I did say that, but of course controlling them wasn't as easy as I thought.
"Ack!"
"Uh, I'm sorry, Lord Atlas!"
I was flat on the ground after a devastating water attack (it wasn't. I'm exaggerating. Let me have this).
I had to recover and all that, so it had been about four days since I'd actually stepped outside.
In the meantime, no suspicious male lead had barged into my room.
You'd think that would make me feel relieved. It didn't. I felt a hundred times more on edge. Not only could they break in whenever they wanted, but I also had no idea if they were planning something.
And now we were all on the same training field.
They were even training together.
…Well. Training is a generous word. It looked more like ruthless combat.
'To think I might've changed the plot and accidentally turned them into besties… I must be an idiot.'
Esso grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
"Honestly," he said, raising a brow, "I don't think this is working."
"Ha. You think?"
Of course it wasn't working. I never expected it to.
That day, it wasn't hard to tell my abilities activated out of sheer survival instinct or something equally inconvenient.
And apparently, that wasn't something I could just… replicate.
I turned my back to Esso.
He blinked. "What are you doing?"
"Just, attack me again," I muttered, stretching.
"…What?"
"I don't know, pull some kind of surprise attack. Come on."
There was a pause. Then I heard the faint shift of his footing.
Nothing.
I waited.
Still nothing.
"…Lord Esso?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you attack?"
"…No."
I turned around slowly. "Why not?"
He looked uncomfortable. "Because, quite honestly, this feels even more stupid, Lord Atlas."
"Ah, who cares, just do it."
He sighed, clearly regretting every decision that led him here, and half-heartedly flicked his hand.
And a splash of water drenched my clothes, even more than before.
I didn't even flinch.
"…Again? It was a pathetic attempt." I said.
He did it again, but truly nothing activated.
I stared at him.
He stared back.
"…You're not even a little scared, are you?" he asked.
"No."
"Lord atlas, that's kind of insulting."
"Don't be, I'm being honest."
I crossed my arms, irritation creeping in.
It wasn't working.
It couldn't work like this.
I couldn't feel threatened by him. Not even slightly.
And that was the problem.
My mind, unhelpfully, drifted elsewhere.
Elinor.
Cassian.
Rowen.
Lucien.
…No.
Absolutely not.
I did feel threatened by them. That was the issue, they could be useful in this process.
But considering how they acted last time, the last thing I wanted was to attract their attention again.
I exhaled heavily.
'…Forget it.'
Esso tilted his head. "What now?"
I didn't answer. Instead, I turned and started walking.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"To get some more help."
Professor Sylsima didn't look surprised when I approached her.
If anything, she looked like she had been expecting me.
"That expression," she said calmly, "means anything you tried didn't work."
I stopped in front of her, resisting the urge to drop to the ground out of sheer frustration.
"…Indeed. It didn't."
She folded her arms.
"And what exactly did you try this time?"
"…I asked Lord Esso to attack me from behind."
There was a pause.
Then she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I see."
"It was supposed to trigger something."
"And did it?"
"…No."
"That's not unexpected."
"Nothing I'm doing is giving results, what am I supposed to do?"
She looked at me properly this time.
"If you keep trying to force a survival instinct to activate," she said, "you will never get anywhere."
I stiffened.
"Your ability is not a switch you can flip on with panic," she continued. "If anything, relying on that will only make it more unstable."
I clenched my jaw.
"I know, but still, I can't understand why it activated while I was unconscious and not now that I'm actually trying."
"I know it's frustrating."
She stepped closer.
"The professors are trying to understand how your body works," she added. "And that means you can't remain passive. You're trying but in a passive way, try to change method."
I looked away, irritation bubbling under my skin.
"…Then what do you think I should do?"
"Figure it out."
I stared at her.
"That's it?"
"That is your part in this."
I let out a short, humorless laugh.
'Great, this is so very helpful.'
I exhaled sharply and glanced around, trying to calm down.
And that's when I saw them yet another time, not too far away.
The four male leads.
I clicked my tongue.
If I had to ask anyone for useful help… Elinor would realistically be my best option.
He was basically the successor to the greatest mage master. A genius. The only person in the world with more than one main attribute.
…Which made him annoyingly similar to me.
We were both one of a kind in different ways.
And objectively speaking, he was far more useful.
I grimaced.
'Besides, he had a brighter personality. I mean, annoying, yes, but nothing compared to the other three.'
