"Focus, focus is what differentiates a capable warrior from an incompetent one, Ada. The greater the concentration, the more adept the fighter on the battlefield. If one doesn't fully put their concentration, their all, into battle, they're as good as dead."
Ingridt said as she delivered a jab with a wooden sword, which Adaceus dodged and parried to the side.
"I understand."
"Do you?" she said as she swung overhead.
"Yes."
Adaceus blocked.
In fact..., Adaceus thought silently. I think I understand all too well the implications of battle.
Years, millennia ago, he was once a person who fought in wars, in countless battles, as a soldier or at the commanding front. A being who set siege to the 6 worlds in wars when he was still a deity in a torrential battle against his brothers and sisters. He had fought battles personally and knew the pleasure of a desperately fought victory; he bled, desperately fighting in the dust and muck of it all while commanding his army of black, all in an effort to win a war with the odds standing against him.
I fought, I don't even remember how much I bled, and I still fought, all because of them, those bastards!
Adaceus' arms shook, gripping the blade tighter and tighter.
A stern whack hit him in the back of the head, returning him to his senses.
"Ooof!" Adaceus grunted. Before he realized, Ingridt had moved right behind him and hit him with the handle of her sword.
"I don't think you do, Ada. Concentration, if that had been a real sword, it would have cut your head clean off."
"Right, sorry Ingridt, my mind slipped; it won't happen again."
"We're sparring right now, Ada. Leave all distractions out of the way and focus."
"Right, again, I'm sorry," Adaceus said as he shook his head.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Just... bad memories."
Ingridt lowered her weapon, pausing.
"I see."
"It's nothing to worry about, let's continue."
"Ada," Ingridt suddenly said as she lowered her weapon.
"Why don't we try something different. I was saving this until a little later in your training, but seeing as your growth is rising at an incredible pace, faster than I've ever seen, I suppose you're ready for it."
Adaceus tilted his head, curious.
"Straighten your pose. Keep both your arms on that blade, and close your eyes. Focus on only my voice. Do not move. It's important for you to keep still; concentration is key to this.
Adaceus, still curious, did as he was told, wondering where this was going.
"Good. Now take a long breath in… and out. Concentrate—focus only on my voice."
He did.
"Okay, now, keep breathing at that pace, keep it going and going until I say stop."
Adaceus listened and kept his pace.
"Now, on to the next step."
Ingridt then started tapping the ground with the wooden blade, soft tap, tap, taps, that resonated in the room at a medium volume.
"Focus on the sound coming from the ground, Ada, don't let your attention falter, focus and listen to the sound. I will be right behind you as I do this, so it should be easy to keep focus."
Adaceus listened as the sounds continued on, the sound hitting his ears.
"Good, now, I want you to slowly, calmly, channel aura into your body, but don't stop listening to the sounds as you do it. I know it's a lot to do, but you must keep focus, let your breathing help you."
Adaceus went and did as he was told, and quickly synthesized mana from one of his cores into aura, but it was a lot harder than expected. You see, one must have total concentration when generating mana or essence for usage, which is why most people who head into battle store essence ahead of time for that reason. But as Adaceus listened to the tapping, his focus split, and his control nearly shattered.
He winced at the difficulty of maintaining his focus on the tapping noises and producing aura, which was already a cumbersome task in and of itself. It was like a goblet being overfilled with water and barely holding on, which prompted him to shake his head and move.
Suddenly, the constant tapping was interrupted by a loud thunk on the ground.
"Ada!" Ingridt suddenly shouted in a stern voice, hitting the ground with her sword hard. "Do not break concentration! Keep still and focus."
Adaceus chuffed, gruffly and heeding the order, surprised she was able to pick up that slight mistake. Ingridt then resumed the calm tapping.
"Good, once you've gathered a good amount of aura from what I can sense, I want you to hold it in and let it spread out to your body. Like water going through streams, I want you to direct it into each of your six senses and hold them there, course it through your ears, hands, nose, eyes, then, in one instance, all together, let it out in one burst like a water pipe releasing water."
