It was day four now of training, Liwei had focused specifically on hand to hand combat training with Silas for the first two days. By the third day, it felt less like training and more like Liwei beating him senseless. They worked on the fundamentals the entire second day. Today Silas was supposed to brush up on swordplay, he was especially excited for today, he'd do good this time.
Silas had been told to swing a heavy sword for hours, without stopping. He kept swinging, blood seeping through his hand wraps. When that happened, Liwei would just get someone to wrap his hands again until the wraps got too wet. After five hours of swinging his sword Silas stopped. He was told to meditate for an hour, work on keeping a calm mind, and a steady flow of Ether. He also really needed the break.
After the hour was over it was finally time for him to learn something new. "Am I finally going to get to learn some magic Master Zhang?"
"Not quite. But your opponents will think it is. It is the blessing of Sense. Everyone in this world has access to Ether, so naturally there would be a way to sense how powerful someone is. However, it is not easy to master this ability. But I can get you to a level of decent proficiency." Liwei explained.
Liwei handed Silas a blindfold to put on, "I'll imbue logs with wind magic and throw them at you, that heavy sword should feel light by now, so you'll be using it. But if you don't use Vorteh and imbue it with your Ether, you won't cut through the logs." Silas nodded and got in his stance.
He expelled his Ether, it was an insanely large amount, "that kid… if I can just get him to control it, he could be dangerously powerful." Liwei thought to himself. Silas imagined his Ether surrounding his sword, he imagined it to have a sharp edge. It was rough but it didn't hurt to try. Silas emptied his mind, feeling the space around him, he recognized Master Zhang's presence instantly. The sheer weight of his Ether gave him away.
He knew the log would come from that direction, he waited for the first throw, he watched as Liwei's Ether shifted, like it was throwing something, and he timed it early, but he got it, cutting the log in half.
"Clever, I see what you're doing Silas. So what will you do if I do this?" Silas watched as Liwei's Ether dimmed till it was completely gone. He was concealing his presence. A log suddenly hit Silas, knocking him over. Silas got right back up, he wouldn't give up. They continued the process, Liwei kept mixing it up, throwing logs from all different directions.
Finally after hours, Silas could faintly feel the Ether. He went off of that, sometimes hitting them, sometimes getting hit himself. By this point he had bruises all over his body, he was bloodied, and drenched in sweat from the burning sun. He pushed himself to keep going, till he could see it clearly.
He could finally cut them perfectly, it didn't matter what direction they came from. Liwei even started to throw in multiple logs at once, but it didn't matter to Silas, he had finally got it down. He had finally gotten an ability.
He pulled off his blindfold and Liwei handed him a lighter sword, one that he would typically use. It felt extremely light in Silas's hands. "Try swinging it Silas," Silas swung the sword, and it was at a speed he'd never reached before, it was like his blade was nearly invisible.
He grinned wide while Liwei got his own wooden sword, "It's nice right? It should feel almost weightless compared to the heavy sword." He was right, the sword did feel almost weightless to Silas, allowing him to swing at insanely high speeds.
"You'll be fighting me now." Liwei said.
Silas nodded. They took their stances, Liwei threw a rock in the air, as soon as it hit the ground the fight would start. They stared at each other, and once the rock touched the ground, Silas dashed at Liwei, he swung, but Liwei parried it. Liwei's swing was fast, faster than Silas. But Silas was able to keep up. They kept up the exchange with Silas managing to keep Liwei at bay.
"I think it's time I started taking this seriously." Liwei said.
Suddenly his sword became enveloped in visible wind, it was sharp, quick. Liwei sliced the air multiple times, sending blades of wind at Silas who tried to dodge, but would get caught by at least two every other swing. The speed at which Liwei swung his sword made the entire area covered in wind blades, Silas dodged one blade only to step into another. He was under fire, slashed from every angle. He needed something, something to protect himself.
Then something stirred inside him.
A warmth, steady, grounding, like two hands settling onto his shoulders. Silas glanced behind him, breath hitching. A projection stood there: a tall man with the same split black-and-white hair, a thick scruffy beard, and a presence that radiated ancient power. In his hand was a sword Silas recognized instantly. It had hung in his father's manor for years.
"My most prized possession," his father always said.
The family sword.
The realization hit Silas hard. This man… this had to be the ancestor who created the technique. But how?
The man unsheathed his blade and swung at the air, blasting away the blades of wind, and pushing Liwei back.
A calm, resonant voice filled Silas's head, "do not fear. I am here to help, young one. I am indeed your ancestor. Your technique is not bad, but it needs refinement. Our sword style has evolved over time… but its foundation has been lost. Think back to the basics, the simple attacks of our style."
The spirit seemed to grow larger, more defined. Silas felt the warmth surge through him. He turned back toward Liwei, eyes beginning to glow, and lowered into the stance he knew best, the only move he had truly mastered.
Torrent Furieux.
"Interesting stance, Silas," Liwei called across the field.
Silas held his blade at his hip, as if preparing to unsheathe it, every muscle coiled. Liwei rushed forward with killing intent, sword drawn back for a decisive strike–
but Silas vanished from his view.
A burst of speed propelled Silas forward. He slammed the hilt of his sword upward, knocking Liwei's blade out of alignment and into the air. In the same breath, Silas slid back into the stance and unleashed a lightning-fast thrust straight into Liwei's gut. The impact traveled in a clean, devastating line.
