Chapter 184: Chapter 168 : Breaking The Ice

‘Whoa, she’s quite brisk, that was easily over a 100 m/s…and her zigzags were pretty sharp too. Her confidence isn’t unwarranted, not at all…still, it’s not good enough,’ Ralf concluded as a smile rose to his face.

She was fast and skilled, but the Transmigrator’s confidence remained unshakable. His gaze lingered on the tunnel’s entrance for a few seconds more before shifting to his PA. Ralf’s footsteps followed suit.

Mason wasn’t alone; Sybil had joined his side and was at his ear, bragging about Yuki’s scores to him. The middle-aged man took in her words with a slight smirk. He couldn’t wait to unleash his own flood of bragging. His lips vibrated with that intention but he managed to keep them shut. Here and now wasn’t the place or time for it, but later… definitely. As his lips threatened to twist into spirals, he noted the approaching Ralf and traded his smirk for a different kind of smile.

“Mason, I have an inquiry.”

“Fire away, young man.”

Ralf did so, explaining his idea. He expected the other to contact upper management about it, so he was surprised by the instantaneous response.

“It’s totally fine. It’s one of the reasons why this chamber is as large as it is. Most people don’t think to do so though. As for the Assistants, that’s okay too, I’ll summon them right away.”

Sybil had a darkened look overcome her expression. Hearing Ralf’s idea had dropped both her heart and her confidence in her assigned student’s chances. Mason watched her deteriorating expression with great amusement, though he kept it well hidden with his frequent chin rubs.

Could you get a running start, in other words purposely speed yourself up beforehand? Yes.

Could you use Assistants to aid this speed up process? Also yes.

Before asking these questions, Ralf was certain question 1 was allowed given everything he had seen so far. His main concern was whether question 2 was permissible. He didn't need it to be, given the large space, he could speed himself up to many times his normal Flicker speed. Still, it would take longer and his top speed would be slightly slower. Wanting the fastest time possible, he hoped that question 2 was legal, and it was, as Mason confirmed earlier.

Speeding oneself up before entering Snake Belly was rare, but done. But speeding oneself up by employing Assistants, now that was unheard of.

Five minutes later, all necessary personnel were gathered and Ralf’s proposal was put into motion. By now, the place was clear of other students and even the ice wall was shredded into chunks. The ten Telekinetic Assistants took their positions around the room and constructed a 10-metre in diameter Psi sphere. The bubble was sturdy but more importantly, the inner coating was smooth as a mirror, so nigh frictionless.

Ralf was inside this bubble, connected telepathically to all the Assistants present. Sending the signal, he began.

Swoosh!

After an initial few Flickers, Ralf assumed his Turtle’s Sphere form and circled the sphere at high speed. He then continued to accelerate, faster and faster, quickly approaching his speed limit, just shy of the sound barrier. Maintaining this absurd speed for a few seconds, he then sent a signal to the Telekinetics. After one last loop, the sphere dematerialised and Ralf’s speedy figure shot towards the entrance tunnel, more specifically the blue laser.

The Snake Belly’s stopwatch was automatic, not manual. To start one’s clock, one had to touch the horizontal blue laser at the tunnel’s opening. The same had to be done to stop one’s clock. One had to touch the horizontal blue laser at the other end of the tunnel to conclude one’s run. Doing these two actions were imperative.

Ralf touched the first blue laser without issue. Then, remaining in Turtle’s Sphere, he zoomed through Snake Belly untouched using Turtle’s Slide and slight telekinetic bursts to avoid the various obstacles. He zigzagged, curved and looped in rapid succession, all while not dropping an iota of speed.

To most new students and even senior students, Snake Belly was a daunting task, but to Ralf, it couldn’t be easier. He had experienced many such scenarios in the Mental Space’s virtual spaces, with the Hell Dungeon ‘Hell Bullet’ being the most challenging of the lot.

It was a ninety-nine-floor dungeon made entirely of obstacle courses with a similar premise. The randomizer made the experience a true hell, with many runs being utterly impossible. Worse, it was a one-hit fail, where failure meant returning to floor 1 to go again. It was a thing of nightmares that made the duo cold sweat whenever they thought back to it.

Compared to that, Snake Belly was akin to a walk in the park. The absorption Psi coating the inner tube went unused as Ralf effortlessly and swiftly made it to the other side unscathed.

***

Just outside the Admin Centre building, a pair sat on a wooden bench, having just concluded their CATs.

Yuki remained silent.

It had been two minutes already, yet she still couldn’t come to terms with the result, even after confirming it with Sybil and watching the recording herself. Only thirty seconds later did she finally manage to anchor herself to the new reality she found herself in. Opening her eyes, the ice Mimic turned to Ralf and immediately scowled as she caught his smug smile.

