I took a deep breath, planting my feet as I swung the silver spear, kicking up dust in an arc. After swinging it a few more times, I stopped to catch my breath, plant the bottom of the handle into the ground
It still feels kinda weird, but I think I got used to it a little.
Picking up the spear, I adjusted my grip, pushed my left foot a little forward, and raised the spear so the tip of the blade was just above eye level. Then I took a swing, bringing it down diagonally as I pushed off my left foot and stopped with my right.
Alright, that feels a little better.
I continued swinging the spear, changing positions when it felt wrong. Just as I was about to stop, a sudden dread came at me, something in my brain telling me to dodge. I turned to my right, and a giant ass hammer was right in my face! I stumbled back, tripping backwards before falling on my back. Just as I fell, the hammer stopped inches away from me, before backing off.
What in the fuck?!
I got up, glaring in the direction of the hammer, and who could've fucking guess, it was the pink bitch.
He held the hammer in one hand- somehow, that thing is fucking huge, like anime type huge, there is no way this scrawny bitch is that strong. I mean, I know he's taller than me, but I've seen weak tall people, so it makes sense.
The pink bitch turned in my direction, walking through the yard, still wearing that creepy smile on his face.
Fifty bucks that that hammer is a lot lighter than it looks.
"You seem to have training before this, but it feels mismatched," he said, placing the hammer over his shoulder.
The fuck?
Getting up, I dusted off my pants before picking up my spear. I turned back to him, gripping my spear just in case.
"And? Is it a problem?"
At that, he stopped, staring at me with furrowed brows.
Ah shit, did I fuck it up?
I glanced at my spear in my hands.
Maybe I can still escape with Minh if I bomb this place. Yeah, just throw a fireball to distract this guy, rush in, take Minh, and run for it. Even if we can't be spies, we can do office jobs or something, that's way better anyway.
I tighten my grip, keeping him in full view in case he tries to attack.
His brows furrowed deeper, tilting his head before making an oh sound and bowing, "I see, I apologize for not explaining earlier. I assumed you both knew."
… what?
"Having gone through ceremony myself, I can understand how painful and terrifying it is. Since you didn't ask about life bound tools, I assumed you were aware of the process," he explained, looking down with a slightly red face.
I stared at him for a minute, then at the spear in my hand.
I suddenly don't like you very much Mr. Spear. That fucking hurt you cunt, you could've at least not make me think I was going to die, that would've been nice.
Leo- yes I'm using his name now, looked up, dropping the hammer down. As it hit the ground, I swear, I felt the ground shake a little.
Okay, not light. Why is he beefy, that's not fair.
He tapped the bottom of the handle, and the hammer started glowing gold before disappearing.
Wat?
I squinted at the large indent the hammer made, then at Leo, acting like everything is fine and dandy, you fuck. He met my look, raising his hand to show a tattoo of a hammer on the back of his hand.
Oooh, that's cool. The magic system here is very cliche.
Leo brushed his right hand over his left, the tattoo turning into golden light that materialized into that big ass hammer. He weighed it in his hand for a moment before turning back to me.
"Since you have your life bound tool now, I'll teach you basic control and a few spear arts if you wouldn't mind."
"... Huh- oh, sure, thanks."
Oh thank fuck. I zoned out for a moment. Well, at least he's gonna teach me how to use this thing. I know I'm not paying property damage for the walls I destroyed, but I'm not taking chances when I'm broke as hell. Plus, he's gonna teach me how to use a spear, which is pretty nice. Maybe he's not such a bitch after all, more like a slightly morally corrupted priest. Actually, is he a priest? I think he is, 'cause like, he worships a god and stuff, even if that god is evil. But like, he's around my age, so fifteen or sixteen, so priest in training? Know what, I'm just not gonna think about that. It's not like I'm religious anyway.
Leo walked closer to me, holding up his hammer, the sun shining on the engravings on the handle as he began to explain, "Firstly, to use your life bound tool, you just need to channel your life force into it and it will activate. I'll use my hammer as an example."
After, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he focused on the hammer in his hands, the next moment, the graphien symbols on the handle started glowing a gold light. He opened his eyes, exhaling as he continued.
"As you can see, through this, we can channel the power of our lord for a time. However, you still need to be careful and use it sparingly. This should come easily to you though, since you were able to activate your tool right after awaking," he explained, the light of the hammer disappearing.
Right… definitely did that. Is reading the graphien on here cheating or?
"Um yeah, should be easy," I nodded
What the fuck am I doing?!
I took a deep breath, holding the spear in both hands as I focused on it.
I have no idea what I'm doing.
I glanced at Leo, who was waiting with his hammer and a smile. At this point, it's just his signature thing.
Fuck me, what do I do?
I squinted at the spear for longer than I should've been, as I felt some sweat forming on my back. I don't know if it's the sun or stress, but that should be bad either way.
Should I just cheat? But like, wouldn't he notice though?
I glanced at Leo again. He looks nice, but that was before he threw me and Minh into a death trap. And plus, he's a cultist, and cultists suck- I think, so he's definitely not a good person in any way. If he catches me cheating, or if he finds out I can do magic stuff, he might try to kidnap me for his cult or whatever. Or maybe use Minh as a hostage to keep me from betraying the Crimson Sun or some shit like that. I don't know!
Okay Phuong, just focus. You can do this. If you can figure out algebra before Minh did, then you can figure this out too. Just focus.
I stared at the spear harder.
Yeah, this is definitely working.
Suddenly, I felt a tingle, starting from my finger tips to my arms.
Holy fuck it's working.
I focused on the feeling, pushing it into the spear. The next moment, the engravings on the handle glowed a white light, like when I broke the wall earlier.
Leo put his hammer down, clapping as he congratulated me.
"Wonderful, it seems you're well favored by our lord," he praised, "Now we'll get into the basics."
After that, Leo taught me the basic stuff, like how to turn my spear into a tattoo thingy apparently, mine's on the back of my neck, kinda weird, but it looks pretty cool. He also explained some other basic functions like the thing I did when I destroyed that wall. When he explained it, there was a bunch of religious lord stuff, but in stupid language, it's pretty much big energy gather and go boom. It consumes a small amount of life force, so it's pretty harmless. Which means, when Minh wakes up and we start dueling again, I can spam the shit out of this and beat his ass. Anyway, Leo also said that my spear should have a special ability, he said that my life force is like tiny fireworks, so it's probably connected to that.
He even showed me his hammer's special ability, which is named Philip apparently. The hammer I mean, the hammer is named Philip. My head's getting weird. Maybe I should name my spear too. 'Cause like, when you get a powerful weapon, you have to name it. As this spear is made from me, it is therefore my child, and I have the right to name my child. I'm not just gonna call it spear forever. Anyway, Philip's ability is pretty basic, affecting its size. Like growing big or small. The most basic of all abilities, and you can fight me on that.
And honestly, when I think about it, Leo feels like a better teacher than Eugene. Like, when me and Minh were learning the sword, Eugene usually just tell us about our fuck ups and leave, kinda like my algebra teacher. Forgot her name though.
Well, after teaching me the basics, Leo said that he'd teach me how to fight with my spear- name still pending. I still don't trust his ass, but if he's gonna teach me how to kick ass, I can reschedule his ass-kicking for later.
But for some reason after he left, I felt a chill down my spine.
Weird.
AN
Leo: I'll teach you some spear arts tomorrow!
Aliya: Huh? What's this chill? It's not even cold!