In a woodland area, there was a river that had a waterfall at the base. Under this waterfall, there was a person dressed in white robes sitting on a boulder allowing the water to beat down on her body.
This woman was Amelia.
“Good, good. Just like that.”
Rory stood not too far away from her watching her. Even though the water was beating down on her body, Amelia herself wasn’t wet at all. This was because there was a cloak of anima around her preventing the water from touching her.
“The water isn’t touching your skin, but you’re still wasting too much anima. Try to compress it more.”
Rory told her.
“I’m trying, but every time I compress it, water start reaching my body.”
Amelia complained.
“That’s because you’re not compressing it, but instead reducing it. You’re mixing up minimizing how much anima you need to use to achieve the result you want, with reducing the anima you use and hope to get the result you want. It sounds similar but different.”
Rory said.
“Or am I getting it twisted?”
He took out a phone and started operating.
“What are you doing?”
Amelia asked.
“I’m watching some Anima Training 101 videos on Anitube. Gimme a sec.”
“Wha?!”
That moment, Amelia lost control of her anima and was washed away by the water.
“Oh, so this is how you do the waterfall training. It’s just like in those martial arts moves.”
Rory said with a nod.
“Ah!”
Amelia swam on to the river bank gasping for air.
“Y-You son of a bitch…..You mean to tell me that you’ve been teaching me stuff you learned off the internet?”
She said while laying on her back.
“I’m not really a good teacher, so I thought I could get some advice off the Internet. Look, I joined an anima forum!”
Rory showed Amelia the phone. She grabbed it and threw it into the river.
“Hey! Do you know how much the guy I stole it from paid for that phone?!”
Rory protested.
“Teach me seriously, you bastard!”
She grabbed his collar and shouted.
“I am teaching you seriously.”
“What’s serious about watching videos on Anitube?”
“Hey, don’t look down on Anitube. It’s a marvelous site where you can learn anything you want. I learned how to solve a rubric cube on there.”
Rory retorted.
“Besides, this is a technological age. The old teachings are now behind us.”
“And training under a waterfall isn’t cliché?”
“Don’t disrespect clichés. It’s only cliché because it works!”
Amelia felt she was getting a headache from arguing with him.
“It can’t be helped. I learned everything I know about anima from the battlefield through live battles. So asking me to teach someone is a bit hard for me.”
“Still, using internet videos is pushing it.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not like I’m making you do random stuff. I made sure to pick training videos that are authentic and really make you stronger. Trust me.”
Amelia looked at him for a bit and sighed before going under the waterfall again and resume what she was doing. Although, her motivation had decreased.
“Before I can teach you anything, you need to learn how to have control over your anima and not waste it. Otherwise, even if I teach you some techniques, you won’t be able to use them to the fullest.”
Rory took a seat and said.
“The current you can’t even see me use anima. This is the first thing you need to learn, the ability to see a person’s anima even if they compress it.”
He said as he took up a sketch pad and a pencil. He started to look for the perfect angle before beginning to sketch.
“What are you doing?”
Amelia asked.
“I'm sketching your current appearance. The white see-through robe sticking to your skin is pretty erotic.”
He answered seriously.
“?!”
Hearing that, Amelia hid her chest on reflex.
“You’re getting wet.”
Rory put down the sketch and said.
“Your concentration is broken.”
“Of course it’s broken! I’m being sketch by a pervert!”
“I am not a pervert, I just love the female body more than others.”
“That’s a pervert!”
Rory sighed.
“Consider this another form of training. If you’re able to maintain your calm in such an embarrassing situation, it will improve your level of concentration. The more natural it becomes for you to stay concentrated, the more natural it will be for you to use anima. Eventually using anima will be become as easy as breathing, when that happens even the most difficult anima techniques will open up to you.”
He said.
“Look at me. I can fight in my sleep. That’s because my level of concentration has reached the point where I don’t even need to try, my body will react on its own.”
“You say that, but that’s all an excuse to look at my body isn’t it?”
“Well, I won’t deny that.”
Rory said honestly.
“Hm?”
He stood up and walked towards the water. He placed his foot on the water surface and started walking on it like it was the ground.
“Wha?!”
Amelia was shocked to see that.
Rory ignored her shocked expression and stopped in the middle of the river. He looked into the water and stooped down and pulled something out of the water. It was a huge fish.
“You sure have a strange way of fishing.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Amelia said after seeing him pull out the fish.
“Elia, this is the reason why you need to be able to see anima.”
He held the fish and showed her.
“This isn’t a fish.”
“It isn’t?”
Rory smiled and looked at the fish.
“Are you going to undo your transformation or will I have to cook you up?”
He spoke to the fish.
“No answer huh?”
Rory looked to towards Amelia.
“Go start a fire, we’re having smoked salmon tonight.”
He looked at the fish and licked his lips.
“Wait! Wait! I get it! I get it!”
