Caeden was still smiling to himself the next day on his way to small blades. Lily had been excited to try out her new gloves. Especially when she heard that both were rated as master rank infusions. Apparently, being master rank was an even bigger deal than Mike had made it out to be. Caeden had essentially made Lily a fortune's worth of equipment based on it being master rank with brand new infusions. They were essentially unique pieces right now.

So it was with a light heart and a content mind, that Caeden readied himself for another long day of continually getting knocked on his ass. Hopefully, he did better this time around. Not that he was holding his breath. This was only his second day of training, after all.

Small blades was mostly a repeat of last time, but Caeden genuinely felt a bit more confident in his stance and ability to resist Major Aiden's attempts to knock him over. Obviously, he failed. He failed repeatedly. But he was lasting past the first shove now, instead of standing for all of two seconds.

The Major would make corrections to his stance and have him try again, and Caeden would feel just that small bit more competent. Spending an entire day on it might be helping. Caeden was spending more time on weapon training than most of his peers, just down to the wide variety he had to work with. It just so happened that the basics of all weapons essentially amounted to 'stand right and don't stab/smash yourself.' All that extra time spent was helping him progress noticeably faster than his equally inexperienced peers.

There were students in class with a much higher degree of training when they arrived. Some were members of families, but Caeden also discovered an interesting mix of islanders and continentals in that skilled group. The islanders almost invariably had a parent with a similar shroud and had taught their child some basic martial arts.

The continentals, on the other hand, were generational hunters, so some basic knife work was a part of the job. Though Caeden was sure, one of them was much more familiar with using a knife on humans than a hunting background would explain. She probably came from a large, wealthy continental city. Though he wondered why she hadn't been picked up by the Central Authority sooner. Her past was almost certainly desperate and violent, a rare thing for a shroud. Especially in a large city, where there were probably one or two other shrouded around.

It was none of his business, though, so Caeden focused on mastering the basics of standing correctly. He didn't have the luxury to be worrying about other people beyond his friends right now. He wanted to work on some gear for either Erik or Cat tomorrow, but neither of them had a particular strategy in mind, so he wasn't sure what to make.

At the end of class, Caeden was called aside by Major Aiden. "I know that Blaine has asked you to be his disciple, and I wanted to manage your expectations a bit." He explained.

"Ok? I'm not sure what you mean." Caeden was just relieved that he wasn't being called out for doing something incorrectly since he had really felt some improvement.

"Well, Blaine is a bit of an odd one. Most weapon masters work for the military directly and are compensated handsomely for their service. For all its downsides, Ki and Ki Transformation are overwhelmingly powerful tools." Aiden elaborated.

"So why is the Swordmaster here?"

"It's his hobby." Aiden stated bluntly, "He likes the idea of raising the next great weapon master and just teaching in general. He picks up talented students every cycle and tries to get them all the way to Ki Transformation in five years. He's only been successful twice in the fifty-odd cycles he's taught here."

"So you're telling me not to be his student?" Caeden was surprised to learn that a fellow teacher would warn him off.

"No, I think you should." Aiden shook his head, "He's genuinely a good teacher, if a bit of an oddball. He'll do his very best to advance your skills. I'm not saying he's uninvested; I'm telling you he can be over-invested. I want to manage your expectations. If he starts talking about getting you to Ki creation inside the year, don't expect that to happen. He only approached you because he genuinely thinks you can do it, but sometimes his own passion gets in the way of his objective teaching."

"Alright. I'm glad you let me know. When he offered to teach me, he mentioned me getting to Ki Transformation in a couple hundred years. Does that sound accurate?" Caeden asked since he had the man talking.

"Oh, Blaine," Aiden muttered, looking disappointed. "I know he touched on it in your class, but him offering any kind of timeline of Ki Transformation is nonsense. It cannot be trained. He would have no way of knowing if you could ever reach that level, let alone offer up a time frame. Ki can be taught and trained reliably. Ki Transformation is down to individual talent."

"Well, that's good to know. I thought him saying that kinda clashed with his earlier statement." Caeden nodded. That inconsistency had bugged him a bit. "So listen to everything he says except for any predictions about my future potential?"

