Boosted Restart – A new chance in a different world

Chapter 23 – Playing around with a cat-girl

"You're cute!"

"Fight me!"

An awkward silence around the table followed the first exchange between Sophia and Maya. Everyone in their group was attentively staring at the two without saying a single word. An extremely uncomfortable minute passed before Sophia finally noticed what was going on.

"I… did say that out loud… did I not…?" Realizing her blunder, her face first turned white before she hid it behind her hands to not show her embarrassment.

"Y-You…!" Maya's face had turned red instead. It seemed like she wasn't used to being addressed like that, at least not in such a direct way. "I-If you think that flattery can change my mind… y-you're mistaken! F-Fight me, uh,"

"S-Sophia…" Face still hiding behind her hands, she gave her name in a low voice.

"T-Thanks… By the way, I'm M-Maya …" The two had managed to make the situation even more awkward. "Okay, now fight me already, S-Sophia!"

"I don't want to…" She was still busy being embarrassed. Fighting was too much to ask. "A-Also, it's already dark outside."

"I don't care about that!"

"Haa…" Even in her embarrassed state, Sophia got tired.

"C-Come on, don't be like that~. Just a quick little fight! Please!" She was recovering from the shock already. "I promise that I won't hurt you! You're strong yourself, aren't you, Sophia? Don't you get excited when you find someone with power?" Spoken like a textbook example of a muscle brain. "I'll even hold back, okay? Nothing bad will happen, so… okay?" She was pleading to her at this point. While she was able to sense that the girl was powerful, the cat failed to notice the difference between them, or at the very least, didn't care about it.

"Ohh?" Sophia's bashfulness seemed to be washed away as she showed her face again, having a serious expression. "My, aren't you full of yourself?" Some strange flip had switched inside her once she felt like the cat-girl was casually looking down at her. "Please don't hold back, Maya. It would neither be fun nor could I teach you a lesson that way." She sounded like a completely different person while she flashed a sinister smile at her.

"Uh-oh." Fen had a bad feeling about this. He had seen this character trait of Sophia before when she wanted to punish her enemies with dark magic in a way that definitely didn't seem wholesome.

"Let's go then." Her smile got even darker.

"O-Okay…" She began to realize she might've barked at the wrong tree, ignoring the fact that she's a cat.

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While the entire group had left the bar and walked towards a field outside the city where the two girls had enough place, Fen approached Sophia.

"I never saw one of the beastfolk with such big magical powers as this Maya."

"Really?"

"Yes, calling her an exception among exceptions would be a huge understatement." Fen looked impressed.

"Am I in danger?"

"Nah. It's amazing, but it doesn't reach your power. Your magic's also more advanced."

"I see."

"Still, what a magnificent meltdown you had." He let out a small chuckle.

"S-Shut up! I didn't want to say that out loud!"

"Well, it was fun seeing your boost failing so spectacularly."

"I disagree! I could've done without embarrassing myself that much..."

"I think it was great."

"Uuh, I'm glad that it seems like I can talk with girls now, but I somehow can't be happy about it either! Just blurting out what comes to mind…"

"Hehe, I worry more about your other mood swing, though."

"Hmm?" She didn't seem to have noticed it herself.

"Haa, just go easy on her, okay? If you really think she's cute, you wouldn't want to hurt her, right?"

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"S-Shut up already!"

"Haha." Fen enjoyed seeing the girl embarrassed.

While the two were bickering, Maya was similarly approached by Chiyo.

"Err, Maya, it's not too late to apologize to her…"

"Why should I?"

"Sophia's seriously strong, and I think you accidentally made her angry."

"E-Eh? That wasn't on purpose!" Deep down, she really was a good girl. "Still, I'm strong, too, you know? I'll definitely apologize later, but if that means she'll fight me seriously-"

"I don't think you want her to be serious." Chiyo was worried about her.

"Of course, I want to! It's my first time seeing someone with that much power! I can't help getting excited!"

"Err…" Her worries were getting stronger.

"Who is she, anyway?"

"We met Sophia and Fen when we almost got killed by a group of rock-golems."

"W-Wha-?!" it was the first time Maya heard about that, so she naturally was shocked. "E-Eh, are you okay?!"

