“Alright. This is it, and that is that. Since there aren't any answers, you will find them when you can. I am here to provide you with the Vector issues, and since your System tells the same things, I will continue helping you with that. Do we have a deal?” Roman offers his hand to William to get up.
“Deal... I don't know about it, but sure.” William takes his hand. “I want to see it myself now.” William resolutely says, while accepting whatever deal he even meant. Getting to his feet, he feels a bit better, forgetting the fact, that the screen can be scrolled down. Much to his unfounded disappointment, he flickers his hand and lets the System disappear to nothingness.
The swirling crimson Vectors around him disappears as well, making his hand free from the strain.
“Good. I will give you the last task for today since you are beaten up already. While this was already enough for most people, you want to continue, am I right?”
“Is.. is this a freaking reverse psychology I read about?” William thinks to himself, giving a simple nod as an answer.
“Right. I did give you some oversight of the attacking power of your Emblem. That in itself was great. Your Aanihiation Element is strong for Rank 1 Walker but that was just the beginning. In less than a week your familiarity with your Emblem will be much better than now. I will make sure of it.”
“Good, I guess. Since we are at this topic, could the Element become stronger over the following Rank-Ups? Like...” William ponders over his words. “...the partial element that can get stronger or something?”
“Obviously. That's the premise of everything regarding the Rank-Ups. The more you move upwards, the more powerful you will get. Of course, the first 3 Rank-up are a bit more shallow than the rest, but it still counts. For example, Skills are the major factor. They are a big part of the abilities of any Walker and are one of the fundamental ways one can improve. Although you told me about them before, let's get over them again and tell me what you think about them.”
“Skills... Right. There is Velvet Eyes which is at Rank 1. Then Touch of Vectors, Inner enchantment, Vector affinity, and Vector claw at Rank 0. I never used any of them, even though I think I know how. That Vector Claw seems to be the appearance of my Claw, isn't it?”
“It seems that way.” Roman nods. “You haven't followed your Mindless Eyes towards any of them for now?”
“That's right. I made the focus on my Type, but for some reason, the Velvet Eyes improved on their own. It happened as I was gazing toward the System and my tries caused it to improve. I don't know how, maybe the strain and flow o the Mindless Eyes has something to do with that?” William explains.
“Who knows?” Roman chuckles with this meaningless reply. “What about the rest?”
“I haven't even done any of the comprehending of them. Mi-Yung told me I should...”
“What Mi-Yung told you is less important, but you don't have to forget about it either. I bet she had her reasoning, while she at least helped you with some basics. What I want from you, is initializing the skills themselves in the following hours until the end of the day. Make them active through the usage of your wordy gesture, or figure it out on your own. Since you have done your course on distinguishing your Emblem from the System, I may as well follow through and skip a few things. You will manage this I bet. If not, then tomorrow, or the day after.” Roman says with a malicious smirk, which is lacking any reasoning. It is a gaze of an instructor of the Academy, but William doesn't know it.
He should be afraid, but he lacks the means to be aware of it.
Though, this doesn't mean he shouldn't feel apprehensive about this whole situation. Roman is at least teaching him things he has no idea how they work.
Skills.
They are a thing that he read in his System many times over the following tries, but that's it. He doesn't know the benefits of anything but the Velvet Eyes. That is the only Skill he has some experience with, with not even his claw being enough. The strain of the Vectors always makes his right hand quite clumsy to use. He still hasn't figured out the method of making it comfortable to use.
“Alright. I can try this out.” William nods. “How though? Skills are strange and unlike the Emblem itself. Are they activated through the motion of the Mindless Eye or not?”
“A bit like that, but activate your Emblem first. I will explain it to you how it should be done first, with the remaining day will be a learning process to make them work.”
William couldn't disagree with Roman's methods, so he says a single word, that is summing his courage.. and something else.
“Arise.”
