Chapter 14 - Days

"You're quite the scary man, professor."

"Hahaha! You say that, but your potential is likely more intimidating than mine!" The man shouted. "I can't believe you managed to figure out how to do it yourself.

"Well, it's the same concept as imbuing my weapons, isn't it?" Raiden replied.

"In theory, yes. But theoretical and practical usage is completely different." Adam said, only just releasing Raiden's shoulder. "I assume that many students have had the same idea, but the practical talent to execute it without instruction is almost unheard of."

Raiden could feel Salem's piercing gaze, "So first you're a dark-wielding Superior, and now you're some unknown prodigy? Totally unfair…" he said, emphasizing his envy.

"Not exactly" Adam interrupted, "First he was a prodigy, likely because he's a dark-wielding Superior."

Raiden watched the two argue, slightly embarrassed by their insights. "Anyways, you said we'd be learning something like this on Tuesday?"

"That's right," Raiden's teacher responded. "Although you'll still be ahead of the class for a while, and we're not learning that exactly." The man finished.

"Can we keep using the arena? It's not even noon yet." Raiden asked apprehensively, the young man excited to further polish his new skill.

"Sure, but I want to make a few things clear since I wasn't able to teach you before you figured it out," he sighed. "Be careful with your movement speed, it may not be much right now, but with your second element amplifying your speed, you could easily lose control." He said before continuing, "Also, if you're staying in the arena, I'm joining you." The man finished with a playful grin.

Raiden heard Kai let out an anxious sigh while he himself considered the implications of this event, we can learn a lot sparring with teach, but will we even learn anything if he just beats us relentlessly?.

Adam looked at the two kids, who were both at least slightly worried. "Don't worry so much! I'll hold back enough not to hurt you too bad! And I'll heal you after anyway, so we can keep going!" He said in an effort to calm the students down, but it was obvious it didn't work when the worry turned into terror.

Salem watched Raiden's black lightning envelope his two wooden blades, his feet pulsating with that same energy.

Sand flew around the stadium. Raiden, who was of the lightning element, should have looked fast in comparison to an earth wielder, but this wasn't the case in the slightest, even Raiden's black lightning not making up the difference.

This made Salem feel even more inferior than the other two, made him feel even more like he had to improve.

This damn kid! Adam was more than evasive enough to evade Raiden's attacks, but the kid was still incredibly fast for his matter capacity. He hasn't even begun slaying beasts with Frontline yet, and he has this much offensive potential…

Adam was playing defensively up until now, not utilizing any matter spells, nor did he reinforce his entire body with matter, purposefully weakening himself to compete with the children safely. His first opponent was Raiden, who had somehow managed to figure out how to imbue his feet with lightning matter. The kid could be labeled a prodigy, but Adam wouldn't tell him that, wouldn't let the boy grow complacent.

Raiden was at a full sprint after his opponent, who seemed to be easily avoiding him. Adam was unbelievably strong, so much so that Raiden wondered why he was spending time teaching instead of killing monsters, beasts and humans alike.

He threw out two more slashes, both only finding a gust of sandy wind in their paths. Raiden couldn't think of any ways to hit his mark, the bout limited to enhancement and melee combat.

Adam had yet to go on the offensive, and Raiden wanted to land at least one blow on his teacher before the man did so.

Continuing his chase, Raiden thought of various solutions, but the only one that crossed his mind involved playing dirty, if only a little. But what choice do I have, if it keeps going like this… I'll get too tired to fight before he even starts!

A cloud of dust and sand was kicked up across the arena, Raiden's deliberate attempt at a distraction.

He knew this wouldn't be enough however, the two constant putterings of footsteps in the sound giving away his position, even if he couldn't see.

Suddenly, the sounds of two people running across the sand silenced itself to one person.

Perfect! Raiden listened in to the footfall of his professor and lunged towards them silently, holding his breath as to further reduce his audible tracks.

A shadowy figure emerged from the sand to slash towards another humanoid, his blades covered in a purple glow of voltaic sparks.

*zzzZWINNG!*

Suddenly, a sharp sound was heard, and a scream resounded, one of pain and defeat.

Salem watched in horror at the scene when the dust settled. Raiden was on the sandy floor, blood staining the rocky grains as well as the white-haired boy's hands. Shards of polished and fractured wood were scattered in front of him.

"Not bad, you nearly managed to strike me. Nearly." An ominous tone spoke from the jaws of Raiden's teacher.

