Whack!
"Urgh!"
KA-Whack!
"Arghhh!"
Back at his usual spot, Torq knelt low, his back facing the sky while his arms were pulled to the front and chained to the floor. A long stream of water, stretching over sixty metres, arched through the skies and accurately landed on his back.
The whiplashes were thunderous, spraying out blood with every hit. And taking them with screams of pain was none other than Torq.
"Seriously?" The bald instructor cursed in bewilderment, "I whipped you just four days ago. And you caused an incident soon after?"
"The Clan rules give you immunity to death for 24 more days." He shouted as another whip lashed Torq’s back, "HOWEVER!"
"Do us a favour and kill yourself!" He cursed and kept whipping, each time with greater force, until Torq’s injuries were no longer healing. It meant his Prana had been fully consumed. Only then did he stop, cursing aloud, "This is frustrating!"
"If only I could kill you." He grumbled and retracted the bloody whip, which had absorbed all the blood that had spilled out of Torq. And just like the previous time, he filtered out the blood and stored it in the fancy bottle.
Once the punishment ended, the student getting punished was released typically. However, no one did that for Torq, keeping him chained in the centre of the stadium for as long as possible.
All students were promised food, as the Clan rules dictated. No one can prevent them from having breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Only when that time came would an instructor grudgingly release him.
’How’s my situation?’ Torq frowned and inspected his Spirit Container, ’Huh!’
His Prana capacity was at 17, the same as before his punishment. ’Well, it’s only natural, since I had braced myself for the punishment.’
The annoyance at his dorm had impacted him more than the whippings. It was why Torq had raged and used the stone to bang on every single door in the dorm. For the entire night, he ensured none could sleep.
Since he actively remained a nuisance, with too many witness reports, the Academy happily punished him. The witness reports had piled up because many students lost at least one Spirit Container due to the disturbance. Some lost three to four, which were months worth of training going down the drain.
Hence, the punishment was serious.
’He must definitely be here by now.’ Thinking as such, Torq lifted his head and revealed a wide smile, "Wow!"
"You’ve learnt something," He stared at the figure of Runthral who had arrived, remaining exactly a distance of 180 metres away from Torq, ’So, you’ve figured out the range.’
’Well, that’s nothing special, since this range is universal.’ Torq thought and then motioned towards his cuffs with his eyes, "If your eyes haven’t rotted, you should be able to see where I’m pointing at, right?"
"Release me, will you?"
"Oh, is the distance too far to hear me clearly?" Torq paused for a few seconds upon seeing Runthral’s inactivity. Then, he smiled and whispered, "Is your ability so useless, you cannot even shatter my cuffs? You’re gutter trash."
"Bastard!" Runthral bellowed in anger.
’Well, Subtle Terrain Domination ensures he can grab the soundwaves and transport them to himself.’ Torq smirked, ’As long as my whisper enters his range, he would be able to focus on it and hear the contents.’
"You’re still at it." Torq eyed the fancy bottle hung at Runthral’s waist, "Drinking my blood wouldn’t increase your pathetic talent."
"I will kill you!" Runthral raged. However, right as he was about to rush forth, he paused, tensing up.
"To kill me, you need to step forward, until I am within your ability’s range." Torq chuckled, "However, that also brings you within my ability’s range."
"So, take a step forward, my unfortunate brother." Torq taunted.
"Right," Runthral huffed out a sigh and then turned around, nodding towards a section on the stands. Two students were seated there, nervous, eyes moist, and facial muscles trembling in regret.
At the nod, their expressions plummeted, until the emotion of resignation became prevalent. The two students were girls aged fourteen, having less than two months before they turned fifteen.
Both had less than 60 units of Prana, having overwhelmingly underperformed throughout their Academy life. They knew for sure they were dying on the day of their graduation. It was a known fate for them.
Slowly, the two girls, with bowed heads, approached Runthral and stood a metre behind him, backs slouched, in respectful poses.
"Fret not," Runthral patted them on the shoulder, "I will ensure your deaths are swift and painless."
"Yes," The two girls nodded in gratitude. They were bound to die anyway. That was an unchangeable fate, even by Runthral. However, since they were already dying, they could at least contribute to the Cooter Clan once.
And that contribution was to kill Boiboi. The act alone guaranteed them death, immediately. They would lose the remaining two months they were granted to live.
But, if they could contribute to the Clan, they would die happy. Their families would be relieved to know they didn’t waste the Clan’s resources and did at least something worthwhile.
Runthral’s assurance gave them strength as the two girls gathered around Torq. One of them pressed a foot on his shoulder joint, pressuring them to the floor to curb his resistance.
The other streamed out water from the bottle hung at her hip. The water turned into a sphere and elongated into a chakram, gradually whirring to dangerous speeds. It positioned itself above Torq’s neck and then sped down, "Die, Boiboi!"
Torq observed his surroundings, noticing Runthral stood right outside his range. ’He’s being cautious, huh?’
As the chakram made of water whirred towards his neck, Torq let out a sigh and touched the floor with his forehead, "Sumatra..."
Observing the situation from afar was Runthral, his eyes rooted to the scene. He watched the first girl pin down Torq firmly while the second whirred a water chakram to his neck, "Now, let’s see what you..."
Runthral, fully stunned, watched the water chakram quickly flash towards Torq’s neck. But then, the psychokinesis binding it into the shape of a chakram seemed to have vanished, reverting it to regular water, which splashed upon Torq’s neck, doing no damage.
As for the two girls? One moment, they were targeting Torq. The other moment, they had lost consciousness and collapsed beside him.
’I didn’t see anything!’ Runthral was stunned, because even though he knew for a fact Torq had used his trump card, forget observing the ability from safety, he didn’t even sense it taking effect.
He had positioned himself in such a way the monochromatic dome would appear within his Spirit Weapon range. This meant he could sense its functions better, while without being wrapped up within whatever rules formed it.
But, he didn’t sense anything. And that terrified him.
"No, that bastard is making a recovery." Upon seeing Torq apply Mystic Mist Art on the tears streaming out of the eyes of the two girls, which had evident traces of their shattered Spirit Containers, Runthral whistled.
Another student rushed forward from the stands. Without the slightest hesitation, he nodded at Runthral, "Please support my younger brother. That would be enough to ensure his graduation."
And then, he charged straight at Torq, only to collapse unconscious moments later. Since he lost consciousness during his charge, his feet stumbled upon one of the unconscious girl’s bodies and thudded hard to the floor.
"Again, he used it." Runthral muttered, still terrified, but noticing Torq’s body was slightly trembling now, "So, it’s not infinite."
"It does take a toll on your body." He whistled once again, as another student rushed out from the stands, "Usually, around twenty to thirty students fail to graduate every year."
"Thank you for giving me this opportunity." The student bowed to Runthral once and then rushed straight at Torq.
"How many times can you use it, Boiboi?" Runthral burst into laughter, "Let’s see which side runs out of resources first."