Chapter 23: A Scholar's Focus

We woke up, smiling on our own accords. "Good morning, Dave." Ringo softly said. "Good morning to you too, Ringo." I spoke just as softly. We exchanged a kiss, then prepared for another day of school. There wasn't much to it, as usual, and we left with hardly a hitch. We walked toward Suzuran High, not really talking. Not that neither of us wish too, but there wasn't much on our minds at the time. That was the case, until I reminded myself of yesterday's events. I had a slight feeling of worry in my stomach. "Ringo…" "Yeah, Dave?" She turned her head toward me, then noticed my face. "It's about yesterday... The appearance of those specific Puyos rub me the wrong way." "Why? Weren't they just Puyos at the end of the day?" "You weren't there to see them, Ringo. These Puyos were intimidating, with red eyes and dangerous power. It took Schezo and his sword, powered by Arle's elemental magic to eradicate them. Even then, he passed out from exhaustion after doing it. That's what he told me, anyway…" "Do you know why they fought hard, Dave?" "No, no one does… They just kinda showed up, unnaturally hostile against anything that wasn't them. Unbelievably volatile, not anything to be messed with. These guys would react from the smallest of upsets, like the angriest of bees. I want to find out why, however… I feel like I would be following a dark path, toward an even darker truth. No, I don't just feel, I know that to be the case. But still, I have to know why…" Ringo became silent as we continued walking, seeming not sure what to say to me.

We found Lemres and Feli standing next to a tree, near us. "L-Lemres, Feli… I would have expected you two… to be standing outside the school door to the cafeteria at this time. Why aren't you there?" I wondered. "Dave, we were bothered by what happened yesterday… regardin' the Puyos you faced. The dark mage mentioned how that these ones were different." Lemres explained. "Yeah, because me, Amitie, and the like were ambushed by them… I was just talking about this with Ringo, Lemres." I brought up. "Oh really? Well, I just thought that this could be looked into…" He said. "It ought to be risky though..." I partially covered my mouth. "Let's… not think about this any further. Instead, we should put our focus on school. " Feli suggested. "Yeah, you're right." Lemres agreed. He seemed to feel a little better with that. As for me though, I couldn't shake the weight of that event off like it was nothing. The rest of the morning before the first class was nothing too important. Me and my friends made small discussions about… miscellaneous things. The bell rang, engaging our leave in an instant. "Welp, see ya in English, Dave." Lemres left with Feli. "Well, bye for now." Ringo left, without saying any other words. I stood there for a second, but then noticed something off. "Huh, where is Ris?" I wondered. Risukuma was nowhere to be seen, he was usually around at this time. I dismissed it, not because I didn't care… but rather, I needed to get to biochemistry. So I took off for it, forgetting about the bear.

I got there, and class started like normal. Risukuma however, was still not around to be seen. The teacher noticed this discrepancy in slight shock. "Huh, Risukuma is not here today? That's odd, he was never late for this... let alone, absent." She spoke in worrying tone. Outside of that, the class progressed as it should. It felt empty without him around, he had a passion for science. I mean, I had my own interests with it, but it didn't feel as impactful without Risukuma by my side. Plus, I wasn't really friends with any of the other students in that class. They just kind of went off on their own business. Not to come off as rude... they would rather be friends with themselves. Biochemistry ended, so I went over to calculus next. "Ah, Ringo. Have you seen Ris at all, this morning? He wasn't with me for my first class, and was marked as absent." I brought up to her. "What? Now that you bring it up… I didn't see him either. Not when we both walked to school... or in the cafeteria… Now I'm kinda worried for him, Dave…" She slowly broke down. "Don't fear, Ringo. I'm sure that he'll come back tomorrow... and provide us a perfectly reasonable explanation." I spoke optimistically. She nodded slowly as we sat down for a world of math. A dosage of brain-overloading later, I had successfully waited out this number and variable-filled storm. The bell rang and I sighed in relief. "This class is never going to get any easier for me at this rate…" I stood up. "You'll adapt, and when you do, it'll be fun." Ringo smiled. "Yeah, it'll be fun when my brain is mentally fried, Ringo." I told her, sarcastically.

