"I am the avatar of the 'Spirit Blast and Beyond' book. Prove your worth. Defeat me, and you shall earn the right to learn the ways of the Spirit Blast," said the book's avatar.

"I'm going to beat you this time around!" shouted Alwin.

"Spirit Blast!" shouted the book's avatar.

Once more, the pages of the book fluttered open. From its depths, an orb of crackling energy emerged, zipping through the air.

If Alwin couldn't destroy the Spirit Blast and couldn't guard against it, there was only one thing left to do. He should’ve done this from the start. It was so obvious. So simple. Dodge.

Alwin channeled his inner bunny and sprang to the left. The Spirit Blast zoomed past him, a blur of energy, before vanishing into thin air.

Now it was Alwin's turn to make a move.

He launched another Spirit Blast at the book. As soon as he sent it off, he followed its path, chasing after it in hot pursuit. The book's avatar retaliated, firing its own Spirit Blast, the two attacks hurtling straight toward each other. When the book's attack struck, Alwin's was eradicated in a single blow, once more confirming Alwin's fears that a book was somehow stronger than he was. It was just a book for crying out loud! Maybe the age old adage 'knowledge is power' was true.

Now that his defense—if he could even call it that—was gone, it was time to dodge. Alwin was a hopper. A bouncer. An agile little slime. He could do this. As he sprinted forward, Alwin performed a few practice jumps. Just a few quick hops to get his rhythm. With the book's Spirit Blast coming closer and closer, he sprang into action. The moment the book's attack was inches away from hitting, he leapfrogged over it, narrowly avoiding the oncoming ball of destruction.

Just like Alwin, the book's avatar didn't want to waste any time either. The book immediately opened, revealing its pages once more. A new Spirit Blast was already headed toward Alwin. If only he could fly or at the very least jump twice in mid-air, then dodging the incoming attack would have been easy as pie. What kind of pie? Maybe key lime pie.

There was nothing left to do but wait for the inevitable, unless... Alwin created a pair of Spirit Hands once again. They were a last-ditch effort, a Hail Mary, a desperate attempt to preserve his life. The ethereal hands grabbed him like the round ball that he was and swung with all the might they could muster, throwing himself even closer to the book.

His body whizzed past the book's attack, and just like before the book's Spirit Blast had no problem smashing through his own Spirit Hands. Alwin's poor spectral limbs were obliterated, reduced into a fine mystical mist. Once more, another Spirit Blast was coming for his sweet cheeks.

He was in for a whooping if he wasn’t prepared. Thankfully, through a stroke of pure genius—or maybe just a stroke—he knew what to do. Another pair of Spirit Hands appeared, and Alwin snatched up his entire body and whipped it around in the air. With an ungodly amount of torque, he spun around, throwing himself towards the book's avatar like the deadly weapon he was.

Now it was him who was hurtling toward the avatar, at least that was what he hoped. His world was spinning round and round, every few moments he would catch a glimpse of the gray book, which looked like it was getting closer. It was hard to say and it was also hard to think. Alwin was on the verge of launching his breakfast—a new, unwanted special attack of his.

After a few seconds, the vertigo was too much to bear. He closed his eyes, focusing on just breathing in and out. The dizziness and nausea weren't subsiding, if anything it was getting exponentially worse. Alwin couldn't hold it in anymore, his senses were begging him to let it rip. With a gag and a retch, he finally let go, emptying the contents of his stomach in a messy, unwanted purge.

A sprinkler of vomit rained down, showering the book in a nasty yellowish-green liquid. The avatar of the book was covered in Alwin's projectile-regurgitated breakfast. The pungent smell of eggs and bacon mixed with the putrid stench of whatever else Alwin consumed that day. It was revolting, absolutely repulsive. The book snapped its pages shut, almost like it was grimacing in disgust.

Alwin crashed on the floor, and yet the world continued to spin around him. Everything was a blur. He couldn't tell the book from the floor. His mind was foggy, and it took him a few more seconds to get his bearings straight. The book's avatar was also flailing about, clearly struggling to control itself.

This was his chance to end the fight. This was his moment to claim victory. Alwin fought the urge to throw up again as he stumbled upright. Using his Dark Tackle, he propelled his body towards the book, lunging at it. The moment he collided with it, the avatar of the book vanished, along with all of the vomit that was expelled from his body. The world had regained its pristine white color.

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"You have proven yourself worthy to read chapter one of 'Spirit Blast and Beyond'. Now make a decision, boy: unlock chapter two or proceed to read chapter one," a voice echoed through the room.

"Chapter two, please."

"I am the avatar of the 'Spirit Blast and Beyond' book. Prove your worth. Defeat me, and you shall earn the right to learn the ways of the Spirit Scatter Blast," said the book's avatar.

Nothing happened.

Where was that voice coming from? There wasn't anyone in front or to the left or right of him. Was there a glitch in the void? Was he going to be stuck inside this white void forever? What was he going to eat? There were no yummy waffles inside here. Just plain boring tasteless air.

