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The walls, ceiling, and floor were all the same shade of blue. Although this time it seemed like the whole room was actually see-through, and whatever was directly outside of it was causing the room to give off its color. It seemed to be some sort of liquid, but it looked too dark to be water. The room seemed to be made up of many identical-looking tiles (or possibly even blocks) of glass, although they didn't seem very fragile. Despite the room's size, there wasn't really anything inside, aside from the lights in the floor and the ceiling.

... After all of us were already inside of the room, the metal door closed behind us.

Tear   "U-um..."

Ms. Pensil   "Don't worry, sweetie; that door only closed to help block off sound. We can easily open it up again later if we want to leave."

Tear   "U-uh, that's nice to know... But that's not what I wanted to ask..."

Ail   "Yeah, for starters, what exactly is this weird place?! And why did you take us here!?"

Ms. Pensil   "E-er, well.. You see..."

Ms. Reachet   "This room was part a secret underground facility, created for research and training purposes long ago. It originally had no connection to the academy, but with enough funding it was made part of the school building, and was remodeled to help fulfill one certain, and very important, task."
Ms. Reachet   "While almost all of the students don't have any knowledge of this place or its purpose, the teachers and staff members of this academy are well aware of its existence. In fact, you could almost say it is why this school was built in the first place, and as such, the people that work at this school are hired with this specifically in mind."

Ail   "Oookaaay... So what exactly is this 'task', and what does it have to do with us...?"

Ms. Reachet   "Before I answer that question, let me ask you this... Are you aware of the ancient legend that this school values?"

Tear   "You're talking about the legendary hero, Tear, right? The one who was able to turn her artistic abilities into magic to fend off the monsters that plagued this region a long time ago?"

Ms. Reachet   "That's correct."

Ail   "Ah yeah, I think I've heard about that before..."
Ail   "But wait, her name's Tear? Isn't that your name, too?"

Tear   "U-um, yes. I was named after her, actually..."

Ail   "Huh? But wasn't Tear a woman? Why were you named after her if you're a boy...?"

Tear   "E-e-er, u-uh, well... T-that's..."

Ms. Reachet   "... That's of no concern. That part's not important."
Ms. Reachet   "Rather, do you know where she got her powers from?"

Tear   "Hm? 'Where'...? I always thought she just wished to have magical powers, and then..."
Tear   "POOF! She got them...!"
Tear   "U-um... But is that not the case...?"

Ms. Reachet   "Don't be ridiculous. As if she could receive her powers in such a manner."

Ail   "..."

Ms. Reachet   "Actually, it was Spirit Guardian Tansa who gave Tear her abilities."

Tear   "W-what?! Spirit Guardian Tansa gave Tear her abilities!?"

Ms. Reachet   "Yes, that's what I just said."

Ail   "Tansa? That's this region's guardian or whatever, right?"

Ms. Reachet   "That is correct... Although you should show some more respect when addressing someone like him. He is a Spirit Guardian, after all."

Ail   "Yeah, because he's an 'all-powerful' being, right? Then wouldn't it have been easier if he just wiped out all of the monsters himself?"

Ms. Pensil   "Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. Spirit Guardians aren't allowed to interfere too much with the affairs of normal people. It was a lot for him to do even as much as he did..."

Mr. Musico   "But then he met Tear, a very brave girl who wanted to save Neturus and its people from the beasts. He could see that she had a passion for many arts, and turned that passion into magical powers for her to use. And thankfully, those powers were enough to defeat all of the monsters who invaded this region... So everything ended on a high note."

Mr. Kooc   "That is why her and her grand heroics have been highly regarded in this region, especially at this school."

Ail   "Um, okay then. That's nice, I guess..."
Ail   "But why even bring this up? What does that have to do with why we're here, exactly?"

Ms. Reachet   "Well, to put it bluntly, Tear's battle with the monsters was only a temporary solution."

Ail   "Huh? What does that mean?"

Ms. Reachet   "Those monsters are entirely made up of dark energy, which is created from the power of people's negative emotions. The energy at first gathers up together, and then when it becomes too large, it bursts and births multiple semi-sentient beings... Beings that only live to feast on the energy of other living beings."
Ms. Reachet   "Obviously it would be better if they weren't around, but, unfortunately, as long as negative emotions exist in the hearts of humans, there will never be an end to the monsters."

Ail Tear   "W-what?!" "E-eh!?"

Tear   "B-but wait! I thought, according to the legend, Neturus was given protection from the m-monsters after Tear defeated them..."

Ms. Pensil   "Yes, that's true... We did have protection from the monsters for a long time..."

Ail   "'Did'...? As in, we used to, but we don't anymore?"

Mr. Musico   "Yes, my boy. For some reason, about 50 years or so ago, this region lost that protection. And before anyone had any time to wonder how or why it had happened, the monsters had begun to invade Neturus once again..."

Mr. Kooc   "But thankfully, three courageous, darling cookies decided to step up and protect this region from the monsters, just as Tear had many years ago. Inspired by the legendary warrior, they begged Guardian Tansa to lend them strength... And he did, but this time the power was split into the three parts, the arts that Tear had loved, and that the three young ones had loved as well..."

