Keesha approached Zane. "Hey, what's wrong with Devonte?"
Zane sighed. Devonte hadn't stopped speaking Gremorian, and others had noticed this as well. "Something happened in our dorm."
"What?"
"You can ask him and see if he's willing to tell you."
Keesha opened her mouth, but immediately remembered what Evelyn said. "Alright." The two talked briefly before she went to recuperate her mana. An hour and a half passed, and their training ended; everybody was exhausted except Zane.
"What a great session," Evelyn commented.
"Easy for you to say since you bullied us," Tom complained. Her newfound speed was hard to adapt to.
Evelyn chuckled. "By the way, Khadijah, why are you so good with a shield? Did you have prior experience, or is this just talent?"
"Does fighting with my brothers count as prior experience?"
"Probably not."
"I count it," Keesha said. "I have three brothers, and growing up, eating was like a battlefield. If I wasn't fast enough, I would starve."
"I understand how you feel. I'm the oldest of five, and the only daughter," Khadijah said. "I had to constantly suppress my brothers to teach them respect."
Evelyn sighed. "I envy you guys. My older brother is an asshole. The only thing he cares about is getting as much of our parents' inheritance as possible —even if he screws me over."
"It seems I'm not the only one," Evans lamented. No, his situation was worse since he had two brothers, both assholes.
"What about you guys?" Keesha asked.
"I have an older sister, but we had a falling out. I have spoken with her in five years," Ahmed said.
"The tower's presence means our time is limited. You might want to make amends," Zane suggested.
"I've been trying for the past 3 years, but she wants nothing to do with our family or me." Zane patted his shoulder. Life is often like this: disappointing.
"Family is complicated," Evelyn sighed. "Zane, what about you?"
"I have a sister, and we get along pretty well."
Keesha turned to him. "Is she also in the program?"
"Luckily, no."
"Tom?"
"I'm an only child, and my parents passed away."
"In our situation, maybe this is not a bad thing," Keesha sighed. As Zane said, any of them could die in the next shift. "What about you, Devonte? Any siblings?"
"I had a brother, but he died ten years ago; he was shot right in front of me."
Everybody looked at him. Devonte was 21, meaning he was only 11 when it happened.
"Sorry, man."
"It's not your fault; you don't have to say sorry." Devonte shook his head. "Plus, his death saved me. If not for him, I would probably be dead in some corner of Compton." His brother's death was a wake-up call. If not for him, Devonte knew he would probably have joined a gang or started selling drugs to survive.
"The tower's existence is truly hard to judge," Zane said. "On one hand, they forcefully recruit us to a war that none of us signed up for. On the other hand, they provide opportunities that can change anyone's life."
"I would rather not join," Evans said.
"Really? If they allowed you to choose, would you leave?" Keesha asked.
"I would."
"Even if it means losing your magic?"
"Hmm, probably."
"I wouldn't give up my magic for anything in the world. In fact, as Zane said, this is an opportunity to change my life, so I would probably join even if they gave me a choice and told me of the danger."
Zane agreed with Keesha. However, not everybody felt the same. Evelyn and Evans said they wouldn't join; their only hesitation was the lack of access to magic. Zane, Keesha, and Deveonte would join; Ahmed and Khadijah were on the fence. On one hand, they believed Earth needed people to defend it, but their hesitation was due to the violence and killing involved. However, since Earth was defending itself, the two favored joining the war. Tom was the only one still undecided; he understood the pros and cons, but he couldn't make up his mind.
It was late, and everybody had early class, so they separated after a short conversation. After returning to his dorm, Zane once again slept early to recuperate his spirit. The next morning was Tuesday, Day 53, which meant he was completely healed. The first thing he did after waking up — well, after praying to Anansi and finishing his morning run — was to meditate. Many people might find meditation boring, tedious, and a waste of time. Still, Zane loved it: the serenity, the heightened senses and focus, and the feeling of being so close to mana—it was captivating, even alluring.
[Mana: 0.58]
[Mental Energy: 0.65]
[Life Energy: 0.070]
"Hmm? Mental energy increased by 0.03?" Zane thought. Ever since his mental energy reached 0.6, the rate of improvement had drastically slowed. At that rate, Zane believed his mana would soon surpass his mental energy, and that's probably still going to be the case. However, after recuperating from the injury, it jumped by a significant margin.
