“Good. There is only a 20% difference between the states of your Molds. That is pretty good results for the time being.” Romans says, observing his timer.
“What do you mean?” William asks Roman, who nods as if he knows something bigger than he lets out.
“Previously, you used two Skills at the same time. Are you even aware of what it means or what differences it gives?”
“Well... Was I? What? Is there a problem with that?” William struggles to ask, as his breathing steadily returns.
“It was harder, wasn't it? The case of going in the Inner Enchantment alone should have been much easier than the flow of Vectors in your arm and the body.”
“Of course, it was harder... Much harder. I think I would lose control much easier, and in practice, I would get lower results then than 12 minutes. It's not about the control, but... Cycles, isn't it what you said?”
“That's right, and that is a normal problem. Yet you went quite far, even with the hand or claw. You should know that using the simultaneous Skills is the main method to get the most out of any Walker when fighting against the Dark beings.”
“Skills? Skills...” William thought out loud, watching his hand, and remembering his Skills from his memory. He has his Inner Enchantment, Velvet Eyes, and the two Molds that he could practically use, but for how long?
“Of course the Skills. The more one understands them, the better. What do you think is the true strength of the Walkers? How do they fight and destroy the Dark beings when ordinary human weapons aren't even scratching the surface of their defenses?”
“They are overlapping the Skills with each other? That is like... what's it called...”
“Its accumulative strength. Yours are good and powerful enough for the 1st Rank. Inner enchantment gives your body strength and focus. If you will manage to fight while undergoing this state of Vectors, your claw attacks could also be more effective because of the enchanted state.” Roman explains the piece of not-so-shocking news. William could already guess it from his own Skills' description and names. It is reasonable to guess the strengths and connections they could have, and everyone seems different and effective with their own strengths.
“So... I should train in Inner Enchantment while using it seems your Vector effectiveness doesn't seem that bad, considering the use of the Vector Hand.
“No. That can wait. I wanted to know the differences. It seems your Vector Effectiveness doesn't seem that bad, considering the use of the Vector Hand. You don't really have to worry about it when using the Vector Claw. There is no connection between that and your Inner Enchantment since their difference isn't big. It makes things a little easier, but your hand isn't as.... different from your Claw so that makes sense.”
“Isn't... that strange? Claw and the Hand have pretty much the same Skill descriptions in my System sheet. Doesn't that make them almost the same as you said?” William voices his wonder, and that leaves Roman in deep thought.
“You... that's right. I forgot your Claw has its own Skill points in your System. Does... does it even make sense? Does it need that?” Roman asks without being sure of what he even talks about. In fact, he seems confused about something.
“Right! I mean... what! What's even the true appearance of your Emblem?” Roman asks in wonder, which surprises William quite a bit.
He has a clue for his wonder since the first appearance of his emblem was this Claw, so he doesn't have any idea what he means by that.
So, he remains speechless, without any idea of how to answer.
Roman is sitting on the ground in wonder while placing his hand against his mouth and chin. He knows some of the implications of this, but William doesn't and he sure knows he shouldn't know what he does.
“Is that a bad thing? It could mean that my efficiency with the Claw is much better than the Hand and my familiarity with both is the same. That sounds reasonably good, doesn't it?” William asks, as he sees his hesitation.
“Could be. Could be. Let's forget this fact for now, and you do the same Inner Enchantment 10 times. Then, you will move to the Velvet Eyes, and then the new Skills from yesterday.”
“10 times!? That much will kill me...” William scowls out loud, but stops as Roman's firm gaze would say otherwise.
“10 times is over just over 2 hours, including the rest. Some folks do such kind of training up to 50 times a day if they feel the importance of the Inner Enchantment or similar Vector abilities. Hell, some even do these crazy numbers for the sake of new Molds. You do you, and the Inner Enchantment is a pretty damn good Skill if you feel the close combat is up to your taste. In that case, the importance of the Inner Enchantment is better than anything else. It also acts as a continuous flow of the Vectors, so that means progress toward your passive Skills. Understand?”
William nods, while 50 rounds sound like a number that would kill him for sure. So, he begins another course of training, which would drain him for the next couple of hours, but he has to do them anyway.
Meanwhile, Roman is thinking of the way his claw performs. Even the last day made him... rather speechless of the wild nature of its...Element, but that could be because of the Annihilation Element and nothing else. Probably, that is.
Roman is yet to be aware of some stuff. He doesn't fully understand the little details of William's Awakening at all, and this secures his idea to question Mi-Yung tomorrow a bit more.
1st circle of the Inner Enchantment follows the 2nd, then 3rd and so on.
William's mind screams at him that limits are fine to see, but doing it too many times, and your mind will shut down. At least he doesn't do the 2 Skills at the same time, so that is good. The full cycle of his Inner Enchantment is more than enough for him, so he goes at it with passion.
Even through these draining feelings, he prevails until the end of the 10th round, which causes him to fall to his back to the ground.
“Oh, my freaking sun... It feels like my head hurts just from thinking about any of the pain and next thought of another course of Inner enchantment.” William scows inside, while cheering at the end of the 10th round.
Soon, something lands on his chest, which William grabs to see what is it.
“See that? It's already past the 13th minute.” Roman's voice tells outside of his view.
This little round object is a timer. Its clock has two little arrows that lead to minutes and seconds.
“Take it, William. It's yours from now on. I want you to see and feel the progress yourself and nothing beats the timer and knowing the numbers. I won't be here for you more than 8 days after all, so this is all I can offer you.”