“A deal is a deal, Yuki - no, Snowball.”

“Grr, arr, aaa…fine! A deal is a deal,” Yuki voiced, accepting the result with great reluctance.

Ralf chuckled at her display, especially the wicked pout that surfaced on her face. “Ahaha, how cute.”

Yuki shot him a glare, but in this situation, it had no moxie behind it. “Hmph,” she snapped her gaze off him. “I’m leaving,” she said, putting strength into her tired limbs.

But Ralf stopped her. “Freeze, snowball.”

Yuki’s eyes twitched at the nickname but she didn’t have the heart to comment on it. Instead, she plopped back down and asked, “What do you want now? Another bet?”

“Nope, I’ll save you the embarrassment,” Ralf said cheekily, while the ice Mimic clenched her fists.

The Transmigrator’s demeanour then suddenly shifted; he put away his cheeky smile and traded it for a sincere one before continuing. “I said it earlier, I want to get to know you better, so let’s hang out, Yuki.”

Yuki was given pause at the words and began seriously contemplating the offer. She found Ralf annoying no doubt, but at the same time, she felt something very genuine in him, something charming too. Speaking to him, the ice Mimic was reminded of her interactions with her sister and it unbalanced her.

“Why me though? Because I’m a Mimic?” she asked softly, turning away to look at the nearby flowers.

Ralf’s response took a few seconds to arrive and was somehow both expected and unexpected.

“Indeed, that’s exactly why.” Yuki’s eyes flickered at the statement, but Ralf wasn’t done yet. “Truth be told…” Ralf paused as he took a moment to glance around, making a show of his actions, before scooting closer to her and continuing in a whisper. “...I’m actually a Unique.”

“A Unique?” Yuki’s brows raised at the claim. She subconsciously mimicked him as she also replied in a soft voice.

“Indeed,” Ralf affirmed. “My Unique ability allows me to copy other people’s powers. For instance, my Telekinetic class power isn’t my original power. I just copied it from my mother,” he said, Yuki, casting him an incredulous look in response.

Ralf met this look without batting an eye and continued. “Thing is, I can’t just go around copying from any psionic I stumble across. My Unique ability has a unique condition to it.”

“A condition?” Yuki repeated, her voice tinged with interest, briefly forgetting the ridiculousness of his words.

Ralf nodded seriously. “Yes, the condition is this: I need to have a close relationship with the psionic I’m copying from or else it won’t work. The main reason I came to the Academy was to copy more powers, more specifically, the three Mimics. I’ve already begun worming my way into Skye’s and Violet’s hearts…all that’s left is you, Yuki. So, consider all advances from now till I copy your power all part of my sinister plan to become this world’s Avatar, master of all elements.”

Yuki cracked a smile as she got the reference, having watched the first few episodes of the duo’s ATLA imitation.

“Once I’ve achieved this status, I’ll return to my birthplace, Setsuna, and begin a Bellus-style conquest to bring the world under my diabolic rule,” Ralf nodded at his words as his eyes sparkled with fresh ambition; he had gotten high on his own supply.

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After declaring his intentions, he got up and circled to Yuki’s front. She had her head low and away, but the smile on her face was clear as ice. Ralf saw this and smiled himself.

“Long story short…Yuki ‘Snowball’ Bai, I want to be/need to be your friend. What do you say?” he asked and then thrust his hand out to her.

“I…” Yuki fell silent. Her smile was replaced by trembling lips, unsure of what to say next. She was in completely unfamiliar territory. Ralf’s proposal confused her more than anything. “...don’t know, I’ve never had a friend before, so I just don’t know…how about we hang out for a bit, get to know each other first?”

Ralf smiled ‘All according to cake.’ He gladly returned his hand to his side.

“Then, let’s do that. I’m sure we’ll get closer over time,” he said cheerily then turned and took a few steps forward before summoning his Psi Bike. Hopping on, he made a show of twisting the throttles. “We have two hours to burn before class, so how about we do a tour?”

Yuki nodded then got up. Her Psi swirled around her figure, ready to form her Winter Empress armour, but as her gaze continued to linger on Ralf’s backside, a certain idea popped into her head. The idea became an action a second later, surprising both herself and Ralf.

“Ah?” the Transmigrator squeaked out.

Not only she did hop on behind him, but she also wrapped herself around him, pressing her ample chest against his back. Beset with the soft sensation, Ralf’s super sensitivity worked against him and his mind momentarily froze.

“What…you said you wanted to be closer, right?” she said, her voice teeming with glee at the successful revenge.

His reaction greatly pleased the Ice Mimic. Just like with everyone else, Ralf had been on her radar. He carried himself with confidence and certainty, so seeing him unbalanced like this brought the ice Mimic considerate joy.

“....I’m not complaining.”

