Their conversation was brief, but this has been something that Roman was curious about for a good while. Although, not like it makes much sense since William could tell him anything, regardless of the nonexistent consequences.
Questions wouldn't hurt to answer at all, after all, but if they aren't asked, then the answer wouldn't come by itself.
Sighting in a matter of relief, Samuel didn't expect to sweat, when having this conversation with Roman. It seems even he, has some form of limits to him. Rank 7 or not.
With this being over, Samuel can return to his regular observation, since the course of William's training isn't over. William will probably go through another round of this strange manner of training for the whole day. It will be round after round, whether he will complain or not.
But for that, some care, and rest are due, because the prospect of stealing Walker's Vectors isn't the easiest thing to do, nor it is something decent to do.
As Roman intends this training to be as best as he could, William has no choice but to try his best. With the continuous flow of the Vectors, he already has more than half of them under his control in a matter of 5 minutes.
Pulling out of his pocket a running timer, Roman tells. “It is a bit slow. This can lead to life-and-death situations when Outside. Think of improving time-related problems in the future when I won't be by your side. It's important.”
William hears him, but with how focused he is and how Mindless Eyes works, he doesn't want to acknowledge his timer. Not like it should be that bad, for the first time of losing connection in a calmer manner. This time, he really didn't end up that bad. Others would take longer than that, but he has no sense of comparisons at all.
He already goes at this for 5 minutes, and the Vectors seem to go easier to put under control the more time passes. 5, or even 3 minutes later, and he should be done.
No reply comes his way, so Roman figures this is about right. Although, he still feels unsure about the way William's Mutant Type could work with the Vectors. He couldn't guess it in any shape or form, since the whole premise of the Dual Types is beyond rare. It can be something strange, or something extremely dangerous. Since the System doesn't tell a thing, he also hasn't come up with any method to uncover it.
In the past, Roman only heard of 4 such cases, and only one of them is still alive at the moment. But, only a single of the 4, had a Mutant type in addition to Vectors. The remaining 3 were of the Element, and Vector type, and coincidently, one of those 3 is alive at the moment. The rest are either dead, or their statues are unknown as many other Walkers.
It is dangerous work, so it is no surprise.
Whatever possibilities these Dual types could have, Roman's mind is thinking of many possibilities. He could think 100s of them in a minute. Even a human mind can be enchanted using the Arcanite in their blood, but that is a little more complex than that.
A few minutes later, William accomplishes his goal of going all the way above his control. In fact, he feels the source of many improvements in his mind over the control of the wild Vectors.
“Feeling good?” Roman asks after stopping thinking about useless things.
“Yeah.” William clenches his hands in a good mood, while finally paying Roman some attention.
“So... Are you ready for the next round?” Roman asks.
“I thought I still have the remaining time left from the one before?”
“You already gave up.”
“I guess that is true...” William gets back on his feet. “So, Is it the start from 1 round then?”
“Precisely. Are you ready?”
“R-right now?” William asks uncertainly, but his body condition is already long stabilized. Even the Vectors who were previously so wild, are like a mild river within his Emblem. Everything is under his control.
So much so that, William even feels some shimmering calls from his System. Mindless Eye is murmuring something stupid once more, but one could ignore it if it's not uncomfortable, or annoying.
“Right. With our time, you need to use every minute. By now, there should be some change in the System, but that can wait for later. As with any in-fight system notifications, any hesitation or distraction in a fight can lead to more mistakes. Don't think too much of any Calls of the System, nor do you need to worry about it in a life and death.” Roman sternly says, appearing a little more sensible than ever before.
William notices it, so he doesn't voice his idea to see the System. Instead, he stretches his right hand and the whole body in expectation of further rounds.
Then, his new vigor changes, as a gust of wind gushes at his face. Not forcing his back away, William is still shocked by the brunt of force ahead of him. His eyes betrayed his hope of seeing everything, and before he knew it, Roman appears much bigger. He has the appearance of an 8 feet hight giant with long hands, and a shadowy face. A strong sense of pressure comes from his unmoving body alone.
