Rolfe Primero discontinues releasing his killing intent. The wave of pressure that has been covering the entire courtyard is instantly lifted, like a heavy fog dissipating after being chased away by a strong wind. Before this, the boy felt like a huge boulder was placed on his chest while he was lying on the ground, restraining his breath and movements. Now he could resume breathing normally again.

“Can you stand up?”

“…”

“Fine. Guess we’ll just sit down then.”

Rolfe Primero bends down and grabs the boy’s shoulders. The boy winces at the pain but the diligent student pays no attention to him. The entity props the boy up roughly into a sitting position on the ground and after making sure the boy doesn’t fall forward or backward, Rolfe Primero plops himself in the dirt with a thud opposite the boy.

“You there. Come tend to your injured master.”

Rolfe Primero signals Synovve Ciro to come approach them. The loyal maid cautiously walks over to boy and the diligent student, the front of her maid dress dirtied from her attempts to crawl at her master’s side earlier.

The maid crouches besides her master and begins dressing his wounds, wrapping his right arm (broken for real this time) in bandages and putting it in a sling. She also takes out a handkerchief from her pocket and after wetting it with her saliva, she begins cleaning the boy’s lower mouth, covered in blood from the time the boy bit his lips so hard he punctured them.

Synnove wipes the boy’s mouth carefully and tenderly, its loving gesture not lost on the crowd of onlookers watching them. Most of the students watching would have described it like a mother cleaning the dirt off her child’s face after he’s done playing with his friends, but to the few adults watching, it’s something more… intimate.

After making sure his appearance is less of that than a vampire and more of her worthy master, the maid is about to take her position behind the boy when Rolfe Primero speaks.

“Leave us.”

“…”

“I assure, I will not inflict any further harm on your master… for the moment.”

“…”

Even though the girl is standing behind him, the boy could feel her sharp glare as she stares at Rolfe Primero. The boy tells her weakly.

“…go Synnove...”

“…”

“…we’re just going to have… a little chat...”

“…”

“…I promise you… I’ll be fine...”

“Lesson number five. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“…”

“…”

*laughs “I’m just kidding.”

“…”

“But seriously, go. You’re wasting our time here and your master has a ton of questions he’s dying to ask me.”

“…”

“Get it, dying?”

“…”

“…”

*sighs “No one gets me...”

After a few moments, Synnove turns and without a word strides of to the edge of the courtyard. There, she remains standing, keeping a vigilant eye and ready to move in case her master needs her.

“Interesting girl…” murmurs Rolfe Primero as he watches the maid walks out. “And that death-stare. Wow. It’s enough to send shivers down my spine. That’s the first time in a long long long time since I felt something like that.”

The boy suddenly remembers something traumatic the diligent student said earlier: Interesting. Shall I deal with her first before I kill you?

“…if you’re thinking of harming her… in order to get to me… I’ll swear to the gods I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what? Lick me to death? Look at you. Can you even lift a finger to stop me?”

“…”

“And what’s with the long pauses? You may be severely injured but you should have regained some strength to speak normally by now.”

“I’m pausing… for dramatic… purposes…”

*laughs “Oh you cheeky bastard.”

“…”

“Anyway, that’s not what I meant when I said the word interesting.”

“...”

“In case you haven’t noticed, she’s the only person aside from us who is up and about.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“All those so-called adults and self-proclaimed alpha male elite students are still having a problem standing up or even breathing normally.”

“The philosophers who viewed females as the weaker of the two sexes clearly have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.”

“And to top it off, she’s one of the few rare girls here who are still conscious… or haven’t wet themselves out of terror.”

“Having great discipline over her bladder control isn’t the proper term I would have used to describe Synnove.”

“And that glare she gave me. Godsdamn. It could make an entire army turn their backs and run from the battlefield.”

“All women have that gift, I think.”

“There’s more to her than meets the eye.”

“I know.”

“You should take care when you’re around her.”

“I know.”

*clasping hands “Now to move on to more pressing matters at hand. You have a lot of questions, I’m sure, but while you think your first question is most important, it may or may not be the most relevant.”

“What the hell is happening right now?”

“We are two beings having a friendly conversa-“

“Fuck you! Quit messing with me. You know what I meant.”

*laughs “Then you should have asked the question properly.”

“What did you mean when you said I’ve passed?”

“I refuse to answer that question.”

“FUCK YOU!”

*laughs “I’m sorry, it’s just so fun messing with you.”

“…”

“But seriously, I can’t answer that question right now. Nevertheless, the answer will reveal itself in due time.”

“I just want the truth! It’s that plain and simple.”

“A wise man knows the plain and simple truth is rarely plain and never simple.”

“Speaking in riddles doesn’t make you sound clever, you know.”

“Still makes me infinitely more clever than you.”

“…”

“Fine. I’ll answer that question if you’ll answer one of mine.”

“Go ahead. I have nothing to hide.”

“What’s your name?”

“…”

“Tell me your real name.”

