Aurora Over a Dead World

"...P-Professor Zenith, you don’t need t-to do this," Ashlyn says nervously as I take her to an ice cream shop. We spent the entire night hunting monsters in the sewers, managing to find up to 10 monsters, all relatively weak.

It was quite interesting to see Ashlyn’s power in action. Besides that, her personality is a little better than I expected. She’s not so bad.

"Come on, you’ll like it. It’s a small treat after such a long job. Ice cream is pretty expensive, you shouldn’t refuse when someone offers it to you!" I lead her along while thinking a bit about everything I’ve seen.

I know all my students are talented, but I always thought it was an exaggeration. The way Astrid said they’re the greatest talents of this generation and the big promises for the future just sounded like euphemisms.

To the point where I only thought Tanya, Eirwen, and Rouge could really be called that, but seeing Ashlyn’s power made me realize it extends beyond just combat. They all have their talents in different areas, and I judged too quickly.

So part of the reason I’m taking her for ice cream is also my way of apologizing for underestimating her. Even if I won’t apologize with words, I still think it’s good to show that I was wrong somehow.

"Professor... i-if I get experience, will I become stronger?" She asks as we exit the tunnels. I extend a hand to her, pulling her up.

"Yes, surprisingly yes. Throughout this whole night you showed many interesting things. I suggest you start reading books about strategies, they’ll help you a lot. Your power, as we both saw, really changes depending on the experience you already have."

"The school library should have some interesting things. Besides that, if your results are good, I can give you some really interesting books." She and I start walking through the streets as she gets closer.

"...P-Professor, why go through the effort for us?... that kind of thing... spending your free time with us... i-it seems strange. Why would someone do that for strangers?"

’Eirwen asked a similar question, but in a different way...’

"Don’t think too much about it. It’s just natural that everyone wants a slightly better world, right? If you become strong, it’s one more step toward changing humanity’s current outcome."

"...S-So then-"

"Don’t think I’m saying you’re like objects. I know my way of speaking and saying you’re weapons makes it sound like I see you as objects, but if I saw you as objects I wouldn’t try to teach you how to survive."

"So don’t ask too much about it, since it’s something too complex. Maybe you’ll understand when you’re older and see a new generation starting on this path. Now, what flavor of ice cream do you want?"

"...A-Anything..."

"Perfect then." We can go in and pick some interesting flavor to test if it’s good.

"You... s-seem excited."

"Ah yes, I really am! Your power and its possibilities really got me excited. You know, I hate working with people who have powers like Tanya’s or Eirwen’s, or even people with powers like mine."

"Dangerous powers with monstrous ranges. It’s frustrating, laborious, and dangerous! But you? Your power is simply wonderful! There are no risks to me, it won’t affect me, and even if it has a large area, it still depends on you creating a monster and sending it out, meaning zero risks to my physical integrity."

"Do you know what a relief it is to work with you compared to working with Eirwen?" My first mission with her resulted in a lost arm, and shortly after resulted in me having to replace all my prosthetics.

"Besides, you’re obedient. That already puts you a few points above the others in teamwork. Your only problem is really you trying to get inside other people’s heads, but other than that everything’s great. By the way, you want to sleep, don’t you?"

"That’s why you keep trying to talk to me, but then give up." When I say that, she looks a bit embarrassed.

"T-Thank you for the compliments... y-yes, I-I’d like to sleep... b-but it’s strange to ask for that... I-I barely know you, b-but after having slept once, n-not sleeping became even worse."

’I wasn’t really complimenting...’ They’re not compliments, they’re concrete facts. The reality is that anyone like Ashlyn would already leave me satisfied, but obviously I don’t say that. I’ll let her think they’re compliments.

"I can help you sleep later. After here, go back home to prepare for your classes. We can maintain an informal, more stable training routine since you don’t sleep normally."

"I have many things to test with you, and we’ll see how far your powers can grow as your experience and practice progress."

"Y-You seem excited." She says with a small smile on her face as I agree with her.

