Chapter 331: Form |
Before Sasaki Ayane could say another word, a mobile phone suddenly rang. The sound came from right beside Hoshino Rin.
Jolted from her sleep and still caught in a daze, Hoshino Rin blindly reached for the phone and answered the call.
However, as the person on the other end explained the reason for their call, all traces of drowsiness vanished instantly. Her eyes widened in shock, and she bolted upright in bed. "What?"
"How could... I am so sorry!"
"I am truly sorry! Yes... I understand. I will cover all the compensation for the damages. Thank you for your trouble, and I am so, so sorry!"
Her voice naturally drew the attention of Hoshino Gen and Sasaki Ayane. Rin quickly finished the call, lowered her phone, and looked at Hoshino Gen with a deeply troubled expression. "Brother, Daihaku... Daihaku bit a lot of the other dogs staying at the pet center. What should we do?"
Judging by Rin's initial reaction, Hoshino Gen thought some major catastrophe had occurred. Hearing that this was the extent of the crisis, he instantly lost interest. Their little wolf cub had bitten a few dogs? Setting aside the fact that it was merely a scuffle involving dogs, even if the cub had actually mauled a few people to death, he would not have cared. At most, he would investigate the situation; if the wolf cub had truly gone mad, he would simply end its life with a single sword strike to pay the debt.
As for the current situation, Hoshino Gen closed his eyes and replied with complete indifference, "What else is there to do? Pay for their medical treatment and offer compensation. That is all."
"But..." Hoshino Rin was still plagued by anxiety, but Gen interrupted her before she could finish. He stated flatly, "Or you could go back and kill Daihaku as an apology."
Sasaki Ayane naturally took in this entire scene. As aloof as she was, watching Hoshino Rin's dejected silhouette made the corners of her lips curl upward into a faint smile. 'To think she is his twin sister, yet they are complete opposites. What a kind and cute little girl...'
...
That night, the coastal villa was brightly lit, and laughter and cheerful voices echoed endlessly from within.
However, none of that mattered to Sasaki Ayane at this moment.
Dressed in a white sundress, she stood on the edge of the sandy ground. The cool, nocturnal sea breeze whipped through her beautiful hair and fluttered her skirt hem.
Facing the boundless ocean, she focused her mind and spirit. With a subtle shift in her intent, a fist-sized sphere of water floated up from the ocean waves. The water sphere was highly unstable, its shape far from a perfect globe. It looked as though something was struggling inside, desperately trying to break free from the shackles of the outermost membrane of water.
Eventually, it stabilized. Under Sasaki Ayane's mind manipulation, a stream of water shot out from the sphere.
"You are making fast progress."
A voice called out from behind her. Sasaki Ayane's concentration faltered, and the water sphere floating in front of her instantly collapsed, bursting into a cascade of water droplets that splashed back into the sea.
She turned around and, sure enough, saw Hoshino Gen with a smile playing on his lips. Standing by the summer coast, he was dressed lightly in a simple shirt and shorts, an outfit that perfectly accentuated his youthful and unrestrained demeanor.
Sasaki Ayane cast a glance toward the villa in the distance, silently asking why he was not inside playing with the others.
Whether Hoshino Gen failed to understand her silent question or simply chose to ignore it was a mystery. He merely stepped forward, walking over to the coast to stand beside her. "The Object Control technique places heavy emphasis on the word 'Control'. It represents control, but more importantly, it means domination."
As he spoke, thousands of water spheres, identical in size to the one Sasaki Ayane had just manipulated, instantly rose from the sea.
"The object you control must move in tandem with your will."
The countless spheres of water seamlessly transformed into an array of watery arrows.
"In a single thought, you hold the power over life and death."
The myriad of water arrows abruptly changed direction, shooting straight toward Sasaki Ayane. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded her tightly from all sides.
Sasaki Ayane blinked her stunning, clear eyes. She showed absolutely no reaction to this sudden ambush. Her expression remained as aloof as ever. Faced with the deadly arrows encasing her, her curiosity got the better of her, and she reached out to touch the tip of the closest projectile.
'How truly fascinating,' she thought. 'It has the distinct texture of water, yet it carries an incredibly sharp edge...'
Hoshino Gen snapped his fingers. The water arrows instantly lost the power supporting their form and the force directing their movement. They reverted to formless liquid, splashing down and soaking a large patch of the sandy ground.
He met Sasaki Ayane's gaze. "Mastery over your own power is important, but your intent and mental focus are equally paramount."
Sasaki Ayane fell into deep thought.
Hoshino Gen considered for a moment, then smiled and pointed at the sea surface. "Let us try this. First, do your best to lift the absolute maximum weight of seawater you can manage."
Faced with Hoshino Gen, who was clearly taking the time to teach with utmost care, Sasaki Ayane's only natural response was to obey. She took a deep breath and raised her snow-white arm toward the ocean. Gently closing her eyes, she concentrated her entire mind and spirit to guide her power externalization...
A moment later, she opened her eyes. They shone with a brilliance that made the bright moon in the night sky pale in comparison. A mass of seawater the size of a grinding wheel levitated into the air.
Indeed, it was not a neat sphere, but an amorphous blob of water. Because her domination over the element was incomplete and her grasp of the technique was still too superficial, merely hoisting such a massive weight of water into thin air was her absolute limit. She had no spare energy to mold it into a perfect globe.
At that moment, Hoshino Gen raised his hand. Sasaki Ayane, who had been gritting her teeth and pouring all her concentration into preventing the massive blob from collapsing, suddenly felt the immense pressure vanish. Without needing to invest much of her mind and spirit, she realized the mass of water remained suspended, refusing to fall.
She glanced at Hoshino Gen beside her, knowing full well that he had helped "anchor" the seawater in place for her.
Noticing her gaze, Hoshino Gen chuckled softly. "Do not waste your energy trying to lift it. Just focus on changing its form."
Sasaki Ayane gave a small nod. She kept her arm raised, her pale, slender fingers curling into a loose grip. The mass of water, perfectly stable under Hoshino Gen's control, suddenly surged. Soon, it morphed into a large triangle.
"Good. Now, make it more complex," Hoshino Gen instructed.
Sasaki Ayane gave no verbal response, but the water blob began to shift once again. After a flurry of churning movements, it transformed into a bizarre, nondescript animal that looked like a cross between a cat and a dog.
It seemed Sasaki Ayane felt the result differed vastly from the image in her mind, so she began to execute a series of fine-tuning adjustments.
Hoshino Gen was in no rush. About ten minutes later, Sasaki Ayane was sweating profusely, beads of moisture clinging to her forehead, but the mass of water had flawlessly taken the shape of a lifelike cat.