Start of the Training Arc

Okay, we are finally returning from our adventures in Yggdrasil. I never thought that sentence would ever come to my mind.

Well, so far, everything is going fine. I wish I could have gotten more information, but you take what you can get.

We've all got valuable information, and we promised to meet in the future to sort through the knowledge we gained. Of course, that is after we've finished our research.

We will return to the library to finish eventually. We've got my branch to get into the library, and I can get us there and back quickly as well.

The first thing on the list is obvious. Find all the branches. If all the branches are as strong as me, that means if we unite, the Magic Liberators can't deal with us easily. They are probably planning to "collect" us one at a time.

I cannot let that happen.

Second, I need more allies. If they use those branch suppression devices again, that would be devastating. I cannot fight back like that, but if I get strong allies to protect me, I should be safe.

Luckily, I have two potential candidates next to me. William is pretty strong and could probably hold his own. He would probably struggle if his magic is suppressed, though.

Sophia is another case. She has the potential to be strong. Her MP is pretty special, and her ability for physical enhancement is magnified by that. If she can master magic, then she will be a force to be reckoned with.

I guess we only require one thing… a training arc! Yes, it has finally arrived! The required arc for any good story… the training arc! Here in the left corner, we have William, training his Time magic through studying and practice! He is currently enchanting an apple so it won't rot!

Will it work? Will the apple rot quicker?

In the right corner, we have Sophia and I! I am helping Sophia learn how to control her physical enhancement! Due to the natural danger, I'm using Gravity magic to slow her down when she falls!

Will Sophia and William improve? Tune in next time on Dragon Shift Z!

Okay, in all seriousness, though, William and Sophia are improving a lot. Sophia still makes mistakes and puts too much power into some actions, such as jumping and climbing, but I'm there to make sure she doesn't get injured.

William has gotten good at controlling the flow of time within limited radiuses. The amount he can slow or speed up time depends on the size of the affected area, but his training has allowed him to expand that area without decreasing the effects.

It is normally really difficult to improve one's skill in magic so quickly. If everyone improved at this rate, the world would be filled with tons of people who have the strength of nuclear warheads.

That would be a problem, of course. Well, it is a good thing that everyone I know is pretty skilled. It would suck if the people close to me couldn't protect themselves.

William, Sophia, and I have been training every day after school for a week now, and I'm starting to get worried that we are running out of time.

I feel paranoid now that I know the Magic Liberators are after me specifically. I initially asked Sophia and William if they wanted to stay away from me until this was over for safety reasons.

Their response was somewhere along the line of, "Are you an idiot?"

Well, sometimes I can't tell if they are supportive or not, but I guess it was a nice thing to do?

I mean, they are staying close even when it puts them in danger, but they are also calling me an idiot. I dunno.

Well, time to move on to part two of the glorious training arc. Sparring.

Me and William worked together to create a new kind of barrier. I used Gravity magic to fold spacetime to prevent people from entering, as I've done before, and William used his Time magic to speed up the flow of time in here.

Every day that passes here, two days pass outside. For such a large radius, that was the most that he could do, but it still gives us two times the amount of time to train.

Now, it is time to practice fighting. I'm the only one with pretty extensive combat experience, so I let William and Sophia fight first.

Both of them obviously won't be using any spells that can permanently harm one another, but they might get a little hurt.

This is necessary, though. If they want to stick near me, I don't want them to die to the Magic Liberators.

Sophia starts the fight by running at William at an incredible speed, but William slows down time around her left leg.

This causes her to trip and fall over. William uses the chance to run in and incapacitate her, but Sophia uses her right leg to jump out of the area.

After this, Sophia throws a giant rock at William. He, of course, slows down time around the rock to control its descent. At this time, he gets out of the way of its course.

Apparently, though, this was just a distraction as Sophia goes in to punch him in the head. She stops short, but the gust of wind created by the force of her fist blows his hair in crazy directions.

"STOP! Sophia, you win. Well, William's magic isn't really as close combat-oriented as yours, Sophia. William, I know your magic is harder to control, but you need to be quicker in your spell casting."

"Okay, teacher." Both of them nod sarcastically.

Well, that was a good learning experience.

"Well, anyone want to try to fight against me?" I ask them.

Huh? Where did they go?

I look at my phone, and they both messaged me they have to head home. But… it's only 5 PM?