Upgrades...

[POV Rumi]

Yesterday I learned something important... physical power isn't the answer to everything... having speed is good and advantageous but it can't guarantee your win... yesterday when I went into my Overdrive, I was much faster and stronger than Hela but I still lost.

Even though I lost to her, I wasn't angry at her or jealous of her... it only meant that I had a new objective in front of me... she soundly defeated me with just technique... and I have heard that hand-to-hand fighting is not her forte... I wonder how strong she would be if she used swords... her main weapon.

This strengthened my determination even more... I needed to get stronger, Hela has told me that she is continuously growing stronger as a Goddess of War and Death... and people are always dying... which also increases Hela's strength. Only Reo and Hela can give me a challenge... I wonder if Hela would agree to become my sparring partner or not.

With that thought in my mind, I finally found Hela, she was sitting under a tree nearby our house while playing with a long dagger... she had already noticed me and decided to speak up... "Good morning Rumi, have a seat..." Hela said and patted the ground beside her. I took her offer and sat down.

"Can I ask you for a favour?" I asked her bluntly, there is no need to beat around the bush.

"What kind of favour if I may ask?" Hela asked me and she stopped playing with the dagger in her hands.

"If you won't mind then I would ask you to become my sparring partner" I told her without wasting any more time... Hela stared into my eyes intently for a few seconds until she burst out laughing like a maniac.

"Sure... sure... I was also getting bored... fighting a stronger and faster opponent is really nice" Hela gushed out while releasing her battle intent... there was a scary glint in her eyes... for a moment I felt that I was going to drown when she released her battle intent... it was a lot heavier than yesterday...

"Come on... let's go..." Hela said and got up... I followed her example and pulled myself up from the ground... I know that I am going to be in a world of pain... but you can only break your limits through pain...

[POV Reo]

"How long has it been since we have been here?" I asked myself and waved my hand in front of me... several digits appeared in the air and I grimaced... it was already morning in Elysium, it was a stupid mistake of mine... I simply forgot to stop the Time when I was starting my biology class with Jean and Ororo...

Well, it wasn't a big deal... it's not like we couldn't go on without some sleep... and currently, it was night in here... I wonder if Nat is already back or not... "Come one we need to hurry or I am going to be late for my job" Jean said hurriedly... we only noticed the time when Jean's coffee alarm went off.

"Jean... don't be a spoilsport like that... come back..." Ororo whined but I agree with Jean, we need to leave... well, it has been some time since our class had ended, because I didn't want to overwork Ororo and Jean...

"Ororo... Jean is right, we should leave... I also have some things to do back in Elysium" I said and Ororo reluctantly agreed to leave... "Jean, is it possible for you to take a leave today?" I asked Jean and after thinking for some time Jean simply nodded her head.

"I can have a break as long as there isn't an emergency... but we have been working hard since Eric brought those kids... give me an hour and I will return" Jean said as she finished dressing up... we had already taken a bath after finishing our class and we were simply lazing after that. She pecked me on the lips and used her unique form of teleportation and with a burst of flames she was gone.

"I hate that everyone other than me can teleport on their own" Ororo grumbled with an annoyed look on her face. Well, she can teleport... I guess I have to train her, after all, I have the law of lightning and it is pretty much similar to her current body constitution.

"Come on Ororo... I will show you some lightning tricks... you can already control your lightning, right?" I asked and she nodded her head like a little girl... she immediately stood up and started to get dressed... following her example I also started to get dressed. As soon as we were done, I used my Space Powers and the two of us found ourselves outside of our house.

"That was pretty smooth... I didn't even feel anything" Ororo nodded her head with an approving look on her face... I knew that she hated both Apparition and Portkey... Flash Step was much more comfortable but it couldn't be compared with my Space Powers.

"I am glad that you liked it... now show me what you have learned about your powers..." I said with a serious look on my face... before I could teach her anything, I needed to see how much she knows about her powers... after all, I can't teach her anything too hard... it would simply waste both of our time...

