Slumping back down onto the floor of the wooden hut, along with the realisation I forgot about Earth came another revelation … I hadn't eaten for a week, but despite that I wasn't hungry. I feel like I'm just becoming a freak show at this point. I know I agreed to train, but I'm not sure what else I could do. I've gained control over this power already, yet, I'm still set to train for six months.
Before I could continue mulling it over, the old croaky voice called from outside, "Zach come out here now! I've got a present for you boy". Worrying, I stood to walk to the door, this guy's gifts could be anything from a flower to a near death experience.
Without even getting the chance step foot outside after the door opened, a piece of cloth slapped me in the face. As it dropped to the floor, it revealed Azz with a gleeful look on his face. He immediately shooed me back into the hut shouting, "Hurry! put that on so we can start".
Clenching my fists, I bent down to pick up what looked like a martial arts uniform. It looked incredible, pitch black lined with stripes of bright yellow around the collar and sleeves.
"Not bad, my sense of style" I muttered aloud.
Stepping outside, I probed Azz about my regime, "Master, how exactly are we to train now?".
"Well first we need to do something about that rampant celestial power of yours", Azz's eyebrows furrowed in frustration whilst he gestured for me to come and sit down.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I walked over to one of the two chairs laid out, "I thought we already did that; I have control now, isn't that enough?". The name celestial power was really starting to grind my gears, it's too much of a mouthful. So, I'm going to call it astrum.
Gesturing for me to sit down, Azz began tapping his temple, "You have control, yes, however you have nowhere to store it. Right now, it's just flowing in and out of you, it's quite annoying and disruptive. You know, you being weirdly powerful and all. However, despite that, a novice with internally stored celestial power could beat you with a flick of their finger".
Completely taken aback, I wanted to start as soon as possible, "How do I create a place to store the astrum then?", I responded, meeting his eye hoping to make him hurry the lessons.
Azz sprung to his feet, "astrum? I'm assuming that's what you're calling celestial power, anyway, what you call gods and demons are born naturally with an organ that can filter and store it. However, you'll need to make one by focusing all your astrum into one area, layering it over each other until it turns solid".
Rolling my eyes, I let out a sigh, it's never easy is it. Sitting on the wet grass I took up the usual meditating stance. Where exactly am I supposed to form this organ? I assume it needs to be decently sized so in my limbs won't work, in the end I opted to form it just underneath my heart, near to the sternum.
Closing my eyes, I began to gather and direct all the astrum within me to that one point. Shaping it into a ball was easy but keeping it that shape while drawing on the astrum floating outside … not so much. Five times I must've failed before I finally managed to add another layer. Trying to draw on the external astrum, I lost my focus and the two layers gathered began circling my body again. One misstep and all my work is gone, this is ridiculous.
After about ten hours I had managed to gather six layers, feeling internally, I could see the sphere shaking but taking on a yellowish glow. It's still unstable after six layers, this is unbelievable. Another three hours passed and I had successfully layered ten, feeling internally again, the sphere had stabilised and had turned a solid yellow. That felt like it took longer than it should have.
I relaxed finally.
Opening my eyes, it was the dead of night which was no surprise really, I was meditating for a while. Immediately my attention was drawn to Azz, who was talking to a black-haired girl. Standing up, I walked over before the girl shot me a strange look. Her eyes were glazed over, almost hypnotised as she walked away swaying lethargically.
Azz looked over his shoulder at me and I shone a mocking grin at him, "Who was that Master, your daughter? came to see how dads doing at work huh".
Tapping his finger on the table, Azz stared at me with an irritated look. Guess he didn't like my joke.
Crossing his arms, he glared at me, "No brat, that was the lass who carried you to me, Seraphina her name is, one of the emperor's aides. No idea what her problem is, she's always foul mouthed, beauty wasted with a personality like that".
I went to sit down but before I even pulled the chair out, Azz shot up and a wry smile was plastered on his face, "What do you think you're doing Zach, you've formed your core, it's time to start training for real". Suddenly a wave of power shot from Azz as he shot towards me. I knew he was strong but being able to sense astrum now, I could feel it clearly, this old man is off the charts!
Crack~
A fist smacked me square in the face and sent me back thirty steps onto my back, my eyes were flashing white. I began blinking erratically to regain focus. Dragging myself to sit upright, I felt blood leaking from my nose and both corners of my mouth, looking forward I could see Azz cracking his knuckles.
I panicked, so I started to do the only sensible thing, waving my arms around, "Wait, wait, wait, what are you doing Master? aren't you supposed to teach me? this is borderline bullying!", I screeched.