We stared at each other for a few seconds after that was said. "Well, see you later, Ringo." I walked and waved without looking back at her. English was within my field of vision, rejuvenating my brain for learning. "Yo, Dave." Lemres greeted me. "Yo." I called back. "I gave this a lotta consideration lately… I wanna see if I can actually try n' learn academics for once." He said to me. "Well, has it started off on a good note?" I curiously asked. "Not… so much… but at least I'm tryin'. If there's any academic class that can teach me a thing or two… then it's this one." He looked up. "Uh huh… I see. I mean, it does make sense. This is probably the easiest of the academics, Lemres." I agreed. "I hate to be the bringer of stress, but… we need to get inside that room before that damn bell rings." Feli brought to our attention. "OH! Of course, don't want to be tardy, now." I realized. "Yep." Lemres went along with that. We all scrambled inside to our seats, just in time too. The English class of the day wasn't too interesting, so it went by quickly for me. Lemres at least kept himself awake, but he was often distracted by other things. One of these things involved his overactive imagination, to which he explained to me later at lunch. We leave for history where we were back on track with related topics. Ones that were, before that awful and unrelated lecture came up. But then, the theme of sweets came up. As soon as sweets were mentioned, Lemres paid attention more than he ever had before in this class. "Just look at him, Dave... he now feels inclined to learn the immediate topic." Feli whispered to me. "It's quite obvious why he's like this now, Feli. It is the mentioning of sweets that's motivating Lemres." I whispered back. He wasn't just motivated to learn, he was also taking notes. Not even in that potions class did I ever see him write notes, so I was quite pleased with this. History ended with Lemres feeling very happy. As we all walked to the cafeteria, he smiled in a jubilant manner. "That was great, Lemres!" I praised him. "The talk of sweets gained my interest, Dave. Maybe that's the spark that I need… hehehe." He put his hand behind his head. "Hopefully, it'll be enough to give you an incentive to learn." Feli said.

We had our lunch and there wasn't anything too special to note, except for the thing with Lemres. "Dave, I have quite the imagination because of my love for sugary sweets. I often become so engrossed in them, that I lose focus on other things." He told me. "Lemres, I think Schezo knew about this sort of thing before. Back when we were on the Puyo Isles, you were fantasizing, then he got annoyed by it." I mentioned. "Hahaha! Yeah, I remember that. That dark mage is always so fickle with things of the sort. I just love how he gets mad on a dime, it still manages to crack me up." He grinned. "He's just overly serious all the time, not able to take a joke… It makes me… worried for his sake. It just seems like the guy never has any fun. And when he does get the opportunity to, he doesn't take the chance. What kind of life does he hope to live with that attitude?" Feli followed with. "Schezo is an absolute buzzkill… and he doesn't need to be. I get that he is a dark mage, but that shouldn't dictate how one chooses to go about their days." I pressed the matter further. I no longer smiled after this topic came up. It was funny at first, but then it became depressing. "He needs change in his life, how can he enjoy it if his days are mostly the same? If I can just... show him that he can live at the fullest… maybe he can like it for once. I may have not known him for too long, but Schezo is an outcast it seems. A lack of exposure to the outside world is bad for him. I know this… cuz, I was like that before traveling from my world. I was meek, shy, and a bit unwilling to talk… not because I hated people that I didn't know, but rather, I lacked social skill. Feli, I've already spoken about this to you, do you remember? Back then, in that strip club… However... you, Lemres… I don't think you noticed that, not before or since then… until now, that is. Am I correct about all of this, Comet Warlock?" He and Feli stayed silent for a short span, thinking of what to say. "Dave, concernin' you? I dunno, but about Dark Mage, yeah. I've known him for a while now, he likes to keep to himself. Bundlin' up in a dank cave, he just kinda sits there, alone. It just makes me wonder, how's he not goin' insane from that?" He presented.

Feli nodded to the comet warlock himself. "My thoughts exactly, Lemres. But yeah, Dave… I remember what you told me that night. That being said: If anyone can improve Schezo, it's you." She looked up to me. "Maybe we should visit the guy after school... even though he'll clearly be uncooperative at the start." I proposed. "I agree, he'll never get better... unless we go to him." The comet warlock spoke with clear intent. "I agree too, no one should have to force themselves to restrain their own way of life." Feli lifted her fist a little, then clenched it. We finished lunch, came over to Primp Magic, and entered the potions class. We continued the charge vial thing, making it with the items that we found. Mixing it all together, the liquid in a small cauldron became a dark blue color. The instructor took a look at it as we finished it. "Ah, good job. This is a quality vial mix with a rich blue, coating its appearance. I can tell from that alone, this was carefully made with absolute craftsmanship. You three definitely deserve a passing grade for this creation. Also, since you got a passing grade on this particular assignment, you can keep that dose of charge vial as a reward." She passed it along to us. I studied the vial closely, it was about the size of my palm. "Dave, I think you're the one who'll need it the most." Lemres suggested. "You sure, Lemres?" I asked. "Yeah, I trust that you'll put that to good use. Besides, I use sugar as my form of sustenance." He smiled. "Okay, if you say so… I'll only use it when the time is right. I don't know when that will be, but since its small, I can pocket it with me at all times." I decided.

