Reading books was boring. Very, very, very boring. Who liked reading words, anyway? Books were gross. Alwin preferred visual media. Something with pictures at least. Alas, he was forced to read his book 'Spirit Blast and Beyond' word for word. What a drag.
That was the homework forced onto him by the one, the only, Uchronia. Who else would be gutsy enough to torture him like that? Maybe Milvus since he was the teacher and Bion because he was a good-for-nothing snot-nosed bully. Where was Alwin going with this? Well, he was going nowhere; he just wanted a distraction from all of the reading that was consuming his life.
After Alwin's escapades in the library earlier that day, Uchronia tracked him down and declared the skills he picked out as ‘sufficient’. She then forced him to borrow the book and read its contents by the end of the day.
Alwin and Gus were now slaves to the cruel Uchronia's study regime. Instead of playing 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' with all the other monsters in the dorm with their Spirit Hands, they were stuck flipping pages. Every time he glanced at his fellow monsters having fun, his Spirit Hands would twitch with envy, his fate was sealed. Study, study, study—Uchronia's orders were absolute.
Gus didn't really mind studying. Every time he finished reading a page, he rewarded himself with a snack he had smuggled out of the cafeteria. At the moment, he was on page forty-seven because he had just devoured his forty-sixth muffin. Crumbs dotted his textbook like confetti, and bits of it speckled on the bed sheet around him. Seriously, where was he hiding all of those muffins?
But Alwin was bored. He fidgeted on his bed, glaring at the lines of text that seemed to blur together in a monotonous haze. He didn't want to read, he wanted to be out there practicing the skills instead. The thought of conjuring Spirit Blasts and showing off his newfound powers made his heart race. That would have been way more fun than this. Stupid, boring books.
"Alwin, stop getting distracted. Don't make me come over there," Uchronia remarked.
Alwin sighed as he flipped to the next page, glancing at the diagrams of Spirit Blast. Yep, the same Spirit Blast he had already learnt. Why did he have to read this stupid chapter? Lousy Uchronia, bullying him just because she was the squad leader.
It was getting late, and Alwin wanted to just hit the hay, but a quick glance at Uchronia told him that the only thing that would get hit was him. So, he pressed on. Reading, getting distracted, then back to reading again. He trudged through page after page, each line feeling like a mountain he had to climb, his eyelids growing heavier with each passing minute.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he completed all three chapters of Spirit Blast and Beyond. He could finally go to bed at the nice, early hour of five in the morning.
---
Throughout the morning lectures, Alwin struggled to stay awake. He was dead tired, and the lecture was dead boring. It was a miracle he could even keep his eyes open. Milvus droned on and on about the importance of knowing your opponent, cycling through different examples, situations, and even the pros and cons of fighting individually versus as a squad. Blah blah, blah—it was all just a bunch of crap in Alwin's opinion. He was more of a doer than a thinker. Let his instincts kick in and hope whatever comes out would get rid of his opponent and not the other way around.
Finally, the much-anticipated bell rang, ending the morning lectures. Alwin and Gus bolted out of the room and straight to the cafeteria.
Alwin's tray was a caffeine lover's dream – or nightmare. A coffee-rubbed steak nestled beside coffee muffins, with coffee pudding perched precariously on the edge. He topped it off with a steaming cup of black coffee, the steam swirling like a beacon of wakefulness. He needed to get his daily dose of caffeine, along with yesterday's and tomorrow's, or he'd pass out during afternoon practice.
Meanwhile, Gus's plate was a mountain of culinary chaos. Stacks of pancakes and waffles teetered precariously next to heaps of savory sides. A strange yellowish food Alwin had never seen before oozed at the edges. About a hundred types of meat piled high, crowned by a big, juicy steak. Gus finished his masterpiece with a generous smothering of ketchup, mustard, and mayo, turning the whole thing into a colorful, glistening mess.
