Stalkers (2)
"Why didn't you tell me you could do that?" Adonis smiled at his companion.
"Ksk Ksk."
"Well you did surprise me." Adonis chuckled, placing Minnie back on his head.
"Ksk Ksk."
"Yeah, it's fine. You can go back to the forest, just be safe."
"Ksk Ksk." With an affectionate salutation, Minnie beat his wings.
PUPUP PUPUP
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
"KSK KSK" The beast complained.
"Yeah, I know it tastes horrible. Just eat it!"
"KSK KSK"
"Oh suck it up!" Adonis removed his silver ring and tossed it at the beast.
"KSK KSK"
"I'll give you head rubs later."
"KSK KSK" Minnie plucked the ring right out of the air, swallowing it in one swift motion.
"Yeah yeah... I know I owe you." Adonis sighed.
***
"Intersting, he makes his magic beast swallow his spatial ring. And whenever he needs it he calls upon his him, he and makes it regurgitate it back out." Amber observed.
'But something is strange about that magic beast, it seems like it had two types of projectile abilities... I'm too far to clearly see.' She continued.
***
"Sure he's pet is cute, but I'm sure thee's something really wrong with him!" Veda declared, determined to keep her biases.
***
'I need to observe Minnie's behaviours more and study his abilities.' Adonis noted, watching his companion whizz through the air as a black blur.
{That didn't count as training, you have plenty more to do.} The Devil God commanded.
'Yes sir.' Sighing, Adonis looked into the sky, embracing the sun's warm rays.
'At least let me warm up.' Adonis requested, stretching his limbs.
{Do as you please, you have thirty minutes.}
'Thanks...' Adonis jumped into the air multiple times, his knees touching his chest with each brief leap.
'Let's see if you two can keep up.' Adonis chuckled.
***
"What's he doing?" Amber whispered, preparing to follow behind the boy.
***
'He's about to leave.' Veda realized, lightly rustling her bush.
***
BOOM
Tensing the tight muscles in his legs, Adonis burst through the grass, moving at an exceptional speed.
Accelerating rapidly, Adonis leaped onto a nearby tree causing its leaves to dance.
"Catch me if you can..." Adonis chuckled.
Adonis shattered the wood beneath his feet and leaped toward a nearby tree.
SHATTER
There, he repeated the process, accelerating with each stride he took.
SHATTER
***
HUFF PUFF HUFF PUFF
"Does he know I'm following him?" Following a safe distance behind the boy, Amber leaped from tree to tree, struggling to keep up with his speed.
***
Gasping for air repeatedly, Veda also followed behind Adonis, although unlike Amber she remained on the ground and continued to glance up at the boy.
***
"Not bad..." Adonis chuckled.
{Stop joking around and shake them off already.}
"I thought you said I could do as I please."
{Don't act smart with me mortal!}
"Hehe..."
BOOM
SHATTER
Showcasing his superior speed, Adonis soared through the air, widening the gap between him and both Amber and Veda.
***
"What the hell!" Failing to match Adonis's speed, Veda howled.
***
'Why's he so fast?' Unrelenting in her pursuit, Amber took multiple deep breaths and continued in her chase of the boy.
***
'Hmm... After this, I think I'll get a snack.' Adonis leaped to the next tree.
BOOM
{Snack? You'll be training mortal!}
BOOM
'What's your obsession with training?' Adonis sighed.
BOOM
{It's not an obsession, you're just really lazy!}
BOOM
'I beg to differ. You just have high standards.' Adonis pouted.
BOOM
{I'm a divine being, what do you expect?}
BOOM
'That doesn't mean you can be such a meanie.'
BOOM
{You're a literal child.}
BOOM
'Well yeah, I'm only fifteen.'
BOOM
{That's not an excuse!}
BOOM
'It is.' Adonis grinned.
"Anyway... I'm getting bored. Let's make this chase more interesting."
Planting his feet on the tree's large branch, Adonis intensified the force he exerted and shattered the branch he stood on.
SHATTER
The splintered piece plummeted towards Veda, who continued to follow closely behind.
***
WHOOSH
HUFF PUFF HUFF PUFF
"W-what?!" Snapping her head to the sky, Veda scowled.
'Be careful you idiot!' At the last second, she moved out the way, avoiding the branch's descent.
BAM
***
"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you Amber." Adonis giggled.
Now perched on a new branch, Adonis crouched, his hand gripping the wood tightly.
With a determined clench, he brought to the branch to the point of fragility, teetering on the verge of breaking.
With practised grace, Adonis leaped onto a new tree, being careful not to break the tree's fragile branch.
***
'Why'd he stop?' Amber scowled.
Brushing off Adonis's strange behaviour, Amber continued to follow her target's path.
After a few more moments of leaping tree from tree, Amber finally reached the tree Adonis had stopped at.
CRUNCH
The moment her feet made contact with the branch, the fragile wood shattered, sending her and the splintered remains plummeting toward the distant ground.
"Huh?"
WHOOSH
***
"I'll be disappointed if you're both unable to recover from that." Adonis smiled, propelling himself forward, increasing his velocity with each leap.
The boy persisted, leaping from tree to tree.
With each passing moment, his heart raced faster, and his fatigue continued to grow.