"Yes. Thanks to Sophia. She saved us by defeating the group of golems in a matter of seconds."

"Huh?!"

"Yes, she's that powerful."

"D-Don't tell me she's stronger than I am?"

"Much stronger. Incomparable even."

"O-Oh…" She was finally getting fully aware of her mistake. "Wait, then what is she? She looks like a human, but I'm already sure that she's not. That's just impossible, after all."

"Nope, no human." Chiyo gave her a short confirmation.

"Then, a type of beastperson with hidden traits?"

"Also not that."

"What is she then?!"

"She's a demon."

"D-Demon?"

"Demon."

"You're kidding…" Maya couldn't believe her.

"I'm not."

"These absurdly powerful beings that live on an entirely different continent?"

"Yes."

"Seriously? No way… Ahaha!" She suddenly started laughing. "Isn't that great?! I can go absolutely all out then!"

"Huh? Aren't you scared?"

"Of course! But at the same time, I've never been so excited before!"

"I see…" Chiyo looked into the far distance once she noticed how the girl beside her was a lost cause already.

Once they had arrived at the empty and dark field, illuminated by the stars and moon only, the group got together in a distance while the two girls faced each other.

"Sophia, is it true?"

"What is?"

"Are you a demon?"

"People call me that, yes." Technically, she wasn't lying.

"Wow… Sophia, I'm sorry I made you angry earlier. That wasn't my intention!"

"I was angry?" She hadn't noticed it herself.

"Yes!" The spectators loudly shouted in unison.

"…Anyway, I changed my mind. I will go all out! I hope you'll do the same, Sophia."

"Do you really want me to?"

"Yes!" She looked determined.

"Just don't say I didn't warn you… By the way, it's already quite dark because it's in the middle of the night. How about we fight in the light?"

"That would probably be better, but I don't care because I don't want to wait until tomorrow! I wouldn't be able to hold back my excitement until then."

"No, that's not what I meant." Sophia grinned at her, and with a snap of her fingers, the whole place turned as bright as if it was the middle of the day. "How's that?"

"…" Maya could only stare at the girl with her eyes wide open and mouth agape.

"…" The others had the exact same expression.

"I don't care anymore…" Except for Fen because he had given up.

"S-Seriously…?" Maya managed to recover a little. "I-, I did pick the wrong fight…"

"Now, come at me~." Sophia beckoned the cat-girl over with her right hand.

"H-Here I go!" While still visibly shocked, Maya hadn't thrown in the towel just yet. "Gust!" Like the name implied, strong winds quickly formed around her before shooting towards Sophia.

"Oh, really just an activation word, huh?" She was sort of impressed, but at the same time, the gust never managed to reach the girl. She had simply created a barrier made out of fire, making it impossible for the wind to get her.

"B-Both, light, and fire magic?! You really are talented…"

"Eh?" Sophia didn't understand what she meant.

"So what, I can do the same! Fireball!" The moment she said the word, a ball of fire with a diameter of over a meter sped towards Sophia.

"What are you even talking about?" Still not understanding, she tried to ask Maya while she effortlessly defended against the fire with an earth wall she let rise from the ground.

"Y-You can even use three?!" Her face turned pale. "T-Then! Blades!" Resorting to air magic again, a blade-like wind rushed towards Sophia, much like the ones Fen uses to cut his meat for grilling.

"I still don't get what you're going on about." Even though she was distracted, Sophia had no difficulties defending against the blade. Lifting two fingers, several roots shot out from the ground, taking the hit and getting shredded into pieces for her instead.

"I-Is that nature magic? I've never seen that one before! What sort of monster are you…?"

"Ahaha…" Sophia asked that herself many times before.

"I-I'm not done!" While her confidence was shattering bit by bit, the cat-girl had not given up. "Tornado!" Precisely as the name implied, winds much more potent than her Gust spell formed around Sophia, and she got engulfed by the tornado. 

"Not bad…" A perfectly calm voice could be heard from the eye of the tornado. Soon afterward, it started to turn even more violent before it actually looked like the storm exploded. Sophia had activated her own air magic and easily overpowered the cat-girl, effectively canceling it out.

"N-No way…" She was slowly running out of options. "T-Trap!"