He did it, he took down Liwei. Just barely. But he did.
He helped Liwei up, and checked out all the damage he got from the wind blades. "Don't worry I was holding back, you should heal up quickly. But that at the end, that was incredible. Who knew you would develop the Spirit Manifestation blessing? I'm assuming that was your ancestor?" Liwei asked.
"Yeah, from a long time ago. He's the one who invented my family's sword style, he told me to go back to the basics of the style. I guess simple is best." Silas explained.
Liwei gave him a pat on the back, "good job today. We'll get right back to it tomorrow."
Silas walked back to the room, confident, and excited. He finally had his power, his defining feature. After resting up he decided to go down to the training room to see what the Abbot and his friends were up to.
Down in the Abbot's training room…
Chaos ruled the Abbot's "paradise."
Killian and Deandre had grown frighteningly stronger by day four. They were trying again at the dummy challenge, and this time were dead set on getting to a thousand. Eight hundred and twenty dummies lay shattered around them, yet the two hadn't exchanged a word since the six-hundred mark. They didn't need to. Their movements flowed together perfectly, instinctive, synchronized, and ruthless.
They had learned to constantly maintain Ether around their feet and legs for balance while being able to focus it in other areas. To them the floor was just another surface to slam enemies onto. Another wave of dummies surged into the arena at the exact moment Silas arrived, he was just in time to witness a spectacle. Killian stood in the center of the storm, he had gotten even more creative and learned to create weapons with his electricity. His weapon now? Electric whips. They extended from his hands, stretching and snapping across the arena, shocking and carving through any dummy that got too close. Every flick of his wrists was precise. Controlled.
Meanwhile, Deandre massively improved since the day he unlocked his abilities. He launched himself skyward with a single leap. His foot grew huge and stone-hard as he stomped down, crushing a cluster of dummies in a thunderous impact. The duo tore through the remaining waves until the counter hit 999. One left. The last one would obviously be special; Silas felt it in his chest.
Liwei made it downstairs just in time to see what was going on.
I wonder what the Abbot has coming for us next, Killian thought.
The answer arrived immediately. The Abbot dropped down from the air.
"I knew it!" Deandre said, puffing his chest proudly. "I knew it was gonna be him."
Killian elbowed him. "Focus up. Treat this like a trial."
The Abbot said nothing. He simply raised his hand and motioned for them to begin.
Killian was the first to move, blitzing forward with speed none of them had ever seen from him. Even the Abbot reeled for half a second. Silas and Liwei exchanged a look.
In mid-rush, Killian threw an electrically charged kick. The Abbot blocked it with his forearm. Killian continued attacking from shifting angles, never staying in one spot, weaving a pattern to distract the Abbot from the real threat.
Dre.
Now fully hardened, the boy-giant leaped high out of sight, crashing down toward the Abbot with a crushing downward strike, but a gust of wind exploded from the Abbot, blasting both of them back like ragdolls.
"It's time I take this a little more seriously," the Abbot said calmly.
He surged forward, wind boosting his speed. Dre recovered first and swung, but the Abbot launched himself upward, spinning gracefully over Dre's head. He redirected instantly, diving back down and cracking Dre with a head kick that sent even his hardened body tumbling.
Killian was already back up, sprinting around the arena while releasing bolts of electricity. The Abbot swatted them away with precise bursts of wind, watching, waiting… until Killian ran straight at him.
He pretended to leave an opening.
Killian took the bait.
The Abbot stopped Killian's momentum with one hand wrapped around his face, slamming him into the ground. A stomp unleashed a wind burst beneath Killian, launching him skyward. Then the Abbot punched the air, sending rapid-fire bullets of wind into Killian mid-air.
Deandre had finally recovered. This time he shrank down, tiny, almost invisible, creeping toward the Abbot's heel.
In one instant, Dre expanded to his massive size and hardened completely. His full-weight hook sent the Abbot rocketing backward.
Dre caught Killian mid-fall. They exchanged a look, no words, just instinct.
Killian whispered something that made Dre grin wide.
"You've always been the craziest out of all of us," Dre said. "And the most creative."
Killian took off again leaving Dre behind. This time, he started circling the Abbot, faster… faster… until he was a streak of blue light. After-images began to spawn, flickering all around the arena.
Liwei and Silas's jaws dropped.
Dozens of Killian's charged the Abbot. The Abbot cut through them effortlessly, trying to pinpoint the real one. The real Killian appeared far behind him, charging up his dash with something in his hands.
Dre was nowhere to be seen.
Liwei blinked. "Your friends are very crazy, Silas."
Silas nodded. "Yeah… they are."
"We don't have long, Dre," Killian whispered to the tiny version of him perched in his palm. "He's cutting through the clones. This is it. Do or die." Killian charged his energy to its max to unleash Pegasus Burst. He had practiced it on his own time, this time he'd land it.
The Abbot, bored of the illusions now, unleashed a massive slash of wind that erased every after-image.
Right then, Killian shot forward.
A blinding blue streak.
"GO DRE, GO!!" Killian roared.
Killian hurled something forward, and suddenly a massive reinforced Dre appeared out of nowhere, fist cocked back like a meteor.
The Abbot's eyes widened.
There was no escape. Dre's colossal fist crushed him into the wall.
The Abbot slid down, groaning but alive. He gave a thumbs up.
Training was over for him, maybe for a long time.
Deandre and Killian had passed today's training.