Origin Seeker

Chapter 85: Practical

To finish the drills, Dream had to do a sprint from one end of the stadium to the other, then back. 

This actually caused him to get a bit excited. It had been a long time since he'd done a proper sprint. So as he approached the starting line, his heart began to beat a bit faster in nervousness.

'It's like a habit, getting nervous before a sprint. I was never able to control that.'

It felt like butterflies were in his stomach. Though before the nervousness made him feel weak, his mind unconsciously eased and the tension naturally dissipated. This was the subtle change that more power would bring about. Since his power came primarily from the mind, it meant his psyche was naturally stronger as well. He wouldn't get nervous, fearful, or tense as easily anymore.

When Dream stepped to the line, he instinctively took a starting stance. His left foot went forward, right foot back, right arm down, and left arm back. The people around him looked at him weirdly, wondering why he was in such a confusing stance.

After taking a deep breath in and listening to his heartbeat, he activated his muscles and pushed off. His body took on perfect form as all his force was directed backward. And without even knowing it, he had flown forward 60 meters in a single step. 

*Fwip!*

The air displacement caused a slight whipping sound as he flew. He didn't activate any magic, so air resistance was a thing.

When his alternate foot hit the ground, another bound was taken and he flew forward another 70 meters. Already he was close to the end of the stadium, though before he could go any further, he suddenly noticed someone in front of him.

A girl had unknowingly walked in his path, and she was only 20 meters away. She had also barely turned her head and saw Dream coming for her. She panicked and threw her arms up while stumbling backward.

Usually, all logic would dictate that he was way too close and going way too fast to stop in time. But this was a world of magic. Logic was different here.

Quickly activating the magic in his body, Dream began to use flight magic on himself. And right before he hit the girl, he stopped.

*Woosh!*

Air was pressurized from the sudden stop. The girl, expecting to be steamrolled, surprisingly wasn't and lost her balance. 

"Whoah now."

Dream threw out his hand and grabbed her arm, also using a bit of magic to stabilize her and bring her to her feet.

"Sorry about that. I guess I got carried away. Oh, got a little bit of dust on you."

The girl froze in place after being stabilized, only recovering when Dream reached out his hand to brush off her shoulder.

"T-thanks..."

"Sure."

The girl blushed a little after being brushed off by a guy while so close. Speaking of, she wasn't sure who he was. 

She looked him over. He was tall, and she could easily see how muscular he was from the ripped forearms and biceps not being covered by the short-sleeve shirt. He was handsome as well, earning an even deeper blush. Though she still couldn't recognize him.

"W-who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Dream. The new kid."

"Oh. Right."

She remembered that there was a new guy who was called out by the Instructor, but she hadn't been able to get a look. So this was him.

"Hey, new guy. Stop flirting around and finish up."

"Heh. Sure thing, Instructor."

Dream grinned and patted the girl's shoulder before jogging off and finishing the drill. 

He really hadn't meant to run into anybody. He was just engrossed in his form and the sprint that he barely paid attention to his front. Though he also wasn't going his fastest either.

With his strength, Dream could easily cross the stadium in a bound. So he had definitely dialed it down before taking off. Though he still wanted to feel that power from taking off, so he used a bit more strength than usual. 

The girl as well as all the bystanders recovered and finished their drills. Soon, they moved on to the main workout. The Instructor floated over everyone and spoke.

"Alright. Pair up, everyone. Dream! You can pair up with your little girlfriend that you almost killed. She'll walk you through everything. Everyone else, get going."

The instructor dropped a big box filled with rocks on the ground. He then smiled towards Dream.

"...Sure thing, Instructor."

Dream smiled back and looked around, finding the girl outside the crowd by herself. Hearing the instructor, everyone else smirked and went off to their own partners.

"H-Hi."

The girl walked over to Dream, trying her best to be confident. 

"Hi. So...I guess we're partners today."

"Yea. So you're Dream?"

"I am. What's your name?"

"Arrina. Uhh, so you've never done this activity before?"

"Never. Though I got some of an explanation from Instructor. Care to show me how it's done?"

"You want to be hit?"

"Sure. Might as well be hit once."

"...Alright."

Arrina grabbed two rocks from the box and they walked over to an open area. She tossed one rock to Dream, who just held it in his hand. It was a smooth skipping rock. Nothing special about it other than it being reinforced. Arrina stood opposite to him and explained.

"Alright. So we use earth magic circles to shoot the rock. There are two points to this lesson."

"What are they?"

"One is to cast the circle faster than the other, thereby hitting them first. But there's another lesson that's more an unwritten one. It tests your ability to cast not only under pressure, but even after being hit. Most people when hit stop casting the circle either because they get disturbed or they stop themselves."

"Why do they stop themselves?"

"Don't know. But the way I do it is to cast anyway after being hit. Not many people like it since the whole point is to avoid being hit when you've won. But I do it anyway."

"Alright. Well, let me see you cast first. Hit me with your best shot."

Dream opened his arms up as if welcoming a hug. Arrina looked at him weirdly for a second before lifting the rock.

"...You asked for it."

The next moment, Arrina put up her palm with the rock on it. A magic circle was quickly formed and launched the rock straight towards Dream's chest.

'That's faster than I thought.'

Dream watched the rock fly towards him at over 100 miles per hour. It was a bit faster than normal baseball pitches, and if he were a normal person, this could injure him badly. 

As he watched, he debated whether or not to dodge, grab the rock, or just let it hit him. Eventually, he just shrugged and let it hit his chest, though he made sure it wouldn't break the rock.

*Thunk*

"*grunt*"

Dream recoiled a tiny bit and grunted, putting his hand to his chest while the rock fell to the floor. He smiled and looked at Arrina.

