Why Did I Write So Many Tropes?!

"Hey, Gauss," I nodded towards the black-haired boy sitting diagonally across from me at the table.

"Hello Mav," he nodded. He was quite reticent still, but he smiled at me.

It still felt weird to be this close to the protagonist of my novel. Some part of me was always subconsciously analyzing him and confirming certain details, such as the mole under his left eye or the way that his eyes kept flickering back and forth at all the sounds in the cafeteria underneath his bangs.

I feel like a creep, I sigh internally. 

However, I shoved that aside as I faced him.

"I heard that the Swordsmanship Club is planning on doing some intense training during fall break, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, before looking at me curiously. "How do you know that?"

"Some guys were talking about it in the hallway," I lied casually. I felt Lucia's gaze turn on me for a few moments as she pierced right through my words, but I forged ahead. "Anyways, where are you going?"

"I think we're going to… what was it again, Leo?"

The white-haired boy looked up tiredly. "Sorry, what?"

BANG!

Everyone at the table flinched as the orb that Leo was clutching fractured. Luckily, it didn't explode, but there was an ugly crack running down the middle that divided it into two.

"Damn it." Leo sighed, not even having the energy to be truly angry like usual. "I lost focus again."

This had become a pretty regular occurrence. Leo had taken up the same training orbs that I had, but was having the opposite problems-- after he figured out the trick to consistency, he frequently overcharged the orb and caused it to break, where I had struggled to even keep it glowing.

Safe to say, I was a little envious.

…

Okay, a lot envious, but who cares?

When I told Mr. Booker about what was happening, he explained that Leo would be able to preserve more of his mana with control. 

This meant that if he could consistently keep the orb from exploding, he could fight for longer, as well as use his magic for more complicated maneuvers. 

For example, the electromagnetic manipulation that Leo had used to recover his sword during the ranking challenge. Leo wanted to do it again, but had failed to reproduce the effects. Theoretically, if he could control his mana, he'd be able to use that electromagnetic manipulation all the time.

I shuddered at the thought. If someone didn't know about Leo's capabilities and didn't preemptively shield their gear with mana, all metal equipment would become death traps.

Not that anyone would have to worry about that for a while.

Perseus silently walked over and helped Leo clean up some of the orb fragments. Leo shook his head, but Perseus insisted and began levitating them with telekinesis.

He's really come a long way, I smiled as I watched him chat with Rebecca with only a few stutters. 

My gaze focused on the fragments that Perseus was cleaning up. His magical control has grown by a lot too-- two weeks ago, he would've crushed those fragments to dust.

"Nice control, Perseus," I grinned, patting his back.

He only startled a little, before giving me a tiny smile. "Th-Thanks Mav. I've been working on telekinesis… I'm not that confident with more fragile things, but rocks and stuff are getting easier to lift."

"That's really impressive. Doesn't manipulating raw mana for telekinesis take a lot of skill? Give yourself some credit." I tousled his purple hair teasingly.

"I-I'm not that good," he flushed, embarrassed by the praise. "Rebecca is a lot better than me…"

"Psh, that's not true. I might be better with fine control, but my mana is pretty limited." Rebecca vehemently denied Perseus' humbleness.

She continued, explaining, "Raw mana manipulation like telekinesis for me is really inefficient. Even with my specialty in control and reducing mana expenditure-- I can probably only hold a 50 kg weight for about five minutes total. Perseus held one for almost an hour, and the teacher ended up giving up on trying to find how long he could actually hold it because we ran out of time."

Perseus put on his jacket hood and pulled the hoodie strings to hide his face. I grinned at his actions. "Sounds about right. That's pretty amazing, Perseus."

Lucia made a vague noise of agreement around a mouthful of food.

Rebecca also seemed to delight in Perseus' embarrassment like me, as a wicked grin crossed her face. "There was also that one time with the feather levitating exercise."

"W-Wait! Don't tell them about it…" Perseus whined a little.

"But it's so funny…" Rebecca pouted.

Perseus stared at her for a few seconds, before caving. "F-Fine…"

The girl visibly perked up, her thick braid bouncing as she straightened. "So! The feather levitating exercise, right?"

"Mhm," Leo nodded tiredly as he pulled another orb out of his bag.

"We were supposed to keep the feather about twenty centimeters off the desk. The main point of the exercise was stability. But when Perseus did it--" she abruptly snorted, breaking into a giggling fit. "--When Perseus did it, he shot it through the roof."

The aforementioned purple-haired boy shoved his face into his hands as he turned red.

Meanwhile, Leo patted his shoulder comfortingly. "It's nice to know I'm not the only one struggling with control."

"Appreciate your blessings," I grumbled jokingly, though jealousy did shoot through me as they talked casually. "At least you didn't have mana blockage."

Leo snorted. "I fail to see how that's my problem."

I made a rude gesture towards him, which he returned in kind with a smirk. Irritating pretty boy, I grumble to myself.

"Hey, Leo," Gauss returned to the old topic as the conversation lulled. "Where are we going again for fall training for the Swordsmanship Club, again?"

That's the longest sentence I think I've heard from him, I chuckle to myself, though at the same time, I'm bracing myself for the news.

"Uhm… Sky Lake, I think?"

"Hey! Mav and I are also going there during fall break for the Wilderness Research Club."

"Wilderness Research Club? That sounds so boring."

"You're boring," Lucia stuck her tongue out at the white-haired boy.

"Look who's talking."

Leo is interacting with others a lot better than in the original novel, I observed. It's good for him to develop bonds and become less self-centered earlier on.

Something twinged in my gut when I saw Lucia leaning over the table to flick Leo's forehead, but I shoved it deep down. I don't belong here. I'm not supposed to be here.

Instead of dwelling on these strange feelings, I pondered my next move.

Gauss and Leo confirmed that the Swordsmanship Club will be going to Sky Lake too. 

I guess I'll need to prepare for that next.

…

I need some money.