“So a Mutant dual type!?” he utters in question, sounding inhuman and hoarse with his words.
“Hehehehuh?” William panics upon noticing the stronger pressure coming his way. Fearing his life in this very moment, he feels like fleeting, more than anything.
“Round 1 starts, you keeper of secrets.” Roman's voice tells again before a series of rounds will happen next.
----------------------------------------
Swoosh!
Falling onto his back, William gasps for breath. His chest is once again full of pain and out of breath.
“Huh... huh...”
“Hey. It's no time to waste. It's still time for the remainder of round 6. You should go for the same amount as before. With such Vectors, it's supposed to be easier.” Roman tells in the same manner of an inhuman voice.
“Yeah!? Not when you are so forceful!” William complains from the ground.
It has been more than an hour since he lost his control, and he could tell the difference in his Vectors and control from the previous encounters.
His right hand is moving easier than before, and he even feels he could use the Feel of the Annihilation much quicker and efficiently.
Though, Roman wants to see the defense and limitation that William is able to endure, and not defenses per se. When it comes to attacking methods, it will wait for tomorrow, which isn't that far away.
“Then, am I really supposed to lose control again? No way I will go through the same thing as the last time!” Willia argues out loud, voicing his fear, so Roman would understand he is closer to his limit.
In fact, he isn't, but there is no way he won't stop. Having a small amount of leeway is better than being helpless against high-level Walker.
“Then that's good. Go through these 10 rounds and I will consider this to be a successful Defense training. Of course, if you won't lose control, stop, or call for a break. It's a part of this training, so do so. Try it. Try...”
Roman disappears at the stop regardless of his massive appearance. In the next moment, William jolts from the ground.
“...me!” Roman finishes his sentence upon reappearing right beside William, who is faking his inability to fight. Forcing his right hand toward the incoming kick, William still flies away until he stabilizes his flying speed with his Vector Hand, which catches a crevice on the ground.
By this point, this bunker became a complete battlefield filled with crevices, cracks, and dust after many attacks. Most are from Roman, but quite a few are from William too. Be it from his loss of "control" from before, or now, where he is using his power to his advantage. He can create crevices on the ground, or the wall if he wants. Destroying some measly cement is more than easy in his opinion.
Moving more quickly than before, his dodging abilities also increased. It makes Roman hesitant to strike more since he discovers how crafty this boy is. He doesn't want to wound him too badly.
He would rather not engage in unnecessary attacks, which comes as a surprise, since he never told him to be so crafty. This is precisely what should be advised to any Young Walker. Roman even thinks this is a work of Mi-Yung, but he knows that Assembly members are prohibited from having disciples, or engaging in personal training. That includes secrets or any kind of unnecessary work.
William is a prime example of that, but somehow, Mi-Yung overruled that rule and is still safe from doing so. Maybe the recent influx of missions is resulting in her mischief, but that isn't something William knows or cares about at the moment. All that what is inside his mind, is how to go through this spar without losing his mind.
It's still 2 minutes left in this round, and Roman already changed to more unyielding sort of attacks. He is still as big as before, so William fears for his well-being. He dodges as much as he can, while he most often than not, feels good after a couple of moments after being hit by a strong attack.
“This...?” William gulps down, as a series of jabs come his way.
Each fast, and no longer a second from the other, it is a fast-paced attack that he couldn't dodge many times before. It is an incoming fist that is longer than his own head. William could only face it with his right palm which is enough for his head, and chest, but not enough for his whole body. His Vectors cover a part of his right forearm too, along with his biceps, and part of the shoulder. But it's clear that such defenses aren't as strong as the hand itself. Vectors aren't too thick to work there for defenses.
This leaves William pinched to the ground. Unable to move, many serious punches fly to his body. Dust leaves the concrete, and a few new cracks appear on the ground. Even a few cracks and holes appear o the great. Each is bigger than Roman's fist, with quite some power behind them.
William is bleeding from his nose but still remains conscious and firmly clutching his muscles, and right hand around his torso and head.
