"Alright, palms out," Romeo instructed.
I nodded, stretching my hands forward, palms facing the fresh wound on his forearm.
Why did he have that wound?
Well, he cut himself on purpose—that suicidal freak!
Okay, maybe not suicidal. It was for the sake of trying to teach me something new. But still… freak.
"Now, focus on the Flow circulating in your arms. Try guiding it toward the skin of your palms, slow and steady," Romeo continued, his voice calm, measured.
Lou, on the other hand, stood beside us, looming.
And tapping his boot. Repeatedly.
Tsk!
Would it kill him to sit down like a normal person? What, was the ground beneath us too unworthy for the great Lou? His constant fidgeting was driving me insane.
Whatever.
I shook my head, pushing the distraction aside, and closed my eyes.
Focusing on the Flow within my arms, I ignored the chaotic energy swirling through the rest of my body. I calmed it. Tamed it.
Instead of an unstable vortex, it became a gentle stream, flowing steadily from my elbows to my palms.
I gasped, eyes snapping open. "Done!"
The other two let out a collective breath, momentarily stunned.
Romeo recovered first. "Alright. Now push it further—try making it leave your skin."
I frowned. "Huh? How is that even possible?"
"Think of it like this," Lou chimed in, surprisingly serious for once. "Imagine your palms have tiny pores. The Flow needs to escape through them, like dust seeping out."
…Huh. That actually made sense.
I hadn't expected Lou to be so articulate.
So, I just had to believe that my hands had invisible pores or something?
Alright. Fine.
I pushed the Flow harder.
Come on…
I couldn't see their faces, but I felt their anticipation.
Come on, come on!
Sigh.
Nothing.
At best, I got the Flow to reach the very tips of my fingernails.
A sharp breath escaped me as I slumped forward, hands on the floor. "I can't do it!" I huffed, out of breath. "The Flow in my arms exceeds yours combined. Try steadying that much Flow for even a minute. I bet you'd pass out!"
Romeo and Lou exchanged glances.
Lou sighed first. "Yeah… I wasn't expecting much." He ran a hand through his hair, voice laced with amusement.
Romeo exhaled as well, healing his wound effortlessly. "It was worth a try."
I groaned. Damn it.
Mastering Flow was going to be way harder than I thought.
Too exhausted to care, I let myself collapse onto the floor.
"Well, guess being a Harmonizer is out of the question then," I declared, earning two very dramatic sighs from my so-called mentors.
Tsk.
I sat up abruptly, scowling. "HEY! Just because you two are Harmonizers doesn't mean I have to be one too! Stop acting like I'm some massive disappointment!"
Romeo immediately raised his hands in defense. "No, no, no! Young Lady, don't get offended! We didn't mean it like that! We're sorry!"
Lou, however, smirked. "I'm not."
…
…
Bruh.
What a child.
It had been two months since I started training under Romeo. And I had to admit, it was... interesting.
Well, except for the part where I had to study.
Romeo was dead set on drilling Flow theory into my brain. Constant lectures, endless notes, way too many books—ugh.
Seriously, couldn't he tell I wasn't the pens and papers type?
Whatever.
Ignoring the torture disguised as education, my actual physical training focused on one thing:
Gaining total control over the Flow within me.
Sounds simple, right? Yeah, no. HELL NAH.
It meant I had to change how my Flow moved inside me.
If it surged up and down, I had to make it swirl. If it pulsed like a heartbeat, I had to calm it down. If it was stable, I had to make it erratic. And so on...
Then, they'd tell me to focus all my Flow into one body part—like my hand, my leg, my chest, wherever.
(Spoiler: I couldn't do it.)
I mean, how was I supposed to gather something limitless into a single point? That sounded impossible.
And honestly? Controlling inner Flow was exhausting.
But… I was getting the hang of it.
Slowly.
Enough thinking. I'd already wasted too much time on that.
I pushed myself up, dusting off my clothes. "Generating healing dust is the final stage of Inner Flow Control, right?"
Lou gave a casual nod. "Yeah."
"Then… did I master it?"
Lou fell silent, rubbing his imaginary beard like some wise sage. Meanwhile, Romeo smiled at me.
"If we set aside the techniques your anomalies prevent you from using… then yes, we're done with Inner Flow Control!"
He clapped his hands together. "Congratulations, Young Lady!"
