3/22/54

ALEXANDER GALDUR

This is exhausting. Using new kinds of magic in ways that don’t come naturally or are at the very least unfamiliar are really draining. Being I had both found a way to utilize my dark magic in a safer manner as well as find a better application of my light magic, I had trained with those for most of the time. Though, while the light body is what seems to really be what my magic was meant for, it was still tiring using it.

It seems to not only put a strain on my magic but also the physical parts of me that were buffed. Turns out, filling your flesh with photons isn’t exactly what the human body was meant to do.

The dark magic was even more draining. My dark magic is supposed to manipulate the shadows into forming tendrils that can interact with the physical world, and they seem to want to stay within the wavelength of visible light. Using my dark magic to create tentacles of infrared shadows just doesn’t feel right, like trying to write with your offhand.

In addition, I still have to be careful with it, just in case anyone training has some magic to see or sense in infrared light. I have to regulate the intensity of the shadows, so they can better blend in with its surroundings.

When I wasn’t training with my new magic, I just did the basic exercises of creating things out of light to float in the air. I didn’t want to use the light body magic too much because when I’d want to see the results and effects of the magic, I would need to move around and exert myself physically, and everytime I did so, I could see Trainer Masako giving me the stink eye.

After repeated uses of my magic and sitting to let my magic recover, Trainer Masako called the end of the training, and we were all encased inside our own little boxes of dirt and earth.

Going through the motions, I scanned for the next objective, and I saw that now I had to learn how to throw hooks. Tapping on the engraving and going over to the explanation wall, I scanned over the directions. Basically, it was just a combination of an uppercut and a cross.

Getting into stance, I sent my fist out like I would a cross, pivoting on my right foot, but instead of a cross, I had it come in from the side. Completing the fist’s arc, I pulled it back into its home position. Now, time to do it with my off-hand.

First I was required to twist to my off-side, and when turning my body back to its regular orientation, I let my fist fly in a sidewards arc in front of me. From there, following the instructions, I pivoted on my left leg to curl my body even more to the right. Finally, I returned back to the normal stance, and listened to the satisfying noise of earth shifting signaling my success.

Now, what was next?

Looking at my tasks, I saw that I just had to complete twenty successful hooks for both my main and off-hand. While my body auto-piloted, I thought about how little I had to do. Don’t get me wrong, it was still tiring, but just like in physical training, it was again way less of what was needed before. Maybe Trainer Masako changed my combat training as well? Martial arts are physically demanding afterall.

Completing the practice with minimal mistakes, I moved onto the next goal. This one’s called “Slips.”

… What? That… I guess I’ll learn what that one’s about now. I opened up its instructions and quickly got excited. I was learning my first defensive—evasive—move!

Trying it out, I tackled the “slip back” first. Once I was in stance, I bent to the right and curled my body inwards. This made my torso go back slightly, curling away from where a jab would’ve struck. Attempting it again except slightly faster, I let my body slip down and back with ease. That… Felt pretty good.

I then attempted to “slip forward,” but I felt my stance shift a little. Taking a step back I looked at the wall, and in small parentheses, I saw instructions saying to keep your head within your stance, don’t go too far forward or back. Trying it again with this in mind, I completed that part, and as was routine now, I completed the next part of the training which was just practice.

At this point, I was getting pretty thirsty, though still not as much as I would have been if I wasn’t doing reduced exercises. Still, it would be nice to have a drink.

In response to my thoughts, a wall crumbled away to have a couple bottles of water drop in. Man, Trainer Masako was being generous even with the water. I bent down to enjoy the drink, realizing that I was actually pretty parched. It was while I was putting the water down that a thought caught in my mind: how did she recognize that I wanted water?

That… Is pretty disturbing. Does she… Does she have a magical item that can read her trainees' thoughts? Can she find out if I am a dark magician!? Should I run? What should I do? Should I fight? Should I… No, it’s fine. If she had something that could endanger my position, chances are I would already be put down. No, she most likely has a device that can detect her trainees’ thoughts about certain things like needing a break or water. Still, that’s unsettling and veering too close to the idea of mind reading.

Nervously looking around, I tried and failed to find some sort of device that might have been within my dirt-formed cubicle. Only dirt, rocks, and more dirt. Sighing, I went back to the checklist to move onto the next part of my training.

This one is called ”weaving” which I assume means it’s another form of evasion. I was only proven right when I tapped on the words. If the slip back and slip forward were to deal with straights and jabs, then the weave was to handle hooks. Depending on which side the hook was coming from, you would either duck beneath it and move to the slip forward position or slip backward position.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Pretty simple but pretty useful. Duck under the attack and wind up on the other side. Pretty easy and I completed it pretty easily. Just as I was preparing to start practicing weaving, the walls shook and crumbled before my very eyes.

This was… Quite a bit easier than before. It’s nice. Listening to the loud shouting of Trainer Masako to head to our respective arenas, I wound up in my area with a similar group structure of the muscular woman, the blonde-haired girl, Deimos and Max. I have a feeling that I’ll be seeing these folks a lot more over the course of my training.