Seeing his success, Roman stops attacking and straightens his body.
“Get up, or lay down. Next round, or do you want me to give you my stronger Imitation?” The Roman voice comes from the giant.
Hearing Roman's words, William rather sits down, rather than go with his suggestion. It's the end of the 6th round, so it's good that he remained conscious. He feels if more minutes would pass, he would lose his shit again. Thankfully, he didn't.
Roman already repeated this sentence couple of times in the last 3 rounds. It sounds like a threat, so William rather takes this slowly. He doesn't want to regret anything, and any form of punishment is useless than going against something he would rather not.
William will rest for a couple of minutes, and 7th round will sooner or later start. Roman doesn't lose his vision of a giant, leaving William stunned by the time he remained as this giant. Having this sort of power to remain in such a form for an hour is already impressive enough for him.
Alas, to the lack of Roman's tries, or instead, his considered forcefulness, William manages to reach the end of the remaining 3 rounds. Not once he lost his control and focus, but he was close to that dozens of times.
Panting so hard he would vomit his lungs, William collapses to a seated position after dismissing his Vectors with a moan. “Begone!” This time, the Vectors heard his command.
Afterward, Roman also ceases his shadowy form, which appears as cloudy shadows.
With the same unbothered expression as before, he walks to William while being unable to come up with some annoying thing to say. William already exceeds his marks, so how he should answer that? That is the worst-case scenario of what a teacher can meet... An actual decent student, who goes through the harsh procedure with vigor and success. Although somewhat harsh and with complaints, he still does so with precision.
“I guess you did well,” Roman tells at last.
“I feared you wanted to kill me this time...” William mumbles through his haggard breathing. His whole body is sweaty, and even his blood vessels and veins are visible on his strained body. He went overboard in the last round, but it wasn't enough to lose his connection to his Emblem.
“Excellent...” Roman thinks to himself. Giving the rare freedom of 30 minutes break to move with some topic next. Then, he walks back to Samuel that is sitting on his suitcase again.
This leaves William glad that this is over, but what if a 3rd series of rounds is around the corner? Roman didn't specify his words enough, leaving to a series of fearful thoughts in William's mind.
“30 minutes... I swear if he will go with powerful Imitation which he threatened me with, I will flee for my life.” Scowling for his life, it wouldn't be of much help, but perhaps it won't be as he fears.
Meanwhile, the ending results of this series of rounds are puzzling Samuel to his bitter end.
“I swear I wasn't that clunky or weak or was I? Tell me, Vice-Director Samuel.” Roman asks, leaning his back against the wall.
“I would say his adaptability over the control is abnormal. That, or he really fears for his life. So much so that it affects his Vectors. As you know, this is a prime occurrence for miracles to happen. Mutations, and emotions can affect the power over the Vectors.”
“Heh... I didn't expect such a response from you. Adaptability is the same shit as affinity. The boy has some attitude, but a firm mind goes far in today's age. I am sure he has other things to consider... or is it the heart? Anyway, I have no idea since he complains so much. I can hear his heart cursing me to die! I swear.”
“I think you are exaggerating your words a little.” Samuel laughs, dismissing Roman's open careless choices of words.
“Look at yourself in the mirror. You are one to talk like that.”
“Nonsense!” Samuel retorts with a grin, but he couldn't talk with such a clear force as Roman, who faced who knows what in his life.
Having some rare and easygoing conversations, the flow of the day went rather well.
A little too well, considering the effort on Roman's side.
In the addition to small rounds of defense training, and an overview of William's technique, the night of the 7th day ends. William collapses from exhaustion to the ground after enduring a round of 3 Skills being used at the same time.
It is the last thing that Roman tasked him with, and he even exceeds his limit. Thus, he accomplished his freedom from this day.
Today, William feels pain and utter exhaustion across his whole being. He is mentally, physically, and more than internally, tired beyond his senses.
Above him appears Roman, who is scratching his head in a helpless attitude.
Chuckling he says. “Well, here it goes again. Good work, I suppose.”