“Gwen, you are hit! You have to try again!”

Mystique’s voice sounded from the control room as Gwen was hit by a hologram laser on the obstacle course.

It had been a whole month since it had been revealed that Mystique was Kurt’s mother and she had accepted Professor’s offer to join the X-Men. She was released a week after that event although not without a bracelet artefact being clamped on her right hand which would constantly monitor her and could even release a shock attack through remote control.

Soon after she joined, she took over the training of the students. She was truly a hard master, often running all of us ragged in the danger room.

According to her, since we were going to participate in the missions, it was better for us to be fully prepared and trained so that we didn't risk our life in case anything untoward happened.

“It is just two difficult for me to run through the hologram obstacle course. The holograms do not give me a sense of danger making me unable to use my Spider Sense.” Gwen said as she failed the obstacle course once again. She had joined us today for the training as it was another Sunday.

“That is why I am making you go through the hologram obstacle course. You depend too much on your Spider Sense, making it impossible for you to take decisions in urgent situations. As such, you need to learn how to take urgent decisions without the help of your Spider Sense as it will not come in handy every single time.” Mystique advised.

“Now, go. Run through the obstacle course a few more times till the others come for combat training.” Mystique said.

She had also started giving combat training to us students so that we would not be without options in case a situation arose where our powers were not helpful.

After all, the mutant powers of some of us were just too powerful such as Scott’s energy beam while others just didn't have any combat applications such as Kitty’s phasing and Kurt’s teleportation.

“Hey, Peter! How is it going?” I was greeted by Emma who grabbed my hand in her arms as soon as she arrived in the control room. This girl was seriously getting more and more flirty as time went on.

“Oh! Hello, everyone!” Gwen also greeted everyone as he came out of the danger room after everyone arrived.

She had become quite fast friends with everyone as this was the first time she could be fully open with everyone without hiding anything. It also helped that everyone here had powers.

“Hey, Mum!” Kurt said, greeting Mystique.

“Are you really not having any problems from that artefact?” He asked, worried about her. Their relationship was now quite close, much different from their first conversation when they just new about each other. Much of this closeness was due to Mystique’s attempt to get closer to Kurt although there was still some awkwardness between them.

“Yes, there are no problems from the artefact. Most of the time I have not even conscious of the fact that it is a magical artifact. However, I am surprised by the versatility of magic. The sorcerers were able to make this small artifact just by embedding some runes on it. It honestly surprises me.” Mystique said, surprised by the ingenuity of magic.

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“You can think of the enchantment on the artefact like coding which guides the magical energy.” I explained after hearing her words.

“But I still don't get it at all. Then again, I do not know much about this part of magic. After all, I still have not learnt the Sanskrit language. I have to ask others’ help for it as even translation apps don't know about the variant of Sanskrit used in the books.” Kurt said, lamenting that he hadn't learnt the language yet.

“Speaking of learning, how are your studies going, Kurt? You know how much I had to hear from the teachers about your underperformance when I went to the Parent Teacher Meeting.” Mystique said, asking about Kurt's studies.

Mystique had accompanied Kurt to the Parent Teacher Meeting which was held last week. Kurt had been extremely happy to have his mother Mystique with him but that soon turned to horror when the teachers berated Kurt for his bad performance in his studies in front of her which had caused Mystique to be quite disappointed in him.

“They are going alright, I promise.” Kurt said resolutely.

“How is your artefact working, Rogue?” Mystique asked Rogue who had obtained the power resting artefact’s prototype which had been created finally just the last day.

As it was still a prototype, it was actually a whole set of artefacts instead of a single one. The set consisted of a choker on her neck, bracelets on both of her hands, a belt on her waist as well as leg clasps on both of her legs. The set was a little uncomfortable to wear but worked well.

“It has been working fine although its control over my power sometimes fails. You don't need to ask, however.” Rogue said in a sharp tone. Due to the past relationship between Rogue and Mystique, Rogue didn't like to associate with her.

But it seems that Mystique actually had some motherly feelings for her as you often checked on Rogue. Although Rogue didn't seem to like Mystique’s affection, she didn't rage against it. As such, the relationship between them was an awkward one.

“You don't need to worry, Teacher. Rogue is doing fine. See!” Kitty said, putting her arm around Rogue’s shoulder to show that the artefact was still working.

“Hey, at least be a little careful. You are just too lax, Kitty.” Rogue said to Kitty as she removed her hand from her shoulder.

“I know that you wouldn't harm me intentionally, Rogue. And besides, I can just phase through your body in case anything happens.” Kitty argued that there was no way she could be hurt by Rogue’s power.

“Alright, everyone. I will go as I have something to ask Mr. Hank. I hope the training goes well.” I said, bidding farewell to everyone.

As I already knew the Ta Lo martial arts and also trained regularly, I had no reason to join the combat training. As I had some free time recently, I was learning about tech and science from Mr Hank so that I could learn how to create various tech gadgets. I was thinking of creating enchanted tech but it would likely take a very long time before I could create one as it would require mastery in both science and magic.

Ring! Ring!

As I returned to the lobby, I received a call from Harry. Moreover, I could see many missed calls from him.

“Where were you, Peter? I was calling for a long time.” Harry asked as I picked up the phone.

“Sorry, I was in the basement. There is no network there.” I apologized for causing Harry needless worry.

“Anyways, MJ and her band have a concert in a club today. Wanna come? MJ has asked especially for you. Besides, we have not hanged out in a long while.” Harry asked.

“Of course, I would come. I have some free time these days anyway. By the way, Gwen didn't tell me about this even though she is currently here at the X-Mansion.” I asked, confused why Gwen didn't tell me.

“Oh, she is there for that training she had been offered, right?” Harry asked.

After that night patrol, MJ and Harry had also found Gwen’s identity as Spider Woman but they also supported her for doing this job of a vigilante.

“Maybe it just slipped her mind? You know how much busy she is, juggling the life of both a student as well as Spider Woman. Combine that with the band, she just has no fucking time for herself.” I guessed as it was indeed possible.

“By the way, can others also come?” I asked as I could also invite the others if they were interested.

“Of course, why not? The more, the merrier.” Harry readily agreed.

“Then, see ya later at night.” I said and ended the call.