“Next question. Why did-”

“See? How can you think you deserve to know the truth when you’re unwilling to face that simple one yourself?”

“I am not worthy of-“

“Screw being not worthy. To hell with pride. Honor can go fuck itself.”

“…”

“The less you concern yourself with such trivial matters, the more it will be easier for you to focus on your mission at hand.”

“My mission?”

“You’re trying to conquer the world, aren’t you?”

“I’m trying to save it, actually.”

“Really? I could never have guessed judging by the numerous bodies you’ve laid out at the edge of the courtyard.”

“They’re still breathing.”

“Mercy is for the weak, and for those who can’t get the job done. Which isn’t an option for you who’s trying to save the world. And I can tell you from experience by the way, it’s three times harder than trying to destroy it.”

“Why would it be harder?”

“Lesson number six. The greatest threat to humanity is humanity itself. The truth of the matter is, they will never see things the way you see things. And they’ll never understand the way you understand things. What’s needed to be done in order to save their pathetic lives.”

“…”

“They’ll look away from it, preferring to bury their heads in the sands. You can pull them by the scruffs of their necks and force them to look at the truth but it won’t matter. The truth is whatever fills their belly with wine and makes them comfortable in their warm bed. Which is why you must never speak of it again.”

“Why can’t I tell them the end is coming? People are smart, they could handle it.”

“A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animal and you know it. I thought you would have figured it out by now based on the warm reception I heard you received last night in the dining hall.”

“…”

“They’re like lemmings. You tell them ‘Don’t jump off the cliff’ and they’ll practically throw themselves before you could even finish that sentence.”

“…”

“You tell them to jump off a cliff, they’ll build a catapult to launch pellets of little shits at you, then use the catapult to fly off the cliff instead, just to fuck with you.”

“…”

“I’ve lived a long and interesting life.”

“Don’t you mean lives?”

“So you could guess what I am?”

“Kind of. It’s really hard to tell. There’s so many of you. So many different versions of you.”

“In case you’re wondering, I started off as a human, or I was originally born a human if my memories serves me right. I can never remember anything beyond that. Then to non-human species such as orcs, dwarves or elves, then back to human, and sometimes to animals as well. It’s a random lottery really.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of animals?”

“Birds, insects, turtles, sea creatures, mammals, reptilians, dragons. Even some creatures that do not exist in this world and no words can describe how majestic they appeared.”

“A turtle? How’s life as one like?”

“Slow-moving. And seriously, I’ve just told you I was a dragon and that’s your takeaway? Me being a turtle?”

“Yeah, turtles are cool…”

“Unbelievable…”

“…you have a house on your back, the world could be moving at the speed of light and you’d be chilling in your shell, eating a lettuce.”

“Well if you must know, I was the last of my kind, I lived for over a hundred years, and I couldn’t masturbate.”

“Oh you poor bastard.”

“Even though being a human sometimes suck but at least we have opposable thumbs. Seriously, I couldn’t even kill myself if I wanted to. I was living in a conservation and those godsdamn zoologists won’t let me starve myself to death. Fucking hippies…”

“Conservation… zoologists…. I’m unfamiliar with the term… and what the fuck is a hippy?”

“Oh I forgot, we don’t have those in this world. A hippy is a tree hugger.”

“Like an elf?”

“Yeah, but not as cool or as nice smelling.”

“Say no more… Wait, what do you mean this world?”

“Don’t you know? There are many worlds besides this one.”

“Get out of here…”

*smiles “I will as soon as I die.”

“…”

“I’ve been jumping from one place to another. Sometimes to a world where up is down or to a world where monkeys rule over humans or some shit.”

“Fucking hell…”

“Sometimes, I’d return to the same place after a few jumps. In fact… I think I’ve been here in this world thousands of years before.“

“…”

“Except it wasn’t known as the Grandiel Continent back then. And there were a lot more elves, dwarves, minotaurs, mermaids and all kind of fantastic creatures but no human.”

“…”

“And now there’s a lot more human but no elves or dwarves. The world’s a changing.”

“…”

“Well, enough about me. What’s your story? Reincarnation? Summoning? Accidental teleportation?”

“Time jump actually.”

“That’s new. But that doesn’t explain your whole story or how you could do the things you do now, does it?”

“I kind of fell into a Time Abyss first.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that like?”

“Imagine a dentist waiting room…”

“Fuck, I hate going to a dentist for a visit.”

“Except there’s no dentist, no clock, no nice aquarium of full of pleasant fishes to look at…”

“Doesn’t sound all that bad.”

“And zero magazines.”

“Oh you poor bastard.”

“Yeah, you can stop looking with such pitying eyes.”

“…”

“Seriously, you’re not the kind of guy who could pull off the single tear rolling down his cheek look.”

“How long were you trapped there?”

“Several millenniums at least. I’ve stopped counting after the first three.”

“Don’t think this makes you older than me. I’ve lived an infinite number of lifetimes while you’re barely getting started on your second one.”

“You could tell?”

