Rei finished his training once again as he got better control and understanding of his own and others prowess. It showed a lot of better results than the one from a week ago as now he could amplify and control Erika's water manipulation and Hinata's wind control, although he still couldn't combine them due to his own control. Ever since he had told this new thing about himself with the school nurse, he had to experience the once horrific tests again as he went through it with horror. His new registration towards his prowess had leveled him up the same as Rinka except he still needed more experience to overcome her level or her overall status. He needed a new name for his prowess however since he could now use another person's prowess without needing them activating it while only using his memory to mimic it. He came up with the names such as Aura Control and Aura Materialization although Eunji shot him down when he asked her opinions on it while still keeping it a secret from them except the headmaster since the upcoming event is soon to follow.
"Let's go…" he hyped himself up in the training room of his extracurricular classes after being able to finish another paperwork. He focused on trying to perfect the combination part as the water manipulation and wind control prowess started to mix together. His mana reserves were almost depleted but he still pushed himself to try and get the result. There with the newly fused prowess with a chill sphere with small glaciers manifesting in his palms and the ground where he stood. "Ice Release: Glacier bullets." He uttered while forming a finger gun with his right hand as he pointed at the target in front of him. A glacier-like bullet with a sharp end as it immediately hardened before projecting itself onto the target. Instead of hitting through it, instead it broke on impact as Rei immediately depower himself to not overextend himself except the anomaly that's naturally healing him with his near emptied reserves.
While he took a quick break, he practiced on using the scythe he had received from his seniors. Eunji and Rinka gifted him a unique looking scythe due to its decoration over the hilt and the blade itself. The handle with a unique texture of what seemed to be scales of a dragon that's glued together then the extra sharp like fangs connected to the bottom in an angle that wouldn't harm him but on an enemy that he can injure. The blade itself is unique to its shape as it appeared with a double edge blade which looked similar to a bill hook although the supposedly normal cutting directed had serrated sharp edges that shaped like a small fang while the opposite side had markings of what seemed to be a rune language which Eunji had translated for him which is called 'Flame Blessing'. He adored the weapon as he tested how to use it efficiently in combat or easy maneuvers for different methods of subduing something.
He jumped to a nearby wall after powering himself up to boost his physical attributes before hooking himself onto a pole connected to the wall. He pulled himself up as he immediately unhooked himself before pushing away from the pole by kicking with his left foot to boost his speed before making a stance to slash the target dummy in front of him. Immediately cutting the dummy in three pieces with the head and upper torso falling off after he landed behind it with his scythes to his respective left and right side from how he had first held it. "Holy shit. That's cool." Hinata's voice appeared from the back as he turned around and saw her carrying a bottle of water along with some food. "Hinata? Why are you here?" He asked as he put his scythes back into his container which was also given to him by seniors.
"Just wanted to see if you're doing well. The others are busy with their own training and assignments but I'll do my training later since I'm taking a rest after a near burn out if it weren't for senior Rinka passing by to the headmaster's office." She answered as she handed him the stuff she brought. "Thanks…" Rei smiled as he took it from her as he ate for a while. He also talked with her between bites. They were discussing how one can use a prowess so differently yet how it could be similar to each aspect of another one that's highly visible of its difference. "I see barriers like prowess being the same from each person that I've seen and how they use it. It's so infuriating how they can't use it well by just placing a barrier physically within their vicinity when you could use it like a shield on the hand or wrap it around your body parts for heavy offense…" He grumbled loudly as he took a bite while Hinata looked amused at his rambling. "Do people just generally do that from your side? Just confine someone or just manifest it to protect themselves?" She asked as she enjoyed her time with him. "Yes! It's so annoying that they rely so much on their prowess and it's passive. It's clear that you can combine those two to make a good offensive attack!" He explained before drinking from his water bottle, Hinata staring at him being more interesting and entertained with his explanation. "Barrier like prowess doesn't only mean to make a wall or dome of protection but to make a shield or cover that you can use to projectile or to counter within close combat. Let's say making a barrier the size of a medieval shield. You can use that to deflect attacks while also being able to move around to dodge or counter them back!" He continued on as he mimicked what he was explaining to Hinata. "For their prowess passive? It's really simple. If it enhances strength? Then brute force with offensive non prowess combat. If it enhances body durability? Then good for tanking hits." He exclaimed as he sighed from his own frustration by remembering the memories of David with his prowess usage being mediocre compared to what he could do with it.
