Times New Roman

Times New Roman 2 – New Bonds ​

-January 2002-

-Archen

​

January 1, 2002—my second year in this brave new world—and I've once again reached double digits in age. This, in my humble opinion, feels like a big achievement.

So... System? Achievement reward, please?

No? All right... Since I don't get any shortcuts to immeasurable power, I'll just keep trucking along.

With the start of a new year, I always enjoy taking a moment to reflect on the good and the bad. To my disbelief, I can admit that this new life hasn't been bad so far. I've even managed to become friends with someone my age, which is surprising, considering there's a two-decade gap between us mentally.

I do suspect that Gray is part of the supernatural world. She doesn't act like a typical eleven-year-old. If she is indeed involved with the supernatural, it would explain why I've never been able to beat her in a fight. It would also make sense of why she's more mature than others in our age group.

All my losses to her did manage to awaken my magic circuits somehow. After my 50th loss in a row, I managed to use my powers to drastically shorten the time it takes for my body to recover.

I don't want to admit it, but since all my friends are girls, I've come to realize that most boys my age are incredibly stupid. My God, they remind me of all the silly things I did back then. After the tournament where I befriended two more girls, I decided—for my peace of mind—to try getting closer to some boys my age. That did not go well. The only thing we had in common was our shared interest in the still fairly new game Capes & Runes.

At least I had a blast playing video games again. Since I got a personal computer in December, I finally managed to start playing it. I was even on time to join in the seasonal content.

-March 2001-

"That's twenty to zero. Good fight," the aloof princess said.

She seemed a lot more tired today. Maybe all those noble lessons are harder than I thought.

"Haah... You are good," I sighed, lying on the ground.

Muttering a bit listlessly, I added, "Didn't expect to get held up this much by the ice princess."

"Haah?... Ice princess? You are a princess. Your whole family is filled with princesses."

Wait. She has banter. Although, that one was a shot under the belt.

"Ouch, family jokes for an orphan."

"Oh... I'm sorry."

Oh shit, that was a fast 180.

"I-I didn't mean to bring up your family. Sorry." She sounded genuinely heartbroken about it.

She obviously wasn't malicious, and I shouldn't hold it against an eleven-year-old anyway.

"It's all right. You didn't mean it like that. I've heard the saying before. You also seem more tired than usual, so I get it. Besides, I love the banter."

Still guilty, she responded, "That doesn't excuse my conduct. Once more, I apologize. Can I make it up to you?" she asked tentatively.

Hmm... "Maybe you could give me some pointers after our matches. The coach is great and all, but hearing it from the one blocking my ascent is even better," I answered, a bit cheekily, trying to defuse her guilt over a stupid joke.

She perked up at that. "Yeah! I can do that," she added enthusiastically.

"I've maybe also made a bad first impression with my introduction. I can see that it might have come off as pompous. That might have colored your opinion of me."

I extended my hand to her to help me off the ground. "So how about it? A new start?"

She took my hand firmly. "Yes, I'd like that."

"Besides, I do like the reactive version of you a lot more. The barbs give our spars a bit more spice," I added with a laugh as she hoisted me up.

She looked at me speculatively, her expression mostly blank as usual. But after all our tussles, I think I can notice a few differences in her stoic—yes, let's call it stoic—face. If my observations are correct, she might even be a bit happier now.

Still holding my hand, she said, "So, maybe friends instead of a pebble on your road to greatness?" She added that last part a bit testily.

Hoooh. If she keeps this up, she'll be my favorite person in this new world.

"Come on, you have to admit, I did manage to beat all the others already! Who could have expected a mountain as their first roadblock?" I definitely did not whine.

Why did I respond like that? You know what, I'm fairly certain my younger brain messes with my thought process and reactions.

"Oh! A mountain? Me? Is the little midget too tiny to get past me? Was my pebble comment actually correct?" She lifted her nose in mock arrogance.

I did tell her to continue the banter, but seriously? Short jokes? Mark this day, because I will remember it, and she will rue the day I grow into my full potential. Yes, my revenge will be cold.

