"Oh ho~ Aren't you rather passionate about this?" Ver joked, spinning around and avoiding the barrage of attacks from Lera's orbs of the Wave before waving her right hand and knocking aside one that was about the hit her. "I have been wanting to spar for the longest time!" Lera said, leaping forward to Ver as she opened up a Whirlpool red over her hands, preparing to blast Lera back. However, she instead of quickly strung together two set of Casts back to back, creating Bubble Bubble around her body and Strengthening her movements, slamming down on the ground in front of Ver, the impact making her stumble backwards. "Oh?" Ver made a surprised sound as she teleported herself out of Lera's follow-up attacks before reemerging right behind her when vines of light shot out and wrapped around her legs, "You certainly like to spam Casts." "That's how I fight!" Lera responded with a flashbang right in front of Ver's face as the latter used her high-pressure water jets to cut through the binds. Then, as an orb of the Wave was released from right underneath her feet, Ver instead picked up her boot and stomped down hard, breaking the orb of Wave energy like an egg before it could be released. "Well, instead of stringing together lots of ineffective attacks...why don't you focus on a few strong Casts?" Ver asked, crossing the distance in between the two and breaking Lera's Bubble Bubble with the Kraken's Tendril, pushing her down to the ground, "It's over. Again." "Shit." Lera cursed and slammed her fist onto the ground. She ignored Ver's helping hand and instead pushed herself up. She marched back to the starting position and turned around, "Let's go again." "We have already done this way too many times." Ver sighed, "You are not really making progress here." "If I don't accrue combat experience, how can I make progress then?" Lera asked, and the question caught Ver slightly off guard. She thought for a moment before walking towards Lera, her boot prints pressing down firmly on the soft soil. "You can also make progress by being technically more proficient." Ver said, "Before I fully mastered my current level of power, I was doing low-level drills just to command the different variations of Whirlpools." "I was doing that too with my Casts!" Lera said hurriedly, "That's why I wanted to spar!" "But that assumes that each of us has the same path to power, does it not?" Ver asked, and at that time, Lera didn't have a quick response, so Ver continued, "Manifesters have the highest of capacities, and thus our powers are naturally powerful. However, for Casters, you have to actively construct Casts that can then match up with our natural levels of power. That's why, for us, performing control based training is helpful, but for you, focusing and creating Casts of power are what you needed to do." Lera sat there and digested the information. No one had laid it out like this to her before, especially coming from someone that's been fighting out in the world for years. Despite how she still doesn't like Ver deep down, Lera couldn't help but agree with what she's saying. She thought for a moment before nodding and pointing at Ver, "Please, help me train. But instead of sparring, please let me know what you think of these Casts!" "Of course~" Ver said, leaping back in a spinning flip before landing gracefully, "Come at me!" As the two continued their training, Wu's focused on testing the Cast of Containment on his One-Shotter pistol. By using a small collection of Fuel Rock Granules that they have collected along the way and some of the Casts left behind by Lera, he's able to perform specific tests of the Cast of Containment like an electrical engineer with a piece of machinery. With the lines of Casts like wires, the Wave like the flow of electrons, and the glow of the Cast as voltage, he went from junction to junction, connecting and observing its effects. The sheer number of combinations of inputs and outputs is enormous, but he actually has plenty of time to sink his teeth into this research nowadays. "So...a capacitive component looks like this...And a resistive one is like this..." Wu murmured, a smile creeping up his face that's enough to freak out even Lera, "Hehehe...this world truly is on the verge of breaking through with its own science...All it takes is a little push, and..." Connecting the two remaining points on the Casts, a controlled flash of light briefly lit up the camp as Wu looked away. Putting the two pieces of Lera's Casts down, he cheered with his hands in the air. Then, he looked to the side and saw Ver's eyepatch being left on the table besides him. Ver and Lera have been training together non-stop for a few days by now, and Wu had hoped that Ver will be able to provide her with the combat expertise that Lera not-so-subtly wanted. That night, when Lera and Ver returned, the atmosphere at the dining area was slightly different. Usually, Lera's acting all pissy because of how easily Ver moved around her attacks, knowing the amount of damage she can do after what happened