Chương 94: Chapter : 94

"Eighty-five percent!" Ken yelled, his voice cracking from the strain of his fake acting.

"The sheer pressure is incredible! I can barely contain it!" Naomi checked her fingernails, brushing a bit of dirt off her thumb.

"Yeah, orange juice would be great. Wow, look at the clouds today. It looks like it might rain this afternoon."

"Ninety-nine percent!" Ken screamed, throwing his head back and looking at the sky.

"Maximum overload! Get ready, bad guys! Here comes the pain!" Laxmi slowly turned her head back to look at Ken.

"Is he still going? It has literally been three minutes. I could have cooked the bacon by now."

"One hundred percent!" Ken roared triumphantly. He suddenly threw both of his hands forward, aiming directly at the reinforced wooden training dummy across the yard.

"Take this! The ultimate Charge Beam!"

Ken threw his hands forward with all his might, looking exactly like an anime hero launching a world-ending attack. He kept his arms perfectly straight, his fingers pointed directly at the wooden target. Pew. A single, tiny blue spark floated out from between his palms. It was slightly brighter than his usual sparks, and it was maybe the size of a golf ball instead of a marble, but it was still incredibly slow. It drifted gently across the courtyard, buzzing quietly like a sleepy bumblebee.

The blue spark tapped against the chest of the wooden dummy. It made a soft zap sound, leaving a tiny black scorch mark the size of a coin on the wood. Then, it completely vanished. Ken dropped his hands and stood up straight. He wiped his forehead, breathing heavily as if he had just run a marathon. He looked back at Naomi and Laxmi with a huge, incredibly proud smile on his face.

"Boom!" Ken cheered, pointing at the tiny scorch mark.

"Did you see that? Direct hit! The dummy is totally devastated! That was at least four times bigger than my normal spark. The Charge Beam is an absolute success!" The courtyard was completely silent. The morning birds chirping in the trees were louder than Ken's ultimate attack. Naomi stared at the tiny scorch mark on the dummy. Then she slowly turned her head to look at Ken. Her face was completely blank. She didn't look angry. She didn't look disappointed. She just looked incredibly tired.

"Ken," Naomi said, her voice totally flat.

"That was the most useless thing I have ever seen in my entire life."

"What?!" Ken gasped, looking deeply offended. He put his hands on his hips.

"Did you not see the sheer destructive power? It left a mark! The bad guys will be terrified!" The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"I am terrified of your stupidity," Naomi replied, walking over to him.

"Ken, you stood completely still in the middle of an open courtyard for three full minutes. Your eyes were closed. You were screaming out numbers. If this was a real battle against Vane's thugs, I could have walked over, made myself a sandwich, eaten the sandwich, and then stabbed you ten times before you even reached fifty percent."

"She is absolutely right," Laxmi agreed, walking over to join them. She wasn't laughing anymore; she was actually looking at his move from a tactical, fighter's perspective.

"Look, farm boy. Having a move that is four times stronger is great. But the design has a massive, fatal flaw. It is a total sitting duck move." Ken tilted his head, playing the part of a confused student.

"Sitting duck? But ducks can fly. That makes no sense." Laxmi rolled her eyes.

"It means you are completely unprotected while you power up. During a real fight, the enemy is not going to stand around and wait for you to yell out percentages. They are going to see you standing perfectly still, and they are going to hit you with a sword. Your new power is completely, one hundred percent useless unless you have a teammate standing right in front of you, actively protecting you while you charge."

Ken rubbed his chin, looking at the ground as if he were thinking very deeply about this new information. He let out a loud, thoughtful hum.

"Ah, I see," Ken said slowly.

"I need a meat shield. Someone to take all the hits while I do the important background work." He suddenly looked up, flashing a bright, hopeful smile right at Naomi.

"Hey, boss lady! You are super fast with your daggers! Do you want to be my meat shield?" Naomi looked like her soul was actively trying to leave her body. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, letting out the heaviest, most defeated sigh of the morning. She thought about what happened at the Doom Tower yesterday. She thought about how Ken, this lazy, annoying, absolutely ridiculous boy, had thrown himself in front of a cursed spear to save her life.

He had taken a hit for her when he didn't have any magic to protect himself. He had been her meat shield when it really mattered. Naomi opened her green eyes. She looked at Ken, her strict face softening just a tiny bit.

"Fine," Naomi grumbled, her voice full of reluctant acceptance. She pointed a strict finger at his chest.

"Since you are so completely helpless, and since your ultimate move requires you to stand still like a total idiot, I will do it. During our battles, I will stay by your side. I will protect you and block the enemies while you charge up your stupid little beam." Ken's eyes widened. He could hardly believe his luck. His completely fake, useless attack had just scored him a permanent, highly trained bodyguard.

He wouldn't have to run away or dodge fireballs anymore; Naomi was volunteering to do all the hard work for him! This was the absolute greatest victory for a professional slacker. He felt so happy that he decided he needed to celebrate with some proper, dramatic flair. Ken took a huge step backward. He threw his left arm out to the side and pressed his right fist directly over his heart. He lifted his chin, staring up at the morning sun with a look of pure, unyielding passion.

He looked exactly like the brave protagonist on the cover of an action comic book.

"Naomi... Laxmi..." Ken began, his voice dropping into a deep, heroic, incredibly cheesy tone.

"Do you hear that? That is the sound of our destinies aligning!" Naomi blinked.

"Ken, please don't start."

"No, let me speak!" Ken shouted passionately, throwing his hands out toward them.

"You talk about meat shields and charging times! But you are completely missing the bigger picture! This isn't just a combat tactic! This is the ultimate proof of our unbreakable bonds!" Laxmi raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

"What is he talking about now?"