The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

After partying and celebrating with Devin and the others in Kyle’s shop.

"I’m back."

Raye returned to the cabin.

"Oh, you’re pretty early, huh? I was just about to make dinner."

Old Man Rey said, seeing Raye.

-Meep!

Then, a floating fireball on top of his head chirped.

It was Pyro. He was bragging about the fact that he was helping the Old Man.

He was lighting firewood to cook on...

’That was one of my chores when I was taken in by the Old Man way back then.’

Raye thought, feeling nostalgic.

Just then—

Fwoosh—

-What’s that?

A ball of cotton flew in front of Raye and asked that.

It was Zephyrus.

He was looking at the paper bag in Raye’s right hand.

"Hm?"

-Meep?

Old Man Rey and Pyro followed Zephyrus’ gaze.

"Ah..."

Raye then looked at the paper bag in his hand too. He had forgotten about it.

Swish—

After that, he looked at the Old Man.

And with a small smile on his face—

"That’s right. You don’t need to cook tonight, Old Man."

Raye said that.

"I bought something from Kyle’s shop. It’s for us four."

He added.

"Oh, that’s good! Better start preparing the table then."

Old Man Rey replied.

"Pyro, extinguish the fire."

He instructed.

-Meep!

Fwish—

Then Pyro followed. He killed the fire with little to no effort!

Fwip—

Old Man Rey started preparing the table.

And seeing him do that—

"I’ll help."

-Me too.

Raye and Zephyrus followed.

...

They fixed the table and sat down to eat.

The aroma of the roasted meats from Kyle’s shop filled the cabin, and as they started eating—

"As usual, his food is always good."

Old Man Rey commented, nodding in approval.

"Yeah, Kyle never disappoints."

Raye replied as he took another bite.

Kyle’s beef skewers had a special place in his heart too, including the Old Man’s rabbit stew.

After all—

’This is the first food that filled my stomach when I got here.’

Raye thought, a smile on his face.

By the way...

Raye didn’t eat much at Devin’s celebration party earlier so that he could still eat dinner with the Old Man, Zephyrus, and Pyro.

Moving on—

-Meep!

Pyro chimed in, happily munching on his share.

-Nom... nom... nom...

Zephyrus, meanwhile, just enjoyed the meal in silence.

*****

After dinner—

Raye leaned back in his chair and stretched.

"That was great."

He sighed in satisfaction.

Then—

"By the way, Old Man, Devin won the tournament."

He brought that up.

Old Man Rey raised a brow.

"That brat, Devin, huh? Well, good for him."

Then, with a nod—

"I’ll congratulate him myself tomorrow."

He said that, smirking slightly.

Raye smiled.

"Yeah, he’ll probably like that."

And after saying that—

Fwip—

Raye got up.

"Alright, I’m heading to bed."

He muttered.

It was earlier than usual, but Raye felt more tired than normal today for some reason.

"Goodnight, Old Man."

Raye mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, brat. I’ll stay here for a while for some fresh air."

Then, Old Man Rey waved him off.

After that—

Tap- tap- tap—

Creak—

Raye went straight to his room.

-Sleepy...

-Meeep...

Zephyrus and Pyro followed after him.

"Hup..."

Puff—

Raye immediately jumped on his bed, and the two followed suit, landing beside him.

The three of them lay down, closed their eyes, and not long after—

"..."

-Mhm...

-Mee...eep...

They fell asleep.

...

*****

The next day...

"Can’t laze around today."

Raye woke up early and started doing his chores in the morning.

His day went on like normal.

Chopping logs...

Having breakfast with Old Man Rey, Pyro, and Zephyrus...

Then, hunting in the forest and returning to the cabin to have lunch.

’Doing these things used to be so hard.’

Raye thought to himself.

He was so used to his rough routine now that he felt weird when he wasn’t doing them.

Anyway...

He was currently in the river near the cabin, bathing.

-This is refreshing...

Zephyrus was with him, doing the same.

"..."

Raye ignored him floating in the water like a white ball.

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Then, looking down at his body—

"Yep, I like what I’m seeing."

Raye mumbled that with a smile!

His body—it looked like the body of a veteran soldier!

It was covered in small and large scars. His muscles were well-toned and well-defined!

This was the result of his hard work and all the shits he went through!

