The Mysterious Black Magician

"!!"

"Leader, what happened to you?!" Jami, along with Maku and Dianne, exclaimed upon seeing Almina first thing in the morning.

All of them were having stunned expressions on their faces.

Almina slowly gazed at them, like a scene in a horror movie. "N-nothing…" she said like a zombie. At her reply, the three girls shuddered in fright. A black circle was noticeable below Almina's eyes.

She could not fall asleep. Her mind was bothering her and preventing her from sleeping. In truth, she was just super excited.

"W-will you be alright seeing your dream boy like that, Miss Almina?" Maku, who usually had a taciturn personality, followed up with teasing words..

"Uh, Eh… Ehhh!" Almina got flustered and turned red from Maku's words. "Maku, please heal me!" Almina sought help from Maku, who had a high aptitude for healing ability.

"She didn't even deny it!" The three girls exclaimed simultaneously in their minds.

Almina's party was the biggest in the Academy. They have lots of members, thanks to Almina's popularity.

However, along with Kesha, the five of them were the main squad of their party.

Maena was an irregular member of their group. Most of the time, she went solo. But with Almina's constant bothering her, she joined in some of their adventures inside the dungeon and even outside the city for some missions. So Almina listed her as the irregular member of their group.

At Almina's pleas, "O-okay," Maku replied with a worried expression. She was about to cast a spell to help Almina recover from being infected.

But suddenly,

"Maku, don't spoil her," from the back, Kesha also came.

"Eh!"

"Meanie Kesha!" Almina screamed with teary eyes.

There's a cross-shaped pulse on Kesha's face as she was enduring his pent-up frustration. Though, she remained quiet and let a sigh expired from her mouth.

"....."

Everyone fell silent when they saw Kesha. Like Almina, there were also black circles under her eyes.

"Wait, why are you guys here?" Almina noticed something unusual.

"He-he!" Jami grinned. "We wonder about that…" she said while putting on an innocent face.

"....."

Maku was fidgeting while Dianne was suspiciously looking away.

SUSPICIOUS!

Almina exclaimed in mind.

…

After stretching up and warming his body, Yman jogged at the nearby hill from their house. Along with him was Rea. Unexpectedly, they had many visitors this morning.

Almina came for personal training that they agreed. However, he did not expect that Jami, along with Maku, and Dianne, also came along. He was able to know them, thanks to being acquainted in the competition. 

Although he wasn't sure if they could be considered as friends or just acquaintances. But there was no ill intent against each other. So Yman did not really mind.

He also invited Bob and Chloe. But Bob could not train as he was still recovering. It looks like the toll from using the shapeshifting artifact did a good amount of damage to his body. Fortunately, it was treatable. For now, he just needed more rest.

Along with Chloe and Yana, they were waiting at the top of the hill. They climbed there using the Hell Chaser Bird of Yman.

Seeing the gigantic figure of Hell Chaser Bird, the little monsters scuttled away.

Meanwhile, Yman and the others were jogging towards the top of the hill.

As expected, Almina wasn't even gasping for breath. She had high stamina compared to other girls. 

Aside from Almina, there was also Jami who fairly had good stamina as well. When Yman tried to increase his speed, only Almina and Jami were able to catch up to him. Although Dianne also acted as a scout and vanguard in Almina's party, she seemed to have less stamina compared to Jami.

On the contrary, Rea and Maku were already far behind them.

"Wait! Crimson!"

She called out. Currently, she was wearing a tracksuit like the rest. It was convenient to wear especially when you are exercising and training.

From the other's perspective, Rea was a human. Although not as pretty as all of them, she was a kind person. 

Based on Yman's story, he happened to meet her while he was traveling in the empire. The two of them become acquainted. And went on some missions as an adventurer.

While they were jogging, their deities were flying beside them. Only Sistela was not in the mood to fly, he was sitting on his shoulder while showing a bored face.

She was wondering why her partner was yet to return her cute figure.

She didn't want that sleazeball to see her at her current appearance. Sistela had a strong rivalry towards the water sprite who bullied her the first time she arrived at the academy. She wanted to beat her.

Yman just put a wry smile on his face from Rea's call. In his mind, she needed a lot of exercise. Not because she turned fatty, but because it could help her to stabilize the circulation of mana within her.

He noticed Rea having a hard time controlling her new spell. Although he wasn't showing it, it actually bothered him.

So Yman asked Almina if it was fine if they did their training in his place. He also told her that there was a hill nearby which he thought was perfect for jogging.

Almina quickly agreed. She even shouted in her room, "Yes! I can visit Yman's house!" At the same time, she jumped on Kesha and hugged her out of excitement. 

Kesha tried to struggle while saying she couldn't breathe.

"B-b-best friend…" Kesha called out her name weakly.

But Almina was already in her own world. She couldn't hear Kesha even if she screamed. 

Because of it, *Plop!* It was already too late when she noticed she was hugging Kesha with a bit of force.

Kesha's soul already left her mouth while waving a white flag, and teary eyes.

Almina's excitement was the reason they couldn't fall asleep. Kesha was only an unintended victim though.

Regardless, Yman was surprised that even though Rea was already exhausted, she didn't give up and still tried to chase after them.

It looked like she did better than him before he left the academy. That time, Yman could not even last 5 minutes. He would stumble on the ground while breathing deeply. He was a frequent customer of the medical team.

"Y-Yman!"

Almina, who was running beside him, called out his name.

"Yes?"

"As expected, you didn't collapse this time."

She said that almost caused Yman to trip down.

"Ahaha," he laughed wryly. "Well, I trained every morning. So, my stamina now is better than before."

"I see. Good for you!"

When they arrived at the top of the hill, "Congrats everyone!" Yana greeted them with a big smile.

Then a happy picnic on top of the hill followed after.