Satisfied with the warmth coursing through his throbbing veins and the suppleness of his joints and muscles, Adonis kept using the trees as his means of traveling, heading toward the academy's magic temple.
***
"The magic temple?" Having somewhat recovered from her plummet, Amber was back in the trees embrace, following closely behind Adonis.
***
"Where's he going?" Her determination evident, Veda dashed along the grass.
***
{Where're you going Oizys? You're supposed to be training.}
'This is training.'
{Seems like you're bein la-}
'Lazy. I know, but I want to try that again.'
{You've barely made any progress over the past eight years, what makes today so different?}
'I'm feeling lucky.' Adonis smiled gently, leaping out of the last tree onto the grass.
{Relying on uncontrollable factors such as luck is stupid, you should know this.}
'I know, but I've been failing constantly, I need something out of my control. Y'know?'
{No I do not, you're being dumb.}
'Would it hurt you to encourage me for once?'
{Yes.}
Sighing, Adonis pressed on, heading toward a grand building. The terrain shifted from grass to a well paved stone path.
The Magic Temple of Hero City's Magic Academy was a remarkable ancient Roman style structure, standing out among the rather modern buildings in the academy.
Despite the building's visible age, the building had withstood the test of time pretty remarkable, its pearly pillars sporting only a few cracks.
Entering the building, Adonis marveled at its beauty. Instantly, he sensed the surge in mana density, his untamed mana core responding with a wild gyrate.
Refusing to waste another second, Adonis took a seat on the floor, mimicing the behaviour of the other students who medicated intensly.
***
"Is he trying to improve his magic control?" Amber who took a seat a few rows away from the boy whispered.
***
'Now that I think about it, I haven't seen him use magic?' Veda who coincidently sat next to Amber thought.
***
2 hours later
{Just give up... You're wasting time.}
HUFF PUFF
'I can feel it, it's in sight.' Adonis, who was now drenched in sweat whispered.
{Your body is the only one making progress, you won't be able to use magic so long as your mind is weak.}
'...'
***
After his time at the magic temple, Adonis went back to the cafeteria to get a snack before he did more intensive training.
***
Academy's Indoor Reflex room
Adonis stood at the heart of a brilliantly illuminated large hall, encircled by dozens of humanoid figures made from mana.
In their hands, they all wielded a variety of range weapons, ranging from throwing knives and bows to cross bows and spears, all poised to strike the teenager in the center.
[Reflex Aptitude Test, First Year: Adonis P. Vindicta, Seventh Rising Star.]
[Rules...]
[You may not leave the two by two box beneath you.]
[You may not use magic.]
[You may not use aura.]
[You may not deflect attacks.]
[You may not attack the dummies.]
[Objective:]
[Evade as much as you can.]
[Begin!]
As soon as the automated voice made the declaration, the entities moved immidiately.
A single spear shot in Adonis's direction, aiming to pierce his throat.
Reacting swiftly, Adonis ducked, dodging the attack by a comfortable margin.
WHOOSH
Concluding that he had successfully dodged the attack, the entities moved once more, this time hurling two spears directly at his crouched head and thigh.
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
'No rest period?' He sighed.
{You just started yet you're already complaining.}
'I think complaining when you're being attacked is reasonable. ' Adonis chuckled.
{I beg to differ, you're just soft!}
In response to the large spears hurtling towards him, Adonis contorted his body, lifting his leg out of harm's way and shifting his head once more, avoiding the projectiles.
***
"Nothing seems out of the ordinary... He's a bit lonely, but nothing off." Staring into the window at the boy, Veda frowned.
***
"..." Amber scrutinized the boy's behaviour from inside the building, making sure to stay hidden.
***
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
Maintaining his calm demeanor, Adonis evaded all the spears and arrows speeding towards him.
Cranking up the speed in an attempt to overwhelm him, the entities shot five arrows and three spears towards Adonis.
"That's a bit much, no?" He sighed, moving his body rapidly to dodge each individual attack.
***
Five minutes later.
After hundreds of more projeciles being hurled at him, Adonis was finally hit by an arrow in his forehead, upon contact it dissolved into a few mana particles.
[Ending simulation.]
{You'd be dead if that was real.}
'Lord Eos, that was way too fast.' Adonis panted.
[Calculating performance, please stand by.]
[Adonis P. Vindicta: Two hundred and fifty-seven and a quarter meters per second. ]
[Well done.]
***
"What?!" Veda screamed.
***
"What are you Adonis?" Amber scowled
***
The remainder of Adonis's day was rather repititive.
After each activity, he returned to the cafeteria to refuel before proceeding to a different facility to either test or improve his capabilities.
***
8PM
Satisfied with his improvement throughout the day execpt for his magic prowess, Adonis went back to his room, throwing his body onto the comfortable bed.
***
'It wouldn't be wise to cross him off the list because of what I just saw today, there's also the small possibility he knew I was following him. But what I do know now is that he is incredibly strong, above the capabilities of every other first year, which is reason alone to continue to investigate him.' Amber concluded as she walked back towards her own room.
***
'I'll admit it Vindicta, you're not THAT bad of a guy. But I still don't think you're worthy of my sister.' Veda puffed, walking back towards her room.