Potions ended, then I tried walking out to my last class. "Hold on, Dave." I was called out by a voice. "Instructor?" "Please, just call me Witch when we are alone. Anywho, you chose your friends wisely. Lemres is one of the best magic-wielding prodigies in all of Primp. And then you have Feli, I've heard that she has unique power amongst students. Plus, they are both nice and easy going. So tell me, child. Did you get a lot of help from the two when starting in this class?" "Well, uh… yeah. It was rough for me in the beginning, but they showed me the ropes in extensive detail. Think of it as a jumpstart, Witch. I'm still a bit inexperienced with this, but I know what I'm doing. It's thanks to Lemres and Feli that I can improve at this." "That's wonderful. By the way, Dave… were you ever curious as to how old I am?" "Th-that's out of left field… No, no I wasn't. And I don't want to guess your age, because I feel like you would be offended." I rubbed my left arm with my right hand back and forth. "Ah, I see. I do thank you for your kindness. Well, in truth… I am twenty years old." "Y-you're still a minor?!" "Heh, I guess I am…" "...! S-sorry, Witch. I need to get going to my last class." "You take care of yourself, then." I dashed out after she said those words. Again, I hated being tardy, so I got there in haste. The bell clapped after I took my seat, then class began with a little delay. "Welcome, kiddies. Yesterday ended up as a travesty, due to what happened. I would explain it, but you all know already. In response to this, it was decided by the school itself, that a new co-instructor should be here whenever we have combat lessons. I would like to introduce her to you at this moment. You may now come in." Accord called for this new co-instructor, and she was familiar to me. "Is that?!" I reacted. "This is Ms. Rulue. Say hello to her, everyone." She told us. "Hello, Ms. Rulue." We said in unison. Rulue looked around the room and saw me. "My, if it isn't Dave… Anyway, I'm known as the fighting queen elsewhere. However... here, students… I am simply a co-instructor, helping Ms. Accord with this issue. I thought that this would've been a good use of my combat experience. This may be a magic-centered class... but there are techniques out there, designed to attack opponents physically. Specifically, those that are for close-quarters combat, or CQC for short. I knew that there was at least two kids here who use attacks like that, and Ms. Accord told me about the last one here who is like that as well. Dave, Raffina, and Tarutaru… you three are the ones I refer to." She announced.

I wasn't sure what to make of this at first, but then I thought that this could have been a good idea. "Yes, and now that we have that established… we will immediately get back to doing the combat stuff from yesterday." Accord added. We headed outside to resume what was done previously. "Children, this time… the procedure is going to be handled differently. Dave, Raffina, and Tarutaru will go over there with Ms. Rulue… Meanwhile, I will take Amitie, Lidelle, and Klug over here." She pointed to the respective locations. "I see, you're separating us because of our forms of combat…" Klug assumed. "Correct, Klug." Accord confirmed. "Now then, you three come here." Rulue ran to the spot that she wanted me, Raffina, and Tarutaru to be. We followed and waited for her to make further instructions. "Alright, I will be testing you guys on attacking physically and your own stamina. In fights, it's not just important to have the ability to attack your opponent with ranged moves. You have to be able to adapt whenever enemies get the jump and encroach upon you. To do that, you need to have skills suited to landing hits close to you. Also, your body needs to last for a long period of time. Running with your legs, throwing out punches with your arms, make sure not to get tired out so easily. It'll make all the difference in the world, ensuring that you can keep yourself going. There is always going to be a limit to what your body can handle, but that's why we're here… so that we may increase the ceiling of that limit. For the sake of this exercise, you will try to attack me continuously with things that make direct, physical contact. You can use magic-powered physicals that utilize your arms and/or legs against me, but no ranged magical attacks. It'll defeat the purpose of this training if you can't fight or defend in close proximity to the enemy." She explained. "... So, it's hand-to-hand fighting then. Okay, who's going first?" I wondered. "It'll be you two as a team, fighting me." Rulue points to my friends. "Us?" They questioned. "Yes, I heard from Ms. Accord that Dave, at his strongest, is quite the formidable force with his transformation. To which I say, I'll allow it to be used, by the way. Until then, he'll wait for you two to have your time." She continued. Raffina and Tarutaru waited for Rulue to commence, then she showed a hand sign to begin.

