My opponent was weak.

Even though I tried my best to keep my strength at a Non-Awakener’s level, he was knocked out by just one kick.

I was told to go to the winner’s waiting room to wait for the second round. While I was walking in the hallway, Zaiden exited the waiting room and closed the door behind him.

“Yo, good luck in your second match.” I greeted him, and he turned to me.

“Oh, Vincent. Yeah, thank you.”

He was looking at me oddly. It was like he was sad and determined. Anyway, he was strange.

Did he eat something wrong?

“What’s wrong?” Concerned, I asked him.

He shook his head and smiled. “No, nothing. It’s just… I hope you can go to the final to meet me.”

He was confident in his ability, unlike the Zaiden in my story, an introvert with low self-esteem. He always blamed himself until the latter half of the story.

With him having such confidence, I could rest easy and leave this world to him. Of course, it didn’t change my plan to make him suffer in the future. It was a necessary step to make him stronger.

“Look at you, being confident, huh? Do you think you can beat me?”

“Hahahaha, well… We won’t know until we fight later.”

“That’s right. That’s how it should be.”

We looked at each other for a few seconds before Zaiden shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, it’s time for my second match. See you later.”

“Yeah.”

Zaiden walked past me with his usual confidence. It seemed like his burden was lifted after talking to me. Whatever that was, only he knew about it._-.

The most important thing was that Zaiden gained his confidence back and wanted to get stronger. If he read my novel until the latest release, he surely knew that he needed to get stronger.

Though he didn’t know that he couldn’t get stronger easily just by training and hunting, I considered giving him the Mana Breathing Method that suited him the most.

When I found out that he was a reincarnator, that was the first thing that flashed in my mind. However, there was one problem…

‘I didn’t write about how to use the Mana Breathing Method other than the Heavenly Breathing. I remembered that I only wrote Heavenly Breathing in detail because I made Vincent boast about his breathing to Zaiden in the last volume.’

The other breathing methods were explained vaguely in my novel, such as how he took a deep breath while moving his mana or something. So even though Zaiden knew about the Mana Breathing Method, he wouldn’t be able to try it until he got his hands on the manual.

Whether I liked it or not, I couldn’t teach him about the Mana Breathing Method.

“Well, he should be okay. He didn’t need the Mana Breathing Method to get a head start. He will get stronger even without one.”

I entered the waiting room after sending Zaiden off.

“Vincent! Here!” Lisa shouted at me and patted the chair beside her.

As usual, the students stared at me. This time, the stare was mixed with fear. They had seen what I did to my opponent and judged that they couldn’t beat me even if they wanted to. The look that they gave me was really different from the one that Zaiden received.

Even though I was more handsome than he was.

I smirked at them and sat beside Lisa. They flinched and looked away instantly.

“I’m glad that you are here in time. Did you by any chance meet Zaiden in the hallway?”

“Yeah, we were talking for a bit.”

“I see…”

Our conversation ended just like that.

In the first place, we were not that close to having a personal conversation. I kept my distance from her, and she only talked to me because I was Zaiden’s friend and knew her secret that she muttered in the classroom.

“Oh, there he is.” Lisa pointed at the screen.

Zaiden had exited the tunnel and made his way to the arena. He took a training sword and stood proudly in the middle of the arena.

His opponent was nowhere to be seen. The crowd made a noise to call out his opponent, but he didn’t show himself.

Finally, a teacher exited the tunnel where his opponent was supposed to come out. He whispered something to the referee before going away again.

“It seems that the student who is supposed to fight has surrendered. With this, the winner is Zaiden Archman!”

Well, there it goes.

***

It was disappointing.

Zaiden came back while feeling down because his opponent surrendered when he was ready to fight. Lisa comforted him for a few seconds before going to the arena; it was her turn to fight.

“Don’t worry about it. Aren’t you happy that your strength is recognized to the point where your opponent surrendered before fighting?”

“I know, but… you know? I felt betrayed! I am going to the arena with confidence and spirit to fight, only to find my opponent surrendered even before the match. Can you imagine my disappointment?”

“…”

I didn’t give him any answers because I didn’t know how to answer him. I was only a normal guy two weeks ago, yet I was thrown into this world by something I didn’t understand.

Unlike Zaiden, who had reincarnated here since he was a child, I was transmigrated here as an adult. I had no time to get used to this world because time was a luxury. I needed to spend it wisely to get stronger; all of it was needed to survive future events.

Fortunately, Zaiden didn’t seek my answer. Instead, his eyes were now glued to the screen, watching Lisa enter the arena.

Her opponent was a girl who fought by clawing at each other in the first round. However, that girl was now holding a spear and had a confident smile on her face.

When I saw her, I instantly knew that she was strong. Maybe, she only fought the first girl by clawing at her due to some circumstances. It could be a personal grudge or something else; I didn’t know or care. And now, after finishing her personal grudge, she decided to fight seriously.

“It seems she will lose in this match, Zaiden. You better console her later.”

