This should be the thirteenth wave of dummies I defeated. I already get the grasp in battle but I don"t think I have mastered much of it especially with all the chaos. The fourteenth wave is much hard to beat up and I am almost down to the last mana in my body and the mana tree supply cannot keep up with the demand. That is why, when the battle is over, I was left too exhausted to move with all the injury in my body present. From the looks of it, I can only last for the thirteenth wave and not beyond that.My whole body is sore from the thras.h.i.+ng. I never expected these dummies can really trash you without bothering if you can still move or not but the experience is indeed unique. Since I was defeated, the dummies returned to their original posts and their difficulty level returned to the lowest level. I slowly stood up and made sure that my wounds won"t be affected. I slowly made my way to the hot spring bath installed in the training room. Luckily, no one was able to see my humiliating defeat.All of the wound in my body stings and despite my mastery in hand to hand combat, I still can"t beat up too many dummies in one go. Thankfully, there is the hot spring here. This hot spring is not an ordinary hot spring but one that can heal wounds when you use it. I just heard this things from Yaya when she introduced all of the new facilities in this place but I never expected to see a hot spring that can be considered miraculous if seen by normal humans. But who cares much about it, this is much more convenient than drinking painkillers and bandaging your wounds.After stripping my clothes off, I quickly go drip into the hot spring without bothering to wash myself first. Well, no one said I can"t go in the bath while being wounded right? As soon as my body touched the water, I really felt a very light and soothing feeling in my body though it is very weird. Soon, the soothing sensation made me feel so good that I did not realize that I drifted off to sleep.…PING!I opened my eyes and realize that I was no longer in the hot spring but in my consciousness. What is more, I am not in the area where the Mana Tree and the Crystal Seed is located but on the same area where that guy I met last time mentioned this place as my container of repressed memories but what is this place actually? I have not heard much of it from the Crystal Seed. Just as I was about to wander around the place, the guy who only looked like a silhouette appeared again behind me. This time, his figure seems to be more solid than last time."What is the point of trying too hard, Kazuma? Isn"t it better if you just chill it out and let things go naturally on your way?"I glared into this figure despite not knowing whether it is glaring at me back with its red eyes."It is none of your business whether I try too hard or not."The figure sneered. "Well, it is also my business to stick into. Remember that I am you and you are me. We are both same person after all. You just don"t really have it on you to accept me as yourself, but sooner or later, you will acknowledge that I am you and you are me, Kazuma."His tone is overly similar to mine, only a bit deeper. His words are ticking me off yet a small part of me is trying to say that what he is saying is the truth. Still, I know whether to follow him or not. This ent.i.ty that suddenly appeared is something that I can say as my Alter Ego."Soon Kazuma, things will not always go on your plans and with this ever changing world, you might reconsider accepting my proposal to help you remember me faster."I clenched my fist and glared at him. "I don"t need your help."The figure grinned in a sinister way and his figure slowly faded."We will see about that. If you ever needed me, just say so... hehehe," and the figure disappeared, leaving me all alone in this dark place.The figure is something that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and yet he looks familiar to me. And a small part of my consciousness is agreeing and believing on this very guy and yet by my own thinking, I am positive that the figure is someone that would take my downfall in the future. What I am worried about is what he is saying about helping me when the time comes. What will happen if I ever needed that guy? I shook my head and decided to dwell on it too much.Exiting the suppressed memories s.p.a.ce, I once again found myself in front of the mana tree. Many things pile up but many things are left unanswered."Hey kid, you look troubled, something the matter?""It"s nothing...""Oh come on, your face is telling me that something is indeed going on. Why don"t you share it to this loyal seed of yours?""Nah, I told you this is nothing. It was just I have troubles back at the real world. Though I think I have something to ask you right now that might help me with my problems.""Okay, I will answer it if I know the answer." Lil" Blue said."You see, earlier, I fought against a Body Thief earlier but I don"t really have much idea what it really was and a cla.s.smate of mine is currently trying her best to take back her body. Is there any good way to take her body back from this monster?"The seed floated around for a bit, in which I think it is currently thinking before it floated back at me."Body Thieves are kind of rare nowadays. I heard in the annals of the history that the magicians killed most body thieves back then so that they raise the dead again. And I only knew a certain thing that can stop them and that is to spray squashed chili solution into their host"s mouth. I heard that chili and flames are it"s ultimate weakness. If you wanted to take her body back without injuring her body then that should be the only way but if you don"t mind the body to get wrecked up, then just cast flames to the body and that would be done.""Umm, what does a Body Thief looked like?""Oh, I almost forgot about that. It is kind of pointless if you let that monster get away after getting rid of it from its host. Body Thieves looks like a ball of cotton around the size of an adult"s fist. I suggest that you get rid of it, despite the way it gives cute looks on you. It is a devious creature that always plots dangerous things to humans and if any of you fell on its tricks, then you all are just screwed."A ball of cotton? That was a weird monster. I seriously don"t think I saw a ball of cotton on Mirai"s body but if what the seed said is true, then this is my only lead to reclaim her body on this monster.