Soon, Kai had introduced them to all of their trainers. Date and Arata were given to the Kai's knights for them to be trained while Umi was led to the lake village outside of the capital where many people who could use organic water magic were in. It was hard for people with organic water magic to live peacefully, especially in the capital so the people here decided to live by the lake. Of course, this place was hidden and protected by the royal family.

"Here, you don't have to be afraid. Improve your organic water magic as much as possible, you'll need to use it to save your and many other lives in the future."

Organic water magic was just as the name implied, it came from living things. Kai and Erina could create marionettes from ice but in the end, they weren't alive. Umi had a special constitution much like Kai's mana storage though many times more common. In fact, Kai was the only one known to have that type of body but the people who could use organic water magic were one in five thousand users of water magic.

With organic water magic, Umi could create and take life. She could even create beings from water and have them live independently. Of course, this took a lot of practice but it didn't actually take much of the user's life force, it took the surrounding's life. If Umi created beings on this lake filled with life, she wouldn't have to expend any of her life force but if she were to create it in a place devoid of life like a volcano or a desert, she would have to expend life force.

Water equated to life because living beings required water to live. That meant that she could create these beings from the moisture in the air or flowers to save her own life force. This was a very frightening body to have, any party would welcome a user of organic water magic despite the risks of irking other parties.

"B-but..."

Kai sighed.

"Umi, I believe I told you before, you will have to fight demons three years- no, it may become even shorter now. You need to get as strong as possible."

"Uwu."

Umi looked like she was about to cry. Amelia took over from there.

"Erina, hold Aya for me. I'll go talk with Umi for a bit."

After pinching Kai's sides, she walked a certain distance away from the group and began to talk to Umi.

Erina saw Aya looking at the lake and decided to play with her. Kai faced Natsumi and Yoko.

"Natsumi, I'm going to give you a training regimen and you'll have to follow it every day. Yoko, you will train darkness and close combat against me."

A smirk crept onto Yoko's face.

"Fine by me."

On the other hand, Natsumi shuddered. She remembered the training regimen that Kai gave the knights, exercise impossible for a normal person no and difficult for even B-class bodies. He gave the same amount of training whether the knight was D-class or B-class.

"Don't act so scared. You'll just have to go to the courtyard behind my idiot disciple's mansion everyday and do target practice."

Of course, that wasn't everything. Natsumi might run away if she finds out that Angie was going to be obstructing her.

Kai kept his evil plans hidden and began to leisurely stroll around to wait for Umi who was being comforted and Erina who was playing with Aya. Natsumi used the time to hum a song and Yoko followed Kai.

One of the most important parts in archery is the clarity of the mind, she had to be focused on shooting the bow instead of her surroundings otherwise she might miss. In the competition, she was calm until Erina was poisoned which stopped her from shooting any more arrows.

The incident of Kenji killing the opponents from another kingdom was regarded as self-defense and was kept under a gag order. Anyone in the arena had to stay quiet as all of their names were recorded, this was also one of the reasons why none of Kai's classmates knew. Fortunately, none of them were in the arena at the time.

Yoko took that as an opportunity.

"Kai, can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"I want to know why you're desperate for strength, you getting strong is one thing but you're making us become strong like you. You told the demon that you wouldn't let anyone close to you die anymore and I always thought that you were talking about Akane and your parents but instead of protecting Erina and Amelia, you instead make them stronger as if you can't protect them by yourself. Are demons that much of a threat?"

If the demons were the only threat, then I wouldn't be this riled up.

As much as Kai wanted to say it, he couldn't.

"We're not just going to face demons, we're also going to face the Demon King. Do you know how strong he is?"

That's why, I'll make a lie.

"I would answer 'no' but ever since I saw the power in that Aamon guy, I can kind of tell."

"Do you think we'll ever be able to reach that power?"

"...I doubt I could but you definitely can."

Kai closed his eyes for a brief moment.

Yeah, just cover it behind all the lies. To save them.

"Then-"

But just as Kai was about to talk, he felt another presence near them. It was a single person but that person's presence in this place could may as well mess up his entire plans.

Kai kicked the floor and ran over to the presence he sensed as fast as he could to the point that he even disregarded his surroundings and ran thrice over the speed of sound. He arrived at the place he sensed it in an instant and sure enough, when he saw the person wearing a cloak, he couldn't calm his breathing.

"Who are you?"

The woman removed her cloak to reveal a youthful figure, she looked about eighteen or nineteen if Earth standards were used. She was very beautiful to the point that she could pass Erina in natural beauty though it wasn't obvious due to the veil covering most of her face. The strange thing about her were her eyes and hair. Her eyes lacked luster and her hair was a color of silver- different than Erina's clear silver or the snow white of the light attributes.

"You... smell of time. Have you come to distort the past?"

Kai clicked his tongue and immediately prepared an attack.

"No hesitation, but it looks like you aren't underestimating me."

The woman raised her arm and a crystal orb appeared.

""O thou whose soul art lost, remove thyself from olden times and return to thy future whence thee came.""

The momentary shock the woman had from Kai repeating her words to the letter allowed Kai to gain the upper hand. He summoned a katana and using the Null Distance Sword, closed the distance between him and the woman.

"I won't be defeated that easily."

The woman said while dodging Kai's attacks effortlessly.

Kai clicked his tongue and made an axe kick accompanied by flames. The woman looked as if she had expected it and continued to dodge as if it was the most natural thing in the world. At this point, Kai only had ten or so seconds until Yoko could see him.

