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.

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"Right this way."

An aging butler led Alfred along a magnificent greenway. Cysandoth was left a while back in an ornate "waiting room" along the far edge of the Empresses' private estate, leaving Alfred to fend for himself.

The butler had been curt but accommodating to Alfred, much to his surprise. In fact, the moment he entered the gates to the palace, both guards spat on the ground to signal their disgust.

Alfred couldn't help but ignore them at the sight of the palace. The sheer amount of gold and marble present was attention grabbing enough, but upon closer inspection, one could see insanely ornate carvings and patterns all throughout the building. Somehow, the architects that built the building were able to sculpt the whole thing with more twists, swirls, and ridges than a fingerprint.

Three towers centered the structure, each reaching at least 200 meters in height that tip off like pikes at the top. In the center connected by three bridges is a hanging box where, although faint, Alfred could feel a pressure emanating from.

Around the inside of the perimeter of the walls to the palace is a forest line that, from Alfred's estimation, stretches a few city blocks in width alone. Eventually, Alfred and the Butler exited the forest and ended up on a thin path leading towards a small stone building.

The butler stopped, and so did Alfred. Inspecting it, Alfred noticed that there wasn't even an obvious way to get in. There were no doors, windows, he even checked for a chimney. Looking back, the butler seemed amused.

"Earlier, you were given a white-gold coin, were you not?"

Alfred reached into his pocket and pulled out said coin, holding it up, he could see a near photo realistic elephant on one side that seemed to stare back at him, while the other side simply held a distinctly elephant footprint.

"Touch that coin to the structure. Don't panic, and keep your eyes closed once you do. Nothing in this place will harm you if you follow instructions."

"Ah- …sigh." Alfred shook his head. 'I would have asked for a better explanation, but I've seen that expression before. He wouldn't have told me even if I begged on my hands and knees.'

As instructed, Alfred walked up to the stone, no, marble structure with the coin in hand. Looking closer, Alfred noticed the same detail and patterns on this structure as the palace itself. He looked at the floor, and found that the structure seemed to have… burst out of the ground, as opposed to having been placed or buried there.

Alfred took a deep few breaths and closed his eyes. With the coin in hand, he placed it head first onto the marble while standing an arms length away.

"..."

He waited for a few-

"!!!"

Without warning or noise, the coin was yanked in. Soon thereafter, the marble itself started forming over his hand, then arm, then his shoulder, torso, legs, feet, neck, and head.

Alfred felt the slightly warm and completely solid marble suck him in and down… at least that's the direction he thought he was going. He had lost all sense of direction and gravity after being sucked in. That paired with immobility, blindness, and the inability to breathe, Alfred began to fear for his life.

This whole time, unknown to Alfred, he had been literally sucked into the solid marble and was being essentially shifted through it as if it were a simple water-filled tube.

If Alfred were able to walk around the palace grounds freely, he would eventually find many more of these structures littered around the place. Such structures could simply be explained away as decoration, but if one were to see through the ground, a far more spectacular sight could be seen.

Instead of simple blocks of marble, Alfred's initial observation was correct. They all had originated from underground, but that isn't the entire truth. Underground, each structure was only the tip of a series of long tendrils made from marble that all linked to the three pillars at the center of the palace. Instead of a palace, it was more like a tree… made from gold and marble.

By now, 50 seconds had passed and Alfred still was unable to tell if he had moved 12 meters or 100 kilometers. His time in the marble would be short lived, however, as he was shot out of a featureless wall into a well-furnished and cozy room.

Instantly, his head snapped to the left as a slight movement caught his eye. 'Is that…'

The woman smiled and nodded, seemingly reading Alfred's mind. "Öthe, sit down. I'm sure you have much to ask. Rest assured, you have more than enough time to ask it."

Alfred took a moment to steel his nerves before moving. If she hadn't appeared in Alfred's peripheral vision, he would have never known there was even another living creature in the room apart from him, cementing the fact that his life was essentially in her hands at the moment.

After forcing down a long gulp, he elegantly walked over to the couch across from her and sat down.

Looking across, the Empress, to his surprise, was staring blankly at him. '? What's her deal?'

"Pff~" seemingly out of nowhere, the Empress chuckled.

"??"

"Öthe, my dear, you are very much lucky we are the only two in this room, you know."

"How so?" Alfred asked plainly.

She smiled. "When sitting down at formal meetings, it is customary to salute the highest ranking individual in the room."

'Shit!'

Alfred began to stand back up, but the Empress stopped him. "Don't worry about it dear, I've never cared for such formalities anyways. That's why I prefer meeting one on one with the naive youngsters. Almost every single one of them reacts the same, and you are no exception~"

Her reassurance only slightly released the tension Alfred felt. Still, he could only lament that he hadn't known that sooner and thank the gods above the Empress seemed down to earth… or… down to Zenith.

After adjusting his sitting position, he looked up at the Empress. To ease his nerves, he made sure to memorize everything he could about her. He noticed her hair had completely grayed out, but her skin only held a few wrinkles, making it quite hard to determine her age despite knowing she was at least over 100 years old.