After that, Ororo showed me what she has been working on and I was kind of disappointed... she isn't trying to learn anything new... she was simply using her old attacks but now that her body was upgraded... her power output was much more. But unlike before she didn't have to wait for the clouds to gather... she could shoot out lightning from her own hands.

But I guess I can't blame Ororo for something like this... after all, there was no one to teach her... she trains with Rumi but Rumi can only give her physical training and hand-to-hand combat experience... well, Rumi can teach magic too and Ororo had learned a lot from her... I guess, I should have helped Ororo sooner... but I wasn't exactly free.

"Ok... I have seen enough, you can stop now. Now, try to coat your hand with lightning like this..." I said and coated my own hand with lightning. Ororo watched my hand intently and started to practice... I pulled out my phone and texted Fleur, asking her to meet me in front of the house in 50 minutes.

It took Ororo a minute but she was finally able to coat her hands and legs with lightning... as soon as she understood the principle... it became easy for her... Fuck this SHIT!! I was able to do this after training for a whole month... I call it hacks!! But as a teacher and lover, I was proud of her...

"Now, extend the lightning to create a blade like this..." I said and a lightning blade formed on my hand... she needed to master the basics before I could teach her teleporting... Ororo nodded her head like a diligent student and started to form a lightning blade just like I had shown her.

I sat down while she was practising and kept watching her progress patiently... it took me two weeks to form a stable blade... it took her 32 minutes to finally form a blade but calling it a blade would be stretching it too far... well, her progress is much faster than me though.

"You need to perfect the form of the blade... if you can imagine it in your mind then it will help... but stay constant with the design... and your blade isn't stable... it won't be able to cut anything before it disperses" I pointed out and Ororo carefully listened to all of them. She dispersed the blade in her hands and started to practice once again.

The rest of the time quickly passed away and it was Fleur, who showed up first... she gave me a peck on my lips and decided to stand beside me... seeing her like that, I also stood up and both of us kept watching Ororo trying to form a passable lightning blade. After a few minutes, Jean also arrived with a flash of flames.

"Ororo, keep practising... I will be back shortly..." I said, Ororo nodded her head in understanding, then I led both Jean and Fleur inside the house... I took them to the room where I have been keeping the artefacts... I entered the room and found that Luna was already there swaying in a chair.

"The three of you are right on time..." Luna beamed at us with a high smile on her face.

"Ah... ok" I said in an unsure tone... I didn't know how to react to this so I simply decided to ignore it. "Jean, Fleur, tell me what do you feel from the fire" I said while pointing towards the Eternal Flame...

"Eternal Flame..." Jean mumbled under her breath, the Phoenix must have told her. "If the two of us absorb this flame then it would help us a lot" Jean continued in a trance...

"I can feel a lot of power in those flames... all of my instincts are screaming at me to absorb those flames..." Fleur mumbled and started walking towards the Eternal Flame... Jean was also doing the same... both approached the artefact and stopped in front of it... Jean and Fleur looked towards each other and both of them nodded their heads with a determined look on their faces.

Both opened their mouths and started to swallow the Eternal Flame... Damn!! I wasn't expecting that... I was expecting that they would put their hands inside the flames... My dumb ass never imagined that they would literally swallow the flames... the two of them kept swallowing those flames hungrily... the flames finally started to diminish and the Eternal Flames were finally extinguished.

Both Jean's and Fleur's bodies started to glow... Jean was glowing with a red glow while Fleur was glowing orange... both of them were soon engulfed with red and orange flames respectively... the flames were giving off a lot of power but we couldn't feel any heat... even the clothes on their bodies were completely intact... with a wisp of greenish-black smoke Hela also arrived... slowly the other girls also arrived... even Nemuri arrived...

I would have asked her how she knew but she would say something stupid like pussy senses... so, I decided to ignore her... astral Phoenixes started to form behind both Jean and Fleur, red for Jean and orange for Fleur...

"Awww... so beautiful" Luna cooed from beside me... I kind of agree with her and I noticed that the other girls also unconsciously nodded their heads.

After a few minutes, both Phoenixes trilled loudly and with a bright flash both Phoenixes disappeared into their bodies... wow... that was some upgrade...