“You don't have to remake what works, William,” Roman says. “Using more appearances is a great way to work in affinity, use of your imaginations, and control of your Emblem and Vectors alike.”

“But....” Willaim scratches his chin. “Isn't this a bit harder because my Annihilation is more prone to chaos and instability? Shouldn't I be careful over my experiments?”

“Yes. Carefulness is mandatory in your case, as I said many times in the past days.” Roman answers rather nonchalantly. “Hopefully, it won't become an issue though, so let's move on. Let me give you some better kind of advice in terms of higher Rank knowledge. When you reach Rank 5, new terms and opportunities lay there for each Walker. Emblem will become filled with much denser quality of Arcanite matter. Body, or Emblem. You name it. It's at that point, where you can either decide to make stronger kinds of weapons or use two kinds of Molds at their highest potential. I am talking about the basics of the Vector type of course. They have incredible variables, with countless ways for them to work. Mutants and Elements are different from this, but that is something for another time.”

William is listening to Roman's well-informed thoughts. “That sounds great and all, but you are telling me that, while I already use two molds now? How so, with my limited Vectors, and the fact that I am Rank 1?”

“Good question.” Roman nods, smiling. “Hand and Claw are related to your basic appearance that your Emblem Awekened with. Two objects that are not far from each other in their own accords. This is a case of rather intriguing matter of scientific, or not that scientific topics.”

William raises his brows, wanting to speak up, but Roman stops him, raising his hands.

“Vectors of yours aren't as limited as you think they are. You are talented and strange... If I dare to say it like that.” he sighed, focusing his gaze upon William's right forearm. “Why not follow this issue, and topic through a logical sense that I know, but you aren't finding it normal?”

“I am listening,” William answers, frowning.

“For example, you can try making the Claw smaller, bigger, or more intriguing while developing some individual, special Molds that don't require a whole lot of attention. Figuring out Mold of 3 flying knives, javelins, and daggers, are all beginner-friendly Molds. You can use them in a couple of months of trying, I bet. As for my previous topic, of reaching Rank 5. I meant those two Molds would become the utmost priority. A tool that Walker can use with their highest efficiency.”

“Because they can have much, much more Molds that, right?” William guesses. “Two, in this case, would be main sources of strength, and mental capacity. It is probably happening according to the System, as well. I suppose... Having too many things to take care of isn't good, so having few right choices is what you meant.”

Roman nods. His explanations over the course of many days come to fruition, giving William a hefty amount of meaningful progression. It is a good sign of a good teacher. Roman gives him some plausible, workable solutions, but not everything. William is intercept his own guesses and comes to his own solution, and answers for them.

Though, those are anything but possible for the current William, who thinks the basics of his Annihilation Claw will be more than enough for him. That doesn't mean he won't ever try something like Roman's examples. Touch of Vectors seems like a thing that one needs to work with anyway, so he may as well give some ideas a try.

Where else, than now, in this bunker?

“Smaller Claw in cost of having additional Vectors to make something new? Won't it be a bit inefficient?” Willaim asks, pausing and looking at his Emblem. “I can already make my Claw denser if I want to have it smaller. Making it smaller for a dagger seems kind of strange since I already have a claw with 5 sharp fingers. Look at this, Roman. Arise!” William summons his claw in a bit, swiping his claw across the concrete ground while Annihilation Element seeps into the ground, damaging it. 5 sharp lines appeared on the ground, with 2 inches of width, 4 inches at the deepest point, and at least 5 feet long. It looks like a beastly mark of some hideous monster, which isn't far from the truth since William's hand is nothing human.

This swipe of his Claw was barely a try for him. He did use the lowest point of his Annihiliat, to make his point. William feels he can go even harder on the floor, but his point remains the same.

“Hohohoh. You can make it denser, thus smaller and stronger?” Roman says, figuring that Feel of the Annihilation is something that could control the shape, but to what extent? He did consider it, but for Allan to have some familiarity and quickness to reach some progress with it in a manner of few days is unlikely. That is why Roman didn't think of it, and only tells him such examples for the far or near future.

“I want to see that for myself, William. If you feel confident, that is. Figuring it out by yourself is much better than hoping for someone to teach it. That is a good way to become a great Walker. Not an average one.

