Alma 21 You Did What?

That's a cheap shot for you!? What the hell has Violett been teaching you!? Oh god...

The group stared at Reed as if he were a monster and struggled to find their words. All they were able to do was stare at the sea in silence.

It was a wake-up call for all of them -- the fact that Reed had long since surpassed drove them up the wall. The guy who had spent the last week sipping fruit smoothies as he loafed around the beach was strongest out of all of them?

While they've been bitterly training themselves, this lazy bastard's been ahead of them the whole time? The beach bum was secretly the top ranker?

Who's writing this shitty story, huh? It was too much for these sheltered geniuses to handle, even if they were friends.

Reed who was busy scraping out coconut meat was oblivious to the intense gazes that fell upon him. For better or worse, the heated stares those princes and princesses went over his head. If he had noticed, only God knew what sort of infuriating things he would have said.

As soon as he noticed that they had all started walking away Reed hollered out, "Hey! Where you are guys going? What's wrong!?" Unfortunately, he received did not receive a response from them. They silently trudged back in the direction of the training chambers and ignored the beach bum's questions...

Rude bastards, ignoring me like that! What the hell is up with them? This some new form of bullying or something? Ahh, screw 'em...

The boy eventually stopped caring about them and drifted off into slumber as the gentle breeze rocked his hammock to and fro.

Since that day, Reed met with his friends less and less. They stopped showing up to play and began zealously dedicating their time to practice.

Their change in behavior completely caught him off guard. It was like they'd transformed into other people overnight. Even Sebastian took his training seriously and kicked Reed out of his training chamber when he had come to hang out.

When Reed asked him why he'd gotten so serious about his training he looked at him like he was an asshole and said, "You of all people wouldn't understand. To think that we of all people be left behind..."

He then proceeded to kick him out by threatening to snitch on him to Astrid if he didn't leave immediately.

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A certain holotape was presented and it depicted a particular individual doing something highly indecent with another person. The contents of the tape have been censored to preserve the dignity of the aforementioned individual.

Once Reed saw the tape, he thoroughly apologized for interrupting Sebastian's training and left hurriedly. That day he understood how devious and underhanded some people could be. He also swore to himself that he'd steal or destroy that tape one day. The mere thought of that tape going public would spell the end of his social life.

Reed left the training grounds with his spirit broken and returned home since he had nothing better to do. He felt his life crawl to a halt as he spent his days aimlessly wandering around the island alone when he wasn't training.

He was starting to break down. Confined to the island, Reed had long since gotten bored of loafing around the beach. The familiar, unchanging scenery was starting to irritate him. What he needed was goddamned stimulation.

This island paradise had turned into a wretched prison for Reed. But what could he even do about it? Violett had already warned him of what would happen to him the next time he snuck out; it would be a death sentence if he did it again...

Violett felt a headache coming on and sighed when she heard the boy's complaints. He was such a handful at times she thought as she looked at the glum boy's face.

"Would you like to train with me some more instead? It'll take your mind off your boredom for a little while," she asked.

"What's the point of that? We both know how our battles always end up becoming fights of attrition that I never win because you have a stronger body than me. You're an indestructible wall, so why even bother? It's a fucking farce."

She couldn't tell if the cheeky bastard was complimenting or insulting her, but the way he worded his reply irritated her. He really did have his own unique method of being an oblivious asshole.

"Okaaay, then why don't you try the challenge zone? Give it a shot. If you make it to the bottom on your own, you'll receive a special prize that few people ever get." She was beginning to feel an awful sensation creeping up her spine. Her instincts were telling her that something was wrong.

"...But I already did that a week ago? Why would I want to do it again?" He lazily tossed and turned on the sofa as he surfed through the nexus on his holopad fruitlessly.

"Didn't find a prize down there, just a lotta nothing, so I left after I finished the challenge. I assumed you were just baiting us with a nonexistent prize, right?"

"...?"

What was this idiot talking about? Wait... did he just admit that he finished the challenge zone?

