The Likely Rise of an Extra

This automaton wasn't just tough—it got smarter with every fight.

That had been a problem for some of the main cast, especially the protagonist.

Brute force won't work on this thing, Kiel realized.

Each time it took critical damage, it changed how it moved, attacked, and defended itself.

It always shut down for exactly one second before getting back up, stronger than before.

Every punch only made its defenses tougher.

"Harlett!" Kiel yelled, urgency sharp in his voice. "Stop hitting it! Every time you do, it just gets stronger!"

"It's what?!" Harlett pivoted, dodging a crushing fist and then delivering another devastating punch to the automaton's chest.

"Oh, I get it now," she said, her breaths were becoming uneven and heavy.

No matter how strong she was, it was clear she was starting to wear out.

"But I'm not about to let it get the best of me."

The automaton's movements were sharp, controlled— it had already figured out her tactic.

Kiel's mind raced.

He couldn't rely on brute force, not with a machine that could evolve in real-time.

He had to think… strategically.

The machine's red eyes locked onto Harlett again as it swung its fist down, but she sidestepped it.

She was moving slower than usual.

'It's already getting too predictable.'

Kiel's eyes snapped wide open as an idea clicked.

'That's it I'll just redo what HE did,' he thought.

"Harlett! We need to mess with its programming! You can't just keep attacking head-on. We need to throw it off balance!"

"Okay!"

She gave it one more big hit and it stopped moving again.

.

.

.

"What, you want to play decoy?" she asked.

"Bold move, but I like it."

Kiel smirked "Just trust me, okay? Can you get an attack ready?

"Why don't you attack? You gotta help too if you wanna pass, you know?" Harlett said.

"Yeah, well, I'm not feeling my best today," Kiel replied with a shrug. "Hey, I'm helping by coming up with the plan, aren't I?"

He glanced at the machine, which was steadily closing the gap.

"Besides, we were told to just beat the thing. No one said how we have to do it—or that we need magic."

"Fair point," Harlett said, a small grin forming.

The automaton started powering up, its joints locking into place.

It was preparing for another attack.

'Here goes nothing. Good thing this one doesn't have long-range attacks.'

Kiel remembered how Leon and Zach's automaton did have long-range attacks, and it gave both of them a tough time.

Kiel darted around the machine, waving his arms frantically. "Over here!"

The automaton's glowing red eyes snapped to him, leaving Harlett momentarily ignored.

The machine's massive arm swung down, forcing Kiel to dive to the side, barely avoiding the strike.

His heart pounded as he scrambled back to his feet.

"Harlett! Now!"

In an instant, Harlett shot forward like a comet, her body a blur of golden energy.

The automaton, distracted by Kiel's movements, barely had time to react before–

WHAM!

Harlett's fist slammed into its head, sending the machine stumbling backward.

Another shockwave occured.

But Kiel used the distraction to slide under the automaton, prying open the plating on its back.

"Finish it Harlett!" he shouted, his voice hoarse from the effort.

Harlett locked onto Kiel's position.

She jumped, cracking the ground beneath her.

"I've got you," she said with a grin, her eyes shining gold.

With a loud cry, she launched herself at the automaton's exposed core.

BOOM!

The impact sent shockwaves through the room, and the automaton's red eyes flickered before dimming completely.

'We did it!'

Harlett landed gracefully beside him, her golden aura slowly fading as she wiped the sweat from her brows.

"Well," she said, panting with a grin on her face.

"That was fun. You weren't half-bad as a decoy."

Kiel, breathing heavily.

"You really surprised me back there though."

He meant it, he never expected her to be so strong.

Then again this is another world where magic, magic infused technology and things like elves and other creatures existed.

"Really? I didn't do anything weird, did I?"

Kiel, still trying to catch his breath, waved it off. "Oh, uh, no, you didn't, it's fine."

"Okay then." She said dusting off her skirt

And with that, the room fell silent

It was so awkward because neither of them knew what to say next.

"Congratulations, Harlett Nikks, Kiel Selfort, you both pass."

"Wah!" Harlett's voice rang out in surprise at Reina's sudden announcement.

Kiel sighed, internally face palming at her over-the-top reaction.

"Ahem!" Reina cleared her throat.

"As I was saying, you both passed, though I didn't expect you to use the same tactic as those two boys," she raised an eyebrow, eyeing them suspiciously.

'I see, so they've finished their test alredy' Kiel thought.

She then tapped her tablet a few times.

"Kiel, you get a B+. Harlett, B-. That's all. You may leave the room."

◇◇◇

After the tests ended the students were allowed to do whatever they wanted for the day.

Kiel wanted nothing more than to go home but he couldn't.

"I heard you aced the tests"

"How do you think they pulled it off"

"Hey, you're Kiel Selfort right?"

