Everyone moved apart to get plenty of room to practice properly. The stress was intense and the difficulty of training was still unknown, but the effort would pay off even after a while.

Each of them sat opposite the clone that would train him and made sure to listen carefully to the instructions.

.........

'What are you going to teach me today, Master?'

'Your fighting skills are decent but your shadow is not deep, your stealth skills are very limited against the strong.'

Dante lowered his head because he deeply understood his condition, not because of his lack of skills or ignorance of the origin of the problem but his inability to overcome it (at least in natural ways).

'I hit the wall a long time ago and I can't overcome it yet even with what we have learned so far.'

'You seem to be aware of this, your awareness of the problem itself is half the solution, your inability to overcome it because the power of shadows doesn't really need mana, you can't strengthen your shadow just by having abundant mana. The two are separate and different forces in nature, although their origin is the same.'

'Is that why I'm stagnant then? I didn't understand the right way to strengthen the shadow.'

'Watch me to understand.'

With a snap of the clone's fingers, a wooden plank three meters long and two meters wide appeared which remained afloat in the air blocking the light from the lamps in the ceiling.

'Your mistake was in your basic understanding of shadows, controlling shadows and wrapping yourself in them does not mean that you have become one with shadows. Focus with me.'

Maximus began to move the shadow left and right in different sizes and shapes, and then wrapped himself in shadows. It looked to the beholder as a black mass.

'What's wrong with wrapping yourself in shadows?'

Since he dealt with the technique for a not short period during his work as a mercenary and was exposed to many problems because of it, he was very aware of its benefits and disadvantages.

'From what I understand, its disadvantage is that it only hides you at night. Otherwise, you are completely exposed to the powerful.'

'What about now?'

The body of the copy crumbled and the crumbs disappeared as if it fell into a black hole, leaving only a dark circular shadow, it was not just a stealth but also a total fusion with the shadow, you no longer have a physical body but your body is a shadow in itself.

'Finally!! Therefore, that is my fault. My understanding was not right since the beginning. I thought the shadow was just a tool or an ability. I did not consider it as a complete physical state. Can I try that?'

'Try but you can't, the barrier won't break through just because you understand the technique. You remember the obsidian jewel I bought you on the first day, take it out now.'

'Oh, you mean that jewel? I did not understand how to exploit its potential until now, but it was improving the power of my shadow and my ability to control it.... Will using it allow me to get past the wall?'

'Yes and no, this jewel increases the capabilities of its owner and is usually used to decorate the weapons of assassins and increase the stealth abilities, but once you are not in contact with it, the effect will disappear and this is its disadvantage.'

Dante put his hand under his chin and began to think about finding a solution to the dilemma of his progress. Among the many ideas was one that flashed hinting at being the right choice but Maximus interrupted him in the midst of his thinking.

'I know what you're thinking but it's just a temporary solution, your idea is to hold the jewel in one hand and practice merging with the shadow, if you see that it will fail or you will lose your control you leave the jewel and pass peacefully.'

'How did you know my idea precisely? So what's the solution?'

'As I said before, yes and no. The method is correct but will not be effective in the future. Practice this way, swallow the jewel when you have enough control over your shadow and you will not lose your physical body. Let's get started now.'

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

'I will do as you ask.'

'I will intervene if there are risks, so focus on what is in your sights and don't worry about the rest.'

Dante began his training to merge with shadows. It is dangerous but necessary to take him to the next level and that is more than enough motivation for him to give his best.

.........

Elsewhere in the room, Orion was standing next to another copy with a few training dolls placed near the wall.

Orion and his accompanying clone were facing these dolls.

'Do you remember the ring I bought you from the store that day?'

'Yes, you told me it was a ring that enhances magical resistance and increases the ability to magically penetrate.'

'What did you understand from this then?'

'What I understood is that it strengthens protection against magic attacks in all its forms and strengthens the attack against magic defenses only.'

'Good, you're able to understand the method without much explanation.'

Maximus applauded Orion's understanding of the usefulness of the ring himself and continued to speak.

'This means that breaking through physical defenses depends on your own strength, relying on items is useless. Try to hit these dolls without the ring and after putting on the ring and pump magic into it. Its defensive abilities are only magical and similar to a five-star knight.'

'I'll try with all my might.'

He approached with steady steps towards the right doll and pumped the mana into his sword with the maximum stable flow he could and tried to make it as sharp as possible.

He waved the sword with all his might and dealt a blow to the puppet's left side, the blow was certain but the damage was a bit weak. The blow did not penetrate more than an inch into the thick magic shield that surrounds the doll like a bluish glass mold.

'Good, now try on the second doll.'

The clone, which was sitting on a chair in the side, waved carelessly to Orion to continue what he had told him. Orion took the ring out of his pants pocket and put it on his right ring finger. He repeated the same process as before, but as the mana was pumped as much as possible into the ring, he felt a change in flow, a new bond formed between the ring and the sword, and the halo became thinner but denser and sharper.

"It's stronger and more intense than before, I'm going to get a much better result this time."

He waved his sword more steadily than the previous time and the sword pierced by about ten centimeters, stuck in position and did not even budge. Orion tried to get it out with all his might but was unsuccessful, the clone grabbed the sword and took it out like a knife out of a piece of butter and gave it to Orion.

'Take your sword. So how did you feel and what do you have to say?'

'I felt that an additional link was forming between the sword and the ring, or rather between the aura of the sword and the ring, as if partially correcting my flow.'

'You feel good, but you know something? You can evolve in aura’s control to a point where you only have to apply it on the point of contact. Give me the sword and watch well.'

The version did not use any mana during the wave, but the blow was an aura hit. Orion didn't understand what was happening in front of him, the clone repeated what it had done but in slow motion. No mana or aura was used until the last moment and only on the contact area, it was a very efficient and economical method in terms of mana but the control must be very precise.

'Wave your sword over and over again and try to release the mana only at the right moment, you'll learn precise control later on your own as your fencing skills improve.'

'Master, won't you teach me any sword techniques like those secret arts for powerful families or heroes with great names?'

Maximus' clone was returning to sit in its chair until it heard Orion's words that infuriated it. Maximus was only building the basics and abandoning aesthetics, there is no time to build aesthetics and there is no use if they perform the same function as the basics.

'This method is not great contrary to what its name suggests, it limits your potential and sets one path in front of you, you can attack the way the skill determines otherwise your attack will be less effective.'

'It's the same for defense. You cannot think in a way other than written in the book. I do not like this kind of follies; teach a person how to wave his sword, how to confront and how to dodge. The rest has to be developed by himself, why restrict yourself to someone else's style?'

'That's the way it is.'

Orion looked at his hand thinking about how to develop himself in the future. He has to develop his own style from now on.

'You cannot develop your style just by practicing, life and death fights are what teach you your mistakes and guide you to the right path. Now focus on the basics and the rest will come in time.'

Maximus patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to complete his training as he had just asked him to do without further childish thoughts.

"That kid said techniques with great names, he said! I can accept naming combat styles to distinguish them from each other but the techniques are all the same. There is no purpose in naming and others should accept this idea even though they will not."

Orion has never hesitated to train before and will not do now, learning survival strategies is more important than learning combat techniques.

The original who was sitting away from everyone laughed a little after hearing the conversation, which is a starting point for Orion's future development as a swordmaster...