Stealing Steaks and Secrets
It had already been a week since I started training under Victor. Over the past few days, my confidence had soared. If I applied the methods I learned from him, I could easily pass almost any training exercise. I zipped around the training ground, crackling with sparks. Seeing me like this, Victor simply opened a book he had brought along and started reading. The limitations of my small body had long since vanished. As long as I used my ability, I could travel anywhere I wanted at incredible speeds. It was incredibly fun. But that fun only lasted for the first few minutes. Quickly growing bored, I trotted back to Victor and flopped down on the mat beside him.
"Done playing?"
"Yes, sir."
Victor, who had been reading, pulled a small bookmark from his pocket and slipped it between the pages. Setting the book down in a corner, he stood up and spoke.
"It's about time we started your final training."
"The final one?"
"If you pass this, I'll let you take the actual exam."
I sat up instantly. Victor reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, shiny metal ball, showing it to me. It looked like an ordinary, polished steel marble.
"Take this ball from me."
With those words, Victor tossed the ball into the air. As the steel ball spun slowly in midair, Victor unleashed his ability around it.
Crackle! A flash of light erupted in the empty space. Imbued with blue electricity, the steel ball began to spin at a violent speed. I stared up at it blankly. It was spinning so fast that it was impossible to touch. If I even grazed it, I would definitely get seriously hurt. That meant I had to use my ability to take it. But how?
"Think back to when your ability suddenly went haywire during the candy-finding training."
The hint had been dropped. It was up to me to solve it. I plonked back down on the mat at his words. How do I do this? My hesitation didn't last long. I immediately began to draw up my power. Stealing a glance at Victor, I saw him open his book again, completely unbothered. I immediately shot a bolt of electricity toward the steel ball. A blue flash streaked forward in a straight line.
Zap! The blue current struck the steel ball dead-on. But it didn't stop it. The rapidly spinning ball deflected all of my electricity. I let out a soft sigh. It seemed a simple, direct approach wouldn't work. I kept pondering. Victor's words echoed in my head, but I couldn't find the answer.
"Um, Victor?"
"Yeah?"
"I just have to take that ball by any means necessary, right?"
Victor looked up from his book. His gaze locked onto me. The slight smirk playing on his lips was incredibly irritating. It was as if he was asking, Think you can do it?
"If you can."
"Fine."
I puffed out my cheeks and lowered my head. I felt like Victor needed a proper lesson for looking down on me. I immediately channeled my power. The blue light concentrated in both of my arms flared brightly, asserting its presence. I spread my arms wide. Read the flow. The current originating from Victor's hand created a faint, steady stream. Since I was already familiar with Victor's energy, reading his flow was incredibly easy. If I could disrupt Victor's connection, the steel ball under his control would lose its power and drop to the floor. Or so I thought. I pulled my wide-stretched hands together with all my might. As my palms faced each other, a blue current formed between them. Only then did Victor look up from his book to watch me. But he was too late. My body was already executing the next move. Just before my hands met—snap, clap!—a faint sound echoed first.
"Huh?"
Nothing happened. I rubbed my stinging palms against my stomach and checked the steel ball. It was still spinning. The blue current that had been wrapped around my hands was long gone. My own flow had been cut off.
"An EMP-type technique is a very useful application of our ability. But did you really think you were the only one who could use it?"
Only then did I notice Victor's right hand. He had raised it slightly, and a faint current was crackling from his extended fingers. Right. Since we shared the same type of ability, if I could use Victor's techniques, it only made sense that Victor could use the exact same techniques against me. I slumped onto the floor in utter despair. I was doomed!
"But your line of thinking isn't entirely wrong. Think carefully."
Victor said that and went back to his book. I glared at his smug face for a long time. I sat there, letting the minutes tick by. To an outsider, it might have looked like I was just idling, but my brain was working so hard that steam was practically rising from my head. Use your brain. Get smarter. I clutched my head and groaned for what felt like ages, but absolutely nothing came to mind. I was an idiot. As I sat there panting, my face flushed bright red, Victor handed me a small water bottle.
"I have my own."
