Chapter 128: No Rest
’It didn’t work, huh?’ Lucius thought as Elara landed lightly, cracks spreading across the ground as her feet touched it.
Elara stood with her fists up, panting as the golden glow of plasma danced around her knuckles like fireflies.
He rubbed his chin and frowned.
’Did I get the concept wrong or something? Or should I start with something simpler... like fire or water or maybe even earth?’
Even he had to admit, starting straight at the top of the energy ladder with plasma wasn’t exactly a "bright" idea.
But he had pride to maintain.
He couldn’t call himself a genius if he couldn’t pull off something as simple as manipulating super-heated energy inside a vacuum of space.
That was meant to be easy for people with genius like his.
Elara gritted her teeth, her jaw tightening as light pulsed across her body.
"Alright, Master," she said through a small smirk, "one more round."
’Is it just me,’ Lucius thought, squinting at her stance, ’or is she actually trying to beat me into a bloody pulp?’
He floated an inch off the ground, not even activating Infinity yet.
’Did I do something to make her mad? Forget to compliment her new gloves? I really don’t remember.’
Elara lunged forward before he could finish the thought.
Her movements blurred as she closed the distance once again.
Lucius sidestepped her initial rush easily, his hand raised lazily.
He expected her to stumble past him, but mid-air she twisted her hips, redirected her momentum, and launched a spinning strike.
"Wow..." Lucius muttered, tilting his head just enough to dodge. "When did Vanessa start training you to fight like that?"
Her fist stopped inches from his face, frozen against the invisible wall of Infinity.
But she wasn’t finished.
The plasma condensed around her arm, gathering like molten metal before she whispered a single word.
"Explode."
A blinding burst of light filled the training arena.
The blast roared, shaking the ground beneath them.
Heat rolled through the room like a wave.
Lucius vanished into the smoke, and a huge portion of the reinforced ground shattered with a hiss.
Elara’s eyes widened in horror.
"Oh no..." she breathed, taking a few shaky steps back.
She could already hear Vanessa yelling in her mind.
’I promised not to destroy anything! She’s going to kill me!’
When the smoke cleared, Lucius stood exactly where he had been... ruffling away the smoke with his hand.
"Damn," he muttered, "you were really trying to roast me alive."
"T-that wasn’t my intention, Master!" Elara bowed repeatedly, flustered. "I was just trying to—"
"Thank you," Lucius interrupted with a smirk.
She blinked, confused. "Huh?"
Lucius lifted his right hand.
A small sphere hovered above his palm... an orb of compressed space swirling with golden light.
Inside it, volatile plasma danced like a miniature sun.
A blue system window appeared.
[You have learned a new spell: Spatial Containment (Lv.1)]
Lucius grinned.
’Hey, that wasn’t too bad. It almost blew me up, but I got what I wanted.’
He rotated the orb gently.
The energy within crackled like thunder, reflecting across his purple eyes.
It took nearly every bit of plasma from Elara’s explosion although he wasted some along the way, the results spoke for themselves.
He looked around the half-ruined arena and sighed. "You really have a lot of cleaning up to do."
Elara peeked behind her and winced.
The wall she had been punching earlier was gone, replaced by a hole big enough to fit a small car.
The reinforced floor was now a melted crater.
Lucius yawned and stretched. "Alright, that’s enough training for today."
’Wait,’ he thought suddenly, glancing down at the glowing orb still floating in his palm. ’I didn’t actually think about how I’m going to keep this thing safe... Where the hell do I store something like this? In my pocket? My shoe? My... nope, definitely not there.’
He raised the orb closer to his face, squinting. ’System, can I store this in the inventory?’
[The Inventory only holds objects that are not alive.]
Lucius blinked.
’Yeah, but plasma isn’t alive,’ he reasoned.
’And I trapped it inside space itself, so technically it’s double dead. That should count.’
[You have been granted permission.]
A small smile tugged at his lips.
’Thank you.’ The golden sphere shimmered once before vanishing, absorbed into his inventory.
Problem solved.
He turned back to Elara, who stood nervously, still avoiding eye contact.
"Master," she said softly, "since I helped you create a new spell... doesn’t that mean we should clean this place together?"
Lucius tilted his head.
He would have fallen for this... but not today!
She was definitely trying to bait him into helping.
"You’re very fit," he said dryly. "You’ll manage."
She pouted. "But—"
"When you’re done, bring some dinner to my room," he added, already turning away. He stretched his arms and yawned. "I’ll be waiting."
With a lazy wave of his hand, space rippled beneath his feet and his figure vanished entirely.
Elara was left alone in the ruined training room.
Then, slowly, her lips curved into a mischievous smile.
"Master won’t see it coming," she murmured under her breath. "I’ll do it when I deliver his food."
...
Lucius reached his room and stretched, finally letting out the sigh he’d been holding in all day.
’I can finally relax.’
He flicked on the air conditioner with a gesture of space magic.
A cool breeze washed over him, and for a brief, glorious moment, peace was possible.
He sat on the edge of the bed, ready to do absolutely nothing for the next few hours...until his phone began to ring.
He stared at the screen.
A video-call request.
From Esme.
Lucius rubbed his temples.
’Ah, these women won’t leave me be.’
Still, he accepted the call.
The screen blinked to life, and a familiar voice greeted him.
"Heyyyy, movie buddy!" Esme said, waving from the other side of the screen.
Her background was bright, her hair perfectly brushed, and her makeup looked fresh.
Even her outfit...some kind of fitted blazer over a glittery top looked expensive.
Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Are you heading somewhere today? What’s with the fancy outfit?"
Esme blinked, then fumbled for an answer. "Erm... I was tol—ow!" She winced, yelping mid-sentence.
Lucius could tell she’d just been pinched by someone off-screen.
Esme forced a quick smile. "I wanted to dress good for you."