Time began to fly for Arson in Origin. His fears that his time was limited was still ever present, but as almost a fortnight was spent learning from a multitude of masters, his mind focused more on what he was being taught than anything else.
His time in the Ad Infinitum was long and arduous. While his training with Breaker seemed to slip through his fingers like water.
He loved every blink that passed within the city, but felt his heart twist when he remembered the faces of those waiting on his return as he worked in Osiris’s workshop. The thought of never leaving crossed his mind multiple times, and Arson had to ignore the prompts from the system that offered to let his trials end, and set his new primary location as Origin.
Osiris’s training was at times perplexing in ways that made even Arson feel inadequate. Yet it was his unwillingness to quit that filled his new teacher with fathomless patience.
Arson thought his time with the giant tinkerer was going to be filled with purely crafting and gadgeteering, yet it was the battle shield portion of his experience with Osiris that shocked Arson the most.
Acu had brought him there to learn how to craft bows, but Osiris had different plans, forcing Arson to create shields, and scythes in addition to bows.
The man seemed to believe that Arson would one day figure out how to tie in his use of all three weapons, but Arson was convinced that a feat of that magnitude was impossible. No matter how often they discussed the concept of a shield having the capabilities of a bow and scythe, Arson remained rigid in his belief that, at best, only two of the weapons could be fused, and even then the mechanics of the newly created instrument would likely be fragile without centuries of experimentation and planning.
His own family’s weapon of choice was indeed the iconic shield bow, which fed into Arson’s belief that if it were possible, someone would have already achieved it throughout the history of his own family, or by another even more talented family of crafters, experienced to the same degree as Osiris or more.
Yet Osiris continued to break down what Arson believed was possible. The man asked questions Arson didn’t have the answer to constantly, pushing Arson to think beyond what he knew to be possible, and toward what he could make possible.
Arson spent much of his time in the workshop building components to designs that others inside the workshop were developing. This work helped him become more familiar with fabrication and the use of blueprints.
He found a love for the construction of devices that had many moving parts, and as he grew more comfortable, Arson began to develop components with the use of runes to advance the capabilities and functions of each and every individual piece he made for others' projects. His own products quickly became favored. Although Osiris, Magnus, and Merlin were far more experienced, their time was far less affordable than Arson’s in the eyes of the workshop’s patrons.
Through his practice, he earned a substantial amount of gold. An item which he learned almost instantly had no value for him in Origin city, as his meals were always paid for by his various masters, even though he didn’t need to eat, and he never slept, making his need for a bed utterly pointless. So the spending of money at taverns never occurred, and all materials he needed to build with were given to him in abundance by Magnus and Merlin; the pair always overwhelmed with unused product left behind by customers that left waste or even complete projects to languish in the workshop’s rentable rooms.
He’d struggled at first to use the odds and ends of other crafters, either dead or too frivolous to return to retrieve their abandoned works. Until he was shown what happened to the marvels that were left beyond their contracts' given time limits. He’d almost cried at the sight of a flying bicycle being smashed into bits by a giant trash compactor, no longer feeling guilt at the use of anything the crafters chose to let him use after the sight.
After a specific training session with Master Breaker in which the man chose to use his own scythe for the first time, Arson couldn’t help but stare at the handle of the weapon.
The snath of the scythe was made of lightning; the element condensed so powerfully that it was physically able to be held in its wielder’s hand. A trait that exploded in his mind as a lynch pin to what he and Master Osiris had battled over almost since they’d met.
“So what I plan on doing is making a circular buckler that spans from my fingertips to around three fourths up my arm, using runes to construct a handle for the shield that is made from elemental energies, this should allow me to use the shield as a bow, as the elemental handle can be used for many different mechanisms, such as a bow string.”
Osiris looked up from his work, gesturing for Arson to continue as he paced in front of his workbench discussing his idea with the master tinkerer.
“I was thinking of making the bow portion more of an arm mounted crossbow, and still may, but with runes I should be able to make the interior of the shield like that of a one way mirror, which makes me want to be able to fire directly through the shield even when blocking, that would require more of an elemental energy or mana based projectile to work, but that is more than possible with arrays, as I may even be able to use my conductive water orb ability to form the arrows.”
“Ah, I see, and how will the melee functions work?”
“Well, if I center the handle in the middle of the shield, I can again use runes to make the handle that can be used as a bow string shift into the snath of a scythe, and I was thinking of making the edges of the buckler razor sharp, and having it split into three separate pieces that can shift down the weapon’s length to create various styles of weaponry.”
“Such as?”
“Well if the middle portion stays around my hand defensively, the two outer sections of the buckler can join at the top and create a spear-like glaive, or if the middle portion of the shield also joins the outer segments, keeping them separated while remaining lower on the weapon, it could be used as a war trident.”
“I love your enthusiasm, but wasn’t your objective to form a scythe from these components?”
Arson waved a dismissive hand before continuing, cupping one hand over the other, and sliding the hand on top from his wrist to his fingertips.
“Still working that out but I think I can figure out how to make the two outer portions move on top of one another at the edge of the snath like this, to form the blade of the scythe and even form a rather wicked edge that curves, creating a rather deadly blade to my scythe’s design.”
Osiris began to clap slowly, and Arson stopped pacing, confused.
“What?”
“Nothing, child, just impressed. It normally takes those I teach far longer to become what I call a free mind, able to break down the shackles of the supposed possible and impossible, you should be proud of yourself, youngster.”
“Thank you, but it's not built yet, so I’m not going to get too excited yet.”
“Wise beyond your cycles, my boy, wise beyond your cycles.”
“Will we be training in the battle shield forms today?”