Meanwhile, Uchronia picked at her usual salad, a huge bowl overflowing with leaves and a side of nuts, all drizzled in a sharp vinaigrette of lemon juice and vinegar. As soon as she finished her meal, she grabbed Alwin and Gus, dragging them away from the cafeteria and back to the classroom for more training. Gus wailed like a banshee, clutching his stomach as if it were empty despite having already devoured three helpings. His eyes lingered longingly on the remnants of his food mountain as they were hauled away. Alwin, ever the opportunist, let his eyelids droop as Uchronia dragged them. He leaned his head back, snoring softly before they even left the cafeteria.
"Wake up, Alwin," Uchronia said, giving him a gentle shake.
He mumbled in response, opening one eye slightly.
"Five more minutes, Mom."
"I'm not your mother, now wake up. Time to train. We're going to be the number one squad in Mr. Milvus' class."
"Yes, Dad," he sighed.
Alwin sat there for a few seconds, rubbing his eyes with his Spirit Hands. After a quick stretch and a yawn that echoed through the training area, he started walking towards his designated spot, where his sworn enemy resided. That lousy useless piece of driftwood training dummy. Alwin swore he would get his revenge one day, and that day was treading closer and closer.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"I've made you a training menu," Uchronia said, handing it to Alwin.
Alwin glanced at it, the sheet containing detailed instructions for which skills to practice and how long to practice them for.
"Do I have to? I'm more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy," lamented Alwin.
"Well, when your flow actually leads to results instead of getting lost in thought, then I'll consider it. Right now, I want you to follow this schedule to a tee."
Alwin turned away from Uchronia to pout. "I'm more of a coffee guy than a tea guy. Did she not see what I ate for lunch?"
Alwin shrugged. The clock was ticking, and he had no choice but to oblige. This was the price he had to pay to become the number one squad in Mr. Milvus's class. Anything to rub it in Bion's face. Also, being number one just felt great. Alwin was looking forward to running around the classroom and shouting, 'We are number one!'
"Hey!"
Alwin spun around. Uchronia was standing a short distance away, tapping her tail impatiently. Her expression was more sour than the lemon dressing in her salad.
"Stop spacing out, and get to work."
"Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!"
Alwin looked over his training schedule graciously provided to him and vetted by none other than Milvus. Why would he approve such a tortuous schedule? How was Alwin supposed to survive?
First up in the training schedule was learning the skills mentioned in Spirit Blast and Beyond. After that came mastering them. Lastly, there was a joint practice as a squad. Alwin grinned at the prospect of torturing that block-headed wooden dummy with Spirit Scatter Blast and Spirit Burst Blast. Hitting things was a good way to vent one's anger, but he had bigger plans. Plans so grand that not even Uchronia could possibly fathom.
Alwin was going to break that dummy into splinters. That was the plan. If not Alwin would be the dummy who couldn't destroy a useless junk of wood.
Sealing his eyes shut, he honed in on his core. Deep within, a churning whirlpool of mana—gleaned from every breath he'd taken—swirled like a caffeine-fueled tornado, itching to break free and wreak havoc. Alwin was more than happy to oblige.
Now, how to mold his mana into a Spirit Scatter Blast? Infusing his mana with intent was the easy part. He just had to command the mana to shoot forward, and voilà, instant chaos! Shaping the mana, on the other hand, was a tad more challenging, simply because it was just so tedious. Maybe he should have used a more entertaining method than the mana equivalent of paper mâché. To be fair, crafting it was a blast, but waiting for it to set? Absolute torture. Even if that torture involved sitting around doing nothing, it was still a colossal bore.
In the most basic of terms, Spirit Scatter Blast was basically a regular Spirit Blast stuffed with a bunch of tinier Spirit Blasts. Alwin had a general idea of how to form his mana to achieve the desired effect, thanks to the book he was forced to read the night before. All he had to do was follow its guidelines, and bingo bongo—scatter blasts for everyone!
