The suite Kiria and her disciple had occupied was deafeningly quiet. Currently, only one person was present in the room, who was sitting in a lotus position and meditating mutely according to the strict instructions he was given.
It was morning time, and Felix was feeling drowsy from keeping motionless pose for almost two hours since the warrior woman had left.
The activity didn’t bury him in too much challenge like practicing the martial arts. Although the dozens of spars, which left his current soft body bruised and battered, felt more appealing and thrilling from the intensity of rapid and extraordinarily powerful moves, this spiritual exercise was considerably more preferable.
Felix had revealed the soul problem he was having with his transformations: the imperfection in sizes of his forms. He had long found out it could be solved by controlling the mana flow in his channels. Turned out, meditation was a perfect way to regulate the magic power while shapeshifting.
Kiria had explained that gaining a total understanding of one’s physique was necessary to execute flawless and quick body strengthening. The same went to the rules of mana control. Warriors were required to conserve the magical energy during fights, which meant they had to know plenty well how to extract mana in the right quantity and in a right time it was needed.
This was exactly what Felix was being challenged in mana control.
Kiria had said in order to sense mana channels he first had to learn how to accumulate mana into his mana core from the surroundings. Felix became joyous after hearing this task. After all, it had been one of his primary goals for quite some time now.
The mana core, which he had been calling as mana source since he found out the existence of the source of magic, was not actually a core as monsters had in their underbelly. Monsters that possessed crystallized mana essence were able to use samples of magic; like being faster or stronger, generating or controlling fire or wind elements and others.
The Gorilla form in his repertoire was, in reality, a monster, as Kiria had informed when they discussed Felix’s fighting style in other creature forms during the outskirts drills. Their species were called ape monsters or evolved gorillas. If an ape monster possessed a core, they could increase their sheer strength tenfold, making them kings of jungle. Great thing, Felix hadn’t started a fight with the evolved gorillas when he was searching for new transformation skills in the Great Forest.
The monsters that could draw magical force from their cores were extremely powerful. Even the tiniest cores they possessed could grant them the strength and speed of an elite warrior. The ones that could use magic were able to discharge basic elementals with more ease than most of the second stage magicians.
And certainly, as always, there was a shortcoming for Felix. Shapeshifters couldn’t replicate monster cores by changing into these creatures. It would take time, around two to three years, for the magical creatures to generate a core inside them. Maybe there was a way to reproduce a crystallized mana if someone remained in a monster form for that long amount of period. Felix wasn’t that patient, though.
The shapeshifter was still in a meditative position, trying to breathe in without using his lungs or any respiratory system in his body. This was the key to refill the mana core; imagining the core to be a tiny lung, and his whole skin, his pores, being breathing organs for mana, instead of oxygen.
And the result was… he felt nothing. Trying to drink water from a pond on the ground while standing upright must be easier and more effective. That way, he would at least collect some water particles from the air.
Kiria had warned it would feel this way at the start, maybe for a long time, she had said. Magic warriors would start to sense the change after they mastered cycling in the second stage.
Felix wondered why so few stages of mastery existed. The challenge they bore to reach and overcome these stages were a mystery, too.
Kiria had told him if an inner mana user couldn’t develop mana channels after around the age of twenty-five accordingly to the required standards of the mana mastery, one would not be capable of advancing to the next stage. It must be about the ceasing in growth of a human body, Felix speculated.
Until this age, people who practiced magic, despite their mana nature, were to improve and set a balanced state between their body and mind. A perfect control for magic warriors was all about this crucial point. For magicians, instant silent casting and the force behind spells depended on the ideal link between their consciousness and mana channels.
The lock of the apartment door rattled with steel chirps, notifying the shapeshifter that his master was back. He stirred in his seat a little, perceiving how sour his muscles had become after the two hours of meditation.
Kiria’s entrance sounded in the lobby. After moments, she stepped into her disciple’s room in her usual dark red military reminding attire, with only a pair of daggers hanging on her hip.
“You must have rested well?” the warrior said, making Felix squint at her in puzzlement. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning to Chindon.”
“Wasn’t it important to heal the soldiers first?” Felix asked. Kiria had informed him the Commander of the escort troop had decided to take care of the condition of his soldiers before resuming the journey, which was supposed to take a couple of weeks to reach the intended city.
“They found replacements.”