A panic voice came from the fish to Amelia’s surprise. She then saw the fish lit up and transformed into a person.
It was a transparent blue child that looked like it was made out of water.
*Splash!*
The moment Amelia saw her, she lost control of her anima was washed away by the waterfall. She soon emerged gasping for breath.
“What is that?”
“A nymph.”
“Nymph?”
“A river nymph to be exact. They’re spirits or fairies that live in nature and protect it. They can transform to hide in nature, it’s their inborn anima ability.”
Rory explained.
“Hey, could you let me go? I was just minding my own business and you came out of nowhere and snatch me out of the water.”
Said the nymph.
She was naked and was being held by her ankle by Rory.
“Minding your own business?”
Rory smiled.
“You were spying on us.”
“Do you have proof?!”
“I don’t need proof. Listening to your heart is enough.”
“You, you’re an Ajna user?!”
Rory nodded his head.
“Just my luck. Why did I have to run into someone who can read people’s hearts?”
The nymph looked depressed all of a sudden.
“Ajna? What’s that, Rory?”
Amelia asked.
“I’ll teach you in time, but it’s basically what she said it was. Although I don’t know if you can use it.”
Rory replied while keeping his eyes on the nymph.
“I won’t use my ability, so answer my questions honestly. Why were you watching us?”
“This river is our territory. Is it wrong to observe those we find suspicious?”
The nymph answered.
“You’re lying. I don’t even need to use my power to know.”
He brought his face closer to it.
“Which do you think will bring out your taste more, black pepper or basil?”
“Ekkk! Alright! Alright! I was just interested in her that’s all!”
The nymph shouted.
“Me?”
Amelia asked with a confused expression.
“Yeah. I was really minding my own business when I felt someone call out to me, and that was you.”
“I didn’t call out to you.”
“Not consciously, but you did.”
“I see.”
Rory seemed like he understood what the nymph meant.
“It’s because of your affinity to elements. You didn’t know, but you possess very pure anima, and people with pure anima tend to have a strong affinity with elements of nature.”
He explained.
“Not only that, beings born out of nature like nymphs or fairies tend to be drawn people like you.”
“That’s right! I felt drawn to you and your anima and couldn’t help but stop and observe you!”
The nymph hurriedly said.
“I was just too embarrassed to say it out loud.”
She muttered.
Rory suddenly let go of her ankle and let her fall back into the water.
“It wasn’t that hard now was it?”
Rory spoke with a teasing tone. The nymph frowned. She was clearly upset with the way he treated her.
“But you appearing here has given me some inspiration.”
He ignored her displeasure and said.
“Nymph, I want you to give Elia some advice on how to improve her anima control.”
“Don’t order me around!”
The nymph shouted.
She then looked at Amelia and frowned.
“But I have to admit that I don’t like seeing her being so frustrated over something so simple.”
She said.
“Which element are you best at controlling?”
She asked.
“I don’t really have any that I’m best at. I can use them all the same.”
Amelia answered.
“Then which element you prefer to use?”
“If we’re talking about combat, then it would be earth and fire, otherwise it’s water and wind.”
“I see. Then have you ever thought about making your anima act like water? I don’t mean like when you manipulate water itself, I mean make your anima flow like water.”
“That’s a pretty good idea, Nymph. I knew asking a being who’s made up of anima for advice, was the right thing to do.”
Rory said.
“Elia, try picturing yourself as a tank and your anima as water. After that, imagine that you have a pipe attached to you, this pipe can be like an imaginary limiter that prevents all of the water to rush out of you, whenever you want to use it to do something. You got it?”
“……….”
“………..”
Both Amelia and the nymph looked at Rory like they were wondering if he was right in the head.
“Can you do it or not?”
He asked with a frown.
“I’ll try.”
Amelia closed her eyes and started to concentrate. She pictured herself as a tank and the anima within her as water. She became conscious of both herself and her anima, she began to focus on them to point that she felt like she was alone in the world.
That’s when she heard Rory’s voice echo in her mind.
“Now then, try to imagine that you have a pipe attach to you that limits the amount of water you let out.”
Amelia nodded and imagine a pipe appearing on the tank (her).
“Good. Now picture a bucket in front of the tank. That bucket is your arm, try your best to identify that bucket with your arm. Remember your arm is the bucket, meaning that it and the tank aren’t separate, but instead one being.”
Despite the complicated instructions, Amelia pictured a bucket in front of the tank, after a while, she pictured that bucket with her arm. Her arm was the bucket, the bucket was her arm.
“Good. Now listen to me carefully. Release the pipe (limiter) and let the water (anima) flow into the bucket (arm), but be careful. Remember to stop when the bucket is full, don’t let the water overflow and go to waste.”
Amelia did as she was told and released the pipe and allowed the water inside her to flow into her bucket. She did it slowly to not let the bucket overflow, once she felt that the bucket was full she closed the pipe.