"Ah yes, I am! It’s not common for me to be this excited normally, but you know, I don’t have powers I can test freely, so I like the possibility of helping another person use their power in better ways and... and..." I stop talking.

For a moment I stop walking as I look around, noticing that something doesn’t seem right.

’Why am I talking so much...’ I notice something wrong. Normally I’m not so talkative about what I feel, and worse, I don’t normally show excitement like this.

"..." I look at Ashlyn and then slam her against a wall with my shoulder, pinning her against it with my arm over her neck.

"!!!?"

"You did something, didn’t you? Do you think I’m an idiot?" My harsh tone returns. I know myself well. I barely know Ashlyn. I don’t talk about what I feel even to Nadir, let alone to a stranger like Ashlyn.

"I-I’m sorry, I-I just... w-wanted to know if you r-really care... I-I wasn’t trying t-to do anything bad..." She shrinks back as I stare into her eyes.

"...It seems you still hide quite a few things... whatever. Don’t do that again, whatever it was you did to my head." She clearly did something, and I’m not sure what.

"I-I w-won’t do it... i-it’s just that I t-thought you were l-lying... I-I didn’t think i-it would make you so angry..."

"Lie. You thought I wouldn’t notice. You didn’t even think about what I would feel. If you do that again, forget the training. I will kill you. I hate when someone tries to find out what I feel or about my past."

"Do you understand? I swear I’ll kill you if you try to keep finding out about me." I threaten her with seriousness, all that excitement disappearing as she shrinks back.

"I-I’m sorry..." She starts crying as I pull away.

"Forget the ice cream, and forget sleeping. I’m not going to reward that shitty attitude of yours. And don’t think I won’t notice if you do this again." I’m too paranoid not to notice incongruities. I don’t even trust myself or Nadir.

Many people have too much confidence in themselves, but I never trust even myself, so I quickly notice if I’m acting strangely. Of course, that came about more because of being a commander and having to deal with monsters and impostors, but still, it seems it’s useful even against mental powers.

’Although I took too long to notice... what a terrifying power...’

"..." She looks disappointed as I walk away, looking at my hands, trying to notice if something is wrong.

’It seems she was just trying to make me more open with her...’ Everything I said was true, but it was a truth I would never speak. It’s irritating. It makes me look soft.

"Haa... it was obvious there’d be more problems. They’re problematic students. Clearly none of them can be trusted." I run my hand across my forehead, throwing my hair back, stressed with all of this.

I grab a lollipop and don’t even suck on it. I just bite it, listening to the sweet crack of it. The sound is more satisfying than the taste when I’m too stressed to enjoy the flavor.

’At least she seemed sincere about just wanting to know if I would really help them or if there was something more...’ I don’t have ulterior motives. I really want these girls to have a future, and to help others have a future. I’m not a monster. I also root for everyone to have good futures.

But there’s a difference between what I want and reality. The reality is that no one who enters the Kairas has a good future in general, especially talented people. So the more useful they are, the more work they’ll have.

"At this point I think I really should retire. I took so long to notice such an idiotic trick. It seems I’m really far from my peak..." My golden years have passed. I’ve clearly gotten weaker, and now less capable too from what I can see.

I think it’s obvious. Someone who gets the chip or core at 18 would have their peak around 25 to 28 years old, and would start having their abilities decline after that. So me at 37, I’ve already passed the maximum power range.

"Damn... now I’m thinking about the past like it was much better than the present. I really am getting old. Is it midlife crisis? But I’m not even 40 yet..." I decide to put that aside for now.

I was prepared for my students causing me problems. What Ashlyn did was wrong and irritated me, but it’s not far from what’s expected of a problematic student. I just need to be more careful next time.

"For now I should go back and rest a few hours before going to the academy." Now I’ll be more cautious, especially with Ashlyn, Edith, and Charlotte. Even though Edith has never done anything, it’s obvious that none of these students is a saint, and Edith might try something like Ashlyn just tried.

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