Tear   "Painting, music, and cooking... Right?"

Ms. Pensil   "Yes, that's right... The power of 'Paint', 'Treble', and 'Culinary'..."

Ail   "Hey wait, that's the same as the three things this school specializes in teaching..."

Mr. Musico   "Indeed. And that is not a coincidence."

Ms. Reachet   "Because it was decided that from now on, whenever monsters would appear in Neturus, three people of similar age to Tear will be tasked with defeating them, and restoring peace to this region. One who loves painting, one who loves music, and one who loves cooking... And to help ensure this region's safety, a place was built to develop these talents..."
Ms. Reachet   "... That would be this school, Artem Academy."

Ail   "W-wait, what?! This school is...!?"

Ms. Reachet   "That's right. As mentioned previously, this is the true reason this academy exists..."

Ail   "But that was only 50 years ago, right? How many more times has this happened?"

Ms. Reachet   "Only once... Before now, anyway."

Tear Ail   ""'Now'...?""

Ms. Reachet   "Yes. The time has come once again for three brave souls to vanquish the monsters that will once again appear to terrorize this region."

Tear   "W-what!? Y-you mean they'll be coming here again?! L-like, right now!?"

Ms. Reachet   "Yes. It's only a matter of time before they come here..."

Ail   "Are you kidding me?! How would you even know something like that?!"

Ms. Pensil   "Because Spirit Guardian Tansa has contacted us and told us about it. He's already even lent us his power to give to the three who will be fighting the monsters..."

Tear   "H-have you at least chosen who will be fighting them...?"

Ms. Pensil   "..."

Ms. Reachet   "Of course we have. That should be obvious."

Tear Ail   "Huh?" "What?"

Tear   Wait, the three people that'll fight will be using the powers of painting, music, and cooking...
Tear   ... H-huh?! Then that means...!

Tear Ail   ""The three people who're going to be fighting the monsters... are us!?""

Ms. Reachet   "That's correct. Or rather, you three have been the ones this academy has chosen to fight the monsters..."

Ail   "Are you joking!? Tear and I just transferred here! Why would you pick us, of all people?!"

Mr. Musico   "We do not have much choice, I'm afraid."

Ms. Pensil   "Especially after what happened last time..."

Tear   "Huh? Did something bad happen?"

Mr. Kooc   "Last time, of the three students that were chosen, only one of them had the potential to wield the power to its fullest potential. She was especially gifted, almost as much as Tear herself was, so we thought everything would be fine, but..."

Ail   "But what? The monsters were defeated, right?"

Ms. Pensil   "Y-yes, but... B-but she... died. She sacrificed herself to save us all from the monsters..."

Ail   "A-are you serious!?"

Tear   "N-no way..."

Ms. Reachet   "It's the truth. That's why we want to be more careful in choosing who will be fighting this time, and better prepare them to deal with the monsters."
Ms. Reachet   "If it hasn't already been made clear enough, this is a very serious matter. And we'd really appreciate if you'd cooperate with us."

Ail   "I get it, but... I still don't really get why we were picked. There wasn't anyone else better, that's already been to this school for a lot longer than we have?"

Barry   "... Ail, have you not heard of the incident that occured near this school a few years ago?"

Ail   "No. What incident?"

Barry   "There is a lake near here... A lake that many drownings have occured."

Ail   "Drownings? Like what, do a lot of people accidentally fall in or something?"

Barry   "Possibly. But anyone who's witnessed any of the drownings have said they've seen a girl push them in. And not just any girl... It was Raena."

Tear   "...!"

Ail   "R-Raena!?"
Ail   "... Wait, who's that?"

Barry   "Huh?! You're from this region, but you don't know who Raena is?"
Barry   "Well, it's no matter. The point is, these drownings have scared away many people from coming to this school, significantly decreasing its popularity."

Ail   "Seriously? But this morning it was so crowded at the school's entrance! And this academy has two dorm buildings!"

Ms. Reachet   "We previously used more than one entrance for the students to enter through. And we are currently only making use of one dorm building at the moment. For the record, we can house up to 200 people per dorm building, and the number of students staying there currently haven't even come close to reaching that number."

Mr. Kooc   "Although many of them live nearby and don't require housing, that still doesn't leave us with many talented students. Many of them come here for other reasons, like our other classes, because they want to be with their friends, or simply for convenience. That's normally fine, but..."

Mr. Musico   "It left us with very little options, I'm afraid. Not only that, we were also caught off-guard by the fact that the monsters are arriving a lot sooner than expected."

Ms. Pensil   "Before now, the only person that we were able to confirm can use the power Tansa has granted us is Barry. We almost thought we wouldn't be able to find anyone else..."

Ms. Reachet   "But then, you two transferred here. And the two of you have passions for painting and music, respectively. It was as if we'd been granted a miracle."

Mr. Musico   "And what a miracle it was! I had the great pleasure in seeing the musical talent that Ail possesses! There's no doubt in my mind that he should be able to use the power without any trouble! Yes, indeed!"
Mr. Musico   "What about your student, Ms. Pensil? Does he have great artistic abilities as well?"