“Righ?” William gives him a confident smile, satisfied by his clever tactics.

“Indeed... Though it doesn't seems there aren't other options.” Roman turns back to seriousness. Wearing this sort of face is his attempt of making sure William will become serious as well. “It seems you have a steady head on your shoulders. That is good. The head is good. But heart, emotions, and being greedy or too confident isn't. Let's just say there are many options for teaching, and being a Walker. For your decision to matter, it is in your hands, and no one else will make that choice for you. Well, apart from the System, that is.” Roman chuckles, remembering some of the things with the System on his own.

“I got it. No worries. I will work hard on this, as I find this interesting enough. Will this Claw do, or this choice of density?” William answers.

“Since you feel it that way, why not?” Roman shrugs his shoulders in affirmation. “As for your experiment, it isn't a bad idea if I may add, but it remains the same in terms of the future. Your Claw is what was given to you, but it may not be up to your standards forever. It's your choice to think of something since you will eventually need something else than this Claw, or Hand of yours.” Roman says.

“Why?”

“Because the System requires it, and so does the progression of the Walkers and challenges of the Dark beings. It is that simple, William.”

Roman explains, giving a slight chuckle of helplessness. His clever words, solution, and realization are his own interpretation of knowing this boy. William's power is already very good, but what if he grew up? Roman gets a sudden tension in his heart. It has been a long time since he felt this. A tinge of creeping excitement for the sake of someone else. A student, whose future he wants to see at all costs. It is funny since he discovers it in this way. A simple trade for money from Schultz gives him this feeling.

Clutching his fist in his lap, Roman figures this boy is good. Even without him, he will do great. The need for something like a flying knife or secondary weapons isn't needed.

“Is that so?” William crutches down after he sliced the ground in a standing position. He looked at his glowing right hand and countless strands of Vectors that doesn't feel that strange any longer. In fact, it feels powerful. This hands of his. An exception of himself.

“I will think of your words later. Where there will be a need for something additional, I will seek you out if I will be trouble, is that fine?”

Roman laughs at his clever words. “If you will find me, sure.”

“Um... Alright.” he shuts up upon having his high hopes crushed. “This Claw of mine seems good, in all senses, but my Annihilation Claw seems tenfold more interesting. Wanna see, and test it? I made quite a harvest from today so I feel confident with this.” William remains in his activated form, while the talk already passes the 3 minutes of resting time. Roman doesn't even notice it after being focused on their conversation.

“Do what you want.” he agrees. “Don't make me waste my efforts in your teaching. If anything amiss will happen, I will deal with the consequences. That is the least I can do for you.”

William closes his eyes, feeling the velocity of the Vectors within his Emblem. They make his claw, as well as every fiber of the Arcanite matter. The core of his power is his Emblem, while the power of everything goes from there.

Thud! Thud!

He hears his breathing, flowing blood, and quickly beating heart. It almost feels comforting. This thuds of rhythmic melody.

Connecting the Annihilation Claw to his full attention is a matter of practice. William begins slowly, summoning a vaster amount of distinct crimson Element that made the higher efficient Annihilation Element. He does so through the motions of what he remembers. It is from the time that he felt his arm almost break from his body.

The Feel of Annihilation is a core principle of shaping the Claw. It's not Touch of Vectors, per se, but it isn't far from it either. Touch of Vectores can't really control the Annihilation Vectors, since the Annihilation is an Effect, while the Vectors are Vectors. Annihilation provides the property to the Vectors, and can't be moved with anything else but the Feel of the Annihilation.

William forced a high amount of Annihilation out. Slowly, he makes the amount of it smaller and smaller, since it is easy to manage and control it. He does so until the Annihilation is almost no longer present. It's suppressed, under his Feel. His claw almost seems like a hand of a bigger human, while the color scheme is still there, but it's much darker.

A denser kind of crimson makes his Claw. There is still remaining sharpness in the fingers, but they are much more proportional to his overall body. The end of the further claw is a little over 10 inches from his regular hand, which is quite a difference from his regular Claw, and quite a hefty difference from his Annihilation Claw.