Her eyes were emerald green and fiercely alive, but her expression eased the natural tension he felt looking at her. It was like she was looking at… well… a child. He surmised that she would still look at him the same even if he looked the same age he technically was, but he wasn't planning on anyone figuring it out even if they tortured him.

Such thoughts sobered him up. Before he thought about that… thing… he channeled this energy in speaking up.

"Ah… Your Highness, may I begin asking questions?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

She simply smiled and nodded.

"Mnn~ Okay… well," though on how to formulate the question. "how is it you go about creating techniques? I need to be able to do this for my own reasons. To elaborate, I would like to know how to create my own high quality and useful techniques, not simply creating a technique in general."

"Hmm, good question," the Empress said. She took a while to think about an answer, at least that's what Alfred assumed she was doing, as she just stared into his eyes the whole time.

"To start, I'd like to know your motivation to pursue martial arts."

Alfred nodded, adjusting his position, as he started to speak-

Suddenly, the Empress emitted a strong pressure. "Öthe, think. I want your REAL answer, not something you think I would like to hear."

Although he was surprised by how polarizing her tone was compared to before, he still thought. 'Damn, all I really can come up with is to-'

"survive."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

Alfred's eyebrow twitched at that. 'Bit- ugh, it's the truth! All I've had time to think about is survival even when I was back on earth! And the second I die, I'm wrenched from the normal cycle of things and placed in an unwinnable situation, forced to kill when I've never done so before! And what do my struggles get me? Tortured!'

"!!!"

The Empress' eyes widen. 'Is that, killing intent? Directed at me? No,' she scrunched her eyebrows together, 'it's directed at-"

As she was having that thought, although she couldn't logically believe her eyes, she saw Alfred's internal äura seep through with his killing intent, something only late Advanced martial artists have been recorded to do. Even… worse… was the color.

'Ugh! It's suffocating!'

The Empress was quite worried now. 'If a child can hold such anger and still stay civil… no… I don't even want to think about it. I must keep watch on this one, if she somehow snaps, too many innocents will be killed.'

Alfred's inner monologue was still ongoing, internally listing all the reasons his answer was as truthful as it could be, but he was interrupted before he could speak his reasons.

"I understand, Öthe. I will answer your question now."

With a small nod, Alfred held his tongue and listened intently.

"To start, 'Creating Techniques', to an extent, has no template I know of, or can teach. It isn't a stretch to say that you can develop a technique accidentally, although I wouldn't bet on this, or you could copy a motion from a beast or monster and make it your own. In general, you should start with the end result you desire. Even sooner decide if you want the result to be fast, tricky, strong, defensive, or any other rudimentary base.

"Once this is done, you must pull from any and all techniques you know for movements, however small, that relate to the effect."

She stood up and walked to a more empty part of the room.

"For instance, see here:"

She performed a perfect jab, which Alfred thankfully has already learned how to perform. What was even more scary is that, had he not activated HSM, despite her obviously slowing the move down, he would have not picked up on the details of the move at all.

"Obviously, that was a perfect Jab. I know you are able to do this, and I want you to think about how you perform the move. How are your feet placed? How and when do you flex which muscle groups? What position is your tongue in your mouth? All of these things change part of the move. Now, instead of just 'doing them perfectly', test what they do. Why do you have to shift your weight this way? What is the purpose of contracting my muscles here? Why not here? If you can answer all of these questions, not only will you have the building blocks of techniques, but you will also have completely mastered the technique you analyze."

"How far can I take techniques?" he blurted out.

Obviously not expecting the sudden question, the Empress stared slightly wide-eyed at Alfred. "Ah… well, it's hard to say… how do you define "far"?"

This time, Alfred was stumped. 'What is "far" really? Is Nidas al-Djol "far"? I can split my consciousness to an unnatural degree because I mastered the form… but no, that isn't "far". HSM is far, but how can I express this?'

'Think! Think outside the box. I cannot reveal HSM… but what else can be considered "far"? I think illusions may count, I mean, how the hell can I make a visible illusion with movements?'

"I'd say that illusions could be considered "far", ma'am," he responded.

She smiled and stood up. "That they are. However, something so "far" can only be a 1st Division technique, maybe 2nd. To demonstrate-"

"!!!"

She completely disappeared from Alfred's vision. He frantically searched around the room, turning his pupils into a silver blur. Then, she re-appeared in front of him as if she was never there.

"That was a 1st Division technique called Oblivion. In fact, you've seen it once before. The small gladiator that hid in the shadows of the large one against that golem, he was using it extremely well. Even I had a hard time remembering he was there."

'Ah! It wasn't just me!'

"Uh… what do you mean by "Remembering"? And why could I not see you? Where did you go?" Alfred asked frantically.

"Slow down, I'll answer all of your questions, don't worry," she sat down and brushed off her dress.

Alfred hadn't gotten a good look up until now at what she was wearing, but he couldn't help but wonder how it was made. It looked like nylon, but that wasn't possible, as the world Alfred is in hasn't even begun to use petrol, let alone create plastics or nylon. He shook his head to re-focus.

"To start, in particular situations, and after being used for a longer duration, Oblivion can create a negative presence. In short, when your presence is negative, it becomes hard for others to remember that you even exist."

