Third pov:

After his fight with the grendel, Itami wrapped up its carcass, and he went back to the cabin he and his uncle had been staying at for the last 6 months.

Normally, one wouldn't collect the bodies of goblin-ranked beasts, but because of its natural defense against sharp objects, Itami made an exception.

Although, it's not like he had a choice.

After all, he didn't have any proper armor and his weapons were made out of stone from the mountain he trained on.

Six months ago, his uncle had made it clear that he wouldn't fund his quest to an early death, and he'd been a man of his word. Most people would consider this unreasonable considering recent events. However, Itami couldn't blame him.

At the time, Itami had been immature and weak, and although he'd changed for the better, his uncle hadn't been home in a month.

Unfortunately, When he last saw Itami he was struggling against middle goblin-ranked magic beasts.

This was good if he's from a normal family, but because he's from a royal bloodline this was average at best.

Royal families had extremely pure ether and although he's from a fallen one, he was the son of the princess of the Kaijou clan. The person with the purest blood in the whole family.

Shouldn't he perform better than an ordinary branch family member?

Nevertheless, one could chalk this up to differences in training.

However, Even if one were to put aside training, Itami fell short.

The average branch family member unlocks their Aspect at 7, but Itami can't use it because of the pain it causes him.

When Itami tried to contact his spirit all that would show up was a book, and when he touched it he'd get a series of unfamiliar images followed by blistering pain.

He didn't know what caused it or anything about his aspect except the fact it hurt, and when he tried to talk to his uncle about it he said that he didn't know either.

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Apparently, except for Itami's father, he'd never seen an aspect that looked like his. This was troubling for Itami because he knew his father better than anyone else, and his aspect was different from Hayato's.

Hayato's aspect, the bookkeeper, was a database that stored information that he could take out whenever he wanted, and of course, when Itami found out his aspect looked like his father's he tried to store memories into the book like his father always showed him.

Unfortunately, Itami was met with immediate resistance and had to stop because he knew that he couldn't win.

After all, what idiot would try to fight his spirit in his inner world? That would only lead to disaster and him hurting himself.

Itami wanted to get stronger, but not at the cost of his future progress. That would be counterintuitive.

Fortunately, for Itami, because he didn't have to spend his time on learning and controlling his aspect abilities, he could focus on his ether manipulation.

This allowed him to create Astral arts better and at a faster pace than his peers.

This was very fortunate because he'd need them to take on his next challenge, the 4th king of the badlands, the satyr.

Itami had already decided before taking on the grendel to face all the kings in the forest, in hopes that it would train him for his fight in a year.

Although they couldn't mimic a human's strategy, physique, and technique, they allowed him to face powerful opponents around the same level as him.

This was good for Itami because even if he trained all day until his eyes went red, It would be pointless if he couldn't apply it to live battles.

This was often how many new chevaliers met their ends. Amid the battle, they'd try a new technique after being backed into a corner by an unexpectedly strong foe, and it backfired on them.

Itami was determined not to be one of those "poor souls", so he steeled himself for the battles ahead.

Itami's pov:

When I got home, I put the grendel carcass in the shed and started to meditate in the shower over the battle.

'I'm too weak. Of all the kings in the forest, the grendel is the weakest compared to me, and I struggled with it.

What am I going to do against the satyr? It's easily 10x as quick as the grendel, and I could barely keep up with it.

I need to get faster but how?

Normally clans and families give their children movement techniques from their family styles, but there are two problems.

One, I don't have access to any source that can provide me with movement techniques except my uncle; he's been gone for a month now, and unfortunately, if he did come back, I don't know if he'd teach me.

Two, movement techniques are a part of a family's style, and they are physically trained.

It would take me years before I could master it to a level that could give me as much speed as I require, and If I think of it holistically, even if I could train it in a short period and my uncle agreed to train me, I wouldn't have a deeper mastery of it then the person who I'm fighting in a year.

Considering the subject matter of the duel, it's unlikely the family wants me to live, and if they wanted to kill me how could they bring someone who hadn't mastered their art?

I guess that leaves the most dangerous option, using astral arts. I truly wanted to avoid this, but I didn't have any choice.'

Third pov;

The reason why Itami didn't want to use Astral arts for movement techniques is because it required extreme mana control or it was unsustainable.

When someone uses pure ether to cloak their body for speed enhancement they run the risk of mana drainage because they're constantly cloaking their body in ether.

For example, when someone punches something with an ether-enhanced punch they don't constantly enhance it when they're not punching because it consumes too much ether. Instead before the moment of impact, they enhance it.

However, it's not the same with astral movement techniques because you can't turn them off in battle.

If one were to turn it off in the instant of turning it off your enemy could attack you and you'd die because you couldn't respond in time.

That's when you're presented with two options: either have so much energy the consumption doesn't matter or have such fine control one constantly only uses the amount of ether one needs to without leakage.

As an unranked chevalier, although Itami's from a royal family, he still lacks the ether to make the first method work.

Unfortunately, his only option is to increase his control, so he doesn't waste any excess ether.

AUTHOR:

Once again, thank you for reading the chapter. I appreciate your support, and hope to hear form y'all in terms of feedback soon.