"Exactly so. I truly encourage you to take up the offer, but understand that Blaine may be more invested in your future as a weapon master than you are." Aiden nodded, offering a slightly apologetic smile.

"I don't doubt that." Caeden laughed. "I'm an ethersmith, not a weapon master. I doubt I'll ever reach that level. I have too much else to worry about."

"Good. Now hurry, I'm sure I've very nearly made you late for your next class." Aiden shooed him out.

Caeden ran at top speed to his next class. This was turning into a more common event than he would like, but the more he did it, the more Caeden liked really letting loose with his shroud. Physical Enhancement was still a new thing to him. Using it didn't come naturally like Sharp did. He was making his way there, but five weeks was not long enough to equal a whole lifetime of familiarity. So an opportunity to show himself what he could do with his second shroud was more than a little fun.

Over the last two weeks, Caeden had come to learn what Physical Enhancement could really do. Every shrouded could use physical enhancement, the principle of infusion. Caeden had originally assumed that that meant his own shroud was essentially useless. He couldn't have been more wrong. For every shrouded, both physical enhancement and formshift were influenced by their domain. Someone with a water-based shroud would have a hard time making their body harder, for instance. Caeden's shroud had no such limitations. In theory, he could alter his body in any way he saw fit.

Currently, his control wasn't good enough to realize that potential. Physical Enhancement naturally defaulted to what appeared to be its maximum limit unless he controlled it. Directing it to only enhance specific parts of himself was an exercise of will he had to work at. He was looking forward to the day when he could make changes others could only dream of. When combined with Forged Infinity, Caeden was looking at a versatile, adaptable powerset with lots of possibilities. It might be basic, but that simplicity didn't make it weak.

The rest of Caeden's day was simply a repeat, though he could swear he felt his balance and coordination growing throughout. Based on his earlier thoughts, he tried to use Physical Enhancement to increase his balance specifically, which worked. It made him lose track of his surroundings because of how much he had to focus on holding his shroud back, but it worked. Something to practice later. He had been doing similar exercises, but this one was also applicable in class, which made him want to work on it more.

Swordsmanship started with Lily standing outside the Gateway, glaring at him while clutching Snowball. Caeden swore she was using the little baby bear as some kind of stress relief. She had to leave him and Sky outside the Gateway, as it apparently didn't work on monsters.

"You better accept." She threatened while squeezing the white fluffball. Snowball didn't react beyond twitching his little blue nose. Caeden swore he had never seen the bear awake. He literally ate with his eyes closed, and Lily carried him everywhere.

"Yeah, I know." Caeden shifted his focus from the fluffy stress ball. "Though I learned something interesting."

Lily's whole demeanor shifted as soon as Caeden agreed to the Swordmaster's proposal. "Oh? What's that?" Lily set down her sleeping bear as Sky willingly hopped off her shoulder and onto her fellow monster's furry belly, nestling in and tucking her head under a wing. Apparently, when Lily was away, the Midnight Roc chic was perfectly willing to take a nap.

Caeden explained his earlier conversation with Major Aiden while Lily nodded along.

"I could have told you he was a bit weird. Weapon masters are famously eccentric. Actually, so are master and grandmaster ethersmiths, for that matter." Lily gave Caeden an appraising look as if trying to see what kind of crazy he was.

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"I didn't know I was master rank!" Caeden protested.

"I don't think that counts." Lily reasoned. "Well, I'm sure your brand of crazy will show up eventually."

"Maybe I won't be crazy."

"Yeah. Suuuure." Lily nodded slowly and sarcastically.

Class was more of the same, though Caeden felt like he noticed the Swordmaster looking at him repeatedly. It was honestly uncomfortable. At this point, Caeden wasn't sure what the man would say if he didn't accept the offer.

"Well, what have you decided?" Blaine walked up to Caeden immediately after class ended before most of the students had left. Many looked at the two of them oddly.

