I always did have a fear of repeating.
It wasn't just repeating a year in school because my grades weren't high enough to be promoted
It was also repeating sentences or even a discussion I'd had person with
a different person! Saying the same thing twice is frustrating.
Unlike most people my age who were dreaming of reincarnating, or regressing, when I die I want my soul to have eternal rest.
Because the thoughts of a 'brand new' life don't entice me. I'd rather watch how it all happened in a white room, through a monitor, alone.
"Is it 'hard' to do that?" I asked breaking out of my thoughts. Just willpower alone wouldn't help me ascend my magical limitations
"Not just hard? Impossible!" someone added
"Yeah, no one in the 4-year history of this school has ever done it before, same for other schools," they said trying to kill the notion in me.
But my thoughts wouldn't be swayed so easily when it comes to this.
"Then I'll be the first" I said straightforwardly
"Alright, then" one of them said, to which they all lost interest. If I knew them then they were probably thinking: let's not try to convince a crazy person.
While we were talking Mr. Klein came out from inside the building carrying a humongous amount of floor mats all stacked together in one hand, and a sack filled with unknown materials.
BOOM
That was the sound that was made when he set the sack down. Apparently what was in it was heavy enough to cause dust to rise from the collision.
"Risia, come help distribute these tools." He spoke to the green-haired girl.
I didn't forget she was the one who told me to get lost in the first place, I decided to just ignore her from now on, I had a goal now.
"Everyone arrange yourself in 10 columns and 10 rows and give a space of about one meter from each other.
"Everybody moved to their positions almost instantly except for Joshua who just lay on the floor. He seemed to be calm about it.
I meanwhile was ready to put in the effort to secure my graduation without
***Feeling restrained instantly.
Why won't you let me… work hard?
'What is this!' I felt very conflicted as if my emotions were splitting into two; one part wanted to join in on the exercises to gain strength while the other half was unwilling to, it spoke to the nervous side within me convincing me that it would just end up as another 'mistake' I'll end up making, convincing me not to do it
Never did I ever think I would be angry that I wouldn't be able to work. Was there something wrong with me?But what was strange was that I never felt so sure about any decision before, and besides, this was the only way to achieve my goal of graduating. But what other option was there I felt in my pocket for the item I received yesterday.
'He didn't really 'say' what it is, he just said to keep it near me when training. What a strange old man. But maybe I should go ahead and train. It was much better than standing here watching others gain while doing nothing.
'I feel my mood lifting as I'm presented with that option…
"Hey, Joshua Lancaster where do students go to train?"
"It's just Joshua, they go to the training halls. You don't know where?" he asked after correcting me on his name.
"Nope, it's my first day"
"Well, I'd have headed there anyways," he said plainly
"But, you're paralyzed, don't you usually need to sleep and wake up first?" I asked the first solution that came to mind.
"No, it varies, and besides Risia's Dustbunny thorn's poison doesn't last long. Ten minutes tops."
"Alright, when do you think you can be able to move" I urged
"Now!" he said using his legs to spring upwards like a wound-up spring, landing on his feet steadily see
"Let's go"
And we did, for about two steps before I remembered we didn't take any form of leave.
"Wait! Shouldn't we ask?"
"Nah, it's fine. It's okay as long as you don't skip entirely, our attendance was taken so we can leave."
I turn to look at Mr. Klein who is still demonstrating weird poses to students and notice he isn't paying attention to this place.'Alright' On the way there we discussed various things to pass the time. I asked why he was wearing that weird coverall suit over his uniform and why he was tranquilized, he explained how he got hit while trying to save me, causing the entire thing to become awkward. I told him honestly to look elsewhere, while he laughed bitterly. We were there, the place where I would begin training.
A roofless dome-like structure with a resemblance to a stadium was divided into five and color-coded just like everything else in this world. It was scantily filled with students.It was designed in a gradually elevating structure with an increasing amount of length from the center. There were some pads in each of the five regions arranged in rows with the center starting at five in a circle, to the ones where we were standing in the entrance regions set at up to five hundred in the last row.