I told Zaiden the result of my observation, and he just nodded his head in agreement. His gaze was focused on the screen.

If he had observed enough, he should’ve known that Lisa’s enemy this time was skilled. Their weapons were also similar, but a spear had more advantages than a staff.

The referee started the match immediately. Similar to before, Lisa was the one who made the first move while her opponent was watching her while spinning her spear. She took a low stance and was ready to counterattack at any time.

However, Lisa was not skilled enough to know that. She plunged herself as she made a stab motion with her staff.

Her opponent was ready and parried the attack with her spear. She then spun it around skillfully, playing around with Lisa’s staff before kicking her away.

Thud!

The sound was clear because of the microphone that was installed near the arena. At least I could hear their exchanges through the TV.

Lisa immediately lost her cool. She attacked her opponent without any technique; she was angry at her opponent.

Her opponent skillfully manipulated Lisa’s attack. Unlike Lisa, she was calm. From my perspective, her opponent was…

“She’s playing around,” Zaiden muttered beside me.

His expression didn’t change, but he was clearly worried about Lisa.

The match continued for a few minutes. Lisa managed to regain her calm after her attacks were blocked a few times. When Lisa tried to make a distance, her opponent intentionally taunted her by waving her finger, but she was rather calm now. Her attack was now more coordinated than before.

Tak! Tak! Swoosh!

The sound of wooden staff meeting a wooden spear rang in the arena. This match was the longest, yet it didn’t show any sign of ending.

The two fighters exchanged moves, but it was clear which one was winning. Lisa pushed her opponent, but she was able to dodge and parry Lisa’s attack without any problem. Heck, she was purposely getting pushed by Lisa to play with her.

The match continued for a few minutes until, finally, Lisa was too exhausted to even hold her staff. The referee judged that the match couldn’t be continued, and he announced the winner.

“Lisa Manrosa is too exhausted, and I judged that she can’t continue the match! Hence, the winner is Emma Brown!”

Lisa clearly looked worn out and down under the cheers of the crowds. After the match was announced to be done, Zaiden rose from his seat and slowly walked out of the room. I just looked at his back without saying anything. I knew he was going to the arena to help Lisa.

I slowly rose from my seat too and exited the room.

***

Zaiden went to the arena as Vincent expected. He approached Lisa, who sat idly in the middle of the arena. She didn’t even budge when the referee asked her to leave.

He let out a sigh when she saw Lisa. He never thought that she would be so down like this. He knew that this was not her fault; she was not a fighter. Her opponent was too strong for her.

“Lisa.” Zaiden called out to Lisa.

The referee looked at Zaiden and nodded his head before walking away to prepare for the next match. He trusted Zaiden to get Lisa away from the arena. Almost all the teachers knew about Zaiden. He was famous because of the rumors about him.

Lisa turned her head slowly toward Zaiden and muttered, “Zaiden… I…”

“Shh–” Zaiden stopped her and crouched beside her. “For now, let’s just go to the infirmary. You need to rest.”

Lisa nodded her head weakly. With Zaiden’s help, she stood up and walked away from the arena. Her hand was on Zaiden’s shoulder; she was too exhausted to walk by herself.

They walked through the hallway, and Lisa started to tear up.

“Why… Why am I so weak?”

Lisa started to cry. Zaiden supported her as they stopped on their track.

“Sob–… My opponent played me… She only played around, but I couldn’t hit her!”

She buried her face in Zaiden’s chest.

“Why?” Asked Lisa with a hoarse voice. She was sobbing, and tears dripped from her eyes.

“It’s not your fault, Lisa.” Answered Zaiden. “It’s not wrong with being weak… Everyone has something that they excel at. Aren’t your grades better than mine?”

“But…”

“No but… You are smart, Lisa. If you are worried about being weak, then I will help you. Being weak is not a sin. We can help each other.”

Lisa looked at Zaiden while trying to keep her eyes open. She was already exhausted from the match. Added to her crying earlier, her energy was already depleted.

Zaiden smiled at her and patted her head. “You can rest for now. Let’s talk again after you wake up, okay?”

“…Yes.” Answered Lisa weakly as she shut her eyes.

Zaiden caught her body before she fell and carried her in his arms. Looking at Lisa in his arms, Zaiden had a serious look as he muttered.

“I did promise to save you, so I will do my best. You don’t need to worry about being weak, Lisa.”

He then walked to the infirmary, which was located right beside the waiting room. When he was passing the waiting room, he saw Vincent leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked at him, then at Lisa.

He narrowed his eyes and asked.

“She fainted?”

Zaiden shook his head.

“No, she’s just sleeping. She’s exhausted from the match and… nevermind.” He didn’t think it was wise to tell Vincent that Lisa had cried earlier.

Vincent shrugged his shoulders as if he didn’t care. In truth, he had noticed Lisa’s eyes were swollen from crying.

“Take her to the infirmary then. You can accompany her if you want to.”

“I will.”