The Fire Dragon's corpse steamed behind them like a collapsed volcano.
No one celebrated for long.
Because the horizon was still wrong.
Three distant shapes moved across it—massive silhouettes cutting through sky and land with territorial indifference.
Water.
Earth.
Air.
Takeru wiped dried mud from his sleeve and checked his status again.
> STATUS — TAKERU ISORA
Rank: FFFF20
Affinity: None
Strength: FFFF19
Mana Control: FFFF14
Overall Evaluation: Still terrible. Slightly less embarrassing.
"Can you not?" he muttered.
> I can. I choose not to.
Around him, Class 2-B was fragmenting in real time.
"This is stupid," Haruto said, voice sharp with adrenaline. "We can't fight three more at once."
An S5 water-affinity girl nodded. "We spread out. Different terrain advantages."
"Mountains for Earth Dragon."
"River basin for Water."
"High ground for Air."
Teams began locking in directionally with unsettling speed.
High-ranks made decisions.
Mid-ranks followed strength.
Low-ranks followed whoever looked safest.
No one looked at Takeru.
Not once.
He didn't blame them.
His stat sheet looked like it had been printed as a joke.
A girl with AAA1 wind affinity glanced at him, hesitated—
Then turned away.
"Sorry," she said, not meeting his eyes.
He shrugged.
"Yeah. Sure."
> Emotional Damage detected.
Would you like a coping mechanism?
Options:
1. Delusion
2. Spite
3. Mild existential dread
"Spite," he said instantly.
> Excellent. Sustainable fuel source.
Haruto clapped hands to rally his group. "Fire team's splitting east! We'll intercept the Earth Dragon before it reaches the forest!"
Someone shouted, "Water users south!"
Another group sprinted north.
Within minutes—
The plain emptied.
Boots pounded grass. Magic circles flared and vanished in the distance.
Dust settled.
Wind passed over the open field.
And just like that—
Takeru Isora was alone.
He stared at the horizon.
"…Well," he said. "Shit."
> Tactical overview:
You have no team.
You have no affinity.
You have mediocre mana capacity.
Recommendation: Walk confidently in a direction and pretend it's strategic.
He squinted at the distant shapes.
The Earth Dragon lumbered toward a mountainous ridge westward.
The Water Dragon moved toward a glinting river valley south.
The Air Dragon circled high, unpredictable.
He looked down at his boots.
"They didn't even ask."
> You are FFFF20.
You are the magical equivalent of background foliage.
"…You're a dick."
> I am accurate.
He exhaled.
"Fine. Mountains."
> Interesting choice.
Reasoning?
"Rock terrain. Less collateral fire risk. Mud worked once. Earth plus water again maybe."
The interface flickered.
> Look at you. Forming strategy instead of dying dramatically.
Growth is ugly but present.
He started walking west.
The plain gave way to rocky inclines within minutes.
His stamina wasn't great.
Endurance: FFFF20.
He felt it immediately.
His legs burned climbing uneven ground.
He slipped once and scraped his palm on gravel.
> Agility: FFFF19
Congratulations on not falling twice.
Try lifting your feet next time.
"Shut up."
> Improve your footwork and I might.
A distant tremor rolled through the earth.
Not footsteps.
Impact.
The Earth Dragon had engaged someone.
He climbed faster.
When he reached a ridge crest, the scene below made his stomach tighten.
Haruto's team.
They were fighting the Earth Dragon head-on.
Massive stone scales.
Horned head.
Each movement shattered rock like it was glass.
Earth mages were launching boulders.
Fire users were overheating cracks in its armor.
But every time they damaged it—
The ground around it rose to reinforce its body.
It was literally rebuilding itself from the terrain.
"Fuck," Takeru whispered.
> Accurate.
Haruto yelled, "Keep pressure! Don't let it root!"
The dragon slammed its tail into the ground.
A shockwave exploded outward.
Three students were launched into the air like ragdolls.
Takeru's chest tightened.
He could leave.
No one expected him there.
No one would question it.
He looked at his stats again.
Mana Capacity: FFFF17.
Mana Control: FFFF14.
Better than nothing.
"Okay," he muttered. "Earth reinforced by earth. So destabilize earth."
> That sentence barely qualifies as strategy, but continue.
"Water infiltration. Undermine structure. Turn foundation into sludge."
> That is almost intelligent.
I am alarmed.
He crouched behind a jagged outcrop and began constructing.
Water core ring.
Earth outer ring.
He forced the geometry cleaner this time.
Layer one.
Layer two.
Directional glyphs aligned tighter.
Mana flowed smoother.
It still hurt—but less chaotic.
The circle rotated faster than last time.
Spell Stability: FFFF17.
He felt the difference.
"Amplify," he whispered.
He added additional stabilization anchors.
Too many and it would slow.
Too few and it would collapse.
Sweat dripped down his jaw.
The dragon roared and slammed both claws into the ground.
Spikes of stone erupted beneath two A-rank students.
Blood sprayed.
Takeru's heart kicked.
"Activate!"
The circle discharged.
Instead of a single glob, a wide arc of pressurized water blasted forward and soaked the earth beneath the dragon's feet.
Steam hissed.
Mud formed instantly.
The dragon shifted weight—
And sank half a foot.
It snarled, ripping its claws free—but the reinforced terrain was slower now.
Haruto noticed.
"Now! Hit the legs!"
Fire spells converged.
Heat met mud.
Steam exploded upward.
The dragon's lower body destabilized.
It tried to absorb rock from the ground—
But the substrate was slurry.
It couldn't anchor.
Takeru grinned despite himself.
The interface chimed.
> Spell Variation Achieved: Structural Undermining
Efficiency: Low
Tactical Impact: Noticeable
You are learning. Disturbing trend.
The dragon's eyes snapped toward him.
