Aurelion moved fluidly on the cool stone floor of the training room. As he transitioned between the basic positions of the Northern Mountain Stance, his small body displayed surprising balance and control.
With the new awareness gained after last night's mental discovery, he used his inner energy to smooth out his movements, making every contraction, every weight transfer, almost flawless.
When he completed a series of basic stances, he returned to the starting position.
His eyes were locked on Roric, who was watching him silently.
"Well done. When you integrate your energy with your movements, it will allow you to perform these actions more smoothly. When you reach a certain level, you will do this in every movement, even in your daily life."
"But use as little energy as possible, brat. The energy your Core produces right now is limited. Don't waste it."
Aurelion merely nodded in acknowledgment.
"Now," Roric said, gesturing with his head towards the weapon rack. "Go get that toy you picked yesterday."
At the same time, he himself headed towards the rack and took a longer, thicker spear of dark steel, suitable for his own figure. Aurelion also took his own spear from the rack.
Roric spoke as he skillfully twirled his own spear. "If the Northern Mountain Stance is the foundation of the body, then the foundation of the spear is the Single Strike Technique."
"This teaches you to maintain your balance while making powerful attacks. It's simple, but don't underestimate it."
He demonstrated the basic two handed grip with his own spear. "This is its main stance. The most balanced for both defense and offense." Then he switched to a one handed grip. "And this is for sudden redirection."
Next, he demonstrated the basic attack technique, the essence of the Single Strike. a straight thrust.
Roric's spear shot forward with deceptive simplicity, but the concentrated power at its tip was palpable. It stopped just before hitting an invisible point in the air.
"This is what the spear is for, brat," Roric said in a clear voice. "A single, powerful, and balanced strike. To thrust. Power doesn't come from the shoulder or arm. It starts from the ground! From there to your feet, from your feet to your legs, then to your hips, to your rotating torso and back, then to your shoulder, and finally, you transfer all this power to the tip of the spear! Just like when you throw a punch. If you do that correctly, even a single strike can pierce armor."
He then lightly swung the spear sideways. "These kinds of swings are only for distraction, to create a small opening. This isn't your main strength. If you try to swing this like a club, a smart opponent will instantly exploit that opening and stick his sword in your gut. Understood?"
"Understood, Captain."
Roric also demonstrated the basic blocks of the Single Strike Technique. Positioning the spear to absorb the blow, and evasion steps. Small steps to move out of the line of attack and quickly change position without losing stance. He repeated each technique several times.
"Now it's your turn," Roric said, stepping back.
Aurelion took a deep breath. He mimicked the two handed grip of the Single Strike Technique, aligning his body as Roric had shown. Then he attempted his first straight thrust. All his focus was on the movement, his mind trying to replicate the actions Roric had described.
"Wrong!" Roric's voice corrected instantly. "Draw power from the ground, don't just push! Your hip rotation is weak!" Aurelion frowned, focusing more on the movement of his hips and legs as he repeated the motion.
Then he tried the blocks. "The angle of your spear is wrong! You're deflecting the blow instead of meeting it, you'll lose your balance! Stand as if rooted!"
Aurelion accepted each mistake as a lesson, trying to understand the limits of his body and the intricacies of the technique.
Hours passed with repetitions of the Single Strike Technique. Aurelion's muscles burned, sweat poured down him in streams, but his mind was still sharp, recording Roric's every correction.
His movements had noticeably improved. His thrusts were stronger, his blocks more solid, his steps more balanced. Just as he finished a series of movements, Roric stopped him.
"Enough, You're starting to grasp the basics of the technique. But this is just the body's work. Even a fool can grasp these movements after repeating them a thousand times."
His eyes drifted to the battered training dummy. "Now... it's time to involve your energy."
Aurelion slowly lowered his spear to his side. He knew the truly challenging part was beginning now.
"Drop the spear," Roric said.
Aurelion obeyed, carefully hanging the weapon back in its place on the wall.
"Yesterday, we saw how you used that energy when you pushed your limits. And as I understand it, you haven't received any proper training in this regard." He paused for a moment. "Show me what you did, and how."
Just as Aurelion was preparing to do something, Roric added "Don't use those sparks. "You're going to the White Frost Clan today. We don't want them to realize you can perform lightning manipulation."
Aurelion met this warning calmly, nodding his head.
He took a deep breath, refocusing his mind on that state of void.
"When I completed the mind training with my own interpretation, I tried to control the energy within me. And I succeeded." As he explained, as if to reinforce his point, golden stream of energy materialized in his palm.
"When I felt no bad side effects, I practiced this," he continued, still circulating the energy around his fingertips. "I examined the effects of my energy on my body and began to direct the energy to my muscles."
Roric listened silently, nodding slightly.
