The following morning arrives, bringing with it the familiar routine of the academy. Cultivation class is first, the air thick with the musky scent of incense and the low hum of channeled energy.
I close my eyes, focusing on the meager wisp of internal energy that coils within me. Despite weeks of practice, it feels sluggish and unrefined, a far cry from the vibrant spark I witnessed in rimuru's Nin Shi spell.
The instructor drones on about balancing chakras and channeling the flow of aura, but my mind can't help but wander. I steal a glance at rimuru, hoping to catch her eye and share a secret smile.
Perhaps a silent connection can bridge the gap between our cultivation levels.
Talisman-making class follows, a welcome change of pace from the esoteric theories of cultivation. Here, we can translate that energy into tangible form, etching spells onto strips of enchanted parchment.
I fumble with my brush, frustration gnawing at me as my inexperience shows.
A soft voice breaks through my concentration.
"𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖," rimuru murmur, leaning in close. Her touch sends a jolt through me, but I focus on the way she handle the brush, her movements confident and precise. With rimuru's help, I manage to inscribe a simple shielding charm, the wobbly lines testament to my beginner's skills.
"𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒅," she said with a smile, her voice warm with encouragement. "𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒐 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆."
A flicker of hope ignites within me. Maybe, with
rimuru by my side, I can bridge the gap between my past and my potential.
The morning classes leave me with a bittersweet taste. The frustration of my lagging cultivation lingers, but the memory of rimuru's encouraging smile in talisman-making class brings a spark of warmth. As the bell rings, signaling break time.
A jolt of surprise shoots through me as I felt a tap my shoulder. I turn to see rimu6 face etched with a familiar frustration, mirroring my own experience in cultivation class.
"𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑹𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒖," I reply, a relieved smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "𝑰𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒚. 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒔 - 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒃𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆."
I chuckle self-deprecatingly. "𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖? 𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐?"
"𝑴𝒉𝒎, 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒐𝒓? 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌?" She questioned
The suggestion of approaching Master Lu piques my interest. While the thought of asking for extra help sends a tremor of nervousness through me, the idea of having more personalized instruction alongside her is undeniably appealing.
"𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆...𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕," I voice hesitantly, recalling the stern disciplinarian who commands respect in the classroom. "𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔..."
The prospect of presenting a united front bolsters my confidence. With a determined nod, I clasp the borrowed spellbook tighter
"𝑨𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏," I say, my voice surprisingly steady. "𝑳𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆."
The walk to Master Lu's office is filled with a shared sense of purpose. Will the intimidating instructor be receptive to our request? One thing's for certain - our bond, forged through shared struggles and newfound friendship, has given me the courage to face this challenge.
The unexpected sight of Master Lu standing at the doorway, the door swinging open before our knock, sends a jolt of surprise through me. My carefully rehearsed speech evaporates, replaced by a stammer. "𝑴-𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖," I stutter, unsure of how to proceed.
RIMURU POV
"𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓" I bowed and elbow toshiro to do the same
END
A gentle nudge from rimuru's elbow reminds me of my manners. Shamefacedly, I straighten my posture and bow deeply. "𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖," I say, my voice gaining strength despite the lingering nervousness. The unexpected encounter has thrown me off-guard, but rimuru's calm demeanor offers a sense of reassurance.
Master Lu's gaze sweeps from rimuru to me, his expression unreadable for a tense moment. Then, a hint of a smirk tugs at the corner of his lips. "𝑺𝒐," he rumbles, his voice deep and gravelly, "𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂, 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖?"
Surprise washes over me, quickly followed by a flicker of hope. News of our struggles must have traveled faster than we anticipated.
"𝒀-𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑳𝒖," I stammer. "𝑾𝒆'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕..."
"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒔," you finish with a huff, a touch of defiance lacing your voice. "𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆."
Master Lu's smirk widens into a full-fledged grin, a sight that both surprises and reassures me. "𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍," he booms. "𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓. 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑾𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒚."
A wave of relief washes over me, warm and exhilarating. We did it! The prospect of personalized training under Master Lu's watchful eye fills me with a newfound determination.
A quick glance at rimuru reveals a mirrored expression of excitement on her face. Perhaps, just perhaps, this unexpected turn of events marks the beginning of a significant change in our fortunes at the academy.
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Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival
FantasíaThis story unfolds a tale of a young boy who trainees much as he can to become the best vision of himself no limitations