Azz's eyes narrowed, "Get up Zach, let the astrum flow from your core and focus on reinforcing your body with it, that's your hint, now let's go!". Azz flashed into a red blur again, but I could see his fist aiming for my face again, raising my arms to block I heard it.
A slight crackle and what sounded like thunder on impact.
I had been sent back another ten steps but was still on my feet. Looking down, my arms were enveloped in a yellow glow with cracks constantly shooting throughout. I see, I'd managed to reinforce my arms to take Azz's blow, but this looks like.
Before I even got the chance to finish that thought, Azz burst out laughing, "So that's it! Your attribute is lightning, how rare! I see now why he took such a liking to you and took such a huge risk in sending me here".
Azz couldn't stop laughing, my mind however, was racing with multiple questions. He said my attribute is lightning but isn't that stupidly strong? Could I be some kind of powerhouse? Is that why I was brought here? And who does he mean by someone took a risk sending him to me? Regardless of the reason, I can tell things are going to get much more exciting from here on.
I dropped my arms and peered down at my hands, clenching and unclenching my fists, I thought intently about how I would be able to consciously let my astrum flow. I know he said that just reacting by reflex was a good start, however I'm 100% sure that the speed he mustered was not by reflex.
I watched Azz, carefully examining any slight changes that I noticed about his body. I wasn't some kind of martial artist, I was simply attempting to copy what I had seen them do. Not that it was any help, as within a moment I found myself upended, bent out of shape against a tree.
I flopped down onto my side, pushing my face up from the wet grass, "Damnit, do you have to keep smacking me so hard?".
Azz bounced around on the tips of his toes, a single leap carrying him 6 feet into the air, "Eh? Theres no point me babying you kid. The harder I hit you the more you'll want it to stop, therefore learning how to defend yourself faster".
I flicked a drop of blood away from the corner of my mouth using my thumb, "That just isn't how it works, what good is your training going do if you end up killing me before I can even fight back".
A wicked smile crept onto his face, "You don't worry about that, I certainly won't let it happen".
I winced at his words feeling a strange sense of fear towards him for the first time. He was strong, way stronger than he was letting on. I could tell that much, the playful way he was bouncing around, the effortlessness it took for him to send me flying and the efficient way he was wielding his astrum. All of it pointed towards Azz being some kind of master.
Which lead me onto another question. If that was the case, why was he so willingly teaching me? I couldn't think of any other way to describe our relationship aside from Azz being like a CEO and me acting as a new hire. We were worlds apart from one another, in a literal sense and a figurative sense. So why? Why was someone of his calibre stuck teaching a mere novice.
Choosing to ignore my own thoughts and concerns, I decided to continue to blindly trust my new teacher. I crossed my legs then ruffled my hair, "I", my voice came out raspy and hoarse, as if I was stuttering over what to say, "I want to learn how to fight with a sword, or a dagger, or anything for that matter".
Azz offered his hand and pulled me to my feet, "That's fine, but let's not be too hasty with it. You haven't even learned how to properly control your power just yet, but at some point, we will get to weapons".
Around us, the world began to drop behind a veil of black as night quickly descended. Azz clicked his finger, a flame flickering to life at the tip of his thumb. He picked up a wet branch from the floor, swinging it around to remove at least some moisture.
Then, he picked up a few dry pieces of weed that nestled underneath one of the trees. He placed the two over one another and dropped the flame. The entire area surrounding us quickly lit up again.
Azz looked at his handiwork, and gave a nod of approval to himself, "Right then. Shall we begin kid?".
Despite not wanting to be beaten around more, a strange feeling of excitement swept through my body. It shuddered as I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips, "Absolutely!".
Almost instantly we fell into a pattern of blows, in which I couldn't land a single hit on him. He was like a snake, even when I managed to catch him completely flat footed, which most of the time was a fluke, he could somehow curve his body and avoid the strike effortlessly.
Time seemed to fly by and before I knew it, a month had passed.
I was left gazing up at the night sky that was full of stars. I was so captivated that I couldn't bring myself to look away, well it's more like I'd been punched so much my vision was flashing and I physically couldn't move from the pain. My body reinforcement and overall speed and strength had come on leaps and bounds, however each time I thought I was about to one up Azz, he'd release more power. The idea of how much he was holding back irritated me.
Gathering all my strength just to twist my head, I saw Azz walking over with some vase in his hands, smiling creepily. Gulping, I whimpered, "Master, what's in that Vase? Please no more punching!".
Azz bent down, "Drink up, it's a healing elixir, give it a minute and we'll resume training".
Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have asked, I closed my eyes, feigning being unconscious hoping for even five minutes of rest. The old man clobbered my head.
"Talk about hitting a guy while he's down", I'd cursed him so much his bloodline might have trouble at this point.