A flicking call of the Mindless Eyse later, his right hand explodes forth with the claw that follows the flow of Vectors coming from his right forearm. The swirling Vectors go from there, around his arm, his elbow, and up. They form a series of motions right around his shoulder, a bit above his head, and beyond his back. It's not like armor or anything, since it doesn't protect but flows regardless of his intentions. William even thinks that's how most of this works. It could be the same with Luke and his azure armor.
In his case, his Vector appears a bit like dense snakes, that try to go around their prey, but the snakes are the Vectors. A strange substance of energy made of Arcanite that has certain rules to them.
“What now?” William asks upon discovering no issues this time.
“No call or a strange feeling in your right hand?” Roman asks just to be safe.
William shakes his head and motions his right hand to move and his body to stretch. “I don't think so,” he replies, finding his body surprisingly lighter and easier to move.
“Hmm. Alright.” Roman scratches his head, figuring his previous worries were unfounded. “The Skills, or so-called abilities what one may call them, are there to provide advantages for the Emblem and things around the fundamental source of it. That is the Arcanite itself, which is quite a mysterious substance. Skill is provided by the System, but it's quite hard to figure them out without proper care. Since you have your way of summoning the emblem, you will begin to figure this out now, since it's a great way to go into fighting stances and make use of the Skills. For the start trying to change the shape of your claw to something else is the first that comes to mind. That is the basics that are known as Touch of Vectors. It's a very basic Skill that you have. It will allow you to change your Vectors to whatever you want.”
“Isn't Touch a rather strange name for it.”
“Maybe. It is what it is. Try to imagine, or go with the following whispers of the Mindless Eyes if it will pop into your mind. Imagine the new shape in your mind, while the Vectors should be the extension of your thoughts and body. That is the basic principle of the Touch of Vectors.”
“Imagine? That's it?”
“Sounds simple to you?”
“It doesn't?”
“I dare you to tell me the same in the following days.” Roman sneers upon hearing his dismissive attitude. “Now, go on. Try it. Your Emblem is good and calm, unlike before. No need to be worried about the wild nature since it seems stabilized.” Roman tells at last while taking a seat on the ground not so far away. He leaves William on his own accord, leaving him to figure this out without his intervention. That's usually how it's done in the Academy as well, but William wouldn't know it.
Standing there in the middle of the large open space, his figure is lit by the lights above him. The previous sigh caused by Roman's emblem caused only temporary darkness which is long gone.
“Imagine... Whatever that even means. It's a touch, so I have to figure it out somehow even when I am tired. This is bloody exhausting... but I swear it's much better than doing the previous things through the Mindless Eyes. Right. Right. I am very right.” he thinks to himself, pondering the possibilities of how this could be done.
Roman gives him nice hints and everything seems fine, but words don't mean the full meaning when it comes to practical things.
“Touch. Imagine. Could I combine the two together? Imagining something through the touch of something? Sounds silly.” William guesses, looking at his right claw. “Nevermind. I can probably do it in a different way, but I am too much of a beginner to even consider it. I guess, or... A try wouldn't hurt?” William decides and goes through a small list of possibilities.
Changing the shape of the Vectors includes almost anything that one could imagine, but it all stems from the mind of the Walker. Simple things are easier to conjure up than complicated ones. An example of quite hard things is firearms. They could be conjured, but the Walkers have to be incredibly proficient with the flow of Vectors, making them sturdy enough and complex enough. It could take long years of tries and learning about firearms to accomplish even a basic familiarity with them. Though, when it comes to long-range weapons, there are also bows, which are similar, but less intricate. They too have their bad things, but their advantages are better than firearms. They are easier to figure out, and their use is often described as a good way to gain attacking power from safe distances.
In the simplest terms of conjuring, there are easier things. Those are the basics of blade weapons. Any of these kinds is simple to imagine and use. Some Walkers can even have a high affinity for them, making their conjuration much easier and more powerful.
