"No, that's wrong!"
My mom has gone full Spartan mode.
Days have passed and I was still learning everything I could about theories. Wind pressure, compression, molecules, gases, chemicals, heat, cold. Everything. And with every mistake that I made on the test, my mom would go off on me like this.
"Are you sure you got through highschool? Even a kindergartener would know about simple Mana Theory!" she said.
"Audrey, please," Gustave tried to calm her down. "The boy's not learning efficiently. Let's try to find another angle."
"No, stay the hell out of my way, Gustave!" she replied and sent a gust of wind that pushed Gustave a few good feet.
Now, Gustave was a really patient person. Maybe from living a long life or it was just his nature. But mom's push visibly annoyed him.
He dusted himself off and then stretched out his hand.
And at once, my mother was locked in place, unmoving.
"Gustave? What are you doing?" she asked with a grievous tone.
"An alternative way of teaching: showing instead of telling," he replied. Then, he turned to me. "Andrew, feel the mana around you. Around your mother. What are they like? How do they move?"
I hesitated. My mom was obviously pissed, but she didn't seem to be against the idea of teaching me this way.
So I closed my eyes and did as Gustave instructed. My Mana Circuits flared up, every inch of my body burned. And when I reached out my hand, I clutched onto something solid, like cloth. It was swirling, moving, twisting. Constantly. Unending.
"The mana it's... moving," I said. "Very fast."
"Good," Gustave said with a smirk. "Mana is energy, Andrew. Like electricity or heat, it constantly moves, constantly changes. And in the hands of a capable mage..."
Mom flicked her wrist and a sudden gust of wind burst around her. Gustave's grip was totally annihilated.
"Mana, like energy, can't be created nor destroyed. But it can be transformed," she said.
"Audrey, you're supposed to finish my sentence..." Gustave pouted.
"How the hell am I supposed to know that?" she replied. "Come on let's continue. It seems that your method works better for Andrew."
"As I said, everyone has different learning styles," he said. "And with Andrew, it seems to be through practice."
Unbelievable. When Gustave did that to me back in the charity event, I felt helpless and vulnerable. But mom simply transformed the mana around her into wind and wrestled control out of Gustave.
My heart beat faster. I was definitely learning from the best!
"Now," mom continued and pulled out a baton from her belt.
"Audrey?" Gustave asked nervously.
"What?"
"Why did you just pull out a weapon?"
"Well, we're teaching Andrew so that he can fight against strong opponents right?"
"Yes...?"
"So then isn't fighting the best way to teach him everything?"
At that, Gustave instinctively backed off.
"Audrey, I don't know how much you know about us, but our god doesn't condone violence."
"But it's not violence," she rebutted. "It's sparring. Sparring to teach a child how to fight properly so he doesn't die. Come on, ask your god. I'm sure he'll agree."
Gustave looked troubled. Mom can be quite pushy sometimes. Just ask our local grocery store.
He sighed and looked up. Then after a few moments, he sighed again.
"He said-" mom started.
"Yes, Audrey... He said yes," Gustave said in a defeated tone.
"Told you!" she said with glee and went into a fighting stance.
Gustave turned to me.
"Is she always like this?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Dad said she was crazier back in the day."
"Crazier, he said..." Gustave scoffed and raised his fist. "Fine then. Keep your eyes peeled and feel every energy in this fight. I won't be fighting more than I had to."
He said all that, but the battle lasted for days.
My mother, master of aerokinesis that she was, dominated the winds around her. She formed tornadoes at the snap of her fingers, removed air resistance to accelerate her movement, and even pulled oxygen out of Gustave's lungs at one point.
However, Gustave was just as masterful in manipulating mana. Unlike my mom's explosive and dynamic fighting style, Gustave's was more subtle and subdued. Everytime mom produced a spell, he would pull mana away from her, which weakened her winds. And when mom engaged him in close quarters combat, he would lock up or redirect the mana in her body enough so he can dodge or counterattack.
It was a battle of two masters. And soon, the battlefield has turned desolate. Mom ripped up everything with high-speed winds and Gustave changed the geography when he finally decided to follow my mom's intensity and hurled an entire tectonic plate at her.
Meanwhile, I just sat at a distance, trying to absorb everything I could.
During the third day of the battle, Mr. Han swung by.
"Hey, kiddo. How's it going?" he asked as he stepped through the portal.
I just gestured at the booming clash that continued in the meadows.