Tiny Spirit Blasts, that's what he had to make first. In the mindscape of his core, he conjured up two hands and a bright orange balloon. With these phantom hands, he reached into the swirling nebula of his mana pool and started tearing off strips. Carefully, he wrapped the balloon with the thin membranes of mana, layering it bit by bit. Now came the worst part: waiting for it to dry. Fortunately, this time he had a distraction—crafting more tiny Spirit Blasts. With a resigned sigh, he got back to peeling and wrapping, his mental hands working like a sweatshop assembly line.
Twelve mini Spirit Blasts later, it was time for the grand finale—the trickiest part of the process. Alwin took a deep breath and visualized the orange balloon, ready for action. He began cramming the mini Spirit Blasts inside, each one the size of a pebble. It was like stuffing rocks into a barrel, and these little rascals weren’t thrilled about it. Maybe they were a bit claustrophobic? He could almost hear their tiny protests, or maybe that was just his stomach growling. Once the balloon was stuffed to the brim, Alwin started puffing it up as fast as his mind could manage. It swelled and swelled, growing bigger with each passing second. Hopefully, the mini Spirit Blasts were enjoying their newfound legroom.
According to chapter two, section seven of Spirit Blasts and Beyond, the easiest way to make the Spirit Blast go boom and reveal the scatter blasts was to use a thin layer of mana for the outer shell. Think of it as wrapping it in tissue paper rather than duct tape. Simple, elegant, and guaranteed to surprise everyone when it went off prematurely—unless you shout out the name of the skill.
Using the thinnest strips of his mana, he gingerly wrapped the entire orb, like a thin veil covering the surface. Once it was barely covered, all he had to do was wait for it to dry, compress it into a manageable size, and launch it from his core. Simple, right? In a fit of impatience, he even conjured a mental mouth to blow on the darn thing, but it was about as effective as trying to dry paint by staring at it.
By the time the damn thing was dry, Alwin was dying of boredom. At least now, he could finally compress it down and get it out of his system. With the help of additional mental hands, he pressed down on the sphere with all his might. Gradually, it shrank down to the size of a volleyball. Perfect.
Just one step left, and he'd be done with his first cast of Spirit Scatter Blast. It was showtime. Using a mental bat he found lying around somewhere in his mind, he gave the Spirit Scatter Blast a solid swing, sending the poor thing straight out of his core.
"Spirit Scatter Blast!" he begrudgingly yelled out.
The blast Alwin had painstakingly crafted materialized in front of him, glowing with the radiance of a raging blue moon, and rocketed toward the practice dummy. Mid-flight, the outer shell split open. Twelve mini Spirit Blasts burst out, zooming toward the dummy like tiny meteors. The dummy was peppered with blows, shaking under the assault. Alwin cackled, his laughter echoing through the room. Success!
Now came the dreaded part—he had to repeat this until the skill registered in the system. Alwin sighed, feeling the weight of monotony already. Repeating the same spell over and over was about as exciting as watching grass grow. Still, he tweaked each iteration, making the outer Spirit Blast sturdier or cramming in even more mini Spirit Blasts for extra oomph. To no one's surprise, the extra effort was paying off. By mid-practice session, he could see the difference. His earlier blasts were mere party poppers compared to the firework displays he was launching now. Alwin grinned, wiping the sweat from his brow. Success!
New Skill Learned: Spirit Scatter Blast (F)
Alwin did a backflip when he read the notification. First task down! One more to go! Of course, this sudden backflip earned him the gaze of his classmates in the training grounds classroom, but he didn't care. Ok, maybe he did actually care. He could feel their cold judging eyes boring holes into him. Was it wrong to celebrate?
Hopefully, he could drown his embarrassment by focusing on the next task listed on the schedule Uchronia had given him. Unfortunately, there was no escape. The next task was just as dreadful as the previous one. The only silver lining was that he was way ahead of schedule. Two days to learn two skills had sounded daunting, but here he was, nearly done. Alwin shuddered with excitement. If he could master Spirit Burst Blast today, he'd have a whole day to just goof off. This plan was foolproof! Time to go beyond the Spirit Blast! Well, maybe after a quick break. He deserved it, right?