After combat classes were finished for the day, Jake offered to work with Gene again, especially since Gene volunteered to take the class with Jake. It was one of the special elemental classes.
"Hey, do you want to spar with us?" Gene asked Erie.
"I'm okay." Erie responded, "I'll just get in the way of you two training."
Gene seemed okay with the group again; things seemed to return to normal. He wanted to cherish the moment because he didn't know how long things would continue this way.
Just as Erie walked off, Jake couldn't help but ask Gene a question.
"Where is Erie going now? He needs to be training right now."
He paused, looked at Gene, and asked questions. "Is he hanging around that girl?"
Gene scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. Pretty sure he's sparring with her tonight. Heard 'em talking after you left."
Gene felt pressure from Jake for a moment. He didn't know what it was, but it felt unsettling. Gene turned to look at Jake for a minute, but the pressure seemed to be gone.
"Well, if he's going to spar, we must start training, too. You need to work on more water control."
***
Erie left the other two at the facility because he had already made plans with Lilly to meet at the training grounds. The two of them were to meet to talk about solutions to Erie's problem and to spar. But before Erie made his way to the training grounds, he spotted Alex.
Even with classes over for the day, students were free to explore the outer sections of the academy—known asRome—a sprawling zone filled with training halls, a science complex, and cutting-edge research facilities.
Of them all, the Research Facility stood out. It was the academy's beating heart. Without the constant breakthroughs from the innovation team, the school wouldn't have half the tech it relies on today. Students were encouraged—sometimes even pushed—to use it as often as possible.
Alex was standing in the research facility, reading a book. No one else seemed to be in the classroom except Alex, so Erie decided to use this time to approach him.
Erie walked up to Alex slowly and seemed focused on the book he was reading. Erie looked around the facility and saw multiple gears. It looked like Armor and other weapons were being researched, but Erie wasn't interested in that; his mind was focused on Alex and why he had been so distant lately.
"Uh.. Hey Alex." Alex ignored Erie and kept reading the book. He saw when Erie came into the room; he thought Erie would go away if he kept reading the book. He didn't want to talk to Erie. He wanted to learn more about the fusion ability and how to get stronger.
"Alex!" Eerie called louder. He saw Alex flinch, and he lightly placed the book on the table and looked down toward Erie. His facial expression was stern, and he didn't look pleased to see Erie.
"What happened in the hall today? Why were you fighting?" Alex picked his book back up and gave Erie a short answer: " It's none of your business, Erie. Just go back and play with your friends."
Alex's response took Erie aback. Usually, Alex was a jolly person, but since they got to the academy, he seemed to change a little. Erie stepped back and decided to leave Alex alone in the research room. But before he left, he commented.
"I'm not sure what happened to you, Alex, but I will always have your back no matter what situation; you always had mine, and I will do the same for you."
Erie walked out of the room, and he finally decided to check his system.
"Quest: Defeat Kyle Markenburger."
"Incomplete."
"25 Experience points granted."
"Update: Complete quest to earn a reward."
"Experience points: 30 of 400."
Erie read the notifications on his system. The system did not grant him a win or a loss for his last fight with Kyle. Erie believed he would've lost the fight if it wasn't for the teacher's interruption.
Erie also noticed another way to get stronger; the system granted him one stat point to reach the life energy he absorbed. When he leveled to level three, Erie noticed that the system gave him only one stat point and unlocked a new move.
"Leveling up may not be the fastest way for me to get stronger, but it gives me more skills." Erie couldn't help but wonder if he went around taking life energy, would that help him strengthen his stats faster? Or would it be a waste of time?
The more Erie thought about ways to grow stronger, the more he pulled at his hair. The system wanted him to drain others' lives to get stronger.
"Is this a sun warrior thing? Or is it just my system?"
It was around 7 o'clock in the evening, and Erie began to notice his body becoming a little weaker than usual. He looked out in the distance and saw the sun going down. "It's a sunset, I guess. I do get weaker at night."
As Erie walked to the training grounds, he noticed students staring at him while he walked by, and some would whisper to each other.
Erie ignored the whispers and continued walking until he spotted Lilly. She was deeper into the training ground where no one was standing; he smiled and stepped closer to her, who was sitting in a meditative pose, waiting for Erie to show up.
"You are late, erie," Lilly said, her eyes closed.
Erie paused and stopped walking. Her eyes were still closed. He strolled up to her, trying not to disturb her, and she began talking again. "Did you know that we can sense different energies while we meditate?"
Erie sat beside Lilly, and she didn't move from her spot. "No, I didn't know that," Erie replied.
Lilly stayed in her meditative pose, and when she couldn't feel any more energy enter her body, she stopped meditating.
Erie stared at Lilly and wondered if he should be meditating himself. So he decided to start, but Lilly opened her eyes just as Erie closed his. And she scoffed at him.
"Are you mocking me?"
Erie then opened his eyes and felt a smack on his face. "Hey! What was that for!" Erie yelled while rubbing his face.
Lilly tilted her head, "I.. I thought you were mocking me."
Erie stood up from the ground. "You're not the only one who meditates. I just thought I should be meditating as well."
Lilly began walking a few feet back away from Erie and mumbled a few words, and she turned around to face him.
"Analyzing.."
"Training mode has activated."
"Lilly moonshine is preparing for a spar."
"Defeat Lilly in a spar to gain 300 Experience points."
"Race: ???."
"Additional Reward: Will be determined."
Erie eyed Lilly as she turned. "No warm-up, huh? Straight to business."
The spar for Erie was sudden. Luckily, the system gave him an update because he wouldn't have known Lilly was preparing herself to spar. Erie noticed that his system seemed more interactive since it had been updated to version 1.1. He couldn't help but wonder how many updates the system would have and what it would grant him after further updates.
Erie looked at Lilly and got into his fighting pose; it was awkward. You could tell just by watching him that he never had a teacher. He moved his fists around, stretching them, and shuffled his feet to relax his body.
"You're not going to fight me like that, are you?" Lilly asked.
"Um. Yeah, this is how I fight." Erie said, his heart beating faster after Lilly's remark.
"I don't know; it's a little embarrassing. But we will spar, and no abilities are allowed to keep it fair!"
Erie smiled, "That's fine. Are you ready?"
"Training mode has started."
" Enhancement gravity has been activated."
"Training set to master mode."
Before Erie forgot about this gravity mode, it was like his time feeling the effect; his body instantly grew sluggish as Lilly finally charged in to attack him.
Erie was still able to dodge, but his movement was sluggish. It felt a little easier this time. "I guess those strength stat points helped."
Lilly threw another punch. She didn't use a fist. She used her palms; the first two strikes were aimed at Erie's head, and the last palm hit Erie in the stomach, causing him to fall over.
Before he regained his balance, he saw Lilly's body twist in a full circle, and another palm strike went for his head again.
"Wait—your palm's glowing, Lilly! Are we not—"
Her hand snapped forward. Erie's instincts screamed.
He grits his teeth. "Concentration!"