The team made the first move, surrounding her, and throwing separate punches. "Hrraaaaah!" They yelled. Rulue countered by launching herself high in the air. "Holy crap, that jump! Her legs are like that of a frog's!" I reacted. "Wind Kick!" She was falling to the ground, aiming her attack at Tarutaru. "Gh-!" He had little time to react, let alone, to get away from it. He barely avoided contact by ducking, he probably knew that he couldn't defend himself from that. Raffina looked like she wanted to end this as soon as possible. Not that I could blame her, a prolonged fight against Rulue was not favorable for those two. "Thrust!" Her hand jolted as Rulue swiftly matched her attack. "Rock Punch!" The two collided, neither side showing visible weaknesses. "They're evenly matched…" I observed. "Not quite, Dave. Raffina, that wasn't bad. I know that you look up to me since we fight so similarly, but I've had a longer experience. With age... comes skill, and that also creates wisdom. I've been a warrior for years at this point. Meanwhile, you've only been fighting for a few years at most. Your stance as a fighter is admirable, but glass cannon-like. That's the cost being an adolescent. More energetic, however… your usually not sure what you should do next. That lack of strategic thinking is the very fatal flaw you have. You're just hoping that you can end this quickly, right? You may have a plan, but without coming up with the full execution of said plan on the spot… you'll create mistake after mistake. "Iron Fist!" Rulue ends this by landing that attack on Raffina and Tarutaru. "Gyaaah!" "Oooough!" I stood there, speechless.

Those two never landed an attack successfully on her. "... … … Oh my God, you knocked them out with a single punch?!" "Don't worry, they'll be fine. I purposefully held back against them. Now, let's see if you can entertain me, Dave. Don't hold anything back on me, give it your best shot!" "Very well then, Ms. Rulue… don't say I didn't warn you." I transformed into my strong dragon armor. "Wow, I didn't think that you would look this intimidating and tall… but, it'll make it all the more fun!" My new combat teacher having fun? This, I wasn't expecting, however it made sense. "Yes, this will be a lot of fun!" I agreed. We stood our ground, staring at each other, waiting to see who makes the first strike. She whipped out, lunging at me. She was quick, too quick. "! C-crap!" I fell down. The next thing that came up, she was on top of me, taunting. "My you must be quite the magnet for chicks, Dave. You're so dirty…" "W-wait, W-WHAT?!" I blushed from inside the armor. "Heh, you're so stupid, this is just a ploy!" Rulue grabbed one of my legs, then threw me up to the sky. "Wh-whoa-oa-oa-oa!" I remembered that I had wings in this form, so I got my body's positioning under control. "Nice try, I have wings, allowing me to fly. Although, I haven't had this form for too long, so I'm still learning to get a complete grip on it." I flapped about. "I didn't expect that... oh well. That just means that you now have a weakness for me to exploit!" She grinned. "W- Huh?!" "Too slow!" Jumping up to me, she took hold of one of my wings and threw me down to the ground. "Uwaaaaaah!" I was going too fast to stop myself from hitting the ground. " Oof-! Ugh… … Good thing that this armor is very durable…" I shook my head to focus. I closed my eyes, and waited to sense Rulue coming toward me. "If you're not gonna attack me, then I'll just have to pummel you more!" I heard her coming from behind me, timed it out and open my eyes. "Hrr!" I managed to catch her arms, then slammed on the ground in front of me. "W-What? Ouch!" She brushed herself off after getting back up. "Ms. Rulue, I'm focused now. I've seen how you fight, fundamentally… so I adapted. That was the only way I was ever going to get the best over you, even if it was just for one maneuver." I told her.

This made Rulue quite happy. "See? All it took was a moment to breathe, then you took back some control of the battle. Your biggest problem was that you meander about, and you find the wrong times to recover for a few seconds. Never go through an entire fight with the intent on improvising, or else, undesirable results will show. You're a good fighter, there's no denying that fact. However, that armor... although bulky and tough, makes you an easy target for how big it is. Endurance won't matter if you don't have the firepower to back it up. So come on! Attack me and I won't dodge, I'll only test you on your strength at this point!" She dared me. "If that's what you want… I'll give it my all! HRRR!" I rushed over, charging a punch for one huge blow. "RAH!" I made an impact, she blocked my fist with her hands. "Impressive, boy. When you do land attacks, they certainly have a bite." "That's not all there is to it... here!" I made a low sweep with my legs, catch her off guard. The force colliding with her legs made Rulue lose her balance and fell. "Whoa-ah! … … Ha... hahaha! I guess I was a fool for not seeing that coming." She smiled. "Here." I reached my hand for her to grab. "Thank you, Dave. And good work with today, it was rough at first, but you fixed it up." I disengaged my armor. "No problem… I'm worried about those other two though. They're my classmates, and I want them to be strong enough to not rely on me so much. I can't always be the one to save the day. What if disaster strikes at the same time I am pinned down, like yesterday? Then someone else will have to shoulder the responsibility… It just feels like something that I have to do, being the protection of everybody I care about. I know that it sounds unrealistic, but I have the heart of a hero. I do whatever I can, to help those in need… even if they think that they don't require help…" I said.

