The Perfect Specimen

Michelle shakes her head as she snaps herself out of her memories and she looks towards Alistair who is standing completely still while looking at the martial skill books. Well, looking isn't the right word. He is pressing the book against his forehead with both eyes completely closed.

She tugs on his shirt again in an attempt to get his attention.

He jolts his head back at her with with a slightly dazed expression and then puts on an act of aloofness and says, "Ah...Yes, these will have to do for now. I will help you with missions and partner with you in class. I look forward to our cooperation in the future." Alistair reaches out his hand in an attempt to shake hands with her.

She is taken aback slightly as she shakes his hand, unsure of why the atmosphere around them changed so drastically. She nods, "Uh, sure. Then I will meet up with you tomorrow at combat practice...I don't really need help with missions though, but if I do I'll let you know."

She ducks out of the stairwell and makes sure the coast is clear as she heads back to her dorm to prepare for the mission she received at the mission hall earlier.

Alistair is left alone after she leaves. He lets out a breath of air he had been holding in to keep himself steady. He thinks back to when he first opened the martial skill books and gets shivers running through his body.

He was handed two books, [Living Iron] and [Knuckle Burst]. He decided to open [Living Iron] first, as it was the most bizarre title of the two and that piqued his interest. He opened the book and read it as if it was any other book in the library, however to his surprise he was unable to retain the information.

He knew that his learning ability was at it's peak after resting through the night, so this is a new discovery to him. As he is about to read it again for good measure, he feels the spiral in his mind speeding up it's rotation rapidly as if trying to break away from his skull.

He reaches for his head to stop the pain the spiral is causing, the book still in his hand as he reaches his head and closes his eyes in pain. The moment the book touched his head, in the darkness he saw with his eyes closed, a loop of him using the technique playing in his mind over and over.

He saw himself moving in strange ways, one moment he would move very fluidly and then stop very suddenly as if time around him froze in place. Then he would break out of that frozen state and move fluidly once more until the next time he would be frozen again.

Every time the frozen state would occur, the loop would reset and freeze at another moment. The gap in between the frozen stiffness and fluid movement kept decreasing after each use. The frozen parts that were there previously, would instead be slightly altered.

The the loop played faster and faster, until it finally got to the point where the frozen stiffness never occurred, and in it's place the user would move fluidly all the time while attacks bounce off of him as he were made of metal. This loop showed how to eliminate the errors in the technique!

After Alistair realized this fact, he was eager to try and start practicing this technique on his own. Then he remembered he had another technique he could try and use. Just as he was ready to open his eyes, he realized he could not exit this space, he was trapped.

He spent what felt like hours in the blank space watching the same scene over and over, unable to move or feel anything. All of his senses became completely cut off from the world. It was until he suddenly felt a tug on his back that he was released from the loop and he saw Michelle looking at him.

He felt as if he was released from an endless abyss. What he managed to bring back from that abyss though was the perfected version of [Living Iron].

Though he would still have to practice it in his own time, he would be able to fully show off the capabilities of a technique everyone thought to be trash. He thinks about doing the same thing with the other book but is apprehensive about that loop he fell into.

He decides to save that for another time and goes to the supply closet for cleaning equipment. When he gets to the closet he sees the equipment, a bucket, wash cloth, a bottle of soap, and a toolbox. He takes it and goes to the cafeteria arriving just as they are about finish their work.

He sits to the side in the cafeteria and watches the students eating their food. Savoring each bite and looking content. 'One wants what what can't have.' Alistair feels his stomach beginning to tighten as he starts thinking back to the food he had the day before.

He figures that he will have to go looking for the slaughterhouse after finishing up with his mission.

Time passes and the students leave along with the staff. As they close up everything and leave, they stop to inform Alistair of the problem areas in the kitchen so he knows where to look when he goes back.

After being informed Alistair nods in understanding and waits until everyone finishes leaving until he finally makes his way into the kitchen. The staff turned the lights and all machines off as they were leaving. They informed Alistair that the machines could take a few minutes to cool down so to wait.

As he is making his way back into the dark room he starts to hear a faint cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noise coming from the darkness. The closer he gets to it, the louder it gets.

He goes over to the light switch and turns it on. The moment the light turns on, the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noise stops. Everything seems completely normal in the kitchen so Alistair goes over to check the machines. He assumes that they must be making this sound while they cool off.

So he waits for a while longer until a few minutes pass and then goes over to the stove and opens it to check the magical rune laying at the bottom of it. The rune is dim and unassuming meaning that it's completely deactivated.

He knows that the task of disassembling is fairly easy since magic has been able to replace intricate parts for technology. So many appliances are shaped in a way to make them easier for humans to understand and process them, when in fact it takes very little to functionally use them.

He looks back up and then starts with disassembling the stove piece by piece. He makes sure to clean each part thoroughly. After cleaning he reassembles it and moves on to the next appliance.

After doing this for the better part of a few hours, he finishes for the night and makes his way to the the exit after finishing everything. He turns off the light and makes his way to the door.

He stops in his tracks because as he is walking, he starts to hear the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g noise. This time though, the sound is coming from all around him.

He becomes confused at the situation until a strong sense of blood l.u.s.t locks on to him from the back. He dives forward and hears the air being cut behind him.

He looks back, and sees a huge shiny black carapace with disgusting long mandibles in the spot he was just at. He realized the rattling wasn't coming from the machines. Whatever that thing is, it's the thing that is making the sound.