by Aaron Oster
Roy had to stop right there. He stared incredulously at the sheer arrogance of those words. He had no idea who had written this book, but they were clearly biased – and in his opinion – a total moron. Anyone who believed themselves superior to such a degree would find themselves bested the first time they came across anyone who was even a little stronger than they were. Heck, they might even lose to someone weaker with that attitude.
The Flowing Snake combines the fluid movement of the Drenchpath cycling technique. Using this technique, the user cycles Essence through their body, focusing on enhancing the legs, hips, and chest. This will allow for maximum flexibility when avoiding enemy attacks. Though not the fastest technique, due to its very nature, the Flowing Snake is the most flexible, relying on the Essence’s natural strengths…
Roy closed the book, seeing that the rest of the text was more of the same. It went on explaining how someone with Water Essence would go about using the technique. It did him no good, though. He may not know a whole lot about the nature of Power Essence, but from what he did know, he knew that Power was not flexible.
Power focused more on bulling through obstacles than moving around them. This technique seemed almost diametrically opposed to what he was trying to do. He wished he could have found a Movement technique for Weakness Essence. While the polar opposite of his, reading a Weakness technique would at least give him an idea of what not to do.
Sure, he knew that flexibility wouldn’t work for him, but he’d already known that before reading it. It wouldn’t do him much direction. Weakness would at least give him a set of opposites he should work on. For example, if Water Essence relied on flowing movement, Fire Essence likely revolved around wild ones, taking advantage of its burning power.
He sighed, placing the book in his bag and looking down at the ferret. Her body was rising and falling slowly, but he couldn’t be sure she was really asleep. He didn’t normally like doing this but if the ferret really was asleep, he didn’t want to risk waking her. He reached out to Geon with his mind.
“Hey, is she asleep?”
“Oh. You’ve finally decided to start speaking with me the normal way. Good for you! Perhaps I should thank those golems for smacking you around so much. They must have knocked some sense into you.”
“So…is that a yes?”
“What? Oh, yeah. She fell asleep about twenty minutes ago.”
Roy gritted his teeth in annoyance. The Dungeon Core had a bad habit of keeping information to himself unless specifically asked. For example, when Roy had first combined with him, Geon had mentioned, as an afterthought, that if he didn’t advance within a certain time frame, he would die.
Roy took a deep breath to calm himself. He had to remember that Geon wasn’t human and so the Core didn’t think the same way he did. He just had to make a concerted effort to always be asking questions, so things like this didn’t keep happening.
It wasn’t such a big deal now. This time, all it had cost him was fifteen minutes of cycling. But with Geon, he never really knew. For all he knew, he could be in danger of blowing up again.
“I’m not going to blow up, am I?” he asked, just in case.
“No. No. I think I already told you you’re fine…I think.”
Roy sighed, rising from his chair and heading to his room, now regretting his decision.
4
“The key to developing any technique is to have a good grasp over the Essence you’re working with,” Aika said.
It was an hour later, and the two of them now stood outside the tall spire. Roy’s Core was now brimming with refined Essence. The flower-like pattern of channels he’d burned in his chest stood out, shining brilliant gold against the dimmer channels Geon had formed when they’d bonded.
He’d long since filled his Core with the Essence needed to push advancement. However, seeing as he hadn’t passed his test, all he could do was continue to pack in more and more Essence. His Core seemed to have an almost limitless capacity to hold Essence and no matter how much he felt like it strained to hold more, it always did.
At the moment, he had enough Essence packed into his Core to probably push for 1st Dan Orange already. By the time he finally passed, who knew how far he’d be able to push? Then again, Geon had told him that when he advanced, he had the option to use all of the Essence toward his advancement, rather than pushing for a higher Dan.
This would result in a more solid and powerful foundation. Suffice it to say, Roy was going to pack as much as he could into his Core and then use it all, as Geon had suggested. Though pushing for a higher advancement was something he wanted very much, he knew that having a stronger foundation would help him in the long run.
“Now, I don’t understand Power Essence all that well, but from what the grumpy old man said, I can tell you that it relies partially on force and momentum. There is obviously more to it, but for a basic Movement technique, that should be all you need.”
Roy’s brows furrowed at that. He already knew that Power relied on force and momentum. It didn’t help him much, though, as he still didn’t know how he could use that to create a technique.
“I can see you’re still confused,” Aika said with a grin. “I’ll try and help you picture it. I won’t be able to do much more than that, so it’ll be up to you to actually create the technique.”
Roy nodded, and Aika continued.
“I want you to close your eyes and picture your Essence flowing through your body. Get a really good feel for it. Once you do, I want you to try and speed it up, really pushing it through your channels. Once you manage that, let me know, and we’ll keep going.”
Roy was confused about what she meant by ‘getting a feel for it.’ He already had a feel for his Essence. He wouldn’t be able to use techniques otherwise. But, seeing as she was a Green-Belt, he had to figure that she knew things about Essence that he just didn’t. Closing his eyes, Roy concentrated on his Core.