“You’re making too much noise, too much wave. Like the cries of a newborn baby deer, which is bound to draw the wolves in.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to regret the events last night, bursting into the dining hall the way that I did.”

“It’s understandable, you were exited. Like a horny teenager whose about to get in on with his date during prom night.”

“Please, I’ve lost my virginity way before prom night.”

“Careful there, no one likes a guy who kisses and tells.”

“Sorry, a gentleman shouldn’t discuss such things.”

“Damn straight. And then what happened after you fell through the Time Abyss?”

“I met a nice Goddess.”

“Oh shit!”

*alarmed “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Goddesses are the worst kind. I’ll deal with a vengeful male god of war any day. But a female goddess? Even a compassionate one? You better run for the hills, mate.”

“Are they really that bad?”

“I’ve met several gods during my many lifetimes, both male and female. To be honest, they both can be kind of dicks.”

“I still don’t see how goddesses are terrifying.”

“You know the saying hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?”

“Yes?”

“And…”

“…”

“Wait for it…”

“OH SHIT!”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!”

“Exactly.”

“I’m screwed!”

“In more ways than one.”

"Fuuuuck....." *author's note: this line wasn't here originally. I forgot to put here to signify it was the boy's turn to speak. Sorry for any confusion it caused :(

“Any thoughts you have of looking at another woman, reuniting with your lost loved ones, building a harem, you can kissed those dreams goodbye.”

“There’s got to be some hope left, right? I mean, what’s the point of me saving the world if I can’t be with my wife? The reason why I’m trying so hard in the first godsdamn place.”

“Won’t matter if a goddess has set her sight on you, mate.”

“She could still view me as a friend, right? A little brother? Just some random stranger in need of help that she will never see again?”

“Maybe. There’s some small slither of chance she doesn’t fancy you…”

“Thanks the gods. Giving it a second thought, I don’t think she likes me at al-“

“…as long as you two never kissed.”

“…”

“You didn’t kiss her, right?”

“…”

“They should hang a sign around your neck that says 'Abandon all hope, ye who’s thinking about getting some extra pussy.'”

“To be fair, she kissed me first.”

“She’s going to have you answering her every beck and call. You can’t even take a leak first without permission.”

“You don’t have to sound so happy about it.”

“What can I say, misery loves company.”

“…”

“How the hell did you think I got into my ongoing predicament in the first place?”

“You’ve spurned a Goddess?”

“Yes… No… Maybe… I don’t know. I can barely remember anything that happened before my first restart.”

“…”

“It’s bits and pieces really. All I can scarcely recall is, I told a goddess to go fuck herself, and I’ve been paying for it ever since.”

“…”

“Maybe that should answer your very first question. Or at least a part of it.”

“…”

“Anyway, this nice Goddess you met after your fall into the Abyss…”

“I’m starting to think she’s not very nice at all…”

“…what did she cursed you with?”

“Cursed? Don’t you mean blessed?”

“Cursed… Blessed… Gods… Goddesses, two side of the same coin that’s no longer have any value to me.”

“I think she gave me limited omniscient…”

“You fucking cheat character.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you! Now where was I? Ah yes, limited omniscient, increased healing factor, increased battle prowess, plus some other things lurking underneath that I still can’t quite figure out yet.”

“Well that’s a convenient way to hand wave any explanation if you suddenly developed a unique ability that has never been seen or heard before.”

“Shut it. Anyway, my charms and goods looks I already have those from the start. And it’s a little bit early to tell but I think there’s a noticeable increase in the girth and length of my pe-“”

“Wait. Did you say something about an increased healing factor?”

“Yes…”

“Interesting.”

“Why do I have a violent sensation in the pit of my stomach whenever you say that word?”

“Stand up.”

“Wait, I haven’t told you about my massive do-“

“Yes yes I get it. You have a big penis. Haha dick jokes, very funny. Now quit stalling and stand up.”

“…”

“If you continue sitting down, I might miss. And that I assure that is infinitely more painful than what you would have endured if you stand up.”

“Fine!”

“Now, are you aware of what’s about to happen next?”

“Vaguely. All the visions I’m getting is I’ll be suffering from a world of pain at any moment.”

“It will only hurt a little.”

“Liar.”

“Yeah, you’re right. This is why I hate talking to an omnipotent being, no matter how limited their power is.”

“Bullshit. You’re getting off from this.”

*laughs “You’re right yet again. It’s like deflowering a virgin. Usually I would bite down on their ears hard, take their mind of the pain.”

“Ain’t no way in hell I’m letting you nibble on my ear!”

“Meh, human sexual intercourse is overrated. Now animal lovemaking? Gods I sure missed those.”

“Okay, sharing way too much personal information now.”

“Did you know that as a snail, I once had an orgasm for 18 hours straight?”

“Well, you can add that to the list of things that I DO NOT NEED TO FUCKING KNO-HURGW!”

The boy did not get to finish his sentence. Rolfe Primero has plunged his hand deep into the boys chest and is in the process of crushing his heart.