Re: The Ancient’s Son - Chapter 11
Posted: 31 Dec 2015 13:56
Chapter 11
Within a purple void, two beings watched the events of the universe. One was a slim figure made of pure white energy and had blue eyes. The other was a larger figure made of completely black energy and had red eyes.
A feminine voice came from the white one. “Brother, something is going to happen soon. The demons are preparing to make a move.”
“Mmm, the demons and guardians have unconsciously entered a ceasefire these past hundred or so years. But now it seems the demons are about to strike.” A deep voice came from the black one.
“I wish I could help the guardians. It pains me to watch them suffer.”
“I also wish we could help, but it is not our place to interfere nor do we have the ability to.”
“I know that, Kai, but I still wish we could do something other than sit here and watch what happens.”
“Patience, Khi, I’m certain something is bound to happen which will give us the ability to help the guardians. For now, we must bide our time.”
The white one, Khi, could only mutter to herself. “What’s the point of us becoming this powerful if we can’t do anything?”
The two beings stayed there, continuing to watch as events unfolded themselves.
“Hey Areath, I have a question.” Arkanon said to Areath as they were walking.
“Go ahead and ask.” Areath said.
“I’ve noticed there was a pretty big difference from when my power first came out to now. I don’t feel that same amount of strength.”
“You didn’t know about a guardians ‘awakening’?”
“No, what’s that?”
“It speaks for itself. It’s when a guardian awakens their ability. It usually results in a massive amount of power flowing through their body. That’s how you could fight those three demons. If you were to fight the same demons now, chances are you would only be able to barely get away. You’d most likely end up dead.”
“Does a guardian only awaken once?”
“That’s something I can’t answer confidently. There are rumors that some of the first guardians could awaken to a different form. I think it was called something along the line of a ‘true form’. The true form’s power easily rivaled that of an Ancient or Corrupted. I also remember hearing that as long as a guardian reached a certain level of power, a true form was possible. But with each generation of guardians, the Ancient blood in all of us has weakened greatly though, which resulted in us becoming weaker. I’m not completely sure though, as this is rumors mixed in with some things I do know.”
“Is it possible for me to reach that stage?”
“Of course it’s possible. It’s possible for all guardians and demons. What you probably mean is what the chances are, and the chances of that is very low. We’ve yet to see a ‘true form’ in the past few billion years. If there was one that had reached that level of power, it’s been hidden pretty well.”
“It would make sense if they were hidden. I doubt either side would want the other to know about such a powerful person.”
“Ah, here we are.”
Whilst talking, Arkanon and Areath had arrived at the training grounds. Arkanon looked around and saw various other students were training. Some used their weapons while others were using energy. He found it interesting to watch some of the students shoot fire energy as fire bolts while others using the same type used it as a wave a of flame. Students using the liquid type would switch between using it as a whip and using it as a straightforward blast. Ones that used air used it as something similar to condensed air blades or would summon a miniature cyclone that tore up the area around it. The students that used lightning would shoot out bolts that struck the targets fast, and they would also have occasional lightning bolts strike at a random area from around their body.
One thing Arkanon noted was that although energy users could perform the same things, they all had different ways of attacking. Most were common from what he saw while others were unique. Some had flames erupt from the ground their feet, while others had formed large golems made of liquid. Air users would be able lift themselves off the ground or give themselves an extra boost. The lightning users would infuse their body with the lightning, putting extra power behind their attacks and giving them a big speed boost.
Seeing these people use such creative methods, Arkanon couldn’t help but be amazed. He then made a resolve to try and create a creative method like everyone else.
“Hey Areath, how do you plan on training me to use my short sword?” Arkanon asked.
“What do you mean?” Areath asked back.
“Well, I mean you use a two-handed sword while I use a short sword. How do you plan on training me without a short sword as well?”
“It’s up to you to learn how to use your sword. I’m only going to show you how to fight and defend yourself.”
“But what about sword stances and such?”
“Sword stances aren’t going to help you live on the battlefield. Besides, you already look like you can wield your sword like a veteran. Which isn’t all too surprising.”
“Still, I don’t think this is right.”
“Relax, just rely on your instinct in a fight. It’s a lot better than trying to pull some stupid shit thinking that you’ll be fine.”
