Regrit was sitting on the bench press, sweat covering him from head to toe. And, when Moby looked closer and noticed the number on it, it was twice what he was able to lift the last time he came in there…

'What the fuck am I doing?' He inwardly cursed at himself.

"Oh, I just wanted to use the VR machine," Moby quickly came up with an excuse.

"You're lucky I wasn't doing anything important in here! Now, get the fuck out!" He roared in frustration.

Moby couldn't care less about Regrit himself, but considering he got this far, he might as well go all the way. Maybe he can gain him as an ally in this warzone of a school when he only had the shy Hikari who was still afraid of the outside world.

"Yo, just calm down. You're even more aggravated than usual. Is this because of what happened to your brother?"

"Huh!?" Regrit almost looked offended. "I couldn't care less about that guy! He's only my brother in name and nothing else! We're nothing alike! Speaking of him, what exactly happened?"

"Well, I beat him but he said that there was something affecting his performance, so, the school deemed the deul as null,"

"That's just like him! Making excuses every time he loses a fight! He was clearly at full power! I didn't expect you to lose at all. If anything, it should have been an easy fight with someone of your talent."

"Wow… You're really open about this…" Moby raised his eyebrow.

"Well, I'm done playing nice and putting an act. That part of my life is behind me! From now on, I will put my destiny into my own hands and carve my future using my own power and bare fists! I'll do it all with my own brain and hard work by any means necessary! I'll prove myself to everyone!"

Moby smiled at his response, maybe he and Regrit were not too far apart. "Sounds good. So, why don't we train together? We can help each other out! I can definitely teach you a few things and you can teach me too, like with your mana manipulation. If we do that, we'll both grow stronger! What do you say?" Moby smiled brightly and looked at Regrit's face.

"FUCK NO!"

"Huh!? How… You just said you'll get power by any means necessary right? So why no?" Moby's face wore genuine bewilderment he could not hide.

"That's different! I still have dignity!"

"Well… That's hypocritical much isn't it?"

"Shut up! Just go to your VR thingy and get out of my face!"

"Okay, I'll just take you up on that offer," Moby sighed heavily, walking towards the VR machine in the corner. That was when he heard a sound come from behind him.

"Wait,"

"What now?" He raised an eyebrow, turning around.

"I want to ask you some questions of my own now… Did Kai tell you anything particular about his past?"

"No, not really,"

"I see…"

"And, I have another question… Why are you so weird?"

"Huh? Excuse me?" Moby's confusion grew even more.

"Most people only try to protect their loved ones… But you… You try to protect everyone like some hero or knight in shining armour. It's all over the news of people speculating your gonna save humanity or this next big thing. Why are you wasting your efforts like this?"

"You wouldn't get it… It's because I was bullied my whole life, I finally have a chance to stand up to people… I want to protect people like the old me… I don't want to become the person I hated most…" Moby spouted the biggest load of bullshit he uttered in a very long time, but, it was necessary to maintain his act.

"I see… You're the kind of guy I hate the most… You were never like this from before… It's a shame what kind of loser you've become. Helping everyone and saving the world is such a stupid ideal. It actually makes me sick to my stomach. Arrrgggghhhh It hurts my head just thinking about it!!"

"Are you okay? How do you know how I was from before? H—"

"I got it from rumour and a few sources okay! Now leave me alone!"

"Okay," Moby sighed once more, clicking the button to enter the VR machine as he stared at Regrit who continued to train away from the glass. Yet, his ferocity and grunting seemed to now be far less than earlier.

********************************

When Moby entered into VR space, he found it to be completely blank, in the same arena as before. But unlike before, he made sure to immediately equip his clothing.

There, as soon as he spawned in, he was greeted by a smiling Avilia in her school uniform… A sight he was not sure he would ever get used to seeing.

He began his training, yet, he was not fully focused on his task at hand… His conversation with Regrit was starting to bother and give him a headache. He wanted to get on better terms with him so living together wouldn't continue being this awkward and annoying but to do that, he would have to make him not hate him which was a harder task than he anticipated.

He was in a massive dilemma. He could probably sort things out by telling him some of the truth, but if he did it would ruin his plans, and he wasn't sure if it was worth it.

'Argh,' He scratched his head, deciding to forget about it for now and focus on his training. He was sure he would figure something out eventually, maybe invite him somewhere but he was not exactly sure where…

That was when his mind went blank and sudden flashes and scenes injected themselves into his subconscious… Scenes of himself stuffing drugs using his invisible devil's hands directly into Kai's stomach and bloodstream by phasing into it carefully.

He could not help but laugh out loud. So it was him who did it all along. He simply erased his own memories. That was why Avilia laughed in his head when he was in the nurse's office.

Avilia who was on her chair playing video games could not help but notice Moby's sudden laughter, which made her smirk.

********************************

The time was now 1:00 am, and Moby logged out of his VR machine. The room was now dark, only lit by his own dark vision and the machines seemed to be clean and back to normal.

He left the room and headed to his own room to relax after a long day of work. Regrit was snoring, fast asleep as usual so Moby did what he usually did to block out the sound, his favourite spell "sush".

He laid on his bed and decided to work on his mana manipulation before he went to sleep only to find it as hard as ever.

He sighed remembering how easy it was for Regrit, Kai, and miss Rayna but he did not let it bother him. If anything, it was motivation for him to get better.

He did his usual ritual of staring at the ceiling before going to sleep and thinking about his future… Especially his family members stuck on earth without him. More than anything he wanted to talk and check up on them but he knew more than anyone that it could not be done… But, that won't stop him from trying.

The image of Artorias flashed in his mind suddenly, his face was now so ingrained in his subconscious that it was becoming somewhat annoying. He was a cryptic mess in his mind, a wild card or unknown entity. He reminded him of other unknowns out there in the universe and how people might be out to get him at any time… Like that incident many moons ago.

He took a deep breath before closing his eyes. It was already the end of the second day of school and so many things happened he would have never expected. His plans to use the school to his advantage for power and knowledge was going better than he expected, especially with all the extra points and the teachers being seemingly on good terms with him.

All he only wished for things to continue this smoothly, but knowing how things happened with him, that was nothing but a wishful dream…

***********************

Check the comment section for Abby and Alucard art along with a sketch of Alex. It's art of an old scene but I think you will like it!