Osiris nodded. Standing up, he headed toward an open section in the middle of the large room, which was lined with various works in progress. Two shields sat positioned there from the last time the pair practiced, and Arson moved to pick up the second shield. The light weight wooden instrument made to develop muscle was a small burden to Osiris, but far more cumbersome to the far smaller Arson.
“We shall start with the stances and move into coordinated bouts,” said Osiris, and Arson stopped himself from groaning aloud. He hated the stances as they pushed his body to the limits, but loved the coordinated bouts the master often put him through, as it gave Arson rewarding practice time battling in a new form of combat with an opponent far larger than himself.
“Enjoy these movements while they are simple, child, they only get more challenging the more you know and the stronger your body becomes. Soon we will be working on flexibility, to ensure you have the ability to reach behind your back with a shield and block attacks that come from the rear.
Arson sighed but nodded. He had much to learn and wanted to become a powerful combatant to any whom he encountered. Through his constant training over the last fortnight, he’d come to accept his love for the thrill of battle rather easily.
Not because of any life threatening situation, or deep contemplation brought on by his consistent discussions with his masters, but instead the realizations came with outright enjoyment.
He’d overcome many different types of enemies in his time in the dungeons with Acu. Lost himself to endless attempts at surviving the scythe golems with master Breaker, and even managed to block a blow from Osiris without being sent sprawling.
Each successful stance he completed, stretching his trembling limbs, perfecting each movement with an absolute focus on form rather than repetition. Everything slid into place slowly in his mind.
Using his Closed Eye Dominion to be able to see every inch of his body while he moved drastically furthered his capabilities while holding a shield. Arson was unaware, but this detail alone about Arson’s training thus far left the hidden god within Origin to believe that he was the most promising talent he’d ever had the opportunity to tutor.
The maneuvers held various positions from dead arts found on mortal realms like Earth and Mars, such as yoga, tai chi, and parkour. Each stance requiring extreme levels of balance, dexterous limbs and mental faculties, in addition to the ability to split one's focus.
The last requirement needed to be able to send signals to the shield, all while moving and performing attacks, while simultaneously defending. The battle shield forms were vicious when used to attack. The punches, grapples and slams while using the weapon also using the dead art of Judo to link one flowing maneuver into another.
Many of the styles used by cultivators were advanced forms of lost and dead arts, but Arson knew nothing of their rarity as he was taught by Osiris. Simply pushing himself to new limits the more he gained skill in the refined techniques.
“That is enough for now, shall we begin to spar or do you need a break?”
Arson shook his head, drenched in sweat from head to toe. The master’s smile enough to make him sigh with exhaustion, knowing what was to come.
Osiris never seemed to take the sparring bouts easy. Every opportunity to strike that Arson allowed, the master took, nailing the reasons for defense's equality to offense home in his young mind.
They started out slowly, Arson taking small steps to close the distance between him and Osiris. Both shields upright, only their eyes visible above the wood carved to emulate concave tower shields.
The combat begun in a burst of movement, Arson using the shield in his hands to dive to Osiris’s side, performing a perfect roll off the rounded face of his weapon. On his feet he was immediately forced to block, lifting the shield to stop the downward smash of the larger shield being dropped like a hammer.
Arson’s entire body slid backward, forcing him to a kneeling position, which coincidently helped him avoid the sweeping attack that would have smashed into his midsection, but instead passed silently above his head. The gust of air caused by the man’s attack somehow far more threatening and violent to Arson than even, blocking the blow.
I can’t wait to use this to battle against Troy and the others back home.
The single arrant thought was enough to slow Arson long enough to give Osiris even more time to follow through with another series of attacks.
Come on, Arson, focus!
“Do not forget the runes, child!”
Arson nodded, but stayed quiet as he gave his full attention to the combat.
The shields had runes spread across the front, that lit up to indicate a different ability within the shield being used. For the practice, only the symbol would light up, rather than having an actual flamethrower, gust of air, burst of sound, jolt of lightning, or vertical geyser of water gush toward a sparring partner.
They’d used more functional versions of the shields in the beginning, but Arson quickly learned that the various achievable combos were endless and finally gave in to Osiris’s suggestion to use the inactive versions until he gained more practical skill with a battle shield.
Arson charged, and Osiris lifted his shield slightly to block. The young Cultivator transitioned in an effort to make the curvature of the shield's slick surface slide on contact, spinning him off to the side, pushing him more toward one direction as he moved. Using the momentum he’d built, he did manage to rotate, not losing a bit of speed, but his efforts were in vain. Though he thought he’d gotten to the master's side, lighting the flamethrower rune perfectly, all that he’d done was light the face of his master’s shield, Osiris’s smooth movement closing off his student's avenue to attack.
Arson cursed internally, wishing he’d actually been using the live shield. The wind rune offered various options to dodge. Arson lit the rune, angry that a burst of air didn’t push him away from the shield. Osiris quickly bashed into him, taking only a single powerful step forward. The accompanied stomp that shook the floor making Arson temporarily unbalanced.
Arson strongly wanted to saturate the shield he held with conductive waters from his skill in the moments his mind panicked, the answer for what to do next not an automatic response that had been trained into his instincts and muscle memory yet. Which gave Osiris yet another opportunity to attack each and every time he froze.
“Screw your head back on and fight, boy!”
Arson took a few defensive steps backward, the footwork like that of a practiced boxer. Once he gained enough distance, he shook his arms free of the tension that had built in his muscles during the start of combat, bobbing on his toes to loosen up his body before he lifted his shield once more to reengage. Osiris’s gaze fierce as he smashed the fist of his free hand into the face of his own battle shield.
“Again!”