"Ahh," Caeden wasn't sure he wanted the general student populace to know about his deal, but he didn't exactly have many options with the man staring at him so eagerly. "Yes, I decided to accept."

"Excellent, let's begin!" Blaine smiled broadly, a sword manifesting in his hand.

"Right now?" Caeden blurted. That was not the answer he expected.

"Yes, right now. What better time to begin than immediately?" Blaine waved his sword. "Now, get out your weapon."

"Hold on a second, please." Caeden looked around for Lily. He had to let her know he wouldn't be able to make it to IP training. Actually, if this was when his private lessons were going to be, that seriously interfered with his training regime.

"What is it?" The Swordmaster was flicking his blade back and forth impatiently. For a moment, Caeden was reminded of a small child being asked to stop before they went out to play.

"I need to talk to my friend. We normally do IP training now." Caeden explained.

"Lily Meteoris, correct?" Blaine asked immediately. Caeden nodded silently. How much did this man know about him? "Hmm, she was also on the list after her shroud splintered and evolved… She can join us." Blaine nodded like that solved the issue.

"Actually, we do still need time to do IP training," Caeden interjected. He was beyond surprised the Swordmaster would take on another student just like that, but it lines up with what Major Aiden told him, so whatever. If his new sensei was making exceptions, he might as well get another major problem out of the way.

"Ah, true." Blaine scratched his cheek with his sword like it was a finger. "Well, I'll just move our one-on-one, or I guess it's one-on-two now…" He shook his head, "Either way, I'll move our sessions to the previous class period. Problem solved!" He smacked the fist with his sword in it into the palm of his other hand.

"O-oh. Ok? You can do that? What about the other students?" Caeden was thrown. Aiden hadn't been kidding. He was extremely enthusiastic.

"Of course I can!" Blaine snorted, "I have complete discretionary control over my own class schedule. It was a condition for me to work here. The CA, both the Academy and the Authority, were more than happy to comply. Getting weapon masters to teach is a bitch and a half. The other students will be divided into my other classes, or they won't learn from me." He shrugged.

"Alright, I guess." Caeden felt a bit bad about screwing over the other students, but it wasn't his decision, and they would all be trying to kill each other on ranking day, so that lessened the guilt. He went out of the Gateway and grabbed Lily, who had been waiting for him. She was just as surprised as he was but agreed to join in instantly.

"Alright, you two. We're going to be working on how to actually make Ki. Generally, a high degree of proficiency is necessary with a weapon to use it to make Ki, but some shrouds have an advantage. Caeden, your Sharp shroud is perfect. Lily, neither of your splinters are ideal, but evolved shrouds are just inherently better at this, so you should be fine." Blaine immediately launched into an explanation.

"So I need to use Cloud?" Lily asked.

"That would be ideal, yes. Your ice is an unevolved splinter. I doubt it will offer you the same benefits. Now, I'll explain this from the perspective of a sword user since that's what I am. The idea is to imagine your shroud as two separate parts, domain and Ki. You want to use your sword to cut those two apart." He swung his sword in demonstration. His shroud gathered along the leading edge, and as he swung, a line of pure white energy projected outward. It was only as thick as a string, unlike last class.

"This is the first stage, Ki Creation. Once you can do this, even a tiny little bit, you've officially taken the first step as a Ki user. Now go ahead and give it a try. Make sure to keep a strong mental image of the two parts of your shroud and your sword splitting those apart." he gestured for the both of them to begin.

"Uh, there's no stance or anything? How is this related to martial arts?" Caeden couldn't help but ask. This seemed like something entirely different from what he had been learning in all his classes. It was more of a mental exercise than anything physical.

"Good question. The short answer is no; this isn't related to martial arts." Blaine chuckled, "Martial arts are a way to familiarize oneself with their own body and how to use a weapon in relation to that. It creates a deeper understanding of a weapon that is beneficial when attempting to use it for Ki Creation. Both of you can skip that step because of your shrouds. Sharp is designed to make an edge. In theory, you could use Sharp to cut apart immaterial things, like the force binding a domain to Ki. As for Lily, evolution vastly increases the things a shroud is capable of doing in every way, so this process becomes much easier."

