Crystal: “Sorn! Sorn!”

When Sorn opened his eyes, he was standing in the same place. Crystal was directly in front of him, waving her hand in front of his eyes. The green wisps around his limbs earlier were still flowing seamlessly.

Crystal: “Finally back?”

Sorn: “What just happened?”

Crystal: “That’s what I’d like to know. After that green stuff started coming out of you, you completely zoned out for about five minutes.”

Sorn: “I have no clue.”

But he did have a clue truthfully. The vision he had just had was still apparent in his memory. He contemplated briefly explaining it to Crystal, but he decided not to. He didn’t like the idea of him taking someone else’s power to accomplish a goal. He wanted others to view him as responsible for his own achievements.

Then he noticed two girls standing alongside Crystal, looking at him curiously.

Sorn: “Who are these two?”

Crystal: “Oh! Sorn, meet the Gui Twins, Aria and Aira. It appears Aira had an interest in your power.”

The two sisters had a curious look about them. Their faces were exactly the same, but their style made it very easy to tell them apart. One had a short bob cut that didn’t make it past their neck with a strange green circular pin in their head, and the other had simple pigtails that went down to her waist. The longer haired girl had a ferocious look about her, biting her nail as she glared at Sorn with a distaste he didn’t feel like earned as of yet. The other however, had a genuine look of intrigue and in their eyes. He didn’t know which was in Aira or Aria, but he offered a handshake to the safer option anyways. As his focus was lost on himself, the green wisps faded away into nonexistence.

Sorn: “Um, nice to meet you. Anything I can-“

The girl he was speaking to flinched backwards. At the same time, her sister slapped his hand away angrily.

Long Hair Twin: “Don’t talk so casually to my sister like you already know her.”

The short haired twin tapped her shoulder. They were the same height (decently below the average), but one presence was clearly far larger. She proceeded to generate ice, forming it into strange shapes in front of her. Seeing these, the longer hair twin sighed.

Long Hair Twin: “No, it’s not okay. This is why we should have done the same thing as the others and kept our distance from the start. Why would you want to interact with someone so shady? And a Marauder at that? Come on, let’s go.”

Grabbing her arm, she dragged her sister away. While she was being dragged, she waved a goodbye in Sorn and Crystal’s direction. Crystal happily waved back, with Sorn awkwardly raising a single hand, not quite knowing what to make of this interaction.

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Crystal: “Don’t mind them. Aria might be aggressive at times but she’s much better when you get to know her. When it comes to her sister she can be a bit-”

She leaned to her side, propping her arms up to shrug as though it was self explanatory. Sorn’s curiosity wasn’t satisfied however.

Sorn: “Why was she so protective?”

Crystal: “Aira was born deaf, and their single mother has been ill since they were children. Our people cannot stand imperfection so Aria sees the world as her enemy. When she sees you, an outsider, being accepted with no sacrifice, she cannot help but feel frustrated by the unfairness.”

Sorn: “Are you their only friend then?”

Crystal: “I don’t know if we’re close enough to be ‘friends’, but we get along fairly well when we speak to each other. Anyways, it’s already been an hour.”

She gave a confident grin, taking some steps back and waving two fingers to beckon him.

Crystal: “Alright, come at me.”

Sorn: “Are you sure? I’d rather not hurt you.”

Crystal: “You’ve never fought before, and we only have four days. This is really the only thing you can do.”

Sorn was hesitant. He knew Crystal was strong but he was afraid she might be overestimating herself, and that he would hurt her.

Crystal: “Alright then. If you want attack me-”

She dashed at him faster than he could process.

Crystal: “I’ll attack you!”

The next thing Sorn knew, her shoe connected with his stomach as he was sent flying backwards into the snow for about twenty meters, rolling back into a meaty leg. Despite colliding at a high velocity, it didn’t budge. Perhaps it was actually a thick tree. Sorn looked up at Serene, staring down at him as the other Marauders around him were dying of laughter. Oden simply stood with them, grinning but seemingly deciding to leave Sorn to his own devices in this scenario.

Marauder: “Man! He can’t even beat that shrimp of a girl!”

Sorn wiped the blood from his face as he got back up. Despite the comment mildly annoying him, he couldn’t show disrespect to the people giving him hospitality.

Serene: “Why are you holding back?”

Sorn: “Huh?”

Serene: “Look around you.”

Sorn obliged with her command. In the distance, he saw the three Spears of the top fifty around the target practice area watching him like hawks. Farther away, he saw Toren and Neville sparring, their movements fast and deadly.

Serene: “The world won’t stop to wait for you to gain mental fortitude. Earn it yourself. In this land where rabid dogs are fighting to take you down, your only option is to fight harder than them. Do you think you’re doing that right now?”

Sorn: “No.”

Serene: “Do you believe you’re capable of doing that?”

Sorn: “Yes.”

Serene: “I look forward to your progress soon.”

The other Marauders had walked away, the conversation losing their attention in about three seconds. Oden, who had walked away with them turned and offered Sorn a nod of encouragement as Serene also joined them as they left the campus together.

Crystal stood in the same place where she had kicked Sorn before, her hands rested behind her head as she stretched out her shoulders while waiting.

Crystal: “Finally ready?”

Sorn: “Ready to rip off that arrogant smile.”

Using his power was like holding his breath. In a normal state, he would be breathing naturally. Likewise, there were no wisps around him. When he did use them, similar to holding one’s breath, the process felt unnatural. Easy in the beginning and progressively harder the more time it goes on for.

Focusing on the wisps around his legs, he compressed them like a spring before letting it go, propelling himself forwards. His velocity was at a rate that far surpassed him fighting Toren, he could hardly control himself as he closed the distance between himself and Crystal in a mere instant.

Crystal: “Wow, that’s pretty fast.”

He barely managed to hear this as she was just as suddenly in midair, grabbing the top of his head, slamming him downwards face first into the snow below.

Crystal loomed over him, waiting for Sorn to get up. But he didn’t. So she leaned in a bit closer.

Crystal: “Um, are you okay?”

Sorn launched his leg towards where he heard the voice, trying to catch her off guard. She dodged it, moving her head to the side.

Crystal: “Well that’s not very nice.”

Sorn: “I didn’t know we have to be nice in a fight.”

Crystal: “I guess you’re right.”

He launched a series of punches at her, and she waved through all of them.

Crystal: “Is that the best you can do?”

Sorn: “Maybe.”

Clearly he didn’t have enough control of his power to brute force his way towards her. The best word to describe controlling the wisps would be shaky. He could contain it for short amounts of time, but he’d momentarily lose control in between seconds. This made his movements uncontrollable and predictable. Crystal could easily see the delayed movement before a punch and account for its direction. If he were to stand a chance he’d have to learn to control this power.

Or resort to other tactics.

Once Crystal dodged his final punch, Sorn put his foot into the snow, kicking it up into Crystal’s eyes before using a large burst of energy and momentum to ram his head into her ribs.

However, before he could connect, a powerful force hit him and his acceleration was cut short, and he fell to the ground. His wisps faded away as he no longer had the energy left to control them. Looking up, he saw Crystal, who had out her arms up to block his attack. And beside her was Keilan, his palm outstretched towards Sorn.

Keilan: “And just what do you think you’re doing to my kid sister?”

End.