Luminary Institute

22: Post-Spar Bonding Time

Conrad and Nyssa walked out to the center of the training field. As they walked, Titus took a second to take some notes about Albion and Celeste’s battle before giving the tablet to the two of them. After letting them note down anything they wanted to remember, Titus tapped on Albion’s shoulder while nodding towards the now-ready Nyssa and Conrad. 

Not long after they took their positions, Nyssa and Conrad were given the “Start!” signal by Albion. The battle, though, had a very different start from the others. 

Conrad started it off by stomping through the ice and into the ground. Sending chunks of the training field flying outward, he bent down before blasting himself forward. As he drew a horizontal line across the battlefield, he drew his sword and sent a cut towards Nyssa. His hope, though, to end the fight within seconds, was dashed by Nyssa transforming into a bird. 

Soaring into the air, Nyssa, the sparrow now, floated in the air as Conrad tracked her with sharp eyes. Her strategy, though, could now debut itself: transforming into a giant beetle, she came crashing to the ground. 

With a gleaming chrome exoskeleton, Nyssa, the beetle now, curled up into a ball and rolled away from the chasing Conrad. She... honestly didn’t need to roll away though. Given she was the size of a small car, her plan was to overwhelm Conrad through sheer mass. Doing a quick few loops around the training field she plowed her way towards Conrad. 

Conrad, with a giant beetle barreling down on him, hunkered down while sheathing his sword. Opening his hands towards Nyssa, he grunted as the chrome cannonball slammed into him. Having used his system to analyze the best angle for a possible stop, Conrad was dragged along as the beetle just... kept... going. 

His legs dug into the ground and carved two jagged ravines through the ground. Letting out a guttural roar, Conrad managed to slow Nyssa down a little. Realizing his efforts were futile though, he leapt away while unsheathing his sword. Landing a few slashes as he leapt away, he grimaced as his sword only made some surface-deep cuts. 

This exchange, however, defined the rest of the fight. Conrad’s movements were tinged by a faint hesitation while facing a bug the size of a car. Beyond the hesitation, he also had no real means of stopping a wrecking ball of a creature. 

So, before long, the battle was over as Conrad threw his sword aside and conceded. Nyssa, transforming back into a human, pumped her fist. Offering Conrad a high-five, Nyssa jogged back over after exchanging a couple of words with her opponent. They were, of course, warm and friendly, though. 

“What a bad matchup,” Albion shook his head as Conrad and Nyssa returned. “Good fight though.” 

“Thank you,” Nyssa nodded while scratching the back of her head. “What’s the plan now? Break? Or are you and Titus jumping right into it?” 

“We’re going now,” Titus chuckled while stretching in his chair. “No way us rivals are waiting. Are you ready to lose Albion?” 

“No sir, because I’m about to win,” Albion snorted while pushing himself up. “Let’s go now, fire boy.” 

Following their little exchange, the two walked off as Celeste passed Conrad and Nyssa the tablet for taking notes. Nyssa, for one, didn't have too many notes to take. Scribbling a small note to herself about taking better initiative in the fight, she passed the tablet to Conrad. 

Conrad, though, activated his powers before beginning to scribble paragraph after paragraph of notes. Replaying every moment, every action, and every decision from the spar, he dissected the reasoning behind why he made every choice, what worked, and what didn’t. Once done—somehow after only a couple minutes—he summarized a couple important pointers for himself before setting the tablet on the table. 

From there though, the spars really picked up. Titus edged out Albion, Nyssa lost to Celeste, Albion whooped Conrad, Celeste lost to Titus, and so on and so forth. By the end, everyone had dueled against everyone else and it was... for the most part, even. 

Throw in a few rematches as well and they were a fair bit past dinner time. Celeste had won, overall, but there wasn’t much to it. She matched up well in the limited duel setting against most people and she hadn’t won in a dominating fashion by any means. 

With all their chairs, tables, water bottles, and more, packed up, the five of them were spent. Feeling sweaty, stinky, and dirty, they agreed to go all take showers before meeting for dinner. For Nyssa and Celeste though, they requested the boys be patient before leaving. 

---

Twenty minutes later, Titus, Conrad, and Albion were sitting around in the lobby of the Class Zero building. Changed into new sets of clothes, they sat in a row along a cushioned bench and made some idle conversation. Titus, with a smaller towel draped around his neck, leaned back against the wall. “What are we thinking for dinner boys?” 

“I don’t know,” Albion yawned while mimicking Titus’s movement. “Let’s just wait for Nyssa and Celeste.” 

“True,” Titus stretched before leaning forward. “Conrad you okay?” 

“Yessir,” Conrad yawned while pushing his glasses up his face. “Just tired. How long do you think we’ll be waiting here? Any bets? Over under another fifteen minutes?” 

“Bro, what?” Albion raised an eyebrow. “Does it matter? And... I don’t know, it just feels a little weird.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Conrad shook his head. “I don’t mean anything by it.” 

“Well, it comes off wrong, that’s the problem. It’s not the intentions, it's the action.” Titus sighed while facepalming. “It might just be us though. Rubs kind of wrong. Just like... don’t be so weird with girls, my guy.” 

“I’m trying...” Conrad looks towards the floor while shaking his head. “I just don’t know, I guess. Anyway, for now I'm trying to make some conversation, so like... I don’t know, yeah. What do you all want to talk about?” 

“Not... much,” Titus shrugged before thinking of some random conversation topics. Drawing the other two into conversation, they just hung out for a bit, caught their breaths, and relaxed while waiting. 

After another twenty minutes, Nyssa and Celeste met up with the two boys in the lobby while apologizing for taking a little longer. Having changed and got their stuff together though, they were ready to go. Leaving their stuff in the lobby with Albion, Titus, and Conrad’s stuff, they motioned for everyone to get going. 

With only a few of the campus’s cafeterias still open, they decided to just talk over where they wanted to go while walking. 

It was, well, late night party time then. Or, more accurately, late night dinner time!