This was an inevitable outcome, in fact. Quite a few soldiers lost their limbs in that skirmish, some even their lives. Felix could imagine their hands and legs being restored by magic as it worked with his ability. His regeneration was a simple proof that magic healers must be capable curers. But the rarity of these outer mana users, as it was with his own kind, made things complicated to treat the citizens and soldiers in fast pace. He had heard it would take around a week’s worth of time restore a lost limb for a less skilled magic healer.
There would appear a question. If Felix himself were to lose a limb, in how much time would his power be capable of regenerating it? Was it even doable? Actually, he didn’t want to find out, or experiment.
“So, no spars for today?” Felix asked hopefully, with a sweetest smile he could muster up. He had started practicing how to show the allure of women. Who could tell, this could be used as a cheap weapon against innocent souls.
“Why, we’re going to the garrison again,” Kiria replied casually, as if they have been doing this for months.
Felix suppressed a tired sigh. Training his body and mana control was undeniably beneficial, since it would put his mind in peace about his safety, considering what kind of world he was currently residing in. But training within an environment with harsh regimen was another matter.
Two days ago in the afternoon, after they had a mock battle at the outskirts of the Atten city, Kiria came up with an idea to proceed the next training session in a military base of the city. It was slightly over half an hour’s walk from their hotel, though it would turn into no more than a ten-minute trip if they were to ride horses Kiria had recently bought. However, the warrior said it was better to walk through streets, rejecting the mounts, or even carriages.
After the grand explanations Kiria provided that day, the shapeshifter couldn’t set his mind at ease. Pondering over the lack of inquisitiveness the warrior showed, he decided to look into his master’s intentions deeper. Never hurt to be cautious.
He asked the warrior if it was better to check the apartment to make sure no one had paid a sneaky visit. After finding out about the existence of magic hunters, this was a reasonable excuse. With his barghest form, detecting foreign scents or suspicious noises from their neighbor suites would be a breeze.
With seemingly no suspicion, Kiria had given her agreement. Felix must have looked paranoid. Maybe he was paranoid. But with this kind of unique ability, he believed every person in his place would do the same. It was as if he was a winner of the highest accumulated jackpot, and now anyone who found out this fact would be a potential partner, wanting a share of the pie. Or the whole pie itself; which was Felix himself.
For this exact reason, he had no choice but to take up the martial arts. The sole person he could completely rely on was himself.
In his feral form, the shapeshifter didn’t discover any abnormalities with his extremely enhanced perception organs. Not even servants had entered the suite since they occupied the room.
As for the scent his master emanated… he only sensed curiosity. She was curious to learn about her disciple more, Felix deduced, despite not asking of his identity and his past.
His monster senses was not a mind reading tool, of course, but perceiving a person’s mood by smell and the rhythm of heartbeats was quite feasible, along with their emotions if he concentrated a little harder. The woman’s mood was utterly normal; no alertness, in case she was to be tricked by a shapeshifter, no uneasiness or shame, that could imply she was not feeling good if she was deceiving him instead.
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That was weird.
At least, now Felix didn’t have to worry of being betrayed or something. That was comforting.
The duo left the Radiant Turtle Inn, headed to the city’s garrison to resume their spars. The wandering warrior seemed determined to train the shapeshifter incessantly.
This all effort was for the betterment of Felix, he understood it well. Maybe it was only temporary before they reached Chindon, which was a convenient time for the warrior that she could hand him over to his employer, to that said Duke.
However, Felix had a strong gut feeling the woman was a trustworthy person. It felt awkward receiving free support from someone he met only a month ago with nothing in return, but he rationalized the case with his timely rescue he showed during the attack on the road.
They arrived at the garrison in less than half an hour, strolling through the routes, which became slippery wet from the thawed snow. The day had become warmer. Behind the ever-present inky clouds of winter, after weeks, the sun had finally showed up and warmed the country, causing icicles drizzle down from the eaves of stylishly built houses.
The military base of the city was an assembling of substantial constructions that got taller and grander as the building neared toward its center. Pass the entrance, there was a large square carpeted with granite rocks, probably for a parade or gatherings. Some broad pathways led to other militaristic sectors of the garrison.
The two entered the base without much inspection. Although Felix was informed the other day that the area they were currently visiting was not a training field for imperial soldiers but for trainee guards of nobles and merchants, he suspected obtaining permission to enter into such place couldn’t be as simple.
