“Good luck.” Aodhán wished Ayisha as she moved to the dueling ring, but she just ignored him. In fact, she seemed to be rejecting the luck he’d so willingly wished her, going so far as to slouch and snap her fingers in rejection.
Daruk shook his head and muttered. “That girl is suspicious. I get not wanting to show off your skills, but we’re only using innate skills here. I don’t even need to think to know what it is.”
Aodhán did have to think, but it was very obviously {Time manipulation} and, okay, what? He’d never really thought of it, but could Ayisha create time? It would be scary if she really could, but after nearly a minute of thinking and coming up with nothing else, he cleared his throat and said. “Oh, of course. Her innate skills are so easy to guess. What are they though?”
Daruk frowned at him. “You just said you know.”
“Correction, I said they were easy to guess. I’m only asking you so that you can share your wisdom with Andrew here, who I’m sure is struggling.”
Andrew frowned at him. “I’m not struggling. Ayisha’s innate skills are most likely {Time manipulation} and {Temporal Resonance}. Haven’t you noticed how exact with time and date she usually is?”
Aodhán hadn’t noticed, and ascendants knew what kind of friend that made him. Shrugging, he replied. “Oh yeah, that makes sense.”
Daruk shook his head in amusement, and Aodhán turned his attention back to the dueling ring, still berating himself for not seeing what others had seen. He pushed the matter to the back of his mind just as Ayisha and Grendar climbed into the ring, resolving to deal with it later.
Ayisha stood unwillingly to the left, twirling a blade whip with what was obviously feigned ignorance. Despite how awkward she swung the weapon, Aodhán could tell that she was familiar with it. The weapon was so obviously jerky that even Imani wouldn’t wield it that way. No offense to Imani whatsoever.
Aodhán wondered what relationship a blade whip had with time, but Ayisha was the one with two time seals. Surely she wouldn’t intentionally pick out a weapon her affinity disproved off, right?
Grendar, on the other hand, wielded a great sword made up of a dozen smaller swords, all welded together to form a whole. The weapon was large, much larger than Grendar’s 5’7 should have been able to manage, yet she wielded it effectively.
Professor Alaric looked between the two girls, his eyes narrowing slightly on Ayisha before calling out. “Fight!”
Grendar attacked immediately, her great sword splitting into a dozen smaller pieces that began to revolve around her with increasing speed. Ayisha barely reacted, looking almost bored even when the blades suddenly shot towards her, their edges gleaming with a sharp light.
Aodhán focused his core sense on Ayisha and frowned, expecting to see the yellowish tint of time essence the moment she activated a skill or even just a temporal ripple that would signify the use of an ability. However, none of that happened; instead, Ayisha sighed and began walking forward as if her entire body were burdened by the weight of the blade whip.
Aodhán scowled, wondering why Ayisha was so adamant about keeping her skills secret. What was the point if even Andrew could guess it?
Aodhán was mentally making a list of things he would say to Ayisha if she lost this match when, at the last minute, she dodged. No, dodged wasn’t the right term; it was more appropriate to say she flowed. Her movements were leisurely, almost lazy, as she seamlessly moved between each blade as if she could sense their destination ahead of time.
“{Foresight}” Aodhán breathed, unable to resist the awe Ayisha’s bloodline skill always invoked within him. The mental list he had been building evaporated as Ayisha walked forward almost without care. She didn’t seem to be making any serious movements, but when Aodhán cranked up his perception to the maximum, he noticed that Ayisha’s entire body was moving subtly, even her fingers, hidden and enhanced with {Time manipulation}.
Ayisha was doing so much just to seem like she was doing nothing at all, and Grendar fell for it. When professor Alaric had said, “Know your enemies, and you’ll know just how to defeat them,” he hadn’t been wrong. Grendar was rash and impulsive, and her hatred or fear of being treated in a depreciating manner by other nobles was her undoing.
“You bitch!” Grendar growled, her face turning red with anger. “Do not mistake me for Eren Thornhill or Bakhtin Arede that you treat this duel as a game. I am a more dangerous for!”
“Hey!” Bakhtin, who had lost his match against Gwendolyn Tideborn earlier, cried out. “Leave my name out of your mouth. I haven’t offended you before.”