I squinted at her menacingly and said, "You're on my list," pointing two fingers between my eyes and hers.

She giggled. "Hehehe, on your tiny notebook, with your tiny pencil?"

At least she seemed happier now.

"Ha-ha-ha. Very funny. Me small. Hilarious. More importantly, one more fight?"

She straightened up, instinctively walking to her practice spear. "Oh, you're on," she replied with a sharp smile.

I think I've got myself a new friend.

-June 2001-

"Happy birthday, Gray. May your frostiness continue eternally."

It's times like this that remind me she's still just 10 years old. In most of our interactions, she acts closer to a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old. In contrast, all the other kids I've met still act their age. While the others from the mansion are encouraged to do well, they still behave childishly. Is this what they call a prodigy?

"Don't call me that, you idiot."

"I got you a book, The Fourth Angel, about a firefighter. Might melt your icy facade."

"Thanks, you didn't have to. I'll tell you if I liked it after," she said, happily taking the paperback. "It's your fault the others call me an ice princess now! You keep repeating it, and now it's stuck on me!" she added indignantly.

"They just agree with my vision. I only speak the truth," I said with a grin. "I also got you that dog plushie you wanted from that show you like."

She gasped and snatched the package from my hands at blinding speed.

"You got me a plushie of Dash the Honorable Cook? How did you even find this? I've never seen it in stores around here! I've looked everywhere..."

Heh. More mature or not, she's still young. She's ripping the packaging to shreds.

"It's the knight version! He even has the sword from the new season!"

She kept babbling about this weird dog, everyone knows wolves are better. Still, I'm happy she likes it. Makes the effort of getting it worth it.

"Thank you, thank you!" she said giddily before tackle-hugging me.

I just patted her on the back. "You're welcome, birthday girl."

-July 2001-

"Goodnight, Archen. See you in a few days for our next fight," she says while being escorted by her I'm not part of a criminal empire teacher.

I understand that summer kind of sucks here in the UK, but what kind of madman wears a fur coat in July?

"Yeah, I'll see you soon. Good night," I reply, waving after them.

The old man just grunts. That's most of the noise I've ever heard from him.

Walking through the halls of the mansion in the evening makes you appreciate how massive this place is. Still, it's never empty. Even close to midnight, I see staff and other kids keeping busy.

Arriving at my room, I stop to appreciate how much it has improved since I got here. By continuing to be a successful and diligent student, I've been able to upgrade my space quite a bit. Since I've shown a passion and talent for weapon fighting—and earned praise from the coach—they even allowed some modifications for at-home training.

They put up mats and room dividers, which, combined with various dip bars, give me a great starter kit for mobility training.

After taking a quick shower and checking for bruises from our sparring, I walk towards my personal training area.

Being in this small-ish gym inside my own room always puts me at ease, but man, does it suck losing to the same person every time.

Sitting tiredly in the middle of the room, I take out my soul weapon and inspect it for what is most likely the hundredth time.

A gnarly stick, roughly three-quarters of my height. It has grown with me but hasn't changed otherwise since I obtained it.

For something that holds so much potential—at least, I think it does—it still looks so unassuming. I just wish it actually did something outside of not line-of-sight teleportation.

In a blinding display of light, something does happen.

My fucking eyes.

Yes, very funny, world. I get it. Complain for drops. Instead, how about anticipating my needs and giving me upgrades before I start complaining?

I squint, trying to open my blinded eyes.

The stick looks exactly the same. The only difference is a tiny leaf sprouting from the top side of the staff.

Yes, it's more aesthetically pleasing.

But seriously—WHAT DOES IT DO?

Haah...

I'm too tired for this. Getting beaten up is exhausting. Better rest up and sleep on time.

I dismiss my artifact weapon—rank 2—into my inventory, or wherever it goes, and head to bed.

My incredible bed. The one I earned by defeating nine-year-olds in studies.

I'm the best.

Tomorrow, some recovery exercises and maybe some flexibility training.