Adaceus did as he was told and let the bursting energy within flow out around his surroundings, and it spread all around him like a veil that encircled him. It went in a smooth motion, and all the pressure he felt dissipated like a massive weight was lifted off. As the energy seeped out like an unfurling wave, it settled to a halt like a calm ocean and covered a fair bit of the arena.
What... is this strange feeling, it... feels like I'm wading through water.....
Adaceus then noticed something strange. He could feel it; he could actually feel the wave as it settled across the field, like it was an extra limb and he could feel through his burnt skin. Gradually, like the bluriness clearing away from your eyes when you wake up, an image slowly formed in the darkness of his closed eyes. It was like every one of his senses worked in harmony to create a mirror image of everything that was around him.
Through the darkness, he could see his surroundings take form, the arena, the structures, the scattered weaponry; their silhouettes outlined in white through the darkness, clouded and obscured, yes... but he could see, he could actually see, even without the use of his eyes.
What is this? What... is happening, and why am I able to see this?
Just then, like something tingling in the back of his head, he noticed something from:
A person stood behind him at a great distance, shrouded in a milky white fog.
Adaceus was surprised that even from behind him, he could see it, and in a spur, he broke his concentration and left that dark world and quickly looked behind him. He gasped and heaved heavily, the whiplash of escaping the dark world hitting him.
It was Ingridt, standing far away, that it needed 100 steps for Adaceus to reach her. Ingridt, who was still tapping the ground, stopped, her hand midway from another tap as a satisfied smile rose from her face.
Wait, how, how was I able to hear that tapping from that far away? I thought she was behind me all this time, but she's there? What is happening?
Ingridt began walking toward him, the sword resting on his shoulder.
"You're probably wondering what that was, huh, and why you could hear me from that far away."
Adaceus, catching his breath, nodded weakly as his shoulders slumped and his legs wobbled. It seemed that what he did had taken quite a bit out of him.
As Ingridt reached Adaceus, she placed her hand on his shoulder and supported him up.
"Catch your breath and relax, take a deep breath in and breathe out."
Adaceus did as he was told, and it soothed him somewhat.
"What was that?" Adaceus said in between breaths.
"That, Ada, was Clear Vision, the secret technique of all master martial artists in the world, and you just unlocked the first level of it."
"Clear Vision?"
"Yes, a technique that overloads your senses and enables you to gain the ability to see through another world other than our physical one. There are even legends that if one reaches a transcended level, they could see the whole of the world through their very eyes."
"How... was I able to do that?"
"You basically overloaded your senses when you coursed aura through them and supercharged them, and when you released the gathered energy, it basically acted as a radar for you to actually see with your hypered up senses."
"So, I've reached the first level of it?"
"Yes," Ingirdt said as she let go of his shoulder and walked in front of him. "Which I am very impressed by, hah, you are way more capable than I expected, few could do what you did this early. Anyway, yes, you've reached the base level of Clear Vision, Ada.
Adaceus looked at his palms, his breath gradually turning normal, and his condition bettering.
"Umm, how do I progress with this Ingridt? This... Clear Vision, how do I make it stronger?"
''Same way you train any other technique, effort."
Adaceus looked at his arms again.
Another power I hold, that's good. With this, my journey will be all the more doable whenever I eventually get to it. I had this plan ever since the gala, and with this, I'm one step closer.
"In fact, how about we start now?" Ingridt chimed in.
Adaceus looked up from his hands and looked to Ingridt, who stepped away from him and bore her sword. Suddenly, clouds of mist separated from each of Ingridts sides and began to morph into clones that looked exactly like her.
Adaceus stepped back, and Ingridt smiled.
# # # ## ### ####
Two Ingridt's flew out of the mist with their sword drawn, ready to attack. Adaceus was prepared for it this time.
Let's see what this dark aura can do!
Martial art! Black arc slash!
Adaceus delivered a sideward slash that sent out a pure, concentrated black aura toward the direction of the two Ingrdit's. The attack hit, causing both their bodies to be cut in half.