For the first time—
It saw him.
"Ah, shit," he breathed.
> Correct again.
The Earth Dragon roared and charged directly up the slope toward his position.
He froze for half a second.
Then ran.
"Why does it always notice me?" he yelled.
> Because you are irritating it.
That is your entire combat philosophy.
Boulders shattered behind him as the dragon plowed upward.
His lungs burned.
Endurance: FFFF20.
This sucked.
He skidded around a rock and almost ate gravel again.
> Agility check failed.
You have the grace of a concussed goat.
"Helpful!"
He spun and began forming another circle mid-run.
Which was stupid.
But necessary.
The geometry wobbled violently as he moved.
Mana splashed unevenly through channels.
The circle bent—
Stretched—
Snapped back.
Toon Distortion flickered.
> Elastic Reality: Partial compensation.
You are not skilled enough for mobile casting.
Stop improvising like an idiot.
The dragon lunged.
He finished the circle at the last second.
"Activate!"
Instead of a direct blast—
The ground under the dragon warped in a sudden exaggerated dip, like a cartoon pothole.
The dragon's momentum carried it forward—
It tripped.
A multi-ton reptilian god of stone faceplanted into the mountainside.
The impact cracked the ridge.
Silence.
Even Haruto stopped moving.
Takeru stared.
"…Did I do that?"
> Yes.
Was it elegant? No.
Was it effective? Annoyingly so.
The dragon roared in fury and tried to rise—
But Haruto's team capitalized instantly.
A combined barrage of fire and wind slammed into its exposed head.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its skull.
An earth mage forced jagged spikes upward from beneath it.
The dragon convulsed—
Then collapsed.
Dust rolled across the ridge.
Heavy.
Still.
The Earth Dragon was down.
Takeru's knees buckled as adrenaline drained.
His interface flared again.
---
> LEVEL UP
Endurance: FFFF20 → FFFF19
Mana Capacity: FFFF17 → FFFF16
Mana Control: FFFF14 → FFFF13
Rank: FFFF20 (unchanged)
Evaluation: You are still bottom-tier.
However, you are becoming persistently inconvenient.
---
Haruto climbed the ridge toward him.
For a second, Takeru thought he might say thanks.
Haruto stopped a few feet away.
"…You interfered with its footing," he said.
"Yeah."
"That helped."
"Yeah."
A beat.
Haruto nodded once. "We're heading north. Air Dragon."
"Okay."
"You coming?"
The question hung there.
Haruto's eyes flicked briefly to the FFFF20 displayed faintly on Takeru's hovering screen.
Then back to him.
"…We're moving fast."
Translation: You'll slow us down.
Takeru gave a small, tight smile.
"I'll manage."
Haruto hesitated.
Then turned away.
The team left.
Boots crunching on stone.
Dust settling behind them.
Takeru stood alone again.
The wind howled higher up the mountain.
He exhaled.
"Twice," he muttered. "I've tripped dragons twice."
> Yes.
You are the universe's most underqualified hazard sign.
He laughed despite himself.
"Where next?"
The interface shifted.
A crude hand-drawn compass appeared.
The north arrow wobbled.
> Air Dragon trajectory: northeast quadrant.
Water Dragon: southern river basin.
Probability of survival alone: unimpressive.
"Air," he said.
> Of course you would pick the most mobility-dominant opponent with your FFFF19 agility.
He started climbing higher.
The sky darkened slightly as wind currents intensified.
Far above, a massive serpentine shape twisted through clouds.
The Air Dragon.
It moved like a living hurricane.
Below him, faint flashes of magic indicated another group already engaged.
He tightened his jaw.
"Okay," he muttered. "No footing to destabilize. So what's air need?"
> Air relies on pressure differential and velocity.
Disrupt flow patterns.
You have poor casting speed.
So this will go terribly.
"Shut the hell up."
> Improve your numbers and I might consider it.
He crouched behind a rocky outcrop and began constructing a new circle.
Air core.
Water secondary ring.
If he could create dense vapor pockets—
He could interfere with airflow.
Maybe.
The circle formed faster than before.
Not fast.
But faster.
Mana Control: FFFF13.
He felt the incremental difference.
Still slow.
Still painful.
But improving.
Wind blasted down from above.
Dust sliced his cheek.
Blood trickled.
> Vitality: FFFF18
Please avoid dying. It is administratively inconvenient.
"Noted."
He completed the circle.
"Activate."
A pressurized burst of dense mist exploded upward into the dragon's flight path.
For a split second—
The Air Dragon's smooth spiral faltered.
Its wing dipped unevenly.
The group fighting it seized the moment.
Lightning cracked upward.
Wind blades converged.
The dragon shrieked as its airflow destabilized.
It recovered quickly.
But not before taking real damage.
Takeru sagged against the rock, chest heaving.
He wasn't strong.
He wasn't fast.
He wasn't special.
But every time a dragon moved—
He made it stumble.
The interface pulsed faintly.
> Tactical Pattern Emerging.
You do not overpower.
You destabilize.
That is… irritatingly consistent.
Takeru wiped blood from his cheek and smirked faintly.
"Guess I'm just annoying."
> Yes.
Weaponized mediocrity.
Truly inspirational.
Above, the Air Dragon roared again.
And far to the south—
A tidal surge signaled the Water Dragon's rampage.
Three dragons engaged.
Students scattered across terrain.
No centralized command.
No safety net.
Just power.
Or the lack of it.
Takeru straightened slowly.
FFFF20.
Still the lowest.
Still alone.
Wind tore at his clothes as he began constructing another circle.
This one cleaner.
Straighter.
More controlled.
The lines didn't wobble as much.
And somewhere behind the insults, behind the sarcasm—
The system's hand-drawn borders looked just slightly sharper than before.