"Flash Step."

All the woman could see were traces of lightning before her consciousness faded. Kai had knocked her out by hitting her solar plexus. He then immediately carried her on his shoulder and ran away.

Yoko finally arrived at the scene but Kai had long since disappeared. Erina arrived next followed by Amelia, Umi, and Natsumi.

"Yoko, what happened?"

"Kai suddenly ran so fast he created explosions of air. I knew he could do it but he startled everyone inside the village and now he disappeared."

"Could it be an enemy?"

Erina, Yoko, and Amelia talked respectively.

"I doubt he wouldn't tell us if there was an enemy. Aya was also pretty startled so I left her with one of the villagers. Is it some sort of secret business again?"

Erina pondered to herself and at that point, Umi dropped a bomb.

"Couldn't it be a girl?"

"""...!"""

Of course, three girls were suddenly startled. It's true, if it was simply an acquaintance then he didn't need to go through all the trouble to hide himself but what if it was a secret lover? Thinking that, the three girls' moods became gloomy. Yoko let them be and inspected the place.

"Scorch marks..."

Yoko muttered under her breath. There were two types of scorch marks left behind from the battle. One from the flames and one from the lightning.

"It feels as if Kai ended the fight in an instant. I wonder who the opponent was?"

Yoko contemplated as she turned around to the scene of chaos. Erina and Amelia were creating plans to torture Kai and Natsumi had an aura of despair around her muttering things like 'Why did he go for another girl? Why couldn't it be me?' and many other questionable statements. Umi on the other hand, realized she had made a mistake and looked as if she was apologizing to Kai who wasn't there.

Inside a dark cave, Kai set up a fire between him and the unconscious woman. She had her hands and feet tied along with her mouth gagged. It looked exactly like a kidnapping- scratch that, it was a kidnapping.

A few moments after Kai pondered waking her up, her eyes opened. It took her a few seconds to analyze the situation but once she did, she glared at Kai.

"I know this looks bad but I haven't touched you other than when I tied you up. Stay calm and I'll remove your gag."

Kai came close, the woman shuddered but allowed him to take the rag out of her mouth.

"You...!"

"I said calm down."

The woman exhaled and inhaled to calm herself. Only after a few minutes did she began to listen to Kai.

"So, Mr. Rapist, when are you going to do it? After you set me free to give me a sense of despair? Or maybe while I'm asleep to catch me off-guard..."

"Like hell I'd touch you. Talk seriously."

The woman sighed and summoned the crystal orb to materialize in front of her.

"..."

The woman looked at the crystal orb seriously. It took her a few hours but during the entire time, there were many emotions in her eyes. Surprise, fear, despair, happiness, and a multitude of emotions she obviously had not displayed before.

"You came from the future by my instructions?"

"That's right. The only reason you could see it is because of this thing you gave me."

Kai gave her a crystal small enough to be mistaken as a necklace ornament.

"So, why are you hiding the fact that you're from the future from your friends? I assumed that you were hiding it because you punched me in the gut when I was just talking- thank you very much for that by the way. If you told them, wouldn't they improve themselves even more?"

Kai leaned his head on the walls of the cave.

"If only it was that easy. I could tell them all- but not those two. No matter what."

"By those two... you mean your girlfriends?"

Kai nodded his head.

"If they find out the truth, I don't think I'd be able to live with the guilt."

"...I don't assume this 'guilt' you're talking about is because everyone died... it's like you're talking about something else- well whatever. I don't really care about your personal affairs. Anyway, can you unbind me already?"

Kai remembered that she had been bound and immediately set her loose.

"So, what do we do about that?"

"...To be honest, I have no idea. It doesn't look like future me told you about her plan either. He'll be appearing during the war with the Demon King along with these so-called 'Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'."

"That's only what the survivors call them, they don't really have a name for themselves seeing as how they aren't even alive."

The woman placed a finger on her bottom lip.

"From what I can tell, you're a lot stronger than you're supposed to be. You should be B or A-class right now but you seem to be at early S-class, when did you get transferred?"

"3 years ago, immediately after I got to the capital. It helped me create new connections as well."

"I see... You were quite the troublemaker in the past, huh... To think you actually became enemies with the kingdom itself."

"I also had to change that. Being chased by the kingdom until I reached S-class was a huge problem. I also took the initiative to get the swordsman Wake to realize his sword skills two years earlier. The members of Memento Mori- excluding the original member who dropped out and was replaced by me, are all accounted for. My going to school here apparently interfered with Memento Mori, he isn't vital for the plan so I have no ideas to chase him right now though."

"So, you're gathering power... Alright, I'll go find the other time guardians for you. It may take awhile and fortunately, you built connections in the kingdom so you can go hide me somewhere. Just check back every week or two, I'll get all of them."

"Thanks."

Kai slightly lowered his head in gratitude and opened the door to the cave.

"...I'm going to have endure some pain after this though."

"Your women are quite violent this time, they weren't like this in the other time."

"It's my fault for getting them riled up early. I'm supposed to save Erina only after her power was taken by the demon- a year from now which also led to some of her emotions disappearing. Amelia also wasn't this aggressive because I had my heart set on her in my other life but I don't regret it one bit. The women I loved may be gone but they're still here."

"I see, so that's your guilt."

Kai smiled wryly and gestured for her to come with him. Right now, they were quite far from the capital.

"Just make sure not to get spotted, I don't want to get caught up in a scandal between the Vampire Princess and the Snow Princess- two of the lead fighters in the war."

"Don't worry."