Chapter 7: Indifference: Either good or bad

"This place is eerie. It feels strange. Do you feel it, teacher?" David is uncomfortable about the surroundings. The smell of the place passes through his veins causing his little hairs stiff, goosebumps.

It has been three days since they left Cypress town and they arrive in city B. Three more days and they will arrive in city C but in the meantime, they need to find a safe place in this eerie city due to the fact that he is exhausted. He was practicing controlling the water in his hands and shaping them into something he wants. He is a fan of avatar Kora so he is diligent in practicing it wishing to have Kora's level.

Meanwhile, Vinci is scouting the area looking for a possible place to stay. He sensed something strange when they took a step into the city. It is like something is staring t them; all eyes are glaring. He flies above and found a warehouse; he used his detection spell to scout the place and noticed that it is safe to rest there.

He shouted at David to follow him. He is flying while David is walking practicing on the road. He did this to attract the zombies around. David has been practicing for three days and he wants to see how much he has improved. Zombies can be seen in the distance, around five meters away from David. He is thrilled to watch it. "This will be fun." He uttered with great expectation.

Vinci's main goal is to start a new life on this Blue planet. Starting anew means he will be living differently from his previous planet which is why he was eager to make David his student. Aside from David being a genius, he never had a student before and he felt envious previously on his planet when he sees a student following his teacher and a teacher teaching his students. He wants to experience how it feels to care for your student.

Though the student-teacher relationship has a demarcation on how to behave, a teacher will fight for his student if the student is bullied; or the teacher is ready to save his student in times of danger.

He also wants to experience the feeling of caring. On their planet, everyone is a magician so they can protect themselves from the bullies. There are no evil people that destroy their kingdom or will wage war against them. Their only enemies are the monsters. All of them try to reach the ultimate magic without killing other magicians. They only spar. This kind of setting made him indifferent to others. He only has one friend and that is the king.

David started shaping the water in his hands ready for a melee attack. The water is shaped like a spade but it has an elongated sword-like tip, ready for stabbing and slicing. They have been running, walking, and carrying supplies for many days as a result, it helps him improve his endurance, agility, and strength. He has become agile from his move. Vinci is happy to see this improvement.

David swings his hand like he is slicing tall grasses or a bush. Zombies' heads are flying one by one as he keeps on moving forward. Vinci feels sorry for the zombies. David keeps on slicing zombies until all of them are killed. While he was at it, his imagination of being praised by many people fuel the flame of his determination to get stronger; only by facing these monsters can he have great control over his energy and achieve his goal.

He noticed the difference between casting a fire spell or water spell simultaneously and using the mold. In casting those spells, his energy depletes faster than using mold; he only needs to control it and it uses a sufficient amount of energy that he can use in the long run. On top of it, he can shape it the way he wants. He can bind the zombies and then stab them afterward.

Vinci is satisfied with David's performance. After killing the zombies, they went inside the warehouse to sleep.

"How was it, teacher? Did I do well?" David is expecting a compliment from his teacher thinking he did great.

"To be honest, you did good back there. I think it is passable for average magicians." he does not want David to get ahead of himself; he still has many things to learn and improve. It is not his intention to hurt him.

"Thank you teacher for your honest feedback. I am looking forward to fighting zombies again." Discouragement should be the usual reaction however, David took it as an encouragement to practice well.

They took out their food supplies and sit on the floor as Vinci starts the fire to warm them throughout the night. Canned goods are all they have and a couple of water bottles that will last until they reach city C.

Vinci shares his story with David that he is hailed as a genius on their planet. He has three elements that only geniuses can wield. He told him that before coming to this plane, he fought against a nine-headed dragon for a week and he almost died from exhaustion.

He has not finished his story as David is already asleep. He is about to close his eyes when he felt something crawling.

"Detection" he used to observe his surroundings. There are some crawlers on the wall and on the ceiling. These are evolved zombies. He cast a barrier on David and made him invisible so that he will not be destroyed. This barrier prevents any sound or shockwave; David can have a sweet and sound sleep. He does not want to deal with this as these are small fry zombies in his eyes. "summon" The legendary toad comes out. Vinci ordered the toad to kill all the crawlers; these zombies are very fast so they must be killed all at once.

The toad understands his assignment. He created so many bubbles. The zombies did not react to it. One bubble is enough to kill a zombie. The moment the bubbles touch the zombies, the zombies explode leaving their ashes behind.

"You may go back. Thanks." It happened very fast that the toad cannot call it a warm-up.

"Call us if something can be considered a warm-up. It is a waste of effort." The toad was not satisfied. All beings on his planet including the beasts want something thrilling in a fight. They will not take an interest in low levels.

"I will give you that next time. Bye!" the toad used the gate to teleport back to the Purple planet.

"How was it? It is trivial, right?" The peacock asks the toad knowing that it was nothing to be called a fight.

"Yeah. I was excited about nothing. But he told me that he will call me next time for a warm-up." The toad is excited to have that happen. Every beast he tamed are already expecting something.