“But Jared told me that purely relying on instinct will most likely get me killed.”
“Then Jared is wrong. One of the best things to rely on in a battle is instinct. If it’s a one versus one situation, then maybe sword stances and such would work. But a battlefield is complete chaos. It’s better to revert back to a primal state of mind and follow the flow of battle.”
“You two have different mindsets on this.”
Areath sighed. “I won’t tell you which way to fight, Arkanon. Ultimately, the way you want to fight is up to you. I’ll train to read an enemy and help you improve your reaction speed as well as instruct you where to strike at. If you want to learn sword stances, you’ll have to either ask Jared or other instructors since I’m not familiar with them.”
“I think… I think that’s all I want. For now at least. I also feel that relying on my instinct is one of the best things to help me survive.”
“Hm. Good. Alright, we’ll start with teaching you how to use your energy. As a quick warning, and I’m sure you read this in the book, if you try to do something that exceeds your strength, it will kill you. So be cautious when you train. Okay, for starters, gather the energy from your body.”
Arkanon stood still and felt within himself to find that strange power. Once he had it, he started to exert it through his body causing white lightning to start crackling around his body.
“Good, now focus it on the tip of your finger and shoot it out towards one of the targets.”Arkanon did so and a fast bolt of lightning shot out from his finger and struck one of the training targets. The target, being solid metal and resilient so as to not quickly be destroyed by the students, still had a massive dent from Arkanon’s energy blast.
“I keep forgetting that you’re not normal. I shouldn’t even be surprised that you could put a dent into that. Yet I’ll be damned if still not amazed by the fact that you can do this as a ten year old kid.”
Arkanon grinned and was about to reply when his mind went blank and he collapsed to his knees.
“You alright?”
Arkanon could only weakly nod his head in response.
“Sit down and rest for a couple minutes.”
Arkanon nodded his head once more and sat back. It felt like his entire body had been drained of it’s strength. After sitting down for a few minutes, he finally regained some of his strength. He stood up and turned towards Areath.
“Are you okay to continue?” Areath asked.
“Yeah, I should be okay now.” Arkanon said.
“Alright, let’s move on. So, as you’ve noticed, when you use your entire body’s worth of energy, you can do a lot of damage. However, you also use up most of your strength. Now, try gathering the energy from just your right forearm. After that, shoot it out.”
Arkanon once more summoned the energy from within his body and gathered it at the tip of his finger. A lightning bolt shot out and hit the target, this time making only a tiny dent. This time though, he didn’t nearly pass out.
“Notice a difference?” Areath asked.
“Yeah, I’m not out of strength. I also feel like I could do that again.”
“You’re correct. When using energy on the battlefield or in general, you need to be careful how much you use. If you use all the energy in your body, you’ll become weak and vulnerable. However, if you use much smaller bursts, you can do far more damage over time. Only use all your energy as a last resort. From today onwards, I want you to try to use your energy as efficiently as possible while trying to maximize how much you get out of it. That’s all I’ll help you for energy today. Do you think you can go on today?”
“I can try.”
“Okay. Normally, I’d have you try to strike me in some way. However, since you’re already tired, it’d be better for you to use a training dummy. Here come over to this one.” While saying so, Areath walked over to a metal training dummy that was human shaped. “Here, try attacking this one.”
Arkanon walked over while unsheathing his sword. He took a deep breath then struck as fast as he could at the training dummy. He attacked first with a slash from the dummy’s right shoulder to the left help, then with a slash at the throat before finishing it with a slash to the head. The dummy was mostly unaffected by the sword slashes and had only small indents on it from where Arkanon’s sword hit.
“Hm, okay, we’re off to a good start. You won’t be able to do much more as you are now. Once you get older and stronger, you should be able to cut straight through the metal. These dummies right here are only slightly stronger than the armor demons use.”
“So once I can cut through the dummies, I can cut through demons?”
“Yeah, even though you said it kind of weird. Anyways, I recommend training with this dummy for a few hours. After that, it’d probably be wise to stop for the day. You did exhaust yourself pretty heavily earlier.”
“Okay, I’ll stay here and practice.”
“Then I’ll see you later, Arkanon. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.” Areath walked off into the training grounds and soon disappeared from Arkanon’s sight.