Aodhán chuckled, but his mirth was cut short when a massive block of gray metal suddenly appeared before Grendar and then shattered into hundreds of tiny shards sharp enough to slice bone. The shards rose into the air slowly, their sharp ends turning to point straight at Ayisha.
Without {Create Constructs}, Aodhán didn’t see how he could come out of this unscathed, so he expected it to at least give Ayisha pause; rather, he found her still walking forward, her expression still bored.
Grendar grinned, glad that Ayisha was underestimating her, and the next moment, hundreds of metal shards shot forward like bullets intent on skewering Ayisha to pieces. While Aodhán and half the class wondered how Ayisha could possibly escape this, Ayisha was wondering if she’d displayed enough of her abilities to give up yet, but a glance at professor Alaric assured her that there would be terrible consequences for giving up now.
Sighing, she cut out the time flow within the dueling ring and activated {Time manipulation—Decelerate}. Instantly, the flying shards slowed to a crawl, suspended in midair as if trapped in a wall of thick molasses. Even Grendar’s grin was slowly forming into one of confusion.
Just like she had done for the entirety of the duel, Ayisha continued walking forward, walking through the mass of metal shards as if she were walking through a garden. When she reached Grendar, she hesitantly placed the blade whip against Grendar’s neck and muttered in a tone that suggested that she was in no way glad about the outcome of this event. “I win. Surrender.”
Grendar assented with a slow nod, and time reverted back to normal. The metal shards fell to the concrete floor with a resounding clatter, and Grendar stalked out of the ring before professor Alaric could even call the match.
“Winner, Ayisha Helsarin.”
Ayisha glared at professor Alaric before walking out of the ring, and although she looked completely put together, Aodhán noticed that her core had dimmed drastically. It wasn’t in the sense of the core being tainted by the limit, but the fact that she had lost an immense amount of willpower and energy in a short amount of time.
When Ayisha returned to the group, Aodhán grinned and was about to congratulate her when she glared at him. “Aodhán Brystion, always ruining my life. Why did you have to add that extra bit of luck?”
Andrew chuckled. “To be honest, he could have wished you bad luck and you would have still won. You looked bored the entire time.”
Andrew’s statement seemed to confuse Ayisha greatly, and she touched her face gently. “Bored? I thought I looked scared. I mean… I was scared. Scared for my life.”
Right. Aodhán wouldn’t believe that even if Az’marthon appeared to him right now and told him she wasn’t lying. He had no idea why she was so fixated on hiding her strength, but he would get to the bottom of it just as soon as he got the time to hang out with her.
Professor Alaric looked up from his note and called out the next pair of students for their match. “Kellan Dravenor versus Meredith Castalon.”
***
The rest of the class went just as expected except for Cameron Lorde stealing a win from Lysirel and Imani somehow demolishing Lupin in their duel.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
When the class ended, Professor Alaric moved to the dueling ring and announced. “Okay, that’s a wrap for weapons training. Next week we’re returning to the simulation chamber for fun exercises.” A cheer rose up from the students, and Aodhán sighed blissfully. Finally, they would be allowed into the simulation chamber once again.
Daruk shot Ayisha a competitive grin, and she snorted, although even she couldn’t keep the excitement off her features. Professor Alaric laughed and spoke above the chorus of cheers. “Please be warned. Do not eat before coming. I’d rather not have to pull you out of a puke filled pod after you’ve been brutally killed by the opposing team and are too busy contemplating your own mortality.”
Aodhán grimaced at the mental image, but it was good advice. After the terrible death, many of the students had died in the last exercise; many of them had puked out their guts.
Professor Alaric dismissed the class after that, but before he could exit the hall, Aodhán, Andrew, and Daruk rushed to meet him concerning Yurin. Before they could even speak, Professor Alaric spoke. “Yurin is fine. I sent him to the academy’s holding chambers. We used the chambers all the time for situations like this, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“Is it a time chamber?” Aodhán asked, but professor Alaric shook his head. “Unfortunately not. The academy doesn’t have the resources to keep a time chamber running for each student. I doubt your friend will be released anytime before Monday next week. You can meet the principal or your mentor for more information. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have something very urgent to attend to.”
When professor Alaric left, Daruk asked. “What do you think is his problem?”
Aodhán shrugged. “Who knows, maybe he has a bad relationship with the twisted effect, but then again, who doesn’t?”