"Then what you did came to my mind, Captain. I had seen you cover your arm and weapon with your energy before, it had taken on that deep metallic look. I wondered if I could do something like that with my energy."
He paused for a moment. "While thinking, the image of lightning suddenly came to my mind, and I tried to create sparks with my energy. This challenged me but as you know now, I can do it, Captain." He withdrew the energy from his hand, the current vanishing.
Roric asked. "What effect do you see when you circulate your energy in your body?"
"I become stronger and faster,"
"The effects of energies are different brat. Circulating these energies in the body doesn't always produce a good result. Some energies can strengthen the body, while others can wear it down, even poison it. That's why I told you you would do this under my supervision."
His gaze was sharp. "You were lucky that your own energy didn't harm you. Now, direct that energy outwards from your hand."
Aurelion raised his left hand again, turned his palm towards Roric, and pushed the energy drawn from his Core outwards. An bright golden energy come out from the center of his palm.
Roric also raised his right hand and projected his own energy. The energy emanating from his palm, was a denser, darker, almost liquid like silver.
Then Roric slowly moved his hand towards Aurelion's. The moment the two different energy fields touched a pressure created by two forces pressing against each other was palpable.
Aurelion's energy, upon hitting Roric's energy, waves aggressively, as if trying to push it, to cleave through it, a faint crackling sound heard around them.
However, Roric's energy didn't budge. It was like a solid wall cast from liquid metal, calmly absorbing and dissipating all the pressure from Aurelion's aggressive energy.
"This... it's similar to the contact with Vespera's energy, but different," Aurelion thought inwardly. Vespera's energy was more slippery, more deceptive.
Roric's energy gave a sense of pure, unshakable defense. "Let's see how the Captain will interpret this," he wondered..
After observing the interaction of the two energies for another moment, Roric slowly withdrew his own energy.
"Aggressive," Roric said. "Exceedingly aggressive... Energies have characteristic traits, brat. They can exhibit unexpectedly different behavioral characteristics. I've been training my energy for a long time, and my Core is Rank 6. My energy is clearly much stronger than yours, yet yours still tried to resist mine, to attack it." He paused.
"Weaker energies don't easily choose to attack those stronger than themselves. This indicates two things. First, your energy is exceedingly aggressive by nature. Second, it's definitely quite strong for a brat of your level."
"But," he added, "the more unexpectedly an energy behaves, the harder it is to control it." He took a step towards Aurelion, scrutinizing him carefully. "Strange," he murmured to himself.
"What's strange, Captain?"
"High Elves are good at energy manipulation, that's true, but this isn't just because of their race, it's usually also due to the nature of their energy. They tend to have compatible, fluid energies that are easier to control. If I hadn't seen your pointed ears, I wouldn't have thought this energy belonged to a High Elf."
Aurelion silently digested Roric's comment. Even his energy didn't conform to the norms of his own race... Was this a good thing, or would it just make things more difficult?
"Your energy might not be harming your body for now," Roric continued. "But still be careful when you use it. This energy might try to do things on its own, disobeying you."
Aurelion involuntarily thought of the moment last night when he attacked the training dummy, the sparks shooting from his body. He hadn't consciously tried to emit energy from anywhere other than his arms, but it had happened. Roric's warning was more than appropriate.
Just then, Roric pulled a few crumpled objects from his pocket and tossed them towards Aurelion.
Aurelion caught them reflexively in mid air. When he opened his palm, he saw they were a few deflated, colorless balloons. He looked at Roric with raised eyebrows.
"These are ordinary balloons," Roric said, a faint smile appearing on his face. "But they have one trait. They are very fragile."
"One of the things you need to do within these two weeks is with these balloons." He pointed to the balloons with his index finger. "Controlling the energy in your body is relatively easier than transferring it to an object outside your body and controlling it there. Now, you will inflate these balloons, carefully infuse your energy into them, and you will not pop these balloons."
Aurelion took one of the balloons and inflated it. He tied the opening tightly.
"Let me see," Roric said, holding out his hand.
Aurelion gave the balloon to the Captain. Roric held the balloon in his palm. The inside of the transparent balloon suddenly began to fill with Roric's dark silver energy. The energy filled the balloon gently and remained stable inside.
"As you can see," Roric said. Then he deliberately concentrated the energy in his palm slightly and touched the inner surface of the balloon.
POP!
"If you lose control or if your energy behaves too aggressively, this happens. Your task is to fill the balloon with your energy until it's almost full, but not pop it. This is one of your tasks for the two weeks."
Aurelion was aware of this seemingly simple but, due to the nature of his energy, incredibly difficult task for him.
The fact that Roric had chosen this and presented it as if it were the easiest thing in the world, and that these balloons were fragile enough to pop instantly, was grating on his nerves.
Still, he grumbled and took another balloon, inflated it with a deep breath, and tied the opening tightly.
He closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on the state of void, on that aggressive golden energy within him.
He drew a tiny thread of energy from his Core, directing it as gently as possible, as slowly as possible, towards his palm, and from there to the thin surface of the balloon. The energy began to seep into the balloon, a pale golden light flickered... One second... Two seconds... The energy suddenly, against his will, fluctuated slightly and...
POP!
The first balloon was gone. Aurelion opened his eyes. That smirk had already appeared on Roric's face.
"All you have to do is not pop this balloon. It shouldn't be that hard, right, brat?"
Aurelion gritted his teeth. "Hmph."
He grabbed another balloon, inflated it, tied it. This time he would be even slower. He tried to let the energy flow almost drop by drop. The inside of the balloon lit up slightly. One... two... three... four...
This time it was going better! Five... six... The energy flickered again, attempting to escape his control! Aurelion tried to suppress it with all his will... Seven...
POP!
"Seven seconds. There's progress,"
Aurelion didn't answer. A new balloon. Inflate. Tie. Focus. Infuse energy. POP!
Another balloon. Inflate. Tie. Focus. Energy... POP!
One more. POP!
Another one. POP!
Roric's stifled laughter could now be heard.
Aurelion's nerves were fraying, but he wasn't giving up. With each pop, he became even more determined, focusing all his attention on that damned balloons and the rebellious energy within him.
However, the result didn't change. It was the last balloon in his hand. He inflated it with great care, tied it. Perhaps the problem was the amount of energy.
This time, he tried to send even less, an almost imperceptible amount of energy.
POP!
The last balloon had shared the fate of the others. Aurelion looked at his now empty hands, then at the colorful latex fragments accumulated on the floor. His nose twitched.
He had managed to pop all the balloons within seconds. Even his seven second record seemed like a fluke.
This was not an obstacle that could be overcome with brute force or sheer willpower. this required precision and absolute control, the exact opposite of raw power. And that aggressive energy within Aurelion was violently resisting such finesse.
Roric, meanwhile, had been watching this struggle from the side, arms crossed, an amused expression on his face.
"I'm impressed, brat," Roric said.
Aurelion looked up at the Captain angrily.
"I'm serious," Roric said. "I'm aware of how difficult this task is for a brat like you who just started energy manipulation yesterday."
Then he smirked again. "But seven seconds... You managed to hold a balloon without popping it for seven whole seconds, and in doing so, you wasted a whole box of balloons. This must be a new record, even if in reverse. Congratulations."
Instead of replying, Aurelion just continued to stare at Roric.
The smirk on Roric's face slowly faded, replaced by his usual serious expression.
"Looking at this performance of yours. Your other assignment seems like it will be much more challenging for you."
He glanced at the remains of the popped balloons on the floor. "Because you chose a spear as your weapon."
Aurelion continued to listen silently.
"When weapons are made," Roric continued, taking his own spear in hand, "smiths, especially master smiths, carve thin energy veins into the metal."
He pointed to the shaft of the spear. "These veins allow energy to flow more controllably and efficiently along the weapon, directing it to the target."
His gaze returned to Aurelion. "But you chose a spear. This means the energy has to travel a long way along those veins to reach the tip of the spear. And during this journey, the energy must not overflow and damage the main shaft of the spear."
Roric lightly tapped the shaft of the spear. He began to slowly, infuse his own energy into the spear.
Aurelion saw that as Roric's energy flowed, previously invisible energy veins became visible just beneath the dark steel surface of the spear. These energy veins glowed with Roric's dark silver energy, looking like a network extending from within the weapon to its tip.
"These veins are currently present in this weapon, but they are not very thick. If that energy of yours overflows these veins..." He cut off the energy, the glow of the veins faded. "...it can damage the structure of the spear, even shatter it in your hand."
He smirked slightly again. "So, while you manage to get your energy to the tip of the spear, you also need to avoid damaging your weapon."
Roric put his spear aside and focused on Aurelion again. "In summary. You are establishing the fundamentals of unarmed combat. You will also learn the Single Strike Technique over time. But there are two main things I want from you within these two weeks."
He gestured first to the balloon fragments on the floor, then to Aurelion's spear. "First, you will learn to control your energy with enough precision not to pop these balloons while filling them. Second, after achieving this control, you will be able to successfully channel your energy to the tip of this spear you've chosen, without damaging the shaft, and while doing these, you will also practice both unarmed and armed combat."
"And let's make this clear. Until you reach a level where you don't pop these balloons, there's no trying to channel energy into your spear. You won't be able to do it without achieving that precision anyway, you'll just harm the weapon."
Roric had explained everything. The goals were clear, the timeframe set. He stepped back and took a step towards the door. Then he looked at Aurelion over his shoulder.
"What are you waiting for, brat? If I were you, I'd go find some more balloons from somewhere."