‘I’ll keep swinging at this dummy until I’m tired’ Arkanon thought to himself. ‘I have to get stronger.’ Arkanon kept attacking the training dummy. After a few hours of training, Arkanon had stabbed his sword into the ground and was resting on it. Sweat was dripping from his face and he was panting heavily.
“I… I suppose that’s… enough for one day.” He muttered to himself.
He stood back up and started to trudge through the grounds, heading back to his cabin. He had his head lowered and looked ready to fall over at a moments notice. Along the way, he ran into someone.
“Hey Arkanon! Wow, you like tired today.” A voice called out from in front of Arkanon.
He looked up and saw Veld standing there. “Hi Veld.” Arkanon said tiredly.
“Did you even get any rest after yesterday?” Veld asked curiously.
“I did, I’m just tired from today.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it’s something you’ll have to get used to being here. I just happened to see you and was going to ask if you wanted to go to the dueling grounds with me, but it seems you’re not really up for it right now.”
“Although I appreciate the offer, I’ll have to pass today. I just want to go sleep right now.”
“Yeah, I won’t hold you up anymore. I’ll see you later, Arkanon.”
“See you.”
Arkanon continued on his way and soon reached his cabin. He unlocked the door and went inside, locking the door behind him. He unbuckled the sword from his side and went over to his bed and flopped on the bed. He quickly fell asleep.
Arkanon found himself floating within a black empty space. He doesn’t know what happened or how he got there, but he could only feel one thing: an immense fear. Arkanon tried to move his body, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move a single inch. He wanted to call out for help, but he couldn’t open his mouth. No matter what he did, he was stuck there. He could only wait for something to happen.
After a while, Arkanon was still floating there. The feeling of fear never left him. He felt himself about to go mad. Before his eyes, two massive red eyes opened before him. Arkanon felt himself freeze and his mind went blank. The power that he felt from the eyes easily surpassed him. He could feel the eyes stare directly into his soul. He stayed like that for a short time, with the red eyes staring at him.
Arkanon then heard a voice enter his mind. This voice was overwhelming, and carried a massive weight with it and it only said a single word. “Arkanon…”
Within a purple void, two beings watched the events of the universe. One was a slim figure made of pure white energy and had blue eyes. The other was a larger figure made of completely black energy and had red eyes.
A feminine voice came from the white one. “Brother, something is going to happen soon. The demons are preparing to make a move.”
“Mmm, the demons and guardians have unconsciously entered a ceasefire these past hundred or so years. But now it seems the demons are about to strike.” A deep voice came from the black one.
“I wish I could help the guardians. It pains me to watch them suffer.”
“I also wish we could help, but it is not our place to interfere nor do we have the ability to.”
“I know that, Kai, but I still wish we could do something other than sit here and watch what happens.”
“Patience, Khi, I’m certain something is bound to happen which will give us the ability to help the guardians. For now, we must bide our time.”
The white one, Khi, could only mutter to herself. “What’s the point of us becoming this powerful if we can’t do anything?”
The two beings stayed there, continuing to watch as events unfolded themselves.
“Hey Areath, I have a question.” Arkanon said to Areath as they were walking.
“Go ahead and ask.” Areath said.
“I’ve noticed there was a pretty big difference from when my power first came out to now. I don’t feel that same amount of strength.”
“You didn’t know about a guardians ‘awakening’?”
“No, what’s that?”
“It speaks for itself. It’s when a guardian awakens their ability. It usually results in a massive amount of power flowing through their body. That’s how you could fight those three demons. If you were to fight the same demons now, chances are you would only be able to barely get away. You’d most likely end up dead.”
“Does a guardian only awaken once?”
“That’s something I can’t answer confidently. There are rumors that some of the first guardians could awaken to a different form. I think it was called something along the line of a ‘true form’. The true form’s power easily rivaled that of an Ancient or Corrupted. I also remember hearing that as long as a guardian reached a certain level of power, a true form was possible. But with each generation of guardians, the Ancient blood in all of us has weakened greatly though, which resulted in us becoming weaker. I’m not completely sure though, as this is rumors mixed in with some things I do know.”
“Is it possible for me to reach that stage?”