Ms. Pensil   "W-well, yes. He most certainly does, but..."
Ms. Pensil   "Even in this dire situation, it doesn't feel right to try and force one of my students to do something like this. Especially a sweet boy like him..."

Tear   Ms. Pensil...

Ms. Reachet   "Ms. Pensil, now's not the time to let your emotions affect your decision making. I'm sure you of all people know how bad it would be if even one of them refused to help fight the monsters..."

Ail   "Out of curiosity, what would you all do if we did refuse?"

Ms. Reachet   "We'd have no choice but to have Barry fight them alone. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, though."

Barry   "While the Master Chef has already agreed to offer his assistance in saving this region, he would most certainly not want to do it all by himself!"

Ms. Reachet   "So? Will the two of you lend your strength to us and help stop the monsters from harming anyone in this region?"

Tear   To be honest, I really don't want to say yes. I mean, I didn't come here to do something like this, and I don't think someone like me could even do it anyways...
Tear   ... But...

Ms. Pensil   "..."

Tear   Ms. Pensil looked so sad when she was talking about the girl who died fighting the monsters all by herself last time. But she still feels bad about making me do this...
Tear   She's done so much to help me. I've always wanted to do something to repay the people that have been kind to me, including her. And now might finally be my chance! I-it sounds really scary, but if someone like be can be helpful, then...!

Tear   "I-I'll do it!"


My response got a lot of mixed reactions from everyone. It didn't surprise me, though.

Barry   "Wonderful! The Master Chef is so relie-..."

Ail   "HOLD IT!"

Ail shouted, startling everyone, especially Barry.

Barry   "Er, the Master Chef's begs your pardon, but he was not done speaking..."

Ail   "Yeah, and I'm speaking now, so shut it Chef Boy!"

Barry   "... U-um, okay then..."

Once he was done scaring Barry, Ail turned to me, still with an angry glare in his eyes.

Ail   "Are you out of your mind!? Why would you agree to something like that?!"

Tear   "W-what do you mean? They said they needed help, so..."

Ail   "That doesn't mean you have to say yes! I'm one thing, but you aren't even from this region originally. You don't have any obligation to do this!"

Tear   "I don't have any obligation? B-but is that really true...?"

Ail   "Huh?"

Tear   "N-no, it's fine. I-I've already made my decision...!"

Ail   "... Are you for real...?"

Mr. Musico   "Fantastic! We now have at least two valiant young youths who will fight off the monsters for us. Now if we could only make that three, then..."

Ail   "..."

Barry Mr. Kooc   "..." "..."

Ail   "..."

Ms. Pensil Ms. Reachet   "..." "..."

Ail   "..."

Tear   "..."

Ail   "Ugh, fine. It's not like I expected to have an ordinary school life anyways..."

Ms. Reachet   "Good; glad that's finally settled. Since you both have decided to accept, we have something to give you."
Ms. Reachet   "Ms. Pensil, Mr. Musico... if you please."

Ms. Pensil and Mr. Musico took something out of their pockets and handed them to me and Ail, respectively.

Ms. Pensil Mr. Musico   "Here you go, sweetie." "Here you are, lad."

Tear Ail   "U-um, thanks, Ms. Pensil." "Thanks."

They had handed us interesting looking pendants. Mine had an image of a painter's palette on it, while Ail's had a music-note symbol on his.

Ail   "What's this?"

Mr. Musico   "That is a pendant, my boy."

Ail   "Yeah, I realized that much. That's not what I meant..."
Ail   "I thought you'd give us something we could use to fight with. What're we supposed to do with these, bludgeon 'em to death with them?"

Ms. Reachet   "Those aren't ordinary pendants; they have been endowed with Spirit Guardian Tansa's power. Combine it with an object of your choosing, and you can turn it into a weapon that you can use to fight the monsters."

Tear   "Turn it into a weapon? How do we do that...?"

Barry   "Observe! The Master Chef will demonstrate."

Barry took out his own pendant that he had hanging on his neck, out from inside his shirt. It had an image of a spatula on it. He took out his own spatula as well and held it and his pendant together, close to his chest.

Barry   "I call upon the power granted to me by Guardian Tansa... Unleash my hidden strength towards this object, and let it become a weapon I shall use to vanquish the monsters who would dare disrupt the harmony of this land..."

He then held up his spatula, in a confident-looking pose similar to the one he had made earlier in homeroom.

Barry   "Culinary!"

All of a sudden, both his pendant and the spatula Barry was holding started to glow. When the glowing had stopped his pendant had disappeared, and his spatula had become a much larger one, with what appeared to be two mini-spatulas attached to it.

Tear   "W-wow..."

Barry   "Impressive, no?"

Ail   "Golly, would you look at that. It made your spatula bigger! It totally looks like a weapon that could defeat all of the monsters! I don't think even I could end up with one as great as yours!"

Barry   "Indeed! It is a grand weapon, isn't it? Even better than I could've imagined! Perfect for someone who wishes to beco-... er, stay a Master Chef!"

