"Ether blasts?" Marcus asked curiously. "Ok, how do I do that?"
"It's simple." Officer Volkov said with a chuckle, "Instead of pushing the ether towards its destination, you gather it, like this."
Officer Volkov held out his hand, showing his palm to Marcus.
Slowly a faint spiral of ice began swirling in his palm. The spiral grew larger the faster it began to spin, and then the spiral began extending vertically until a smooth, uniform icicle formed barely hovering above his hand.
Marcus watched in amazement, he was speechless. The process looked so complex and intricate, almost like it was magic.
"You call that simple?" Marcus asked in amazement, "That's so cool man, no pun intended."
Officer Volkov chuckled as he averted his gaze, "Well, it's simple enough." He then took a deep breath, before firing the icicle in the air at a high velocity. "Let's just hope that we didn't hit a bird." Officer Volkov joked.
Marcus chuckled nervously, his excitement growing exponentially. "Cool, cool," Marcus affirmed, closing his eyes and holding out his palm.
"Now, focus on that same warmth again, but this time instead of letting it flow constantly to your hand, gather it in your palm, picturing it spiraling, controlled, and uniformed."
Marcus nodded, taking a deep breath to help concentrate. He visualized guiding the ether from his chest and gathering it in his hand. He pictured it spiraling, swirling in his hand in a controlled manner.
He suddenly began to feel a warm sensation in the palm of his hands, Marcus opened his eyes, staring down at his hand in amazement. There was a small spiral of silver light spinning in his palm.
"Let's go!!!" Marcus exclaimed joyfully before the spiral quickly dissipated. Marcus sighed as he shook his hand to bring it back.
"You're so impatient, Marcus." Officer Volkov commented with a chuckle, "But you seem to be picking up my lessons fairly quickly."
Marcus unknowingly grinned. "Yeah." Marcus said, nodding his head, "But it really takes a lot outta you, my chest is heating up."
Officer Volkov nodded. "It's to be expected, but as long as you're not feeling it on the regular, then I'd say you're fine."
Marcus nodded. "So do I just try again?"
"That's what we're here for Marcus." Officer Volkov said with a chuckle.
Marcus nodded, closing his eyes and preparing to attempt the process again. He followed the same path as before, concentrating all his focus on moving the ether flow.
He soon reached the same point as before.
"Good, now focus and keep it steady." Officer Volkov instructed.
Marcus obliged, his focus unwavering. He continued to gather and condense the ether, feeling its power and warmth circulating in his palm. The more tangible the ether became, the more determined Marcus got.
Eventually, an orb of silver light emerged from the spiral. Its shimmering silver glow was a beautiful sight to behold.
"I did it!" Marcus exclaimed victoriously, showing both Luna and Officer Volkov his hand.
"Impressive." Officer Volkov said with a smile, "But can you fire it with intent?"
Marcus raised an eyebrow, "fire with intent?" He asked curiously, tilting his head.
"Yeah, like firing a weapon." Officer Volkov explained, walking to Marcus's side.
He then held out his arm, facing his palm to an open area, "Let's do it together." Officer Volkov said with a grin.
Officer Volkov closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, "gather your ether into your palm." He instructed as a spiral of ice began forming in his palm.
Marcus nodded as he copied him, gathering his ether into his palm, a silver spiral of ether forming.
"Now concentrate on condensing that ether, forming it into a projectile." Officer Volkov instructed as the spiral of energy in his palm began forming into an icicle.
Marcus nodded, condescending his ether into a silver sphere of energy.
"Excellent." Officer Volkov commented, "Now the hard part, firing the projectile." He said with a challenging grin.
"I'm ready," Marcus replied, his eyes burning with determination, he was going to harness this power, that much was clear to him.
"Alright then." Officer Volkov replied, "To fire the projectile, you need to do two things in quick succession."
"first push as much ether as you can to your palm." Officer Volkov instructed, the icicle in his hand began spinning rapidly, like a drill.
"then cut off its supply." Officer Volkov instructed, "And if you do everything right, it'll fly right outta your hand like a rocket." As the last of his words left his mouth, the projectile shot from his hand like a bullet, smashing into a nearby tree.
The projectile went clean through, allowing anyone to see directly through to the other side of the tree.
"Sweet Jesus!" Marcus exclaimed in disbelief.
Officer Volkov chuckled nervously, "That, that was overkill."
"Understatement, that is an understatement," Marcus said with an impressed chuckle.
Officer Volkov rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "Well, let's see what you got Marcus, hit me with your best shot."
"Nice," Marcus commented with a chuckle, he then turned his attention to the same tree Officer Volkov had shot.
He poured an ample amount of ether into his already-formed projectile, and then he immediately stopped the flow, picturing himself turning off a valve.
Suddenly, the sphere of ether is his had shot off like a rocket. A trail of silver embers followed behind it like a tail.
It smacked into the tree with a hard thud, before quickly dissipating into a puff of silver smoke.
"Bruh," Marcus commented as he lowered his arm.
Not only was his projectile not as powerful as Officer Volkov's, but it didn't even go through the tree, just leaving behind a decently sized-crater.
Officer Volkov chuckled, a proud smile on his face. "Oh Marcus, you're a greedy one aren't you?" He asked teasingly.
"If it's greedy to want progress, then call me a fat ass, because I wanna EAT," Marcus exclaimed, patting his stomach with a grin.
"Oh no," Luna mumbled with a sigh. "He really is taking after Felix."
Officer Volkov laughed heartedly, covering his mouth in an attempt to quell his laughter. "Marcus, is patience not in your vocabulary?" He chuckled between words.
Marcus shrugged. "The last person to call me patient was my doctor." He commented.