“Of course it’s possible. It’s possible for all guardians and demons. What you probably mean is what the chances are, and the chances of that is very low. We’ve yet to see a ‘true form’ in the past few billion years. If there was one that had reached that level of power, it’s been hidden pretty well.”
“It would make sense if they were hidden. I doubt either side would want the other to know about such a powerful person.”
“Ah, here we are.”
Whilst talking, Arkanon and Areath had arrived at the training grounds. Arkanon looked around and saw various other students were training. Some used their weapons while others were using energy. He found it interesting to watch some of the students shoot fire energy as fire bolts while others using the same type used it as a wave a of flame. Students using the liquid type would switch between using it as a whip and using it as a straightforward blast. Ones that used air used it as something similar to condensed air blades or would summon a miniature cyclone that tore up the area around it. The students that used lightning would shoot out bolts that struck the targets fast, and they would also have occasional lightning bolts strike at a random area from around their body.
One thing Arkanon noted was that although energy users could perform the same things, they all had different ways of attacking. Most were common from what he saw while others were unique. Some had flames erupt from the ground their feet, while others had formed large golems made of liquid. Air users would be able lift themselves off the ground or give themselves an extra boost. The lightning users would infuse their body with the lightning, putting extra power behind their attacks and giving them a big speed boost.
Seeing these people use such creative methods, Arkanon couldn’t help but be amazed. He then made a resolve to try and create a creative method like everyone else.
“Hey Areath, how do you plan on training me to use my short sword?” Arkanon asked.
“What do you mean?” Areath asked back.
“Well, I mean you use a two-handed sword while I use a short sword. How do you plan on training me without a short sword as well?”
“It’s up to you to learn how to use your sword. I’m only going to show you how to fight and defend yourself.”
“But what about sword stances and such?”
“Sword stances aren’t going to help you live on the battlefield. Besides, you already look like you can wield your sword like a veteran. Which isn’t all too surprising.”
“Still, I don’t think this is right.”
“Relax, just rely on your instinct in a fight. It’s a lot better than trying to pull some stupid shit thinking that you’ll be fine.”
“But Jared told me that purely relying on instinct will most likely get me killed.”
“Then Jared is wrong. One of the best things to rely on in a battle is instinct. If it’s a one versus one situation, then maybe sword stances and such would work. But a battlefield is complete chaos. It’s better to revert back to a primal state of mind and follow the flow of battle.”
“You two have different mindsets on this.”
Areath sighed. “I won’t tell you which way to fight, Arkanon. Ultimately, the way you want to fight is up to you. I’ll train to read an enemy and help you improve your reaction speed as well as instruct you where to strike at. If you want to learn sword stances, you’ll have to either ask Jared or other instructors since I’m not familiar with them.”
“I think… I think that’s all I want. For now at least. I also feel that relying on my instinct is one of the best things to help me survive.”
“Hm. Good. Alright, we’ll start with teaching you how to use your energy. As a quick warning, and I’m sure you read this in the book, if you try to do something that exceeds your strength, it will kill you. So be cautious when you train. Okay, for starters, gather the energy from your body.”
Arkanon stood still and felt within himself to find that strange power. Once he had it, he started to exert it through his body causing white lightning to start crackling around his body.
“Good, now focus it on the tip of your finger and shoot it out towards one of the targets.”Arkanon did so and a fast bolt of lightning shot out from his finger and struck one of the training targets. The target, being solid metal and resilient so as to not quickly be destroyed by the students, still had a massive dent from Arkanon’s energy blast.
“I keep forgetting that you’re not normal. I shouldn’t even be surprised that you could put a dent into that. Yet I’ll be damned if still not amazed by the fact that you can do this as a ten year old kid.”
Arkanon grinned and was about to reply when his mind went blank and he collapsed to his knees.
“You alright?”
Arkanon could only weakly nod his head in response.
“Sit down and rest for a couple minutes.”
Arkanon nodded his head once more and sat back. It felt like his entire body had been drained of it’s strength. After sitting down for a few minutes, he finally regained some of his strength. He stood up and turned towards Areath.
“Are you okay to continue?” Areath asked.
“Yeah, I should be okay now.” Arkanon said.