Caeden shrugged. He wasn't sure he fully agreed with that explanation. After all, he had never used Sharp to cut non-physical things. But he was willing to try. For several minutes, both he and Lily attempted to follow the Swordmaster's instructions, with absolutely no results. Caeden never felt like he was even close.

"Could this be interfering? I mean, isn't it a problem with swordwork in general?" Caeden waved about his maimed hand.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it, kiddo." Blaine waved his hand. "I'm sure once you reach embodiment, you'll be just fine. You'll probably get there with Sharp sometime late this year or early next year with some practice. You'll have your incarnation first, though. You have been training for those, right?" Blaine looked at him expectantly.

"What's incarnation? Also, you can train for embodiment? I thought that was just something that eventually happened?" Caeden looked to Lily for support, who shrugged.

"I don't know that much about it. Incarnation is to auras what embodiment is to infusion. That's all I got." Lily looked to their teacher.

"Oh boy. What are they teaching you kids? No, I suppose you wouldn't know unless you went looking for it. I'll walk you through some basic techniques later." Blaine shook his head. "Right now, we're working on Ki Creation. I wasn't expecting either of you to pull this off right now. It would have been an indication that you were a prodigy, so I figured I'd let you try. Now, we're going to use some mnemonics to make this easier."

"Mnemonics?" Both Caeden and Lily asked simultaneously.

Blaine sighed. "What are they teaching you kids? Yes, mnemonics are a big, big deal that you really should know by now. The basic premise is, you take a given technique and attach that mental process to a physical process. Gestures or spoken phrases are common mnemonics. This makes that technique both easier and faster to execute."

"That's a thing?" Caeden asked.

"Yes! You both have been through a ranking day already. Didn't one of your opponents say a phrase or make hand gestures before performing a technique?" Blaine looked between them.

Once he mentioned it, Caeden remembered in his second sparring match against the water user. She had made hand gestures before each attack. Lily's third opponent had also shouted out words for his more powerful attacks. Both he and Lily simply thought the guy was a weirdo. "Holy shroud."

"Now you're getting it. Mnemonics are useful, not just for making Ki Creation easier, but for any other techniques you might come up with. I'm sure you noticed I used one myself when I performed Ki Transformation in our last class. The more complex and intensive the task, the more effective mnemonics are."

"Isn't saying a word or making a gesture a good indicator for your opponent that you're making an attack? I feel like making your technique come out a little faster isn't really worth it." Lily asked skeptically.

"You're underestimating the impact, which is understandable. If you view it as a simple mental trick, the effects are negligible. It all comes down to shrouds." Blaine explained. "I'm sure you're both aware that shrouds are more than just energy you command, correct?" They both looked at him blankly. "Hmm, I suppose this isn't wholly self-evident. You both can use investigative sense, correct?" This time they nodded. "Then you're aware that your shroud can provide you with information about the world that you simply do not know. Where do you think that knowledge comes from?"

Caeden looked at Lily, his thoughts coming to a halt. He had never questioned it. How had his shroud known what the new types of ether he had made could do? He didn't know. His shroud had simply provided the information.

"I see you're getting it. The core of the matter is, shrouds have their own intelligence. There is a lot of debate about whether or not that intelligence is separate from yours, or some kind of extremely powerful subconscious that only shrouded have, but your shrouds can think, after a fashion. That intelligence isn't like ours. Shrouds have no motivation or will; they get that from you. They lack emotion and desire. But they do have memories."

"Using mnemonics, you can make your shroud remember how to do something, and it will act for you. The amount by which this cuts down your own mental strain can be drastic. That is why mnemonics are broadly used, even though they are an indicator to your enemy that you are performing a technique. Now, are you both ready to try?" he looked between the two of them, still wearing shocked expressions.

They both slowly nodded.

"Excellent. Now, for simplicity's sake, we're going to use the word 'cut' for our mnemonic. Let me walk you through it."

This training had already been much more informative than Caeden would have ever guessed. He wondered what other secrets his shrouds held that he had never bothered to think about.