Ail   "..."

Tear   "S-so, we just take an object, hold it next to our pendant, and say the t-things you just said?"

Barry   "Correct; that's all there is to it. You simply recite the words the Master Chef had spoken just now, and... finito! You may have an impressive weapon such as this~!"
Barry   "As you are my comrades, the Master Chef is sure you both will create magnificent weapons as well!"

Tear   "Y-you really think so?"
Tear   I-I'm not so sure about that... I-I don't even think I can remember all of the words...
Tear   B-but being able to summon a magical weapon sounds kind of exciting! I hope I'm able to do it...

Ms. Reachet   "Alright, now that Barry has shown you how it's done, you two try summoning yours. Tear, your power is called 'Paint', and Ail's is called 'Treble'."

Ail   "Fine, then. I guess I'll..."

Tear   "W-wait!"

I shouted, louder than I'd meant to.

Ail   "... What?"

Tear   "U-um, sorry. C-can I go first? U-uh, please...

Ail   "..."

Tear   I-I really want to do it before I forget the words...!

Ail   "Sure, whatever, I don't care. Knock yourself out..."

Tear   "T-thank you, Ail..."

Ail   "By the way, do you even have anything you can use to turn into a weapon?"

Tear   "U-um!"
Tear   O-oh no, I don't! What am I going to do now?!

Ms. Pensil   "If you don't have anything Tear, would you like to have these?"

Ms. Pensil handed me a paintbrush and a painter's palette.

Tear   "I-I can have these? Really?"

Ms. Pensil   "Of course. Consider them a gift from me."

Ms. Reachet   "Now that you have something you can use to channel your power into, transform it as Barry had done previously."

Tear   "O-okay! Here goes..."
Tear   I-I hope I can do this right...

I put the pendant around my neck, and held it and the things Ms. Pensil had gave close to my chest. I could feel my heart start to beat quickly from nervousness.

Tear   "I-I call up on the power... g-given to me by S-Spirit Guardian Tansa... U-um, unleash my s-strength to this object, and let it... U-uh..."
Tear   "L-let it... U-um..."

Ail Barry Ms. Pensil   "..." "..." "..."

Tear   Talk from the heart, and the words will flow out naturally...
Tear   "P-please give me the power to help the ones I care about, and to protect this region!"
Tear   "Paint!"

Like Barry, I held up the paintbrush and palette as high as I could. Immediately afterward, the objects I was holding and the pendant began to glow, and caused the pendant to disappear, and the paintbrush and the painter's palette increased in size dramatically. Despite this though, they were surprisingly light, enough that I could easily hold them each with just one hand. The paintbrush also gained a handle on its side, and the palette gained one on its backside, which made it easier for me to hold onto them as well. If I was wearing armor, I would've almost looked like a knight.

Tear   "I-it worked!"

Ail   "Looks like the words didn't end up mattering too much in the end."

Barry   "Indeed. The Master Chef was worried when you seemed to mess up partway through, but all went well in the end! Well done, comrade!"

Tear   "T-thanks! It's almost like I've gained a sword and shield!"

Ail   "Yep. Except you haven't."
Ail   "Oh, and I'm pretty sure you didn't have to copy Chef Boy's stupid pose, either."

Tear   "W-wait, you mean I-I didn't actually have to do that?!"

Ail   "Nope. Don't think so."

Tear   W-wah! I-I thought that's how I was supposed to do it! I'm so embarrassed!

Barry   "There's nothing to be ashamed of, comrade! The Master Chef's pose is a magnificent pose! Feel free to imitate it all you like~."

Tear   Sorry Barry, but I think I'll pass...

Ail   "Well, you're happy now that you've got to transform your weapon, right? Guess I'll go now, then."

Tear   "Yeah, okay. G-good luck, Ail."
Tear   I wonder what kind of magical powers I can use with these now... I-I'm kind of looking forward to it!

Mr. Musico   "Do you have anything you can use, my boy? If not, I can lend you something as well."

Ail   "Wait a sec. Does the object I choose have to be music related? If not, I might actually have something..."

Mr. Musico   "It does not, lad. As long as your passion is able to get through it successfully, then it should be fine... But what do you have in mind?"

Ail   "How about... this?"

Ail took out a small, sharp object out of his pocket.

Barry   "A-a knife!? What possessed you to bring something like that with you to school, you delinquent?!"

Ail   "Chill, would you?! It's just a fish-cutting knife. I forgot to take it out of these pants."

Barry   "A fish-cutting knife? And what, the Master Chef asks, do you use that knife for, exactly?!"

Ail   "For cutting fish, nimrod."

Tear   "C-c-cutting fish!? H-how could you, y-you delinquent!"

Ail   "Even you're calling me a delinquent now?!"

Ms. Reachet   "That's enough, you three. It doesn't matter what kind of knife that is, if you feel you'll be able to use that as your weapon, then go ahead and try."

Ail   "Well, if you're giving me the okay, I guess I'll give it a shot."

Without even putting the pendant on, he held it and the knife close to his chest, and closed his eyes. Then a few seconds of silence passed.