Alfred nodded. "What does positive presence look like? I assume most people walk around with a neutral presence to start, so if negative presence does so much, what does positive presence do?"

"That's the correct question. What does it do?"

As quick as a blink, Alfred felt his vision narrow in on the Empress. It felt like everything else in the world stretched like rubber, and she was the only constant. Somehow, he felt like gravity itself had warped around her for that moment, pulling his head towards her, but he knew that was only an illusion.

"Gasp!" Alfred began panting. He hadn't realized that the short moment she increased her presence, the pressure had knocked the wind out of him.

She chuckled at Alfred's reaction. "That is what it looks like. If you were a Master Martial Artist, it wouldn't be as drastic, but the feeling stays the same, however you experienced it.

"Now, on to the second part of your question. You couldn't see me because I created an artificial blindspot using footwork. In fact, I was simply walking towards you slowly the entire time. This effect is one of the main reasons to know Oblivion, and despite its extreme rarity and cost, any and all martial artists vie for even a chance at learning it."

'Creating a blindspot with footwork, damn, as I am now, I couldn't come up with that if my life depended on it. I wonder how the creator… author… cook? Whatever they are called, I wonder how they came up with it? I guess I should try and pass by an idea I've had for a bit to see if I understand.'

"Then… could I pass an idea by you? Just to see if you think it is possible?" he asked.

"Go right ahead. And don't worry, I won't try to create it myself, assuming it is possible. With the hints I've given you so far, you should have enough tools to come up with something plausible."

"Okay," he said. "Could it be possible to trick someone into thinking I went forward with an attack despite not doing so? Or to think I dodged one way when I, in fact, dodged another? Preferably, they and everyone else around them would see it happen somehow."

The Empress turned away and began to chuckle. "Is it that implausible?" he asked. "If Oblivion is possible, then this should be too…"

"No, no child. I wasn't laughing at the idea, I was laughing because… because I saw the same thing my mother told me. The young really are the future."

Alfred tilted his head. "How so?"

"You see, many of the powerful and wealthy currently are old, incredibly old. We've gone past our prime, and it seems our successor generation has stagnated as well. Do you know what they call my generation, child?"

"I-I do not," he replied honestly.

"The pinnacle. That's what they call us, and our "successors" are the plateau. For a while, it seemed that way. The perfect sets for almost every single basic movement in martial arts came from us. It was as if Martial arts was coming to its apex, that nothing could get better than it is now," She chuckled. "Now, I won't deny the fact that I myself had begun to think this too, but now I have living proof that this is false right in front of me."

"I am grateful for the compliments, but could you please explain how my idea could be possible?"

"Hah, so enthusiastic. Well, child, I really don't know exactly how, honestly my creativity has run dry as much as my body has," she looked down at… well.

"???"

"Pfft~ you're too innocent."

Alfred kept a, while subtle, completely perplexed look on his face.

"Well, back to my point. I believe it is possible, but I cannot be the one to tell you how. The only piece of advice I can give you is to make it work. People will call you crazy sometimes, say things are impossible. The only thing you can really do is push forward and use your genius fully."

"Make it work… but-"

"Shh~" she leaned over and placed her finger on Alfred's lips. "This is something you must do, as I and many others have. Trust me."

'-I trust no one-'

Alfred stared deeply into the Empress' eyes. For a considerable amount of time, the two didn't break eye contact. Finally, Alfred spoke up.

"How did you manage to earn a Manifesto?"

"..." the Empress sat in silence still. Her eyes seemed to haze over, reminiscing over the past. Alfred could have sworn he saw a tear well up, but nothing came of it. "I wouldn't wish such a thing to happen to anyone, especially a child, slave or not."

'You have no clue what I can take, bring it on! At least, that's what I would like to say. Her gaze tells me what she says there is final,' Alfred thought. 'I got all I needed when it comes to techniques, all else I wanted was to learn how to obtain a Manifesto… but if she won't tell me, then that's all, right? Right.'

"Well, your majesty," Alfred said after returning a deadpan stare, "I should take my leave. Do I… go back the same way I came in?"

"Sigh, yes, that is correct. Simply touch the wall again, you'll return as you are."

She stood up. "I hope we meet again~"

Without as much as a glance, Alfred got sucked into the wall without hesitation.

"Sigh~," the Empress sat back down on the couch. 'Was I like that at her age? No, children aren't supposed to be so emotionless. I would have thought she was a spy if not for her intense curiosity towards martial arts. That might be the only childlike thing she has left.'

"Knock~ Knock~ Knock~"

"Come in."

A well built yet lean young man opened the door. He was wearing dark, form fitting clothes of a similar fabric to the Empress, and had some dark circles welling up under his eyes. After doing a once over of the room, he spoke:

"Your grace, we've confirmed the rumor. The fluctuation came from the Wolf continent. The officials were very… uncooperative. I advise that we proceed with caution, there is something our eyes do not reach afoot."

The Empress looked up at the ceiling slowly. Under her breath, she muttered, "One day, those damn wolves will turn my hair gray… wait… it is gray…"