Although, there could be some differences and all kinds of possibilities. William is such a case, whose base appearance of his Emblem is a beastly claw. It's nothing rare, but considering the premise of Annihilation Element, it is harder to control.
When it comes to conjuring a new kind of Vector weapon, it depends from Walker to Walker and their imagination. Here, William has trouble figuring out what he even wants.
Sword? He was never one to like them. Knives? Sure, he can use them, but he feels there would be more to this unlike the basics of the weapons. As for the firearms he used before, he isn't one to even think of conjuring them.
“It's all about imagining, but the Vectors are Vectors. I should try to go with the smaller tasks before figuring out something big. That's probably the true meaning of Roman's suggestions.” he assumes and sits down to start. William is better focused in this position.
At this point, his right-hand claw is less restrained than before, so he can move it better than before. He still plays with it, figuring this change out. This causes Roman to also notice some change, but he doesn't ask William anything.
His Vector Claw is still big, and the partial Annihilation Element is still visible. It is a bit bigger than his leg, which isn't great since the hand is the hand, and the leg is a leg. Having too large a weapon can cause trouble for him, and William feels he can't attack with this claw more than thrice with full power.
“It's a claw, so a hand? Boxers use fists, so a more human-like hand wouldn't hurt? That should suffice for imagining, won't it?”
Having the firm decision, William goes ham on his little idea, which isn't right or wrong per se. There is an unimaginable amount of things one could conjure, as the only limit is the human mind. Making a car? That's probably a stretch of the imagination, but if someone has a resilient enough mind for that, he could figure it out in a couple of decades of research.
So, William starts with the feeling of the Touch of Vectors. It starts with small swirling Vectors moving around his claw. Its surface resembles a lake made of visible strands of Vectors. Waters, waves, and swirls of water are replaced by their crimson waves of them. For the better use of the term, the Vectors are distinguishable from each other making the surface and feel of the Vectors quite hard.
William goes into the feeling of a few strands at a time, moving it, feeling it, and figuring out how the Touch of Vectors even works.
He starts at his thumb, which is the thumb of his claw. When he moves his real thumb, the Claw's thumb moves as well, so it makes it rather interesting in William's opinion. The extension of his hand is his Vector claw, so how to make it different?
This troubles William, so he does what he decided before even trying. Making the claw disappear and make a regular-looking hand. That is the start of his Touch of Vectors. After all, the claw has visible sharp points, so he has to remove them, which in turn, will make it a normal hand. For the time being, his claw is unlike the claw of cats, lions, or anything like that. If he would be brave with his words, it could resemble a dragon's claw or some birds. William doesn't even question it, since dragons aren't even real.
If he would guess better, he would describe his claw looks like something between a human hand and claws which resembles condors. Though, they are still indistinguishable differences between fingers and claws. It still looks rather humane even when the sharpness of the tip comes to play.
“Retracting it. Let's go. Make the claw disappear.” William goes on and places his clawed right palm before his eyes.
He looks at it with utmost intent like the System, but his feelings are quite different from before. After all, there is no pressure or pain while doing this.
With the passing of time in figuring out how to retract his claws, William is more and more helpless, so he decided to lower the standards even more.
He goes from the 5 fingers to just his pinky finger, hoping to lower the problems.
This could lower his possible issue, making his mind focuses on fewer Vectors. As he feels the flow of Vectors after going at it for the past hour, he definitely discovered a couple of issues. First is the use of the Mindless Eyes which isn't as helpful, but they do something with his focus and flow regarding his control. It helps, but he is yet to be proficient when it comes to using either of them. Touch of Vectors, or the Mindless Eyes, that is.
This leads him to two wonders. What's the point of the Mindless Eye, and the second which is the Emblem itself? The skills work outside of the System, as its part of the Emblem. That he understands, even though it sounds complicated at first, but later on, it makes sense from his practical point of view. That's thanks to the fusion which he underwent in the Awakening, and that's where the proper Emblem and System come into play.