They may look like her, but they sure fall easily.
Instantly, while passing through the two Ingridt clones, the crest slash broke through the mists, causing that part of it to be erased immediately.
Adaceus, in that window of time, concentrated on circulating aura through his senses and let it out in one burst.
As the energy courses through the room like a wave and reaches the tornado of mist, a figure could be seen within, floating and moving through it like a fish in water.
You showed me this technique, Ingridt, now let me show you how much I learned.
Adaceus channeled dark aura into his sword and sent it out like a drawn arrow, trailing straight like a black shooting star straight toward where he sensed Ingridt. It made its way to its mark, the dark penetrating through the mist. A clink was heard within the mist, and all at once the tornado of mist disappeared in an instant, revealing Ingridt, a blade's tip awkwardly placed in her face.
She swayed the sword away from her face, revealing a smile.
"You've grown... again. You were able to see me through the mist using Clear Vision, and you improved upon it by the looks of it. Normally, a simple concealment ability would be effective against the first level of Clear Vision, but this doesn't seem to be it. What is it? Have you reached the second or third? "
Adaceus replied. "Second, peering into the third, and I had to spend a whole lot of blood and sweat to achieve it, even that, but it proved to be worth it when you used that ability."
"That's good, means you've still got your edge, try your best not to lose it."
Ingridt, with the raise of her right hand, began collecting and whirling wind around it.
"Martial Art, Whirlwind Buck Shot!"
Multiple large whirlwinds suddenly shot out with the flick of her hand and barreled toward Adaceus like rapid cylinders of hostile winds.
Adaceus responded.
"Martial art, Black Hole Eater!"
Adaceus slashed the space in front of him with his black, guilded blade, as if tearing through the air like fabric, and conjured in its place was a black hole, showcasing the unique effect the dark element possessed.
Its ability to consume.
The whirlwinds that came began to be sucked in by the black hole. Like a hungry beast famished for a meal, the black hole held a tremendous force that sucked in the whirling winds into a bottomless, pitch-black hole until it disappeared, the pure black ball having finally done its job, as it intended.
Ingridt eyes widened by the fraction of a second before becoming stoic again, and she retaliated with a swipe of her sword, with elemental wind shooting out in a wide slash. Adaceus blocked by pouring a lot of dark aura into his sword and splitting the attack in two as the dark aura ate away at the element.
In a smooth, connecting move, Adaceus placed his sword to the side and cast magic circles in the air, taking the form of stepping stones, evenly spaced for him to reach Ingridt.
He cast magical circles around his feet and cast a simple speed spell on them. In swift speed, he darted to the magic circles and hopped on them in quick succession, readying his blade to deliver a downward slash as he jumped away from the magical circles to the flying angel. Ingridt dove down to meet him, and their blade clashed. Ingridt noticed that her element-enchanted blade had been partially eaten through to where Adaceus had struck it.
Ingridt pushed down, the force strong enough that Adaceus couldn't fight back, and he dove down with her.
Adaceus collided with the ground, back first, cratering the ground beneath with Ingridt on top and pushing down on him. Adaceus grunted and spat out blood in pain, the red liquid gushing out from his mask and staining it.
In shaking and trembling arms, he still marvelously and stubbornly refused to release himself from his sword, and away from clashing with Ingridt.
"Stubborn as always, Ada!" Ingidt said as she put more pressure on his sword. "You have grown very far! Stubbornness and grit are admirable traits, but it doesn't matter if those don't make a winner; it's pointless for you to fight back!"
She drove her sword in deeper.
"Tell me, Ada, when your skills, talent, and guts don't can't stand against a stronger foe, what will you do? Because I can guarantee in my experience that whatever's out there in the world won't waste their time talking to you like I'm doing."
"I KNOW!" Adaceus screamed out in gushing blood. How could I forget...