“Good, now open your eyes.”
Amelia listened to Rory and opened her eyes and saw him smiling at her.
“Look at your right arm.”
She looked down and saw that her arm didn’t have anima cloaked around it, but she could feel that she was definitely using anima.
“Try slamming your fist on this boulder as hard as you can.”
Rory stretched his hand out and a boulder twice his size appeared in his hand. He placed it in front of Amelia.
She looked at the boulder and then took a deep breath. She then drew her hand back and threw a punch.
*Bam!*
The boulder exploded the moment her fist touched it.
“Impressive.”
Rory applauds her.
“For you to use your imagination to learn how to control your anima shows that you’re creative, and it’s the creative persons who become true anima masters.”
He said.
“However, it took you a while just to strengthen your fist. As such I’m changing up your training method. You are to practice using the same method I showed until you’re able to distribute your anima equally in any and every part of your body.”
“You want me to use the image training? But it takes too long and would be useless in real battle.”
Amelia said.
“As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Just keeping practicing until you can use it as fast as how you currently use anima or even faster. If you’re able to do that, you won’t need the image training anymore and you’ll be able to properly use anima without needing to think.”
Rory explained.
“Once that happens, I’ll teach you some real anima techniques.”
Amelia’s face brightened when she heard that. It was as if she was a child who was promised a new toy. Rory couldn’t help but smile when he saw her like that.
“I’m going to start training right this minute. I can finally leave this river too.”
She said and quickly swam to the bank.
“Nymph, thanks for your advice.”
Rory said while looking at Amelia.
“What are you talking about? You’re the one who came up with that crazy training method.”
The nymph replied.
“I got the idea because of you. For that I’m grateful.”
He then looked at her and said-
“As a show of my gratitude, I’ll eliminate those pesky vermin that are terrorizing you and your people.”
“?!”
The nymph was shocked to hear what Rory said.
“Y-You, don’t tell me you saw them.”
She asked with a shaky voice.
“No. I sensed their presence.”
He pointed in the east.
“They’re about 2 miles that way. Around 20 of them, armed with guns and nets.”
He said.
“You sensed them when they’re so far away?! And you even know that they’re armed…..Don’t tell me you’re using Sonar?
The nymph shook her head.
“There’s no way anyone can cover that range.”
“My Sonar can cover the entire forest.”
The nymph was dumbfounded.
“Just who are you?”
“Does it matter? Your race is weak yet beautiful and in high demand for collectors, because of this you’re hunted and sold to the black market for a hefty price. Unfortunately for you, your nest was discovered and the hunters are coming in droves to capture you and your people.”
Rory pointed in the river. If one was to see the bottom they would see a hole, this hole led to a string of underwater caves which housed countless nymphs.
“How many of your comrades have they gotten so far?”
“…..Five.”
The nymph answered him.
“Five huh? That means that you were only discovered recently. You approached Elia because of her pure anima, but you probably thought about asking for her help right?”
The nymph nodded.
“There’s no need for her to dirty her hands. I’ll do it.”
Rory started walking back towards the river bank.
“Oh, what’s your name?”
He asked without looking back.
“Aqua.”
“Such a cliché name for a nymph. Well, whatever. Keep Elia company Aqua.”
After he said that he disappeared into the forest.
Around 2 miles away from the river, there was a group of men armed with weapons marching through the forest.
These men were hunters who made a living off capturing and sell exotic creatures, despite if they were capable of human speech or not. They’re countless people around the world who view anything other than humans, Night Kin, or Sacred Kin as simple beasts. They didn’t feel guilt over capturing and treating them as pets, slaves, or toys.
Because of this, people like these hunters exist.
“Morning, gentlemen.”
Rory walked out from behind a tree and blocked the men.
“Who the fuck are you?”
The men immediately became hostile towards him.
“From your hostility and bloodlust towards me despite not knowing who I am, you people have something you don’t want to go public. Could it be the nymphs in the river?”
The men all pointed their guns and weapons at Rory when he said that.
“I see. So no one expects those here know about Aqua and her friends yet. That’s good news.”
Rory then showed a terrifying smirk. It was a smirk fitting of a devil.
“That means that I don’t have to hunt down anyone else after I’ve killed you here.”
“Fire!”
The men got scared by Rory’s smirk and started firing their guns at him. However, the bullets didn’t reach him. A wall of earth erected in front of him and blocked them.
“I’ll have you all die here, this instant.”
Rory appeared behind the men. Before they could turn around, a whistling sound reached their ears.
Rory who had swung his hand to the side silently put his hand back in his pockets and started walking back towards the river.
Behind him, the hunters’ upper bodies slid off and fell to the ground. Their lower bodies tumbled over shortly after.
“I’m hungry.”
Rory suddenly muttered.
“I guess I’ll go hunting since I’m out here. I wonder if Elia likes bear meat?”