Chapter 107 - Black Flame (2/2)

Looking dumbstruck, something finally clicked with Laz. The whole moving in thing was just temporary. He had gotten in the habit of it pretty quickly and felt like it was natural. Because of this, he never considered that he would be leaving. And fairly soon at that.

”Aww... Do I have to?” Laz asked, half joking and half serious. He really started to like being at the dojo and being busy all the time. Working out, learning how to fight, training... and most importantly, spending time with someone.

”Yes, you fucking have to. You're too young to quit school and it would be problematic if they had the sheriffs try to track you down,” Kat responded while munching on some toast. In truth, she felt the same way Laz did. It was actually way more fun having him here and taking care of him than being alone. Kat didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't going to lie about her feelings.

”Don't be like that. You can come back on your winter break again if you want. And we are doing a full turkey and everything as a dinner and party for you, so look forward to it!”

”Alright. It will be nice to do something like that again.”

”Good. That's the spirit. Finish up here and let's get ready to go at it downstairs,” Kat said, feeling a bit more lively than before. After all, he wasn't gone yet and he could come back so why feel depressed?

Bringing his formidable hunger to bare, Laz quickly finished up everything around him and ran downstairs to get into his gi.

When Laz got back to the main area, he saw Kat already there. While he had changed into his gi which was normal for the workout area, Kat didn't bother. She was still wearing the black KISS tank she had on underneath the apron along with the grey booty shorts. If Laz didn't know better, he would have guessed she just rolled out of bed.

*You're probably thinking I look like I just rolled out of bed right?*

Startled for a minute, Laz had forgotten about using the spirit to communicate, but he quickly regained himself.

*Kinda, yeah.* Not like it was a problem, but he didn't think it was the best outfit to fight in. Mostly because it didn't look like she was wearing a bra and he couldn't help but think that those massive things would get in the way if they were to actually fight.

'Hell, she might even attack me with them. Being knocked out by a boob, would that be a good or bad thing,' Laz pondered to himself. Of course, that stopped as soon as Kat spoke up.

*And that's where you are wrong. For your information, I sleep naked. If I have clothes on, I couldn't have just rolled out of bed!* Kat smiled after explaining, as though what she had said made perfect sense.

*Anyway, for the rest of today, use your spirit sense to talk. Keep it up until your head starts to hurt... maybe around the level of a pounding headache. It's to help train. Questions?*

”Nope, none.”

Kat responded by hitting his right shoulder while pointing to her head.

*Nope, none.*

*That's better.* Walking to one of the back closets, Kat got out a rather thick padded dummy and dragged it over in front of Laz. Shooing him away, she stood in front of it in a Teiji dachi stance and braced her arms before explaining.

*Remember how I said we were both internal energy users?*

*Yes.*

*That's both true and not true. The truth is that our abilities are internal ones, but the energy can actually be directed outside of us. In a similar way to how you made that poll explode on the first day, you can also direct your energy outside of the body using your ability. Watch me.*

Kat took a deep breath and calmed her body. Then, before Laz knew what was happening, he saw Kat take a step forward towards to dummy and punch out. To Laz's utter amazement, he saw a yellow wave extend from her fist and hit the dummy, knocking the almost 100 kg dummy over.

*HOLY SHIT THAT WAS COOL.* Laz threw out at her.

*I know, right? It's different than using pure energy to lash out. Instead, you instill a bit of your source essence to change the properties of the energy. Mine becomes like rock and lashes out with a strong impact. Yours will be different based on your energy. Give it a try.* Kat walked forward and lifted the dummy back into place, beckoning Laz to come over and give ti a shot.

Laz quickly imitated her stance, but facing the dummy, he felt at a loss. Laughing, Kat gave him some advice.

*Little quick to get there without really knowing how to do it eh?*

*Ah... yeah.* Laz rubbed his nose in an effort to hide his awkwardness.

*He he he. Alright. Well. Try it like this. Just use the loose essence in your body while avoided anything that's concentrated. This way, it won't be as strong and you can control it better. When you punch, project it forward, through your body and out your fist. I can do it without activating my ability, but you might want to only try while activating it. In this way, the energy that comes out is tainted by your essence and isn't pure energy anymore,* Kat explained as best she could. Originally, this idea came from her dad and the results were amazing. She just couldn't remember how he explained it originally.

Laz seemed to get the idea though as he got back into the Teiji dachi stance. Kat was tempted to tell him he could do it without the stance, but felt that using it might help him focus more.

When Laz felt he was ready, he struck out, but all that happened was a pure energy shot with no hint of attribute contained within. Although the dummy moved back, it stayed upright. Because the dummy was made out of a reinforced rubber, it flexed a lot more than wood and wouldn't easily blow up.

Moving it back into position, Laz tried a few more times, but with no success. Kat wasn't surprised. This wasn't something that could be learned right away. Even with all of her experience, it took her two weeks just to do it once and another two weeks before she was able to fuse all of her loose energy into the strike.

Although Laz had failed several times, he didn't give up. Each time, he was able to feel that he didn't use his own energy right and adjusted it the next time. Every failure was therefore not a failure, but a check to see what worked and what didn't.

Having almost ran to the end of his thought train, Laz once again got into position and tried one last time. Feeling the energy flow, he was finally able to inject a small spark of his own essence into it and punched out.

Kat, who had been watching on halfheartedly, jerked straight up at the sight.

When she had done it, it formed a golden, rock like impact wave.

When her dad had done it, it formed a small, yellow colored, bolt of lightning.

But when Laz finally did it, black flames rushed out from his fist like he was a human flame thrower, immediately melting a fist sized hole through the center of the dummy before Laz was able to stop the flow of loose energy.

”Son of a bitch...”