Early in the morning of the next day a boy wearing a tank top and joggers was with a man standing in the Garden that was behind the Kaiser Mansion. It had a giant lake behind it, large groups of boulders to one side and fields of flowers, pink, green, yellow, you name it that colour was there, cultivated by the servants of the mansion for the enjoyment of Izak's family. It had a relaxing atmosphere perfect for training.
This boy was Leon and his father, Izak. "You healed pretty quickly... Ah... that is pretty normal for members of our clan so it's not much of an issue." Izak exclaimed with an air of pride, "So Leon first I'll need to hand you something..." As he spoke a butler wearing a white linen shirt, black trousers, a black swallow-tailed coat and white gloves came in holding a sword stand with a sheathed black sword on it, It's guard was gold and the handle was simple with no unwanted accessories. Even though it was sheathed it still had the oppressing and domineering pressure that Leon noticed when he first saw it.
"Ah, thank you" Izak smiled and took the sword, while the butler was staying a respectful distance away from Izak. "You may leave now," the butler bowed and left taking the sword stand with him. Izak looked at the sword and then unsheathed it and a heavy pressure poured out from the double edged sword. It was 4 feet long, had a black surface that dimmed the brightness of the morning sun, yet the golden inscription on it released a radiance that was warm under its oppressive pressure.
"Leon, this sword is called 'Azeon', the divine Sword of the Fallen Emperor. As for its origin, it is unknown, nonetheless do not underestimate it, you can tell how powerful it is just from the pressure its releasing." Izak explained solemnly.
The Fallen Emperor... just what kind of person was he? Leon nodded as he thought to himself. "This sword has been predestined to be yours and you will start using this sword from this day onwards." said Izak.
"It's mine?" Leon questioned.
"Yes it is, train carefully, try your hardest and this is some advice... this swords true power will never be shown unless it accepts you and you become worthy of it, however you can still be able to bind it with your blood for now. Let me first release my binding... the sword is very heavy so move back a bit." As Izak took away his blood binding, the sword dropped onto the ground instantaneously, leaving a small crater.
Leon was astonished but stayed calm while he walked towards Azeon, he crouched onto the crumbled ground and curiously tried to pick it up, he pulled and pulled but it wouldn't even budge an inch.
"Bind it with your blood, it cannot be picked up with either of our strength," Izak said with a smile, interrupting Leon's hardest attempts to lift the sword.
Leon nodded and then tried to bite his finger, but hesitated, he was still a kid and he couldn't stand the pain. Izak sighed, guess he's still a kid... Izak drew a pocket knife and grabbed Leon's thumb and made a small cut, Leon could only clench his teeth tight. "Now bind it.." said Izak.
Leon crouched let the drops of blood to pour onto the sword, the sword immediately absorbed the blood and it released an even brighter radiance than before.
"Now pick it up," said Izak.
Leon then picked up the sword, he was thunderstruck at the fact that he could lift it and not just that it was as light as a feather. The sword shrank from being four feet long to two and a half feet long which was perfect for his small frame.
"From what I have learned during the time I had my binding on the sword is that it will grow stronger along with its user... Now let's begin your training."
Leon nodded.
"What I'm going to teach you is something called External Techniques, External techniques is a skill that allows you to manipulate the natural energy for your own use, however it requires a lot of concentration and to master it you need to be prepared to face through hardships and severe physical and mental exhaustion. This is only for the strong willed, are you willing to do this?" Izak said seriously.
Leon knew that it would be difficult, but he still nodded without any hesitation.
Izak stared at Leon and gave an acknowledging smile.
"External Techniques use the energy of the world as a coating to increase your bodies physical abilities, however the difference in having a Vision and being able to absorb natural energy compared to external techniques is that the quality and the power released are many folds strong. However External techniques is something that when completely mastered it can easily be used to wipe out someone on the same level or slightly stronger than you."
Leon hearing this last statement made him thunderstruck with awe, he couldn't believe in what his father was saying because it was too unbelievable.
"There are three basic ways to use Natural energy as an external weapon for fighting and there are many techniques that when used, can increase the output of the attack. Let me show you:"
Izak stood motionlessly and small specks of red light started surrounding him turning into a thin transparent red cover, covering his entire body, engulfing him. " These red specks and the red cover around me is fire elemental energy. Furthermore this is the first technique and the most basic of basics. By gathering the energy you can create a fully body armour, this can increase your overall offense, defence, agility, speed and physical strength, let me show you." Izak looked around for a moment and his gaze landed on the group of boulders in the garden.
Izak walked towards the group of boulders and Leon followed, when Izak sized up one of the boulders that was twice his size and thick enough for two grown men to hug, he went and picked the huge boulder, with no difficulty.
Leon stared in awe, that boulder looked as if it weighed around 2 tonnes, this was the power of using an energy armour and this was only the most basic of basics.
