CHAPTER 27: YEAR 6 BEGINS P4
~27.4~
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“Alright, Yami, let’s see you put it all together.” Kye snapped her fingers and teleported the rest of the class to the side of the training grounds and simultaneously erected a barrier around them large enough to fight in. “Come, Yami! Here’s your opportunity to pass the academy’s entire curriculum!” Kye flexed her aether and stood ready. “Begin!”
The moment Kye said that, Liliana and Aliana appeared nearby to observe the Akari sisters. Yami glanced at them for a moment, then back at her sister. She nodded and took a deep breath. An aura of light blue aether wrapped around her body, and her eyes glowed. The glow was refined the same way as Kye’s.
“<
That’s Radiance.
She smiled and jumped forward, bringing her blade down on Yami. Her sister took the attack head on, simply blocking with her own katana. The impact was enough to send out a shockwave that cracked Kye’s barrier. Liliana quickly used her Radiance to raise her own barrier and prepared to keep the sister’s bout contained.
Seeing Liliana taking over barrier duty, Kye dropped what was left of hers and gave her younger sister her undivided attention.
She’s come so far in such a short time. Her past experience is really showing. I’m so proud!
The two exchanged a flurry of blows before Kye moved on to slinging spells. “<
Yami held out her sword to intercept the bolt, but didn’t block or stop it. Instead, she took control of it and used it in a counterattack. “<
Kye smiled and held her hand out to block it, but she quickly discovered that her attention was on the wrong attack.
Yami unleashed an enormous blast of raw mana, but didn’t stop there. “<
Well done, little sister!
Her smile grew as she lept into action. Her focus increased, and she analyzed everything Yami threw at her as if the attacks were moving in slow motion. Kye quickly found the weak point in each spell, specifically the point where the motes of mana were thinnest. She broke the mana chains first, flooding her own mana into the thinnest points to break them down, then the gravity well, followed by the reversed attack, then finally Yami’s big attack.
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To Kye, she moved at a normal speed, but to everyone else, it all happened in a fraction of a second. Kye slowly walked over to her dumbfounded sister and patted her shoulder. “Well done, little sister. Those spells, techniques, and tactics were quite a sight. You pass my test. Allison will want to test you as well, and I expect it’ll be more in depth.”
“Wh-what?” Yami’s eyes darted about, watching as the last bits of mana from her attacks were dissipating. “But, I failed...”
Kye shook her head. “No, no, you didn’t. I broke your spells. You pushed me to attack your spells on a microscopic level, and I had to do so quickly to have any chance of success. I could have simply blocked your spells with a display of force, but I wanted to do it this way to show it to you. Your mana control is quite good by my standards. I think you can learn the trick I used!”
“I... uh...” Yami’s face betrayed her confusion. “I don’t understand, but okay.”
“That’s okay, little sister. I’ll teach you!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Kye noticed one boy getting frustrated. He met her eyes, but quickly looked away. Kye approached him, but he refused to look at her.
“Theo, what is bothering you?” she asked sincerely.
He folded his arms and stayed silent.
“I can’t help you if you don’t let me.”
He mumbled something unintelligible.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”
“You are focusing too much on your sister! You’re playing favorites!”
“I see. Shall we talk this out? You are free to speak uncensored.”
“Okay, then...” With his frustration on full display, he met her eyes and unloaded. “You are a student here, but you’re also an instructor. You’re so out of the ordinary that it feels weird having you here in the first place. And what’s more, you claim to be the very creator of the world? And you’re the king of us all? What about Empress Atlantis? Do you know how outlandish this sounds? It’s utterly ridiculous! I don’t understand why anyone believes it.”
“What do you think of me?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You said I’m a student, an instructor, and I claim all of those things. What do you think of having me as your instructor? Have I taught you poorly? You’re saying I’m playing favorites.”
“To be fair, yes, you are an excellent instructor, but it makes no sense. How the hell are you so powerful?”
“Would you like to see the world?”
“...excuse me?”
“I can show you the very world, if you’d like. I’m not speaking of an illusion, either. I can show you anything you’d like to see.”
“Okay. I’ll call your bluff.” He smirked. “Let’s see it.”
Kye nodded and smiled. She raised a hand in the air and spoke with a command. “Hear me, Elysium. I am King. Take this gathering to the observatory atop the Nexus so that we may gaze upon you with our own eyes.”
“Creator Command acknowledged,” replied the World Voice. All users within the designated area will now be moved to the desired location. Warning, this command exceeds the allowed threshold and requires additional permission. Creator Elysia, please confirm this command. Y or N.”
“Y.”
“Confirmed. Executing command.”
White mana suddenly engulfed everyone and dissipated almost immediately, leaving nothing behind. In an instant, the class was standing in the observatory. Kye smiled at the group and led them outside to the ring balcony that circled the structure. Far below them lied the City of Athas that encompassed much of the land around the Nexus. It was a metropolis unlike any of them had ever seen, aside from Kye.
“This is Elysium.”
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Revision: 2024-9-1