Letting the other students know they could take a break and just enjoy themselves, Angelica, along with Ryker and Electra, left for the training room. Making their way downstairs, they passed through a pair of sliding double doors. Kicking some dust up from the training room’s floor, Ryker did a few stretches before jogging to the center of the room. “I’m calling first, Electra, sorry but I’m not really that sorry.”

With Electra just sighing, Ryker grinned and did a flip as he made it to the center of the room. “Angelica, what type of random stuff do you want me to show off? I didn’t do too much practicing over the break.”

“Whatever you think you improved on,” Angelica pulled out a clipboard before flipping through the pages. “Let me see what metrics we decided on... There’s regeneration rate? Explosion force per one finger and per hand. Any general progress on a more controlled release of an explosion?”

“No, it’s always just concentrated in one instant of time,” Ryker squatted on the ground. “I have some ideas for remote detonation though. But I’m not going to share those right now since well... secrets gotta stay secret. If I figure it out I’ll let you know.”

Taking some notes and transcribing a few quotes from Ryker, Angelica took a seat next to Electra who had pulled over a couple of chairs. “You’re free to begin whenever. You’re fine, right Electra? No danger on your end?”

“I should be fine, my electricity won’t flare up into overdrive since, subconsciously, he’s well-recognized to not be a danger.” Electra reassured while tying her hair back.

Ryker, getting the go ahead, raised his hand. Making sure his hand was in view, he detonated his index finger.

BANG.

With a shockwave rocking the room, a wave of air exploded outward as Angelica’s hair blew backward. Ryker’s finger, having disintegrated from the explosion, regrew at a speed visible to the naked eye. It didn’t take more than ten seconds before his hand was spotless and healthy.

Winking towards Angelica and Electra, Ryker busted out a couple dance moves as Angelica took some notes. Ignoring the “You’re cringe!” from Electra, he stuck out his tongue before doing the worm on the ground.

Angelica, on the other hand, entered the zone for a couple seconds and blazed out a paragraph-sized note of observations before calling out to Ryker. “Feel free to continue! I estimate there was a three percent increase in explosion force. Let’s see if the trend continues!”

“Got it!” Ryker shouted back before motioning for them to cover their ears. Throwing his loose jacket to the side, he rolled up his sleeve before raising it upward. Looking away and doing his best rockstar impression, he did a fake mic drop with his other hand before detonating his entire hand.

With a huge fireball swallowing his body, Ryker used his still existent hand to brush his hair back as the fireball faded. Beads of sweat began running down his forehead due to the sheer heat and his clothes fluttered from the resulting shock wave.

As always, he counted his lucky stars—his explosions didn’t affect him after all.

“Clothes fine. Body fine. Estimated power increase... two and a half percent.” Angelica tapped her pen against the clipboard while dumping another paragraph of notes. “Please come closer Ryker! I’d like to inspect your clothes. If there are any tears or singe marks I’ll place an order for more durable outfits with the wardrobe department.”

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“They look totally fine to me,” Ryker grinned as he did a spin, picked up his jacket, and struck a pose. “How do I look Electra? Sexy as always?”

Rolling her eyes, Electra shook her head. “Ugly as always to me.”

“Peh, your standards are too high,” Ryker shook his head while letting Angelica check over his clothes. “They look fine, yeah?”

“Indeed, they look fine to me,” Angelica murmured while tapping her pen against the clipboard. “Alright, I don’t have many other tests for you. Your powers are quite straightforward after all. Anything out of the ordinary you’d like to report? And have you had any moments where you’ve lost control since we’ve last talked?”

“No to both,” Ryker smiled while putting his hands behind his head. “My powers have been quite cooperative! I’m just really learning to channel energy better. It’s not a linear process, but it’s a quite smooth process that slowly increases the size of the explosions.”

“Sounds great,” Angelica noted down while clicking the end of her pen. “I’m still amazed at the lack of odor though. No smoke or anything. Angelica, would you like to go up? Ryker, you can either stay and watch or go check on the other students.”

“I’ll just watch, it’s the least I can do,” Ryker kicked back and smiled. Cupping his mouth, he leaned back in his seat all the way until the chair creaked. “Wooo! Electro girl go! I’m your number one biggest fan! Please shock me!”

Sending a bolt of purple lightning crashing down at his feet, Electra raised her eyebrows as a jackal grin tugged at the corners of her lips. Watching Ryker cough on the dust, she apologized to Angelica before turning back to Ryker. “I’ll do it, explosion boy. Don’t test me too much. You’ll survive anyway, so I won’t hold back.”

“Uhm, actually,” Ryker clarified while holding back laughs. “Uhm, actually, I don’t think sending a reactor’s worth of energy through my body would do me many favors! It would be much more beneficial to the economy if you redirected that energy into the power grid. That way you could alleviate the burden of energy bills on people all over the ci-”

With a bolt of purple lightning crashing down on his head, Ryker just shook his head as Electra sauntered off to the center of the training room.

---

“What are those shockwaves...?” A sleepy Nyssa asked as she rolled over on Celeste’s lap. “Is there an earthquake?”

“No, just Ryker and Electra doing a power check-up with Angelica,” Celeste ran her hand through Nyssa’s hair. “Don’t worry about it too much, everything’s alright. You can go back to sleep if you want.”

“I will...” Nyssa’s voice trailed off as she rolled over. “You’re very warm and nice to sleep on...”

With Nyssa’s proclamation, quiet laughs slipped through Celeste’s mouth as she used her sleeve to muffle the last bits of sound.

Nyssa was cute. Even when she wasn’t a cat.

---

“Yeah, man, you’re done.” Albion murmured to Conrad as they watched Nyssa doze off on Celeste’s lap. “Just give up, bro. Nyssa’s made more progress in a single day than you’ve made over the past year. You’re done.”

“I... am inclined to agree. I don’t think your chances are looking too great.” Titus lamented while giving Conrad a couple pats on the back. “I believe in you though, keep trying if she’s really the one.”

“Guys, don’t say this,” Conrad fell onto his hands and knees. “You have to believe in me, she’s the one! She’s my female lead!”

“This is exactly why you have zero chance with any girls.” Albion’s cold voice cut through Conrad’s desperation. “Absolutely lost any time a girl is within sight.”

“Hey, don’t be so mean,” Titus lifted Conrad back up to his feet. “Maybe Conrad can turn it around. Maybe Conrad hasn’t discovered that one... uh... what did you call it, Conrad? Dialogue option? That’ll ‘unlock the route’?”

“He’s done. Don’t give him hope like this. Don’t feed his ego.” Albion shook his head while crossing his arms. “Are we next though for power check-ups?”

“I think so...” Titus stroked his chin. He wasn’t going to say it out loud, but he cheered for those two! They reminded him of the first little sister he had—the older one of the two. She was trying to woo this girl in her class too!