I let a small smile tug at my lips. "Took me long enough."
"HUH? LONG?!"
Lou's voice practically exploded in my ears as he lunged forward, his face inches from mine.
"GEEZ, LOUD MUCH?" I recoiled, glaring at him. "Why do you look so... annoyed?"
Lou's scowl deepened into something downright ugly. "Just so you know, I didn't steal your milk and cookies," I added, and his frown grew even uglier.
"...Arrogant Bug," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head. Then, he straightened up and jabbed a thumb at his chest, "Well, that's not the point!"
"It took me SIX months to perfectly control my Inner Flow! SIX! And I was mentored by the best—Argentum himself! Six months, and people called me a genius!"
He clicked his tongue and stepped back, arms crossed.
I blinked. Wait… was he pissed because I learned faster than him?
I turned to Romeo, who grimaced slightly. "Don't take it the wrong way," he whispered. "He's just impressed by how quickly you're improving."
I wasn't taking it the wrong way. If anything, I had a pretty good idea why I was improving faster than geniuses.
I had experience.
Far too much of it.
And while the Flow System was new to me, some of its core principles were similar to Mana.
Yeah… maybe my past life wasn't entirely useless in this one after all.
I reached for my hair, tying it into a quick ponytail. "Now that I'm done with Flow Control, I wanna know more about the other specializations."
Romeo crossed his arms, considering it. "Hmm… not a bad idea."
From across the training hall, Lou stretched lazily, then turned toward us with a grin. "Yeah, she should probably know what cards she's got in her deck!"
Then, out of nowhere, he sprinted toward us. Was he seriously incapable of walking like a normal person?
"There are seven classes, Bug!"
Seven? So there were that many ways to utilize Flow? Interesting.
The three of us took a seat, taking a break from training as Romeo picked up the explanation.
"You already know about Harmonizers," he started, "and I think you've heard me mention Scanners once or twice."
I nodded. "Wasn't that the people who spotted me when I awakened?"
"Correct," Romeo confirmed. "Scanners specialize in detecting, analyzing, and understanding Flow. They have heightened senses for perceiving Flow signatures, identifying Flow users, and even predicting Flow patterns. You follow?"
I rested my chin on my hand, thinking it over. Scanners... definitely valuable for reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and understanding Flow-based phenomena.
But... "Doesn't really sound like my forte."
"Figures," Lou rolled his eyes with a smirk—only to get smacked upside the head by Romeo. The impact jolted him forward, and he hissed, rubbing the spot where he got hit.
"Alright, next—Mimics," Lou continued, clearly annoyed but pushing on. "They specialize in copying or replicating the Flow abilities of others. Some can temporarily use the powers of those around them, while others have learned to imitate specific Flow signatures to achieve the same results."
My eyes widened. "They can even mimic Flow Signatures?!"
That sounded insanely powerful. Versatile, adaptable… an S-tier specialization! Maybe I should consider it.
Lou's smirk deepened. "Yeah, I don't think so."
I frowned. "Why not?"
He shot me an unimpressed look. "Bug, can you— with your limitless reserve—control your Flow level and make it feel as low as someone else's for example?"
I froze.
...Damn.
That was literally impossible for me.
I sighed, shoulders slumping. So infinite Flow isn't always a blessing, huh?
"Next class," I grumbled, irritation creeping into my voice.
Romeo stroked his beard thoughtfully. "There's also the Sentinels. They're basically the tanks of Flow users, specializing in defens—"
"Next class."
Tsk. Imagine me as some kind of protector. What a downgrade.
Romeo arched a brow at my immediate dismissal but didn't argue. Instead, he moved on. "Alright… then there are Crowd Controllers. They manipulate and influence large groups of individuals using Flow. Their abilities create widespread effects—illusions are an example
Hmm… Not bad. Their strength clearly lay in affecting multiple targets at once. But if they worked on such a large scale…
"Does that mean it requires External Flow?" I asked.
Romeo shrugged. "Not necessarily. Area-of-effect techniques don't always rely on External Flow."
Lou nodded in agreement. "Yeah, the Sponsor of Wealth is a Crowd Controller, but she doesn't care for External Flow Control that much."
I see. So being a Crowd Controller wasn't completely out of the question.
Before I could ponder it further, Lou sighed dramatically. "Enter Beast Masters: the rarest class in existence. They share a special bond with Flow-infused creatures. Some can communicate with them, others control or enhance them, and the list goes on."
