Beyond M-Eclipse: Easy Mode LIVE

———Wiina———

That… went by quicker than I thought, which is pretty hard to believe.

Somehow, despite all the sudden change in plans by both of them, we managed to create something that doesn’t crumble in on itself. “By the way, did you really need me to fill this room with gold and diamonds?”

“The more gaudy this place is the more suspicious the principal seems.” Coach Wana tried to justify. Poor principal. As if everything else didn’t make her look sus as hell.

“Hmm. Let’s look at this from the outside.” Edea said before walking outside, looking rather satisfied already. This is gonna end up looking like some sort of supervillain lair, ain’t it?

“You heard them, let’s go and inspect our work from afar.” Coach Wana said before also walking off with me following close behind. This whole renovation went in an… interesting direction.

*Beep* *Shine* *Zoom*

We went back to the ground floor using the teleporter, walking down the massive corridor and out of the ‘school’.

“Are we sure we didn’t overdo it?” I asked one more time for certainty as we continued taking step backs in order to get a good look at the renovation. “Are you sure you aren’t creating your old working place?”

“No. I wasn’t.” She said with a straight face after we got far enough to see the ‘school’. It looks more like a massive castle that’s about as tall as a skyscraper, with the exterior having a rather drab medieval color palette, mainly gray and dark bronze. Is she certain she’s not recreating something from memory?

*Snap*

“Quite a view, ain’t it.” Edea said, taking a picture of the place. It looks pretty intimidating, with the dark night casting a shadow over the entire building. The inside is still full of electricity and many advanced modern equipment, but the outside definitely doesn’t give off such an impression. “I’ll be surprised if the authorities didn’t try to run in and confiscate some stuff.”

“Yeah, speaking of that. You sure this is the best idea? I know it’s kinda too late, but still...” I asked Coach Wana, knowing full well this wasn’t her initial idea. It just kinda came up midway, which definitely didn’t make our jobs easy, having to redone some stuff.

“It’ll be fine.” She dismissively said. It’s not the most reassuring response…

“Have fun with that.” Edea said as they put their phone away. “Anyway, I guess my job is about done.”

“Yep. You two are free to go. I’ll go in and organize a few extra things myself.” Coach said before walking off, leaving just us two.

“Well, since we’re here, how about telling me something about yourself?” I assertively asked, just before they could make their getaway. “Just from vibes alone it’s pretty easy to see that you’re not human.”

“Is that so? You won’t be wrong.” They nonchalantly answered. “I don’t think who I am is that important in the grand scheme of things.”

Considering the odd trail of mana that is constantly pumped into that vessel of theirs, I find it hard to believe there’s nothing worth mentioning.

All the supernatural stuff aside, this person… I think I do remember seeing them on the news or social media somewhere, I believe it was…

“So, your full name is Edea Weltal, right?” I asked to see if my suspicion was correct.

“The one and only.” They nonchalantly answered. Usually one would be more proud of their identity as one of the richest kids around, though I guess they’re more of a young adult at this point and time.

…I don’t think the public even knows that much about this person. It’s a story with them getting into an accident and almost a decade-long coma? Something like that?

If I remember my story right, they’re the only child of two of the most accomplished… Scientist? Engineer? Those two do a lot of stuff from what I know. Like comic book supergenius-type shit.

“...You know. Considering the words going around about your parents, I’m kinda surprised there haven’t been rumors about you that I can find.” I remarked, now that I recalled their unwilling infamy.

“People who are suspicious of me don’t want to actually voice such an opinion, since that’ll lead to more people coming for my head when they want to be the one taking the swing.” …Okay, that’s not quite what I was alluding to. That line of questioning took a dark turn. “Of course, I’m not actually in any danger. I’m plenty fine enough to stroll outside.”

“...You know. I feel like if you did stroll outside a lot there would’ve been more coverage on you.” I said, making an observation.

“Heh. Not exactly wrong, but I don’t really make my presence known.” They said, taking my remark in stride as they started floating about. “Still. I don’t think my identity should be of that great interest.”

“Maybe not the whole rich orphan part, but there’s definitely something different about you regardless.” I said while keeping up, knowing that they’re dodging the topic.

“I guess you would know, considering your nature.” They fired back. “It’s always interesting, watching someone like you in person.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, wondering what they had to say.

“It’s rather subtle, but your power level increases passively. Even if you didn’t train at all your strength would’ve increased to the point of matching others.” They explained. I kinda figured that out already, but it still feels rather surreal that it is even the case in the first place. The blood-sucking coach already alluded to it, more or less.

When considering that magic can go haywire and probably more rules and technicalities I still haven’t run into, there’s no doubt that not training to know how to use these powers would’ve been disastrous. It’s something that I should constantly remind myself of.

“What even is my current level?” I asked, just out of curiosity.

“Now that’s a bit of a tricky question, when your quirks are taken into consideration.” They prefaced. “Generally the three main things you are evaluated on is your durability, power supply, and output. You could also separate them into things like physical strength, mana pool, agility, and so on. As well as things like mastery over controlling all that power.”

“Uhh…” Where exactly are they going with this?

