Cyberpunk Discord

Chapter 18: Quid Pro Quo

After the crash, Yueling decided to take Manghua under her wing temporarily, both to learn more about him and his abilities. After roughly a day of accompanying Manghua, Yueling decided to train him in several combat tactics.

"So, your brushes are quite unique, and you seem proficient enough with them. Your main brush, however, not so much," Yueling said, carefully observing Manghua's methods. "Your ability to make any drawing into a reality is an extremely powerful ability, and I think you're underusing it."

"You might be right, but hey, at least I can do this! Look behind you," Manghua said, smirking, while quickly forming a Ley Rickast behind Yueling. Yueling's eyes twitched when she saw this, becoming slightly irritated.

"...wow. Actually, you know what? This could be useful in combat, if you want to distract the opponent," Yueling said, regaining her composure. "Also, I'm aware your blue brush has the ability to create weapons, such as chains, blades, sawblades, and more. However, it isn't instantaneous, as the brushes don't have the same drawing speed as you. Have you ever considered taking your main brush and using that in combat?" Manghua thought about this and reconsidered his usage of the main brush, the biggest and most powerful one.

"Hmm...that does sound better than having to focus on seven separate brushes at a time. Maybe I'll just use those as a trump card in the future," Manghua thought to himself, pulling out his main brush. "Well, then what should I do with this?"

"Since his imagination is the limit..." Yueling thought, "Try just making a couple ink strokes in the air, and imagine what they would do in a combat situation. I will be your sparring opponent." Manghua obliged, making five black strokes in the air. In response, Yueling also created five water bullets, and shot them.

"They're fast! Uhm uh..." Manghua thought, slightly panicking with the water bullets coming ever closer to him. Suddenly, the five strokes turned yellow, rushed forward and collided with Yueling's water, causing a big cloud with yellow ink riddled around.

"Don't panic, Manghua." Yueling said, sternly.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to battle at all..." Manghua said, slightly embarrassed.

"It's okay. I don't know how you were able to defend yourself in that state, but you cannot be like that in every battle. Go again, and try to stay calm. It's just water, after all," Yueling said with a grin, this time creating ten bullets, shooting them in rapid succession. Manghua took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"It's just water, it's just water..." Manghua said to himself, then quickly made ten yellow ink strokes with incredible speed, and fired them. However, this time Manghua overpowered Yueling's water bullets, forcing her to react by making a quick ice shield. This went on for quite some time, with Manghua improving greatly in a short amount of time

"Wow, he learns quickly," Yueling thought, surprised. "Well then, I suppose you're probably good here. Your imagination is your limit, and I can't help you in that regard," Yueling said. "We'll move onto the next topic after a small break." Yueling grinned as she slowly moved some water behind Manghua, ready to splash him. "This is just to test his reaction speed, and to get back at him for rickrolling me earlier, hehe..."

"What's the next topic?" Manghua asked, mostly tired out. "Could you by any chan- AHHH!" Manghua was suddenly soaked to the bone, completely caught off guard. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Manghua yelled, shuddering from the cold.

"Getting back at you for rickrolling me, of course!" Yueling said happily. Manghua dried off, and Yueling went to go buy some food. Once she came back, they ate, and continued training in reaction speed, dealing with multiple things at once, and creativity. Eventually, Manghua got tired of all the training and wanted to leave.

"Y'know, Yueling is really nice and all, but I can't stay here forever. I want some action. I guess I'll just leave a note then." Manghua contemplated this for a while, and finally wrote:

Hi, I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye properly and just left you without notice. I just want to say that I may not seem like it, but I really appreciated you training me, and giving me a place to stay without needing to worry. You're like a big sister to me, and I mean it. Thank you, and goodbye. I'll probably be somewhere in the city. I hope we meet again someday.

-Manghua