Tear   I wonder what Ail's doing? He's not saying anything...

Ail   "Treble!"

Ail suddenly shouted, and his pendant and knife started glowing. His pendant disappeared, and his knife turned into a sword. It was green, and contained different colored holes that glowed independently of each other.

Ail   "... Neato."

Tear   "W-wooow!"

Barry   "H-how did you do that?! You never uttered a single word but 'Treble'! What kind of chanting were you saying in your head?"

Ail   "I didn't say anything in my head. I just thought about wanting a sword, then I got a sword."

Tear   "Y-you could do it that way? I didn't know that!"

Ail   "Well, that's your fault for not trying."

Barry   "Indeed. However, not to be rude, but isn't a sword a bit of a... cliché weapon choice?"

Ail   "Who cares? All that matters to me is that it's practical enough."

Barry   "I see. Then the Master Chef supposes it suits you, then..."

Tear   "But I wonder what those glowy holes are for... Did you imagine it to be like that too?"

Ail   "Nope. I've got no idea why it ended up like this either..."

Ms. Reachet   "Alright, now that you've all summoned your weapons, let's have you practice using them for a while."

Ail   "We're already going to be practicing with them?"

Ms. Reachet   "Yes, that's why we had a spot on your schedule dedicated to just this. You didn't think your 'Special Lesson' would be just you transforming your weapon, would it?"

Ail   "Yeah, I guess that makes sense... But for how long are we going to be practicing for? The schedule didn't mention how long this 'lesson' was."

Ms. Reachet   "For a couple of hours."

Ail   "A couple of hours?!"

Ms. Reachet   "Yes... About three or so. We don't have much time to waste, so we need you to gain as much experience as possible before monsters start showing up."

Ms. Pensil   "They could come here a week from now... Or even tomorrow. We don't know when exactly they'll get here, so we need to prepare for the worst case scenario..."

Tear   "Meep..."

Ms. Reachet   "Exactly. It would be better to spend the extra time you have to train you, rather than have you fight them with little experience."

Ail   "Mergh... Sounds like kind of a pain, but I already agreed to this, so..."
Ail   "So, how exactly are we going to train?"

Ms. Reachet   "Like this..."

Ms. Reachet took some sort of remote out of her pocket, and pressed a button on it. All of a sudden, some of the tiles on the ground opened up, and some things rose up from the ground. They looked like targets and training dummies.

Ail   "... Seriously?"

Mr. Musico   "Apologies my boy, but we didn't have enough time to prepare anything more suitable than this. The only alternative would be to have you all train against us, and I personally wouldn't want to get my new suit dirty scuffling with you... So I'm glad we went with this option instead."

Ail   "Er, oookay... By the way, why are some of the poles burnt?"

Barry   "That was the result of the Master Chef's previous training with my grandiose weapon!"

Ail   "Yeah, of course it was you..."

Mr. Kooc   "Speaking of which, would you like to train as well, Barry? You've already gained some experience with your weapon, but I think it would be sweet if we had you train some more just in case."

Barry   "Indeed; then the Master Chef shall join his two comrades in battle preparations!"

Ms. Reachet   "In that case, I'll leave the rest to you three. I'll be back when you're done."

Without waiting for us to ask why she was leaving, she turned around and walked toward the door we came in through, and left through it.

Ail   "Where's she going?"

Mr. Musico   "Off to tell the rest of the school staff the good news, I'm assuming."

Tear   "U-um, we're not going to be stuck in here now, are we? She's the one who knew the door codes..."

Ms. Pensil   "Don't worry, Ms. Reachet would never trap us in here! And even if we want to leave earlier, the three of us know the codes as well, so everything's fine."

Tear   "O-oh, okay..."

Ms. Pensil   "Anyways, let's start training, everyone. Let's separate into three groups so we won't disturb each other."

Mr. Kooc   "Alright. Let's head to that corner over there, my darling cookie~!"

Barry   "A grand idea! The Master Chef wouldn't want to distract his comrades with his incredible abilities~!"

Barry and Mr. Kooc picked one side of the room to go to and headed there. They ended up going so far that we weren't able to hear anything they were saying anymore.

Ail   "Honestly, those two make such an incredible combination..."

Mr. Musico   "Let's find a good spot to train as well, my boy. We'll leave Tear and Ms. Pensil to train here."

Ail   "Sure, whatever. That's fine, I guess..."

Ail and Mr. Musico picked a place themselves and went there, far from the rest of us, also far enough that we wouldn't disturb each other.

Tear   This kind of thing makes this room's size really convenient, huh?

Ms. Pensil   "Let's begin your training now, sweetie."

Tear   "O-oh, okay..."

Ms. Pensil walked over to one of the targets, me following behind her.

Ms. Pensil   "Listen sweetie, your weapon is a reflection of your passion, and your true self. Your great love and potential for painting must be why your paintbrush ended up being so large. Because of that, I think there's a lot of power packed in your weapon as well!"

Tear   "R-really?!"

Ms. Pensil   "Yeah! U-uh, probably..."

Tear   "Probably"...?