Hinata seemed to be interested in his thought process and discussion since he was the one who showed her how much potential she could do with her prowess. She was used to controlling wind by compressing everything she had gathered in one place before projecting it in the shape of a sphere like a bullet or just a mass compressed rotating sphere at Mach 3. Now, with Rei's advice and ideas developed to be able to let her slash things with her wind prowess by gathering all of what she needs to mimic a blade being thrown. She has two types of slashing techniques since there's a difference with what she had to accomplish. 'Sever' and 'Pulverise'. With 'Sever' it allows her to split things in half or any target she can cut and slash through by manifesting a slash like wind attack. On the other hand, 'Pulverise' is an extension technique or as sorcerers call advanced evolution techniques to the current one they are using. Her extension technique grants her to adjust the sharpness of her wind blade like ability which can cut through anything even if the object is solid, however this technique is more fatal as it cannot control how many slashes it can use since its primary purpose is to shred everything in its way despite the target. The main difference between the two is that one can adjust the target except the sharpness while the latter is the opposite and will appear as multiple slashes.
Due to Rei's explanation on its drawbacks, Hinata focused on mastering 'Sever' to be able to perfect the amount of sharpness she needed since she can't adjust the blade when manifesting the technique before being able to cut the target before her in half. It's complicated but it's worth the reward and effort for being able to have more than two projectile techniques especially since it also didn't need to be thrown as it can be used for direct contact uses with how she just needed to control the sharpness of the wind to be able to cut through. Ever since Rei had taught her how to use prowess efficiently, she has been trying to accomplish everything he had taught her along with some tips.
"Wind Release: 'Sever'!" She chanted as she palmed the dummy's chest area before being able to split it in half cleanly. "Finally!" Rei looked happy at her accomplishment while she was celebrating. "Congratulations… You got the technique down!" He patted her back before he gave her some advice. "Although, you should try diminishing the amount of mana you use while being able to split something in half with 'sever'." Hinata nodded her head at him before she threw herself at him as she hugged him tightly. "Thanks! I'll take your advice!" She said before she withdrew from him as she started to go on her way after saying their goodbyes to each other.
Rei started to focus on his own training as he powered himself up after resting for too long. Rinka's blood manipulation had a lot of opportunities to use them as he started to coat his scythes, the red liquid forming around the blade although it was a tiny amount as he dropped it. "Fuck… That would take a lot of mana… Would explain why senior Rinka was having trouble with that armor-like technique of hers…" He sighed before focusing on another aspect instead as blood-like needles started to form around him, all pointing at the dummy in front of him. "Mimicry Art: Bloody Needles." The needles immediately projecting to the dummy as it struck it deep at such an alarming speed while he dashed as fast as he could while using his dual scythes to execute it by slashing through the neck and the lower part of its torso. The divided dummy fell into the floor as he breathed heavily and looked back, his face and body language expressing satisfied remarks to the results of his work. He was proud of himself since he didn't need to copy a prowess as he was now able to mimic one through his memory and remembrance to the mana flow of each prowess usage.
He cleaned himself up afterwards in the shower room of the classroom which was divided with genders, luckily since his old school only had time schedules for each use between the two genders. Rei started to remember the such intimate encounter he had there with Sylvie since they were basically not just best friends but such best friends with benefits. He only started to think seriously about her ever since he adjusted to his new life at Kamigami Academy. "Sylvie…" he muttered to himself while drying himself off with a towel.
"Don't even start trying to relieve yourself here…" Keith muttered annoyingly through their mental link while Rei blushed as he responded back. "WHAT?! AS IF!! I'M NOT THAT KIND OF PERSON!!" Keith only smirked before teasing the poor male further. "Oh really? You only started to remember all those intimate stuff with Sylvie after being hugged by that pink haired cutie… Not that I blame you… How bold ~" His teasing made the poor boy blush as he tried to erase the perverted thoughts that were developing after he remembered the sensation of her touch.
"Fuck you. Perverted fucker." He grumbled through their mental link conversation as he added more. "The Fallen… Should've named you Fapping Pervert with that much fantasies of yours…" he said after shuddering uncomfortably with how much the guy commented through their mental link whenever he was near Eunji. Nasty comments such as "I wanna smother in those breasts of hers…", "Does she swallow or not?", "Does it bounce when she rides it?", "I wanna wrap those thighs around me…" and "Sit on my face.". His comments get more astounding each passing day which is why he requested for Ms. Eri to get a medication or method to be able to block some mental link through his current status although it's a complete failure after Keith basically just neutralizes the effects of such pills and talisman not seals that was implanted on him. It felt like he was stuck with a perverted being that either had no knowledge or limited knowledge ever since Keith always talked about Eunji.