“From what I’m seeing, your durability and mana pool are extremely high, especially the latter which can regenerate at a very rapid pace. Your output seems to be a lot lower than your theoretical limit. If you were to try to get past that, I can see you imploding and taking out a large chunk out of the planet.”

“I can’t say I understand all that.” Or even want to, to be honest. Especially the last part.

“Let’s just say that you still have a lot to learn, but in terms of raw strength you are very impressive despite the fact that it has only been four weeks, roughly speaking.” They then decided to elaborate more, instead of less. Am I being led on? “Your current level is more than good enough considering the current state of this world, if obviously not reaching the stats of the likes of us just yet, it’s going to take a while.”

“Can you just… put out an arbitrary level? Not needing to be all technical? Like, just give me something to work with aside from all that vague nonsense.” I said, wanting it to be simplified.

“Gonna go with the less nuance route? Okay then…” They replied, pondering and evaluating. “500, give or take.”

“...Is that high?” I wondered out loud. I don’t think most stories considered that number as high.

“Roughly the level of strength you would’ve expected from a matured true dragon. Or continental-level, if you’re a power scaling nerd.” They sarcastically said. “I don’t think numbers will give you much info, to be honest. I’m just gauging from my readings.”

“Yeah, I get that.” I said, now realizing how dumb asking for a number was.

It’s kinda hard to comprehend that anyone here can actually do damage on such a massive scale, let alone myself. The idea of anyone demolishing a building by their lonesome already felt ridiculous, let alone an entire continent.

“Also, for a point of reference. Walsuna can destroy a large planet.” …That’s bullshit, right?

“You know, I can believe something is capable of destroying an entire continent, but destroying a planet?” I have to say, finding it all hard to believe as we go through the clouds.

“Technically speaking she could do larger-scale destruction in theory, even.” Now they’re just messing with me aren’t they?

“Okay, stop right there.” I said before they could make any more ludicrous claims. “Just tell me something at least a little bit realistic-sounding.”

“What is even realistic?” They jokingly said, before looking down. The two of us have already flown up above the clouds, staying afloat with nothing but our own power.

…

“Flying is realistic.” I replied.

“Yeah right.” They said, sounding very bemused. “Anyway. Do you have anything else to ask?”

“You know anything specific about others?” I asked, wanting to know if there’s anyone else to look out for, just in case.

“Others… Hmph. I’m not gonna say any names out loud.” They affirmatively said. I guess that’s to be somewhat expected. I’m still an outsider in their eyes, considering how I’m merely someone who happened to be fortunate to receive a gift that keeps on giving.

“...I’m just never gonna be in the loop, am I?” I can’t help but say it out loud.

“It’s basically impossible, there are many layers to it. Walsuna probably knows more than I do, then someone else knows more than she does, and so on and so on.” They answered. I supposed it can’t be that simple, even if I wanted it to be. “Besides, do you really want to digest so much information in rapid succession? Especially when you might never utilize it.”

“...I guess not.” I conceded. It’s still gonna be tempting whenever I come across someone who might know something, but I guess no one’s gonna be obligated to tell me anything, let alone everything in one setting. “Say, do you know anything about Antarctica’s… dungeon… palace… thing.”

“Oh, that’s something protruding out of the Earth’s core, that’s all I’m gonna say.” …Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.

*Shine* *Block*

“Glad to see you wisened up.” What the hell is she doing here!? It’s the damn angel that cut my head off that one time. She tried to do it again but I blocked the deadly beam in time.

“Oh, babe, what’s up? Afraid that I was in danger?” …Hold on.

“Of course not. You won’t die even if you’re killed. I’m just here to check what’s taking you so long.” She casually said, descending down to our elevation. When did she even arrive? I couldn’t sense her until she went for my neck again. “Seems like this girl is distracting you a bit.”

“Meh, it’s nothing important.” They casually said. Can we at least address that one particular point?

“If you say so.” She said before taking a glance at me. “Got anything else to ask?”

“Well…” Actually, would asking about that be too intrusive? I already got the picture anyway. “Nothing in particular…”

“Is that right?” She said with a smirk, probably taking notes of my earlier reactions. “Well. If you don’t have anything important to ask. I think we should take our leave. What do you think?”

“If she’s out of questions, then there’s nothing else for me to do.” Edea said, clearly not feeling pressed for time, but also didn’t see the need to hang around me. “So? Do you have anything else to ask?”

“...No. Nothing else came to mind, for now.” I said, unable to justify keeping them around. To be honest, I don’t want to press my luck.

They are clearly not hostile towards me, but like that woman said, I shouldn’t press my luck. From all the evidence and implications so far, there is a group of people willing to work together to get rid of something that disturbs their peace with extreme prejudice, which is why there isn’t a supervillain out there controlling the world already. It’s a very well organized masquerade.

Perhaps all the hard-to-verify sightings of the supernaturals were things considered too minor to get rid of, which is why they are let be.

“Alright then, let’s go home then.” The angel said before grabbing their hand. “See you later, perhaps.”

*Zoom*

…And now I am left to my own devices…

Let’s go back home and sleep. I have been exerting myself during this school reconstruction, I could definitely use a rest, even if it doesn’t take much out of me. A nice sleep will always be good for the soul.