Rulue looked at me, floored by my words and not seeming to find the right words to say. "Dave… I… may not be a hero, but I understand your feelings. Trust me, I'm concerned for them too. Turn around, kid." I turned, and she had her arms around my neck. "As your teacher now, it is my duty to train you guys. So, I will make a promise to you. I promise that… I am going to do the best that I can to have you three trained properly. I'll make sure that nothing bad will have the ability to kill us. Is that good enough for you? Does it make you feel better?" "Y-yes, i-it does…" I began tearing up. "Oh… here." She took me over to the nearest place to sit. She held me, like an older sister almost. Rulue's hands might have been rock-solid in battle, but here, they were so soft and gentle. It was hard to describe the feeling other than it was comforting. "Dear me, I've never seen a boy of your age so sensitive before… Come on, you're the young adult of this class, so be one." She wiped the tears from my face. "You're right. *sniff* Thank you for the promise… oh. It looks like they are finally getting back up." I noticed Raffina and Tarutaru recovering themselves. "Ugh… that smarts…" Raffina commented. "S-same..." Tarutaru agreed. "You two look like you need some work to do…" Rulue spoke to them. "Yeah… I… couldn't do much, even with Tarutaru." Raffina admitted. Tarutaru nodded then asked me a question. "What about you, Dave?" "Guys, I managed to keep myself hanging in there." I told them my success, trying not to gloat. "That's good." They said. "We should go and see how the others are doing." Rulue suggested.

We nodded and moved back to see Amitie, Klug, and Lidelle casting spell after spell at Accord. None of these connect, and only hit a barrier formed by her. "That's enough, kiddies." She told the three. "*pant* That was draining…" Amitie said. "Ugh... I feel the same, Amitie." Klug agreed with her. "*pant* I-I think we're all exhausted." Lidelle pointed out. "Oh, how was training your trio, Ms. Rulue?" Accord asked her. "Raffina and Tarutaru need additional training, but Dave eventually worked around his problem." Rulue replied. "I see, that's good enough for today, I suppose. At least a couple of our students are improving." She decided. The bell clapped soon after we ended the training. "Take care, kiddies. Tomorrow, we'll take a breather, in the form of a new assignment." Accord waved. I took off to see Lemres and Feli as soon as I could. "Lemres! Feli!" I called out. "Dave!" Feli was glad that I came by. "Huh? W-what's wrong?" I wondered. "It's Lemres, he's hurt!" Feli explained. "What?! Let me see!" I took a look at him, figuring out what came up. It turned out that he was bleeding from his arm. "A-a gunshot wound?! Who would do this to you…?" I noticed. "We have to get him to a doctor, he'll bleed to death otherwise." I was told. "Alright…" I looked around, finding Tarutaru close to us. "! Tarutaru, I need your help. Ordinarily, I would do this, but I have something else that requires my attention. Can you take Lemres to a hospital? He's bleeding from the arm after getting shot. I'm counting on you, my friend, please!" I begged. "Yes, of course. This is the least I can do to pay you back. I'll not let you down!" He nodded. "Good. First though, I need him to ask me something… Lemres where is Schezo's cave located?" "You… should be able to find it somewhere outside of the forest. I don't 'member... exactly where it is though. It's been a while since I went there... so cut me some slack." It wasn't anything too concrete, but I was willing to take it. I texted Ringo that I would come back late, due to circumstances. "Okay, goodbye Lemres and Tarutaru. Come on, Feli!" "C-coming!"

Author's Notes: Dave overcomes the issue that he has difficulty dealing with, thanks to Rulue. He and his friends also wanted to change Schezo as a person. When Dave does go to find Lemres and Feli, he saw that Lemres was injured by an unknown assailant. He passed the comet warlock on to Tarutaru, counting on him to take the guy to a hospital. Dave and Feli now go alone to find Schezo's cave to see the dark mage himself. Next chapter, Chapter 24: What it Truly Means to be a Dark Mage.