Izak put the boulder down and then walked a distance away from the boulder, all the red energy all over his body receded and only his hands and legs were covered with the energy. "This is the second use of energy, by focussing the energy to your legs and feet your acceleration and speed drastically increases." Said Izak and Leon was astonished, there was a method like this. While concentrating on Izak, Izak disappeared leaving a small breeze and appeared behind Leon, Izak tapped Leons shoulders and vanished.
"Wah!" Leon exclaimed, surprised by how fast Izak appeared behind him but Izak quickly returned to his original position. Leon was amazed, he was a kid and this was what he was about to train in.
Izak smiled. "And by focussing the energy on your hands you can release it outwards and do this:" Energy gathered around his fist and arm, Izak struck a punch directly into the air in the direction of the boulder he lifted. A gust of wind erupted and traversed towards the boulder carrying specks of red energy and pierced straight through the boulder, leaving a perfect cylinder right through the boulder. Leon's eyes sparkled, astounded, the power was controlled to the point, that no cracks appeared on the boulder except for the cylinder left by the energy fist.
"The last use is weapon armament, by using it you can create a coating for your weapon increasing its sturdiness and power." Izak pulled out a dagger from a pocket on his waist. The energy coated his dagger instantaneously and he threw it at the boulder, shattering it into a hundred pieces.
Leon couldn't help but stare at the dagger and then at his sword, Izak noticing this couldn't help but chuckle.
"These are the three basic uses of external energy, however don't limit yourself to this, True experts can cut mountains apart and move so fast that they leave multiple after images behind. One example that you should remember is 'Sword King Arthur'," Izak said it with overwhelming respect. "His power is unimaginable with one swift move of his sword he can cut through a mountain with ease."
When Leon heard the name of Sword King Arthur he automatically registered his name into his memory. Sword King Arthur...
"Now it's your turn." Said Izak breaking Leons dazed expression. "First you have to gather the energy into one spot, the easiest would be the chest and then spread it around until it fully covers your body transforming into a full body armour. The moment you learn how to instantaneously create a energy armour, that is the moment you have mastered the basics of gathering energy, now try it."
Leon closed his eyes and concentrated on gathering energy, "gather the energy to your chest and let it create a membrane around you. You'll notice a faint suction force, control it, allow it to be concentrated, then spread it around your body." Spoke Izak in the background.
Leon discerned Izak's instructions, he could feel the suction force pulling the energy towards him. Izak saw specks of energy from all the different elements: a fierce red speck representing fire, blue for water, cyan for wind, yellow for earth, green for wood etc. All circling towards him fusing to form white specks that were being sucked towards Leon.
Izak was speechless... What's this? all the different elements are willingly being pulled towards him, there should at least be some rejection... Izak instantly thought back to what Chaos said: He is loved by the energy and by the elements of the world. His body is too majestic and arrogant rejecting the weak and average elemental energy . Only Dark Energy and the Ethereal power of Time would suffice its needs and everything else is discarded.
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Leon was exhausted as the energy carried on nearing his chest and was now spreading around him very slowly.
"Boom!!" all of a sudden a small explosion rang out sending Leon flying into the flower garden, his body rolled through the flowers like a ragdoll.
"UGH, it hurts!" grumbled Leon as blood flowed out of small bruises on his bare shoulders and arms.
Izak was shocked, to be able to reach such a point on the first try was remarkable. as Izak calmed down he spoke: "It won't be that easy to complete a full body armour on your first try, carry on practising and you'll be able to complete all 3 steps, until then I will supervise you." Even though Izak's demeanour was calm on the outside, inside he was exstatic, For the Elemental Energy to actually become visible on the first try is unheard of.
"Ok." Said Leon.
As he said that Leon repeated the process, however failed over and over again and he would be sent flying across the garden over and over again: He would end up smashing into the flower fields and even went flying as far as into the lake, despite that he would stand back up, persevere and try again. But no one could deny that Leon was definitely advancing rapidly.
After six hours of trying constantly, Leon was exhausted, thoroughly using up all his will power to persist as he collapsed onto the flower bed. Izak called upon two servants to help Leon back into the Mansion, help him clean up and rest for the next day.
As Leon was carried back, Izak gazed at the young boy. This kid... To have the willpower to last six hours of constant training should have worn him out mentally. Lasting two hours would be enough to call him crazy, but six hours is an insane amount of time to train External techniques. To be able to do a week's worth of training in a day is close to impossible, at the rate he's improving he'll be ready for the next Path of King's within a few years. Izak believed somewhere in his heart that the Clan's return was nearing.
The next day Leon was full of energy again and under the supervision of Izak he tried again and again, no matter what happened he wouldn't give up, constantly dragging himself up to try once more and again he would find himself completely worn out and carried back into the mansion; This carried on for nine days.
On the ninth day Leon was concentrating the energy as it gathered at his chest and then spreading around him like a sheet.