"You know… instead of combining those two prowess after manifesting it both, why don't you just fuse it when manifesting it?" That single statement from the ancient being retracted all his statements about him. Why didn't he think of that? Of course, he didn't since he was used to trying not to drop the copied prowess in his arsenal when combining it while keeping in mind to using his spiritual energy to be able to hold his own reserves for long enough before switching to another one after dropping the copied ability he chose to swap it with another one to fill up the remaining reserves. "You know what… Thank you for once…" He muttered through their mental link before ending the conversation as he arrived at Erika's dorm room. Their earlier conversation through their chat log discussed that she needed his advice with her prowess but she couldn't go out since her reserves were taking too long to recover which Rei just suggested to let her activate her prowess while he copied it to just demonstrate it to her along with giving her explanation, tips and tricks for it.
When Haruki heard about it, he wanted to tease the two before Erika just basically almost drowned the poor boy by basically splashing his face non-stop with lots of water from her technique, if it weren't for Rei, Hinata and somehow Rinka who happened to passed by helped to separate the two. He still felt a bit flustered despite knowing it was just some school and prowess related stuff rather than some connection not relationship situation since he's not the type of person who could confess despite his situationship with Sylvie before which is all just friends and benefits they could ever occur. Even if he had fallen for someone, he rather take it to his grave than confessing since he already has a lot of things to deal with before all this especially with his recently deceased father's will of inheritance and trying to find out his mother's side. Although, there were no results of his search for his mother nor her side of the family. All he knew was that he inherited his prowess from her and the fact that she has blue eyes and straight black hair. His father always talked about how amazing her prowess was from being able to use such powerful abilities and how Rei is basically like his mother when it comes to using others' prowess and making creative ways to use it than the actual user instead.
Now he had one thing that struck his head ever since he started to think about his mother and the way his dad talked about her prowess. What exactly was his mother's prowess? His prowess allowed him to copy other's, amplify and combine what he had copied if the other party was using their prowess until now where he could mimic one without needing the other party to activate theirs, only if he knew how to manifest it and control it. Was his prowess the inferior version to his mother? Was it the reason why he still had some potential despite having good control and mastery over his prowess? He paused at his thought process as he thought of a name for his prowess. 'Aura Channeling.' It sounded nice and professional while also matching it with how his new techniques and usage works. Did his mother use to call her own prowess the same as the name he just used now or was it something else?
He knocked on her dorm as he waited for her. His mind kept straight facts rather than making a big deal out of it despite his inner emotions being flustered and shy which made him uncomfortable. The door opened as Erika emerged in casual clothing which consisted of an oversized hoodie and ringer shorts. Rei had to keep eye contact with her since he didn't want to make it uncomfortable for the both of them. "Ready?" He asked as he entered her room while she closed the door behind her. "Yup. So, tell me what I need to do. Teach ~" she responded back with a hint of light teasing at the end which made him chuckled. Rei immediately activated his prowess as Erika took the cue to follow as she activated hers.
Water manipulation. Her prowess allowed her to control water in any form or way she wanted depending on her creativity which is similar to Rinka's Blood manipulation except she doesn't have any extra organ like her. Her most commonly used techniques are 'Serpent's Fang', 'Water Bullet', 'Water Dragon', 'Water Spear' and 'Water Shuriken' which are all offensive attacks. Due to her usage, mana output and reserves except for sorcerer experience, she's ranked as a low end B-rank which is not bad except she knows that she's lacking with her usage. Rei listened to her explanation of each technique.
Serpent's Fang allows her to summon a fang of a serpent before throwing it as hard as she can onto the target. The water bullet is basically like Hinata's wind bullet except she shoots out the bullet from her mouth in high pressure. Her water dragon is most outstanding compared to the other two which is basically like Rinka's except she can't maintain it for too long and is needed to projectile it to the target at high speed. She can manifest a dragon which allows her to destroy everything in its path depending on how much she poured her mana into the technique. He noticed that most of her techniques are all offensive and projectiles which is why she needed his help to know her full potential.
"Erika. You said your prowess allows you to control water in any form or way depending on your imagination right?" He asked before she nodded her head as she waited for his criticism and advice. "The thing is you can make some defensive or passive techniques from it like a water wall and a wall made out of a strong whirlpool to act as both defense and offense." He explained as he formed a whirlpool with low output to not get anything wet around them. "And for some instances… you can try covering your body parts with water to act as a defense of using the water to slow someone out… It's like trying to run away from a strong current except you keep on getting pulled." He demonstrated as he put a piece of paper as it continued to move along with the current which awed Erika with his use of her own prowess.
