6 Not ordinary

The booth was once again lively for a while. The attendant had already placed a pile of coins in front of Sproule because he did not want to continuously walk to and fro, becoming a personal coin-provider for Sproule. Sproule kept on loosing and loosing. Each match would have different maps and character classes but no matter what, the new kid always managed to suppress Sproule. The victories were not by huge margins. Sproule was always able chip down the opponent's health to under ten percent before loosing. Each match was quick but intense, not exceeding five minutes even once but when they finally stopped, it was already nearing twilight.

Straightening his back, Sproule flashed a satisfied grin as he gulped in huge chunks of cola. Blake cracked his knuckles while downing chocolate milk.

"I'm Segenam Sproule!"

"Blake Stone"

The two finally introduced each other. The first words Blake said since after school was his own name.

"Let's head out!" Sproule was in a very cheery mood. He finally decided to leave the place, he had spent enough time there to have the qualifications to call it home.

He wanted to go to other places but Blake patted his shoulder and pointed to the opposite direction, motioning to follow him.

Sproule had nothing better to do so he followed him into an empty and lone alley. Blake came to a halt and turned around. He signaled for Sproule to stand back.

Spreading out his arms below the elbows a little, he opened his fists to reveal two black flames flickering fervently, one on each palm.

"You?!", Sproule looked around with his wide popping eyes to confirm the existence of holo-projectors hidden on the tall walls around them. The holo-projectors were very advanced these days but with the advancement came sky-high prices. He surely had not bought those useless things, right?

Blake put a finger on his lips to silence Sproule, a flame extinguished in the process. Then, he started to rise up in the air. Sproule exclaimed in wonder as he felt his own body lose its weight as it rose in altitude as well. The both of them kept on rising through the young night sky until they reached far above, above the clouds. The air was very thin but he was somehow able to breathe normally.

The full moon appeared extra large in the still blue sky with little stars. A thin orange line representing the last of the sun covered a part of the horizon.

Sproule turned towards Blake after taking in the surroundings. Thin black bolts of electricity were covering his fingers as the sprang randomly left and right. With a wave of his hands, the bolts of electricity shot out from the fingers. Albeit being thin, the ten bolts were extremely swift as they shot towards him.

Sproule was horrified as he saw the bolts nearing him. 'This guy was trying to kill me?'

He tried to dodge but how could he move when the movement spell he was under was not casted by himself?

All he could do was instinctively shut his eyes.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Nothing.

"Huh?"

He hesitated for a moment before opening his eyes. What he saw was a ceiling.

"Damnit! Why here of all places?!" He shouted. At this moment, the quiet kid he met, his continuous losses, the introduction to magic, the flight, and the fact that he reached the place where he currently was in less than ten seconds, everything was thrown at the back of his mind.

Because... because the place he was in was his own room!

His expression turned ugly as he hid under his blanket while trembling. He wanted to beat himself up for shouting earlier. He was from the Segenam family. A family known for its laziness. Idleness was their motto. Inertia was their goal in life. One of the main reason that he could stay in the arcade for days was because the family was too lazy to come pick him up, despite him being the next heir to the family. Moreover, he was practicing the family's teachings very seriously out there. Sitting on a single chair and not moving from it for three whole days was quite the Segenam thing to do. The family did not want to stop him from being lazy even when he was out. They had a special bloodline which helped them slow things down so the toilet was not a problem.

But... Other than that, there was another reason too. His mother was really addicted to scolding him. That was the one thing her idle bones allowed her to do with great enthusiasm. Just because she got a reason to give him 'lessons', she would let him be out for a while intentionally.

If someone were to ask him about his mother, his answer would definitely be, "She ain't an ordinary mother".

After being under the blanket for a while, he started to perspire because of the heat. The air conditioning was not on! When he reached for the remote to turn the air conditioner on, he felt a piece of paper sticking to it. Taking a look, he saw the words written in a neat but microscopic letters.

"Meet me at the Academy on entry test day", he read aloud the words most likely written by Blake.

He did not have more time to think about it as a sweet and melodious voice sounded from behind the door.

"Son? You are back?", her mother's voice sent the chills down his spine as he uncontrollably shivered. The door creaked as it opened, revealing the devilish smile of a beautifully obese woman.