Bab 21: • Manipulating Essence

A flow of energy coursed through the body of the holograms and Spheris immediately knew that that was not good. They resumed their attack, much quicker than before, darting at him from all angles and attacking in rapid succession.

Yet, despite the overwhelming onslaught, Spheris managed to remain surprisingly nimble. Each hologram moved like blur in motion, their strikes coming in quick and Spheris continued to spin, twist and duck, evading their blows with fluidity that annoyed Merisset the more. When he finally had the chance to catch his breath, Spheris took all of it, panting loudly and gazing at the Magus's daughter who did not seem pleased at all.

"If that is the game you want to play, Heathian," she grinned. "Tīvrataraṁ bhava!"

'Oh no, not again.' Spheris panicked. The energy coursed through the illusions once more and they immediately blurred into a frenzy of motion. They attacked Spheris faster than ever before. A strike, a kick, a punch.

Spheris managed to dodge some of them, but others found their mark, slamming into his body with punishing force. The hits were surprisingly very painful, causing Spheris's movements to become frantic and desperate.

"Come on, Arnadel!" Merisset snarled, enjoying the scene. "You're gonna have to throw a punch to defend yourself! Come on!"

A strike, a kick and even more punches. Spheris struggled poorly to keep up with the relentless barrage and when he was struck with a massive uppercut, he flew so high in the air and fell down hard.

"Ugh!" he groaned. That back again.

He tried to get up, but the onslaught quickly ensued and he stumbled and fell back to the ground in frustration.

Anger boiled in him like a village howanga soup as he laid there, battered and bruised. 'What kind of stupid training is this!?' he cried in his thoughts. 'No one is as fast as that. No one! I dodged all their attacks, and she had to make them faster. Why? To ridicule me? No one can be as fast as those things!'

The holograms all gathered up and quickly started approaching him once again. But with a primal yell of defiance, Spheris raised his hand and with it, a wave of dark, swirling mist unleashed, rippling through the air with an energetic force.

"Enough!" Spheris cried.

The mist then crashed into the holograms like a tidal wave, sending them flying backward with a powerful impact. They all crashed to the ground in a tangled heap, their illusions shattering one by one until there was nothing left of them.

Everywhere fell shut. The silence capsuled the surroundings and they all stared at Spheris and the now disappeared heap of holograms. What just happened?

Merisset's stunned eyes did not leave Spheris, who seemed to be the most surprised at what just happened. "You!" she demanded. "I thought you didn't know how to use your powers?"

Spheris, still on the floor, glanced at her then at the space where the holograms were. "I didn't."

A whirring sound tore through the air, and it was coming from his glyph.

[Power Level growth has been discerned]

The red light poured out of the device as it began to showcase.

[Power Level increased]

[Power Level is now at 25ip]

[Power Rank - Novice]

Then the device turned off and the whirring sound stopped.

"Well done, Spheris Arnadel!" a familiar voice boomed from behind the female Mage. It was Meister Grengo, and he approached Spheris slowly, clapping his hands. "I told you to prove to me that you can manipulate your element and you have."

Spheris slowly got on his feet, surprised at the arrival of the Mage. 'Did he see that? All of it?'

"If you're wondering if I saw your display, the answer is yes," he smiled. "I might be busy, but I do have my ways to keep a watchful eye on my students, if you know what I mean."

Spheris cocked his head. Of course, he knew what he meant. Magic.

"Thank you, Meister Grengo," he said to the Mage.

"Go back to your fellow Avatars," Grengo imposed. "Merisset, come with me."

Spheris and the High Magus's daughter locked eyes for a split second and they were both glares of anger. She then followed Grengo while Spheris watched her leave before returning to the team.

"Hey, when did you learn to do that?" Thorin smiled at him.

"I don't know. It just came out." he shrugged.

"Well it was pretty impressive, using the dark powers like that?"

"Alright Thorin, at this point you're just ass-licking. 'Pretty impressive' is a stretch!" Nero chimed in. "It was a simple force wave that almost all of us can do. It's no big deal."

Thorin pouted. "I don't know, seemed like a big deal."

Cerene, who was once again watching Spheris, added; "I mean his power is to control the dark. It's quite impressive to use the dark as an actual weapon. Right, Akemi?" She nudged the quiet girl.

"Yes." Akemi replied.

"For faggard's sake! Darkness Manipulation is not that big of a deal. What is he going to do in the Abyss? Cover us in darkness? And then what?"

Thorin smiled. "It's okay, Nero. We all know you're being overly pessimistic because he's not Bastopher."

Nero raised a brow at him disappointedly. "That tone of voice you just used makes me want to kill myself."

Thorin's smile broke into a chuckle.

Spheris, who had watched all of this without speaking, simply took his gaze away. He was much too overwhelmed with what had just happened to care about Nero's stupid remarks.

Not only could he now create something, but he could use it in a fight, he could use it to defend himself! He had also increased in Power Level. He was now at 25ip.

Not much of a difference, but it was still something. He was strengthening his Essence and this meant that it wouldn't be very long until he unlocked an Influence.

"Hey, you really shouldn't let Nero's words get to you, okay?" Thorin whispered.

"I don't." Spheris simply said.

"Okay," Thorin smiled proudly. "I'm happy your Power Level increased. I'm even starting to think having you with us is going to give us an edge."

Spheris turned to face him. "You're just starting to think that?"

"Not that I doubted your abilities before..." Thorin raised his hands in retreat. "...but you were a bit uncooperative and a little confusing."

"Confusing?" Spheris raised a pressing brow. He expected 'weird' or 'different' but 'confusing?'

"Yeah," Thorin shrugged. "Why were you doing that anyway? Banging your spoon on the table and talking out loud?"

Spheris's frown stretched. "What are you talking about?"

"Have you forgotten? Our first dinner when we arrived. You kept talking out loud and you banged your spoon on the table. It was really off-putting."

A chaotic expression etched on Spheris's face as his mind wandered. That was the same night that he had slept on the floor. The same night that he couldn't remember anything from.

What had happened that night?

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