second time this evening.

  “Excuse me, but could I please speak with you?”

  She tapped her foot impatiently as I rolled my eyes.

  “Haaah. Fine. What do you want?”

  At this point, I figured it best just to let her explain her business and then shoe her off.

  However, what came out of her mouth next got my attention.

  “Ignoring your attitude, I wanted to talk to you about President Haiko.”

  “Hm? You wanna talk about Haiko?”

  Finally meeting her gaze, I noticed a look of concern in her eyes.

  “Yes. Have you noticed she’s been acting…strange lately.”

  “I mean, yeah. It’s kinda hard to ignore.”

  “...I see. So it’s not just me.”

  I may have said it was hard to ignore, but what’s even stranger than her actions is how no one’s batted an eye at it. It’s like they couldn’t care less how she acted. So seeing at least someone who seems concerned about her behavior is actually kind of a relief even if it is Talia.

  “So tell me, do you have any idea why she’s acting strange?” asked Talia.

  Thinking for a moment, I came up with a suggestion.

  “Maybe it has something to do with her dad?”

  “Huh? Why would you say that?”

  “Well he did start working at this school recently, so that might be the ca-”

  “What did you say!?”

  Talia instantly moved close enough to me that our noses were almost touching.

  “Uh…I said Haiko’s dad became a teacher here recently and I figured that could be what’s causing her to act strange. “

  It wasn’t that far of a leap to make in my eyes. I mean, that guy’s whole persona screamed sketchy.

  And as someone like myself who’s tried pulling off the goody two-shoe role before, I like to believe I have a good understanding of when someone’s putting on an act. And that guy's whole vibe screamed fake. It made me wonder if he was anything like his game counterpart.

  Taking a few steps back, Talia started shaking.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Xara asks as she looked at Talia.

  Ignoring her question, Talia focused on me.

  “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner!?”

  “Huh? Are you saying you didn’t know?”

  “Of course, I didn’t! If I had, then he would’ve been kicked out of the school already!”

  Talia was screaming loud enough for the entire room to hear, but everyone tried their best to ignore her. Clearly not wanting to draw her attention.

  “Um…Is her father really that bad?” asked Xara who was clearly lost on why Talia looked so frantic.

  Talia glared at her angrily. Seeing that, I stepped in front of Xara and returned a glare of my own which caused Talia to back up a bit before letting out a frustrated sigh.

  “Yes. He is. He’s one of the scummiest and most disgusting humans in the entire world.”

  Wow. Harsh words. However, I felt like I should take heed of her words and try and look a bit more into this guy. I just have to hope he hasn't already pulled something.

  Just then, the MC walked up to us.

  “Hey, guys. What’s up?” he asked trying to act casual. But when the MC met Xara’s eyes for a brief moment, he ended up looking away.

  “We were talking about the student council president. Speaking of which, you were just with her weren’t you?” I asked. Remembering how I’d seen the two of them talking earlier.

  “Er…Well yeah. I guess I was.”

  “In that case, do you know where she went?” Xara asked to which the Mc nodded.

  “Yeah. She’s catching up with her dad in a nearby room. So I don’t think they’ll be back for awhi-”

  “What did you just say!? Take me there right now!” Talia screamed.

  Without a moment's hesitation, Talia grabbed hold of the MC’s arm and began dragging him off.

  “Huh!?”

  Confused, all the MC could do was let himself be pulled away.

  The door to the ballroom slammed shut behind them as Talia and the MC left and there were a few quiet mutters among the other students before everyone started acting festive again.

  “Well that was weird,” I found myself saying before grabbing some more food.

  “You don’t think we should help?” Xara asks me with a look of concern on her face.

  I shrugged.

  “Meh. It’s not important. Besides, if the MC decides to dig his own grave, who am I to stop him?”

  “Uh…The MC?”

  Crap. I didn’t mean to let that slip out.

  “Er…I was talking about Riko."

  “Riko? I see. But what did you mean by him deciding to dig his own grave?”

  “Eheheh. Don’t worry about it.”

  Eating a bit more food, I tried to get Xara to move on when a voice entered my ear.

  “Master, I’ve found a rather peculiar-looking situation occurring outside the school gates.”

  Sirin was talking straight into my ear. She appeared to still be cloaked, so I muttered my response quietly.

  “That so? Give me the details.”

  To cut what Sirin said short, she spotted Mr. Ariyama walking away from the school with Haiko in tow looking rather dazed.

  Sirin was tracking them and I let out a sigh before tilting my head back and looking at the ceiling.

  “Be honest with me, is it something worth me getting involved with?”

  I was fine with helping out Haiko, but this whole thing was starting to become a hassle.

  “If I’m to be honest, I don’t know. Only you can decide what your actions are from here.

  I let out a frustrated sigh.

  “That’s not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I guess you're right. Geez.”

  Scratching the back of my head, Xara looked at me confused. She was probably wondering what I’d been muttering to myself for the last few minutes.

