Chapter 143 (1/2)

Shal did not tell his disciple this, but he had lied to him: he would not be within the formation for a single hour, but for 6 hours. For his disciple, this would be 12 hours of hell. Well, if he chose that path. If he was cautious, 12 hours was about the amount of time it took to deplete the ambient Aether in your body if you were not exerting yourself.

The point of this 12 hour period was twofold. First was to force the boy to confront his own Aether, and push him beyond the point his body could stand. This would have tremendous positive benefits for his training, if he could harness it. Especially if what he said was true, and that somehow, he was a walking village in terms of Aether…

What would that mean for his ability to use an image to shape Aether…?

Even Shal, who had long assumed his heart had stiffened and died in a way, felt some inkling of excitement. If he was really carrying this blessing, his disciple needed to get as strong as possible before others discovered it, and it became a curse.

Another wave of power exploded above, but Shal ignored it. Divveltian should have no trouble dealing with enemies who came this early. He was one of the few spear users who hadn’t received any status designations from the school, but Shal’s father had still been cautious around.

But Shal knew in his heart that Divveltian was far above the level of the common Artisan. Qtal was not a town that could easily push Divveltian around.

The second reason that Shal put his disciple into the formation for a longer time was a more cold and calculating reason. He had said it multiple times, but his disciple did not seem to get it; the enemies that would come would be far above his level. His disciple had some tricks and a knack for survival, but their strength would be at the level that he wouldn’t have that chance.

What they needed was the disciple to find a powerful image of the spear, and for the time to perfect it. This 12 hour period would completely deplete the impure Aether in his body, giving him the best chance to develop a powerful image. Although there was also a high risk of death, Shal was not one to worry overmuch.

If his disciple was too weak, it was better that he die now, before Shal risked overmuch to help him. For Shal knew of an answer to the time dilution problem. But it would be difficult, extremely so, and pose extreme risk, with Shal bearing most of the risk. Even if it worked, Shal might be completely out of commission for a long time. In the larger city they would need to go to to perform this plan, both the people who resented the Spear Phantom Style and Rainbow Hunters would be more common. Without Shal’s strength…

Even he, who knew he was about the Adept level of strength, felt some fear in his heart at the thought of such weakness.

But Shal’s eyes burned as he stared into the formation. He was unable to see his disciple, but he wished very strongly for him to succeed.

Not for the Style, not for the health of his disciple, but due to a name he had buried deep within his heart: Lucrecia. And thanks to Egger, Shal now had a location.

His father's actions had earned Shal many things, but part of the settlement with the other Schools was that the travel of the Spear Phantom Style be restricted to only the area controlled by the Spearman School, who defended them. So Shal needed a reasonable ticket to leave their area.

Like a disciple who was traveling to enter a distant tournament.

It was almost a pipe dream at this point. His disciple had struggled at the Qualifier for the Regional Tournament. After that was still the Regional Tournament, where the true competitors who had been preparing will be waiting. At that tournament, the top 4 would get a ticket to the Spearman School Hall of Stances, and then…

Then those 4, as well as the other groups of 4 from the other Spearman School regions, would travel to the All School Tournament. Which was being hosted by the Death School.

“Top 4… huh…” It seemed impossible to Shal, but his disciple had an almost infectious optimism about him. Besides, their current goal was top 8 anyways. Just one more win.

Shal would risk anything for that win. Even the lives of himself and his weak disciple.

“Lucrecia… you cannot run from me forever…”

****

Time dragged on, and everything began to blur for Randidly. Everything began to revolve around the spear. He saw it, even with his eyes closed. It grew, and it grew distant, like the way your limbs felt when you sat alone in a dark room with your eyes closed.

It was strange and weird, but Randidly didn’t let that perturb him, he simply held the spear and thrusted forward, Aether writhing through his body as he moved.

The thrust was inevitable, it was instant, time…..

Randidly paused, hesitating. Time… huh….

His mind moving rapidly, in spite of the vicious pain in his forehead, Randidly could picture his spear moving so fast that it seemed to move slow, somehow bending the laws of time. Or using time to simply speed up the time it took for his spear to arrive before his target.

But after a few seconds, he shook his head, banishing that image. That wasn’t his spear. It was… inevitable. It wasn’t that his spear used time to its advantage…

But that the attack was inevitable and irresistible, like time. It was coming, it was just a matter of… time. There was a countdown.