"You did it!" Cheered Jin as he lowered his guard. Approaching Tristan to congratulate him he came to a sudden stop. Tristan ignored his praise and charged with sword and shield in hands. Unexpectedly, the smile that shaped his mouth a few seconds ago was gone as he rushed toward Jin. Exchanging quick glances with Tristan's uncle, his mind raced as the nonchalant Guardian kept watching with arms crossed behind his head from the roof of his shop.
Gustav Loriat was calm, he knew sooner or later this would unfold.
When elemental warriors were able to awaken the inner nucleus from the barriers from which they held their potential compressed, their affinity was finally revealed. That had been the case for Tristan Loriat, however that wasn't all. The awakening of these powers was useless in itself. It was meaningless for an elemental warrior to feel the affinity flowing within him, just as the blood constantly warmed his body if he did not use it in combat.
‘Elemental Warrior’ was often used in the vocabulary of the inhabitants of Ravnos interchangeably for warriors who had awakened their nucleus, regardless of their god's nature. And although the rank of Elemental Warrior was merely the First Step, a newly awakened man was not so different from an ordinary soldier until he learned the first elemental gift which required no learning. The Inner Technique.
Though for many elemental Warriors the first elemental technique was not so easily obtainable. They needed strenuous body and mind training sessions for the understanding to be processed by the nucleus and make it a reality in combat. For Gustav personally, his awakening as a warrior of Ignis had been, in his opinion, an incomplete process.
For what was enough for an elemental warrior to be able to unlock his affinity potential, but not be able to deliver any techniques that used those same elements that were given to him by the gods?
Why then were they—the newly Elemental Warriors— treated with such respect, if they were no different from any bastard who held steel in his hand?
The days of hard work, the sweat to train the body and mind to finally be able to process the elemental energy in her nucleus had been worth it of course. He remembered like it was yesterday, the big day. When the High Elders finally granted him permission to study the techniques and manuals indicated for the warriors of Ignis. But his great development had been hampered by this turbulent beginning. When he went to learn the first elemental technique as a Disciple, two long years had already passed. In matters of personal development in the elemental arts, it had been time much wasted. Deprive of the key to connect with the inner nucleus to channel the elemental. He had been lucky to get this far. With all the resources House Loriat could offer, he had reached his peak as a Guardian and would be much grateful for it. But the bitterness somehow remained there.
He wondered what things would be like if he had been pushed to the limits in the heat of battle like his peers. And if his instructor at the time hadn't had his fists muffled by the coin, a wise man could imagine that he too would become Lord.
And because of that, he had promised his children that with them the process of advancement would be complete. Unlike him, his children and nephews would have the opportunity to develop with the feat of learning their first elemental technique on the same day they unlocked their elemental affinity. For that way, their training as elemental warriors could go on and on more easily than it had for him. A promise now, which he extended to his dear nephew in the same way.
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With his arms crossed, Gustav Loriat looked proudly at his nephew. As a warrior who had reached the Guardian stage, Gustav knew very well what affinity his nephew had awakened. And from Tristan's bodily gestures, he had also realized that he had finally broken through the barriers to a new frontier of strength.
While all three have achieved success in helping Tristan break through the inner core barriers, Gustav hasn't moved an inch to stop the duel. And for a second time that day, Jin advanced against Tristan Loriat. Blades met and engaged constantly conjuring flashes in the dark. Two shadows fiercely dancing in a haze. And before the moon could jointly rise as a witness, metal and steel clanged and echoed across the street. Half a dozen denizens found themselves allured, their curious heads mutually attracted about Loriat's alchemy shop.
The dexterity and mastery that Tristan Loriat lended to his sword was magnificent, even in Gustav's eyes. Trained in a cradle of gold by the most expensive swordsmen in Fanrir, his swordplay technique was beyond solid. Despite the weight of the armor and shield that lessened the agility with which his arms moved, he equaled his opponent who wore light clothing and only a long sword. And although his nephew was able to respond to advances with his own blade almost immediately, he hadn't been able to deliver an accurate, ultimate hit to incapacitate his opponent who put all the spirit in each block. Barely holding his ground with both callused hands firm on his end.
Finally, Gustav Loriat happily raised his eyebrows. Amidst the flash of swords downstairs, his nephew had finally processed the nucleus. Both his legs and Tristan's arms looked in coordination, on the same page to remove whatever stood in his way. To put away what he, Gustav, had never been able to put at that stage of the Nine Steps. It had been said only elemental warriors who are able to stabilize the nucleus and tune into their own body while the nucleus is still calibrating with the user were capable of hearing it.
To listen; to the virgin nucleus's scream, like a baby who had just been brought into the world announcing a technique for the first time. Stepping away from melee combat for a few seconds, as if to hear what was trying to be said to him by his own nucleus and not be distracted by the sound of clash between horns. Nodding, and with a brave look blue as the sky the elemental energy began to spread. From the center of his navel to his upper extremities, carrying himself with speed worthy of praise.
“Here it comes,” remarked the cheerful Gustav Loriat, through his Sixth Sense he had seen it coming; the surge in the elemental lowered, concentrated and drained Tristan's vital aura. To him it became clear what beset the battlefield even before Jin could notice a slight difference, an Inner Technique was upon them.
『Lix - Parvus Pungere』
Holding the sword parallel to his shoulders, the tip of the blade that had been aimed at Jin quickly froze in its entirety. Stretching like an icicle at impressive speed, making its way through the air with ten times the reach of the longest spear directly at Jin's chest. No man's eyes nor voice would be quick enough to react.
In the blink of the moment, with pride and joy circling his heart, Gustav was forced to intervene. Landing in front of Jin with elemental energy pulsing through his muscles making his movements ten times faster than the boy's, he shifted the ice spear's path with the back of his wrist. His fists clenched, and in a cold sweat Jin watched the icicles grow from the tip of Tristan's blade and pierce a thick tree like a sharp needle.
“Tristan Loriat, you have done what I could not. Congratulations on mastering your Inner Technique so early in the First Step.”
Before Tristan could respond, he naturally dropped to his knees exhausted.
Not much better, the boy behind Gustav had his eyes bulging in sheer shock, terrified of Gustav's speed to intervene or even the lethal attack that had been launched towards him. The duel in Fanrir had taken a surprising turn for the shocked boy that Gustav had just saved, yet he uttered no words of gratitude as the full moon at last settled on the sky.