Chapter 409: One Day at a Time
Zhanid had left on a quick trip out of the academy. But what the significance of this was was something that was not yet clear to Luke or anyone else.
Megan explained to Luke that these trips were routine, and this connected well with Zhanid's record on the student council. As much as not having Zhanid's support in developing the research could slow down the development of the half-wolf, this situation didn't make Luke uncomfortable, after all, he had enough evidence from Megan and Alice to prove the sisters' abilities.
Megan walked over to Alice, who remained peacefully sleeping, and with a surprise attack, the girl woke her sleepy sister. Alice got up with a startled gasp, confused at what was happening, looking everywhere in surprise, until she observed Megan who was standing behind her.
"Why did you wake me up? I just wanted to sleep some more..." Alice said, her cheeks filled with air, it was the girl's angry face. Megan crossed her arms, looking into her sister's eyes "You've slept all night, if sleeping at a table wasn't so comfortable you should have gone to one of the dorms!", Megan followed walking to the door, making a gesture with her hands calling out to the two.
"Come with me, let's eat. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day," the girl said as she walked through the door.
Megan, Luke and Alice followed to another room in the lab, where there was only one wooden table, the table was circular in shape and on top of it was a basket of food. With breads, honey, jam, peanut butter, fruit and cheese. Megan had a proud face, and with one hand on her chest she called out proudly "I went to the cafeteria and got this food for you, but try not to sleep in the lab"
'I don't think she has the right to say that'
[She certainly doesn't]
But she's cute when she sleeps
[You think any woman is cute when she sleeps]
'Maybe'
Alice moved voraciously to the table, sitting down on a wooden chair and picking up two slices of bread. She then took a knife that was nearby and began to spread jam and peanut butter. In a few moments, she was already eating a huge sandwich.
Luke turned to Megan and thanked her for her kindness, sitting down at the same time as Megan. They both started to eat together with Alice. This was a quiet moment, which returned good memories to the half-wolf.
***
On the other side of the academy, Meredith was lying on her bed in the special dormitory. The half-fox was staring at the ceiling, reflectively. Next to her head was a cloth with Yuzii's sweat and some hair on it, the idea, was to use this cloth with half-bunny hormones to stimulate Luke.
The problem was that this plan can't even be tested, Luke was out all night and Meredith didn't know what to do. "He must be busy with research, next night I'll be sure to capture him..." The girl's eyes were clenched, full of energy, with a fire and desire to capture the young man.
Meredith got up from the bed, she was in black underwear. Advancing to a closet, where she put on her uniform. Starting with the skirt, then the shirt and the jacket that completed the uniform. The girl then made her way to the cafeteria, ate her breakfast, and met her classmates in the central square of the academy.
The girls were chatting, and they all greeted Meredith, and the conversation went smoothly, until Ruby approached the half-fox, touching her shoulder.
Ruby Vermillion was a shrewd girl, so she noticed when Meredith put away a cloth with Yuzii's scent, along with a piece of hair.
Ruby brought her face closer to Meredith, and whispering, she questioned the half-fox "Did you manage to win over your roommate?" she said, letting out a small gentle smile. Meredith looked Ruby in the eye, as much as the fox lady had the energy to try again, this defeat was still weighing on her.
"He didn't sleep in the dorm today..." Meredith said, in a voice of defeat.
"I see... But you really had a cunning idea, never would I have thought of that, seducing a boy with the scent of a half-rabbit. Really very clever." Ruby said, as she crossed her arms.
"Do you think Yuzii would bother with that?" Meredith questioned.
"I don't think it would be a problem, she won't mind it" Ruby concluded.
The two friends then made their way to the study hall, for another day of magic training at Melki's academy.
***
When Luke, Megan and Alice finished eating, it was impossible not to talk about Zhanid's trip.
"Zhanid has traveled again" Megan said, as Alice still didn't know the news.
"How annoying, well, I've already removed my doubts about the prototype. I don't think his absence will make that much difference" Alice commented. "Yeah, I think he postponed the trip until after the project was half done" Megan added.
"Does he have this habit of traveling unannounced?" Luke questioned.
"Yes" Megan and Alice replied at the same time.
*sigh*
"That always happens, sometimes he gets some interesting information, sometimes some book of magic has been discovered" As Megan spoke she walked around the room. "There was also that time when he went out to buy a gene and came back after four months" Alice replied, before taking a bite out of a piece of bread.
"Gene? Isn't that forbidden at the academy?" Luke questioned
"Ah, well, most mages avoid commenting on it. But Zhanid has some legendary genes" Alice replied, her mouth full of food.
"My sister! You can't just come out and talk about it, even more so casually" Megan exclaimed, irritated. After swallowing a piece of bread, Alice said "But why should I care? Luke already knows so many secrets"
"Anyway, just be careful!" Megan said, crossing her arms, the girl looked Luke in the eye, "Genes are not forbidden, but most mages avoid using them, they are considered too inelegant for a mage. There is also the problem of Melki's influence on the island, most students avoid are against the empire, but there are supporters." Megan's answer removed all the doubts Luke possessed.
[Zhanid has some legendary genes... The way she spoke so casually about it is even scary]
'Yes, some... I wonder how strong he is compared to Alexis'
[If it took him four months to get a gene, surely that means he is very strong]
'Yeah... That makes sense'
Luke and Megan continued talking, while Alice continued eating. Once everyone was ready, Luke left for the weapons training room near the forge. Where he spent the day evolving and manipulating his magic. As soon as the sun started to fall again, Luke went towards the beach to train water and fire magic.
The half-wolf spent at least three hours casting fire spells on the water, trying to control as much as he could. As much as making a sphere of flames was an easy task, manipulating the flames was a little more complex than it seemed.
The half-wolf's idea was to create shapes like those of the poison dragon, but he simply couldn't with fire. However, when Luke tried to channel his energy again, into a kind of mana sphere, like the day he trained with Megan, he could easily create any shape his head felt like.
'I see, so it's like fire because it's more volatile than mana, it's harder to control'
[But poison is more volatile than fire]
'Yes, still... Poison doesn't need air to be controlled.
[Why don't you try to control fire with wind magic?]
Balance's idea worked effectively, so Luke was able to improve his fire mastery a bit. He was able to create some simpler forms. Once Luke stopped training with fire magic, the half-wolf went back to training sea manipulation, controlling the waves for another hour. By now Luke was able to control the sea with much more skill, the waves during the night time period were less complex and strong.
So it was a little easier for Luke to control those heaps of water.
Luke returned to training his mana concentration, then wind manipulation. When Luke got tired of controlling small hurricanes, the young man began to advance to the waters of the beach, turning the sea into ice as he walked, trying to recreate the power that Zhanid had done the day he arrived at the academy.
This training reviewing his powers was something that to Luke, didn't seem like much, after all, the only difference was that he now had a slightly more versatile ability than before. But to Balance, this was another demonstration of how much more powerful the boy was.
Before leaving the beach, Luke did a run and some push-ups. After that, he finally flew back on his sword to the dormitory, where he got a big surprise.