Victor's Training
I checked my reflection in the mirror. My snow-white forehead, freed from the bandages that had been wrapped around my head for days, was perfectly smooth without a single scar.
Hmm, I thought, stroking my forehead. I had worried about being left with a scar, but it turned out to be completely unnecessary.
“I can start training today, right?” I asked Amy, who was reflected in the mirror. Sitting in a chair and sipping coffee, she gave a small nod.
“Yes. It starts today.”
My training was scheduled to begin after lunch with a private lesson from Victor.
“Jeff.”
“Yes?”
“Do you really have to take the exam?”
“Of course. Shine passed it, so there's no reason I can't do it too, right?”
I began striking various poses in front of the mirror. I figured it would be best to have a cool pose ready for the moment I passed. I remembered how the onlookers had snapped countless photos of Shine when she reached the finish line. I wanted to look cool and memorable for my own special moment.
“Sigh...” Amy let out a soft sigh at my response. I knew exactly what she was worried about. She didn't want Shine or me to be in any danger. I also knew that the only reason she, who had always worked alone, had suddenly formed a team was to keep us safe.
But I wanted to be of help to her. Perhaps sensing my determination, Amy didn't press the matter of the exam any further. She simply looked at me and offered a small, gentle smile.
“Starting today, you'll be receiving one-on-one lessons from Victor.”
“Just like before?”
“Yes.”
I nodded, looking around the empty room. Shine, having already passed her exam, had already thrown herself into training. Picturing her working hard to prepare for the next test, I clenched my fists. I couldn't afford to fall behind. I had to make up for lost time, work twice as hard, and catch up to run by her side as soon as possible.
After lunch, I followed Amy to the training grounds. It had been a while since I last set foot here. The familiar clamor echoing from all directions welcomed me. Standing in place, I began to lightly warm up my body.
“Jeff! Amy!”
While I was warming up, Rain ran over. With a towel draped around her neck, she practically flew toward us, her high ponytail wagging back and forth like a puppy shaking its tail.
“Hi, Rain.”
“You're all better!” Rain squealed, spinning circles around me. Her loud voice drew the attention of everyone nearby. Embarrassed, I quickly ducked my head.
“Y-yeah. I'm fine now.”
“Thank goodness! We can train together now, right?”
“Yep.”
Rain cheered at my reply, grabbing my hands and shaking them excitedly.
“Where's Shine?”
“Shine's not here. She's sparring right now.”
“Sparring?”
“Yeah.”
My brow furrowed at the word 'sparring'. The thought of my small, delicate sister sweating it out in a ring made it impossible not to worry.
“Who is she sparring with?”
“Other trainees around her level.”
“You don't mean around her height, right?”
“Nope.”
“She's not in any danger, is she?”
“Well, I don't know. She hasn't lost a single match since I started watching, so I doubt it.”
I let out a sigh of relief at Rain's words. The fact that she hadn't lost once meant she probably hadn't been seriously hurt. Still, my sisterly anxiety didn't just vanish.
“Can you show me where?”
“Over in that room.”
Rain pointed toward a massive iron door situated in the far corner of the training grounds.
“Amy, can we go take a look at Shine?”
“Shall we?” Amy readily agreed to my suggestion. Together, Rain, Amy, and I headed toward the sparring room.
Next to the giant iron door was a wide window, clearly designed to let people watch from the outside. Inside the ring, Shine was facing off against a man much larger than herself. I hurried over to the glass and stood on my tiptoes. Because of my short stature, I practically had to cling to the window frame just to peer inside.
“Come here, Jeff.”
Taking pity on my struggling form, Amy scooped me up into her arms.
“Me too! Carry me too!”
Rain, being equally short, couldn't see inside either. But she didn't wait for Amy to pick her up. With a nimble leap, she clung to Amy's body like a koala and scrambled up next to me. Pressing our hands against the glass, Rain and I watched the scene unfold.
At that exact moment, Shine and the man clashed. The man threw a long, heavy punch, but it failed to connect. As if she were reading his every movement, all of his attacks missed her by a hair's breadth. Her white hair whipped through the air like a tail. One, two, three times—Shine evaded the onslaught with fluid, effortless grace.
The instant the man's posture faltered, Shine shifted gears. Stepping rapidly from side to side, she closed the distance in a flash. The man swung his arm to block her path, but Shine grabbed his arm and launched herself into the air. Her movements were as swift and agile as a squirrel's.
Leaping all the way up to the level of his head, Shine reached out and pressed her palm against his forehead. Instantly, the man's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the floor. He lay there twitching violently, his body spasming as if he had just been hit by a massive electric shock.
“Whoa...”
Children grow fast, but Shine's rate of growth was downright abnormal. It had only been a matter of days. She had started training just a few days before I got my bandages off, and she definitely hadn't been this formidable back then.
“Shine is doing wonderfully,” Amy murmured.