“Whatever it is, it’s weird.” Daruk commented and turned to stare at them fully. “But Yurin requiring nearly four days to overcome the twisted effect is crazy. Mine was like two day tops, and why was I not thrown within a holding cell?”
Aodhán shrugged. “Because you weren’t violent, I guess. Also, I know Rahim was watching you like a hawk.”
“True.” Daruk agreed. “Still, Yurin’s case is weird.”
“It is.” Andrew frowned in concern. “But even that is still considered average. Fortuna was confined nearly a week after gaining her first seal. It was terrible.”
“And I used about three days.” Aodhán added with a shrug. “It wasn’t too obvious because I used a time chamber in Rahim’s family home. Also, don’t forget that I still suffered the effect for days even after exiting the chamber.”
“That’s the side effect of a time chamber.” Andrew responded, unsurprisingly knowledgeable concerning the matter. With such a large family and four siblings who must have undergone nothing less than two twisted effects in the last ten years, it was only natural that Andrew knew so much.
“The mind is usually confused after as it tries to sync up to reality.” Andrew continued. “That’s why undergoing the effect without the use of a time chamber is usually better to avoid a relapse or something like you experienced with Varéc at my house.”
Their discussion continued until they exited the lecture building, and Daruk asked. “So, do you guys have any plans today?”
“I’ve got a ton of books to read,” Andrew responded, his face scrunched up in disgust. “But I don’t mind training after. Also, my control is getting sloppy; I need to work on that, as well as taming my willpower.”
Aodhán sighed. “I’ve got a ton of things to do too, but first, let’s work on that enhancement technique of yours.”
They made their way towards the training center after that, and when they entered their usual training hall, Andrew took out a note that probably contained the life history of a new plant he’d found in the Advanced Library and moved to one corner to begin reading. While Andrew busied himself with reading, Aodhán and Daruk moved to the other side of the hall and settled into a meditative pose.
“Are you sure you want to do this now?” Daruk asked as they faced each other. “The technique is tagged crude for a reason. Won’t you like to wait till I’ve refined it and have a better understanding of it?”
“No, I want to do this now.” Aodhán refused. “I can refine it to suit me better this way.”
“Suit yourself.” Daruk shrugged, and with a wave of his hand, he withdrew a stack of notes and textbooks from his spatial storage and placed them in the space between them. “Like I said earlier, the enhancement technique is a very crude one, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I gained it roughly through inspiration, it probably would have crippled me.” He shifted uncomfortably and grimaced. “I was so desperate for power that day that I would have done anything...
He trailed off, yet Aodhán didn’t probe him. Daruk got like this sometimes, and every time it happened, it was a reminder that he was just as human and imperfect as the rest of them. Daruk wasn’t proud or arrogant; it was just that sometimes he behaved so cold and mature that Aodhán found himself depending more on his younger brother than being his rock.
“Anyway,” Daruk continued a second later, “I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did, so I bought these books from the bookstore for that exact reason.”
Aodhán picked up the first book and glanced at the title, Guide to Pathway Visualization. It was a very slim book, barely more than the width of his thumb, yet it felt heavy in his palms. He scanned through the other books, all of which were about pathways, while Daruk continued speaking.
“The problem is that, unlike your technique, in which you remember exactly how you created it, I don’t remember mine perfectly. All I remember is channeling energy into my eyes. How it had happened so fast, I’m not sure, but I’ve developed an alternative, much slower method to do the same thing.”
Aodhán grimaced; he hated slower. No wonder the technique was still considered crude by the system. However, one thing Daruk said struck him as weird, so he asked. “You said you channeled energy into your eyes. What about willpower?”
Daruk shook his head. “Not the first time, but now I use the energized willpower strands instead. They flow through the pathways better than pure energy and are much easier to work with.” Aodhán nodded, and Daruk continued. “The first thing you need to do is to visualize your pathways on a much deeper level, not just the ones flowing with energy, but the dormant ones, which are harder to see.”
Aodhán frowned, and Daruk nodded. “Yeah, I learned that from the first book. Apparently those dormant ones are the ones connected directly to the physical bodies. They're much tinier and can be likened to capillaries, while the major pathways are like veins.”
Aodhán closed his eyes to begin, but Daruk quickly stopped him. “You may want to open yourself up to the origin plane before you begin. It supposedly helps speed up the process.”
