Nova approached Rai's home, but before long, another explosion was heard.
『RAI! STOP USING MANA IN THE DAMN HOUSE!』[???]
Nova considered walking away at this point, but the door swung open and dust was pushed out.
Standing there was an older man around his late thirties, sputtering out dust.
He had spiky, short red hair and mature red eyes.
『*Cough* Ah? Nova, that you? Come on in!』[???]
『Eh..? Alright... Hi Mr. Lam.』[Nova]
Author note: (Because Mr. Lam doesn't have a house/last name, you would call him Mr. (First Name). So Rai's father's name is Lam.)
『Hahaha! Don't stand on ceremony! Call me Uncle Lam!』[Mr. Lam]
『U-uh. Okay, Uncle Lam.』[Nova]
『Good! That's more like it. Rai! Nova's here!』[Mr. Lam]
『Nova?! Shit. Let me clean up!』[Rai]
Nova stood there with an awkward look on his face.
『Uh. Okay.』[Nova]
「Man. It's always lowkey kind of weird whenever Uncle Lam is here.」[Nova]
Nova sat down on their sofa while waiting for Rai.
『Rai! I'm going to go to work. I'll be back in a few hours!』[Mr. Lam]
『I told you that you don't need to do that!』[Rai]
『If I don't work, I'll die! Hahaha!』[Mr. Lam]
Rai finally came out of his room.
『He still insists on working even though all of our living expenses are paid for..』[Rai]
『Oh. Well, that seems just like him, huh?』[Nova]
Rai smirked.
『Yeah. That's him, alright.』[Rai]
『Oh. Yeah. How did you get all that information about all this mage stuff?』[Nova]
Rai looked at Nova with a blank face.
『Dude. Look at your texts.』[Rai]
『I didn't see any texts..』[Nova]
He pulled his phone out and opened up his messages only to find 2 unregistered numbers with a few hundred messages per number.
Rai burst into laughter.
『Damn! Okay! Your teachers are pretty clingy huh. How long did you leave them on read for?』[Rai]
『I.. Uh. Haven't opened this up at all.』[Nova]
Rai stopped laughing.
『...They're probably busting your door down right now.』[Rai]
『...Do you think they'll cover the repair costs?』[Nova]
Rai thought about it for a second before responding.
『... You want to go check?』[Rai]
『...Please.』[Nova]
---
Nova was walking back to his apartment with a strained look on his face.
『So, like I was saying- you should try the app! But more importantly, what did you mean by someone was in your house?』[Nova]
『Well, while I was sleeping, someone entered my room. And my seed ability is something called a Deific Manifestation or something, which means that there is some spirit or something inside of my tattoo.』[Rai]
『Also, how did your dad react about the tattoo?』[Nova]
『Well, first of all, he beat my ass. Second of all, you should be worrying about if someone is watching you sleep.』[Rai]
『Well. I guess...』[Nova]
『Anyway, the spirit in my tattoo told me about it when I woke up.』[Rai]
『Oh. Does your spirit have a name?』[Nova]
『Well, I tried to name him Volknir, but he wasn't okay with it at all.』[Rai]
『That's a stupid name. Then?』[Nova]
『Well he's a red dragon… so..』[Rai]
『So what?』[Nova]
『I popped red dragon into a translate app and..』[Rai]
『NONONONO.』[Nova]
『Zhulong. That's his name.』[Rai]
『...Well, Zhulong probably thinks you're an idiot.』[Nova]
『He was actually okay with it. He said, "at least it's befitting of me."』[Rai]
『Really? Well, if the red dragon says so.』[Nova]
Rai's tattoo suddenly glowed red, before quickly losing color again.
『He said "Nice to meet you".』[Rai]
『Oh. Nice to meet you too, Zhulong.』[Nova]
The tattoo glowed red again.
『Hey! Shut up, stupid red noodle!』[Rai]
Nova stared at the tattoo in visible confusion.
『What'd he say?』[Nova]
『He said if I was a stronger host I could've just summoned him and let him talk to you directly.』[Rai]
『Is he wrong?』[Nova]
『Shut up.』[Rai]
Nova laughed hysterically.
「His own dragon is making fun of him! Pfft!」[Nova]
『Yeah, yeah. Shut up. What can you even do?』[Rai]
『Well, what can you do?』[Nova]
Rai looked irritated.
『I refuse to show my hand.』[Rai]
『Then you'll see when we end up having a spar!』[Nova]
『You're on!』[Rai]
The two were having a good time, until they heard a few explosions.
『NOVA! WHERE ARE YOU?』[Sarena]
『Oh. I'm.. screwed.』[Nova]
---------
Nova and Sarena sat at his table, with complex expressions on their faces.
Rai sat outside, with the door that was pulled off the hinge.
『So you're telling me you didn't text back, despite Rai telling you to?』[Sarena]
『I… was walking back home!』[Nova]
『You should've done so first! I thought you died!』[Sarena]
『Why? I was just relaxing with Rai.』[Nova]
『Why? You're going to ask why? There was a BLOODY EXPLOSION in the front of your home!』[Sarena]
『Oh. Yeah. I was trying to circulate my mana while moving around.』[Nova]
『You... What? You're supposed to learn that in the academy! Stop being so reckless!』[Sarena]
『But teacher... You can't expect for me to not use my mana after I got it..』[Nova]
『But nothing! Stop being a thorn in your parents' side!』[Sarena]
Nova's expression turned downcast.
