After exiting the simulation and heading upstairs to get some rest, Finn was immediately contacted by Zelestria.

[Ah, finally got through to you.]

‘Did you need me for something?’

[Mm… not particularly. I was just worried about you since your mana was getting used up so fast, y’know~?]

‘I’m fine. Just need to recover a bit before my lessons with Octane in the afternoon.’

[… Don’t work yourself too hard.] Zelestria said in a genuinely concerned voice, which was a rarity for her. Finn, however, only saw it as a ploy, given how out-of-character this was.

‘Is this a new seduction technique you’re employing?’

[No — unless you want it to be, of course~]

And… she was back to her normal self. Still, Finn could see Zelestria did really care about him, for better or worse. Of course, in his eyes, Zelestria only saw him as a necessary tool and nothing more, but in reality, it was more than that — she just would never admit it, and instead hint at it from time to time using those so-called seduction techniques.

Deep down, she was broken. And it would take someone even more broken than she was to fix her.

A short nap later, Finn had fully recovered his mana and energy. He headed downstairs in search of Octane for some more training, but he instead spotted everyone gathered in the living room at the table, preparing to eat. Though… there seemed to be some sort of argument going on.

Storm, who had an annoyed expression on his face, rolled his eyes in frustration.

“I still don’t see why we have to wait for him-“

“Hey,” Archon cut in dangerously. “Enough.”

“…” Storm turned away, clenching his fists tightly and nibbling on his own teeth. He was clearly dissatisfied, but didn’t want to argue with Archon any further.

“… Sorry for being late,” Finn said quietly as he entered the room, making his presence known. Storm shot him a sideways glance, but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t worry about it,” Melvia comforted. “I made you use up a lot of mana earlier today, so it makes sense that you need rest. In fact, I’m a bit surprised you managed to recover this quickly.”

“Heheh, you’re gonna need that stamina for this afternoon,” Octane chuckled with a wide grin on his face. “Trust me, if you’re fast enough, nothing will be able to hit you.”

‘… I’ll probably end up crashing face-first into a wall if I tried running like you, but whatever,’ Finn thought in his head. With some help from Iris, who sat beside him, he found his chopsticks and began feeding food into his own mouth.

The meal was silent for the most part after that, mainly due to the awkward argument that had happened before Finn got here. It wasn’t a nice feeling, but no one made a move to break the tension.

Shortly after eating, Octane led Finn to the hidden teleporter room of the mansion.

“… Where are we going?” Finn asked, confused.

“Somewhere with space, of course,” Octane replied excitedly. “What, don’t tell me you thought we were going to train in this cramped building. Come on.”

Finn sighed and stepped onto the teleporter. Octane smiled in satisfaction.

“Okay, now, think ‘Alcina Plains’ with me,” he instructed, placing a hand on Finn’s shoulder.

‘Alcina Plains.’

In an instant, Finn felt a familiar tingling feeling all over his body as the two of them were warped away.

“Whew! I feel so much better out here,” Octane whistled, staring out at the vast open green plains laid out before them. “How I wish I grew up in the rural District X… Hey, Finn, whenever you get your vision back, I’ll take you back here again sometime. The view’s amazing.”

“I’m sure it is,” Finn replied stoically. “Now, can we get to training?”

“Geez, so impatient. Since I’m the teacher here, we’ll be doing things my way,” he declared with a smug grin. “First, let’s have a little race.”

‘A race…? Is he serious?’

“I know what you’re thinking — you’ll obviously lose, all that. But this is so I can gauge your aptitude for the Daredevil Angelica. For example, if you have asthma like me, you won’t be able to handle some Abilit-“

“I don’t have asthma,” Finn cut in. “Just teach me everything you know. I’ll be the one to decide whether or not I can handle it.”

He blinked. “O… kay then. But we’re still doing that race. C’mon!”

Saying this, he leaped off the hill they were standing on top of, sliding down the slope against the wind like a true daredevil.

“WOOHOO!”

‘… I don’t think he remembers I can’t see.’

“What are you waiting for, Finn? Just jump down, it’s not too long of a drop! If you can’t even handle this much, forget about learning the Daredevil Angelica!”

“… Fine.”

Finn hesitantly took a step forward, feeling the front half of his shoe on nothing. The edge was right there. Taking a deep breath, he leaped off the hill and landed on the inclined slope, sliding downwards at amazing speed.

“There you go! You’re doing it!”

Finn grit his teeth as the sharp wind cut past his unprotected face, occasionally flinging small pebbles and dirt. Although it hurt, he couldn’t deny that this feeling of adventure, this rush of adrenaline — felt good.

That said, he was not prepared for when he hit the bottom.

“Ngh-“

Finn tripped forward, not expecting the sudden obstacle that blocked his momentum, and fell onto the grass.

“Oof… that looked like it hurt,” Octane mused from a distance away.

‘Yeah… a warning would’ve been nice,’ Finn thought in his head, but didn’t complain out loud and just pulled himself back up to his feet.

“… What now?”

Octane grinned. “Now that we’re both down here, we can finally race. No Angelicas, no Abilities — just a pure contest of speed.”

He walked over to stand beside Finn, then began doing some stretches to warm-up.

“I can’t run for long, so let’s just do a quick one,” Octane proposed. “100 meters directly in front of you. Ready?”

Finn nodded as he also did some simple stretches. It didn’t matter how far away the finish line was — he just needed to keep running and wait until Octane told him to stop. Because Finn was a careful person, however, he still decided to keep track of his own steps. Since every step he took was roughly a meter, he just needed to count 100 steps in his head, that’s all.

“Alright then.” Octane smiled wryly, crouching down in preparation to run. “Let’s see how much of a Daredevil you are, Ace.”