20 Astral Shaping

"So, what do we do with him?"

Ming asked Ryker as they stood in front of the unconscious body of their attacker.

"Honestly, I want to kill him." He paused then scanned Kinkaid. 'He's about my age. We're of the same age, yet he's way beyond my league... For now.'

"He has a higher rank than that witch. Meaning, he'll have more information than she ever has, we'll take him to Zera once our bastard of a captain returns."

Ming silently looks at Ryker.

The ex-hunter felt uneasy over the stare and glares at her.

"What?" He asked taking a deep breath.

"Over the short period that you've been here, you've changed. The old you would have wanted to throw this psycho overboard the soonest."

"Yeah well..." He scratches his head. He had never expected to hear such words from her. "You two have rubbed off on me. Tell anyone I said that and I'll be throwing you overboard."

Ming smiles. "Sure, let's pretend like you can do that." She walks out of the room leaving Ryker alone with the scythe-wielder.

The scythe was hoisted up on the wall behind Ryker as he turns and grabs it.

"It's Heavy!" Ryker exclaimed as the weight of the scythe pulled him down. He grabbed it with both hands and barely raised it.

"He's been swinging this thing around like it was paper... Incredible!" He said to himself.

"It's not an Astro tech, it's a weapon made with a unique metal, I can't point out which one, I'll ask to see if the bot can."

Ryker put the scythe away and turned his gaze back to the still unconscious hunter.

"Vincent Kinkaid... Just what the heck are you?"

With that, Ryker made his way to the control room where he finds Ming tinkering with a panel that housed wires of several colours.

"There you are," He said sitting on the floor beside her. "I've been looking everywhere for you. This cruiser has way too many rooms."

Ming smiled. "Believe me, you haven't seen half of them yet."

"Oh, I do." Ryker sighed.

"So, what do you want?"

"What else if not to continue my training." He answered. "I've realised how weak I am, even with this unique astral, if I don't hone my skills, I'll only drag you two behind."

"First off, there's nothing you can possibly do that could drag the captain down."

Ryker didn't feel insulted by her words. He hasn't seen Jackal use his full powers yet, but he was certain... 'That man is a monster far beyond my league.'

"Second, your next training is astral shaping. And for that," She closed the panel and gets up with Ryker following suit. "All you need is to focus on your imagination."

The ex-hunter tilted his head.

"Eh?"

"I'm sorry was I speaking binary?"

"Don't shit with me, bot. You're telling me, my final training is to focus on my imagination!?" He snapped.

"Yes," Ming replied nonchalantly.

"..."

"You saw what Kinkaid did with his scythe didn't you?"

Ryker gasped. "You mean those astral blades he kept spamming?"

"Precisely, my banana headed friend. There is no way for me to teach you how to become imaginative. All I can do is give you the tips you need."

Ryker contemplated for a while. "I'm listening."

"First, picture the object you want to create. For now, we'll start with simple things like a bird."

She stretched her hand forward and opened her palm. Her hand then became engulfed in her astral energy.

"Next, you imagine the composition of that object, its size, its weight, etcetera. The harder the object you want to create the more mental fortitude you'll need. In this case, since I'll be creating an animal, I have to take note of its natural behaviours. The cries a bird makes, the way it flaps its wings and then, I release my astral energy from my palm."

The energy began to circle around her palm until it took the shape of a bird.

"Woah." Ryker looked in awe as the bird flapped around the room letting out a fragile caw.

"My mental fortitude is weak so the least I could muster is one bird. Some people could create whole dozens, some even hundreds. It depends on your focus and imagination."

"So what you're saying is that you're a loser who can only make one astral bird?" Ryker snickered.

Wham!

Ming left Ryker to himself with nothing but a swollen face and the astral bird that kept pecking his lips.

"I hate you, stupid bird."