Alice clenched her fists as a green light surrounded her body. Without hesitation, she dashed toward Jayden, preparing to punch him in the face. Lisa quickly summoned a glowing blue shield to block Alice's attack.

  “Alice, calm down! If you use your power to attack, Jayden could be seriously hurt!” Lisa shouted, focusing on maintaining the blue shield, which also covered her body with a faint blue glow.

  “You think I care if he gets hurt?! What did Bayu ever do wrong to deserve being bullied and hurt by him? He should be the one feeling ashamed for picking on someone far weaker than himself!” Alice shouted furiously as her fist slammed into the shield. The impact was deafening, and the shield cracked instantly. Lisa winced in pain as the backlash clearly affected her.

  Jayden stood frozen, likely in shock. He hadn't expected Alice to get this angry, or to try hitting him with full force.

  Seeing the shield starting to break, Alice prepared to punch again, but I got out of bed and stepped forward.

  “Alice, that’s enough! Stop right now!” I said, standing in front of Lisa’s cracked shield.

  “Why are you stopping me, Bayu?! He just hurt you, didn’t he?! He deserves to get hit!” Alice snapped, confused and angry.

  “Alice... stop. And both of you, get out of my room. Now,” I said coldly, my voice firm.

  “Jayden, come on. Let’s go,” Lisa said, grabbing Jayden’s hand and pulling his stunned body toward the door.

  “Who said you could leave?!” Alice yelled, attempting to punch Jayden again.

  “For heaven’s sake, Alice, stop! Please, listen to me!” I shouted, blocking her path. Lisa quickly dragged Jayden out, and even in that tense moment, she didn’t forget to shut the door behind her.

  “Bayu, why did you let Jayden go?! Why are you defending him?!” Alice asked, visibly upset.

  “You idiot... Look at your hand, Alice. The one you used to punch that shield or whatever it was.”

  “What do you.... Oh,” she muttered, glancing at her hand.

  “Alice, I don’t care if Jayden gets hurt or not. I stopped you because your hand is bruised and bleeding from punching that strange shield. I appreciate that you’re angry for my sake, but don’t hurt yourself like this,” I said softly as I pulled her into a hug to calm her down.

  “But... he just hurt you! I only...”

  “I know, I know. My sweet little Alice was so worried seeing me get hurt. Thank you, Alice, for wanting to protect this weak and useless guy,” I said, gently patting her head.

  “Don’t say that! I never think of you as weak or useless, Bayu!” she said, tightening her hug.

  “Yeah, yeah... but could you ease up a bit? I’m kinda having trouble breathing here,” I said with a small laugh.

  Alice finally let go of the hug. I walked back to the bed and sat down.

  “Come here, Alice. Let me take a closer look at your hand,” I said gently. As I examined it, to my surprise, her injury began to heal rapidly.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Wait, is this one of your skills? Your wound is healing fast,” I asked, curious.

  Alice nodded and explained that her class was Healer. She had the ability to heal injuries and even reattach severed limbs, if all the pieces were still there.

  “They say my class is great... but to me, it’s pointless if I can’t even heal you, Bayu...” she said, her voice trembling.

  “Hey now, don’t look so sad. I’m still alive, aren’t I? I’m sure my amazing Alice will figure out a way to heal me one day. So please... don’t... Ugh, I really didn’t want to make you cry,” I said, gently wiping the tears from her cheeks.

  “It’s already late. Come on, let’s get some sleep, Alice. See? Your pillow’s still here,” I said, holding it up.

  Alice nodded silently, and we both laid down to sleep. She hugged my back tightly, as if afraid I might vanish at any moment.

  “Alice... it’s hard to sleep if you’re holding me like that,” I said with a soft laugh.

  She didn’t let go.

  “Since when did my cute little Alice get so rebellious? You’re not gonna listen to me anymore?” I teased.

  Still, no release.

  “How about this, I'll hold your hand instead of hugging you while we sleep. Deal?” I suggested, gently prying her arms off.

  She finally agreed and held my hand instead. I just hoped my hand didn’t get all sweaty, or worse, cramp up by morning.

  Eventually, we both drifted off to sleep. The next morning, as usual, I was woken up by sunlight pouring through the window. This time, nothing heavy was crushing my face, but when I tried to move my right hand to block the light, I couldn’t. Something was holding it down, something soft and heavy.

  Damn it, Alice. You really need to fix this habit of hugging things in your sleep.

  “Alice, wake up. It’s morning. You have training today, remember? Come on, get up,” I said, gently pinching her cheek.

  “Five more minutes... No, three minutes, Bayu. Just a little longer...” she murmured, half asleep.

  “It’s fine if you want to sleep a bit longer, but... could you let go of my hand? This is getting dangerous in many ways,” I said, trying to wake her up gently.

  At first, she looked confused, then realized what was happening as I wriggled my hand slightly. Her face turned red instantly, and she pinched my arm hard. Ouch, that actually hurt.

  She then touched my face, checking the bruises that idiot left. Of course, the mark was still there. It’d probably take a few days to fade.

  “Don’t worry, Alice. It’ll heal soon,” I said to reassure her. She still looked concerned, but then returned to her room to change and get ready for training.

  “Well, now that Alice is gone... Mom, could you please stop staring at me with that pouty face?” I said, looking at the ghostly figure floating right in front of me.

  “Whose fault do you think this is?! Why didn’t my precious boy fight back when that idiot hit you?! If you had just asked for my help, I would’ve taken care of those fools in an instant!” she grumbled while messing up my hair.

  “Yeah, yeah, sorry Mom. I had my reasons. And stop messing up my hair already,” I replied.

  I explained a few things. Yesterday had been loud, Alice and Lisa even used their powers, but not a single servant or guard came to check. That was suspicious.

  “Mom, do you know how many heroes have been summoned by this kingdom?” I asked.

  She told me that when she arrived more than a hundred years ago, this castle already existed. Since then, there had been four previous hero summons. Alice, the others, and I were the fifth group.

  “How many heroes are summoned in each group?” I asked.

  “It varies, sweetheart. Sometimes one, sometimes two, sometimes three. But the current number of summoned heroes is the highest I’ve ever seen,” she replied.

  “Hmmm... do you know anything about that glowing light that surrounds someone when they use a skill?” I asked, trying to piece together the mystery.

  “Oh, that’s mana, sweetheart. When a living being uses mana, it surrounds their body. The color depends on their class,” she explained.

  “And... have you ever seen anyone with golden mana?” I asked again.

  “No, dear. There’s no one in this world with golden colored mana. Green, blue, sure, but not gold,” she said, looking puzzled.

  I see. According to my analysis, heroes are those with golden mana. The others must’ve just been caught in the summoning because they were nearby. The title The Chosen One applies to anyone summoned... but if there's only one true hero, shouldn't the kingdom be more protective? Why did they stay silent when Alice nearly attacked Jayden?

  What exactly can golden mana do?

  Sigh... There’s still so much I don’t understand.

  But before anything else, I really need to figure out how to take a bath. It’s been over a week, and I’ve just been stuck in this room in the same clothes the whole time.

  Guess I’ll have to ask Alice for help once she gets back...