"Right, and in knowing that, are you still sure you want this anymore? Go out to that merciless with enemies far superior to you? WHAT WILL YOU DO TO FACE THEM!? WHAT WILL YOU DO TO TRIUMPH OVER THEM WHEN YOUR BACK IS ON THE WALL AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING! TELL ME!"
Ingridt roar shook the very earth beneath Adaceus.
"WHAT WILL YOU DO!?"
Adaceus could hear the screeching of metal as he bore Ingridts assault, feeling weaker and weaker the longer his arms resisted against her sword.
In this situation, Adaceus knew he couldn't do anything; he was brought down to the weakest state possible. His mana in both of his cores was almost depleted, and he had no other abilities to turn to. He was helpless and powerless, unable to do anything.
Visions of the past came as his mind slowly slipped out of consciousness, of the prison he was held in for countless millennia, and assaulted him as the fear of weakness crept into his mind. The darkness of the vast blackness, the dampness, the maddening silence that broke his sanity. All of the memories, everything, overwhelmed him, reminding him of his most pathetic state.
He was weak in his current state; there was no denying that.
There's nothing I can do, I know that, I know all too well what it means to be weak, not being able to do anything. But I also know that I can become stronger, and to do that, to finally vanquish that which plagues me, I must persevere; besides, I've faced way harder odds, because there is one thing for certain.
I will never be enchained again!!
Adaceus had waded through the murky waters of his memories, and a surge of strength enabled him to push back against Ingrdit's blade, bringing him back to a conscious state and keeping his mind from slipping. A new resolve overcame him, and a glorious purpose ignited within him.
He must go to the world.
His arms shook violently, only being able to nudge the blade just a little bit, but still pushing through. Ingridts eyes widened, her pure black irises finally visible as Adaceus exerted force.
Suddenly, after releasing one of his hands from the grip of his sword, he cast a simple spell, mustering up what very little essence he had and cast it with purpose.
Smoke screen!
Smoke poofed out from his hand, causing Ingrdit to look away in irritation.
Adaceus kicked her in the stomach, which allowed him to stand up and push her back, finally. He proceeded to bash her with his shoulder and send her back more.
Ingridt shook her head and regained her sight and faced Adaceus down.
She was taken aback as she saw what was in front of her.
Adaceus, battered and beaten, stood in a wide stance with his grip on his sword, placed to his side. His face was dripping blood, his simple plate armor shattered and cracked, and his whole body shaking from the pain, but he showed no signs of falling. His stance was textbook and flawless, his breathing calm, his stance ready, and his heart was strong.
He walked, slowly and lumberingly, and that walk turned pacingly to a jog, and from a jog, to a full run.
Amazing, he's still going, he still hasn't given up, I guess that strength of yours was not for nothing.
Adaceus ran and ran, dead focused on gathering more and more of dark aura into his sword until it was fully enveloped the blade whole and its size increasing and increasing. Adaceus swung sideways as Ingridt received his incoming blade.
They traded blows. She saw him hit with all his might, with Ingridt noticing that Adaceus's attacks were far stronger than before.
There was a pause as their blades clashed together, and Adaceus slumped weakly from the effort he put in, desperately fighting back his pain
I guess I shouldn't have doubted your capabilities, Ada. Pushing you to this point had to be done, and I'm sorry for that. It was the only way I could know for certain if you could handle the world, the only way I could... finally...
Adaceus's strikes became faster and faster as the battle continued, and more of his attacks contained ravenous strength in which he poured his all into, a desperate strength that he squeezed out of every muscle in a vain attempt.
You are a truly fine warrior, Ada, and now I can say this with full confidence: I can finally say ....
Ada swung an overhead slash, this one seeming superficially stronger than the others, but as his sword swung, all the aura crumbled away to dust, dispersing away from the blade like water to hot steel; it was rended back to its black, unenchanted state. It looked like all the gold color of before was replaced with black.
Joining the blade in its descent was the fainting body of Ada, finally giving in to his injuries and exhaustion.
Just as he fell, his warm body gently fell toward Ingridts arms, just as she said, like a whisper in the aether.
"You are ready, Ada."