Chapter 29 The Original Plan

Enji stared at the chibi Lycoris for a long, hard second. 

"Tch. I don't know and I don't care about this complicated crap. All I know is that you, Ultra Extra, need to get your ass on the training field. You finally showed a flicker of something that wasn't complete garbage back there, and you're gonna explain it to me with your fists, not with some... ghost story."

He turned and started walking towards the door, but paused, shooting a glare back over his shoulder.

 "And don't get the wrong idea. I'm not some rat. I'm not dumb enough to walk around talking crap about how I saw the Witch Queen, or that she's alive inside some gloomy bastard who only knows how to stand still and do nothing. This whole ghost crap? It's not my problem. I've got my own battles to settle. I'm not as free to have time to worry about you losers."

His hand landed on the doorknob.

 "Osanai's back at the academy. Your goal's achieved. I'm going. Bye."

Without another word, he yanked the door open and slammed it shut behind him. 

"So, you're the famous Witch Queen. I couldn't expect less from the greatest witch in the world. You even escaped death itself. Impressive. So. What now? Will you live like a ghost inside my Sho-kun? I would like you not to."

Chibi puffed out her little cheeks in a pout.

"Ah, well... the original plan was to resurrect myself. But Shota-chan just had to go and lock himself in a room for ten years! He wasn't using any magic; he wasn't growing his mana... nothing! I was just stuck in there, in the dark and the quiet. I was even beginning to lose hope. But you, Mirai-chan! You managed to pull him out from his darkness! You made him come to the academy! You made him use his magic! You saved him! And in doing so, you saved me, too! Thank you! Thank you again!"

"Um... you're welcome. But wait. Resurrect yourself? You can even do that?"

"Yeah, I can. The barrier you see outside? The Tokyo Dome? That thing was never meant to be just a barrier. It's where my physical body is sealed. I split my body and mind into two. The barrier holds my body, restoring it in a stasis of my own magic. And Shota-chan... has my soul and mind."

She then let out a tiny, frustrated sigh, puffing her cheeks out.

 "But the problem is the mana! I thought he could raise his magic power over a few years and help me fuse back together into one piece. It was supposed to be simple! But with his current magic power, he will not be able to. It's like trying to power a star with an AA battery. It's just... not enough."

"So. In order for you to leave my Shota alone, you need his mana. Okay, then we meet in the training room tomorrow. Now I know what to do and we better do it as fast as possible. The faster Shota rises his magic power, the faster it will be just him and me."

Mirai turned her full attention to Shota and leaned down, her face inches from his.

"I'm going home for today. You better rest well. You will be going through hell of a training tomorrow. Bye-bye."

The door clicked shut behind Mirai. The chibi Lycoris turned to Shota, her tiny hands on her hips, face contorted into an angry, puffed-out pout.

"Hey! Shota-chan! I have seen you fight several times now and it bugs me! One big thing! Why are you not using your barrier magic the right way?! Why are you just standing in one place inside your barrier?! You use it like a... a turtle shell! A very strong, very sad turtle shell!

 You know you could have placed barriers around your teammates to block the attacks! You could have used your barriers as cover walls, creating a fortress on the battlefield! You could even use them as a weapon—snap a barrier into existence to crush an enemy's arm or create a razor-sharp edge to slice with! The possibilities are limitless!"

She threw her tiny hands up in the air.

 "But no! You just stood there! And did nothing! You have the most versatile defense in the world, and you use it to be a stationary target! It's so... so... boring!"

He looked down at his hands.

"I... I... can do that? I didn't... I didn't know."

The chibi Lycoris's angry pout disappeared. Then, with a soft poof, she dissolved into a cloud of pink smoke. A moment later, her voice echoed in his mind.

"Oh Shota-chan. Are you serious... Alright. You have been sleeping on your magic for ten years and I was silly to expect you to know everything. No more. I will tell you everything you need to know. We will start with small tricks, the fundamentals you should have learned as a child. Then, we will progress to more advanced applications as we go. But first, you need to know..."

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The Next Day - Training Room 3

Mirai stood on one side. Her drills hovered around her like a halo of polished steel. Her goal was singular: pour so much pressure onto Shota that his mana would have no choice but to break through its limits.

Next to her Enji cracked his knuckles. Blue flames licked up his forearms. He didn't care about the ghost, the secrets, or the complicated emotions. He had one objective: to smash through that infuriating barrier and prove that he is the best.

Shota stood in front of them, looking paler than usual, a voice was whispering instructions.

"Remember, Shota-chan. Your will is the shape. Your mana is the clay. Do not just build a box around yourself. Feel the space. Command it."

Instructor Arata stood at the observation window, arms crossed, a deeply skeptical look on his face. 

"Alright, you three. Try to keep the structural damage to a minimum this time. Begin!"

Mirai's smile was a sharp, beautiful thing.

 "Ready for your hell, Sho-kun?"

Enji erupted into a full-body inferno.

 "Let's go, Ultra Extra! Today I will break that infuriating barrier and punch you the face!"

The assault began.

 A barrage of Mirai's giant, spiraling drills shot forward like artillery shells, while a concentrated beam of Enji's steel-melting blue fire shot through the center. It was attack designed to overwhelm and annihilate, forcing him into his defensive shell.

Through the obscuring cloud, two figures burst forward, Mirai with a fresh drill forming in her hand, Enji with fists on flame. They had closed the gap, expecting to find a disoriented Shota hiding within his barrier.

They were met with nothing but empty space.

"Looks like I got you by surprise," Shota's voice came from behind the dissipating smoke.

FWOOP. FWOOP.

Two small, perfect barrier bubbles snapped into existence, one around Mirai, one around Enji, trapping them instantly.

"I got you now. My win." 

Inside her bubble, Mirai's smile widened in delight. 

"Wow, Sho-kun! This is amazing! I didn't know you could do this! But don't celebrate yet. I know the weakness of your barriers. They are almost unbreakable from the outside... but they are weak from the inside."

From every point on her body, a carpet of short, brutal steel drills exploded outward. The barrier around her strained and with a sound like shattering glass, popped out of existence.

Enji, seeing this, didn't need an explanation.

 "Don't get cocky, Ultra Extra!"

 He became a human inferno, blue flames expanding violently to fill the confined space. The bubble swelled grotesquely for a second, then burst like an overfilled balloon, releasing a wave of heat.

"The fight just began! Looks like you picked up a few tricks overnight! Getting better, Ultra Extra! Got anything else?!"

Inside Shota's mind, Lycoris whisper. 

"A good attempt, but you were too far from them. Don't forget, the further you cast your barriers from your body, the more your control and their durability wanes. At your current magic power, to keep a barrier that stable on a powerful opponent... you would need to be standing right next to them."