The shining golden orb sat at the center of his chest, pulsing lightly as it sent Essence cycling through his body. He kept his breathing according to the cycling technique he’d learned from the diagram handed to him by the mysterious stranger he’d met in the trial of beginnings. His Essence flowed smoothly through him, cycling out from his Core and moving simultaneously up, down, and to the sides, fueling his entire body.
He purposefully left the channels in his chest, surrounding his Core alone. Those were there to purify and refine Essence. He’d burned those channels in himself, but the ones Geon had formed when they’d merged were the ones he used for fighting.
Roy was satisfied now, as he thought he had a pretty good feel for his Essence. He now moved directly to the second step, forcing his Essence to speed up. He pictured the calm pulsing of his Core increasing, kind of like his heart when he was running as exercise. The Core should then pump more Essence at a faster rate. At first, he almost thought he had it, but then it seemed to slip away.
His brows furrowed, and he concentrated harder. He willed his Essence to move faster, more forcefully, even going so far as to try one of his other techniques but put more power into it. All that had accomplished was the stone near his feet being blow apart and showering him with shrapnel.
Roy hissed in pain, his eyes snapping open as several of the sharp rocks sliced into his skin, leaving shallow cuts in their wake.
“Don’t try and use other techniques while doing this,” Aika said. “It’ll interfere with what you’re trying to do.”
Roy nodded, looking down at the new tears in his robe and sighed. He’d have to patch them up once again when they were done. For now, he simply closed his eyes once more and felt for his Essence. This time, instead of trying to make his Core move the Essence faster, he tried controlling it directly.
Taking control of the Essence as it left, he tried to force it to move faster down towards his leg.
“Ow!” He yelled in pain as his leg shot suddenly and painfully to the side, throwing him completely off balance and sendi
ng him to the ground.
“You can’t just take control of the Essence, either,” Aika said as he rolled onto his back. “You need to remember that all Essence will naturally want to follow its own nature. So, trying to force something likely won’t work with an Essence type that already has those elements.”
Roy groaned, sitting up and rubbing at his now sore leg. It had felt like the worst uncontrollable muscle spasm, followed by horrible cramping of the muscles and ligaments around his knee and calf. It took him a couple of minutes to work it out, and once he had, he got back to his feet and tried once again.
Over the course of the next hour, Roy hurt himself more than he had ever done when training alone. The closest he came to success was when both legs suddenly shot forward, carrying him face-first into the stone spire.
It hurt.
Though Roy was a Yellow-Belt, injury and pain were still very much a possibility. Sure, he was a bit tougher than he previously was, but without an Armorer technique to shield himself, he was still quite vulnerable, unlike Aika, who had her Core-Body. She could run face-first into that spire and not feel a thing.
Roy turned, holding his now bleeding nose, and glared at her. She was standing as she had been the entire time, thumbs hooked into her Belt with her feet spread apart at shoulder width. Aika’s expression was different now, and he could see that she was having a hard time not laughing at his expense.
Roy glared at her.
“I said you had to have a good feel for your Essence before attempting anything. Clearly, you’re skipping the first step,” she said in answer to his angry expression.
“But what does that even mean?” Roy asked, feeling his frustration building.
With Irusaru, things had been easy. The old man was a Power cultivator, and he could teach him directly. Aika, on the other hand, was on the Path of Light. It was a completely different Path than his own. In fact, he’d figured out both a Projected and Physical technique on his own. He’d even performed – what he thought of as – a Full-area technique. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, and he had injured himself somewhat, but not that badly.
“You need to feel your Essence. I don’t really know how to explain it any better than that,” she replied with a shrug.
Roy gritted his teeth, then closed his eyes once again and tried to do as she said. But he was too angry to focus. He attempted his latest idea to make his Essence move faster, and he ended up with both his legs flying out from under him, causing him to face-plant with the ground this time.
He heard Aika’s laughter as he stood and felt his anger boil over.
“If all you’re going to do is laugh and give me vague hints, then just leave! I can do it myself.”
Aika’s laughter abruptly cut off, and a hurt expression came to her face. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Her head turned to the south for a moment, then she shrugged.
“Fine. If that’s what you want.”
There was a flash of white light that nearly blinded him, and when he was able to see again, Aika was gone. He spread his Spirit Sense out as wide as he could but didn’t sense her anywhere close. He grimaced, flopping to the ground and getting into a cycling position. Of course, she had an amazing Movement technique, so she wouldn’t have any trouble getting out of range so quickly.
Grumbling to himself, Roy attempted to calm down and get back into his cycling rhythm. It wasn’t as easy as he’d have liked, seeing as his body was throbbing with half a dozen self-inflicted injuries. But, after about twenty minutes of peace and quiet, he finally managed it. Geon had been uncommonly silent during his entire training session, which he found to be quite odd.
Normally, when he did something stupid, the Dungeon Core would almost immediately insult him. Not that Roy was complaining, but it was just very much unlike Geon.
