Chapter 4

Kyle went and placed the target on the tree. They drew five lines that would test their accuracy. The three beside Travis slept well and recovered all their energy for today; they did not want to rely on Travis for everything.

"Alright guys. First, you have to envision your Mana, or whatever, but I'll call it Mana for now. After that, form it into anything you want it to be inside your head, than finally, when you've gotten the hang of it, turn that thought into a form in your hand or hands. Okay, now let's begin."

With that, they started doing what Travis had told them to do. It took some time for all of them to envision it, but when they did, it was smooth sailing. They formed the Mana, which helps with their control on it. This indirectly began to increase their reserves, giving them more Mana in store.

After that, they formed it into their hands. Green, purple, and blue flames erupted from their hands.

"Wow, does that mean we have the flame affinity? That's amazing!" Kyle shouted happily. All his excitement made the flame grow bigger, but after a stern look from Travis, he calmed down.

"I don't know about that. I'll ask my mom when I get home. But now it's time for target practice. Let's make some rules."

"How about the person who hits a certain target gets points?" Suzanne recommended.

"Yeah, just like how darts work. How should we appoint the targets, then?" Anne said.

"OK, let's do this. The outer ring is 1 point. The inner ring is 3 points, and the middle circle is 6 points," Travis said. They all agreed to this, and the first person came to the line.

"Let's draw a scoreboard first," Kyle said. He took out a dagger which he somehow had and began to carve a scoreboard on the tree. Anne was first and was already on the first line, which was the closest.

She created a purple flame, and after some mental preparation, she threw it. The flame flew towards the middle target and hit it.

She excitedly jumped into the air as she cheered. "That's 6 points for me. Kyle, would you be a doll and carve that for me?" she said.

He did so, and then Suzanne went forward. She fixed her glasses and created a green flame. Using her wits, she threw the flame, and just like Anne's, it hit the middle circle, earning her six points. Travis went in and did the same, and Kyle also scored six points. The first distance was very easy, so no one was surprised with the scores. But now it was time for the second line, which was just 2 meters away.

Anne went first. She threw her flame, and it hit the inner circle. This was due to her cockiness; she didn't aim the ball and just threw it, yet she wasn't disappointed. She walked back and watched Suzanne walk forward.

She did the opposite of what she had done. Suzanne was on point with her calculations, even though she was just a six-year-old. She threw the flame, and it hit right on the spot, earning her 6 points against, leading her sister with just 3 points.

Travis came and did the same; he earned six points, which was just a simple matter for him. Kyle, not so much.

As he was about to throw it, he lost his footing, and the flame ended up hitting the outer circle. He went down on his knees and screamed a loud "No" which echoed in the whole field. This made Anne laugh since she wasn't the one behind anymore.

Now they were going on the third line, which was 5 meters away. This was a long stretch. In fact, no one expected themselves to be able to hit this one. But they tried. In the end, all of them hit the outer line. On the fourth, no one hit the target, and on the fifth, only Kyle was able to hit a target, which was the outer circle.

"Okay, guys. That concludes our training for today. But tomorrow we will have more energy than today, meaning we'll train until we drop. Now I want you all to pick a weapon for yourself. Tomorrow, come with your own weapon, not the actual one, but the one you want to use and tell us all. This will be very good for our future. Now I shall leave. We shall meet again, my friends."

After giving them some encouraging words, he ran back to his house. He left the book in the tree purposely since he would be training there tomorrow morning. When he returned, he found that the restaurant was pretty calm, with a couple of customers here and there. Very opposite compared to yesterday. He entered the shop and went to the back where all the girls were sitting around, doing nothing. Cindy had left since her mom was back; she was at home having a well-deserved nap. Ayame was sitting by the door and drinking some alcohol as she gazed at the scenery from the forest behind their house. While Cindy's mom, Brenda, was reading a book, Debbie, on the other hand, was playing herself a word search game on the local newspaper.

"Travis, you're back. Why are you so early today? Oh, are you hungry?" she asked.

Remembering that he didn't eat breakfast today, Travis felt his stomach growl. He nodded, and Debbie smiled and got up to make some food for him. He went over and sat next to Ayame.

"Hey, Ayame-neechan." This is how she wanted him to call her, which he didn't want to, but the previous Travis did, so yeah.

"Travis-chan, how I've missed you. Your mom told me all about how you made yourself food yesterday. I'm proud." She sat and started ruffling his hair.

"I guess I fit your description of a perfect man now, don't I?" He said with a smirk.

Ayame stared at Travis with a confused look, but then she remembered one day when Travis was four years old. Debbie had left him with her for the night because she had something important to do. Ayame got drunk and started venting her problems to him, one of them being how no man meets her standards.

"Wow, you have a sharp memory. Gotta be careful what I say in front of you from now on," she said.

"I guess, but doesn't that mean you like me now, since I'm the perfect man?" In the future, a person will ask Travis what did he have to do to become this strong, and he'll think about this cringe moment and say, "Everything."

"No, not really. Having the things I like doesn't mean I'll like you. Maybe you should try and try again for the next 15 years, then I'll agree to becoming your lady," she said. Ayame was clearly bluffing, but Travis made sure to put this deep into his mind.

'Guess I'll be banging a MILF in the future. Score!

Debbie came over with his food and placed it in front of him. "Finish your food, okay, baby. If you do, I'll show you some magic tricks."

"For real? Alright then. Consider all this food gone."

"Fuck, I hate being a kid. Hey, wait, doesn't that mean I get to bathe with her? Yeyyyy!! I really hate doing that."