Officer Volkov chuckled once more, "god, you really are something."
He then clapped his hands together, "But I like it, so let's start again from the top."
"Right!" Marcus exclaimed with a giddy grin.
Marcus spent the remainder of the day practicing.
He repeated the same motions, moving ether through his body until he had a firm grasp of its flow.
As the evening neared, Marcus's control over ether had grown progressively proficient. His projectiles becoming increasingly controlled and uniformed, along with his partial transformation ability, becoming more or less second nature.
By the end of the session, Marcus had basic mastery of his partial transformation abilities, along with a firm grasp of ether flow and ether blasts.
"You've excelled today Marcus, it takes some cadets days to learn what you did in hours." Officer Volkov explained, his face beaming with pride, "I'd say it'll take a little more than a few weeks to teach you flight and teleportation, then we can work on refining your skills over another month, so we could be done with your training in about two and a half months."
"That sounds like it's going to be a drag," Marcus said with a sigh, dropping his shoulders in disappointment.
Officer Volkov's eyes widened. "A-are you serious?" He stammered, "Flying alone takes two months to master, some officers still can't properly fly, draining most of their ether within an hour."
Marcus slightly widened his eyes in surprise. He wasn't aware that flying was such a difficult task, but as he thought about it, the more it made sense.
Flying requires a constant supply of ether, so the longer you do it, the less you have, so the problem comes from efficiency or the lack thereof.
Marcus opened his mouth to apologize but was cut off by the appearance of Sang-hee slowly approaching them, she was dressed in a medical gown and rubber shoes.
"Sang-hee." Officer Volkov called out to her. "It's good to see you survived the procedure, but if I'm not mistaken, you should have been out earlier."
Sang-hee sighed deeply as she rubbed her tired face. "They held us back because a few cadets had a bad ether shock, about five of em' are gonna die, the rest of us were dismissed after a while."
Her tone was dry and emotionless.
Officer Volkov's expression turned sympathetic, "I'm sorry to hear that, must've been traumatic for you."
Sang-hee scoffed, "I don't give a damn about them." She said bluntly, before glancing at Marcus, "hell, I had my hopes you'd die too."
Marcus had felt sympathetic about what Sang-hee must've gone through, but now his hatred for her returned with a wave.
"Fuck you!" Marcus shouted. "Because I was hoping you died too, you overgrown oak tree, I would've danced on your fucking grave!"
"Marcus!" Officer Volkov shouted at him angrily, "That is your fellow cadet and you will treat her with respect!"
"Lecture her!" Marcus exclaimed, "She started this mess!"
"Aww, are you gonna cry again?" Sang-hee asked mockingly. "Maybe your boyfriend will come rushing to save you again."
Marcus huffed as his eyes widened with rage, he quickly pointed his palm at Sang-hee, charging an ether blast. "You talk all that crap, but are you afraid to die you bitch!"
"Marcus!" Officer Volkov exclaimed in disbelief. "That is a class three offense, I will have you punished if you go any further!"
"Shoot me!" Sang-hee shouted, pointing to her forehead, "I ain't going nowhere boss!"
Marcus's palm trembled, the silver ether enveloping his hand growing more fierce and dangerous by the second. Marcus grunted, every find his being was begging him to shoot her, his energy crackling and swirling with intensity.
Officer, Volkov stepped in front of Marcus, giving him a stern look as he stood directly in the crosshairs of Marcus's shot. "Stand down." He commanded, "I will not let you commit an act of treason for such pettiness."
Marcus' eyes flicked between Officer Volkov and Sang-hee. He didn't want to shoot her, he just wanted to scare her into submission.
But her defiance even in the face of death frustrated him to no end.
He didn't know why Sang-hee antagonized him so much, he hadn't even done anything wrong to her, yet her bullying persisted.
"Think about how ridiculous you're being right now, threatening to kill a girl who just got back from a tragic experience, are you really going to kill her because she insulted you?" Officer Volkov asked, his voice softening, yet still firm.
Marcus's gaze locked onto Sang-hee, she smiled mockingly, her eyes illuminated with glee.
Her taunts and mockery echoed around his mind, angering him, he wanted to get rid of her so badly.
But he didn't.
Instead, he simply took a deep breath and fired his ether projectile into the air. It continued flying higher and higher until it became nothing but a blimp in the sky.
Officer Volkov sighed in relief, he approached Marcus and put a hand on his shoulder, grabbing it firmly.
"You're a good kid, but you have to control yourself, otherwise you're nothing but a rouge weapon, do you understand?"
"Yeah," Marcus replied with a sigh.
"Ha!" Sang-hee laughed mockingly. "I knew you didn't have the balls to do it!" She said joyously, crossing her arms as he stared him down with a victorious smile.
Marcus took a deep breath, before gently placing his hand on Officer Volkov's shoulders.
"I believe in equal rights for all." Marcus said, breathing deeply through his nostrils, "old people, kids, even women."
"Marcus what are you–"
"I will fight her," Marcus said bluntly.
Officer Volkov sighed deeply, "Just let me handle her Marcus."
He said with a determined expression, "I want you to talk a walk, clear your head a bit, practice will be tomorrow at seven."
"Fine," Marcus said reluctantly, releasing offensive Volkov from his grasp.
He then turned his attention to Luna, who had been quietly watching the situation with a glare directed at Sang-hee. "Come on Luna, let's get back to the dorms."
Luna hesitantly nodded before turning her back to Sang-hee, upon returning to Marcus's side, she grabbed his hand tightly. The duo then took their leave.
"Run away from your problems boss!" Sang-hee called out with a laugh. "It's what you do best!"
Marcus bit his bottom lip so hard it bled.
He continued his walk, knowing the moment he turned back, he'd lose it.