"I'm sorry." Ace said as he clutched his chest. "I don't think I heard you properly."

Larcet only gave him a deadpan stare.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ace yelled. "Healing bones and muscles is one thing but the heart... the heart is different! Regular organs take a ton of stamina, so imagine the heart! I've never had to do that before..."

Larcet ignored his raised voice and responded succinctly.

"Calm yourself. I will explain how it is done. Once you inflict the wound, focus your Sever Energy around your heart, but do not heal it immediately. Continue to condense your energy until it is nearly unbearable and you feel you are on the verge of death. Then, at the last moment, throw the condensed energy into the wound. What happens next you will have to experience yourself."

Despite hearing his explanation, Ace made no move to pick up the dagger. Neither did Silas.

With a sigh Larcet looked at the two boys.

"The Matriarch has deemed that you will take the first step tonight. You can either do it yourself like a man, or I can do it for you. If you think running is an option... just... don't."

Both Ace and Silas sighed deeply. After, there was a brief spat of awkward silence. Then, one of the knives was snatched off the floor in a flash.

Noticing movement to his side, Ace watched as Silas clutched the dagger and rammed it into his own chest. He keeled over shortly after, eyes closed tightly in concentration.

Encouraged by his boldness, Ace picked up his own dagger, eyeing it anxiously. He looked up at Larcet, but his eyes remained cold.

It couldn't hurt that bad right? He already repaired healed all sorts of injuries after all...

Taking a deep breath, Ace plunged the dagger into his chest.

The instant the blade touched his heart, it was like he been punched from inside his own body, creating a searing bolt of pain that branched out from his chest like a spiderweb.

Still, he managed to maintain consciousness.

Doing his best to ignore the pain and slowing heartbeat, he gathered Sever energy around his chest, feeling its heat intensify. Coughing up blood, he continued to do so, even as unconsciousness slowly encroached upon him.

His body had always automatically used the right amount of energy to heal damage. All he had to do was bring it to the injured area. Not once did he ever manually gauge how much energy was supposed to be used. Doubt festered in the back of his mind as the orb of energy radiating in his chest grew to be so hot that he could feel it even in his toes.

With death bearing down on him and his heartbeats now silenced, he directed the condensed energy into his heart.

When it touched the damaged organ, an indescribable pain erupted within him. The glob of energy exploded within his chest, sending out waves of searing energy so hot that it felt as though his heart was being melted away. Every other bout of healing paled in comparison to what he was currently experiencing.

Then, suddenly, the pain stopped. Blinking his eyes in surprise, Ace was barely able to catch his breath before the pain erupted once more. This time, it was different in nature.

It was almost as if something was being 'added' to his heart.

In response, his chest rumbled furiously as if the addition to the organ defied his body's natural order. The pain that came with it was more than enough for Ace to believe so.

Unable to remain conscious any longer, he slumped to the ground.

***

Ace shot up into a sitting position.

Clutching his chest, he was relieved to feel his heartbeat once more. Looking over to his side, he could see Silas was doing the same.

Larcet looked at the two boys with a look of approval.

"Good work. You have done the hardest part. Now look at your heart. Tell me what you see. Silas, write it down."

Feeling around internally, Ace saw his heart in his mind's eye.

"It looks like there's some some small shard-like object around the bottom of my heart... Hey didn't you say there was supposed to be a shell?"

Opening back up his eyes, he looked to Larcet for an answer.

"Of course" He said while rising to his feet. "You thought you were going to be able to make the shell in only a day? No fool, it will take a least a month. Every night from now on, you will gather your energy, condense it, and coerce it into that small shard. It will grow over time, eventually forming the shell."

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Picking up his weapons, Larcet began walking towards the mountain.

"Just a friendly warning, your Sever capacity will decrease as your shell increases in size. You will gain your reserves back when you complete the shell and from then on it will regenerate even if it is depleted. If you really need the energy, you can break it off.

However, it will set you back, potentially forcing you to restart if the shell completely disappears. In any case, we will be working on Notch Battle Concepts tomorrow. After that, we'll be working on your... practical skills. You two are rough around the edges so I'll beat you into shape."

With those words, he disappeared in a cloud of dust, armor glinting in the moonlight as he rapidly ascended the mountain.

*** Later that night ***

Ace sat on the ground in a cross-legged position while palming his trusty rock.

Taking a brief second to concentrate, he used the rock's balance point to get it spinning on one of his fingers. He then tossed it in the air, feeling a small part of his energy dissipate.

Catching it, he peered inside of the rock. The balance point was now filled with various streams of green light. Preparing himself, Ace moved the rock over his midsection and directly over his balance point.

At the same time, he moved the rock's balance point to its edge. Then, he did something he had never done. He tried to move his own balance point at the same time.