Aodhán nodded, and with a bit of caution, he opened his spirit up to the origin plane of storm. Chaos essence rushed into his spirit, and the mental grip he had on his psychic link with Varéc slackened. Varéc’s emotions rushed into his own, and Aodhán gasped as everything became brighter and better. It was like he’d been living in the dark all day and had finally stepped into the sunlight.
He spent a few more seconds savoring the feeling of vibrancy before turning his attention to his pathways. The golden circuit appeared in his mind like veins brimming with white-gold energy. They emerged from his core and wound around his entire body, carrying the essence of his affinity all through his spirit. The movements of energy through his pathways tried to arrest his attention, but Aodhán focused deeper, much deeper than he had ever tried to do before.
At first, he didn’t see anything else because of the brightness of his pathways, but after a few seconds, Aodhán began to notice several thread like pathways reminiscent of capillaries. They emerged from the pathways like branches and were much more abundant. Despite being dormant, the micropathways (a name Aodhán decided to call them until he read one of the texts Daruk had provided) held a bluish tint that gave them a very subtle glow.
The moment Aodhán noticed the glow, he began seeing it everywhere. The micropathways revealed themselves to him slowly, and Aodhán was surprised at their numbers. Unlike normal pathways, which simply carried energy to and from his core, the micropathways carried energy directly into the body.
“Can you see them now?” Daruk asked a few minutes later, his tone dripping with sarcasm, and Aodhán grinned. “Yes, they’re fascinating, really. They’re so abundant that I would have mistaken them for normal tissues and stuff if not for their subtle glow. What are they called anyway?”
“Essence threads.” Daruk replied. “Now that you’re able to visualize them, the next thing is to begin expanding them.”
“What?”
“Yes.” Daruk replied, a grin evident in his tone. “You see, the enhancement technique is very different from your technique, and that’s the real reason it’s still considered crude to the system, because I am yet to even expand a hundred threads, and if my estimation is right, there are thousands of those essence threads running through our body.”
“Wait, you mean I’ll have to expand every single essence thread before the technique is considered complete? How do I even expand it anyway?”
“Yes to the first question.” Daruk chuckled. “Also, when you successfully expand the threads connected to your eyes, you’ll be able to enhance your eye sight to a really high degree, even though it’ll leave you temporarily blind because of how crude the technique still is, but let's not think about that for now.”
“Daruk, I’m not sure—
“As for your second question,” Daruk cut him off hurriedly. “You can expand the threads by channeling energized willpower strands through those dormant pathways to widen them. Of course they can’t be infinitely widened, so when you reach a thread limit, you should stop so you don’t rupture the thread and blind yourself permanently.”
“What!”
“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” Daruk laughed. “Not permanent blindness, maybe just a permanent defect, but I’m sure you’ll still be able to see, I think. Anyway, forget about that; do you want to start now?”
“What! No, Daruk. I certainly do not want to start now. In fact, I do not want to start at all.”
Daruk scoffed. “You’re being dramatic. Of course it’s a little risky. Advancement is risky. What you should do is focus on the gains and not the possible risks.”
“That doesn’t seem like good advice.”
Daruk sighed. “No, it’s not, but you’re not thinking about the gains here. Think about the gains, Aodhán!”
Aodhán thought about the gains of enhancing every single part of his body. It was basically an alternative form of Scarlett’s innate skill {Enhance—Self}, and Aodhán could already see how useful this technique would end up being if he ever managed to perfect it, and yes, it was risky, but runes were risky too. He couldn’t let that stop him.
Aodhán glanced at the book on pathways, and after a moment of contemplation, he sighed. “I need to study these books thoroughly first before I start expanding anything.”
Advancements might be risky, and the gains of perfecting this technique might be large, but it would be foolish of him to dive into this without having a much better understanding of the technique.
He was just about to pick up the pile of books Daruk had dropped when Andrew suddenly shouted, and a river of verdant essence suddenly exploded from him. At first, Aodhán feared that Andrew had gained an adequate understanding of his affinity and was now gaining a seal, but that wasn’t the case; instead, Andrew cackled almost maniacally and shouted. “I just gained a skill, and you guys won’t believe the fucking goldmine I’ve just stumbled into.”