Roman looks dumbfounded but he is managing to hide his expression from his vast experience of dealing with all kinds of folks.

“Freaking Element! What in the actual fuckery is this?” he curses in his mind, feeling utmost surprise from feeling what is happening to William's arm. Roman figured some kind of method outside of the ordinary. And in a Walker of Rank 1, of all things.

“How did you manage this, William?” He asks, growing while leaning closer. “Feel of the Annihilation doesn't seem to be the only thing that needs this sort of form.” Roman voices his wonder.

“I am unsure, but here is my interpretation,” William says, his face straining in a myriad of focused thoughts. He doesn't want to lose control of this thing. “It's something like this... Figuring the Touch of Vectors is a beginning. I got a basic understanding of the flow of Vectors from that, but it isn't something crazy, I know. In the following days, I have been practicing with the Annihilation a lot, while the Feel of the Annihilation is quite similar to the Touch of Vectors. The system tells it's a supporting passive Skill. Similar to the Touch, this allows me to figure out my Vectors on an individual basis. All I have to do is focus on all of them, thus, making them denser.

“How?” This time, Roman asks.

“It's like forcing the Vectors towards each other, not making them smaller, but denser, in cost of making them harder to control. It takes some effort and strain in my brain. It makes my Mindless Eyes scream, but maintaining it for 6 to 7 minutes should be about the limit, I guess.” William explains his research that went undetected by Roman all this time.

It is a bit shocking to him, as he wasn't expecting this sort of method that seems kind of high level. Indeed. Roman saw something along those lines, but never in a Rank 1 Walker of Vector Type. Hell... It is even someone like him. A Walker with Annihilation Element for god's sake. Figuring out one of the rules of Vectors so early is definitely a good thing, but it makes him sad about his own past.

It took him years to figure out, how to efficiently make Vectors flow together under his guidance. He didn't even have Skills like William, so he figures this should be the cause for everything. He always felt quite proud of that, but it returns now as sadness instead.

Releasing his grasped hands, Roman stands up like a pointing spear.

“Change of plans. Fight like this. I want to see this form of your dense Claw. Litle of the seeping Annihilation is present, so I assume you are suppressing it in order to make the hand firmer, and smaller. Am I correct?”

William nods in confirmation, moving his hand to feel how comfortable it is, or isn't. The dense crimson Claw is a bit heavier, and slower, much to his disappointment.

“Great. Come at me!” Roman shouts, releasing his giant form and taking a low stance to test the offensive power of this Claw. Placing his forearm forward, almost in a way that boxers do in defense practice, Roman is ready. In this way, his hands are around the height of William's head, so it shouldn't be an issue for this claw to hit where he wants to be hit.

“You want me to hit you?”

“Am I supposed to repeat myself?” Roman tells, his voice sounds like a haggard engine. Deep, clustering with hoarse cracklings.

Hearing this, William folds his small hand, while also forcing the Inner Enchantment to come into effect. Lines of light emerge from the Emblem, enveloping his arm in a bit deeper color.

“Ugh... Holy carp! This is a bit too much for 6 minutes... This is already like what? 4 Skills? Shit....” William laments in his mind but still chose to strike with everything in line.

Inner Enchantment makes the force of his right hand more steady and strain is more manageable. Thus, he feels he should do so since not doing so is stupid. William long ago regrets his hesitation of not using it. It makes his life so much easier.

Striking Roman's palm, he feels quite some resistance, but the palm moves a few inches back from the strike.

“Again. Straight jabs” Roman orders, as if he is a boxing coach.

“Alright!”

Swoosh, Bang! Twish!

William gives him many series of punches and jabs, while Roman moves his palms, left and right, so they don't stay in the same position for longer than 2 strikes. This causes William to wince his body, and move his right arm in a more unsteady manner. This is for Roman to see how flexible his control is, which works wonders in almost all circumstances. After all, any additional movement can stack up, making them matter when they overpour.

Stepping back, William even follows for an extended amount of time, while not falling behind the strikes at all. In fact, he goes faster than when he started. The overall strength of his punches is also getting stronger, but not deadlier than the stabbing motions of his clawed fingers.

Still, Roman goes with this for about 4 minutes, before a last jab causes William's small Claw to distort, making his face contort in main. William muffles an audible cry, forcing himself to stop moving at all costs.

