Rei was surprised when the email he received upon checking his laptop was the flooded notifications of school work assignments that he had missed. While he did finish at least some of it, it still had a lot which he had to study for himself then finish more later as he had something more important.
Meditating in his dorm room, he entered his mindscape as Rei locked eyes with the ancient being. "You know. For people who described you to be a monster… You have the appearance that would drive today's fxcked up society… especially with freaks…"
The ancient being had an appearance of a human male although the other two pairs of eyes made the difference but the most visible ones were the unique markings over their face and the three lines that were connected around their arm.
"Flattery won't save you. I suggest that you pay attention since this is vital to your totality technique as well." It said before continuing, "Since we are in agreement, I'll allow you to call me by the name I remember slightly. Keith."
Rei nodded his head before paying attention to what Keith was going to explain for their agreement and information that he should have from the ancient being.
"Since the blonde brat had told you about techniques, allow me to explain it. Techniques are formed from the innate ability that your prowess allows you to do. For example, Time Manipulation allows your girl to manipulate time which gives her the innate technique itself from the name to engrained into her body. Her techniques mainly for freezing, slowing down, and rewinding time depending on the output and reserves. Her technique would be the same as the name of her prowess which would be the same to you with Aura Manipulation but with a different aspect."
The male felt a bit of headache over the explanation but continued to listen.
"Aura Manipulation allows you to channel your spiritual energy to shape its form to mimic others or stockpile the energy into a part of your body to release it in a burst of energy while enhancing yourself at the same time. Your techniques would be mainly mimicry, amplification and combination from what I've seen from your memory."
Rei nodded his head before Keith continued on, "Then the new aspect is that totality of yours which would be channeling. Not only that channeling lets you do the stockpiling method, it could even help you to remember the prowess that you've copied while maintaining it permanently."
The male was intrigued as he was more determined to achieve the channeling technique, immediately training himself as Keith observed and tried his best to refine his technique. "Stop forcing it. You gotta let it flow naturally." He said before hitting Rei on the back of the head which broke his concentration but could only sighed as he had to repeat the same process again.
It went on for a while until Keith told him to stop since there was something wrong with Rei's shadow that was flickering for some reason. "Brat. What percent are you using?" He asked as Rei answered, "Between 10-20%. Why?"
"Nothing. A little bit of advice before you go since it's been three hours here. Although, time outside is just 3 minutes. Anyways, control your emotions and darkness is your ally." Keith said, which made Rei raise an eyebrow but before he could even ask, he was forced to leave the mindscape prior to the latter's intervention.
"What a dxck. Could've told me about it before I left." Rei muttered to himself but decided not to hold it against the ancient being as he started to get on with the homeworks and coursework that he still needed to finish before the supposedly internship could happen, especially when it was coming next month.
He only had a week to research but needed to at least find one that was worthy for his training while also putting Sylvie in an internship that was safe for her even if she wanted to tag along with him.
...…
Rei finally managed to finish everything by the second day of the week while getting a bit of progress with his new training with the ancient being despite how immoral it would sound to the seniors since he was keeping a secret like this from them.
He managed to channel his spiritual energy to mimic what he had seen his mother had done a lot whenever his father wasn't at home. A shadow that flickered around her as if it was alive while grabbing things that she needed.
A tiny and thin thread was the only thing he could do, wondering if it lacked spiritual energy or his output although Keith gave him a hint that he didn't understand.
"Your emotion is the key."
Rei sighed, cursing the ancient being for such a statement that sounded philosophical and like a puzzle to him. "I wonder if the library is still open…" He muttered to himself before changing clothes and heading out to the library while locking his room.
It was a quiet hallway since most of the students either stayed in their dorm or were in a private library room to study. Rei noticed Sylvie alone at the library with the same people that bullied her, they were cornering her yet haven't done anything although the latter had no hesitation.
"Can you not? How many times do I have to tell you?" Rei called out to them after kicking Malcolm, powering himself up before doing it as the latter could feel their guts in pain.
Before Malcolm could even try to fight back, Rei had gotten to him first by punching him right in the face which broke their nose upon impact. "Leave. Or I'll make it worse." He glared as his eyes glowed bright which scared them off before all of them left.
His actions had surprised Sylvie but he immediately changed, as if he was fine with it. "Are you alright?" He asked before checking if she had any injuries, "Did they do anything to you?"
Sylvie shook her head before answering, "No. They weren't but if you didn't arrive then maybe they would try…" she said with a shaky voice which Rei had caught on as he didn't press the matter further.
"Alright." Rei uttered as they both walked around the library, Sylvie had got the books that she needed which mainly revolved around Ethereal's history and law but what got her surprised was the book that the male had on his hand while still searching for more.
Spiritual energy theory and Prowess History. It was surprising since the latter had never shown his interest for this side of him to her but Sylvie found it interesting as the latter had finally got the book that he needed. Nature Art Formation.
"What are you up to?" She asked, trying to make a conversation despite the awkward atmosphere between them with her knowing his past while him trying to assess what he can do to keep her safe.
"Training… You?" He responded as Sylvie replied immediately, "Studying more for my 'law and rights' classes."
The atmosphere went even more awkward as Rei broke the silence as he pulled her somewhere in the library. "Hey. I'm sorry. For not telling you everything." He said as Sylvie was surprised but immediately responded back, telling him it was fine and he needed time while she also apologised for not being able to help him for it.
They were quiet and tense as they just enjoyed each other's company until they couldn't hold themselves together anymore. Rei kissed her as Sylvie returned back with an equal intensity. They were making out as they did their best to enjoy their moment while reassuring each other.
"I missed this…" Rei was breathing heavily as he pulled away from her.
"Me too…" Sylvie said as she tried her best to catch her breathing although a cough was heard which brought their attention.
Keitaro with a slight blush on his face while the black haired girl next to her was blushing furiously. "You know. If you two are gonna make out or do something like this, take it at the dorm or somewhere private." The male said while trying his absolute best to forget what he had just witnessed.
"Don't mind him. Just pretend that we aren't here. We'll just go on our way!" the girl said before the two immediately left.
Keitaro's appearance had sent an idea to Rei of what he should do for the internship while keeping Sylvie out of harm's way.
"Looks like I have a plan for her safety now…" Rei thought to herself before looking at Sylvie's flustered state before they left the library together with a confused look from the librarian towards them but didn't question them although they muttered.
"Young people really are just wild nowadays…"
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