The man whose hands were held upwards, released their tension before wooden pieces fell out from his palms. Charred wood and remnants of two blades fell to the floor in an ashen mess.

Upon further inspection, Raiden's lightning left visible burns on his clothes too.

This bastard, he outright caught my attack with his bare hands…

Adam looked down at Raiden, before starting; "Good spar, you did well for a child with limited abilities and combat experience. Your technique is incredible for only a week's worth of practice." The man added after his conquest, "I know you said you've only been doing dagger combat for the last week, but you've already come pretty far. I'd wager it has something to do with that particular stance you take."

"Thanks teach, but could you uh, my hands." Raiden groaned, his pain only to be expected.

"Ah, my bad! Hahaha, I nearly forgot!" His professor said, returning to his usual cheery vibe.

The next hour passed while Kaisen and Raiden took turns facing off against their mentor, who was increasingly violent. The only reason for said behavior was his ability to mend their wounds, but it was rough nonetheless.

When Adam left the arena, both Raiden and Kai were exhausted and mentally drained. They needed one thing at that moment, lunch.

It wasn't long before they were finished with that as well, both of them devouring their meals with unprecedented vigor.

The day ended pretty much like that, the only things worth note being Kai and Raiden returning home to rest.

Sunday was less exciting than their Saturday, the three went out to the city for a bit, visiting a couple of places and going window shopping. Alex had invited Olivia, but she didn't show, likely thinking too highly of herself to join the group.

The days passed in a similar fashion to Raiden's first week. Today was Thursday, and Raiden had spent the last few days learning various things in both classes.

His practical classes finished covering the basics of imbuement with weapons on Monday. All twelve students were now able to force their respective energies into their weapons. Tuesday was the day that Raiden was most looking forward to in the week for his practical classes. They began learning how to enhance entire limbs with matter, starting with the arms.

Learning how to imbue his entire arm with lightning matter was infinitely more complicated than mere weapons. While Raiden's wooden and metal tools were made of only a single material, his body was comprised of a complicated skeletal and muscular structure, not to mention his nervous system and tissue.

Being able to efficiently enhance his limbs meant knowing the anatomy associated, and applying that knowledge to carefully imbue each cell with the energy that was painstakingly harnessed from his environment.

Those days, Raiden spent a lot of time admiring Salem, as well as the other students who had learned to imbue their fists with matter. While hands were much smaller masses of tissue than his arms were, the complexity was incomparable to that of his blades.

Adam made a remark about how most people know their hands relatively well, but Raiden was still impressed.

Even today, Raiden only had a superficial understanding of the anatomy surrounding his arms. Kai and Lucas were ahead of the other students now, both of them being the most talented barehanded fighters.

Raiden was aware of the fact that his class would have to learn to enhance their entire bodies, and that after that they would shift from enhancement to basic matter spell training.

His knowledge on matter spells was limited, but he still remembered how to cast the [Bolt] his father taught him long ago. Regardless, he would figure it out when the time came.

The pathfinder students' technical classes consisted mostly of knowledge on the beasts they would begin to face soon.

Mentions of actual practice excited some of Raiden's classmates. Some were apprehensive, but they would only face off against common beasts at worst.

His theory classes also briefly passed over a few scenarios, the class answering turn by turn what their potential actions would be. Professor Glory praised some replies while outright rejecting others, saying they could endanger their comrades.

While Raiden didn't enjoy his theory classes as much as his practical ones, he couldn't deny their usefulness. He often replied in an intelligent fashion, which aggravated some older students, who were embarrassed to be outdone by a younger pupil.

Even being one of the youngest students, he wasn't looked down upon. It was because he was strong. Not only as a Superior, but because he was smart, he learned fast and he could act upon his determination.

Friday passed quietly, Raiden and others still struggling to comprehend the full range of imbuing their entire limbs. Theory classes went over a beast called the Squigglehook, who despite its name was a dangerous creature, it was identified as a unique beast, and one that liked to skin its opponents mid-combat with its serrated hooks.

It was a mutated bird that now wore scales and bore a large wingspan. Its claws had evolved from simple sharp extensions to hooks, and it nearly always wielded the wind element, as well as occasionally being capable of utilizing water matter as well.

Raiden's next event was visiting his sister, now for the second time this month. He was nervous but still looked forward to seeing her. There was a slight worry that Ashlee would begin to resent him for his lack of presence in her life, but Raiden had little choice in the matter.

He would have even less once he joined a rogue hunting group, which he had made a specific decision on.

Once he finished being able to completely imbue his body with both elements...

He would begin his hunt.