"That stings a bit."

"It's going to. Looks like you can handle yourself though."

"I'd be surprised if others couldn't. It's not that bad."

"Then prepare to be shocked. There's a reason people hate this activity. It not only drains your mana, making you weaker, but it also works your mind. People don't like to be hit when they're weak and tired."

Arrina said that with a little disdain in her voice. He could tell that she was a competitive girl. Though he could make a couple of other inferences as well.

"People don't usually partner with you for this activity, do they?"

"W-wha? That's mean! Of course I can find a partner!"

"No she can't!"

A voice came from a little ways away, insulting Arrina. She turned to where it came from with a fierce look, but didn't find the person.

"Ugh! Whatever. I don't want them as partners either."

"...Well I'm your partner right now, so let's duel. Here's your rock."

Seeing Arrina's spirits dampen, Dream felt a bit bad. Apparently she wasn't very liked with how competitive she was.

He threw the rock back to her and she caught it. He then lifted his palm, practicing the circle.

A green circle formed itself above his palm. This was the earth magic circle, and it was identical to Arrina's. He had asked her to go first since he didn't know the circle to be used and just copied what she made.

"Alright, I think I got it. Ready?"

"...Sure."

Arrina picked herself up and they both raised their hands. 

"You call it."

Dream spoke to Arrina, who nodded.

"...Go!"

Quickly, they both formed the circle in their palm. Their speeds were the same, and soon the rocks launched.

*Clack!*

The rocks actually collided in mid-air. Arrina looked at Dream with a surprised expression.

"...I didn't know you were so good."

"There's always room to improve. Let's see...About a second and a half? We should see if we can get it down to a second flat."

"T-that's really difficult. Only the intermediate classes have those times."

"Well if we want to be intermediate, that's what we need to get to. Right?"

"...Right."

She nodded, but Dream could feel her mood worsening again. He got confused. 

"What's wrong?"

"...Nothing. Let's go again."

Arrina raised her hand with the rock, causing Dream to do the same. 

The last duel, Dream had intentionally matched her speed and hit the rock. Turns out, he had also found out his limits, or the lack of them.

'I don't actually need to spend time casting. I can do it instantly. The mana is already filling my body, and it takes virtually no time to move it from my palm to outside my palm. And the write speed of the runes is basically matched to my agility. I could make this puny circle in less time that she takes to blink.'

[All due to the Magic skill that ate the Sribe and Imbue skill, as well as the enchants that I put on your body while asleep.]

Dream nodded in his mind. Part of the reason why his mana could be moved so fast was because Sophia enchanted his body once more with an enchant that concentrates mana within him. She had taken the idea from the Dome core and mana balls and scaled it to Dream's body, using his bones as an anchor. Now, his body's mana levels were easily several times denser than outside. 

So not only was his body tougher with the mana filling it, but he had much finer control over the mana. This made writing runes child's play, maybe easier than breathing.

Dream battled with Arrina for the rest of the class period. He kept her pace the whole time and even 'slipped' up sometimes. He took many hits, and she took many hits. By the end of the class, he could see how tired she was from lack of mana.

'The people of this world have much harsher withdrawals than someone like me.'

[Mana dependency. I would say it's normal.]

This was one of the drawbacks of being evolved to mana. They relied on it more. It was almost like an addiction. 

When class ended, Arrina said bye to Dream as they left with the rest of the class. The next period was actually lunch, and everyone got an hour and a half of free time. Most people went to the cafeteria to eat and replenish some energy, especially those who came out of practical. Dream decided to follow the crowd over and check things out. He wouldn't mind grabbing a bite to eat himself. 

He soon arrived at a building that wasn't crazy tall, but really big. Dream counted out a few thousand tables in this massive area. 

The manpower required to feed so many people was also huge and he could see the biggest kitchen he had ever laid eyes on. Meat was cooked hundreds of pounds at a time and divided between many different dishes. It was like a buffet where you could just walk up with a plate and grab what you want, and many students were doing so.

"Meat still reigns supreme I guess. Let's get myself some."

Dream went and grabbed a plate, getting in line and filling it with a few pounds of various items. He then walked around in search of an empty table. 

"Oh, there's one."

Out by the corner was an empty table, which he promptly took the edge seat of. Once he sat down, he dug in. 

When it came to food, Dream didn't need all that much, if any at all. His main bodily systems like his muscles and nervous systems ran on heat and electrical signals. And one of the things Sophia had done was enchant his body to use his thermal skill as power. His body couldn't perform with just chemical systems, needing much more energy than they could provide. So since he had a skill which could solve the problem, why not make use of it?

This made it so Dream didn't require hardly any food to survive, especially since he didn't have things like intestines or kidneys or a liver anymore. But he still liked to eat very much and it wasn't something he would give up, thus he still had something similar to a stomach that would handle anything he ingested.

Dream ate the good food by himself happily. He actually went back for seconds and thirds, trying the different things they had there. Most of the meat they had was class 1, but it still tasted really good. They made it into sandwiches and whatnot. Eventually he returned his plate and left the cafeteria. 

"I still have a little bit of time. Let's go check out this Healing class."

He turned and began walking in the direction of the class, arriving with a little time before the bell. He walked in.

"Hmm? Who are you? Oh, are you the new student?"

As Dream walked in, he was greeted with a rough-looking teacher sitting at his desk. It was a mid aged looking man with a scruffy beard and a bit of a mean look on his face. Something told Dream that he wouldn't be the most pleasant teacher in the world.

There were also several students already in the class sitting at their desks reading the textbook. They all looked over to him for a bit before turning back to the book. Dream turned to the teacher and nodded.

"Yes, I am the new student."