Since he had a reprieve, he would make sure to take full advantage of it. He knew Ferry was out patrolling their surroundings – that was the only reason they’d felt safe doing this outside in the first place – and would warn him at the first sign of danger.
Focusing on his Core, Roy began to ponder over what he knew of Power Essence. Yes, it had properties of force and momentum, but there were others there as well. For example, during both his tests – the one he’d passed and the one he’d failed – Roy had gotten an overwhelming feeling of pride from the spirit of Power.
Not only that, but he’d felt a sort of vast, overwhelming might. Like a barely contained storm that would burst if not properly controlled. There were also other less understandable feelings that he just couldn’t comprehend, so he didn’t focus on those, deciding that he just didn’t have the capacity quite yet.
As he pondered over what he understood of his Path, he began to feel a sort of humming. It was coming from both within and from the Essence in the air around him. In The Crater, the constant lightning storms provided an almost endless supply of Essence. It was the reason Geon had recommended he come here in the first place. It would be easier for him both to grow and train.
His eyes snapped open as he felt his Essence storming within his body. It was unlike anything he’d felt before. As though he could really feel his Essence for the first time. He grimaced at that. It seemed he owed Aika an apology. It would be difficult for him to unbend his pride to do so, as he’d been forced to apologize for things that he hadn’t done all his life. Now, when he knew he was at fault, it was all the more difficult.
It could wait for later, Roy decided. Now that he was finally getting it, he wanted to get in some training. Getting slowly to his feet, so as not to lose the feeling, Roy concentrated inward. He noted that his Essence was flowing differently than usual. Instead of moving at the calm pace he was used to seeing, it was fluctuating wildly.
His Core was contracting a lot more forcefully than it had previously, as well. Instead of a light, quick pulsing, his Core contracted and expanded hard every five or so seconds. This was a very interesting development. Though the Essence in his body felt more out of his control than it had before, it felt more…real?
“Geon. Can you feel what’s happening?” he asked, needing a second opinion.
“Huh? What is it?”
Roy started, surprised. Geon’s voice sounded…sleepy?
“Were you just asleep?” Roy asked.
“Oh, was that what that was?” Geon asked with a yawn. “I don’t know why, but my mind started feeling quite heavy, like it needed some rest. Then, I hear you talking. What’s been going on?”
This was a new and very interesting development. A Dungeon never had to sleep, as far as Roy knew. Geon had never had to sleep up until now, so he’d assumed he just didn’t need it. Roy shook himself. He was letting his thoughts wander again and getting off-topic. He’d have to revisit this a different time.
“Can you feel what’s going on right now?” Roy asked, noting that his Core had begun calming down once again.
“Yes, actually. Did you break me? It seems I can’t leave you alone for five minutes without something happening.”
“No, I don’t think you’re broken,” Roy responded as the charged feeling that had been permeating his body slowly faded as his Core returned to its normal and calm pulsing.
“Oh, good. So…what was that then?”
“I think it was a response from gaining a deeper understanding of Power Essence?” Roy more asked than said.
He could still feel a distinct connection to the Essence in his Core, stronger than it had been previously. And he knew that if he wanted, he could repeat what had just happened.
“Really? Now that is interesting,” Geon said. “Have you tried using one of your techniques with your Essence raging through you like that? I’d definitely like to see what happens.”
Roy was in complete agreement with his friend. He closed his eyes once more, reaching for his Core and the same feeling of resonance he’d had before. It took him a few seconds before he got his Core to start slowing down – he found that he needed to alte
r his breathing slightly to accomplish this – and this time, as he watched the process, he began to understand what was happening.
Since his Core contracted hard and held in all the Essence for a full five seconds, a lot more was released with each pulse. And, it seemed, his Core would force more Essence out with each one, resulting in his channels stretching and being nearly overloaded. This was what gave him that feeling of wild and uncontrolled Essence.
And now that he could understand what was happening, he knew it would not be a good idea to attempt using a technique.
“You know. I said that you should try using a technique, but I think I’ve changed my mind,” Geon said as soon as the thought entered his mind.
“So, you can feel it too,” Roy said thoughtfully.
“Of course I can feel it. I am literally your source of power, so anything you feel, I do as well.”
Roy ignored Geon’s sarcastic reply and continued with his train of thought.
“The Essence is moving through my channels in a way that I’m unaccustomed to. If I attempt to use anything, I’ll likely blow myself up or end up losing a limb. What would be the best solution here?”
“Widening and strengthening your channels, obviously,” Geon replied.
“And how would I go about doing that?” Roy wondered out loud.
“By cycling.”
Roy hadn’t expected an answer. But now that Geon had supplied it, he saw how obvious it was. He still didn’t fully comprehend what this resonance was exactly. Was it a new cycling technique, or something else?
Regardless, he was finally getting somewhere and was excited to get started. Sitting down once more, he closed his eyes and focused on his Core.
5
At first, Roy had a bit of trouble keeping his body still with the storm raging through his channels. But he discovered that if he incorporated the channels he used for refining first, it became much more manageable.