Oh.
My eyes widened. Now that's OP. Especially in the Beast Territory. A Beast Master there would be practically unstoppable.
If I could add that to my arsenal…
"And Beast Mastery is out of the question for you as well."
Lou's voice cut through my thoughts, and I rolled my eyes in response.
"You can't imagine how irritating your voice is when it's bringing bad news."
Lou went quiet for a second.
Then…
"…Arrogant Bug."
I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "Alright, why not?"
Romeo cleared his throat awkwardly. "Ahem… Well, for a beast to accept a master, they need to feel safe around their Aura. And you…"
"Great…" I snapped my fingers, already unimpressed. "They'd either run away from me or try to kill me on sight."
…
Bruh. This is so uncool.
I let out a long sigh. This was getting on my nerves.
Every class had some kind of flaw that made it unsuited for me. Would any of them even work?
"Let's just finish this," I muttered. "What's the next class?"
Lou stretched his arms with a lazy smirk. "The last one's Vanguard."
I raised a brow. "Vanguard?"
Romeo nodded. "If a Sentinel is a fortress of protection, then a Vanguard is the one who can tear it down. Vanguards thrive in aggressive combat. Their role is to overwhelm enemies, buy time for allies, and create openings in battle. They excel at unleashing devastating bursts of Flow—shattering defenses, breaking formations, and dictating the pace of a fight. High-risk, high-reward. Many even enhance their mobility for rapid engagement."
I crossed my arms.
That… might actually suit me.
I used to be an assassin. Speed, evasion, and unpredictability were my specialties. But still, this class wasn't purely about solo combat. Vanguards had to create opportunities for others.
Not really my style.
In the end, all these classes were dependent on each other.
Still, if I had to pick, there were two real options for me: Crowd Controller or Vanguard.
I stood up, stretching. "This is frustrating."
All of these classes were missing something.
"Are you sure there are only seven?"
Lou nodded. "Only seven."
Romeo smirked. "But… If you don't fit into any of them, you'd be classified as a Wild Card."
I tilted my head. "Enlighten me."
Romeo shrugged. "Wild Cards are… anomalies. They don't fit into any specific category. Their strength lies in unpredictability, adaptability, and possessing a wide variety of Flow abilities that defy classification. If Beast Masters are the rarest, then a Wild Card is outright legendary."
…
That actually sounded like the perfect fit for me. I was full of anomalies afterall.
But being a legend wasn't necessarily a good thing. Attention is the enemy. The last thing I needed was people watching me even more closely than they already were.
Yeah. Crowd Controller or Vanguard. Those were my only real choices.
Before choosing between Crowd Controller and Vanguard, I had to clear the rust off my skills.
I glanced down at my hands. I had pretty much adjusted to this female body by now.
Sure, I still didn't have much in the boobs department, but I had gotten used to the lack of brute strength compared to my past life's male form. It wasn't a big deal. Strength was never my forte anyway—I was all about speed and avoidance.
I lowered myself into a squat.
Then—Jump!
Squat. Jump. Squat. Jump!
My feet left the ground with ease, and I landed just as smoothly. A small smirk tugged at my lips. Yeah. Still got it.
I turned to the two watching me. "I wanna try sparring."
Romeo raised a brow, while Lou burst out laughing.
"Now that's the spirit, Bug!" he grinned, pointing at me like he'd just found a long-lost sister.
Romeo took a step closer. "Sparring is inevitable, but shouldn't we go over fighting styles first?"
I shook my head. "I already know how to fight."
I reached for the Morphblade attached to my belt. With a quick flick, the weapon shifted in my grasp into a dagger.
"I just need to get used to a shapeshifting weapon. That's all."
Romeo's brow arched even higher. "How do you know how to fight?"
—Shit.
That kinda… slipped out, didn't it?
I couldn't exactly tell them I was a reincarnated assassin. Even if I did, they wouldn't believe me.
So, I did the only reasonable thing.
I let out an awkward giggle. "…Anime and stuff?"
Both of them stared.
Then, in perfect sync, they said, "Anime?"
Lou turned to Romeo with a deadpan look. "And you had the nerve to question my training techniques before letting me train the Bug? You and her parents don't even check what she watches…"
Heh… Sorry, Romeo… But putting you and my parents on the blame… It was the only option.