last time. However, today, the two of them were actively engaged in conversation all the way back. "..So, if I hide the attacks better, and cast them better for a longe duration, it's far more effective..." Lera nodded, flipping through the pages in her Book of Casts and noting down Ver's feedback as Wu waved a hand at the two of them. "Welcome back." He said, and Ver smiled at him, "Lera, could you go collect some berranges from nearby? I thought I saw a few around the bushes that were ripening." Lera nodded silently, the ideas from Ver still lingering around her head as she turned and walked away. Though she still left behind a Scouting Eye in the air just in case Ver wanted to try something funny. "You looked like you want to talk in private?" Ver asked, walking to Wu with her muscular arms and round hips moving from side to side. Then, a sly smile floated up her face, "Aren't you a pervy one, Mr Savior?" "You looked like you two were getting along?" Wu asked, ignoring her teasing and gesturing for her to take a seat in front of him. "I just told her the truth about combat." Ver said, shrugging, "I learned that lesson the hard way, so..." Wu nodded and reached out into his pocket. Then, he took out Ver's eyepatch and placed it on the table in front of them. "I know it's a little weird, seeing how you need me for your Token and stuff..." Wu said, chuckling earnestly as the gentle light of sunset lit up his face, "But I am still thankful that you came to our aid when you did. And for your help with Lera." "Ha." Ver looked away quickly, "Trying to sweet-talk your way out of this? How cheeky..." "I can't help being honest." Wu shrugged, pushing the eyepatch forward, "Try this on." "Try? Isn't this just my eyepatch?" Ver asked, picking up the eyepatch and holding onto the strings to the side. Then, she tied it around her head when suddenly, a slow hum originated from the eyepatch and slowly warmed up her face. However, that was only temporary, and nothing more happened after that. That's strange. Actually...Ver felt refreshed, her mind was clear, and her body felt light. She felt as if she had just woken up from the best sleep ever. Was it just because she's alone with Wu, or...? "I figured out how the Cast of Containment worked, so I stitched it into your eyepatch." Wu said with a hopeful smile, "my theory is that it should also contain your manifestation when you put the eyepatch on..." Ver's mouth opened, and she reconnected with her mind and body again. What Wu's saying is true. For the first time in years, her head was finally clear, and her body was hers once again. The lingering headaches were nowhere to be found, and the pain from her right eye was...completely negated. Ver's truly thankful for her powers, as it has helped her out in countless scenarios. However, for days and nights, she wondered what it would be like if she had it under complete control. She imagined how free her movements would be and how different everything would feel like, and yet when that time actually came, it is merely a subtle feeling of relief and lightness. It felt as if nothing's ever gone wrong before. It felt...natural and normal. Ver's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth as tears started welling up in her eyes. Wu watched her closely as she cracked into a slow chuckle and wiped away at the corner of her eyes, "It's...really..." "Did it work?" Wu asked, and Ver nodded happily before she lunged forward and hugged around Wu with unexpected strength. "That bitch!" Lera screamed out in the forest as she's watching the two, and started marching back towards the camp. "Thank you..." Ver said, rubbing her cheeks against Wu's as the smell of her dark blonde hair filled Wu's nostril, "I...think I can truly feel again..." "It's...only a temporary measure." Wu admitted, "This will only help you when you are not using your power as I said before." "It's fine." Ver said, letting Wu go, though keeping him close, "I am very satisfied with this already." "So...another few days to let me live?" Wu joked, and Ver laughed and reached out with her hand and caressed him in the face. "Perhaps, Wu...perhaps." Ver said, "As a favor from me." She thought that the gift of peace is nothing more than wishful thinking, but somehow...Wu turned that wish into reality. "Well, speaking of favors. I do need to ask you a rather big one." Wu said, slightly changing his tone. Then, he slowly turned to face the schematics right in front of them. With the two girls around him and an army of bounty hunters, Wu has reached a new level of efficiency in doing his work. And now, with further progress made in his wave research with the pistol and the Fuel Rock Prime, he's finally able to construct a plan that will secure the future for all of them. By the time Lera returned from her berrange hunt, Wu and Ver had already finished talking. They started cooking dinner not long after, though Lera was constantly glaring at Wu with a look on her face that he's only seen once before from a girl in his middle school class.