"Spirit Scatter Blast!"

There was that voice again. Where was it coming from? Alwin turned around to see a blue ball of magic flying through the air heading straight towards him. In a panic to get out of the way, he tripped and fell flat on his face, while the Spirit Scatter Blast soared above him.

Alwin groaned as he got up, his face was sore after attacking the ground with it. He turned around just in time to watch the blast explode into a dozen smaller Spirit Blasts. Each and every one of them was still rocketing through the air, the blasts still looking to claim their first victim.

That was a cool skill. Alwin wanted it, he was going to scatter his Spirit Blast. By hook or by crook, he was going to defeat that stupid book. Wait, was there a Spirit Hook skill out there? No! This wasn't the time to get distracted, he had to focus. He had to get closer to that idiotic book.

Using his Spirit Hands, he launched himself into the air towards the book. The book hurled more Spirit Scatter Blasts his way, but he was too agile for that. Alwin threw himself out of the way, performing a triple aerial somersault for extra style points before he threw himself again. A second set of blasts came his way, but he tossed himself out of the way. If there were judges here Alwin was sure they would award him a perfect score for the aerial cartwheel he had just performed.

Another triple aerial somersault, a back flip, and a triple twist. Alwin was defying gravity, he was defying physics, and he was pretty sure that he was on fire from how hot he was. To put it frankly, he was on a roll, and that wasn't because of all the flips he was doing.

Now was the time to finish what he had started. Like the acrobat of death that he was, he catapulted himself toward the book. No fancy tricks this time, only pure raw power. Darkness swirled around him, shrouding his visage.

"Dark Tackle," he yelled.

He transformed into a black cannonball, a behemoth of a sphere, a weapon of mass destruction. Alwin tore through the air, his speed unmatched. In a millisecond, he collided head-first with the book's avatar. The impact was instantaneous, obliterating the book and leaving Alwin alone once again in a void of white.

Alwin performed a couple of front flips of joy. He was just that good. No book was going to stand in his way, he was going to destroy every single book that dared to block him on his path of knowledge. Watch out library, Alwin the Dark Slime was on the case.

"You have proven yourself worthy to read chapter two of 'Spirit Blast and Beyond'. Now make a decision, boy: unlock chapter three or proceed to read the previous chapters," a voice echoed through the room.

Alwin was crushing it, of course, he was going to keep up his hot streak and move on to chapter three.

"I am the avatar of the 'Spirit Blast and Beyond' book. Prove your worth. Defeat me, and you shall earn the right to learn the ways of the Spirit Burst Blast," said the book's avatar.

This time Alwin was smarter, he knew what to do. He knew that the enemy was behind him. With a smirk, he launched into a backflip, aiming for maximum style points. Mid-air, he envisioned the perfect landing. But as he hit the ground, he froze, staring straight ahead.

Wait a second.

His cheeks flushed crimson as he awkwardly spun around, finally facing the avatar of the book.

"Spirit Burst Blast."

The book's pages rustled open, and a blue Spirit Burst Blast shot out, hurtling straight toward Alwin. He cocked his body in confusion. The book clearly yelled out Spirit Burst Blast, so why did it shoot out a regular Spirit Blast? Was there truly a glitch in the void or was it another case of Alwinian confusion? Whatever the case, Alwin wasn't going to let himself get hit by it.

Alwin hurled himself into the air, watching the blast whiz past just below his feet. It erupted into an explosion of magical energy a few feet away, sending a gust of wind his way. Guess that explains the burst part of Spirit Burst Blast. Definitely more boom than the usual pow. As he looked towards the avatar, another burst blast was already rocketing his way.

The book wasn't messing around. Alwin’s Spirit Hands flung him out of the blast’s path, the Spirit Burst Blast zooming past and exploding in the distance. He watched the avatar's pages flutter open again, prepping another attack.

Child's play. Not because Alwin was less than two weeks old, but because he was the self-anointed trapeze artist of doom. Once more, Alwin's Spirit Hands propelled him through the air. Dodging blasts was so last season; where was the thrill in that? He catapulted himself straight toward the incoming Spirit Burst Blast, summoning his Spirit Hands at the last second to yank himself out of harm's way.

Enough fun and games, Alwin was here to learn, and to learn he had to destroy the book. Alwin rocketed downward, gathering momentum to strengthen his Dark Tackle. He smashed into the avatar’s cover, crumbling the book in one decisive blow. Book broken, time to learn.

A blinding flash enveloped Alwin, and suddenly he was back in the library. He glanced around, relieved to see no remnants of breakfast on the book or anywhere near him. Weird. What was that strange, white void-like space, anyway? Whatever. Now that the book was finally fully unlocked it was time to get down to business. Reading.

"Alwin!" a voice called out from behind him.

Oh, bother. What now?