Ms. Pensil   "Well, anyway, see this target here? Try hitting it with your brush."

Tear   "Uh, a-alright..."
Tear   No hard feelings target, b-but I'm gonna brush you into oblivion!
Tear   "H-heeyah!"

I stroked the target as hard as I could with my brush... but nothing happened.

Ms. Pensil   "You hit it! Great job, sweetie!"

Tear   "B-but I didn't even dent it! Do I really have the potential to fight monsters with this weapon...?"

Ms. Pensil   "There's no need to be discouraged. You didn't damage it because you didn't put paint on your brush, Tear."

Tear   "Paint?"

Ms. Pensil   "Yes! When painting, you aren't able to draw with just a paintbrush alone, right? You need paint as well. It's the same with your weapon, too!"

Tear   "B-but where am I going to get paint from?"

Ms. Pensil   "That paintbrush isn't the only thing you're holding, right?"

Tear   "Ah! You mean my palette? Isn't this just a shield, though?"

Ms. Pensil   "I suppose you could use it for that, but... Well, just try turning it towards you, and you'll see what I mean."

I did as she'd asked, and saw that there were three blotches of paint on the front of it. Red, yellow, and blue blotches, to be precise.

Ms. Pensil   "Just place the tip of your brush on one of those colors, and you'll gain its power."

Tear   "Really? Wow..."
Tear   I wonder which color I should pick?

I looked over to my left, and saw Ail training with Mr. Musico at one end of the room. He had already broken some of the targets and training dummies.

Tear   Ail didn't seem very enthusiastic about this, but he's still trying so hard to do well...
Tear   I need to try my best, to...

Ms. Pensil   "... Heehee, why not start by picking blue?"

Tear   "U-uh... Huh?!"

Ms. Pensil   "Blue! Blue, like Ail!"

Tear   "U-um, sure! Okay..."

I touched the brush's tip to the blue paint on my palette, and it caused the entire brush part of it to turn blue.

Tear   "W-whoa!"

Ms. Pensil   "Okay, good. Now try hitting the target again."

Tear   "O-okay!"
Tear   "Blue Paint!"

I swung my paintbrush at it again. This time, the blue paint on my brush created a strong jet of water, which destroyed the target upon colliding with it.

Ms. Pensil   "You did it! Well done, sweetie!"

Tear   "W-what happened just now?! Where'd that water come from?"

Ms. Pensil   "It came from the power of the paint, of course. Each color has a different magical power inside; the power that's released from your blue paint becomes water."

Tear   "M-magical power?!"
Tear   I can use magic with this brush?! T-that's amazing!

Ms. Pensil   "Would you like to try using a different color paint for the next one?"

Tear   "Yes! Yes, of course!"

Ms. Pensil   "Heehee, don't you seem excited!
Ms. Pensil   "Alright then, how about you try mixing colors this time?"

Tear   "Mixing colors?"

Ms. Pensil   "As you saw before, you only have three colors on your palette. But there's actually six elements you're able to use in total with your weapon. Three of them use primary colors, and the other three use secondary colors."

Tear   "And to use the secondary colored ones, I have to mix two primary colors together, right?"

Ms. Pensil   "Exactly! Why don't you give it a shot? It's not as easy as using primary colors, but I'm sure you'll do fine."

Tear   "O-okay... I hope you're right..."

Ms. Pensil   "Let's see, since you still have blue paint on your brush... How about we use your hair color this time, Tear?"

Tear   "M-my hair color? Sure, that's..."
Tear   "W-wait, my hair color...!? M-my hair color is..."
Tear   "O-oh no, I can't remember! W-what was it again...?"

Ms. Pensil   "Heehee, it's green, silly!"

Tear   "A-ah!"

Ms. Pensil   "Are you so nervous that you forgot your own hair color? It's okay; relax, sweetie. Like I said, I'm sure you'll do fine. Even if you mess up, you have plenty of time to try again."

Tear   "A-alright... T-thank you, Ms. Pensil..."

Ms. Pensil   "Okay, this time place your brush onto the yellow paint on your palette. But this time, release it as soon as your brush becomes green. Otherwise, it'll turn yellow instead. Understand?"

Tear   "O-okay!"

I did as she'd asked, and placed the brush on the yellow paint. Despite my nervousness, I was able to successfully change my blue paint to green without any problem.

Ms. Pensil   "See? I knew you could do it!"

Tear   "Y-yeah, I did..."

Ms. Pensil   "Now, just swing your brush at one of the targets like before. But this time, do it from a distance."

Tear   "A distance?"

Ms. Pensil   "You'll see. Give it a shot, sweetie."

Tear   "A-alright, then..."
Tear   "Green Paint!"

I swung my paintbrush at a more distant target this time. This time, it created a burst of wind, and collided with it, destroying the top-right half of it.

Tear   "I-it turned into wind this time!"

Ms. Pensil   "Yep, that's right! Green paint contains the power of wind. You didn't destroy it completely this time, but as this one's harder to use than the last one, it's not a bad first attempt."

Tear   "C-can I try again?"