Turning my back to Victor, I reached for my bag. Inside was the dinosaur water bottle Amy had prepared for me. I had dumped out all the green juice she made this morning, leaving only pure, clean water. This meant I could drink it without any hesitation. I pushed back the dinosaur's head, and a little straw popped up. I sucked down the water. There was still a faint scent of green juice lingering in the bottle, but it wasn't undrinkable. The cool water began to soothe my overheated brain. As expected, thinking was best done with a cool head. I calmly observed Victor. The faint light originating from his hand was directed toward the steel ball. If only I could cut off that flow... Flow...? I reached out my hand as if possessed. Victor's words echoed in my head. Your line of thinking isn't entirely wrong. Think back to the candy-finding training. Only then did I finally understand what Victor meant. During the candy-finding training, Victor hadn't used an EMP-type technique. He had simply twisted the flow. Now, I understood. A faint light flared from my outstretched hand. The current I shot toward the ball began to mimic Victor's flow. The movement of my electricity shifted, intertwining with Victor's power and perfectly replicating its pattern. Victor suddenly set his book down. He was watching me. The ability was now connected to the ball. Just like Victor, I had gained control over it. I immediately twisted the flow. The blue current that had been mimicking Victor's flow turned violent, swallowing the ball and pushing Victor's electricity away. Without losing a beat, I pulled the ball toward me. The rapidly spinning ball stopped its rotation and flew straight into my hand.
"Pass."
Victor nodded and picked his book back up. I clutched the ball in my trembling hand. I had passed the training. This meant I could finally take the exam. I really was a genius.
"Whoa!"
I wanted to share this joy with Shine immediately. I threw myself toward the area where Shine was training. Crackle!
That day at lunch. Everyone gathered in the cafeteria, except for Victor, who had left early due to some business.
"Your training is already over?"
"Yes!"
I proudly pulled the steel ball from my pocket, showed it to Amy, and shouted confidently,
"Please let me take the exam!"
Amy took the steel ball from me, an awkward smile playing on her lips.
"Well..."
"Can I take it today?"
"I don't think today is possible. They're doing construction on the testing grounds today."
"Construction?"
"Yes."
I nodded, recalling the massive scale of the testing grounds. There was no way construction on a place that huge would finish quickly. I swung my short legs back and forth under the table while picking at some tasteless cucumbers.
"Jeff! Congratulations!"
Rain was thrilled to hear that I had finished my training and congratulated me warmly.
"Thanks, Rain."
"I congratulate you too, Jeff."
Shine, refusing to be outdone, clung to me and rubbed her cheek against mine. Gently pushing away my overly affectionate twin, I said,
"Now I'll be able to train together with you, Shine."
"Mm. I'm looking forward to it."
I smiled, imagining myself training alongside Shine. Shine also smiled brightly, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist. Amy was busy tapping away on her phone. Rain's eyes were fixed on Shine and me. Looking at Rain's sparkling, distracted eyes, I immediately activated my ability. A faint current wrapped around my fingers. My hand, moving instantly, faithfully executed my command. A pile of tasteless cucumbers was scooped up and dropped onto Rain's tray. In the next blink of an eye, my chopsticks snatched the piece of Salisbury steak Rain had just cut and brought it back to me. It all happened in a flash. I immediately stuffed the steak into my mouth. Pure bliss.
"I'll head out first!"
Having emptied my lunchbox, I stood up from my seat.
"Ah! Wait up!"
As I stood up, Shine naturally rose with me. Watching us, Rain hurriedly grabbed her chopsticks. Wanting to tag along, she stuffed a mouthful of rice into her mouth.
"Ack!"
Rain had finally noticed. The harsh reality that her Salisbury steak had transformed into cucumbers. I hurriedly bolted out of the cafeteria.
"Amy! My steak turned into cucumbers!"
Hearing Rain's scream from behind me, a small giggle escaped my lips. As we stepped into the wide hallway, Shine, who had been following closely, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Jeff."
"Yeah?"
"Being a picky eater is bad."
"...Did you see?"
"Yep."
"Please keep it a secret from Amy."
Cold sweat trickled down my back at Shine's confirmation that she had witnessed my crime.
"Hmm, what should I do?"
Shine began to smile playfully. Her eyes started to gleam with a dangerous light. "Should I keep it a secret?"
I swallowed hard and nodded.
"Okay. But in exchange, you have to do me a favor."
"...What kind of favor?"
"It's a secret~"
A shiver ran down my spine at Shine's sly grin. I rubbed my arms and offered an awkward smile.
"Okay..."
"Let's go."
Shine reached out, grabbed my hand, and pulled me along as she took the lead. I followed her blankly back to the training grounds. Contrary to my expectation that she would ask for something bizarre right away, Shine didn't say a word. She just spent the rest of the day normally. But her silence only made me more anxious. What kind of strange favor was she planning that required this much build-up? Even when we wrapped up training and did yoga with Amy, even when we got our nails done with Amy, and even during our skincare routine with Amy... Shine remained completely silent.
"Jeff, why are you shaking so much?"
"It's nothing..."
Rain asked with a puzzled look, but I couldn't bring myself to answer.