Here There be Witches

Untitled Part 13

A few days later, Maka, Anara and Blackstar stared in confusion at the strange little object in front of them. Anara couldn't say he liked the design very much, particularly the little clay man wrapped around it. He wondered where his dad had gotten it, and why he had never seen it before.

"A jar?" Blackstar inquired from his place on classroom floor.

"That's right, a jar," Stein answered from behind them, a little closer to the empty rows of seats for the students.

"Is it a special jar?" Specially ugly maybe.

"Nope, nothing special, it's just an ordinary jar." The gray haired man was smiling, he certainly knew something the children didn't. "Now the water inside the jar that's another story altogether." At this prompt all three students leaned forward to get a closer look at the water, which also seemed perfectly ordinary. "It's called Soul Sapping Water because it sucks out your soul wavelength. Compared to that the jar's very ordinary indeed."

Anara made a little "mneh" noise. "Sounds creepy. Can I touch it?"

"No. Blackstar, go on, try sticking you hand in."

With only slight concern for his safety Blackstar complied. "Alright, but I'm still a little iffy about this jar."

"Wait! Blackstar don't! Didn't you hear what the Professor just said to Anara? Professor you shouldn't-"

As soon as the blue haired boy's fingers touched the water he made a strangled noise and his face went all shriveled and old. Anara and Maka's eyes widened and even the cat-witch on the blonde girl's shoulders looked mildly interested. "What was that!? I knew that jar was dangerous!" It was the water dumbass.

"No, it's just the water. You might wanna start off by sticking in only one finger at a time." Stein turned away from them.

"All I have to do is get to where I can withstand putting my whole hand in there, and then I can use Tsubaki's enchanted sword mode professor?" Anara hoped that was all, after hearing about what happened in the strange village he was incredibly fascinated with Tsubaki's new form. He hoped one day he could spar with the pair while they used it.

"That's the basic idea."

Blackstar lifted the jar triumphantly above his head. "That'll be a nice break! All I've been doing lately is muscle conditioning and it's gettin' old," He declared.

Maka piped up with a slightly frustrated look and noise. "It isn't fair! How can you get stronger just by playing with a jar filled with water?" Because as physically powerful as Blackstar is, what he really needs is soul control. Yet another reason it's a miracle he found a partner. He can use his soul wavelength directly as a weapon, sure, but his technique needs refinement. Furthermore, he needs to be able to access more of his soul's strength to be compatible with Tsubaki's powerful new ability.

"Hah! Isn't it obvious!? I'm Blackstar! I'm on a whole different level than you! I'm a big man! I've beaten Death! Who else can say that?" He patted his muscled arms proudly.

"No fair! Professor Stein can I have one of those special jars too?" Maka complained.

"I can't do that. The water in the jar is only intended to help Blackstar be able to use Tsubaki's enchanted sword mode." Back on the floor the "assassin" excitedly began his new training with his classic egotistical determination. "I'd be surprised is Blackstar even knew what he was doing by saying things like that," Stein continued. "By talking constantly about what a star he is and how big he is Blackstar is constantly driving himself without meaning to." As the professor and Maka conversed Anara wondered if he should start being a little more like that. The positive mindset was certainly a good thing in theory, but it was a bit different from the way the witch thought. It would probably be to difficult for him to change that, if he even believed his new thoughts anyway. Besides, it probably only works that well on someone like Blackstar, and when done unintentionally.