"Hmm?" This activation word was a little more cryptic as Sophia didn't understand initially, but it became clear immediately. A circle of fire appeared on the ground around her before shooting up, literally trapping Sophia inside the flames. "Wow, that's so cool!" Unfortunately, while she sounded impressed, it once more had no effect on her. Water began to form inside the fire trap, and once it was enough, Sophia used it to extinguish the fire in one go.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Feel like giving up yet?"

"No… I still have my trump card!"

"Oho~, then do your best, Maya!" She couldn't help but cheer her on.

"H-Here I go!" Maya closed her eyes and concentrated on something.

"Hmm?" Wanting to see what she was trying, Sophia didn't interrupt her and just waited for something to happen. Without an activation word, strong winds once more gathered around Sophia, just like with the tornado spell earlier. Just much more powerful, but that wasn't all. At the same time, the area around her was also lit on fire. The wind and fire slowly combined into some sort of flame tornado and swallowed the girl in a colossal inferno. The entire area went silent except for the loudly raging fire, and nothing happened for a while.

"D-Did I get her…?" Maya looked confident for a fraction of a second, but she immediately regretted feeling so.

Suddenly, Sophia's light magic, which was illuminating the area, vanished, or so it had seemed at first. It had actually become much darker than simple nighttime could ever be. Looking closer, the cat-girl saw that her fire tornado had turned pitch black. Not only that, but she also noticed that this eerie darkness was slowly swallowing the entire area where they were fighting in. A blackness so dark that one couldn't even identify the structures of the covered-up objects anymore. The closer the nothingness got to Maya, the more panicked she became to the point she couldn't bear it anymore.

"D-Dark magic?! N-No way… Sophia!" She fearfully screamed in the direction the girl was supposed to be. "I give up!"

"Okay~." A cheery response came before the darkness was instantly replaced by light again, and even the fire tornado disappeared. It almost seemed like everything that happened was a lie.

"…" Not even the sound of breathing could be heard because everyone was holding it in.

"Ah, I think I overdid it a tiny bit…" Sophia looked around before finally focusing on Maya in front of her. The cat-girl had fallen on her knees after admitting defeat with a blank and teary expression.

"Y-You-, You were just playing around with me, weren't you?!"

"Ehh…" Sophia wasn't fond of her wording.

"It's the same you always do, Maya! Not to this extent, but it's the same for me!" Masi recovered from his shock for a second, just for his retort.

"Well, I have to admit your fire tornado thingy was quite something, so I got a little serious with my dark magic, but other than that…" Sophia awkwardly scratched her cheek. "Sorry."

"She just went and admitted it!"

"Ahaha…" She didn't know how to react.

"You really can use every magic attribute, huh…?"

"Yeah…?" Sophia tilted her head. "Ah, I can also use attribute less or uncategorized magic, but I don't have anything for attacking or defending in that regard yet, so I didn't use it..."

"S-Seriously?!" Maya's face turned even paler.

"Yes?" The two absolutely weren't on the same page.

"You… have no idea just how ridiculous this is, have you?"

"What is?" She looked more and more confused.

"Your magic! Ignoring your power even! Being able to use every magic there is… That's… I never even heard of anything close to that!"

"R-Really…?" It honestly surprised her as the first person, or wolf, she met, Fen can do the same.

"Really!" The cat-girl seemed angry. "You see, people called me a prodigy all the time before because of my high magic power and how I'm capable of using two elements because it's incredibly rare!"

"I-Is that so? I had no idea…"

"Is everyone so ridiculous from where you came from?!"

"Err, if anything, I was way below average…" Sophia was talking about her worth as a human being in her old world. So, while she wasn't lying, this definitely wasn't the thing Maya was talking about, causing a great misunderstanding.

"W-Wha-?!" The shock over said misunderstanding was extreme. "I had heard that demons are supposed to be powerful, but that…"

"A-Ah." She noticed that they were talking about different things, but it was too late to correct herself.

"Sophia!" Power had returned to Maya's voice.

"Y-Yes?"

"Please make me your disciple and let me train under you!" Because she still was on her knees, her plea carried a lot more power.

"Ehhh…?" Sophia hadn't seen that one coming and didn't know how to react.