Ms. Pensil   "Sure, of course! Go ahead and try as much as you'd li-..."

PIIING!!!

Tear Ms. Pensil Mr. Kooc Barry   "W-WHA!?" "OH MY!" "DEARIE ME!" "THE MASTER CHEF HAS BECOME DEAF!"

All of a sudden, I heard a sharp, pinging sound from behind me. It startled all of us, and caused us to shout in surprise. I looked over at where Ail was training, and noticed the sound had come from him. It took a while before my ears stopped ringing.

Tear   "Oog..."

Ms. Pensil   "I-it seems like Ail is training pretty hard, huh?"

Tear   "U-uh, yeah..."

Ms. Pensil   "Then let's train some more, too! That green paint magic you've got is kind of hard to use, but it's also very useful if you get good enough at it. After that, I'll try to teach you how to use the rest of your different types of magic at least at a basic level before Ms. Reachet gets back. I hope you can handle it all!"

Tear   "O-okay. I'll do my best!"

--

And so, we all continued training. After a few more hours, Ms. Reachet had returned, signaling the end of today's lessons. The training was so interesting and fun though, that it only felt like a couple of minutes had passed by, so I was kind of disappointed when we had to wrap things up. I was getting really tired though, and so were the others, so I was also looking forward to getting some rest.

Ms. Reachet   "I hope you all got enough training done today. It's time to go back up."

Ail   "Ugh... Finally..."

Barry   "Very well. The Master Chef needs some well-deserved shut eye after today's events."

Ail   "For once, me and you are on the same page, Chef Boy..."

Ms. Reachet   "Let's go."

Ms. Reachet headed back toward the door, the three of us following behind.

Ms. Pensil   "Good night. Take care, sweetie."

I looked behind me, and noticed her and the other teachers weren't following us.

Tear   "Y-you're not coming with us, Ms. Pensil?"

Ms. Pensil   "Sorry, we have to clean up and prepare for you sweeties' next training session. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Tear   "U-um, okay..."

Leaving the other teachers behind, the four of us headed out the door, and began walking through the long corridor again.

Tear   We'll be going through that elevator again, won't we? I'm already starting to feel scared...
Tear   "Uugh..."

Ail   "... You okay?"

I turned to Ail, noticing that he was looking at me, with a look of slight concern on his face.

Tear   "U-um, yeah..."

Ail   "You sure? You don't look too good to me..."

Barry   "The Master Chef is sure that he's just feeling exhausted. Right, comrade? You must've worked extra hard to help us fight the monsters."
Barry   "The Master Chef is sure that, with our efforts, determination, and camaraderie, the monsters will stand no chance against us!"

Ail   "Honestly, after all the stuff I had to go through for the past couple hours, if this all turns out to be one big joke..."

Barry   "After everything you've seen today, do you really still think this could all possibly be a mere joke?"

Ail   "... Yeah, I guess you've got a point..."

Tear   "..."

Once we were done talking, we eventually arrived at the elevator. Ms. Reachet typed in a code on the number pad as she did at the door and the elevator up above previously, and once it opened up, we went inside. Even though there were less of us this time, the elevator still seemed kind of cramped. Like last time, Ms. Reachet quickly pressed the buttons on the wall, and the elevator closed and began to move upward. Because of my uneasiness, it seemed like it was moving forward as well for a while again, even though I knew that wasn't the case.

Ail   "So I've been wondering this for a while, but... Why are there so many buttons on the wall, exactly? Why not just have an 'up' and 'down' button?"

While I was curious about that as well, Ms. Reachet unfortunately decided to ignore his question.

Ail   "Fine, don't answer me. Jeez..."

After that, Ail decided not to say anything more. The silence began to make me feel even more nervous.

Tear   Even though I've already ridden this before, it still makes me feel really uncomfortable... I know we're moving up, but I've gotten so used to the elevator's movement that I can't even tell for sure anymore...
Tear   ... I-I mean... S-since we can't see where exactly we're going, if this elevator started to move down instead for some reason, would I even be able to tell? W-what if it stopped working properly, and started plunging down rapidly, and we ended up all dyi-...
Tear   "...!"

Before I even dared to finish that thought, I instinctively latched myself onto the wall, shaking in fear.

Tear   W-why would I start thinking about something like that?! M-Ms. Pensil, h-help me...

Ms. Reachet   "Tear!"

Tear   "Huh!?"

Ms. Reachet suddenly shouted, startling me and the others.

Ms. Reachet   "What are you doing, leaning against the wall like that?!"

Tear   "I-I'm sorry, I-I'm just... K-kind of scared..."

Ms. Reachet   "Scared!? If you're going to be scared of something like this, what're you going to do when you have to fight the monsters?!"

Tear   "I-I know... I-I-I'm sorry..."

Ms. Reachet   "Honestly, pull yourself together! Don't you know this region is relying o-..."

All of a sudden, I heard someone slam their fist into one of the elevator's walls. It was Ail.

Ms. Reachet   "Ail?! What is the meaning of thi-..."

Ail   "Shut up."

Tear   "... A-Ail...?"