Aaaaaahh, goddamnit. I was right; this bastard did something when I wasn't paying attention to him. I swear to god, I think he's doing this on purpose...

"That's impossible, I would have been informed if you made it to the bottom. Either you're lying to me or you did something again," she spat out. "So, what did you do down there, Mr. Reed?"

"Nothing? I went all the way down like you said we're supposed to and made to the bottom. After I made it down there, a strange ghost tried to give me something... 'a gift for my successor', he called it. It seemed pretty shady, so I just killed it and went back up."

".....You did what? Can you repeat that for me again?"

"I went all the way down, killed a shady looking ghost, and then left the challenge zone. There was nothing special down there, at least from what I saw. Maybe it's broken?"

Did he really kill the astral remnant of Lord Mako!? T-there's no way, right? Oh shit!!

Violet immediately warped down into the depths of the challenge zone and came back with a fury never before seen. She roared, "What the hell did you do, dumbass! Why was your first reaction to kill the damn ghost? Use your goddamn head, you stupid ape!!" She furiously sent out a vicious right hook at Reed that nearly struck him on the jaw.

The moment Reed saw the horrifying look on Violett's face, he instantly broke into a full retreat. He knew on a spiritual level what was about to happen and pushed his abilities to the limit as he forcibly accelerated himself in a random direction without care for his life. A half-second later, an explosion erupted and he shrieked as the blast wave knocked him straight out of their villa.

As he tore through the Villa's reinforced walls, he wondered what he'd done to incite her rage. His first assumption was the ghost, but it was...too weak, right? He doubted such a feeble creature was the source of her anger.

(I doubt she's mad about the fact I accidentally used her toothbrush that one time... Has she realized that I've been raiding her wine cellar? Ahh, she's such a handful sometimes...)

"N-now, now. We can resolve whatever's troubling you if we work together, okay? Violence isn't the answer! So how about we just calm dow-"

A dazzling spear flew out at an astonishing speed and tore through the sky. Reed knew this attack all too well; the damned explosive spear was a relentless hound that would never stop chasing its prey and possessed an incredible piercing ability. The damn thing always broke through his barriers no matter how many he set up and how much he strengthened them.

It was a cheat-like attack skill that he often criticized as unfair in a fair fight; Violett always laughed at his complaints and told him that, "Life's unfair by design."

He knew how this song and dance would end; no amount of running would help him in this situation. The spear would pierce through his barriers and end up blowing up within arm's reach.

The only viable options were to destroy it mid-flight or find a way to redirect the spear somewhere else. It was so damn fast that none of his attacks would ever land on it with his level of skill.

Redirecting the spear was tantamount to modifying her attack mid-fight, something he'd never done before. The idea sounded possible in theory, but to put into practice? A miracle would need to happen to make it a reality. He'd need an obscene level of skill over Anima to pull it off...

Neither plan seemed feasible, so he despaired as he sprinted off into the distance. The spear persistently crept closer and closer as time passed and Reed felt his heart drop. It was inching towards him as it picked up speed.

It was a cruel attack because the more one struggled against it, the faster the spear became. As a result of the spear's increased velocity, the attack would actually become even stronger than before.

The more you struggled against your inevitable fate, the stronger the backlash you'd face as punishment. Reed noticed long ago that Violett's attacks were always influenced by her cruel, unforgiving nature as a warrior. Her fighting style offered no mercy to her enemies; it was kill or be killed with this lady on the battlefield...

Pressured by his impending demise, Reed understood he had to make a move here and now, or make peace with what was about to happen. He bit his lips and thought long and hard about his options and finally came to an answer.

Whether it worked was complete up to lady luck; the skill he planned to use was incomplete and even prone to backfiring because of how unstable it was. Last time he tested it out, he accidentally erased half of his training chamber and had a panic attack because of it.

Even so, it was the only thing he could think of that could get rid of the damned spear once and for all. He gritted his teeth and stopped running; He firmly planted his feet into the ground and raised his left hand.

What came after, well, was something that even left him flabbergasted...

Chapter end