"What are those two old guys doing...?" he sighed .
"They've been at it for three days now," I replied.
"Are you at least learning something?" he asked.
I nodded. "But I think they've forgotten about me," I replied.
"Bah! Let those battle junkies duke it out. They'll get bored eventually." He then pulled out a stack of paper and gave it to me.
I raised an eyebrow as I accepted them. "What's this?" I asked.
"It's a list of criminals who are either dead or incarcerated," he replied.
My eyes went wide as I flipped through them.
"This many?" I exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yep! And there are some big players there too," he replied. "The feeding frenzy plan was working wonders in thinning the herd, but when word got out that you saved everyone from Mikail's bomb, a lot of people got scared of the SPD. So, a lot of them either joined a bigger group, gave up, or got arrested."
Yes, this is it! The plan's totally working. I flipped through the list with glee. This is the fruit of our labor! However, when I turned to Mr. Han again, his expression was anything but happy.
"Mr. Han? What's wrong?" I asked apprehensively.
He sighed.
"While we're making a dent on the underworld, many groups are starting to fight against the flow," he explained. "Criminals are making alliances, backdoor deals, or going into hiding. And everyday, everyone's biting off chunks out of the Rodriguez Cartel enterprise." He then took a seat beside me. "Minerva predicts that if this goes on, the Rodriguez Cartel would disband and a few crime organizations will rise to replace it."
At that, alarm bells rang in my head. Chakob's plan was mutually assured destruction. The Rodriguez Cartel would sacrifice itself to weaken the underworld enough for the SPD to swoop in and clean up. But if what Minerva's prediction was true, then could we say we succeeded?
I must've been wearing a complicated expression since Mr. Han put his hand on my back.
"The plan's still good, kiddo," he said with his usual comforting smile. "It'll just need a couple of extra steps. And good thing that we have a super-computer to find the best course of action for us."
"How's the Rodriguez gang? How's Maria?" I asked.
"They're fine," he replied. "Maria's busy with parenting Christina and the generals. And Chakob's helping us arrest a lot of criminals. I think he's actually having a bit of fun with it."
"I should be out there..." I sighed.
"Don't go there, Andrew," he quickly responded. "Just focus on getting better and stronger. Believe me, you're more useful here than out there."
Mom and Gustave clashed again. Energy rippled across the planes and onto us.
"At least get as strong as those two," he chuckled. "Then we can talk about you getting out."
I scoffed. "If I get that strong, I'll be able to get out of this space myself," I replied.
"I believe you can do it," Mr. Han replied nonchalantly.
In all my years that I've known him, Mr. Han never said anything he didn't mean. Yes, he would joke around and mess with me from time to time, but he has never lied to me.
"If you say so," I chuckled. "Did you just come here to give me this?"
"Yep! And also to let you know that Chakob's going to sub in after these two finish teaching you," he replied. "I'm connected to this space now so just let me know once it's done."
I nodded in response and waved him goodbye as he entered through the portal once more.
Gustave and mom fought for two more day. And with no clear victor in sight, they just got sick of it, I guess. But fortunately, I learned enough from their mind rending fight to pass mom's written test.
"Finally, you're ready for the next step," mom said with a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile Gustave gave me a proud smile as he pulled out some box out of thin air and gave it to me.
"Congratulations," he added.
I raised an eyebrow and gingerly opened it. And to my surprise and amusement, it was the same toy hammer that Luigi and I used at the charity auction.
"You've learned enough theory," mom said. "Now all that's left is to put it into practice."
"That's right. And your teachers should arrive soon," Gustave said as he peeked at his watch.
Then as if on cue, Mr. Han's portal crackled open and six individuals walked through. The five I recognized to be Chakob, Maria, Mateo, Alejandro, and surprisingly, Rico. They wore matching jerseys, signifying that they were ready to sweat.
I narrowed my eyes to focus on the sixth sillhouette. A female Orc whose age was unidentifiable just from a single glance. She wore a wrap around her breasts, her hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore baggy pants with Chinese influence like Mr. Han's.
"Hello, hijo! You finally passed," Chakob exclaimed with his usual boisterous laugh. "I see you got your hammer. Good. You'll need it for your next course with her."
On Chakob's cue, the woman stepped forward and crossed her arms.
"Good to finally see you, son-in-law. Name's Shel, Chakob's wife. And I will make sure you become man worthy of my daughter."