We went to the blue-colored spot where Joshua walked up to some people that he recognized. Some of the people recognized Joshua and headed in his direction.
"What do you guys-"
"New student welcome!" they came up to me with excited faces.
"Hey, guys. How's it going" then we started trading some pleasantries while Joshua stood sulking.
It turned out they were there for me?
"Who are you guys?"
"We-" Their leader started
"They're playing hooky" Joshua interrupted
"Oh, look who decided to show up, halfway into the final year"
"I'll catch up to a loser like you in no time" Joshua quipped
"You're just a trash Space Mage, move aside so we can talk with someone who has actual potential
"Congratulations on winning this month's challenge for mages. What bad luck for those overall best students; for a new student that just happened to be a combat mage to arrive just when a big race was happening"
"I'm not a combat mage."
"You're not?"
"I'm a Space Mage, like him." I said motioning to Joshua.
"Then how?"
"I just started Training, but I'll catch up. 'Trash Space mage' or not"
He looked at me, then he looked at Joshua "Birds of the same feather do flock together. Let's go" he said as he left with his entourage trailing behind.
"Let's go, I'll show you how to train, as for your speed it'll depend on you"
"Okay, sit on one of those- hey are you listening?" he looked back at me only to find me focusing elsewhere.
I was looking at the middle five seats where four unfamiliar people sat. the figure that I was familiar with was the one in the white section wearing a silver robe with silver hair, meditating eyes closed. It was Zayn.
"Oh, what are you looking a-her!" he suddenly went to hide behind a tall person while looking over their shoulder at her.
Considering that he only came back today and saw the person who previously beat him up his reaction could be called mild.
"Is she looking?" he asked turned that way and noticed that all five of them were sitting crosslegged with their eyes closed like everyone else.
"No"
"Thank god, I don't want her to see me…"
I could already see that, what I didn't understand was what everybody else was doing.
"Those are the strongest present from each of the five. The seats they're on are of much higher quality that the other Training Pads"
"Are these people training?"
"Yes. You see these mats?" he grabbed one from the row behind him and pulled it out
It was attached to a metallic part that was hollow and had a tube that could be dragged from inside the floor of the Training Room.
"The science is that this set of simple machines release Energy whenever you sit on them, and if you're capable of absorbing it, your body just, absorbs it.
From there you lead it to your stomach area and your body knows what to do."
"Dude, are you sure?" I asked already starting to feel nervous.
"Yeah, it may sound like trash, but that's the same explanation my brother gave to me and it still worked out for me"
'Is he for real dude?'
But my curiosity eventually won against caution
As soon as I sat on one of the blue-colored square rugs I instantly felt something happening.
At the very moment that I sat on the pad, I felt a cool stream of liquid enter me. It was time to point out that the feeling of ethereal water can be extremely uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time.It was like instead of swimming in cool water or taking a refreshing shower ur roles were reversed!Imagine the feeling of having water move inside your abdomen but not feeling any interaction with you.
I opened my eyes which had now turned blue to see a blue stream of Mana entering my body before landing in a spot below the stomach and accumulating there.
"That's… very good. Keep it up, I can see your energy. Just a bit higher"
'Wow, it's so easy. I thought it would be harder' I thought in my mind before trying to control it upwards
All of a sudden the Energy stopped entering me.
"What the " the mana coming from the pad stopped entering me and started acting as if my body was an obstruction instead!
The feeling of it going inside me had stopped. Instead, it felt like my body was rejecting it instead, causing mana to spurt out from under me like a never before seen blue fart!
"What's going on"
"I don't know! I think mine is broken"
"Get up, let me try it" he stood up from his charger as I made way for him to sit on the one I just stood up from.Getting on it the energy that was previously blocked by me was easily absorbed by him with no wastage. We met eyes in that position
"I think, you may have a problem"
It was those words that I didn't want to hear, at all!