  “For now, keep an eye on things for me, will you?”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  “...Understood Master.”

  Unable to hear her voice anymore, I figured Sirin had gone off to do what I asked and I turned my head toward the stage the band was performing on.

  “Um…Are you okay Axel?”

  Without turning my attention away from the stage, I answered Xara’s question.

  “Yeah, there’s just something I gotta do real quick. I’ll be right back.”

  With those words, I began walking toward the stage.

  Bursting into the room Riko directed her to, Talia looked around with an expression of both fear and anger on her face.

  “Huh? Where’d they go?”

  Looking around the room, Riko scratched his head in confusion.

  “Where are they!? You said this was the room!” Talia shouted.

  “Er…It is. I remember this was exactly where I left them.”

  Still lost on why Talia was so frustrated, Riko found himself struggling to wrap his head around what was going on.

  Freezing up, a thought came to Talia’s mind.

  “Wait…Does that mean...!?”

  Letting go of Riko, Talia dashed out of the room and made her way toward the entrance of the school.

  When she reached her destination, she was met with a floating carriage flying away from the school.

  “No…Haiko…HAIKO!” Talia screamed.

  Pushing some wind magic into her legs, she tried jumping after the carriage. But it was too far away for her reach.

  “I call upon the spirits of the wind! Air boost!”

  Not wanting to give up, Tailia used more wind magic to launch her feet forward and quicken her pace.

  She wasn’t very skilled with wind magic, but she knew enough to enhance her speed and jumping capabilities. That would be enough for her to catch up.

  As the carriage floated above the city below the school, Talia ran from roof to roof as she tried her best to not fall off.

  Before long, she was under the carriage.

  “Guide my water and create a line of thread. Water Whip!”

  Shooting her hand upward, a long whip of water formed and grabbed onto the carriage and dragged Talia along.

  Trying to climb the line of water, Talia got closer and closer to the carriage before reaching the bottom part of said carriage and clinging onto it tightly.

  Thus, Talia had managed to successfully sneak aboard.

  Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Talia tried to find a way to get inside. However, her current position made it impossible to pull anything off without hurting Haiko who was inside the carriage.

  With that frustrating realization, Talia waited in her current position while waiting for the carriage to get to its destination. All the while goosebumps formed on her skin. Nervous and worried about if she'd be able to save her best friend.

  Not sure what else to think, I followed my father Mr. Ariyama as he guided me out of the school.

  I had decided to make up with him, but I found myself beginning to wonder why I had agreed to do such a thing.

  But before I had time to question it further, he let me into a carriage and we began flying off somewhere.

  I sat down quietly and waited and around half an hour later, we arrived at our destination.

  When I walked out of the carriage, I turned my head up to look at what I thought was a miniature castle.

  It looked to be about the size of one of the school’s dorms and seemed to be made of white and gray bricks that shined dimly.

  I walked inside the miniature castle and followed my father as he guided me toward wherever he was trying to take me.

  Finally, we stopped at a door that looked rather ominous.

  "Go on in Haiko. I'll catch up with you in a bit," said my father.

  Nodding my head, I did as he said and walked in first.

  Upon doing so, I found myself standing in front of a staircase.

  Carefully, I made my way down the steps before reaching the bottom and finding myself in a strange room.

  Looking around, the place was covered in thin glowing white tiles that looked almost like paper.

  And in the middle of this room, stood what looked like a giant T. It shined a light gray and had metal straps attached to it that I guess were used to restrain someone.

  My father came down a moment later and brought me over to the giant T and began to restrain me.

  As I thought, the metal straps were wrapped around my arms and legs. Once they were all on, I found it impossible to move freely.

  “Sorry Haiko. I was too excited to hold back. Looks like the experiment will begin a bit earlier than expected.”

  At those words, my brain started ticking again.

  "Wait…Experiment?"

  With my mind beginning to clear up, I instantly began processing what was going on.

  “Hold on…Where am I!?”

  How did I get here? It’s like I remember and don’t at the same time.

  “Oh. Looks like the tea finally wore off. A shame. Well, it doesn’t matter. You won’t be thinking at all soon enough.”

  Looking down, my father was nearby and appeared to be etching something on the floor.

  “You!”

  Feeling what I believed was anger, I tried launching at that man only to find I couldn’t move my arms and legs.

  “Huh?”

  Wait a minute. When was I strapped to this thing?

  It looked like a giant T that reminded me of something I saw in a history book once. Although this didn’t look exactly the same. It appeared to be missing an extra line as it only had ones to the sides and below me with no line above.

  “There we go. All done.”

  Chucking to himself, I glared at the man I was disgusted to call my father and tried questioning him.

  “What’re you doing to me? Stop it right now!”

  With his smile unwavering, my father turned toward me and shook his head.

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that Haiko.”

  Ugh. Just hearing him use my name gives me the creeps.

  “Why not?”

  My father's smile grew even wider.

  “Because you’re about to become my greatest project yet.”