Yuki grinned as she caught the sheepishness in his voice, and then tightened her embrace by one notch.

Ralf directed the Psi Bike forward, slowly. “Where do you want to go first? We’re rolling in credits right now,” he said, his voice regaining its usual composure.

“Hmm…let’s get something to eat first, I’m starved right now.” On cue, her stomach growled as if voicing its agreement. Yuki’s face flushed and she quickly separated from Ralf, much to his dismay, before rebalancing herself by grabbing at the bike’s back.

“Aha, sounds like it. Okay, let’s grab something to eat and fast. Have a place in mind?”

“Nope, I don’t. I haven’t really explored since I arrived. Let’s go to the commercial zone and flip a coin or something.”

“Sure sure.”

***

After stopping to get the Hunter Academy’s fast food equivalents, the pair roamed around the Academy grounds in near-constant motion and near-constant conversation.

The ice had been thoroughly broken between the pair.

Despite what it seemed like on the surface, Yuki was very talkative once she got going. Ralf had learned a lot in these last two hours. He had made a point to reveal little about himself while keeping the spotlight on her, allowing him to learn about her rough childhood, her beloved sister, and the reason why she was at the Academy in the first place. Ralf’s heartstrings were tugged at hearing Yuki’s account.

He kept his words brief on the matter and relayed his own hardship at being separated from his mother. Yuki took to his words, and the two’s distance shrunk at the shared hardship, though not physically, to Ralf’s disappointment.

The sombre topics came and went with the rushing air, and more light-hearted ones visited the pair. Anime took up most of the latter half of the two’s conversation.

Yuki turned out to be quite a fan of the medium, having watched nearly everything that was released to date. She shared her opinions with bubbling excitement.

Her glee-filled expressions and giddy voice quickly became treats the Transmigrator couldn’t get enough of. Wanting more, he told her that he would fulfil her wish, and release ten more episodes of Young Blood by tonight. Yuki’s eyes brightened as he wished, and then even better, he received another hug from behind.

Towards the end of their session, Ralf brought up the matter of the get-together tonight and invited her to join. She was apprehensive at first and leaned into rejecting his offer, but Ralf’s sales pitch proved too tempting to resist. His bold claims and guarantees managed to do the trick.

Importantly, as their mini-tour came to an end, Ralf made a stop at the Admin Centre building to meet with Mason. The Transmigrator spent a few minutes away from Yuki’s side before returning to her. She questioned his absence, but he kept his lips sealed, curved into a subtle smile.

Now, the pair walked side by side, passing through the entranceway to their History class. It was nearly identical to the venue they did their introductions in. Similarly identical was the number of students present and their seating arrangements. As such, Yuki and Ralf drifted rightward. The chatter dominating the space was, of course, the CAT scores.

Report cards could be seen flapping about with the same frequency as boastful lips. Ralf’s eyes shifted to Lane and the others. They too were discussing their scores, though in a much more reserved manner. All four of them had their report cards on their desks, facing down.

‘Oh, they’re confident,’ Ralf thought as he took in the group.

The four displayed their confidence in different ways. The twins were more obvious, wearing grins and smirking, while Violet and Lane were more subtle about it, projecting a sense of confidence from their postures alone. Ralf soaked it all in with a calm look, though internally, he was fighting hard against the urge to cackle.

‘Ah, got to hold it in,’ he thought as he struggled to maintain his poker face.

The group noticed his approach and turned to him.

“Oh, Yuki, heya,” Charlotte greeted with a smile. “What are you doing with this joker? Saw you two riding around together earlier, what was that about, did you lose a bet or something?” Ralf chuckled at the question while Yuki’s face turned awkward. “Wait, you did, really? What kind of bet?” Charlotte followed up, eyes flickering with surprise and interest. The others showed similar expressions.

“Go ahead, tell them, Snowball,” Ralf urged with a smile, Yuki sending him a light glare.

The four were stumped by the exchange. They couldn’t imagine how the two could get so close in the span of a few hours…and then remembered their own exchanges with Ralf, and quickly understood.

“Ralf, I’ll pay you back, tenfold,” Yuki said under her breath.

The Transmigrator rolled his shoulders. “As long as it’s in hugs, please do,” he replied nonchalantly.

Yuki ignored his comment and turned back to Charlotte. Her lips moved to answer the Onic Mimic’s question, but before she could, a new voice sounded out.

“Okay, everyone take your seats, we’re starting,” Nazo, the History teacher approached the podium as she announced.

At her words, students found their seats. Ralf did so as well, seating himself on Lane’s left. He then looked to the idle ice Mimic and patted the empty space to his left. “Class has started, take your seat, Snowball,” he urged with the manner of a teacher’s pet. Yuki smiled before taking her seat beside him.

The first class began.

 

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