"If not for the fact that my potential would be ruined, I wouldn't mind purposely injuring my spirit and recuperating to improve my mental energy," Zane thought.
Such a terrifying idea didn't last long in his mind before he moved on. Now that he could use mana, Zane focused on his training. Over the past few days, due to reading the Necromancer's journal and the Arcane Guild lecture, he was inspired by how to master [Projection Casting]. According to his prediction, it won't be long before he can use any spells with mana projection.
Thursday, Day 55, afternoon magic class:
More than half of the students met Instructor Seiya's requirement regarding hitting moving targets; those students were handed a Resistance Ball and tasked with learning Projection Casting. As soon as class started, Zane used the ball to test himself; he kept it in the air for 15 to 20 seconds. With each trial, he got closer to consistently holding it for 20 seconds.
"It's time," Zane thought. First, he recuperated his mana. Then, he projected his mana without an arcane focus to cast the Water Condensing Spell; the process was smooth and effortless. He did it two more times before moving on to a higher challenge: the Mana Shield. The spell took seven seconds to cast, but it was still a success. Zane moved on to the others: Mabic Bullet, Mana Rope, and Detect Bio-electricity. None took more than 10 seconds—a far cry from when he used his fingers or his staff—but the training was still a success. The next step was to keep practicing until casting them was as swift and effortless as using a focus.
"Well done."
Zane had been fooled too many times to fall for this trick again. So, he calmly glanced at the professor and thanked him.
"Everyone, stop what you're doing and follow me," Instructor Seiya said, his voice traveling far and wide. He glanced at Ms. Luna and motioned with his head. The class followed him to the tournament arena, where they saw a large curtain covering something in the center.
"Go ahead. Bring your staff."
Zane was confused, but he walked up, standing more than 20 meters from whatever was being covered. Instructor Seiya snapped his fingers, and the curtain disappeared, revealing a wolf with red fur in a cage. A countdown appeared in the air while Zane was still speechless at the situation. The instructor gave no warning or preparation and just put him in front of a magical beast.
Zane quickly calmed down and activated his mental channeling; it was his usual battle preparation, and by now, it was instinct. He glanced at the beast, calculating his next course of action. In a split second, he concocted a plan and moved a few more meters away, ensuring he was about 40 meters from the beast. Currently, Zane's casting distance was 24 meters, and he was rapidly approaching the 30-meter limit for Apprentices.
As soon as the countdown reached zero, the cage opened, and the beast roared, releasing a brutal aura; the gaze felt like a starving beast was treating him as its next meal. And unlike Instructor Seiya's aura, something told him this beast saw him as a real threat and might truly kill him.
"You better take this seriously since I've deactivated the warding protection," Instructor Seiya suddenly said, raising Zane's sense of danger to a higher level. However, he swiftly controlled himself, focused, and resisted the aura. Nearly two months of training hadn't been for nothing.
Zane raised his staff to cast. The Flame Wolf sensed danger and rushed forward toward its prey. The plan had worked. The beast didn't immediately use a spell. Instead, it charged forward at top speed. However, the distance was a bit too far, which meant that by the time it had reached Zane's casting distance, the mage had already finished his incantation.
A mana rope flew from the tip of the wand and wrapped around the wolf's mouth, halting the creature's progress. The beast was momentarily confused before realizing what had happened, so it began opening its mouth to break the rope.
"Step 2 is completed," Zane thought. The majority of magical beasts channeled their magic through their mouth, and the second step was to stop it from casting. Zane once again cast the second spell, but before he could finish, the wolf had broken the rope, which was surprising since even the orc couldn't do that.
The wolf glanced at its target before jumping toward him; the creature was more than 15 meters away, but the jump was effortless for him. More importantly, while in the air, the flame wolf released its aura again, trying to intimidate and stop Zane's casting. The experienced mage remained calm and finished his incantation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rain of magic bullets pierced the wolf's skull as Zane calmly moved out of the way, allowing the beast to fall onto his previous position.