Before we can begin, however, Trainer Masako announced something new, “Okay, as I think all the newbies have gotten pretty used to things ‘round here, we’ll be going back to combat with magic! Don’t die too quickly, newbies!”

While that was new and, admittedly, exciting, everything else was the same. As per usual, the blonde-haired girl reestablished the rules, and we went to the outer parts of the ring. With the countdown coming to an end, I watched, as always, Deimos, the blonde-haired girl, and the muscular woman leapt into the fray. There were a few unfamiliar faces who naïvely joined those three, and while they might have thought the rest of us being lackadaisy, we knew better. Soon, they would too.

Like before, the blonde-haired girl moved with speed on her side, only now she was being followed by chunks of metal. When she struck out with her palm, the metal joined her, impacting whoever's ribs they met with. While I watched her, I prepared for the inevitable of her beeline towards me.

… No. No I won’t. I’ve been letting her just go after me, not putting up a fight because I knew the result, but I’ve discovered a new way to use my magic. I can at least put up some of a fight.

While she made her way to me, eliminating everyone in her path, I poured light magic into my fists and feet. I didn’t need to try hard to move the magic, it willingly and excitedly raced into my body, ready to try out its power on the field.

As I watched her move as fast as ever, I prepared my stance, and doing as any sane person would do, I did not rush her. Instead, I went after some random guy. He noticed my quite literally flashy entrance and prepared his weapon. A fucking revolver. Pardon, what the fuck? I’m here learning boxing and ways to fire my fist off, and this guy here is learning how to fire his gun off.

This is unfair and, quite frankly, bullshit.

Before he can do anything with his Wild West-esque gun, I summon up a flash bang to blind him. The magic goes off without a hitch, and he covers his eyes slightly too slowly. A curse is shouted, and taking that as a sign of safety, I let my magically-enhanced legs send me soaring across the earthen floor. Before he can recover or react to the sound of my footsteps, I let out two jabs to his nose and a straight which goes slightly off mark and hits him on the side of the face.

He curses, again, and quickly evades using his own magic. He summoned up a ring of ice around him that he then slid on with professional grace. Meanwhile, I was left on the slippery ground without an idea of how to progress. I tried sliding my foot only to be left with a shooken balance. Panicking but also having a moment of genius, I summoned an extremely bright light that proceeded to excruciatingly slowly melt part of the area I stood on.

I kept it up, but the magic dissipated when I felt a sharp pain suddenly hit my leg. Looking down, I noticed a small little rubber bullet sliding around on the watery ice. Looking up, I saw the asshole holding his gun right at me. He shot me!

He readjusted his aim so the gun was pointing at my chest. Before, the light I summoned must have messed up his aim by not letting him stare at me too closely. Oh, so he didn’t like that? Well how ‘bout this!

I summoned a ring of lights around me. Neither one was super bright, but with their combined strength and the reflections from the water and ice below me, it would be enough to prevent high accuracy from him as well as a few bystanders.

Eh, it’s just collateral damage.

Holding up the light while he took wild potshots at me, I felt my magic draining at a rapid pace. I was holding up both the light body and all these little lights, but I felt I could hold out for a little longer. Still, I was starting to feel a bit woozy.

Finally, once the ice had melted enough, I could carefully shuffle my way through the slush. The man had stopped with the bullet storm, so he had either decided to preserve ammo, or he had stopped to reload. I wasn’t about to risk it on the former.

Dissipating all but one light, I quickly made another flash bang, and as soon as it went off, I started moving at a hurried pace.

He had clearly learned.

Remembering my tactics from before, it was only a couple of steps after I had released the flashbang that he had gotten a few good shots on the same leg he had accidentally shot before. It seemed he wanted to disable me before I could get close again.

It was working. Actually, it was working really well as I was limping now. It fucking hurt! I tried to put as little force as I could on that leg, that was until I heard the quick tapping of feet behind me. Chancing a glance over my shoulder, I saw the blonde-haired girl approaching rapidly. Before I could react, she was already there, and she was not happy.

Striking me in the back three times, she then kicked my legs out from under me, and with one final fuck you, she sent hunks of metal hurtling at me. They struck my lower back, except for one which somehow hit me on the back of the head. It rattled my brain, not enough to give me a concussion, but certainly enough to leave me dazed.

I glanced up seeing her smiling down at me, spite leaking from her expression, and something in me just switched. Forcing past the bruises and pain, I used my light-empowered arm to grab at her leg and pull her down to the ground with me. She slid rather easily, a large part of that due to the muddiness of the ground.

As soon as she began her fall to the ground, I gripped the ground with all the force I had and tried to tackle her out of the air. It worked with some success, and while on anyone else it would’ve failed because of how much heavier they would’ve been, she was only 4’11”. She ain’t that heavy.

With both of us being flung to the ground by my desperation, I let out my final struggle and act of resistance by sending empowered fists flying.