Felix didn’t understand what privilege his master had achieved to gain such an easy access into this militaristic city section. Wasn’t she the ‘wandering’ warrior, who was not affiliated to permanent jobs? Maybe she had been a stable working soldier or a Commander before, but not now.
There was the Duke employment thing, that she executed orders indirectly, as she had claimed. Maybe she had contacts among some higher-ups.
The muddy surface of the grounds in the military compound from a day before had now disappeared. Several hundreds of inner magic warriors were training outside in divisions. And with noticeably fewer numbers, there were magicians practicing their skills, some were engaging in mock battles with warriors.
Two male fire mages were fighting against their sparring partners, who were moving speedily like loose arrows in sync. The opposite side was consisted of men and women in equal numbers.
Each magician had three opponents to himself to handle. They were consistently shooting fireballs to seemingly random directions, which were exploding upon reaching their targets, but not burning their skins, just singeing and screening their fire resistant uniforms in smoke. Considering the inner mana users’ side was notably struggling, the blazing spheres of fire weren’t hurled that chaotically, but to the possible paths, which their opponents might cross.
Yeah, predicting others’ movements appears to be the real deal. Felix mused as he fleetingly watched the actual training with the usage of mana.
On the far side near the walls of the compound, which rose over five meters tall, magicians who used earth and water elements were practicing their precision and damaging skills by smashing up wooden dummies in a distance. Very few of them seemed to be spell casting verbally, since some of them took considerably longer time to release their elemental missiles than the others did. Some outer mana users were producing their own projectiles in midair, while others were raising chunks of ground below their feet for attacking.
The duo entered an enclosed training hall, built with stone materials and concrete, and floored with timber in an immediate replaceable structure, probably in case the occurring spars ruined the framework.
“Instructor Xarn, is it?” Kiria asked as they approached a short but stern looking man, who hesitantly loosened his frowning brows upon seeing the person who he was being addressed. He was carrying a bared steel sword. It looked like a training weapon from its blunt shape.
“Instructor Xarn Damon, at your service,” he greeted, lifting the training tool with both hands in respect. “I believe you are Commander Kiria of Chindon.”
Felix looked at his master with a lightly lifted eyebrow. So she is related to military.
“Just warrior Kiria currently,” the warrior dismissed the title. “You must be instructing these future guards, right?” She gestured to a few dozens of uniformed people in the hall.
“Of course, respected warrior. They will be assigned to posts in the commercial district.”
“Good. Will this cause disorder in their training regime, if I take a few of them for a spar with my disciple?”
Oh, come on. Testing me against others? Felix restrained his facial muscles from becoming bitter and complaining.
The coach glanced at Felix’s young woman form, evaluating him briefly.
“It will certainly not. It is for a hand-to-hand combat, if I’m not mistaken?” the instructor threw a glance at Felix’s outfit again, looking for any weapons for training.
“It is.” Kiria nodded.
“May I summon them now, or does your disciple need time to prepare?” He sounded as if he was stating a challenge.
“She will be ready in a minute.”
“Get ready,” Kiria said to Felix after the instructor began walking away while calling out some names. Her tone was somewhat serious. Though it appeared the shapeshifter noticed a passing trace of a smile on his master’s firm lips.
Felix suppressed a groan, yet prepared his channels for a mana flow as he kept his feminine body still for initiating a full body strengthening. He readied his mind and body for a physical encounter. As his master taught a day before, engaging into a fight required both spiritual and physical readiness.
So the shapeshifter got ready. No longer than thirty seconds, he felt his delicate skin tighten in every inch, and his weight was greater, but ready to disobey the gravity laws to a certain extent at any given second. The sensation was positive, giving him confidence in defeating any minor threats he might face.
He saw on a corner on his vision a girl coming out among a crowd of guard trainees. She was a little older than the appearance of his current persona, around twenty. Her height wasn’t lacking either, stretching a few more centimeters than his Sereena form’s. Also, she looked slightly plump. Her pale brown hair was shorter compared to Kiria’s, barely reaching her shoulders, and was tidied up with a hairband.
The guard trainee positioned herself on a quarter part of the hall they were in. Her gaze was directed at Felix with a visible thirst for contest.
Hope it won’t end up in hair pulling, Felix estimated as he started making path toward the sparring stage.
“Trainee Yuki Mong greets the fellow trainee,” the girl saluted, much to Felix’s surprise. He wasn’t informed this tradition in advance.
“Trainee Sereena greets the fellow trainee,” Felix imitated his opponent, a little nervousness in his voice. For some reason, his introduction caused the girl’s eyebrows slightly narrow with what seemed like disdain.