『..My parents aren't here.』[Nova]
『Really? Then where are they? I want to talk to them.』[Sarena]
『My mom disappeared a long time ago. My dad works far away, and I lost contact.』[Nova]
『... I see.』[Sarena]
She looked away for a moment with a look of remorse.
『Go clean yourself up, there's still dirt all over you.』[Sarena]
『Alright, teacher.』[Nova]
He got up and went to the sink.
He washed himself clean and returned to the table.
Her eyes were a bit red and puffed up.
Nova took heed of this and smiled.
「Just like teacher Oswald.」[Nova]
『It's okay. I'm sure I'll find them someday. That's why I want to become a mage.』[Nova]
『...Good. I'll teach you everything you need to know, Nova. 』[Sarena]
Nova smiled.
『Thank you, Miss Sarena. 』[Nova]
『Mm. Remember to text and call me and Oswald. We're always going to be here for you.』[Sarena]
Nova didn't say anything. He just smiled.
And then he got another text.
From Oswald.
----------
After Sarena confirmed that Nova was alive, she left him with a simple "Bye Nova", and repaired the door as she left.
Rai and Nova were currently going through the hundreds of texts that he received from Oswald.
『Okay, so at first, it was pretty normal. It started with "I will be busy with something until our next training session, so forgive me for neglecting you". 』[Nova]
『Then it became less of him neglecting you, and him spamming you.』[Rai]
『I've got some pretty dotey teachers.』[Nova]
『Wait, let me see Miss Sarena's messages!』[Rai]
『Oh. Okay, lets go.』[Nova]
Opening up her contact, he was exposed to a long string of "Nova".
『What the...』[Nova]
『Scroll up. What the..?』[Rai]
It started off with her messaging him with tips, then about not slacking off, then gradually her getting more and more concerned.
『Then she showed up in real life.』[Nova]
『I don't know which one of us has it worse.』[Rai]
『Hanzo is your teacher, right? Do you also have 2?』[Nova]
『Sheesh. He's an alright teacher, but the other one is the bad one.』[Rai]
Nova's interest was piqued.
『Who are they?』[Nova]
『So I needed a special trainer for my case- and in this case, she is a literal demon.』[Rai]
『So she's a strict teacher?』[Nova]
『No. She's actually shy half the time. But she literally becomes a demon.』[Rai]
『I want to see. She can't be that bad.』[Nova]
『...You're twisted, you know that?』[Rai]
『No, I'm not THAT bad.』[Nova]
Rai stared blankly, before sighing.
『..You're in luck. Our 3rd week of training is a co-op training because Hanzo and Oswald made a bet.』[Rai]
Nova's smile gradually grew.
『..Sweet.』[Nova]
『Shut up, sadist.』[Rai]
『Anyway, want to share some pointers?』[Nova]
『Sure. Although, Hanzo told me that I had a special training method that was exclusive to me.』[Rai]
『Oh. I do too. I'm pretty sure that you get a training method that's exclusively the most efficient for you. Different people need different things.』[Nova]
『Alright, so what can you do?』[Rai]
『I was just practicing this on the way to and back from your house, but I can circulate my mana while walking around. 』 [Nova]
『I have a method for that too. Watch this.』[Rai]
Rai flexed his point and middle finger, and a light blue aura faded in and out.
『Okay.. So what does that have to do with it?』[Nova]
『Quiet. I'm not so good at mana control yet- I have to make this precise.』[Rai]
After a brief moment of silence, a fine needle of mana condensed between his fingers.
A second later, he used it to poke himself on his left chest.
『Woah! What are you doing?!』[Nova]
『Watch.』[Rai]
A moment later, his body seemed to change in color. His skin quickly changed to a shade of red, and cracks seemed to emerge from where he poked himself.
『What is this? Your seed ability?』[Nova]
『No. It's a technique Hanzo taught me. I stimulate the area above my heart with a needle of mana, which causes my mana to constantly circulate at a high speed while drawing mana from the surroundings, and my body to toughen up.』[Rai]
『That's… overpowered. There's gotta be a catch.』[Nova]
『Yeah. It makes me drain my calories insanely fast, and my mana won't regenerate afterward for a while due to my mana veins clogging from the sheer amount of mana- slowing down the speed of my circulation to basically a standstill.』[Rai]
『Alright then! But I can take advantage of that, you know. I thought you said you weren't going to show your cards?』[Nova]
『You think I can use that in battle with my mana control? You saw me try to use it. Not to mention, if I use it and the form wears off, I'm totally screwed. It's a last resort.』[Rai]
『Alright, that's fair. As for me, I think I'll just stick to making my mana regenerate and circulate normally. 』[Nova]
『Well, it's kinda not an option for me. I'm more of a melee up in their face fighter. And my mana control sucks. I was told that the type of mana user I am is "Acuqi" user. It's kinda based off of House Lin's Qi concept and acupoints, which means I stimulate my certain places with precision to change how my body reacts.』[Rai]
『So, your style is very similar to House Lin?』[Nova]
『Apparently, I'm very similar to a past warrior that disappeared a long time ago.』[Rai]
『Wow. That's cool. Now, what are you going to do when this wears off?』[Nova]
『You got any food?』[Rai]
Nova pulled out his phone.
『You feeling up for House Lin's lunch menu?』[Nova]