I sighed.
I really didn't want to go near them.
Especially not when they were all together.
But I didn't have much of a choice.
I hesitated for a moment.
Then, gathering what little courage I had, I called out...
"Elinor!"
It wasn't even that loud.
But he heard it instantly.
His head snapped in my direction, eyes lighting up like I had just handed him a gift.
Ah. What is this feeling? Of course, it's regret.
Before I could reconsider my life choices, he was already moving.
No, more like flying.
His air attribute made it effortless anyway, his body lifting off the ground.
He landed right in front of me in seconds.
'What the, why so close, crazy bastard!'
He smiled cheerfully.
Honestly, he just meant trouble no matter what.
"Well, well," he said lightly. "What's this? You're talking to me first?"
I already regretted this.
"I need help," I said flatly.
He tilted his head, clearly amused.
"Really? And here I thought you were avoiding me."
'Dude, I was. Who wouldn't avoid someone who harassed me days before.'
I exhaled slowly, forcing my expression to remain neutral.
"Are you going to help or not?"
His smile widened.
"Of course I will."
Eh, that was too easy, he is usually more annoying.
I narrowed my eyes.
"…What's the catch?"
"There isn't—"
Before he could finish, he raised his hand.
Just slightly.
Then, flash of light.
It happened so fast I barely processed it.
A concentrated burst of radiant energy formed in his hand, of course it was sharp, precise, and unnervingly bright.
A light-based attack!
"—let's see first."
My brain short-circuited.
"Wait—"
Too late.
The attack shot straight at me.
I raised my hand and, of course, it disappeared.
My knees gave up as my hand started to hurt, just like that time.
"…Fuck..."
I looked down at my hand.
There was a faint glow that disappeared briefly.
Elinor grabbed my arm, forcing me up, and held both my hands up, towards the sky.
For some reason, that was an accurate timing, because a light attack came straight out of them.
It hurts! It hurts!! It hurts!!!
Opening my teary eyes, I froze.
This bastard was smiling like a sadist, seems like he enjoyed the view.
"Aren't you impressive, Atlas? That was at least twice as powerful as my attack—"
"Elinor."
The voice cut through the moment like a blade.
Professor Sylsima!
She appeared almost instantly and, without hesitation, smacked Elinor on the head, hard.
"Do not ever do something like that again."
"Ow—!" He winced, rubbing his head, giving her some kind of puppy eyes. "That hurt, professor."
"It was meant to."
I watched the exchange, oddly satisfied.
'Serves him right.'
But… my gaze dropped back to my hand.
It worked.
It actually worked.
I absorbed it.
'Seems like my fear of him actually helped for once.'
My fingers curled slightly.
But Professor Sylsima's words echoed in my head.
If you keep trying to force a survival instinct… you will never get anywhere.
Tsk, this wasn't reliable.
It didn't even activate most of the time.
I couldn't depend on it.
I exhaled quietly.
Then, I turned my head.
And made a mistake.
The other three were looking.
Cassian.
Rowan.
Lucien.
All of them were intensely staring at me.
I froze.
My entire body tensed on instinct.
'Nope.'
I immediately turned back to Elinor.
"Advice," I said quickly. "I want advice. Not attacks."
He blinked, then smiled wider.
"…Advice, huh?"
"Yes."
"Hm."
He crossed his arms, clearly thinking.
"No."
I stared at him.
"…Why not?"
"I can't just give you information for free," he said casually. "That wouldn't be fair."
As if.
"You have to give me something in return."
I closed my eyes.
Then smacked my own forehead.
'You are a prodigy, the successor of the most powerful mage of this world, basically rich. What the hell do you want from me.'
He laughed at me.
I lowered my hand, glaring at him.
"Fine."
If that's how he wanted to play it, I didn't have much of a choice...
"Name your price."
His eyes gleamed.
"Anything?"
"Within reason, of course."
"And within your capabilities?"
"…Yes."
"And nothing you don't want to do?"
I narrowed my eyes.
"…Correct."
He hummed, clearly pleased.
"Alright."
I braced myself.
This was going to be bad.
"I'll think of something later," he said cheerfully.
I paused.
"…What?"
"In the meantime," he added, stepping closer again, "I'll help you."
That didn't feel reassuring at all.
I sighed.
"…Fine. Just, make it actually useful."
He grinned.
"Oh, it will be."