Bert dragged me to three different weapons shops before finally settling on something he claimed was perfect for him. To me, the massive hammer looked like every other massive hammer. So it had a few monster parts worked into it while it was being refined. The shopkeep claimed that the materials gave it the ability to store some kinetic energy, but I doubted it.
Still, if Bert was happy, that was all that mattered. As for me, I found nothing. None of the monster parts on sale along the street called to me. And nothing I saw would be useful for any project that I might take on. But, I guess if there ever comes a time that I need monster parts for something, I could always come back.
As the attendant scanned my pad, I looked out at the bustling city. While it was different in every way, seeing it caused me to miss home. It was like how in various books the main character said they already missed home even if they had literally just left the place.
I had laughed at them. Made fun of the authors. I was so sure that the scenes were, if not outright fake, overdone. But now, now I got what the authors were saying. I understood what the characters felt.
As soon as the attendant gestured for me to get a move on, I made my way to our cabin and looked for something to do. Anything to keep me distracted. Distracted from how much I missed home. Distracted from the fear that I might never see my family again. Distracted from how I might not make it through the trip without fighting, let alone live through my time at the academy. To force myself to focus on this moment by forcing me to do something, anything.
The drone sitting in the cargo mesh above my seat caught my eye. Even if I couldn’t test it, that didn’t mean I couldn’t make a few modifications to the weapons. Surely there were a few things I could add to beef up the power or something. The question is, did I have any materials on me to use?
It took a bit of work, but I managed to maneuver the larger suitcase out from above and onto the table. A few minutes later, an empty-handed Bert strode into the room to find me sorting through the materials.
“What are you looking for?” I couldn’t tell if he sounded confused or intrigued. Knowing him, it was probably a mix of both.
“No idea.” I debated how I could use an ion channel in any weapon. The thing would be great at making some sort of plasma launcher, but the projectile would be too small, too short-lived, and eat mana like nothing else. With a flick, I tossed it to the reject pile.
“Okay.” He drew the word out. “Then what are you trying to do?”
“Upgrade my drone's weapon.” How could I use an electromagnet? To be honest, the piece wasn’t all that useful for tossing anything. Though maybe it could be used to gather materials after the fact? Maybe find various pieces of metal out in the wilderness and return them to me?
With a shake of my head, it joined the rest of the rejects. “And why would you want to do that?”
“I just needed a distraction.”
“Try again.”
“Why would you want a better weapon?” I shot back as I tried to not think about how many monsters I had run into in the last week. How close I had come to death without being able to do anything about it. How lucky I had been to not have to fight for my life.
“So that I can better protect you.”
“You can only be around for so long. Who knows what will happen after our first class?”
He grabbed my hand, preventing me from digging through the pile in search of something. “Don’t lie to me. What is this really about?”
I refused to look up, to meet his eyes. My shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “I can’t rely on you forever.”
His hand squeezed a bit harder. Not enough to hurt, but enough to get his feelings across as he let out a growled “Eli.”
I yanked my hand from his. “I nearly hurt that little girl.”
“You mean the one from the bakery?” He sounded confused by the sudden topic change.
“There was nothing she could do to stop me from hurting her. It was either up to me or someone nearby to keep her safe.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“But you had. You managed to move such that the window took the hit rather than her.”
“Only because I cared. What if I didn’t care? What if I ran her over and kept going? Or, worse yet, what if I chose to make the accident worse?”
He didn’t hesitate for a moment as he confidently said, “you would never.”
“But a monster would.” He shook his head as he tried to understand what the fuck I was saying. Where I was going with my line of thought. “If I ran into a monster, I would be just like that little girl. Helpless and reliant on the monster and everyone around me to keep me safe.”
“And you think this little drone could do all that for you? That it can deal with the monster?” He scoffed. “Forget the drone. Even if you get it to work, what will you do when it is destroyed or is unable to get to you fast enough to deal with a threat? You need to learn how to defend yourself. In fact, I think we should spend our free time training you up.”
Oh, god, he was going to try to train me. It didn’t work the last time, so why did he think it would work this time? “No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Not going to happen.”
“It will happen, whether you want it to or not.”
“You cannot force me to become your punching bag. Never again.” I shuddered at the memory. So many bruises.
He shook his head as he pulled out his pad. “Did you get your class list yet?”
I narrowed my eyes. “No, why?”
With an underhanded toss, he passed his pad to me. “While the schedule might be a bit different, every student is required to take these classes at the start of their first year.”
I scowled as I scanned over the information.
Monday:
6 AM – 8 AM – Physical Fitness
9 AM – 11 AM – Weapon Basics
11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Magic 101
6 PM – Dinner
Tuesday:
6 AM – 8 AM – Physical Fitness
9 AM – 11 AM – Monster Biology 101
11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Elective (Undecided)
6 PM – Dinner
Wednesday:
6 AM – 8 AM – Physical Fitness
9 AM – 11 AM – Weapon Basics
11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Magic 101
6 PM – Dinner
Thursday:
6 AM – 8 AM – Physical Fitness
9 AM – 11 AM – Monster Biology 101
11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Elective (Undecided)
6 PM – Dinner
Friday:
6 AM – 8 AM – Physical Fitness
9 AM – 11 AM – Weapon Basics
11 AM – Noon – Lunch
Noon – 4 PM – Magic 101
6 PM – Dinner
Saturday:
All Day – Gathering 101
Sunday:
Free Day
*Your classes are subject to change depending on the knowledge and skills presented at the start of the year.*
Of course there would be a class focused on torturing me every day. Oh, and look at that, there is even a weapons class that will take my tortured body and grind it up for fun. Why was I going to this place again? Oh, that’s right. My parents forced me. Mostly.
With a groan, I dropped his pad into the box of parts and looked outside. Surprisingly enough, we were already moving away from the city. I almost wondered when that had happened and how I had missed the various bursts of mana.
“Then again, I guess it really depends on your power.” I didn’t have to see him to know the guy shrugged. “Maybe the gift will be something odd, and they will give you time from these classes to learn to control it.”
Knowing my luck, they would have me take all those classes and set aside time to learn control. Assuming I have a power that is.
“Though, I wonder what weapon would be best for you.” The seat across from me gave off a slight crunching groan sound as he maneuvered his way into it. “Probably not something that requires you to get up close and personal. You just don’t have the speed or strength to pull it off. Maybe a gun of some sort? Doesn’t your mother use a projectile weapon?”
He was trying to pull me out of my head, but I continued to do anything more than listen to him. It almost felt like I was the only one who still thought I didn’t have a power. Was it possible that I was wrong? Did I have a power and just not know it? How would that even be possible? And if it was hidden, would it even be useful? After all, if I had never used it before, what use would it be to me now?
Guess I would find out. For now, back to modifying the drone. Even if Bert found it useless. It wouldn’t hurt to have something to protect me. To watch over me. To take out anything I told it to.
Wait, now that I thought about it. How was the drone supposed to get commands from me? It wasn’t like it would always be in sight, nor would it be able to hear me while in the middle of a fight. Welp, guess it's time for a new project.
I already knew that I would have to come up with a different plan, something more versatile, but for now, a tiny remote with a few basic functions would have to do. Which also meant I would have to reprogram the drone to accept commands from the thing. Maybe a laser to designate targets? Oh, and a free fire command? Wait, that might be a bit dangerous. Maybe I should have a hold fire button as well.
Oh, boy. Something told me that I was going to have a bit of scope creep. Let us just hope that it wasn’t too bad and that I could get the thing done before the start of the academic year.