Zzz...

Six hours later.

Cock-a-doodle-doo.

I will kill that chicken and eat its babies.

'Let the kids take care of animals. Make them appreciate where their food comes from.'

Yes, it's a good life lesson, but I don't want to be woken up at sunrise by a British-sounding rooster.

Ugh. Six hours of sleep is not enough for a growing body like mine. Whatever. I'll take a nap later.

I jump out of bed, expecting my whole body to ache from yesterday's workout. Instead, I'm pleasantly surprised.

What the hell.

I feel... I feel great. Better than great.

Six hours of sleep shouldn't have made such a difference. I feel like I've rested an entire day. How? Maybe...

I summon my zanpakutō. No blinding flash this time. It looks the same as before—except I distinctly remember it having a leaf yesterday. That leaf is gone now.

Two plus two equals four.

This... This changes everything.

I'll have to test how often I get a new leaf, but if this ability hastens my recovery and growth, it's insane.

I should get a notebook to track things like this. I'll start once I'm sure I can keep it somewhere secure.

Better watch out, Gray. I've got a beating with your name on it.

-October 2001-

Gray has to be part of the supernatural.

Three months of cheating my recovery, training three times more than I should have been able to, and she's still faster and stronger than me.

This is great. My first encounter with the moonlit world is meeting my promised rival. If she's noticed anything strange about my rapid growth, she hasn't said a word. I'll keep quiet about it until she decides to open up herself. With her surname being the literal name of the town, she's probably part of a clan of sorts. I don't want to put her in an awkward position where she'd have to either cover for me or tattle.

I lay on the cold, hard mats of the gym, wondering what I might have done wrong to end up like this.

"That's ninety-two to zero. How do you like them apples?" The smuggest, smol gremlin teases me.

"Incredible. I am in awe of thy prowess, my fair lady." Hamming it up is the quickest way to stop the smug.

She pouts. "You're no fun."

"Are you going to join tournaments anytime soon?" she asks suddenly.

Tournaments? I haven't thought about those at all. I've beaten the others in the youth division here, but after that, I just focused on improving and trying to beat Gray.

"You think I stand a chance as I am now?"

"Yeah, definitely. You've become more aware of your surroundings, which, in my expert opinion, was holding you back the most."

She's right. I've started noticing when things enter a certain radius around me. Impressive that she picked up on it.

"If I already stand a chance, why don't you join? You'd steamroll everyone."

She smiles wryly. "That's exactly the problem. It would be unbecoming of me to 'defeat foes beneath my station.' I'm supposed to focus on improvement instead of 'temporary glory.'" She doesn't sound particularly bothered by it.

"It's still a competition. Winning would get you more cool stuff from the mansion, right?" she adds animatedly.

"You're right. I did want a computer if possible. I used one at school, and it seemed really cool."

That's not true. I just want to relive the glory days of the internet.

"Exactly. And fighting others might give you ideas on how to beat little old me."

Arrogance comes before the fall.

"There's a pretty big one in December you can join. If you place highly, and with Christmas coming up, bam—easy computer."

She's teaching me how to fleece her own family members. I might cry.

"Okay, okay, I get it. You've convinced me. I'll try competing. It'll be nice to see another town too."

The idea gets my blood pumping. I'm not sure where I truly stand in terms of strength. Beating all the others wasn't a real indication—most of them switched weapons every other month. The less said about my match history with Gray, the better. After the coach noticed I had all the basics down, he just let us 'play around' to our hearts content. According to him, trying to develop a proper fighting style before reaching my max height would just hold me back. Sounds wrong somehow, but what do I know? I was just an enthusiastic amateur, and he's won nationals.

"Hehehe." She chuckles a bit evilly. "If you see a red-haired girl with blue eyes fighting in the dagger competition, tell her that Gray sends Meri her regards." She says while flicking her hair back.

"Alright…" This is completely out of left field. "But why?"

"That brat told me I can't make any friends outside of them. This'll show her."