“Oh. Thank you very much, Roman.” William forces himself to sit up and gives a customary bow to him in return.
“Don't mention it. I am not that good of a person if I am blunt with myself. Heheheheh.” Roman giggles in response.
.
It leaves a shivering feeling behind William's back, which showers him with anxiety about what kind of "good" he even means.
“Oh no... You mean... Another 10 rounds of this? No. Please, I don't want to do this any longer.” William complains once again, reaching the ground with his back once more.
“While I could do so to force you beyond your limit, it is the 2nd day, so I will refrain from doing so. Instead, summon just your claw or hand, and try to work around your two new skills from yesterday. I wanted to see the Velvet Eyes a little better, but that will wait. I want you to particularly use the Feel of the Annihilation in conjunction with the Annihilation Element which seems like your main Element Skill. Those two Skills should be your greatest weapon, so make sure to work slowly to get accustomed to them.”
“Alright... just give me 5 minutes of rest, then I will do whatever you want from me,” William argues and puts his timer in his pocket.
Getting to his feet, he walks to his bamboo bottle that he left aside and gulps for half a minute straight to quench his thirst. Getting some power back was fine too, but the drain of the Vectors isn't something that physical.
Not like he needs to worry too much about it since he physically feels somewhat great, but Vectors, aren't the muscles. The Inner Enchantment is. This Skill acts a bit like an additional exoskeleton that forces the real body to move quicker, and stronger. The negative is also simple. It put strains on the Walker, causing some power to rise, but when it's over, it's very noticeable indeed. William could feel it from the 12 consecutive rounds of them, but he was also sitting while in that state. That is different from fighting, but the first time figuring the Skills out in silence and calmness is how it's done. That includes even the Emblem Academy.
William couldn't imagine the flow of combat and managing the Inner Enchantment, and his Vector Claw attacks at the same time. His mind isn't ready for that, but Roman has his own methods to make sure he will be ready for the upcoming Trial.
William places the bottle away and walks back to his previous spot. Sitting cross-legged once again, he awaits to calm down before summoning his Claw.
“Arise.”
The flow of the Vectors charges around him from his Emblem, soon making the appearance of the Vector Claw.
Calm, like a steady pond of water, it appears fine and without any problems or strain. There isn't much of the Annihilation Element active in the Vectors, which is the source of yesterday's experiment and results. Roman is sure of that. The Annihilation has some restrictive motives and ways in William's case. It wouldn't be otherwise. If it would be active and full of Annihilation, it would be harder to contain.
The true reason and option to control this state are the two Skills that William gained yesterday.
“So... I have to form a connection with Skill like the Inner Enchantment, Velvet Eyes, and Touch of Vectors. That sounds simple, doesn't it?” William wonders, and is considering which one should he try first. Then he remembers Roman ordered him to use them one at a time, so that leaves him no choice but to do so.
He closes his eyes and prepares for the impact of the Mindless Eyes.
First comes the Annihilation Element that flares up from within the Emblem, affecting the cycling Vectors.
It doesn't take that long for William since he has experience with this motion and conscious effort of activating the Skills. The flow of his Vectors changes, and the deeper, and more wild flow of the Vectors is rising faster from his Emblem. Like a second explosion from his previous summon, William feels much more pressure within his right arm.
Like a flood that is put loose from being in confinement for too long, his claw is also getting bigger and sharper. Even the Vectors change the shape of the claw.
It grows additional sharp points around the knuckles and wrist. It now appears much more ferocious and even a small hint of scaled armor is visible around some parts. Though they appear very little, and almost negligible.
The flow of the Vectors around William's arm and shoulder gets denser, and the Annihilation Element causes the entire right side of his shirt to disappear. The ground is turning to dust in a few feet radius around him with the flow of Vectors coming off of his arm.
“Holy shit!” William shouts, while clearly panicking from the effects of his Skill. He also forgets about his clothes, but it's too late to worry about them. At least his bottom isn't suffering, since the Vectors don't travel down but outside of his arm, reaching further lengths.
“As expected. You just opened the gate of Annihilation so calm down, William.” Roman assures William from his sitting position. “I knew what happened yesterday was right. You used the Annihilation Element Skill just now, so use the Feel of the Annihilation to calm this down. Make sure to follow the direction of the Mindless Eyes and understand the intention of lessening the effects of your Element. That's how it's done to Control the Elements, so do that, and your Vectors will calm down.” Roman says in a firm tone, and William hears him well enough even amidst his panic.
Though it's easier said than done, and it feels right for him to forget it, and shouts Begone instead.
Though, William grits his teeth and tries to follow the call to his second Skill. The second one should reduce these feelings of panic and destruction that is happening around him.
If anything will fail, Roman will do the same thing as yesterday. Forceful suppression is something he has done to a lot of young walkers, and even some who weren't that young. Suppressing the Annihilation isn't the easiest, but he can do so because he is strong. Simple as that.
That is a rule that acts against the number, Emblems, and even Dark beings are like that.
As he sees William's struggle, he is ready to act if he has to, but if not, then he will leave William up to the fateful control of his newly found Skill. Being a bit forceful isn't a big deal. It goes way back to the times of the Academy, and even well before that.
The rise of the first Rank 7 was something Roman saw with his own eyes when he was young. Now, there are monsters beyond Rank 8 that could end the life of the Federation and wreak havoc everywhere. That isn't something the public needs to know, and it is a decision put forth by the most powerful Walkers on the planet.
William remains in the same posture, while his wild Vector Claw has grown to almost 6 feet by now.