Ms. Reachet   "... Excuse me?!"

Ail   "What, have you gone deaf in your old age?! I told you to shut up, teach!"

Ms. Reachet   "...!"

Tear   "...!"

Barry   "... Whoa."

Ms. Reachet   "... Hmph."

Ms. Reachet turned back toward the elevator door, deciding to stop lecturing me.

Tear   "A-Ail..."

Ail   "Don't worry Tear, we'll be back at school soon."

Tear   "Y-yeah... Thanks..."

Ail   "... Don't mention it."

--

Just as Ail had said, it was only a little while longer before the elevator reached our homeroom class. Probably because of what happened earlier, Ms. Reachet decided to immediately leave the classroom without a word.

Ail   "Well, time to head to the dorms... I'm pooped!"

Tear   "Dorms...?"

At that moment, I had realized I'd forgotten something really important today.

Tear   "Ah! I still haven't gotten my dorm room key!"

Without waiting for a response from either of them, I rushed out of the room.

Tear   I-I hope I'm not too late...!

I ran as fast as I could toward the school office, which I knew was near the school's entrance. Once I made it inside, I was greeted by a woman sitting at the office desk.

Woman   "Good evening, young man. How can I help you?"

Tear   "E-excuse me, I-I need to get my room key..."

Woman   "Oh, you must be one of our transfer students! Tear, was it? Hold on a moment..."

She went into one of the back rooms for a minute, then returned with a key in her hand. She handed it to me.

Woman   "Here you are!"

Tear   "T-thank you very much!"

I thanked her, and left the office, heading to the dorm building this time.

Tear   I'm glad she was already expecting me. That's good... And my luggage should already be in my room, so all I need to do is go there now...

I entered the dormitory and began searching for my room. I looked at the number on the key.

Tear   39, huh? Now, where is room 39...

While looking for my room, I heard some people conversing with each other in their own rooms. Both boys and girls...

Tear   Oh, right. This is a co-ed dorm... Except boys and girls don't share rooms together, of course.
Tear   B-but I'm a boy, which means I might have another boy as a roommate...! O-oh, I sure hope I get a room to myself...

On my way there, I had to make a left turn in the V-shaped hallway. That's when I saw someone, about to open the door to their room. Someone familiar...

Tear   "A-ah, Ail!"

Ail   "Oh? It's you, Tear. After seeing you dash out of the room like that, I'm surprised I made it here first."

Tear   "E-eheh... Once I was able to get my room key, I kind of took my time coming here..."

Ail   "Ah, I see."
Ail   "By the way, which room did you end up getting?"

Tear   "Oh, room 39. Why?"

Ail   "W-wait, what?! Did you say room 39!?"

Tear   "U-um, yes?! Why, is that a problem?"

Ail   "..."
Ail   "... Oh, so that's how it is. I knew it was too good to be true..."

Tear   "U-uh, I'm sorry. But I have no idea what you're talking about..."

Ail   "... Just look..."

Ail pointed at his dorm room door, directing me to the numbered plate on it. When I saw it, I immediately understood...

Tear   "T-thirty... n-nine...?!"
Tear   "E-EH!? We're going to be roommates?!"

End of Chapter 1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer's Comments:

Aaaand it's finally here! After four months of working on this... And I actually got it done before April ended! I can't freaking believe it! It was really down to wire, too! It literally became midnight immediately after I finished writing "End of Chapter 1". That was absolutely insane.

(Of course, that means I actually uploaded this on May 1, but I'm still going to consider this done on April 30th anyways. Because I said so.)

I've been sitting at my computer all day, trying so hard to get this done, that I ended up developing a migraine from staring at the screen for so long, and my dinner's getting cold because I've barely had time to touch it... Also, I admittedly might've rushed the end part a bit. Hopefully everything ended up okay, though. I'm happy I finally got a chapter done, though! It's been, what, four months?

Seriously, this was a big one. And not just because I had to split it into two parts. This may be a re-write, but it's one I've wanted to do for the longest time. I've never really liked the way I wrote this chapter very much before to be honest, and every time I re-wrote it before this I didn't do a very good job fixing it because I either wanted to get it up quickly, or I just didn't know how to improve it. But this time, I made sure to give it special attention. I didn't want any struggles occuring in my life to interfere with this, so I took my time with it, and made sure to look over it more than usual. I might've gotten a bit lazy with it as a result though, which is also part of why this took so long. I wrote this as if this was the definitive, final version of this chapter, and I hope it shows. (Although, knowing me, re-writing this again in the future isn't completely out of the question...)

Anyways, I'm sure glad that this is finally done. I will be looking this whole thing over again in case I need to fix anything, but I hopefully won't have to. After that, I'm going to start working on the "1b" version of this chapter, which will be the same thing but from Ail's point of view. I'm not going to have every single chapter narrated by both of them each, like I was going to do with my previous idea, but I thought I would at least do it with this chapter. Hopefully, I get 1b done before June. After all, the 5th of that month is Paint & Treble's 10th anniversary! Woo, that's a big one! Hopefully, I manage to get something special set for that day!

- CS-Masyet