“Alright, let’s move on. So, as you’ve noticed, when you use your entire body’s worth of energy, you can do a lot of damage. However, you also use up most of your strength. Now, try gathering the energy from just your right forearm. After that, shoot it out.”
Arkanon once more summoned the energy from within his body and gathered it at the tip of his finger. A lightning bolt shot out and hit the target, this time making only a tiny dent. This time though, he didn’t nearly pass out.
“Notice a difference?” Areath asked.
“Yeah, I’m not out of strength. I also feel like I could do that again.”
“You’re correct. When using energy on the battlefield or in general, you need to be careful how much you use. If you use all the energy in your body, you’ll become weak and vulnerable. However, if you use much smaller bursts, you can do far more damage over time. Only use all your energy as a last resort. From today onwards, I want you to try to use your energy as efficiently as possible while trying to maximize how much you get out of it. That’s all I’ll help you for energy today. Do you think you can go on today?”
“I can try.”
“Okay. Normally, I’d have you try to strike me in some way. However, since you’re already tired, it’d be better for you to use a training dummy. Here come over to this one.” While saying so, Areath walked over to a metal training dummy that was human shaped. “Here, try attacking this one.”
Arkanon walked over while unsheathing his sword. He took a deep breath then struck as fast as he could at the training dummy. He attacked first with a slash from the dummy’s right shoulder to the left help, then with a slash at the throat before finishing it with a slash to the head. The dummy was mostly unaffected by the sword slashes and had only small indents on it from where Arkanon’s sword hit.
“Hm, okay, we’re off to a good start. You won’t be able to do much more as you are now. Once you get older and stronger, you should be able to cut straight through the metal. These dummies right here are only slightly stronger than the armor demons use.”
“So once I can cut through the dummies, I can cut through demons?”
“Yeah, even though you said it kind of weird. Anyways, I recommend training with this dummy for a few hours. After that, it’d probably be wise to stop for the day. You did exhaust yourself pretty heavily earlier.”
“Okay, I’ll stay here and practice.”
“Then I’ll see you later, Arkanon. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to come find me.” Areath walked off into the training grounds and soon disappeared from Arkanon’s sight.
‘I’ll keep swinging at this dummy until I’m tired’ Arkanon thought to himself. ‘I have to get stronger.’ Arkanon kept attacking the training dummy. After a few hours of training, Arkanon had stabbed his sword into the ground and was resting on it. Sweat was dripping from his face and he was panting heavily.
“I… I suppose that’s… enough for one day.” He muttered to himself.
He stood back up and started to trudge through the grounds, heading back to his cabin. He had his head lowered and looked ready to fall over at a moments notice. Along the way, he ran into someone.
“Hey Arkanon! Wow, you like tired today.” A voice called out from in front of Arkanon.
He looked up and saw Veld standing there. “Hi Veld.” Arkanon said tiredly.
“Did you even get any rest after yesterday?” Veld asked curiously.
“I did, I’m just tired from today.”
“Ah, I see. Well, it’s something you’ll have to get used to being here. I just happened to see you and was going to ask if you wanted to go to the dueling grounds with me, but it seems you’re not really up for it right now.”
“Although I appreciate the offer, I’ll have to pass today. I just want to go sleep right now.”
“Yeah, I won’t hold you up anymore. I’ll see you later, Arkanon.”
“See you.”
Arkanon continued on his way and soon reached his cabin. He unlocked the door and went inside, locking the door behind him. He unbuckled the sword from his side and went over to his bed and flopped on the bed. He quickly fell asleep.
Arkanon found himself floating within a black empty space. He doesn’t know what happened or how he got there, but he could only feel one thing: an immense fear. Arkanon tried to move his body, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t move a single inch. He wanted to call out for help, but he couldn’t open his mouth. No matter what he did, he was stuck there. He could only wait for something to happen.
After a while, Arkanon was still floating there. The feeling of fear never left him. He felt himself about to go mad. Before his eyes, two massive red eyes opened before him. Arkanon felt himself freeze and his mind went blank. The power that he felt from the eyes easily surpassed him. He could feel the eyes stare directly into his soul. He stayed like that for a short time, with the red eyes staring at him.
Arkanon then heard a voice enter his mind. This voice was overwhelming, and carried a massive weight with it and it only said a single word. “Arkanon…”