  “What?”

  Pulling his foot up, my father stomped it on the ground and the floor below began to glow a dark red.

  As I watched the ground, I noticed a pattern beginning to form.

  “Wait…Are you-!?”

  “That’s right. This is a spell I used combining several magic circles that involved transformations of one's body and soul. Once it’s done, you will become the perfect life form. A being with the powers of a god!”

  What!?

  “No! I don’t want that!” I screamed.

  “Ha! Well, it doesn’t matter what a test subject wants. All that matters are my results!”

  Ignoring my wants like he always did, my father watched as the circle continued filling out.

  Watching the circle, I felt my fear grow second by second. But then...

  “Let her go!”

  Turning my head toward a new voice, I saw Talia standing there breathing heavily. It looked like she had been running like crazy.

  “Tsk. I knew you’d be an annoyance,” my father muttered as he turned toward Talia.

  “I call upon the spirits of the wind! Air Boost!”

  Pushing wind into her feet, Talia dashed forward and tried slamming a fist into my dad’s face.

  It immediately made contact and he was sent flying back and landing right next to me.

  Growling in anger, Mr. Ariyama glared at Talia who pushed herself forward once again.

  “Like a sharp unwavering current. Water Slash!”

  As Tailia tried throwing a sharp line of water at Mr. Ariyama, he quickly held out his hand.

  “Bring forth a shield of cold protection. Ice Barrier!”

  A wall of ice instantly appeared in front of Mr. Ariyama. Blocking the water slash.

  Going on the defensive, Mr. Ariyama spread his arms out in front of him.

  “Give thy self a body within me. Ice Armour!”

  Mr. Ariyama’s body was quickly shrouded in glistening icy armor with a sword and shield included.

  Had someone not seen how much of a madman he was, they might’ve mistaken him for a shining knight.

  Jumping forward, Mr. Ariyama tried stabbing Talia’s heart only for her to easily jump out of the way.

  “A call upon the flames of fury. Fire Fist!”

  Her fist coated in bright flames, Talia smashed through Mr. Ariyama’s armor instantly.

  Being knocked back a few steps. Mr. Ariyama got back on his feet and chuckled.

  “Y’know, if it hadn’t been for you, my daughter never would’ve gotten away from me. For that, I plan to make your death as painful as possible,” he said.

  “Big talk coming from disgusting filth like you!” shouted Talia.

  Mr. Ariyama only chuckled in response before slamming his fists into each other.

  “Freeze my fists and make them harder than iron. Icy Fists!”

  A pair of ice gauntlets appeared on his hands and Mr. Ariyama ran at Talia who prepared to counterattack.

  However, just as she was about to move, she noticed something strange. She couldn’t move.

  Looking down, she saw her shoes had been frozen to the ground.

  “When did you-!?”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Talia ducked out of the way as Mr. Ariyama’s icy gauntlets flew over her head.

  Not giving him a chance to recover, Talia grabbed hold of Mr. Ariyama’s arm and tried flipping him over.

  However, the gauntlets were heavier than Talia expected and only managed to flip him over to the side.

  Instantly getting up, Mr. Ariyama glared at Talia and tried charging at her once more.

  Ducking under another attack, Talia cast some fire magic on her feet.

  Freeing them up enough for her to slip out of her shoes, Talia jumped away just in time to avoid another attack by Mr. Ariyama.

  Sliding back, Talia immediately went on the defensive.

  Keeping her eyes on her feet, she tried her best to avoid Mr. Ariyama’s attacks.

  “You can’t stop this girl!”

  “Just watch me!”

  The two continued trading attacks with neither being able to give a decisive blow.

  Finally, Talia began slowing down. With all the running and magic casting she’d been doing, why wouldn’t she be?

  Taking advantage of this, Mr. Ariyama timed his attacks just right and had Talia dodge and land right where he wanted her.

  Before she could react, one of her feet was frozen to the ground which caused her to fall onto one knee.

  “Grr…I’ll kill you!”

  Talia tried to cast another water slash, but Mr. Ariyama grabbed her hand and slammed it into the ground before freezing it in place.

  Angry, Talia tried to free herself over and over again but to no avail.

  Realizing she was trapped, Mr. Ariyama grinned triumphantly.

  “Now. Time to end this.”

  Holding up his hand, he summoned his ice armor once more and prepared to slice Talia’s head off.

  “No…NO!” shouted a nearby voice. And then, in what felt like an instant, a beam of light shot at Mr. Ariyama’s chest and he was sent flying forward. Crashing into a nearby wall.

  Letting out a groan of pain, Mr. Ariyama turned to the direction the beam had been shot from.

  When he did so, a smile began to spread across his face as he ignored the throbbing pain in his chest.

  Confused, Talia turned toward the direction the beam came from and her eyes widened in shock as goosebumps started forming on her skin.

  What she saw was a being that once looked like Haiko. But now, had gone completely pale white. Taking on a form akin to a deity. It appeared that Talia was too late.