’I looked like a fucking twig before. I was about to fly in the air back then, not because of magic.’

Raye sarcastically thought.

"Now, this body is way better than what I had in my original body."

And then he whispered that under his breath.

Even Raye himself was amazed by the change that had happened to him!

"Haha, sometimes I still can’t believe my situation."

He muttered.

A lot of things had happened to him ever since he came into this world more than half a year ago.

"Though..."

’There are still more to come.’

Raye declared in his head.

"..."

He was thinking of a game scenario that involved demons.

And this specific scenario in his mind...

It would happen in the near future!

"Why can’t the demons just stay low?"

Raye grumbled, frowning.

Anyway...

"Whatever."

Raye stopped thinking about it as it was just making his head hurt. It wasn’t like he could stop it from happening anyway.

So with that—

He just continued on bathing.

...

*****

After bathing in the river and dressing up...

Raye headed to the library and studied there for a bit, just like normal.

He knew there was a big event happening tomorrow, the tournament.

But he just wasn’t nervous at all, so he didn’t feel the need to train more than usual.

And after that...

"Ah, Brother Raye, you’re here again!"

He went and visited Kyle’s shop.

"Yeah, how are you and your family doing?"

Raye asked.

Then, the two of them started catching up on each other’s lives.

They hadn’t had a proper talk for the past couple of weeks, after all.

Raye and Kyle talked for hours. They would only stop when there were a lot of customers and Kyle’s employees weren’t enough to handle them all.

But nevertheless, despite the pauses—

"It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, I had fun too."

They enjoyed their conversation.

Then, around 5 PM...

After saying goodbye to each other—

"I’ll come visit again."

"See you then!"

Raye left the shop and started heading back to the cabin.

Oh—

"I’m excited for our free-for-all training! Get ready to be beaten, you guys!"

Devin was with him, by the way.

"Wow, your confidence really shot up high after winning the tournament, huh?"

Raye said to Devin, smirking.

Then, before Devin could even respond—

"Just wait till I put you in your place."

Raye added that, his confidence was way higher than Devin’s!

*****

After minutes of walking—

"Oh, you guys are finally here."

Raye and Devin got back to the cabin.

Lycus was there, sitting on a tree stump on the ground, waiting for them.

"Did you wait long?"

Raye asked him.

And shaking his head...

"Just got here too not long."

Lycus responded.

Then, impatient—

"What are you guys waiting for, let’s go!"

Devin suddenly exclaimed that.

"..."

"..."

Raye and Lycus just looked at him.

And seeing him all excited...

"Ehh, okay."

"Sure, let’s go."

Raye and Lycus replied respectively.

"Nice!"

Devin shouted with a bright smile.

And with that...

Tap- tap- tap—

The three of them entered the Northern Forest.

...

They’re headed to the same place where they usually hold their sparring matches like this one.

The sun was starting to set, casting an orange glow over the trees as the leaves rustled softly in the wind.

They walked deeper into the forest, their footsteps crunching against the dirt and fallen leaves.

Soon—

They arrived at the familiar clearing.

A wide, open space surrounded by tall trees, their branches forming a natural dome overhead.

This was their battlefield.

"Alright."

Raye rolled his shoulders.

"Let’s warm up first."

He said.

Then, Devin and Lycus nodded.

They all began stretching, loosening their muscles for what was about to come.

And after a few minutes—

"Alright, we’re ready."

Devin said, cracking his knuckles.

Lycus simply nodded, his usual composed expression on his face.

Raye took a deep breath.

Then—

The three of them took their positions.

They stood at least ten meters away from each other, forming a rough triangle.

"..."

A heavy silence fell over the clearing.

Fwoooo~

The tension in the air was almost suffocating.

"..."

Clench—

Raye and Lycus tightened the grip on their weapons.

Raye has [Celestria] on his left hand as an elegant white sword, then [Nyx] on his right.

"Fuuuu..."

Clank-

Devin let out a sigh, banging the knuckles of his metal gauntlet together to calm himself down.

Each of them focused on the others, watching for even the slightest movement.

Then, after a few moments of silence—

""START!""

They all shouted that at the same time!

BAM-

WHOOSH—

And they dashed at each other in an instant!

Their free-for-all training had begun!