"Where did you study before coming here?"

"I'm engaged but I wouldn't mind you know?"

"I heard they cheated."

Kiel wasn't liking the attention at all snd it seemed Harlett wasn't having it either.

She made an excuse about having somewhere to be and then bolted out of there.

She gave Kiel a "I'm sorry" look before escaping.

Kiel was a very handsome guy in this world so it was no surprise that the majority of people surrounding him were females.

"Hey hey do you have a girlfriend?

"Can you not? Don't listen to her"

"Shut up like you're not dying to know"

"N-no I wasn't."

This was like a dream come through for Kiel but he didn't have the energy to fully enjoy this blissful experience.

He just wanted to rest. He was still tired from the test. He wondered why none of the students were as tired as he was.

"That's enough, give the poor guy some room will ya?"

'Oh thank you, thank you so very much'

He was filled with gratitude but his stomach sank when he saw who it was.

The person who broke up the crowd of girls was none other than Zach thorne and right beside him was Leon Calder

The protagonist and his best friend.

Kiel didn't know how much interacting with them will change the course of the story but he wasn't eager to find out.

"Shoo shoo, go on get lost"

Zach started shooing the girls away, they all scattered some of them frustrated and were booing him.

"Hey wanna grab a bite with us?" Zach said placing his palm on Leon.

"H-Hi there" said Leon timidly.

Exactly how Kiel remembered him.

Leon wasn't always good at interacting with other people. That is until he met Zach.

"Uh… Hi" Kiel replied

"Geez, why are the both of you so awkward, I swear" Zach said exasperated

"Okay introductions, This is my buddy Leon" Zach began

"Leon? This is Kiel my other buddy"

Zach had a thing about calling people his buddies.

Kiel and Leon both exchange handshakes.

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.

.

"Wait I thought we we going to get food at the Cafeteria, why are we heading out the gate?"

This came from Leon.

"Hm? Oh that, I feel like eating pie right now and they don't got it here so..." Zach replied.

"Oh okay" Leon said

'Don't just accept it like that?!'

Kiel shouted in his mind.

He sighed as they went outside to get food.

◇◇◇

"Man, that was good. Nothing hits better than a good old apple pie,"

Zach said, letting out a loud burp.

"Yeah, it really hit the spot,"

Leon added already done with his meal.

Kiel just sat there quietly, sipping his drink.

Zach had insisted on paying for the meal, even though Kiel told him not to— since he didn't have any cash on him.

"So, I heard you used the same strategy Leon did,"

Zach said suddenly.

"How'd you figure out the robot had a weak spot?"

'Crap,' Kiel scrambled to come up with an excuse.

"I checked out some old school battle records."

He found a good enough excuse.

Sayukis novel could be called a battle record when you think about it so he didn't lie— probably.

"They showed weak spots on some of the school's training dummies. So I used that against it— Harlett ended up dealing the final blow though."

Kiel could've sworn he saw Leon twitch.

"Hey, I landed the final blow, but Leon's idea really made it happen,"

Zach said with a grin.

"I didn't do much,"

Leon mumbled, scratching his head.

He looked like something was eating him inside.

"Don't sell yourself short, man. You saved us with your quick thinking,"

Kiel let out a quiet sigh.

'Yeah yeah we get it already'

◇◇◇

"See you tomorrow Kiel" Zach waved.

Him and Leon live in the same direction so they were headed the same way.

After bidding Leon and Zach farewell. Kiel was left on his own. 

He was about to head home when he realized a minor issue: he had no idea where home was.

This morning, he'd confidently sat in the cab, thinking, I'll totally remember this route later. 

Spoiler: he didn't. 

Now, here he was, staring at the street like a confused NPC.

Luckily for him he had his tech bracelet.

He tapped away at the holographic display and logged into his student account.

There he found the details he was looking for.

[STUDENT INFO]

Name: Kiel Amaris Selfort

ID: 34AE-1039AHD-18F

_________________________________

[Year 2034, After the Elf Invasion. Enrolled in the 1039th class in the highschool division since the academy's founding, and is the 18th student to apply and pass the entrance exams among the first years.]

_________________________________

Rank: Unavailable [will be distributed after the first test.]

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He found his address after which he called a cab off the street and got in.

"Hey, it's you again kid"

That voice, he recognized it.

It was the same taxi driver from this morning 

"Yup haha" he let out a dry laugh.

He didn't expect to meet the man again so he didn't know how to react.

"So you got money this time?"

'Crap'

"Sorry I haven't had the chance to get some, put it on my tab?"

There was a long awkward pause before the man sighed.

"Sure kid whatever."

"Thank you."

"Heading home?" 

"Yup." 

"Okay then" he got in the cab, the man started up the taxi and drove away.