Erika wanted to immediately do it but Rei shot her chance down since it will take a lot of mana which she won't dare to try having the experience of a burn out. Hearing from his own experience already made her shiver at the thought of being close at death's door nor crippled for life. Rei guided her on how to use her prowess more properly than how she's used to. The flow of her mana in her body went more smoothly than the former sudden flushing wave going through her 'essence core' whenever she activated her prowess and technique. With his guidance, it didn't take long enough for her to be able to use the water wall and whirlpool vortex technique except its firepower was weak since she didn't possess enough mana for it. She immediately absorbed Rei's teaching when it came to her prowess, mastery and usage as he explained how to get better and creative with it. Water doesn't have any form and yet could appear as elegant and beautiful yet be as deadly and dangerous from what he had said to her.
"I recommend for you to try mediation and try to master each technique you've been able to use before the new ones while using less mana to execute it but with a good amount of firepower." He said as Erika jotted down notes on her notebook labelled as 'Water Manipulation 101 with Rei's teaching.'. It gave him a bit of confidence and pride for her eagerness, yet he decided to be humble since he had a long way to go in the world of sorcery. "Also, try having a method or ways to recover your mana quickly after using a technique." He suggested as he patted her shoulders while Erika took it lightly as she thanked him for his wisdom when it comes to prowess usage.
Rei went back to his dorm as he started brain storming on how he could apply what Keith had suggested to him when using both prowess to combine it. Putting those aside first as he took a shower since he had been out all day despite having less class than usual due to the event that's gonna happen soon while also dealing with some paperwork for his extra curricular classes. Afterwards, he left the bathroom as he continued drying off his wet hair while he had already worn his black jogging pants. "Here goes nothing…" he muttered to himself as he hung his towel aside before focusing on channeling mana while picking out Hinata and Erika's prowess. Instead of waiting to activate each individual one, he focused on trying to mix the distinctive mana wave of the prowess he wanted to use as he tried to get that familiar sensation.
The water manipulation and wind control mana combining and flowing together in a harmony, he managed to get a grip of the Ice Manipulation as he formed a snowflake on the palm if his hand. "Finally…" he smiled to himself as he could feel his mana being stable while being able to hold out the prowess he is using. He immediately tried using a light technique to see if he could use the same output with enough firepower to execute the results.
"Ice Release: Glacier bullet." A tiny sharp, glacier like bullet formed at the tip of his index and middle finger as he pointed it at the emptied can he had finished before he started all of what he was doing at the moment. The bullet immediately went through the can before breaking on impact against the wall which meant he executed the technique and output perfectly just as he imagined. He started to get excited on what other ice manipulation techniques he could use and how further can he accomplish with this new development of his prowess. If he had try using Rinka's blood manipulation and Hinata's water manipulation, would it help him develop a similar fusion to those two like plasma control or a fluid related prowess? He thought excitedly before a grim reminder of the complicated prowess like Eunji and Sylvie. He had some basic knowledge how Sylvie's prowess works but Eunji? It was utterly confusing no matter how easy or hard her explanation is.
All he knows is that her prowess is something related to souls but it didn't explain how she could use those strings and crystal like prowess. Could her prowess be the same as her but she could direct use it or another medium to use one? He would never know and will never ask unless if he's too curious about it. He cleaned up the room as he packed all the trash he had before heading off to the garbage disposal behind the building which was convenient since there's a lot of staff who are left to watch over the place if the guards are not enough for surveillance. He greeted a few of those who he knows of before disposing of his garbage as he washed his hands at a nearby cleaning place. He felt a buzz on his phone as he checked if a message was sent to him. Two messages from Sylvie. He smiled as he opened his phone as went to text her back.
———————————————————————————————————Sylvie Chat Logs
Sylvie: Hope you're doing well!!!
Sylvie: Also there's something important you need to know…
Rei: Doing well. I hope u are doing alright despite the situation…
Rei: So, wat did u need to tell me?
———————————————————————————————————
An intense feeling hit his guts before his eyes widened as her message. After all, she was not the type to say something like that except when they were in deep trouble. Her message gave a grim thought to his head on how to approach the situation.
———————————————————————————————————
Sylvie Chat Logs
Sylvie: Hope you're doing well!!!
Sylvie: Also there's something important you need to know…
Rei: Doing well. I hope u are doing alright despite the situation…
Rei: So, wat did u need to tell me?
Sylvie: We got an invitation to your academy by the authorities…
Sylvie: And David's mother recommended him to be the responsible leader for our visit while also attending as well…
———————————————————————————————————
He hoped that nothing would go downhill since Sylvie is still a 'blank' while hoping for David not to do anything rash especially what happened from before…