Side Character Who Became the Pseudo-Protagonist

Chapter 52: My Cruel Regimen

"I really...think...I’m gonna...pass out..."

Wheezing out those words consumed the last of my mental strength, and my body promptly followed suit, collapsing onto the ground in front of the Lieutenant.

"I’ll be damned." The man looked down at me with a smirk. "I didn’t think you had it in you, brat."

Shortly after being ordered to run twenty laps around the base, nearly all of my belongings had been confiscated. My phone, wallet, student terminal—even Huginn had been taken from me.

And much to my dismay, several soldiers had already threatened to steal it if I died during the run. All I had been given in return were the same pair of camo pants and a white tank top.

There was no crisis, no future plot, no world problems in my mind right now. All I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other.

And somehow, I managed to make it.

"Alright brat, get up, we’re going for lunch."

The sentence instantly woke me up. I was so hungry that any metaphorical horses in the vicinity should’ve feared for their life.

My hope was quickly squandered when all I was given were three of what looked like every kind of nutrition shoved into a bar without any care for taste.

Well to be fair, everyone was eating the same thing. At least that meant I wasn’t being singled out for physical abuse—even if I desperately wanted someone to blame right now.

The Lieutenant, sensing the obvious disgust on my face as I nibbled on the bar, sat down right next to me in the canteen.

"What brings you here, brat? All I heard was my Commander sending his middle child over and told me to whip you into shape."

I stared down at the bar in my hand.

"I need to learn how to fight properly."

"You attend Asgard, the best Operator institution in the country."

"I know how that sounds."

"Do you?"

"...Yes."

The Lieutenant leaned back on the bench, waiting for me to continue.

"Most of my combat ability comes from my Spells," I explained. "And even then, I’ve mostly been relying on one dangerous technique to compensate for everything I’m lacking."

"[Overload]...?"

My eyes widened instantly. "How do you...?"

"The Commander told me about it."

’What the...? How the hell did Nathan Midgard know?’

Though the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wasn’t hiding my tracks too well. After using [World Frame] inside Mimir, he probably figured out from my lingering Logos Signature.

’Ahh...I hope that isn’t going to create more problems...’

I turned over to the Lieutenant. "Then you already understand the problem. If I can’t use it, or if it doesn’t end the fight, I don’t have much else to fall back on..."

The Lieutenant studied me for several seconds before taking another bite of his ration bar.

"Wrong."

"What?"

"Relying too heavily on a single Spell is certainly part of your problem."

He pointed the half-eaten bar toward me. "But your real problem is that you’re using your key Spell terribly."

"What do you mean by that?"

The man sighed into his hand before standing up and nudging his chin toward the exit.

"Come on, I’ll show you exactly what I mean."

Just a couple steps from the canteen, we arrived in what looked like a repurposed school gymnasium. Essentially, it was just a basketball court that had been fitted with various things like a rock-climbing wall, a small obstacle course, and a weight room.

He told me to stop before taking a few steps away from me to create distance. Reaching over to the rack on his right, the Lieutenant grabbed a generic Gun-type Spell Driver and threw it over to me.

"I’m going to shoot a [Magic Bullet] at you, dispel it using [Overload]."

"Why would I do that? From this distance, I can easily dodge it?"

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Tier 1 Offensive Piercing Type—]

[Magic Bullet]

BANG—!

A flash of light blurred across the space and straight toward my chest. It was so unbelievably fast that I just barely managed to get out the way.

’What the hell...? This guy’s trying to kill me for real!’

[Magic Bullet]

BANG—!

This time, I wasn’t going to make it.

My balance was already off from the last attack, and there was no way for me to shift it before the Spell arrived.

So all I could do now was...

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Innate Structural Disruption Type—]

[Overload]

The streak of light dissolved mid-air, right when it was about to collide with my left shoulder. Yet the moment I used the Spell, I had forgotten the Spell Driver in my hand wasn’t Huginn.

CRACK—!

Immediately, the entire thing collapsed, the outer case shattering as various components inside spilled out onto the floor.

The Lieutenant slowly lowered his weapon.

"[Overload]," he muttered. "A Spell I’m extremely familiar with."

His eyes briefly settled on the broken Spell Driver at my feet. "It was the Spell Sequence that earned your mother the name ’Legion of One’ back when I served alongside her."

"Grghhk—!"

Before I could even process what he had said, the familiar wave of pain finally caught up with me. My hand shot toward my head as I dropped to one knee.

"Ahhh...so that’s the problem."

Through the pounding inside my skull, I forced my eyes to look at him.

"...The broken Spell Driver?"

"That too."

He stepped over the remains of the broken gun and nudged one of the shattered components with his boot.

"You used enough force to destroy the Spell, the Driver channeling your own Sequence, and nearly yourself along with it."

"In simple terms..."

"You used a cannon to swat a fly."

...

"Your mother could dismantle dozens of active Spell Sequences at the same time without damaging a single Driver."

He crouched in front of me, yet I couldn’t even say anything in response.

"You, on the other hand, can barely stop one [Magic Bullet] without collapsing. And that customized Spell Driver of yours isn’t helping the problem either."

A small expression akin to disgust appeared on his face.

"You inherited her weapon, brat. But you’re swinging it around like a club."

"I thought it’d be hard to train you," the man continued, standing back up and pointing his Spell Driver at me.

"But it seems this is going to be rather simple?"

’Wait...what is this guy doing?!’

[Spell Sequence Initializing: Tier 1 Neural Disruption Type—]

[Sleep]

"Have a good rest, brat."

Instantly, I felt my body giving way...

And my world turned black.