After finding appropriate positions for a mock combat, they got ready to the signal of start. The young woman assessed Felix’s stance before taking her own.
He was taught his current combat stance by Kiria two days ago. Overall, the shapeshifter had learned three simple fighting stances; one for a direct attack, another for mostly defense, but useful for quick lunges at needed times, and the third one was neutral, suiting for both intentions. The last stance was easy to switch between offence and defense.
Felix was now standing in the neutral stance. His knees bent in an angle that didn’t cause inconvenience, his balance on the center of his current gravity, and arms at chest height. It was a perfect stance for shifting into his opponent’s any possible move upon anticipation an angle of an upcoming attack.
As for the girl, she opted for pure offence. Her posture was as if she was preparing for a marathon; as soon as the girl heard the gunshot, she would dart for a sprint.
The instructor stood about eight meters in the distance, hands behind his back, the spectators made from other guard trainees were further behind. “You both ready?” he shouted.
“Ready!” the female trainee responded with an equally loud voice, her expression was fierce. Felix once more copied her.
“Begin!”
The girl, whose name must be Yuki, made a dash toward Felix with rapid and wide steps. Her path was in a zigzag line, disarrayed.
The shapeshifter had no choice but to take a couple of steps back. But he immediately hurtled at his opponent after the brief retreat. He aimed his leg at the young woman’s knee.
She reacted quickly. Evading the clumsily executed strike, she counterattacked a moment later, bashing at him with her broader frame.
Felix tried to put a safe distance between them, since the one lacking experience in this combat was clearly him. The young woman appeared to be realized it in seconds, so she chased Felix with haste.
It was not a cat and mouse game. Felix waited for a right moment to make a surprise attack as he took large strides backward, moving in sync with the guard trainee, trying to evade any strikes completely.
The chance showed up quickly. His opponent was not a patient type. She abruptly bent her body forward, though her leaping path was not straight at Felix, but to his right.
In the intention of dodging, the shapeshifter stepped aside, nearly bumping onto the woman as a result.
The guard trainee once more reacted quickly, preparing her fists for an attack. Felix did the same. He started punching as well in an attempt to block the woman’s strikes, not forgetting to protect his vital spots he had been taught to safeguard.
A surprising fact he instantly realized was, he was stronger, faster, and his current figure was sturdier than the woman’s frame he was facing.
The accumulated magical energy before the match, which granted his body a superhuman strength, was greater than Yuki’s. His mana would dissipate over time, after around five minutes. But it was enough for seizing a victory.
His opponent realized it as well, her demeanor changing from agitated smugness into cautious one. After exchanging several blows, she began slowly retreating, with some hurt spots on her limbs. Now it was Felix’s turn to give a chase.
Most of his hits were evaded or blocked, very few of them made a successful landing. Still, with his greater speed and more powerful strikes, his opponent was quickly pushed to a corner.
“I yield!” the guard trainee soon shouted, her arms crossed on her chest area. It must the sign of surrendering. Felix quickly ceased his attack.
“Impressive,” Instructor Xarn praised him from afar, not sounding impressed at all. He then turned to the warrior woman standing next to him, his gaze lined slightly downward in respect “Some of my other trainees wish to spar as well. How about another match, if your disciple isn’t tired, of course?”
“She isn’t.” Kiria was staring at Felix, the edges of her lips slightly raised.
Is that a remark of a compliment? Felix wondered.
“Trainee Jenos!” the instructor called out.
A tall and, somewhat handsome, young man stepped out from the ranks of the future guard trainees. His face expressed self-confidence and intelligence, meaning he could be from a high background. His age must be around the same age as Felix’s own. The well-fit figure of his gave off the implication that he had spent a good amount of time for molding his physique.
Is the instructor intending to beat me by using charm? Felix thought in amusement, as he started to refill his limbs with magical energy after arranging his long hair in a tighter bun.
He was able to extract mana mid fight, but it was too low in quantity. It could help him extend the duration of his empowered state only for an extra minute or so. Additionally, it was challenging to withdraw mana continuously. Like inhaling nonstop could not be done, withdrawing mana from his mana core was quite a chore.
Attempting to calm down his energetically thumping heart from the recently earned victory, Felix prepared for the next match. It was more fun than he had imagined. This time, he would be more courageous to inflict strikes, and he would use his movements more logically.