"What did you do there?" The peacock asked again.

"I just blow some bubbles, that's it." he answered.

"hahaha! When I was called, I diced a plant." The peacock answered.

Vinci is about to close his eyes again since everything is taken care of already when suddenly he heard a group of people coming. He put off the fire.

"I swear I saw a fire here. Someone must have stayed here." A concerned superhuman said.

"We must look for them, they might be eaten by those crawlers." The leader of the group asked his men to search for possible survivors and bring them safely.

Vinci appeared in thin air and said "Are you looking for us?" Everyone is surprised by his sudden appearance. He asked them who they are and what they are doing. The leader answered that they are the scavengers group and they are saving survivors. They have their own base with many evolved humans.

"We are here because we need some medical supplies and while we are going back to the base, we heard loud explosions and then saw a fire in here." The leader explains why they find this place.

"You may go with us back to the base so you can have a proper rest and food." He added.

Vinci woke David up and they went with the group. They arrived at the base; it is surrounded by huge containers and guarded by many superhumans. When they arrived inside, a couple of nurses run toward the group and took the supplies. The leader informed Vinci that there are sick people inside. The leader took them inside and showed them their room.

"You can stay here. By the way, my name is Hans" The leader introduced himself and leave them because he has other things to do.

At the room, both of them said "Finally, a nice room" and lie down on the bed at the same time. Vinci takes a bath while David continued sleeping. He is planning to check the situation of the base and see what he can do to help. After bathing, he took a stroll around the base. He noticed that the situation is quite good and the awakened are kind and helpful. In this time of apocalypse, there are people who still choose kindness. He is moved by it.

Unintentionally, he passed by the meeting room where Hans is talking to his members.

"What should we do? The other group is more powerful than us and they want to annex our group to theirs." Worried looks on their faces are shown. Vinci is peeking into a small hole.

"We cannot do that because those groups of people are evil. They will just make us work for them." a member strongly contradicts the proposal of the other group. Hans and the group decided to fight the evil group who wants them to submit. Upon hearing this, Vinci thought that human nature is either good or bad; it depends on the people which side they will cling to. Especially in this time of apocalypse, people should be vigilant and wary of other people's intentions.

He went back to the room and slept. He said to himself that he will not meddle since it is their fight; he is not involved in it.

Morning came and the evil group arrived at the entrance. Hans' group is ready for a fight to happen. They are fewer than the other group's superhumans. Hans told the other leader that they will not submit to them; they are ready to fight in an instance that the other group insist.

The battle has begun. The people are evacuated to a safe place. The scavengers' group is losing however, Vinci is still not taking action. David worries about the people and the superhumans who protect them. He cannot bear to see good people dying. He asked his teacher to let him take part in the fight.

Vinci agrees to it as long as he will take care. This is a great opportunity for David to grow. Vinci will not take part in any fight if it is only a fight among humans. He is not from the blue planet so he does not care. He will only meddle if the disciples or apostles will appear that humans can no longer protect themselves and endanger David.

David helped the scavengers' group and overwhelmed the enemy. He used "mold" to defeat them. When a fireball is thrown, he will create a water shield. Then he will attack them using his whip and sword-shaped water. He imitated the way avatar Kora fights. He extends the water up to his elbow and then uses a shield to block the magic sword of the enemy and poke them with his whip; entangle them and stab them.

The leader of the evil group noticed David and faced him. He has strong fire magic. Every time he shoots a fireball, it evaporates David's water. He is on a different level. David noticed their level difference so he is thinking of a way to defeat him. His fire cannot compare to his enemy's fire so only his water can.

"If you can evaporate my water, then it means that it is not cold enough or the volume is not enough to put out your fire." He then tried to amplify his energy cooling the water then multiplies the water to cover his whole arm up to his shoulder. This time, he can create a big and strong shield. Then he used his semi-spherical blade and cool it which becomes a thin sheet of ice that is as sharp as a blade.

They continue their fight and David is now on par with the leader's level. He even intimidates him. He is closing their distance since he use to melee attacks which is disadvantageous to the leader. At some point, David can shoot a water ball to distract him.

Later on, only the two of them are left. Others are on the ground lying due to exhaustion; some are totally beaten and a few die. In order to defeat the leader, David tried to cover his feet with water and then let the water run on the ground in stealth while they are fighting and then surprised the leader. The water entangles him and binds him making him incapable of moving. He let Hans deal with the group's leader. Hans did not hesitate to kill him because if he left him free, he will still do evil.

"How was it, teacher?" David approached his teacher and asked about his performance.

"That was fantastic David. You were not only able to control your water element when you amplify it up to shoulders but also you covered your feet with it and surprised your enemy." Vinci is satisfied and is filled with pleasure as the fight gave him a thrill.

"You can surely protect your family." Vinci added.

After the fight, they bid farewell to the group and thanked them for their hospitality. They start heading to City C.

"Wait for me Mom, Dad, and Lily. I hope you are all okay." David uttered.