I nodded in agreement. There was absolutely no need to worry. She didn't look like she was in any danger of getting hurt. Besides, in the sparring rooms where trainees practiced with restricted powers, healers were always on standby.
“Amy, let's go to Victor now.”
“Are you sure you don't want to say hello to Shine?”
“Yes. I don't want to interrupt her.”
Shine was more passionate about this than anyone else here. I didn't want to break her focus.
Amy carried both Rain and me over to where Victor was. Victor was sitting on a plush mat, letting out a massive, lazy yawn.
“Hello,” I greeted him politely.
“Oh...”
“Hey, Victor!” Rain chirped.
“Oh...”
Seeing that we had arrived, Victor stood up and began to lightly stretch.
“We starting today?”
“Yes,” Amy replied, setting me down in front of him.
“Where are you going, Amy?”
“I have to go train too. I can't just lounge around forever.”
Amy was a busy woman. I understood that, but I couldn't help but feel a tiny pang of disappointment. I nodded and waved.
“See you later, Amy.”
“Yes. Be good and listen to Victor.”
“See ya, Jeff!”
“And you, get off me now.”
“No! I wanna cling to you longer!”
Amy vigorously shook her arm to dislodge Rain, who squeezed her eyes shut and clung on for dear life. But with one powerful swing of Amy's arm, Rain was sent flying into the distance.
Left alone with Victor, an awkward silence settled between us.
“Hmm...”
Victor, seemingly feeling the awkwardness as well, scratched his head and pulled a sheaf of white papers from his vest.
"Almost all stats are at the absolute peak. If we can just bring up her control a bit..."
Victor muttered quietly, letting out a sigh. “Sit down for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
I plopped down onto the plush mat where Victor had been sitting. Victor sat down across from me just as casually.
“Um, Victor?”
“Yeah.”
“When are we going to start training?”
“I'm thinking about what to have you do.”
We sat there side by side for what felt like ages. Thirty minutes had already passed, yet there was absolutely no progress. We just sat there blankly, letting the time slip away.
“Are you really thinking about it?”
“Yeah.”
More time ticked by. Another thirty minutes. In total, we had spent an entire hour just sitting there. Unable to fight off the boredom, I let out a yawn.
“Alright, I've decided,” Victor suddenly announced, leaping to his feet. I quickly stood up as well.
“We're starting the training, right?”
“Yep.”
With that, Victor jogged over to the water dispenser. He returned a moment later clutching a massive stack of paper cups.
“Cups?”
“It's the perfect training for you.”
Victor lined up several cups on a small table. As I watched him, wondering what on earth he was doing, he pulled a small coin from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“Guess where the coin is.”
“Excuse me?”
Victor slipped the coin under one of the identical paper cups and looked at me. It was that classic street gambling game—the shell game.
This is supposed to be training?
“Is this really training...?”
“What, no confidence?”
“No, it's not that...”
“Here we go.”
Victor's hands began to move, and the paper cups moved with them. His hands were surprisingly fast. The cups spun and slid across the table, making sharp, rustling sounds.
“Where's the coin?”
Sighing, I pointed to the cup in the middle.
“Isn't it this one?”
“Correct.”
Victor lifted the cup to reveal the coin inside, just as I had predicted.
“Um, Victor...”
“Again.”
Cutting me off, Victor began shuffling the cups once more. This time, there were four cups in total.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
The cups spun around. Once again, I easily picked the right one.
“Excuse me...”
“Going faster.”
The moment the words left his mouth, blue electricity crackled at his fingertips. His hands blurred into afterimages. The friction of the paper cups scraping against the table dragged out into a continuous, overlapping screech, sounding as if multiple cups were moving at the exact same instant.
It was more than twice as fast as before. Caught off guard, I completely lost track of the coin.
“Where is it?”
“Uh...”
It was one out of four. A mere twenty-five percent chance. Squeezing my eyes shut, I pointed to the cup on the far right.
“This one!”
One of Victor's eyebrows twitched. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he lifted the cup.
“Wrong.”
“Ah...”
The coin was under the cup on the exact opposite side.
“You weren't focusing at all, were you?”
“No...”
“Focus, Jeff.”
“Yes, sir!”
Victor wasn't playing around. I quickly shook off my dismissive attitude and felt a deep pang of regret.
“This time, instead of a coin...”
Victor swept the coin off the table and pulled a small candy from his pocket.
“We'll use this candy.”
“Candy...?”
“If you guess right, you get to eat it.”
“I do...?”
“But if you're wrong, I eat it.”
I swallowed hard.
“These candies are your snacks for today.”
Before I could even ask, “What?”, Victor's hands blurred into motion.
Swish!
Victor's hands suddenly snapped to a halt on the table. Sharp, brilliant blue currents of electricity crackled wildly along his arms.
“Which means if you keep getting it wrong, you won't be getting any snacks today.”