Appearing strained, and sweaty, William clutches his hand with his left one before crouching down to the floor.

“Uhhh... this is about the limit...” William mumbles. “I talked about. I feel this is as much as I can go with these Skills. You made me hit both hands which made it quite harder. Your movements... were annoying too.” he complains, sounding a bit more satisfied than annoyed.

Roman lowers his palm and places it around his hips.

“Great job though. You can remain within the remaining minutes in a normal state. Come on.” He tells in a mocking tone, intending to make William stand and fight to the bitter end of this round.

William looks at him with some hesitation but still remains crouching. He needs to get his claw in order. His Annihiating got even a little out of hand, so he is glad that he went shirtless jsut in case.

Unnoticed by him is his body, which seems a bit different than usual. Even Roman notices it, but William has no time to care about that.

Ceasing his Annihilation in a forced break to get under control, William goes with a regular Claw for the remaining minutes.

At the end of the 5th round, Roman and William stop their movements, and both sit down on the spot.

Only one of them is tired, and quite a bit at that. Roman frowns in questionable wonder at what he even wants to say, not stopping his giant form.

William did like 30% more than he guessed. 4 minutes in the flow of the combat with such density should be stressing his mind enough to lose control, but he managed to prevail. That is, in itself, excellent.

William breathes low and stead, preparing his mentality for 6th round in 3 minutes.

He waits for Roman to talk, but he doesn't start on his own.

3 minutes pass, and Roman still doesn't voice anything. He doesn't even get up, in preparation for the 6th round, nor stop his own Vectors.

Another 3 more minutes later, Wiliam rather voices his question. 6 minutes allowed him to be more or less in a workable situation. He can't see Roman's puzzling expression that is hiding beyond the shadowy Vectors. Because of that, William still hesitates for the sake of his recovery.

“Ehmm... Do we continue, or...”

“I am still thinking,” Roman replies, still figuring some things out. In truth, he was trying to dig, connect, and compare this kind of attack to others he met. It was just plain punches, and jabs, yet it had considerable strength, ferocity, and impact. A very blunt, and straightforward one, at that. William didn't use his sharp fingers in this round. It speaks a volume of William's familiarity with boxing.

The thing that makes him question William's case is the possibilities in the future. His biggest weakness is control or stability of his Annihilation. This can be improved in the upcoming Rank-Ups, and following training.

His second biggest weakness is the instability of using just a single arm for attacking. This leaves his left side kind of open, ready to be killed. Although, it can be used for a certain advantage as well. After all, if it is open, there is a high probability that the enemy would strike to his left side. That is what makes sense, but does the Dark need this sense? A beast that fights in instincts? It could work, in some cases. Not so much, at others.

If he has two arms in this kind of scenario, it would be absolutely marvelous. What kind of combos he would do, and what abilities he would have? Those are all the wonders Roman thinks about. It is his habit that he used to do in the Emblem Academy. Back then, he made many folders for each student, maintaining a tacit understanding of their personality, powers, training, and future prospects.

It's his bad habit, but a habit that makes sense, considering the tutoring mindset that he loved and maintained for a long time.

With William, it kind of returns but not in the way he planned for.

Thinking a little bit more, he discards his train of thoughts before getting up while stopping his giant form. He appeared hidden in appearance, so William wouldn't see him.

“I want to continue with the first half of the last round. Again with this dark crimson form. This time, jabs, thrusts, stabs, slaps, and whatever you want to do. Use means to kill, while I will do the usual.” He orders at last, while William feels at least a little more rested.

Getting on his feet as well, William thinks he can manage a minute or two more in that state if he will push himself.

So, he summons his Emblem with a clear word Arise. Roman doesn't have to worry about that since he can remain in his form for hours if he wants to.

Forcing his Claw to become thinner, smaller, and denser, William is ready in 5 or so seconds. This time, Roman glistering and focused eyes are in every fraction of the second upon William's hand, observing. He still hides his expression from William, since it is no expression of a teacher or instructor.

“The time preparation is kind of slow. Work on this in the upcoming months.” Roman advises, sounding more appreciative than demanding.