Zara shot a mildly irritated glance at Fluff, her eyes narrowing slightly. But then, her lips curled into a mischievous smirk. Without a word, she grabbed the squishy creature by the scruff and bolted toward the bath.
Fluff's eyes widened in horror."[H-Host! I'm sorry! You're the best, the absolute best! Please don't do this!]" he squealed, flailing his tiny arms in panic.
Zara reached the edge of the bath, fully prepared to dunk him in.
But just as she was about to throw him in—poof!—Fluff vanished into the safety of his pocket space with a cowardly yelp.
Zara, caught off guard by the sudden lack of weight in her hands, lost her balance and plunged into the bath with a loud splash.
"[Ha! Hahaha!]"Fluff reappeared midair, clutching his sides and laughing uncontrollably.
Zara slowly rose from the bath, drenched from head to toe, water dripping from her hair. Her glare locked onto Fluff with a murderous intensity.
The laughter died in Fluff's throat. "Eep."Poof! — he vanished again before Zara could retaliate.
Grumbling under her breath, Zara dried herself off, pouting the whole time. Once clean, she flopped onto the bed with a dramatic sigh.
"Fluff, sign in."
A moment later, his voice echoed faintly from the pocket space:[Okay, Host.]
[Ding! Sign-in complete. Reward tier: Yellow.]
[Reward: High-class spell – Flamethrower. Mid-class magic – Flight. Rare-class – Swordsman class.]
Zara blinked. Then sat up straight, eyes wide with excitement as a grin stretched across her face.
"Now that's more like it."
With a smug grin, Zara crossed her arms and tilted her chin up proudly."Hah! Fluff, weren't you the one saying I couldn't get stronger? Look at this!" she said, gesturing dramatically. "I just pulled some top-tier magic, thank you very much!"
Somewhere in the pocket space, Fluff puffed up his cheeks in a pout.[Whatever... it was just luck, okay?]
Zara's grin twitched. "Huh? What was that?"
There was a beat of silence.
[N-Nothing, Host! That was just your imagination!]
Zara narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Fluff, hidden safely in his space, stayed completely still—like a fluffy statue hoping she wouldn't chase him again.
After finishing her sign-in, Zara stepped out of her room, humming to herself with a light bounce in her step. As she closed the door behind her, Selena emerged from the room next door at almost the same moment.
Zara turned to her with a bright smile."Selena! Want to train after classes?"
Selena gave her a long, deadpan look—somewhere between disbelief and concern.
Zara blinked, tilting her head. "...What?"
Selena let out a tired sigh."Zara, today's the first tournament. Your match with Alex is scheduled for this afternoon. I heard it from Mia."
Zara froze. Then slowly raised a hand to her forehead in a dramatic facepalm."Ohhh... I completely forgot about that."
She straightened up a second later with a confident smirk."But don't worry—I'm totally going to win against alex. I've got this."
"But wait—when did you even meet Mia?" Zara asked, raising an eyebrow.
Selena responded with a perfectly straight face, "She popped up out of nowhere while I was eating. Just appeared beside me and started talking. Then she said I'm her friend."
Zara's eye twitched."...Yeah. That sounds like Mia."
She could already picture it in her head: Mia suddenly materializing at Selena's side mid-meal, chatting away like they'd known each other for years while Selena just sat there, stunned and chewing slowly.
Zara let out a small laugh. "She really has no concept of personal space."
As Zara and Selena continued walking and talking, a figure suddenly stepped into their path.
Zara came to a halt, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked the boy up and down. He had striking white hair that glinted in the sunlight and piercing red eyes that practically glowed with intensity.
He stood calmly in the middle of the walkway, as if he'd been waiting for them.
Zara raised an eyebrow. "Who are you? And why are you blocking the path?"
The boy gave a lazy wave and smiled, a sharp grin tugging at his lips."Hello there. My name is Drakan."
Zara's confident expression faltered. Her body stiffened slightly, and her eyes widened.
Drakan...?
That name—it echoed in her memory like a warning bell. Her thoughts whirled. No way… it can't be him already.