Yeah… not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

At that moment, an owl flies in and lands on Gray's shoulder. She takes a note from its talons and reads it.

"Oh, I've got to go," she says dejectedly. "Some distant relatives have arrived, and I have to attend."

Clearly, she doesn't want to go, but duty calls.

"Okay, good luck. See you tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. I'll send… oh, you've seen my pet. This is Add, my little cutie. He's super smart. If you let him get a good look at you, he'll be able to find you if you're outside when I send him."

I'm not jealous of her owl.

Jealousy would be an understatement of epic proportions. If I were an angel, the sin of envy would have made me fall right here and now.

The not magical bird looks at me with honest-to-God intelligence before flying around me. I've officially been marked by whatever phantasmal species this bird belongs to.

"That's so cool…"

She preens at the praise. "Yep, he's the best. See you when I see you."

With a bounce in her step, she walks away, her bird circling above her.

"Wellp."

Time to find the coach and get him to sign me up for the tournament—or at least get a letter of recommendation for the matron.

-December 2001-

After a quick flurry of dodges, I manage to get outside the range of his shorter spear. Thanks to the longer reach of my own weapon, I successfully hit him in the center of his shield. The impact unbalances him, making him stumble. This moment of respite gives me just enough time to step away while arching my spear behind my back. With this much wind-up and the leverage from my swing, I manage to deal a devastating blow to his head and...

Yeah, that's not how it happened. Gray is an outlier. I'm just beating up kids. But, by God, does it feel good to beat up kids.

None of my opponents had any real skill. They had some of the basics down and had been taught some tricks and stances, which is honestly pretty good for the under-12 division. None of that mattered when they faced me. I beat those kids, and I'll do it again.

"Great job, champ. With your passion and talent for the sport combined with all the training you've rigorously done, I expected you to be the shoo-in. It's great that my eye for talent hasn't deteriorated." He pats me on the back while laughing boisterously.

"Thanks coach..."

"I'll go talk with some of the organizers about the award ceremony timing. You can look around for a bit." Finally, having stopped patting me on the back, he walks away.

Since I've got a bit of time to kill, I'll try and see if I can find Gray's friend somewhere around here. She described her as usually wearing a braid, having fairly long hair, and the quintessential British face. Can't forget, she's just as much of a shorty as me. I am perfectly average for my age, thank you very much.

Fifteen minutes later.

I'm starting to think she hasn't shown up this time. I've crossed the venue twice now and still haven't seen her.

I'll run a quick lap to check the tournament grounds once more. That should be enough effort to say I genuinely tried.

As I run through the building, I turn a corner and immediately bump into someone, causing both of us to fall.

"Ouch... Oh, I'm sorry..."

No, I refuse to accept random cliché situations like this happening to me. Once was an accident, which was fine. I wasn't actively trying to use my powers at the time. The second instance, when I was complaining, was pure happenstance. This is the third time anime tropes have happened to me, which is a scary pattern.

I quickly scramble up.

"No, no, it's my fault. I shouldn't have been running past a corner." Yeah, I should know better than that. I extend my hand to help her up.

A girl my age, blonde with blue eyes, takes my hand with a surprisingly strong grip and pulls herself up. She looks around for a second, picks up her fallen witch hat, and then, with an energetic expression, dramatically points at me.

"We can both be at fault. This way, we're only half to blame each!" she declares while flaring her cape in the nonexistent wind.

I like her already. I should have gotten myself a Spartan cosplay set too. I could have thought up some lines to really sell the effect.

"You are completely right! If we are both half to blame, we can round that down to zero. In the end, neither of us is at fault." Umu, I'm a genius.

Her eyes sparkle at that. She smiles brightly and nods.

"Precisely! This way, we can both walk away without feeling bad."

She grins and extends her hand. "I'm Fay, by the way. What's your name?"

"I'm Archen. Nice to meet you, Fay." She seems fun to hang around with.

"All right, Arc, I'll see you around. I've got to run to my bestie's match. See ya!"