As he attempted to do so. His energy began to rapidly drop, so much so that he barely had time to condense the energy.

'Shit!'

As his reserves dwindled, Ace could see his balance point shaking furiously. It just needed a small push.

'Damn! I'm so close!'

Desperate to confirm his hypothesis, Ace looked at the Sever shard attached to his heart. With a grimace, he stopped using the regular energy in his body and directed the shard towards his balance point.

With a searing heat and massive explosion of internal energy, he managed to slightly nudge his balance point while still keeping hold of the one from the rock.

"Yes!"

Only a second later, the energy from the shard dissipated, leaving the balance points from the rock and his body to return to their original positions.

Talos chimed in his head.

[Ace! Your shell, it's gone! Larcet specifically told you to be careful with it!]

'Relax, I think I've found something pretty cool here! Since I've already made the shell shard once, I'll just make it again! Trust me when I say it was worth it, check this out!'

*** Next Day ***

Ace woke up earlier than usual. With the spare time, he went through the painful process of reforming his shell shard. Slightly fatigued, he struggled through the both the morning run and afternoon climb. After, he was left so drained he even fell asleep at the lunch table, drawing concerned looks from Silas and Bell.

Running on fumes, he managed to push through the swordsmanship training as well. They had progressed to 150 perfect swings a day.

He was now sitting on a rock in field, listening to Larcet explain different approaches to Notched combat. The giant had brought a holographic display with him and was illustrating his points by pointing to certain things on the screen. He finished their lecture by watching a recorded battle from a previous Selection Tournament.

"There are three important things to consider when fighting another Notched combatant."

He paused the fight and pointed to one of the fighters.

"The first is determining if you're the better fighter without your Notch."

He then pointed to a fighter who conjured a fireball from thin air.

"The second is analyzing your opponents Notch ability."

He let the video play until the fighter who threw the fireball was stabbed, ending the fight.

"The third is resource management."

Ace looked at the battle, slightly confused.

"Why didn't he heal? That wound wasn't that bad..."

"It's simple." Larcet scoffed. "He ran out of energy. Like I said, resource management is important. If you're the weaker fighter, then you should try to use your Notch to fight. Saving your energy for healing is something you can only worry about if you're a good enough fighter to create distance or time. If your opponent has better combat skills and is more skillful with their Notch... you should retreat immediately."

'hmmm'

Something about Larcet's words was off putting to Ace. He probed for an answer.

"Why do you keep talking as if we're going to be fighting real battles instead of in just the tournament? We can just surrender right? You're talking as if that won't be an option."

Larcet looked at him with a cold stare.

"Obviously because you're going to be fighting outside of the tournament. You think we maintain an army of thousands of knights for fun? No... that is most certainly not the case. No-"

A loud beeping sound suddenly emanated from Larcet's watch, interrupting him. He looked at the small screen briefly before grabbing his materials.

"Lesson's over. Remember, tomorrow is gonna be a tough day, save your energy until the energy or you will regret it."

*** Later that night in GQC-1 ***

Osti was in a dark room. He stood behind his master who was sitting in a chair at a circular table. There were three other people seated, each with a figure standing behind them.

The others at the table were a female knight, an elderly man in a suit, and a blond haired woman wearing a leather jacket. Standing behind them were a massive armored male, a small hooded figure, and a green haired woman respectively.

The female knight was the first to speak.

"I see that you are all in good health... unfortunately. We should do ourselves a favor and make this meeting short."

The elderly man and the the blonde haired woman nodded their head in agreement.

Osti's master spoke up. Annoyance seeped into his tone in a way that was hard not to notice.

"Why are we even here people? The tournament rules never change and I always win. Joan, you're the closest competitor, but even your daughter stands no chance against my son. My control over the Wall will remain absolute."

The Matriarch of Steel shuffled in her seat.

"I wouldn't be so sure Jabari... House Steel has grown incredibly since last time. Your victory is not assured."

"You think some recruiting will save you?" Jabari sneered. "It might have, if I wasn't doing the sa-."

He was cut off as the old man in the suit jumped in.

"Cease your bickering. What we should really be focusing on is defending The Wall! Jabari... I hope you will honor our agreement. This month, it's your turn. Joan kept her word so it's only fair you keep yours. I will do the same."

Jabari dismissively waved his hand.

"You know what old man... I'll do you one better and make sure there isn't a single casualty... even in the slums. I wouldn't want Joan to get a big head after last month."

Osti watched as the other House leaders remained silent.

His master then called out to him. "Let's go."

Suddenly, the blonde woman spoke up.

"Wait... One more thing"

Everyone in the room gave her curious looks.

She then tossed a bundle of 8 talons onto the table.

"Who is responsible for these?"