Leon's forehead creased, hm... The hardest part is here, if I lose even the tiniest bit of concentration it'll break. The membrane has to be the same thickness, if one side is thicker the membrane will collapse. He urged the energy further as it slowly engulfed him and it finally fully covered him completely.
"YES! I DID IT!" Roared Leon ecstatically.
As soon as Leons roar ended, his body shook, swayed for a second and dropped face first into the grass. Izak quickly caught him just before he fell, Izak checked his pulse. Good, he just fainted. To think it took him nine days... Nine days to master the Armour technique, something that would usually take three months... incredible.
Izak was dumbfounded, staring at the unconscious boy. No one truly cares about external techniques because of its difficulty and the will power required, however an eight year old kid did it. My son did it.
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Leon was full of energy the next day acting as if nothing happened the day before, he tried to activate the energy armour, since he knew how it felt once it was completed, it took him ten minutes to completely activate the energy armour, it was a see through membrane with a white glow.
"Woah!" said Leon excitedly.
Leon turned his gaze and walked towards where the boulders were, he sized each and every boulder and found a small boulder that was a lot more like a large rock; It was half his size and as thick as a small wardrobe. Leon took a stance his right leg pulling backwards, he lowered himself slightly. The rock was merely a meter away from him, Leon pulled his right hand backwards.
"3...2...1...HA!" Leon punched, releasing a whoosh sound and small gust of wind, When his fist made contact a loud boom echoed as the rock shattered into many pieces.
Leon was overjoyed, he turned and smiled, his eyes turned into small slits as he gleefully looked at Izak. Izak shot a smile back, exceedingly happy with the progress of Leons training.
suddenly the External armour collapsed and vanished, Leon gasped for air as his forehead was matted with sweat. "It lasted a minute... the efficiency is too low and I have to spend a lot of stamina to concentrate on controlling the armour." said Leon as he looked down at himself.
"Well done Leon." Izak said with a smile on his face
"Okay, Today you'll start practising the second step... For this step you have to figure it out yourself. It might be quicker if I taught you, however it will be a big problem in the long run, so from now on I will just come to the garden everyday to check on your progress. nonetheless don't forget to practise external armour or it'll become unstable and you'll have to train all over again."
"Okay." Although Leon was disappointed he nodded, he knew his father was looking at the long run and for his sake pushed him to train by himself.
After this Izak left the garden leaving Leon alone to practise by himself, on his first try at condensing the energy at one body part the same repercussions occurred sending him flying across the garden a multiple of time. Days past and everyday Leon would be carried back to his room, a week past and it wasn't as bad, nevertheless Leon tried harder, never giving up. Izak would come to look at Leons progress and was astonished at his constant improvements.
Slowly time passed, a couple of days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, months turned into a year and finally three years past since Leon first started to train.
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The seasons were changing, it was now a warm summer afternoon. In the Garden behind the Kaiser mansion, a blur was skimming the surface of the lake, ripping across it while his legs were covered by a white aura, immediately stopping near the boulders, this boy was none other than Leon. Leon stood at 150 Centimetres tall, taller than the average person his age, Silver hair was grown out, dropping till his shoulders, his face was still childish, not having matured much, his eyes were a deeper brown and he was currently wearing joggers with a sword strapped to it and a black tank top.
His gaze swept through the group of rocks, searching for a suitable rock. His gaze stopped at a boulder that was separated from the rest it stood as tall as him but was as thick as a tree stump. Leon pulled out the sword from its sheath, releasing a domineering aura, it was none other than Azeon. Leon gazed at the boulder, the sword was instantly surrounded by a sharp white aura and then Leon simply swept his sword sending a white blade that rushed through the boulder sending the top half airborne and leaving the boulder with a clean, flat and smooth top.
"Clap...Clap...Clap" Izak walked in clapping at Leon.
"Leon you've improved drastically in the past three years, to pull off the third external technique to such a level is awe inspiring. You're only 11 years old and you're already at the level of a clan guard, amazing." said Izak walking in wearing a suit and a smile plastered on his face, even though he was 40 years old, he still looked like he was in his twenties.
"Father!" Leon instantly dropped his aura and sheathed Azeon, walking across to his father's side.
"That's not what I was trying to pull off, I'm testing a technique I made myself, but it's really hard." Said Leon impatiently.
Izak couldn't help but chuckle at his son, because of his impatience. "Leon don't worry you'll get the hang of it very quickly." Said Izak. "Leon you've finally completed the training course after three years. From today onwards you'll have to train by yourself since I don't have much left to teach you. You now have the power to easily fend off others of the same age as you."
Leon nodded."Father, why are you here?" Leon questioned while still being happy that Izak praised him.
"Leon I came here to congratulate you and to tell you that your mother is worried that you're trying too hard." Laughed Izak.
"But on a serious note I have come to talk to you about a trial. A trial called 'The Path Of Kings'."