And off she goes, not a moment of hesitation while running around a corner once more.

"Merii, wait for meeee."

Yes, what are the chances, huh?

I trot after her at a much more sedate pace and find her at the girls' section of the tournament. Hindsight is 20/20, but man, I was an idiot. This makes so much sense. I see her cheering on the target of my search, who is dismantling her opponent with casual ease. Should've guessed that Gray's friend would be good as well, huh?

"Hey Arc, weren't you going the other way?" She's going to keep calling me Arc, huh?

"Yup. That was until I heard the name you shouted through the halls. My friend from back home asked me to deliver a message. I couldn't find her since I only had a description and a name, but when I heard your call, I figured this would be my best bet."

"Oh, you want to talk to Meri? Do you want me to give her the message? What even is the message? Is it a boy or a girl? Oh, do I know them? What's their name?" She fires off question after question.

I put up a hand. "Yes, I think that's her. I have to add in the gestures she did, so no. I can't tell. A girl. Maybe, if you're friends with Meri, she might be mutuals. Her name's Gray Blackmo—"

"You're friends with Gray!" She grabs my raised hand with both of hers and vigorously shakes it. "It's so nice that Gray has made a friend in her hometown. She always acted so gloomy. I didn't think she'd make friends with one so fast."

Should I feel offended on my friend's behalf? I should... right? But she's not wrong.

At this point, Meri wins her match and walks off to the participants' changing area.

"I've only seen her play with Meri, me, and now you!" Still holding my hand, she starts dragging me along. "Let's go. I'll introduce you to Meri. This way, I can also hear the message."

She drags me easily. I'm not resisting, but that's a bit more strength than I'd expect from another girl. Interesting...

"No need to tow me along. I'll follow you. I already said I wanted to talk to her," I say with mixed emotions.

She doesn't let up one bit, still dragging me along. Is this my life now? Dragged around by girls stronger than me?

Like a leaf in the wind. Like a branch adrift in a raging river. Like a tree at the edge of a hurricane. Like a boulder at the head of an avalanche. Like a—

"I get why you two are friends now," she suddenly says. "You sound exactly like some of the villains in her detective novels."

Huh. I said that out loud. Is my theater kid blood acting up again? Did my younger brain activate long-lost instincts? Do I need to... wait... I think she just called me an NPC.

Shit. She's out of line, but she's right.

When in doubt, double down.

"There are no heroes or villains, only power and those too weak to seek it," I quote sagely.

"Pfft." She chortles at that. "You're only proving my point. Your response is to quote the villain from the 'Harry Spotter' books."

Heh. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's nice that some of my media is still the same. Even in anime land, Harry Potter is a universal constant.

We arrive at the personal changing rooms allocated to clubs with multiple branches instead of the shared ones I got. She, still holding my wrist with one hand, knocks on the door.

Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

Without pause, she keeps knocking with complete disregard for convention.

The door opens, and a smartly dressed, annoyed-looking lady steps out. She looks ready to snap at the offender until she sees who had been knocking so incessantly.

"Ah, Miss Fay. It's good to see you again. In what manner do you require assistance?" she asks formally.

"Hiii, can you tell Meri I need to speak to her quickly? And tell her it's very important."

That checks out. Sating her curiosity seems like her top priority.

"Very well. I'll go check if she's finished changing."

"Miss Fay, huh?" I muse cheekily.

This causes a small pause in her bouncy behavior. She looks at me, preparing to explain, but before she can, she notices my grin. Her pout deepens.

"Yes, that's Miss Fay to you, peasant."

I can't let this chance pass. She looks extremely easy to tease. I respond in the most simpering voice.

"Yes, Miss Fay. I'm sorry, Miss Fay. As you wish, Miss Fay. It will be done, Miss Fay."

Her pout triples in size. "You're not as funny as you think you are."

I can't hold in my laughter.

The door opens, and out walks the girl I've been looking for.

She sizes me up, curtsies properly, and introduces herself.

"I am Meredith Ordinton. Pleased to make your acquaintance."